The Cozy Caterpillar

After spending a couple hours out shopping with my one year old nephew, I realized that babies go through a TON of socks! He would go into the store with two socks and inevitably by the time we left there would be one lonely sock on his foot.

I realized that the perfect gift for his first birthday would be some baby socks. I mean the more he has the better, right?! Especially since he seems to be constantly losing them.

I didn't want to just throw a bunch of socks in the bag and call it good either because that just didn't seem fun. So I came up with the "Cozy Caterpillar" baby socks gift. It's super cute and easy to make!

Ingredients:
About a dozen baby socks (boy or girl)
1 pipe cleaner
2 mini pop-poms
2 buttons
Green shredded paper
Note: I have double stick tape pictured but I found that Elmer's glue dots worked better for part of it, so I ended up using both
Not pictured: Container to put it in (I used a cookie tin)

Step 1: Take one of the baby socks and roll it up as seen in the picture.

Step 2: Take the first baby sock and put it down inside the foot of the matching sock.

Step 3: Starting at the opening of the sock, roll it around the foot so that you end up making a ball.

Step 4: Do this with all the remaining socks. Then decide which pattern you would like your caterpillar to have. There was only one red sock with mine, so I made that the head.

Step 5: Cut 2 pieces of pipe cleaner, each about 3 inches long. Wrap the bottoms together to form a "V." Bend the base of the "V" and attach it to the top of the head with the glue dots. Using the glue dots again, attach the pom-poms to the tops of the pipe cleaners and then attach the eyes. You can see why I changed it and went with the glue dots instead. The tape just looks messy!

Step 6: Place a piece of double stick tape on the bottom of each sock and attach them to your container. The double stick tape worked perfectly for this.
I made a zig-zag pattern with the socks. First, to get them all to fit and second because I thought it was cute and wiggly.

Step 7: Finish by filling in around your caterpillar with your paper shreds. I made mine by running 2 different colors of green paper through my shredder.

There you have it! A cute and fun way to give baby socks!

I will be linking up to my favorite parties this week.

Valentines for Boys 2: Superhero Valentines

Superhero Valentines: It's all that sweet stuff in disguise, so even the littlest guys will like it!

In the second edition of Valentines for Boys, it's nephew #2's turn. See Valentines for Boys: Part 1 for more ideas. Nephew #2 was just as excited to pick out his own design and quickly selected the Superhero Valentines.

Supplies: 30 tootsie pops (I used the Valentine's Day themed), cardstock in a variety of colors, tape or glue dots, glue stick, scissors, hole punch

I created a black and white template printable, you can download it here. Print the template on any colored cardstock you desire. 

To make the superhero emblem on the cape, out came the trusty Silhouette. I found a Superhero design in their store and used the LD Blankie font. The Superhero design was two pieces, so I decided to only use the inner piece. For instructions on how to print and cut, check out the tutorial on the Silhouette FAQ page.

It would also be easy to make these with a printer and cardstock and then cut a design by hand.

To assemble: Cut the shapes from the template by hand. Then punch a hole in the top of the capes with the hole punch. Attach your superhero emblem using the glue stick. The cape slides on to the stick of the tootsie pop and shouldn't need anything to secure it - the wrapper helps it stay in place. Then attach the mask with a glue dot or piece of tape.

Perfect for any little boy!

Valentines for Boys: You're the Bomb

There are so many cute things for kids around Valentine's Day. Seeing all the cute things everywhere was giving me the itch to get crafty but I have no kids of my own. So the other day, I had a bright idea - why not make fun stuff for other kids! First on the list, my adorable nephews.

I sent my sis-in-law a bunch of great ideas for things I could make for the boys to take to school for Valentine's Day. The boys were so excited and quickly picked out their favorites.

These are for nephew #1 and are inspired the Valentine Doings post at Make it Do.

1. Supplies needed: 30 individual size Kit-kat bars or other small candy, 30 - 2" by 2" squares of red scrapbook paper, 30 pieces of 12" black pipe cleaner, scrapbook adhesive or tape, 2 sheets of 12x12 red scrapbook paper for the tags.

2. As shown in the picture, place a strip of adhesive down the edge of the square of paper. Place another strip on the opposite edge, on the same side of the paper. Line up one edge of the candy bar on the paper and press down firmly.

3. Roll the paper around the whole way until it sticks on the opposite side. The candy bar should be completely covered. If you are using tape, just roll the paper around the candy and tape the ends closed.

4. Cut your pieces of pipe cleaner into 2 lengths. Four inches long for the fuse and 8 inches long for wrapping around the stack of candy. You should end up with 30 pieces in each pile.

To begin assembling, stack 3 wrapped pieces of candy together in your hand. Put one piece of "fuse" pipe cleaner in the middle of the stack. Then take your long piece of pipe cleaner and wrap securely around the outside of the bundle.

It should look like this when you have them to this point.

To make the tags, I got out my Silhouette. I found a great circle tag from the Silhouette store and loved the way the LD Petticoat Twist font looked for these. I used the print and cut instructions found on the Silhouette FAQ page.

To do this without the Silhouette, you can type up tags in Word and cut them out using a circle template and hole punch.

Finishing touches: I hung the tags on the pieces of pipe cleaner that were hanging out and then tucked the excess behind to help hold them in place.

Now all he has to do is sign his name and try not to eat them before Valentine's Day gets here!

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Easy Afternoon Project: Finger Knitting Tutorial

I have tried to learn how to crochet. Sometime I will post the picture of the sad little scarf I made when my sister made me sit down and learn. It is just not something I think I will ever grasp the concept of. In my many craft endeavors, I had amassed quite a collection of yarn, even without being crocheter/knitter. In her efforts to get me to do something fun with all the yarn, my sister decided that I would learn how to finger knit. Surprisingly, finger knitting is something that is totally easy and fun to do. I made all sorts of scarves for the women in my family this Christmas and they were a huge hit!

I found some great easy tutorials on how to make these scarves. They are so fast that you can make up a bunch in an afternoon or evening while watching your favorite show. Plus they are a great project for kids to do.

At Lines Across, they have an easy to follow Finger Knitting Tutorial and I love that they show you how to change yarn colors.

And over at Maggie Whitley, there is another great Finger Knitting Garland & Necklace Tutorial. My favorite part is that she gives really great instructions and photos on how to tie off when you are finished with your scarf.

For my scarves, I used 2 strands of yarn. One strand of regular yarn and one strand of Fun Fur. I found that this gave it a wonderful thickness and the Fun Fur gave it some extra flair.

Have fun "knitting!"