How to Make Candy Filled Paper Valentine Treats

You’ll need:

• Cute paper – either scrapbook paper, or make your own with DIY foam stamps
• A sewing machine or needle and thread
• Little candies

Cutting paper hearts for the Valentine's Day treats

Start by cutting out two hearts that are identical in shape. Place them together with the patterned sides out.

Sewing the paper hearts together

Using a sewing machine or needle and thread, stitch around the heart shape about a quarter-inch in from the edge. Leave a gap about an inch long on one of the sides like shown above.

Filling the paper hearts with Valentine's Day candy treats

Put the candy inside the heart, and stitch up the gap, sealing the candy inside the heart!

Closing up the paper hearts to keep the candy inside

Trim the threads, and you’re done! You can also write a message on the heart before filling it, or glue on some lace and beads if you’d like.

The fun part!

To get the candy out, just tear the heart open! You can also fill these with coins, squinkies, or small jewelry for a special surprise!

It was ambitious. It pushed my creativity. And in the end, I’ll tell you now – it ROCKED!

The series was a huge hit, so I’m reposting it again this year so you have plenty of time to make these gifts over the holiday season. And YES, kids can make all of them! They may look hard, but they aren’t! Some may be more appropriate for tweens, but nearly all of them can be made by kids as young as five. I’m seriously so proud of this series – and happy it was so well received by all of you!

Day 1 - Kids Modern Art Wall Plates	Day 2 - Upcycled Photo Frame	Day 3 - Super-Easy Flower Brooch
Day 4 - Anthropologie Seashell Bottles	Day 5 - A Gift for the Pets	Day 6 - Dollar Store Gilded Cake Stand
Day 7 - Easy No Sew Scarf	Day 8 - Easy Yarn Wreath	Day 9 - Easy Beaded Ribbon Necklace
Day 10 - Ballard Designs Inspired Art	Day 11 - Easy Cell Phone Case Pattern	Day 12 - Homemade Hot Chocolate Jars

DIY Paper Garland Tutorial

A simple paper circle garland is perfect for decorating at parties, on a holiday Christmas tree or adding a decorative touch to a little kid’s bedroom! Let me show you how to make one!

What You Need to Make This Paper Garland

• scrapbook paper in colors and patterns of your choice
• medium or large circle paper punch
• sewing machine

Use pretty scrapbook papers

Start by going through your scrapbook papers, and decide what colors you would like to use. Since I was making this for my son’s room, I went with greens and blues for him.

Use an inexpensive circle paper punch

Take your circle punch, and start punching out the circles.

Here are your paper circles

It may be easier to cut your paper into strips that are a little wider than your punch before you start.

Stack of paper garland pieces, ready to be assembled

Remember, you’ll be using two circles per 1 finished circle, so you’ll need a lot!

Place paper circles together with right sides out

Here's the other side of the two layered circle

Take two of your circles and place them back to back.  Here I used two of the same, but you could also use different ones for a more random pattern.

Start sewing the circles together

Take your first circle set, and run it through your sewing machine. When you get to the end, sew 3 to 5 stitches before you insert the next circle set.

Here's the paper garland as it comes out of the sewing machine

This leaves some space between each circle. Keep adding circles until you are happy with the length of your garland.

How to Make a Pretty Paper Garland

And you’re done! A quick and pretty garland that can be matched to any event!

Simple and Cute Scrap Fabric Flower Headband Tutorial

There are few things that are cuter or more on trend in hair accessories than rosettes right now. They’re also surprisingly simple to make!

Related Pages: Silk Flower Barrette Craft, Cute Barrette Holder Project

How to Make a Fabric Flower Hair Accessory Headband

Supplies:

• Two strips of scrap fabric, 2 inches wide by 16 inches long
• Two pieces of tulle, 2.5 inches square.
• Scrap felt
• Beads or pearls
• Wire or elastic headband
• Hot glue gun or strong craft glue

Start by cutting out your fabric to the specified sizes. This is great for using up scraps, so don’t worry about straight lines.

To start your first rosette, take one strip of fabric, and fold it in half lengthwise. Fold one corner down, and begin rolling your strip of fabric in on itself.

As you roll your strip, you want to twist the fabric like in the photos above. Twist an inch or so, and roll it up, pinching firmly to hold it together. When you get to the end, leave about an inch or so of fabric loose.

Flip your rosette over, and put some hot glue on the back of the rosette. Fold the extra inch of fabric over the glue, and hold to join. When your glue has set, trim off the corners. There you have your first rosette!

Repeat with your second strip of fabric to make another rosette.

Cut a piece of felt that is slightly smaller than both of the rosettes Glue your rosettes onto the felt, and set aside.

Take one of your pieces of tulle, gather and pinch it in the middle, and fold it in half at the pinch. Put some hot glue at the pinched end, and glue it on the felt between your rosettes. Repeat with the other piece of tulle on the other side.

Next, put a dot of hot glue where the tulle meets the rosettes, and put a cluster of beads or pearls on the glue. Repeat on the other side.

Pick out your headband, and put a line of glue on the back of your rosettes, on the felt. Attach the headband, then glue another small piece of felt on top of your headband to cover to join and secure the rosettes.

You’re all done! You just made a rosette headband that looks cute on everyone, and can be made to match every outfit!

What you need to make shrinky dink buttons:

• Shrink plastic (frosted)
• 1 1/2″ circle punch (I used a 2″ punch but think 1 1/2″ would work better)
• Permanent markers
• Hole punch
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper or cut up paper bag

The basic craft supplies needed for DIY buttons.

Use your circle punch to create 1 1/2" circles.

You can make several buttons out of one sheet of shrink plastic.

To get the button holes even, punch a circle from a piece of construction paper. Fold in half and then in half again. Unfold once and punch a hole on the line. When you open it up, you will have two corresponding button holes.

Draw whatever image you want on the frosted side of your buttons. If you use letters, they need to be written backward to show up properly when you're done.

If you’re not such a good artist (as you can tell from the photo above, I’m not), you might want to check out the awesome free templates that are available on Scissors.Paper.Wok.  So very cool.

Place them on the parchment paper/paper bag on a cookie sheet, and bake according to the directions on the shrink plastic package.

You may need to flatten your Shrinky Dink buttons with a spatula when they come out of the oven.

What I Learned the Hard Way:  Like I said, I would use a 1 1/2″ punch next time, as I think they would shrink more uniformly than mine did.

I’ve made this tutorial crystal-clear with step by step photos so that even a teenager can pull this together on their own.

Free Summer Top Sewing Pattern

To break her out of her “making pajama pants rut”, I taught her how to make this ultra simple tube top with a simple rectangle of fabric and elastic thread. If elastic thread intimidates you (it did me for a while!), don’t worry about it for another second. Sewing with elastic thread is just as easy as sewing with regular thread. I’d say it’s easier, because it does so much shaping of the fabric for you, so you don’t need to worry so much about cutting precisely.

Even though this project is easy enough for teens, don’t think you can’t whip up a few for yourself! You can finish them in less than 2 hours – more like an hour and a half, tops!

(ooooh… bad unintentional pun.)

What You Need to Make This Summer Top

Fabric (see measuring guide below)

Regular coordinating thread

1 spool of elastic thread

Steam iron

To determine how much fabric you need, print and complete this super-simple measuring guide:

Free Easy Sewing Pattern - Strapless Summer Top

*Disclaimer – If you have a rather busty figure, I’d recommend adding straps to this top!

Strapless Summer Top Sewing Instructions

Step 1 – Sew your rectangle into a tube

Step 1 - Sew a Tube

Step 2 – Hem the top and bottom edges

Step 2a - Press raw edges

To make this super-easy, press the fabric down 1/2 inch, then again another 1/2 inch. Then turn it over and topstich the hem in place with regular thread:

Step 2b - Sew the pressed hems

Step 3 – HAND wind a bobbin with elastic thread

This may seem like a real pain in the rear, but it’s not. You can do it in less than 90 seconds. DON’T pull the elastic as you wind, simply keep it snug but unstretched. Then load the elastic thread bobbin into your sewing machine. Keep regular thread in your machine needle.

Step 3 - Wind elastic thread bobbin

Step 4 -Start sewing rows with the elastic thread

Line up the right side of your presser foot with the hem you just sewed. Now simply start sewing rows around your tube. You will be doing the exact same thing on both the top and bottom of the shirt, so you can start on either end. Make sure that you have the right side of the fabric on top, so that the elastic thread gets sewn on the wrong side of the fabric.

Some sewing machines may have a hard time if you backstitch the elastic thread at the beginning of your row. If so, just start and be sure to backstitch at the end of your rows.

These rows are also referred to as ‘smocking’.

Step 4 - Sew rows with elastic thread

Depending on the weight of your fabric, the elastic thread won’t pucker much at first. Don’t worry about this – a little steam iron magic will take care of it when we’re all done.

Step 4 - First row of elastic thread

Step 5 – Starting a new row of elastic thread

You are going to sew 5 rows of elastic thread on both the top and bottom of the shirt. Along with your hemmed row, that will be six stitched rows each.

Some people prefer to cut their thread and tie it off on each row. I prefer to keep it all one long piece of thread, to minimize any future breakage. To make sure that there is no pulling between the rows, pull the fabric away from your presser foot about 3 inches and then put it right back down under the presser foot, lined up along the previous seam. This will give it just enough slack to prevent puckering where you don’t want it to pucker.

Step 5 - Start a new row of elastic thread

One bobbin should be just about enough elastic thread to get through 5 rows. But if you run out, no worries. Just wind a new bobbin, start sewing where the old thread left off, and make sure you tie the ends together on the back of the fabric.

Tip - Start new bobbin

Continue sewing rows until you have 5 with the elastic thread.

Sewing with elastic thread

Step 6 – Repeat elastic thread rows on the other end of the shirt

When you are done with one end, it will look like this:

Step 6 - Finished one end, do the other

The back of the rows will look like this:

Wrong side of elastic thread rows

Do the same on the other end of the tube top.

Step 7 – The fun part – steam the elastic and watch it pucker!

When you’re all done, fire up your steam iron. Do not touch the thread with the iron! You simply need to hold the iron right above your elastic thread smocking and give it a few shots of steam. Your elastic will pucker right before your eyes.

Step 7 - Steam Away!

Step 8 – Look cool and sip some iced tea in your new summer top!

Free Sewing Project - Easy Summer Top

Summer Top Variations

You can also make this top with a completely different look by omitting the bottom smocking rows and wearing it with a belt. Adorable!

Some of you may have noticed that lately I haven’t been posting very frequently, that our newsletters haven’t been going out, and in general, things have been mostly quiet on both Craft Jr. and the entire Woo! Jr. Network. I’m happy to say that it has been due to (mostly) very awesome reasons! (The not so awesome reason is that my brand new laptop is still getting “repaired” after almost a month. But I digress…)

Anyways, I’m kind of rather spectacularly proud of the fact that my first book, Mom Blogging for Dummies, is pretty much done and is getting ready to go to press! It is coming out this July – squeee!

Mom Blogging for Dummies by ME!

Let me just say that writing a book is way more work than you probably think it is.

No. More work than that.

It pretty much took up every spare second of my time (and then plenty more hours on top that didn’t fall into the ‘spare time’ category). The lovely and talented Lorna Doone Brewer has been keeping you entertained with projects while I’ve been busy, and I’m happy to say she will continue to do so even now that the book is complete. Over the next week or two I’ll be getting back into the swing of things around here, and more regular posting shall commence!  If you can’t wait for the book release, you might want to pre-order Mom Blogging for Dummies now just to make sure you’re the first on your block to get a copy!

Lots of book writing + running a business + being a mom = brain drain

As satisfying as it was to write a book, it was also a little draining. Mostly this was due to the fact that without any of the aforementioned “spare time”, I was unable to do any sewing, crafting, or creative projects for about 4 months. I know, right? I kind of went bonkers. So this last week I blew off many overdue side projects, emails, and important communications to replenish my creative soul (sorry to those who are still waiting for emails – that’s next on my list, promise!). What did I do? I sewed. As in, sewed so much that I actually got sore from it. I promised myself I would make my first quilt when I was done with the book, which I did – it’s almost complete!

But this last weekend was the really fun part of getting my creativity back – I sewed softies!!

Making Stuffed Animals

I just have to say, sewing softies (Stuffies? Plushies?!) is rather addicting. I made one for myself, then went on to make one for each of my kids, too. None of the patterns are mine, but I’ll show you where to get all of them:

Fancy Peacock from the book Little Birds

Stuffed Peacock Pattern from Stash Books' Little Birds

I bought the book Little Birds based solely on the fact that I saw this peacock on the Stash Books Blog (eye candy alert) and literally HAD to make one for myself immediately. He is proudly perched in my craft room now, and I get happy just looking at him. I mean, who wouldn’t be happy looking at this adorable thing??

Little Birds from the Stash Books Design Collective

Pikku the Penguin from the book Little Birds

Stuffed Penguin Pattern from Stash Books' Little Birds

So, have you ever bought a book based on one awesome project, only to find that the rest of the book is only mediocre? Well, that’s NOT the case with Little Birds. I have plenty of work-related catching up to do this week, and I’m having to talk myself out of making more birds. That sounds really odd when I say it out loud…

Anyways, this little penguin was adorable and perfect for my youngest daughter. I made it out of a recycled cashmere sweater, so the resulting toy is beyond soft and cuddly. I had a hard time giving this little one up.

Stuffed Angry Bird from Obessively Stitching (Free Pattern!)

Stuffed Angry Bird Pattern from Obsessively Stitching

My son wasn’t quite as impressed with the rather girly-girl birds in the first book. So we went over to Obsessively Stitching, where Care has created sewing patterns for all the Angry Birds and green pigs, too! My son had the hardest time deciding which one he wanted me to make for him (complicated further by the next book – you’ll see what I mean). But he was kind of ecstatic when I was done with this. He’s not usually into stuffed animals, but his love of the Angry Birds game outweighed his usual disdain for softies.

Asp Turtle from the book Beasties

Stuffed Turtle Pattern from Diana Schoenbrun's Beasties Pattern Book

I have to admit, this pretty darn adorable turtle isn’t entirely representative of the things you’ll find in Diana Schoenbrun’s Beasties book. My oldest daughter is a turtle lover, so I used the pattern but made it extra cute (don’t you agree?!). The book, however, is filled with softie patterns that can be truly called “Beasties” – a cyclops, werewolf, Loch Ness monster, aliens, a yeti, and some truly strange creatures that pretty much defy explanation. This book was filled with so many cool monsters to make that my son asked if he could make one all on his own. Yep, an 11 year old boy asked me to teach him to sew because of this book.

Beasties Patterns by Diana Schoenbrun

So, that’s where I got the stuffed animal patterns to make my own softies. You may see another post like this in the near future – but I promise I have to get caught up on emails first. :)

FYI – these are not affiliate links, I live in Illinois and pretty much can’t use affiliate links at all anymore – new weird tax law, don’t ask. :(

But I did get a free copy of Beasties to review late last year. I feel pretty bad it’s taken me so long to write something about it! I bought the other book with my own hard-earned pennies. :)

Make a cute, no-sew tutu in less than an hour!

OK, OK.  My kid doesn’t really need another tutu.  But I saw this tutorial and just had to make one.  I did mine a little differently than hers, but she gets all the credit for the idea (and even the color choice).  You can never have too many tutus, right?

What You Need to Make a Tutu

• 3 spools of 6″ tulle (15 yards each)
• 3/4″ elastic (I’d consider going with 1/2″ next time)
• safety pin
• scissors (or a rotary cutter)

Supplies needed to make a tutu.

I chose a light purple, a dark purple, and a light yellow.  (I know, they look blue in the picture.)

Measure your kiddo’s waist and then take off about two inches.  I left extra on the end and used a safety pin instead of sewing the ends together.  That way I can adjust it to be bigger as she grows.

Attach the ends of the elastic and leave a couple of inches to tuck in as you work.

Cut your tulle into 18″ pieces.  They will be folded in half and knotted, so this leaves about eight inches sticking out when all is said and done.

If you want a longer skirt on your tutu, just increase the length of the tulle pieces.

I chose to alternate colors in my tutu.  I stacked a dark purple on top of a light purple and folded them in half, scrunching them up in the middle.  The knot was formed by wrapping the loop around the elastic and the pulling the loose ends through.  I then alternated and did one that was a single piece of yellow tulle.  Work your way around, bunching them fairly close together.  They’re a little loose in this picture, but I slid them closer together as I got toward the end.

Work your way around the elastic to fill in the tutu.

How to make a tutu!

I’m satisfied with our simple tutu for now but I’m thinking that if you wanted to take a wide ribbon, fold it over the top, and stitch it down, you could have a finished looking waist band.  (Then I’d probably tack on some ribbons and flowers and get really fancy.)

This tutu is adorable all the way around!

What I Learned the Hard Way: After cutting the first spool with scissors, I decided to get out my quilting mat and rotary cutter, and it went quite a bit faster.  It’s not necessary, but I found cutting the pieces to be a bit tedious.

Our extra-long snake draft blocker.

We recently moved into a very old house and immediately found ourselves in the midst of the snowiest November in as long as they’ve been keeping records on such things.  As you can imagine, it was cold and windy outside.   We sometimes found that it was also cold and drafty inside.   A good deal of air was coming in through the bottom of the fireplace, so we made this fun draft blocker to help keep us cozy.  My daughter is too young to use the sewing machine, but she helped with the parts of the craft that she could.

Door Draft Blocker Project Materials

• a long piece of fabric, or some shorter ones sewn together
• a piece of red felt with a triangle cut out of the end for a nice snake-y tongue
• six buttons
• scissors
• sewing machine
• rice
• hot glue

Most people use draft blockers at the bottom edge of their doors, so start by measuring the width of the door.  Add a half inch to that amount (for your 1/4″ seam allowances), and cut your fabric to that length.  I found a width of about five inches worked great, but you can adjust it if you have a larger gap at the bottom of the door.  If you don’t have one fabric that is long enough, stitch a few complementary fabrics together to get it to the right length.

Sew the long edge and one short edge, right sides together.

Sewing the fabric together for your snake draft blocker.

You’ve just created a tube.  Turn it right-side-in, and fill with rice.  My little one was able to help with this part.

Leave a bit of empty space in the top so that your draft blocker is bendable.

Turn the unfinished edges under with the red felt tongue sandwiched between and sticking out.

Sew the end together, remembering to backstitch at the beginning and end.

Finally, glue your buttons together to make eyes, and hot glue them in place.  We made ours by stacking a small black button on a medium blue button (the iris and pupil), and placing those both on top of a large white button.  If you have really little ones, you might prefer to sew the buttons on before filling and sewing up the end.

Attaching eyes to your snake draft blocker.

Ready to block some drafts!

What I Learned the Hard Way: This particular draft blocker was pretty long, and after about four cups of rice, I ran out.  Eager to have the project done, we went ahead and filled top several inches with popcorn, and it worked just fine! (Note from Wendy – cat litter also works very well as a stuffer!)

Isn’t this cell phone cover craft cute? I just love the way it turned out. This thing is so simple to make – you don’t even need a sewing machine (though it would make it faster)!

I think the key to making this sleeve look so cute is to find the cutest button you can possibly find. I got mine at Joann’s.

Cell Phone Cover Pattern

What You Need to Make a Cell Phone Cover

Felt – you can just buy one of those small 8″ x 10″ craft felt pieces. I bought mine by the yard because I liked the color better. Even then it’s super-cheap.

1 foot of thin elastic cording – choose a funky contrasting color!

1 button

Thread to match the felt along with a regular needle

A yarn needle to attach the elastic cord

How to Make a Cell Phone Cover

First you need to cut the felt to the size of your cell phone – since they are all different, here’s a general guide on how to cut your own pattern.

Fold the felt in half and cut it to the same height as your phone. Cut it wide enough to have a 3/8″ inch or 1 cm seam allowance on each side as shown:

Cell Phone Cover Pattern

Stitch up the sides, leaving the top open of course. Use small stitches! Or a sewing machine!!

Sewing the sides of the phone cover

Turn it inside out like this.

Sewing the Phone Case

Sew the button onto the front of the case in the middle with about 1 inch / 2 cm space at the top.

Sewing the Button on the Front

Turn the phone cover over and thread your elastic cord through your yarn needle. Sew it into the center back of the cover as shown, 3 stitches total.

Sew 3 Stitches to Attach the Elastic Cord

Before you do this last part, be sure to slip your phone into the case to make sure that the elastic fits the cover and your phone perfectly. Wrap the elastic around the button and tie it off in the back – you want it snug but not tight. Tie it in a square knot 3-4 times to make it strong.

Finish Attaching the Elastic Code

Trim off the ends of the cord and gently pull the knot through your stitches so that the knot is on the inside of the case.

That’s it!

Remember, this is Day 11 of Twleve Days of Gifts Kids Can Make! 11 down, just 1 more to go!