North Pole Finger Puppets

Finger Puppets

       My latest finger puppet collection centers around the Arctic regions of our world.  Brrr!    These are made of small pieces of felt stitched with embroidery floss so they are warm and cozy little friends.

            A cute white seal pup and polar bear are found in the cold arctic.    The seal pup has a worried look on his face sitting next to the polar bear,  though I don't think the bear will bother him.   The polar bear is very friendly.

        I added a snowman just for some added fun.  We know how Frosty likes to dance and play in the snowy and cold weather.   Of course Frosty has to have a bright red scarf around his neck to keep away those cold winter winds. 

         Lastly, a penguin was added to the group of felt friends.    I know penguins don't live at the North Pole,  but this one begged me to include him with the other cold weather friends.    So, please explain to your little ones that penguins live at the South Pole not the North Pole.

         I find these finger puppets great for dramatic play or a quiet time activity for preschoolers.    Songs  can be incorporated with finger puppets easily.   They can be taken in the car or on an airplane trip to keep a child occupied for a period of time.    Hide and seek is easily adapted with finger puppets in the confined space of a car seat.    The child can close their eyes and the parent could hide one or all of the finger puppets to find.

      

        The little boxes are made from Altoid tins.     I stitched a small piece of North Pole flannel fabric, that I found at JoAnns, to a piece of felt.     The felt was then glued to the top of the tin  with tacky glue.      All four little chilly friends fit perfectly into the tin for safe keeping.

          I made two sets, one for each of my granddaughters.     They are slightly different so there is no confusion when clean up time comes around.  

       You can view other finger puppets ( Halloween collection,  Baby Sharks,  Moose finger puppets,  and Animal Bed Tins) in previous posts if you are interested. 

       Enjoy the wonderful day! 

Beti 

Flannel Stuffies

Flannel Stuffies Pocket Pals

          I love to wander through the flannel aisles at JoAnns!   The colors and patterns are so much fun.    Cars, animals, dolls, monsters, spacemen, holiday designs,  I could go on and on.

              I found a flannel fabric with polar bears holding fish and wearing hats and cozy scarfs.    How Cute!     The tallest bears are about 4 1/2 inches tall and about 2 inches wide. Some are smaller about 2 1/2 inches tall and just as cute. 

      First,   the bears were cut apart so they could be sewn.   Each bear piece was placed on felt and sewn around the figure.   Stuffing was adding and then the open edge was sewn together.   Finally, the edges were cut with pinking shears.

 
        This was an easy little project.  Hopefully the grandkids will enjoy playing with these new soft friends.

Beti 

Ninja Finger Puppets

Ninjas! Ninjas!

            We see ninjas everywhere!    If you have read my blog,  I love to make felt finger puppets for my grandchildren and grand nieces and nephews.   In talking to my nieces, they mentioned that their boys like to play ninjas with their friends.   I should have known that.   So I decided to make a set of felt ninja finger puppets.

            A couple of years ago while on a family vacation, I gave each grandniece and nephew a little Altoid box with a little felt animal inside.    They were a hit with the kiddos.   So now when I get to visit the kids, I like to have some little handmade toy to play with. 

           My felt finger puppets are made from small scrap felt pieces.    These little guys are about 1 1/2 inches wide and 2 1/2 to 3 inches tall.      They are big enough to fit comfortably on your fingers and those of children, too.    I cut the body and other shapes free hand so none are exactly alike.      With a "pattern in my "mind's eye", the finger puppet begins to take shape.    So if you are going to make these, pick up your scissors and begin to snip here and there.      As you can see, black, browns, grays, and a green felt were used for the bodies.      Tiny scraps of red, yellow, and black were used for their belts.
  

             The only part that was hand stitched were the tiny eyes peeking out from each mask. The rest of the sewing was done by machine.   (Many of my finger puppets are completely hand stitched, but I wanted these to be a bit more durable because the boys will be playing with them.  

      Ninjas can be educational, too! 
             These little warriors can always be used for counting, sorting,  and matching activities.    Matching the belts or the color of the clothing could be fun.     Properties of same and different can be used in sorting.   They can also be placed in order from smallest to largest.      The educational possibilities  are endless.


          Give these little fellows a try if you enjoy making felt finger puppets!  I  do hope some lucky little boys and girls enjoy their ninjas!


Beti

Fabric Travel Doll House

Fabric 

Doll House 

       
              There have been so many fabric doll houses on Pinterest lately.    Or maybe they just started to catch my eye.  I enjoy making toys out of felt and different kinds of fabric, so fabric doll houses would be a natural progression for me to try to work on.  

    
               Here is a look at the inside of my fabric doll house.      The house lays flat and can be folded for easy storage.      It measures 26 inches from top to bottom and is 2 and a half feet across.       At this point you can see pins around the edges of the house.      I was beginning to hand stitch the house together.
   
       The central section has a light blue gingham "rug" on the floor.      The back wall has the table and two chairs.      An large ice cream treat is waiting on the table to tempt anyone who comes to visit.      Hung on the back wall is a festive banner ready for any celebration.

         There is a picture of the family dog hanging over the warm cozy fire place on the left side wall.        Across the room is a Christmas tree with a smiling snowman button behind the ladder that leads to the upstairs loft. 

           The embellishments were made from scrap flannel fabric and stitched securely onto  the base fabric before the house was assembled.

         The green lawn is felt with a burlap path winding through the middle.  A small pond, trees, and flowers add to the outdoors feel. 

 
           The outside of the fabric house is also embellished.     A black front door with a button door knob is surrounded with a green vine with yellow flowers.       The vine was machine stitched and the flowers and French knots.     Next to the window is a felt mailbox and a tiny pink button flower to add contrast and dimension.     I stitched their last name on the mailbox in place of  the white label.     One side of the house has a wildflower garden made from assorted colorful buttons with machine stitched stems. 

         At the top of the picture you can see the striped roof with a pink ribbon.   This will become the carrying handle once the house is folded up.  If you look closely you can see loops sewn around the outside edge of the roof and front of the house.   These will be used with buttons to securely close the house when your child is finished playing. 
 NOTE:
      After my granddaughters played with their houses for a while, the elastic loops became unattached.     I will need to use velcro to make tabs to close the house more securely.       I learn something new every day!    And I am not ashamed to make mistakes.  That's what I told my students and now what I tell my grandchildren.    Live and Learn!

      The house walls and floor are reinforced with sheets of plastic canvas.  These light weight  sheets of plastic make the walls sturdy yet flexible. 

        Recently I  made some princess finger puppets which were  the perfect size for this play house!

             

            As  you can see the house has been played with and is quite durable. It takes the strain of a toddler sitting on and it it.

     This little house was so much fun to make and embellish.

  Happy Sewing!

Beti

Doc McStuffins felt finger puppets

     Finger puppets Come Alive!

        The other day I was shopping at JoAnn fabrics and spotted a package of Doc McStuffins buttons.  I just had to pick up two packages. Two of everything is what I need to make gifts for our granddaughters.

        These little buttons would be perfect to use for finger puppets!  When I got home I went to the basket full of felt scraps.  Two pieces of felt about two or three inches by an inch and a half is all that is needed to create a finger puppet.

    A different color felt was used for each puppet to give them their own identity.

    Here is the set of four little friends just waiting to play.

      Doc and her friends were quickly scooped up for some adventures in make believe. 😁

I hope you enjoy this wonderful day that God has given us.

Beti

Felt Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs! ROAR!

        While browsing Pinterest I saw some very cute and tiny dinosaurs.  I couldn't resist making some myself!  

          Out came my basket of scrap felt.  I started snipping the different colors of felt until tiny dinosaurs appeared in my hands. I didn't use a pattern to make these. That's why they are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination! With embroidery floss the dinos were given eyes, a mouth, and a bit of flare. The front and back were finally stitched together.  These little guys are actually stuffed with minute scrape of felt and yarn to make them a tiny bit chubby. They each have their own personality and charm. They can be fierce or friendly, whatever the child may choose.

       They all are between 2 and 3 inches in length.  The perfect size to fit into an Altoid tin for safe keeping.  A small scrap of green felt is fit into the bottom of the tin for grass to sleep on and a piece for some green felt vegetation for these dinosaurs to munch on. Can you hear the munching and chewing?  Which dinosaur would make the loudest roar?

Brontosaurus ?

Stegosaurus ?

T-Rex maybe?

       Wouldn't  these dinosaurs be great to take on a long car or airplane excursion?  They take up minimal amount to space  in your carry on bag. So much creative play, in so little space, for so little cost. 

   
     Please drop me a note if you have a minute to spare. I'd love to hear from you.

Beti

Penguin Amigurumi Friends

PENGUIN FRIENDS

        I just finished these two little penguins. An easy crochet project that a beginner who can work in the round should be able to complete easily.

    I like how their wings can be positioned in different ways.  The owner of these chilly birds can made them have many exciting adventures together.

    I hope your child or children have fun and experience an adventure with these chubby penguins.

Beti

Felt Food

Felt Food!

Yum! 

            I have been looking at all the posts on Pinterest concerning everyone making felt food. It looked so appealing and didn't seem that hard to make, so I thought I would give it a try.  My granddaughters have play kitchen sets, so this would be the perfect addition to their dramatic play.

                  I started out with cookies.  Round pieces of felt sewn to look like sandwich cookies were so simple to do. Adding a little bit of hand stitching to one side made it look like a frosting design on top.  I was able to work on these on the airplane or in the car when traveling.  The chocolate chip cookies were also fun and easy. Little brown, round circles stitched to the large top circle was quick to do. Some tiny chocolate chips were created with French knots instead of felt circles. Then the top and bottom were stitched together.

            Pasta was a quick and easy food to make.  My pinking shears came in handy when making the ravioli and bow tie pasta. I stuffed the ravioli with little bits if left over felt from cutting the cookies. These went together in no time at all. Very easy for a beginner sewer.

      
         Fruits and Vegetables were other food groups that I decided to work on.
The strawberries were also fun and easy. A half circle of red felt and a few stitches of tan embroidery floss made the strawberry come together quickly. A little green star shaped piece of felt was sewn on the top for the leaves and stem.
         The corn and carrot are made with the same basic shape. When working on the corn I machine stitched the felt in a checker board pattern to make the kernels of corn. The side seam was sewn next. Then the top and bottom were gathered to finish each piece. A piece of cream colored felt was sewn on one end of the cob to make the flat end. Green felt was added to the carrot for the leaves.

  
        All the fixings for a sandwich would be a good addition to the felt food collection. Making the bread was a little more tricky than I thought.  It didn't turn out as well as I would have wanted. But once you put all the pieces together, it will pass for a pretend sandwich. The cheese slices were just pieces of felt.  You can't get any easier than that!

        Egg and toast is all you need for breakfast. 

 
        I just had to make some desserts! Donuts and ice cream of course!          A kitchen would not be complete without dessert! These were so much fun to make.  I smiled the entire time working on them.

        I know that my felt food doesn't meet the standards of the food you might find on Etsy, but I hope my granddaughters will enjoy playing with their assortment of felt goodies for years to come. 

Felt Vegetables

  Felt  Vegetables

       My family was having baby shower with the theme
 " A Farmer's Market ".
     
      So I thought it a crate of felt vegetables would be a cute addition to the serving table.  So this is what I came up with. A head of lettuce or cabbage, carrots, pea pods, an egg plant, a corn on the cob, and an apple or tomato.
     
    When this baby grows into a toddler, they will have play food for kitchen. Every child needs to have dramatic play in their day. So what better way than to give a crate of "fresh vegetables" to include in the play. The bright colors are a stimuli for the senses and great for color recognition.

          Here is my attempt at a head or lettuce or cabbage. 

         These are more like baby carrots.

                       The peas in a pod.

              I love the color of the egg plant.

             Yellow sweet corn is ready for some melted butter.

           I suppose this looks more like an apple but it could be a tomato if the stem and leaf were a little different shape.

     I added a crocheted pale yellow chick to keep an eye on all the veggies the crate. 

     So if you are looking for a gift from the heart for a child, give these colorful, felt veggies a try.

Beti