Thrift Store Gems

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After a couple weeks of the kids thrift store being closed, we finally were able to get back into our Monday routine and pay a visit after Starbucks!

Jax loves going because he is allowed to be down on his own two feet exploring instead of strapped into the baby carrier or held back. The shopkeeper doesn’t mind him playing wit the toys and nothing is breakable. (Everything is cheap even if he did break or tear something.) I use the thrift store as a place to practice shopping with Jax. He is getting very good at putting things back if I ask. I’ve even started letting him help at the grocery store after all the practice!

There weren’t many clothes in his size today, but we found toys and books. Because I got some toys, I put together a big box of too-young toys for Jax to give away as soon as we got home. When something “new” comes in, something old goes out!

Here’s what we got for $14:

Books: The Laughing Dragon (This book is gorgeous and out of print. A great find!), Baby Faces (Also out of print, this gets great reviews. It shows different emotions.), Way Out in the Desert (I’m putting this one in our bedtime book basket.), Baby Says Peekaboo! (Jax loves books with peekaboo flaps!) and Ten Apples Up on Top! (I handed this to Jax to look at on the drive home and he said “App-Pull! App-Pull!”).

     

Toys: Little Tikes Wee Waffle Blocks ‘N Bucket (I hadn’t seen this before. I normally avoid sets of plastic blocks, but I like that these are advanced for Jax and will help with his motor skills. For $3.75 they are worth a try! We have a Circo (Target) train like this  Melissa & Doug Stacking Train set with 2 cars that Jax loves. It is his bedroom toy for while I am showering. He has mastered his little train, so I put the one other bedroom toy (a shape sorter he has outgrown) in the donate box and added this train set to his basket.

Clothes: Just a button down I will layer over a thermal. Anything green to match his shoes is good!

Sunday Souvenir – A Month for my Mother

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October is breast cancer awareness month, so I am dedicating this month’s Sunday Souvenirs to my mother. She lost her battle with breast cancer when I was just five.

I wish I had wonderful memories of her to share and treasure, but I don’t. I don’t remember much about her at all. I have one memory of visiting her hospital room with a finger painting I made. I remember when my dad told us she had died. I was just too young.

Tonight I went through the beginning of my mother’s baby book. Her name was Donna Lynn – we share a middle name. I focused on her first birthday and some baby items since my baby boy is 1.5 now.

There is a beautiful baby necklace and bracelet set made of pinkish pearls. A silver and ivory teething ring. Silver bib fastener. I will be putting it all in a shadow box to hang on the wall when I find the right one.

I adore the photos of my mom from her first birthday. Her sweet face was in my mind as Jax ran to me to go get ready for bed once I’d finished taking pictures. For the first time, I realized how badly I wished my mom could have met Jax and seen the woman I’ve become. I’m crying a little as my sweet son snores on my shoulder.

I have so much to read in baby book about her first two years, but I have to wait until Jax isn’t near enough to rip the pages. when he is older, we can look through photos of his grandma together.

Leave a comment if write a Sunday Souvenir and you’d like your link to be added!

iSpy Quiet Book Page

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So I originally made a stand-alone iSpy game and Velcroed it to a Quiet Book page, but the next day I decided the 2″ thick bag was just too much for the book. I also wanted a larger window so Jax could find the items easier. So, I cut the bag open and started over!

Here is what I did to make a large, flat iSpy game that will be zigzag-stitched to my white flannel quiet book page. (You can see an example of a finished page here.) My materials were: two squares of felt that are slightly smaller than my book pages (mine are 9″ in tie dye and lime green), a square of clear vinyl that is slightly smaller than your felt, poly pellets, buttons and trinkets, ribbon, stick-on felt letters and a key card. For more details on the key card and supplies, see my iSpy bag tutorial.

I took my top felt piece cut out a square in the middle for the window. You can cut out any shape and any size. I went for a large window to make it easier for Jax. I don’t want him to have to squish the page a lot like you would an iSpy bag. A couple shakes moves everything around. I sewed the square of clear vinyl to the back of the window, going around twice for security. Then I trimmed the extra vinyl and rounded the corners so they didn’t poke through.

I layered the front and back felt pieces together and sewed them together on 3 sides, again going around twice. You don’t want to leak pellets! I didn’t sew all the way at the edge of my felt because I didn’t want a lot of the bag contents to be hidden. The more you have hidden, the harder the game will be. I filled the bag with pellets and trinkets then sewed the top shut with my key card ribbon in the seams.

To finish it up, I added “I SPY” to the top of the page. Easy!

iSpy Bag Tutorial

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Update:The iSpy bag came out so freaking cute, but I ultimately decided it was too thick for the quiet book. I’ll be posting my redo of it tomorrow or Monday. But, I still plan to use the method blow to make iSpy games as fun, easy gifts!

I love iSpy games! They have all kinds of fun trinkets buried in beads/pellets/rice and you have to squish them around to find everything. It’s a little beyond Jax right now, but I wanted to make one and have it be able to attach to a page in his quiet book.

On the quiet book page

The page itself is simple. I took a piece of fancy felt (tie dye) and sewed down two strips of Velcro so the game would have a place to live when it wasn’t in use. This page will be thick, but most of mine are.

Here’s how you make an iSpy bag. They are fun to make even if you aren’t making a quiet book!

You’ll need:

  • fleece scraps (mine were two 6″ squares)
  • a scrap of clear vinyl (mine was about 5″)
  • poly pellets, beads or rice
  • ribbon (to attach your key card)
  • fun objects (buttons, trinkets, paperclips…)
  • print out of your objects (laminated or covered in clear packing tape)
  • sewing machine/thread/scissors
  • Velcro (if you are attaching it to a Quiet Book page

I started with two pieces of fleece that were about 6″ square. I sewed the other half of the Velcro strips to the back piece. I took the front piece and folded it in half. I took a square of scrap cardboard and folded that in half as well. I centered it over the fold of the fleece and cut it out to make the window hole.

I took a square of clear vinyl that was larger than my window and sewed it to the wrong side of the fleece, then trimmed it down to about 1/4″. I pinned the front and back pieces together, right sides facing, and added one end of a ribbon. (I sewed the ribbon into a side seam then pulled it up through the side I left open. I wanted it to be anchored into two seams.) I sewed around 3 sides then turned it right side out. I was going for rounded corners, so I didn’t clip mine before turning.

I took all my fun objects I’d collected and placed them in the bag. I mostly had decorative buttons I’d found for a great price at the craft store. They gave me a really good assortment of objects to search for. Then I filled the bag about 2/3 full of poly pellets. I folded in the open side and pinned it shut. I top stitched around the whole bag, going 2 times over the open side (and testing the seam by trying to pull it open afterwards. You don’t want pellets going everywhere!)

For my key card, I laid out my objects beforehand and took a photo of them on a white background. In Photoshop, I rearranged them a bit and added text. (You can download the font I used for free here. It is made from my handwriting.) I printed the 4″ square on 4″ x 6″ photo paper and trimmed it down. I don’t have and laminating pouches, so I took clear packing tape and covered both sides to make it waterproof and more stable. I expect I’ll need to replace it eventually if it gets too folded. I punched a hole in the top and tied it to the other end of the ribbon.

So fun! I’ve played with it a bit with Jax and he was excited when we found the “choo choo”! I think adults can have just as much fun as kids. I may do something with iSpy bags as gifts or party favors in the future. They take so little time to make!

Link-o-rama!

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Happy Wednesday! How is your week going? I’ve been busy working, sewing and toddler-wrangling. I’m in the drawing stages of our next quiet book page, and have a bunch of ideas simmering for others.

I plan on making an iSpy bag that can detach from a page in Jax’s book. But, I need to collect a bunch of tiny treasures to put into it (like under-an-inch tiny.) If you have anything you can send our way, let me know!

Here are some fun links for you:

  • This link is partially for a friend whose youngest rocked a sushi costume last Halloween, and another friend who has twin boys. Just look at the wasabi and ginger on the hat! I like the milk/cookie/cookie monster set, and the Eric Carle costumes are adorable!
  • Bake a heart (or any shape) into the center of a cupcake!
  • I love Gap’s Portabello line, but don’t love their prices. Make It and Love It has a tutorial for making your own Union Jack jeans! I’m thinking of making it as a little patch to sew on Jax’s jeans (since his 18m – 2T jeans are too tiny to fit into the sewing machine.)
  • I’m Finnish on my dad’s side (if you couldn’t tell from my maiden name of Innanen!) I never knew that the government gives out “baby boxes” to new mothers. How sweet!
  • I stick blank paper in my bag when we go out to eat so Jax can color while we wait. I like this idea for making art tubes to drawings don’t get crunched up.
  • Grow your own pineapple from the top part you just throw away anyway. (Mel, you should do this!)

Two more days until the weekend. Hang in there!

Circus Train Quiet Book Page

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New to Imagine Our Life? there are more quiet book patterns here!

Lot’s of quiet books feature train pages. And there are also a lot that have a barn with finger puppets. Jax has started to point out all the “choo choos” he sees, so I knew I needed a train. And, I loved the idea of finger puppets, but wanted to do something original. So I ended up with a circus train!

I didn’t want the animals in cages. These guys are liberated animals who run their own circus! So Mr Lion is driving, Miss Elephant is in the middle car and Monkey is riding in the caboose. All the animals come out of their train cars, and the wheels spin around.

     

My materials were: two 9″ sky blue felt squares, felt (in hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, purple and black), alphabet ribbon for the “track”, 2 types of star ribbon for trim, embroidery floss for the hair (and all the stitching) batting scrap as the “Steam” and assorted colors of buttons.

Each of the finger puppets were decorated before I sewed the fronts and backs together. For the lion’s mane, I went in a circle making loops of embroidery floss then securing each with a stitch at their base. I did one row that was a mix of an orange color and a dark gold, then a second layer that was bright gold. His face covered the stitches so just the loops showed. For both the lion and the elephant, I made little bunches of floss and tied them at one end, then hid the tie between the two layers of tail. For the elephant I used a textured felt that is supposed to look like gray stone. I liked how it looked wrinkly.

  

The train cars are all sewn on with open tops so the animals can go for a ride. I cut out a random steam shape out of batting and sewed it to the background behind the smoke stack. The ribbons were sewn on before I attached the cars. Everything was hand sewn, but you could use a machine.

  

I cut tiny holes int he centers of the wheels then attached the buttons through the holes. This allows the wheels to spin but not come off and get lost. You could do button holes if you want yours removable. I’d use two layers of felt for that, though.

For more free quiet book patterns, go here! If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. If you have any questions about how anything was done on this page, just let me know!

Thrift Store Gems

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We normally visit the kids’ thrift store once a week to look for books and clothes. Buying used not only saves money, but is a great way to live a little greener when it comes to kids’ items they outgrow quickly. The past two times we’ve gone, the store has been temporarily closed. So today we went down the road to the regular thrift store run by the same company.

They actually had a few children’s books in the book room. We also checked the craft bins and found some buttons. I think the little seed packet buttons would be cute for a quiet book page garden. The My First Word Board Book was a great find, because last night I had to make Jax put his hand-me-down word book in the recycle bin. He kept folding the pages back to open it wider, and it was ripped beyond (re)repair.

For $4.50 total we got: that word book, 3 sets of ceramic buttons (seed packets, cats/houses and potted plants), Baby Dazzlers: Twinkly Night, a Baby Einstein music book and A Crack in the Track.

Sunday Souvenir: High School Jewelry-Making

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I guess I’ve always loved designing and making jewelry. I was lucky that my high school offered a metal jewelry-making class. My memory of high school details is not great, but I think it was my senior year that I took it. That was the last year it was offered. (My class was the last to graduate from the original high school. For the next few years, students were bussed elsewhere while they tore it down and remodeled. Sad!)

I had so much fun in this class! I made a lot of rings in swirly designs. My biggest project was carving a cat ring out of wax then casting it in silver. I was definitely the most prolific student in that year’s class. The teacher, Mr Fields, would come to me with silver wires or wax molds he found to see if I had ideas for them. I won a departmental award for the class.

Did your school have any unusual classes?

Leave a comment if write a Sunday Souvenir and you’d like your link to be added!

On to the Next Page

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I had a productive day! Last night, I got the next page drawn in Illustrator for Jax’s quiet book. This morning, I cut out the pattern while playing with Jax in the playroom. We all headed out for breakfast and ran errands (including finally finding a 4 in 1 coat for Jax for just $32 at Target!

During nap time, I cut out the bazillion parts for the page and started sewing. My husband made dinner, then I did dishes. I swept and vacuumed the downstairs, then vacuumed the stairs, hall, bedroom and nursery. Phew! I got lion and monkey finger puppets done before getting the little man ready for bed.

Now the husband is off at his boys night at the bar and Jax is trying his hardest to fight sleep. He’s losing the battle at last!

I have lots to sew on my current quiet book page, but I’ll post the pattern as soon as it’s all done!

Style Wishlist

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If I could afford it, this Kokopax Samantha Diaper Tote in Flutter and these Minnetonka Fringe Boots would be off my wishlist and on their way to me this very second! I’d use the bag as a combination purse/diaper bag/carry-on for our trip this fall. And, I’ve been looking for gray shoes for 3 years. My gray sweater clogs are looking beat.

What are you currently drooling over?

Also shown: Lucky Brand Wild Flower Vine Earrings, Fossil Ruby Frame Coin Purse, Aircube MacBook Pro Sleeve and OtterBox Commuter Series.

Happy Autumn!

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It’s the first day of fall! I’m really excited, as it’s my favorite season. The only bad thing about it is that it is followed by winter, heh. Jax is already trying to collect leaves. Unfortunately, it is so rainy that the few that have dropped are too soggy to save.

Jax is wearing his Crocs in these pictures. They are the ones we made extra straps for since they are too big. They are staying on great!

     

We need to find him a coat before the weather starts getting cold. My husband wants to get a 3-in-1 style that has a liner you can wear separately. Those are hard to find in 2T (which is already a size up) and always cost between $50 and $100! We just can’t spend that much for a coat that will be outgrown in one season. I tend to like little military coats and reversible parkas for the style aspects.

How much are you willing to spend on a toddler coat? Do you have any favorite sources?

Sock Matching Quiet Book Page

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Would you like to sew and sell items made from this pattern? Commercial licenses are available!

Another quiet book page is ready for Jax’s book! When I was doing the laundry this week, I managed to pull 6 of Jax’s tiny socks out of the dryer before I found one with a match. That inspired this page!

This page has a dryer with a clear door closed with a snap. Inside there are 6 socks without their other halves. The opposite page has the remaining socks. You match them together and the stick with magnets.

     

My materials were: two 9″ blue felt squares, felt (in light blue, gray and charcoal for the dryer, then assorted scraps for the socks), clear vinyl, a snap, 2 buttons and 12 magnets. I had to use 2 different sizes as I didn’t have enough small ones. I put those in the loose socks and the heavier ones on the page. Either size worked fine. You can find them in the craft store.

I started by laying the dryer back and front together on the page and machine stitching around the outside. I pieced the door together by layering the clear vinyl between the two door rings. I also stuck the double-layer door hinge in the left side. I sewed twice around the ring. I placed the door in position and tucked the hinge into the pocket (trim it if it doesn’t fit with the door in the right place.) I hand-sewed the hinge down through all the layers of the page. Using 5 strands of embroidery floss, I whip stitched around the hole of the dryer to fortify it a bit. The latch got a snap on one piece, then I sewed it by hand to the right side of the door. I lined the other half of the snap under it and stitched it on. I added buttons to look like the controls on the dryer.

I had fun with the socks. You need to cut three of everything for each sock design: one layer for the sock appliquéd to the page and to sides for the loose socks. My pattern includes pieces to make a cuff and colored toes and heels. I also included a little star. My favorite socks are the white and aqua tube socks and the zebra print with hot pink accents! When you sew them together, place a magnet inside and stick a ring around it so it doesn’t shift.

Jax was fascinated as he watched me sew the little socks. He is big into socks and shoes right now. When it was all done, he begged to try it out. I was surprised how fast my little 19-month-old understood what to do. He just started pulling the socks out of the dryer and sticking them to their match! Go Jax

For more free quiet book patterns, go here! If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. I really would love to see your version! Go crazy with the socks!