Celebrations Wreath

This Celebrations Wreath is easy, cheap and fun to make.

Get a Styrofoam wreath, several packages of balloons, and straight pins, along with some floral wire and ribbon for a bow.  Pin the balloons to the wreath, mixing the colors to your own taste.  Make your bow, allowing for enough extra wire to attach to the wreath and make a loop to hand and your done! 

Easy to make Washcloth puppets

Easy to make Washcloth puppets

You can probably make one puppet out of one washcloth or you can buy towels which are cheaper. 

(I have found that TJ MAXX is best for price and variety.)

Decide if you want the face to be the same as the body or different.

The pattern pieces are at the end of the instructions.  

If the face is to be the same – 

Cut two bodies

  One mouth

    And whichever ear type you want

If you want the face color to be different-

Cut one body

   One alternative body

   One mouth

          And whichever ear type you want

If you use the selvage edge when you cut out the body pieces, you won’t have to hem these pieces. 

  I zigzag everything.  This is also how I make face accents. 

Create the face first.

1) I found that eyes, nose and mouth pieces cut from felt work best, zigzagged really well into place.

 I also do my accents on the face by zigzagging.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

2) Choose which ears you want and assemble them.  If doing a contrasting inside on your ears, stitch these onto your ear front pieces before stitching the front/back pieces together. The thick fabric is hard to turn outside in, so you might just have to stitch the front to the back along the edges, right sides out.  

3) The ears need to be stitched into place on the face.  If using the alternative face, stitch the ears in as you stitch the face on.  Be sure that you lay the face upright next to the alternate body part, getting everything lined up and then pin and work together.  This is always backwards from the way I want to sew it. 

 You are literally having to work the two pieces together as you stitch along. 

 I do better starting in the center where they actually meet up and working my way around to each side.

 Be sure to double and triple stitch once it is right, as you can’t sew this again,

 once you are assembling the puppet.

If you aren't using the alternative front, then decide where you want your ears to be

 and cut a small hole on each side and stitch into place.  It doesn't have to be pretty. 

 The rough grain is very forgiving.  Stitch multiple times so they can’t be jerked off and eaten.

4) If you want to put a tongue inside the mouth, you need to do this before assembling the puppet.  

Fold the mouth piece in half and lay the tongue near the fold with the tip of the tongue 

pointed out towards the round edge.

5) Hem the bottom edges of the body pieces if needed.

6) Stitch the front and back body pieces together up to where you think the mouth should be, making sure to over-stitch and re-enforce many times.

7) Stitch the mouth in place. If you put a tongue inside, be sure that it is on the bottom and lined up correctly. The mouth piece may be a bit bigger than your mouth hole.  Just fold it in half and line it up, trimming as needed.  No worries!

8) Poke around at all of the seams and connections before you turn it right side out,

 just to be sure you don’t need to reinforce a seam.

Tah-Dah!

 Pattern Pieces ; To be printed out on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper for correct size.

 Mix it up and have fun!  There is no right or wrong creation!  

Easy Homemade Reversible Dog Bandannas

Easy Homemade Reversible Dog Bandannas

Buy two contrasting fabrics or bandannas (sold at your local craft store).

Measure your puppy’s collar.

The width of the bandanna should be about 2/3rds the length of the collar.  For example, if the collar is 15 inches long, then you will want your finished bandanna to be about 10 inches.  

Add one inch in length for the seam allowance.

The length (from the top edge of the bandanna to the pointed tip) should be about 1-2 inches shorter 

than the width.  For the 10 inch wide bandanna  the length (from the top straight edge to the 

point of the bandanna  should be 8 or 9 inches.  

Add one inch to this measurement for the seam allowances.

Fold your fabric or bandanna in half, forming a triangle.  Measure from the tip of the point (for the 15 inch collar, measure up 9 or 10 inches), and mark.   

Keeping the fabric folded in half, so that you keep a perfect triangle, measure for the width, keeping in mind that this measurement should be ½ of the estimated width because the fabric is folded in half.  (For a 10 inch wide bandanna, plus 1 inch for the seam allowance = 11 inches total, measure 5 ½ inches from the fold.) 

  Cut across the fabric, to the desired length. 

You want to make a collar sleeve at the top of the bandanna   

This should be 1-1 ½ inches wider than your puppy’s collar.  I make mine about 2 ½  wide, so that the collar buckle can easily thread through the bandanna.  To do this, at the marking of 

your width measurement  (the 5 ½ inch mark), measure down the amount 

you have decided will work best for your particular collar (like 2 ½ inches).  Mark this point. 

Keeping the fabric folded, cut from the top of the fabric down in a straight line to the collar sleeve mark.  From this point, now cut down towards the pointed tip, making a triangle.

Use this fabric piece as a pattern to cut out your contrasting second side for your bandanna.

Using either a straight stitch or a zigzag stitch, fold under a ¼ - ½  inch seam to finish the straight edges along the collar sleeve, doing all four edges (two edges on each fabric piece).

Pin the two pieces of fabric, with right sides together, and stitch along the top edge of the collar sleeve and then along the edges of your triangle, being sure to leave the hemmed edges open and unstitched.

Trim the three edges close to the stitched seam – along the 2 triangle sides and the top edge.

Turn the bandanna  right sides out, by reaching through one of the hemmed edges along the collar sleeve.  Make sure that the point is turned completely, and press with an iron until nice and flat.

Now line up the sewing machine at one of the top edges of the triangle and stitch straight across to the other edge of the triangle.  You have now finished the collar sleeve, by stitching closed the bottom edge.

Thread your puppy’s collar through the sleeve and you have a reversible bandanna for your puppy to wear!  

Brookies

Brookies 

Brookies are an awesome combination of chocolate brownies and chocolate chip cookies 

in one handy dessert.  They are easy to make and even better to enjoy!

Brookies

1 Brownie Mix (preferably Duncan Hines or Pillsbury)

1 roll of refrigerated Toll House Chocolate Chip Dough

Preheat oven to temperature for brownies as directed on the box.  Spray muffin pan with Pam and mix brownies as directed. (I do the fudgy recipe.) 

Pour brownie batter into muffin tins filling about ½ full. 

(You can usually get about 16 brownie muffins out of one mix.)

Bake the brownies for 8 minutes. 

 While the brownies are baking, slice enough cookies

from the dough so that you have one cookie for the top of each

brownie muffin.  

Remove brownies from the oven and make sure the oven temp is now @ 350 degrees.  Place one cookie slice on top of each brownie muffin and return to oven and bake at 350 for 12 more minutes,or until the cookies are golden brown.

Immediately run a knife around the inside edge of the brookies in the muffin

cups to loosen.

  

 Let cool about five minutes then pop out of pan and enjoy!

Hopefully you will have a happy malformation that will need to be eaten warm from the oven.  They are even better served warm with ice cream!

Brookies 

1 Brownie Mix (preferably Duncan Hines or Pillsbury)

1 roll of refrigerated Toll House Chocolate Chip Dough

Preheat oven to temperature for brownies as directed

on the box.  Spray muffin pan with Pam and mix brownies as directed.

(I do the fudgy recipe.)  Pour brownie batter into muffin tins filling about ½ full. 

(You can usually get about 16 brownie muffins out of one mix.)

Bake the brownies for 8 minutes.  Slice enough cookies

from the dough so that you have one cookie for the top of each

brownie muffin.  Remove brownies from the oven and make sure the oven

 temp is now @ 350 degrees.  Place one cookie slice on top of

each brownie muffin and return to oven and bake at 350 for 12 more minutes,

or until the cookies are golden brown. Immediately run a knife around

the inside edge of the brookies in the muffin cups to loosen.  Let cool a

few minutes, then pop out of pan.