Simple Fleece Blanket

My friend Erin got a sewing machine for Christmas and requested a few easy sewing projects to get started with. Well, Erin you’re in luck because easy sewing projects are about the only kind I do. I don’t love sewing the way I love other projects (because I HATE using a pattern) but I don’t mind ones like this fleece blanket. It’s quick and practical and oh so cozy.

Supplies:

2 pieces of fleece, 1.5 – 2 yards each, depending on how big you want your blanket to be

sewing machine, thread, etc.

Instructions:

Decide how big you want your blanket to be and cut both pieces of fleece to the desired size.

Ignore the ironing board and the cat food bag.

Pin the two pieces of fleece together. Sew around the outside, leaving a large opening on one side to turn the blanket.  Make sure to backstitch (sew back and forth) a few times on either side of the opening so the seams don’t tear when you force the blanket through the hole.

Pull out the pins. Make sure you get them all because nothing says cozy like getting stabbed with a stray pin.

Turn the blanket right side out by pushing (and pulling) the blanket through the opening.

Mika is obsessed with fleece. She almost got stitched into this blanket. Seriously.

Once the blanket is turned, tuck the edges of the opening in so they are even with the rest of the blanket and pin.

Sew the opening closed by hand or with your machine. If you are using your machine, sew as close to the edge as possible.

You should have something that looks like this:

Almost done! Top stich the whole blanket with a 1 1/2” seam allowance.  On my machine this means lining up the edge of the material with the edge of the metal plate on top of the bobbin compartment. If your machine doesn’t have a clear mark for 1 1/2”, just estimate.

When you get to the corners, leave the needle all the way down and lift the presser foot. Turn the fabric 90 degrees, put the presser foot down and keep sewing.

Trim any threads and you’re done!

If you are looking for really good tutorials for sewing basics check out Disney’s over at Ruffles and Stuff.

Super Bowl Score Pool and Food Labels

So I might have complained just a little too much about the team colors in this year’s Super Bowl. But really? Green, gold and black? What am I supposed to do with that? Well, this is what I came up with.

I bought football textured paper, cut out football shapes and stuck them onto canvas textured green cardstock. Then I used a white paint pen to draw the details and write the name of each dish for our snack bar.

Why are there flames coming out of one of the cards you might ask? Since extra hot wings and pulled pork were requested I needed a way to warn the little ones that can’t read yet (or might not take the time to read it) to watch out.

My next project was a score pool.

Although it may look like a wanky colored checker board right now, tomorrow our party goers will purchase squares for a quarter. They will receive a little football to write their initials on and place it on a square of their choosing. Then we will draw numbers (0-9) and assign each block along the border a number.

After each quarter, whoever bought the square with the second digits of the score gets 1/4 of the buy in. For example, if the score is Steelers 21 and Packers 42, the person whose square lines up with 1 on the Steelers side and 2 on the Packers side, wins.

Ok, here’s how to make one. First cut 10 1”x10” yellow strips of cardstock and 5 each of green and black.

Start with a yellow strip and a green strip (Not black and green like in the picture. That was before I ripped it apart for the 5th time). Glue their corners together at a right angle. Weave the other strips like you would make lattice for a pie.

Sorry for the crappy picture. The sun disappeared mid-project.

Trim the edges and glue it onto a 12”x12” piece of cardstock. Cut out the team names and glue them onto the side with their colors.

Love Collage

In my craft room I have a bunch of bookshelves (that are about 10 trips to Powell’s City of Books too full). In the summer the plants from my classroom sit on top of them but all winter they’ve been bare. I bought a bunch of frames last time I was at Ikea to make a rotating gallery of sorts. For the first “installment” I made a collage out of National Geographic magazines. Note: Do not yank pages out of the classroom magazines in front of 35 6th graders as they will loudly chide you for doing what you have repeatedly told them not to do.

I tore out a stack of pages that fit in with the color scheme that I was going for. Ok, I really just tore out the pages with the prettiest pictures.

Then I tore some pages with just text into strips for the background. I used my Cricut to cut out the deer, tree and letters and then I free handed the hearts, clouds, leaves, etc.

I laid everything out and then glued it on.

I popped it into the frame and that’s it. Easy.

The picture on the left is just scrapbook paper. The print in the middle is from the in flight magazine from Vueling. I snagged it on the flight from Barcelona to Granada. It is full of beautiful photographs and illustrations. Aren’t these guys cute?

Printable Valentines Days Subway Art

Subway art is everywhere in Blogland right now. I made my own Valentine’s Day version using picnik.com. There is a printable below if you would like to add it to your own Valentine’s Day décor.

Click on the image and print it out or save it and open it in Word to change the size.

The Mother Huddle has a good tutorial here if you want to make a different version.