My Newest Addiction.

EEEEEEEEE!!!!! I'm so excited to share with you my first attempt at stop motion. I did a really quick job of this one 'cause I was SO excited to try it out AND so excited to share my new handmade creation, inspired by "Where the Wild Things Are". So, here it is. Enjoy the next 37 seconds. (I still need to learn how to add music to a video.)

After sewing it up, this is what it looks like:

"Where the Wild Things Are" is Mr. WhiMSy love's favorite childhood book. In fact, on our honeymoon in San Francisco, we passed by a toy shoppe, I spied a copy of the book in the window & purchased it as a gift for him. We're TOTALLY psyched to see the movie, which comes out October 16th.

I'm in love with how the puppet turned out. (Originally inspired by a Monster Glove Puppet seen in the book entitled The Felt Book by Clare Beaton.) I'm also in love with Stop Motion. It was a fun adventure to follow a new creative path! I'm working on a couple more Wild Thing "monsters" & a Max finger puppet too. (I think I know what my nephew is getting for Christmas this year!)
♥

Hanging Bedside Organizer

I love crafting with felt! I found inspiration for this project while searching in the dollar bins at Target. There was a cheesy cheapo version for sale & I immediately thought, "I can do this! Only WAY cuter!"

To make this handy-dandy little organizer, you'll need felt, scissors, & a sewing machine. Pinking shears are optional. And, though I didn't use any in this tutorial, you could completely make this project "no-sew" by using some fabric glue.

The first thing you'll need to do is measure how long you want your organizer to hang. Ultimately this will slide right between your box spring & your mattress. So, measure from your box spring down.

I chose to have about 11" hang down. Add 18" to whatever measurement you have. (The 18" is what will slip between the box spring & mattress.) My final piece of felt measures 29" x 11".

I traced a scallop design on the edges & then cut it out. I didn't create the scalloped edges all the way up---since 18" of the piece of felt will not even show.

Next I cut out different shapes for the pockets. There are 4 pockets total.

I tried making this easy by labeling the pieces with letters---from biggest to smallest. The largest piece, "A", is the main felt piece that all the other felt pockets will be sewn onto.

"B"--measures 8 1/4" wide x 6 1/4" tall

"C"--measures 4 1/2" wide x 5 1/4" tall

"D"--measures 8 1/4" wide x 2 3/4" tall

"E"--measures 2 3/4" wide x 3 1/4" tall

Once you have your pocket designs laid out, sew the embellishment onto each of the individual pockets:

Now, sew the finished smaller pockets onto the larger pockets:

These pieces will now be sewn onto the largest scalloped felt piece. Pin & sew them in place. Remember to keep the tops of the pouches open. You know, for the whole "pocket" effect to work. I also added 3 vintage button embellishments before this largest pocket was sewn on.

Now you're ready to slide the excess under your mattress. Fill the pockets with a diary, pencils, a small flashlight, a favorite toy, a love letter, a dream journal, etc. My 6 year old adored this one I made for her!

Here is another version that is more simple. Cut a large piece of felt approximately 29-30" long & 14 1/2" wide. Cut 9 pieces of smaller felt 4" wide x 3" high. Use pinking shears on the sides & bottom.

Pazely & I picked out a rainbow of felt. She had fun helping me find matching buttons in my stash of vintage buttons.

After sewing on each button, pin the felt pockets in place onto your large felt piece.

I took a more time consuming route & even matched the thread in my sewing machine to the felt & buttons.

Once finished, it'll look something like this:

Pazely loves all things tiny, so that's why I made her organizer with a bunch of smaller pockets. Kids could help make this version in a snap---with the fabric glue.

Have fun!

Felt Play Kits For Sale!

I had a lot of Felt Play Kits leftover from our MOPS group (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) this morning. ( 11 available! SOLD!) I thought I'd give my blog readers the chance to purchase them. I'm selling them on my blog (not at WhiMSy love) & ALL the money will go right back to support my local (non-profit) MOPS group.

**UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who snatched up the kits! Enjoy!
I had so much fun putting these together that I am planning to offer other crafty kits for sale at WhiMSy love sometime in the near future!

Each Felt Play Kit comes with:

*1 9"x12" sticky-backed felt piece

*1 9"x12" felt piece (Colors for both large felt pieces range from dark brown, black, medium green & white. You will get a combo of 2 different colors selected at random.)

*13 medium felt pieces (4 1/2"x6") in purple, bright blue, emerald green, tan, black, brown, medium blue, light blue, navy blue, white, light pink, red, & grey

*5 small felt pieces (3"x4") in orange, yellow, bright pink, cream, & dark green

*6 random colored tiny pom poms (3 pair of each color)

*instruction sheet

*sheet of shapes to use as template

IDEAS FOR YOUR FELT PLAY KITS:

>School is almost over & this kit will be perfect for keeping little ones entertained!

>Perfect for keeping wriggly hands busy during church!

>Great for long car rides or road trips!

>Passes the time while waiting for mom & dad at their appointments.

>Spend some quality time with your kids. My girls & I can seriously play with this for HOURS! (I've been known to play with it on my own too!)

>Your kids can help you cut the felt into fun shapes!

Cupcake Planter Tutorial

This is a project that I thought of last summer---when it was too hot & too late to grow anything lush & green in a pot. SO, I had to wait almost a whole year to put my idea into action!! It's a mild statement to say I'm SUPER DUPER EXCITED to finally do this!

Supplies: shorter stubby terracotta pots (I found some at Home Depot & some really cool short stubby ones at Fred Meyer), spray paint, acrylic paint, clear spray sealer, rocks (for drainage), potting soil, plants, drill (with 1/4" drill bit), 1/4" dowel (Hardware store or Walmart), saw blade, round wooden balls (hardware store). Also needed, but not pictured: wood glue, paint brush.

OK, the painting part: I used spray paint. I like a quick job. BUT, the terracotta pots are very porous & you're not going to get an even coat with the spray paint. I sprayed my pot 2 times & I like the uneven faded look of it. If you want a more even, solid covering of color, use at least 3 coats of acrylic paint or latex paint. (Got any extra exterior housepaint in the garage? Perfect!)

My pots will sit outside. They'll eventually show the effects of the weather & daily watering. Definitely paint the inside of the pot as well as the outside. This will help keep the moisture from damaging your artwork. If you keep your pot out of direct weather elements this will help it to keep cuter for longer too. Paint your dowels also. I painted mine with brown acrylic paint so it would remain inconspicuous in the pot-o-flowers. You'll be trimming the dowel to the correct size later. And finally, paint the round wooden balls red. I spray painted mine. AND, I sealed them with a clear spray paint sealer.

When the "cherries" are dry, drill a hole in the bottom. Or you could do the drilling BEFORE the painting. I guess I did it backwards. Mine came with a tiny hole pre-drilled in the bottom, but it wasn't nearly big enough.

Fill the hole with wood glue & insert the dowel. Poke it in the ground to dry.
Now you can work on the details of your pot, which you'll paint with brown acrylic stripes to resemble a cupcake liner. When the stripes are dry, seal the pot--inside & out--with the clear spray paint sealer. This is probably the most important step. Without a good seal, the water could cause your paint to bubble or eventually chip & flake off. Lots of coats of paint & a good sealer are the key to keeping your terracotta pots lovely for a long time! Now, take a break & munch on an ice cream sandwich. Num...

When everything is super duper dry, (OK, I'm impatient. Mine was mostly dry), you can cover the drainage hole with a few pebbles.

And then gather the curious neighborhood kids to help you with the rest. That's what I did. Well, I guess I didn't have to "gather" them. They just came over to see what I was up to. Even one skateboardin' boy said, "I want to paint some pots & fill 'em with flowers too!"

For some reason I had trouble deciding which plants to purchase for my cupcake planters. I wanted something that could be pruned to a roundish shape. I ended up finding this really thick, really lush plant called "Lobelia" Riviera Rose (at Fred Meyer). I also picked out some white Alysum for my smaller cupcake pot. I've never "pruned" them in a specific shape before, so we'll see how it goes! After you plant your flowers, take some scissors or pruning shears & clip away any stragglers. I kinda butchered mine, but hopefully they'll continue to grow nice & thick.

At this time you can measure your plant to see how tall your cherry should be.

Ta-da! That's it! The little flowers will look like sprinkles all over the cupcake.

I'll be sure & take pictures as flowers bloom & the pot fills out more.
Wasn't that fun?

No More Wee WhiMSy love.

So sad. Very soon you can say "bye-bye" to all things Wee WhiMSy love. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is a law that will go into effect on February 10th, 2009 mandating testing for lead and phthalates in any and every item intended for a child 12 and under. The testing is SUUUUPER expensive & quite ridiculous for little ole crafters like me. Wanna know more? Read my best Etsy friend's blog. She put it very well: LittleDaisyChains.blogspot.com
Though this law doesn't affect me that much, I still stand alongside my crafty counterparts who create, more specifically, for the smaller humans in this world. This sucks.

UPDATE: The testing has been postponed for a year! Wheeee! Read about it HERE.