Aprons

I thought of this cute idea for the kids to do as gifts!

It was very simple.  I got the aprons at JoAnn Fabrics.  I also picked up some fabric paint and some iron on photo paper.  

The first thing I did was put the aprons on the kids and gave them a bowl and spoon and took their picture in the kitchen.

I then printed the photo on the iron on photo paper (following manufacturer directions) and then ironed the picture onto the apron.

I think had the kids use the fabric paint to put handprints on the apron.  I did some other embellishments with the fabric paint as well!

These will go perfect with our homemade potholders.

Christmas Reindeer Snacks

Do you have a child's party that you are still needing snacks for? Or maybe you are having a gathering at your house where children will be present and need a fun snack.  Or maybe you are having an adult party and need a fun snack!!  

These cute little reindeer snacks would be perfect for any Christmas gathering!  And they are super easy and fast to make!!

Just take a piece of bread and cut the crusts off (or don't, it really doesn't matter).  Spread some peanut butter on your bread square and then add a cherry for the nose, raisins for the eyes, and broken twist pretzels for the antlers.  (I also used a small piece of pretzel to "anchor" the nose to the bread so it doesn't roll off).

These would be fun for any Christmas party!!

(this was also posted at my homeschool blog - trainingupachild.blogspot.com)

Cookie Containers

(I can't take full credit for this one but wanted to share anyways!!)

I had already decided that one of the things I wanted the kids to do as Christmas gifts is decorate cookie containers and fill them with homemade cookies.

Well last Friday were actually able to make it to storytime at the library.  This was our first time in WEEKS that we were able to make it! And guess what?!?! The theme for the day was Christmas baking and the craft was decorating cookie containers and then decorating cookies to go in them!!

I thought their idea was so cute!  They had cute colored scrapbooking paper and cottonballs and the kids made santa hats and beards to go on the lid!  Seth did all of his cutting by himself.  Even Alyssa made one!

Of course we have already eaten the cookies that we decorated but we are going to use the containers to fill with homemade cookies to give to family for Christmas!

Here is a picture of that container!  This is a super easy idea and most people probably already have the supplies in their house!  It would be a fun idea for a quick Christmas gift!

Homemade Potholders

WARNING FAMILY MEMBERS - if you do not want to ruin your Christmas surprise PLEASE do not view this post any further!!













I came up with this idea to have my kids show off their drawing skills :-)  We made homemade potholders!  I got some simple muslin fabric and some fabric markers.  I cut out squares and let them draw away.  (I found it very easy to safety pin the squares to a plastic placemat.  That way the table was protected and they didn't have to worry about the fabric shifting.)

When they were done drawing I added some batting and a bottom layer of fabric and did simple quilting lines. I then binded the edges with quilt binding (or you can also use double fold bias tape).  I wrote their name, date and age on the potholder!

Now loved ones can think of my kids when they are getting hot goodies out of their oven!!

Seth's Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Seth has been loving learning how to play tic-tac-toe.  I thought it would be fun to make him a tic-tac-toe game!

This was another felt project - I love working with felt - it is so easy to work with!!

I just took a black square of felt and sewed red rick rack to make the game board.  I then cut out x's and o's from red and white felt.

On the back I sewed two rectangles of felt to make pockets to keep the game pieces in.

I then added snaps and rick rack handles so that you can close it up and carry it with you!

I sure hope Seth enjoys pulling this out of his stocking!

Alyssa's Bear

I made a bear from one of Alyssa's baby blankets!!

The tutorial I got did not have clear instructions at all and it ended up being quite a struggle and the feet have got this curve in them that I don't think they are suppose to have but I think overall it turned out very cute!  It is very soft and very snuggly - and a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be :-)

I think Alyssa is going to love it - club feet and all :-)  (my hubby said it looks like the bear has club feet...oh well)

Mr Potato Heads

A little while back I saw a tutorial for making a felt Mr Potato Head that I thought really cute.  When our kids saw the Toy Story movies just a few weeks back and fell in love with them I thought these would be cute to make them for Christmas.  When I went searching for the tutorial I found out that Hasbro asked that blog to remove the tutorial.

But I realized that I could figure out how to make these without a tutorial...it couldn't be that hard, now could it?!?

I thought the results turned out to be really cute!  Don't you agree??

I was trying to make them with the pocket for all of the items attached to the back but I wasn't using my brain and didn't think to leave some give in that piece of fabric so that I would have room in the pocket to put things (so if you try this yourself then don't make your pocket peices the same size as your other body pieces.  It needs to be slightly larger so there is room in the pocket)

Thankfully my mom had the idea to make a backpack to put the items in!  (I actually did this project at her house on black Friday!)

Here are all of the pieces.

I hope my boys love these!  I know I sure do!!

Hiccup Dolls for our Night Fury Dragons!

If you have seen the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon' then you know that one of the things that makes the movie so good is the relationship developed between viking-in-training Hiccup and Toothless, the Night Fury.

If you saw this post then you know that I have made a Toothless plush for my sons and my nephew.  Well, my mom, sister and I decided that they needed a Hiccup to go with them.

I did some research online tutorials for dolls that I could make work (that would be easy too) and decided on this tutorial.

Here are pics of my result!  I was pleased!  I hope the boys love him!

Toothless Plushie!

OMG!  I can't believe I finally finished this project!  

My nephew's favorite movie right now is How To Train A Dragon.  In fact a few weeks ago they came up and brought the movie and we watched it.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the movie.  My boys fell in love with it as well!

So when I found this tutorial to make a Toothless plushie I decided that this needed to be another Christmas present!  This will be my Christmas present to my nephew and I thought to go ahead and make one for each of my boys while I was at it!

This was probably one of the most challenging sewing projects I have done yet!  There were about 25 pattern pieces!!  And some of the steps were difficult to figure out but I did!  And I am glad I stuck with it!

I enlarged the pattern pieces by 200%!!  The final doll is a dimension of 36" from tip of head to tip of tail!  (I found one online for not quite this big for $250!!!)

I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas!  I especially can't wait to see my nephew's reaction when he opens his!!

Here are some pics (they don't do it justice...I am not a good photographer and could not figure out the best way to get photos to show you what these are like!  Yes there are flaws (it is my sewing so there are going to be flaws!) but I still think they are cute!

Oh - and I probably should state I made these with black felt!  Felt is very easy to work with :-) That was a plus for this project!

Here is a full body view - like I said they measure 36" from tip of head to tip of tail.  The wing span is 45"!

Here is a belly shot - sorry it is blurry!

I'm ready for something a wee bit easier! :-)

Another Doll :-)

I got another doll for Alyssa made for Christmas!!

I got this pattern from a Pioneer Crafts book I found at the library.  The pattern was for a rag doll.  I decided to use some of Alyssa's receiving blankets from when she was a baby to make the doll out of!

I thought it turned out really well.  Every time she would walk in and see me working on it she would start yelling "baby baby" and wanting to hold it...she couldn't figure out why I wouldn't let her (she doesn't grasp the whole wait until Christmas thing - HA!)  But it's good to know that she wants to hold it!  It will be exciting to watch her open it on Christmas!

Here she is next to the book I used for the pattern:

The Cat In The Hat sock puppet

Aaron is in love with the cat in the hat right now!  I thought it would be fun to try to do a sock puppet dressed like the cat in the hat!  Thankfully Aaron spent the afternoon at Granny's this afternoon and I was able to get this made for him!  I can't wait to give this to him on Christmas!!

A Homemade Doll

Yeah!  I just finished making my first doll!!!  (the first of 3 different kind I am planning on making for Alyssa for Christmas.  I found the tutorial for this doll here.

 I loved how her hair turned out!!

 Here is what she looks like without her dress on.

Like I said, I will be making a couple more dolls for Alyssa, along with some other toys for the boys!  It's going to be a fun Christmas :-)

Christmas 2010 Is Almost Here!

It's that time of year again!  Time to start getting things together to begin another Watson Handmade Christmas!!

I am coming up with some awesome ideas this year!  This year I intend to involve my children a lot more in the making of gifts for our family!!  I have some cool ideas that I can't wait to share with you!

I also have some ideas of things to make for my kids this year!  I am already looking at how to make felt Mr. Potato Heads and how to make felt checker sets (actually getting that idea from familyfun.com).  I can't wait to share all of these ideas with you!!

I hope you are getting excited as well!!!  Keep tuned in for more posts to come!  And feel free to leave me a comment letting me know you are excited as well!!  (this will help make me motivated to get the posts up too (-: )