Little Indian Vests from Paper Bags

I got the wonderful job of cutting Indian Vests out of paper bags for C's kindergarten class. Yes, I am being sarcastic. Anyway, how hard could it be, right? Well, they were supposed to look like this...

And this is what I did...

So, I searched and searched and I couldn't find any picture tutorials. Finally, I folded the regular vest back up like a bag and I saw how simple it was. Now I can make it very easy for anyone else that wants to do the same.

First you need a brown grocery bag.

Next, open it up and cut that little "V" at the bottom of the bag.

Now, flatten the bag and cut straight up the middle. I cut my line on the back of the bag. That way the printed side will end up on the inside back of the vest.

Fold the bag in half and cut out a 1/2 circle for the neck. Also, cut the bottom off to make your vest the desired length.

Unfold the bag and flip it inside out. You now have your vest.

You can crumple it to give it that leathered look and you can add fringe to your bag.

Our kindergardeners are going to do that part themselves.

Well, there you have it, 22 vests cut and ready. I'm so glad it's done.

Kristen

Kid Crafting

Ok, does anybody else's house ever look like this?

That's just a quarter of the living room. There is tons of fabric on the part not in the picture too. It's a little preview to my project that should be done tomorrow. :-) I'm very excited. Anyway, while I had that mess, C, L and I made this mess...

We decided to paint old egg cartons and toilet paper rolls.

They were very serious while working.

I couldn't even get them to talk.

When our critters dried we added pipe cleaners. C LOVES pipe cleaners. It's his favorite craft item.

Here are a couple of C's finished projects.

That little blue guy that you can hardly see, C & L spent almost an hour playing with it while I was making dinner. That was nice. They were using their little high voices to make it talk.

Now, back to sewing!

Kristen

Father's Day

I know, I know, it's way past Father's Day. But we were on vacation so we didn't do my husband's present until this week. Two years ago we started a little tradition for Father's Day. I got my husband those little stones that you can make and put hand prints in them. He loved them and I told him we can make the stones every year and eventually have stepping stones throughout our garden with the kids hand prints as they grow. At the time we didn't have a garden, but he loved the idea.

Here is the first one, yes I know, it's a horrible picture...

Here is our second one...

Now we are ready to do this years.

The kids love doing these. They were so excited.

It's so cool, each year we can see how much bigger C and L's little hands are. I love little baby/kid hands. They are so cute. I wish I can keep them little forever. At least I get to see how little they were each year as they grow.

What little artists I have.

Yes, my husband gets something special from me too. But this is something we look forward to every year.

Totally Creative

Sometimes little C amazes me with his creativity. This may sound silly, but I really don't think of myself as creative. I have to get my ideas from somewhere. I love sewing so much because I like to figure out how to make a pattern and fit the pieces together to make clothes. I love looking at clothes from the store and figuring out how I can make my own. So, you see, my type of sewing is more mechanical then creative. I've always had a mechanical mind and I have always wished I was more creative. When I had kids I wanted to make sure they had to use their brains to come up with ideas on their own, something I was horrible at. One of the ways I try to do that is by not allowing more then 1.5 hours of TV per week and no TV before 2 years old. The other thing we do is read books like crazy. Even chapter books. I'm not sure if this helps or if for some people it's just natural to be creative. Mr. C is pretty creative, maybe that's just where little C gets it. Anyhow, whatever the reason C seems to be pretty creative.

Here is why I'm writing about C's creativity. C got home from school to find a box lying on the ground. Immediately he went to get some toilet paper roles and other "supplies" then set out to make a race car. He spend most of his quiet time almost 2 hours on this little race car.

Here is the back with 2 exhaust pipes. Notice all the tape? We go through a LOT of tape around here. I am always finding it things taped together. Rope or string is something else I find a lot of. Right now we have pulleys all over the work out bench holding bears up. It looks pretty morbid, but C doesn't get why that would be.

Here is the side, you can see the wheels at the bottom.

The front with the yellow lines as the lights.

Now the inside, see the green bench seat?

Little C was very proud of this race car. It sat in the house for days just for him to look at, not play with.