{Easy DIY T-Shirt Scarf: Time for Mama}

For this month's Time for Mama: Creative Playtime for Moms post, I'm so thrilled to be sharing a guest post by the lovely and creative Emma of Frog, Goose and Bear (and she now has a Frog, Goose and Bear Facebook page, too, for all you other FB-lovers out there). 

Emma's blog is one of the very first blogs I ever read, and I am still immensely inspired by her posts - by her creative "easy-peasy" ideas, by her sweet style, and by her lovely 'clean' blog look. And Emma especially holds an extra-special place in my little blogging world as she was my very first follower-that-I-didn't-know-in-real-life ever! (She was also the inspiration behind one of my most viewed posts, about our Rainbow Pasta Necklaces. See her original Coloured Pasta Made Easy.) In fact, as you'll soon see, Emma knows how to make everything easy for us! 

With three young children and a hard working husband, time for myself is virtually non-existent.  I often find myself staying up way past my bedtime just to get some child free time in the hope of holding on to some sanity!  Although it doesn't always happen, I love to spend this time doing something creative.  I have found that getting my creative juices flowing both energises and revives me.  While some may cherish the feeling they get from the completion of a long and time consuming project, I love nothing more than sitting down to a quick & simple craft that can be finished in no time at all and comes with a sense of accomplishment that can often be hard to come by as a mother. Today I'm going to share with you a super quick and simple project that can give you the satisfaction of completion in less than 20 minutes.  Even better, you don't even need to leave the house to find the things you need!   


UPCYCLED T-SHIRT SCARF

You will need:

- one very large t-shirt (the larger the better)

- a pair of fabric scissors - nothing more!

Step 1.

Trim the seam from the bottom of the t-shirt and discard.

Step 2.

Continue to cut one inch strips in a horizontal line from the bottom of the t-shirt all the way up to just below the sleeves.

Step 3.

Put the neck and sleeves aside and you'll be left with your strips.

If your t-shirt has seams up each side, like mine, you'll need to trim the seam from each end of each strip.

Step 4. Stretch each strip until it starts to curl by pulling gently from each end.

Now you have a pile of stretched strips.  

Step 5. Pick up each strip and tie the ends together one at a time.

Step 6.

When you've tied the ends together, place the strips together with the knots all at the same end.  You're almost done!

Step 7.

Cut a rectangle of fabric from one of the sleeves of the t-shirt.

Step 8.

Wrap this rectangle of fabric around the knots and tuck it into itself.

Et voila - your scarf is finished!

Now you can try it on for size and enjoy wearing a piece of fashion that didn't cost you a thing and made all by yourself in no time at all!  

Thanks so much for having me, Jane. I am really enjoying this Time for Mama series.  Making time for ourselves is so important as a Mum and something that is far too often overlooked.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Emma! I need crafts that can be done in no time, or I tend to never complete them - this is perfect for me! I'm definitely going to be trying this!

{Playing With Symmetry: I'm Guest Posting}

I'm excited to tell you that today I'm guest posting for my friend Bern over at Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas about some fun and educational pre-math play that we've been enjoying lately. Come on over to say hi and see how we're playing with symmetry!

{Time for Mama: Meditation Matchboxes}

Meditation Matchboxes

Guestpost by Amy of Mama Scout

Hi! I am Amy from Mama Scout and I am thrilled to share a simple but magical project that will delight both kids and mamas. As a homeschooling mom, I often finding myself making things along side my children. And sometimes those projects turn into something I love just as much (or more than) they do. As soon as we started making these tiny treasure boxes, I knew this was an activity I would return to again on my own.  

All my children love tiny things. One morning, my son spent time making tiny scrolls and putting them in empty match boxes. Everyone was so charmed with this idea; we could not stop talking about all the things we could do with the concept.

We thought about turning the little boxes into birthday invitations, poetry boxes, wish boxes, and treasure hunt directions. We thought it would be fun to mail them, leave them on our friends' porches, or in random public places (that one I want to do soon!).

We simply used emptied matchboxes that we painted black. You might also cover them with decorative paper, or paint them another color or even leave them as they are.

That morning we also made beeswax bottle cap candles and quickly thought it would be great to add a candle to the boxes and turn them into  tiny meditation boxes. For mine, I wrote a meaningful quote and tied up my scroll with three matches. Tucking it into the match box, I thought what a sweet little gift this would make for anyone going through a tough time. 

How about a new mama?

A recent graduate?

Someone who has met sudden sadness or is facing a big change?

The candle idea was inspired by Craftaholics Anonymous. She uses crayons, which is super cool, but for this application I really like the beeswax. Even from this small candle, it smells amazing. We keep our beeswax in a tin can and remelt it in a water bath for different projects. Super simple.

Thanks, Amy, these are just adorable and a lovely contribution to our Time For Mama: Creative Playtime for Moms series! What a lovely surprise gift they would make! Be sure to check out more of Amy's creative ideas for mamas and kids over at Mama Scout. 

The Time for Mama series features a monthly guest post aimed at moms looking for a way to unwind through creative pursuits. Check out the other posts in the series by following the link below. 

{Mermaid Waldorf Doll Tutorial: Time for Mama}

Welcome to the second instalment of the Time for Mama: Creative Playtime for Moms series! This month I am SO SUPER EXCITED to share this guest post from The Monko at Taming the Goblin. She has made the most perfect mermaid doll to kick off a month of mermaid-themed posts here at Mama Pea Pod! I'm officially declaring June to be Mermaid Month at Mama Pea Pod :-) And best of all, The Monko is giving this swimming sweetie away! Read on to find out how you can make this adorable little mermaid your own.

Waldorf Inspired Mermaid Doll

TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS BY A Beginner

by The Monko @ Taming the Goblin 

I am delighted to get a chance to share my craft learning with you as part of this great series 'Time for Mama'. Before I start I should warn you that I am not a skilled sewer and I am certainly not a perfectionist. I don't measure things and I do most of my stuff through guess work and visual judgement. I sew because I like it, but neat finishing bores me, so I don't do it - which is why I could never do this as a job. So with that confession out of the way (and you will see what I mean further down this post), lets begin.

If you'd like to make a Waldorf inspired mermaid doll you will need:

• About half a metre squared of jersey material - which ever flesh colour hue you want
• A small amount of gauze bandage
• An old sock
• About half a carrier bag of wool roving (this is carded and cleaned unspun wool for stuffing)
• Black and white embroidery thread
• White thread
• A ball of five point yarn  - or other chunky yarn for the hair
• Material for garments and a tail - your own old clothes are good

I recommend sticking to the Waldorf principles of using natural materials. Sheep wool as stuffing will warm to your child's body when they hug the doll. All the materials are available on line, just don't make the mistake of typing in Waldorf doll fabric - suddenly the jersey material is three times the price (I get mine on Ebay).

Take your old sock and make it into a ball. Wrap a chunk of roving wool around the sock and smooth it, let any end bits hang down as a 'neck'. Take your gauze, hold the ball up to the gauze to gauge the width you need (I told you I do it all by sight), and cut yourself a rectangle the width of the ball and a bit longer than the ball. Sew the rectangle on three sides leaving the bottom open. Put a running stitch across the top of the rectangle and pull. Turn the gauze bag inside out so the gathered bit is on the inside of the bag, and pop the wool and sock ball into the bag.

Tie white embroidery thread around the bottom to seal the bag making a separate head and neck. Pull the thread over the top of the ball and tie it down to the neck. Then run a thread around the ball cutting the 'face' in half - this will give you a dent where the eyes will be (See top left corner of head collage below). Just below the thread that divides the face take a needle and normal thread and pick out a nose by working the thread back and forth through the gauze (catching some of the wool) in a circle. See the diagram below so it makes a tiny bit more sense. 

Now you have the basic head you need to cover it in jersey material. Take a folded rectangle of jersey material. Stretch the fold over the nose and 'face' part of the head. Then fold down and tuck in the edges. Pin and sew. This sounds easy enough but believe me this and the shoulders are the two most tricky bits of making the doll. Bear in mind that the hair will cover the seams. The bit the hair won't cover is the chin to neck join. Take some extra time to smooth and work this area. I usually put a stitch or two into the neck to separate the neck and chin. 

Now its time to make the arms and body. I usually fold the material in four and cut one arm so that when you unfold it it makes two folded arms.  I have provided a PDF pattern at http://dropcanvas.com/rbz2b for the body and arms. As you can see from the picture below the body I made is slightly bigger than an A4 sheet of paper. So I have added a dotted line on the pattern. When measuring your material you need to fold down the top to the dotted line to create the height for the shoulder area. Please remember that this pattern will only work if your head is roughly the size of a tennis ball. If your head turns out bigger or smaller you will need to adjust the size of the body so it matches. 

Sew around the arms leaving about an inch gap in the middle to allow you to stuff them. Do the same with the body but start sewing about two inches from the top of the neck and stop two inches from the neck on the other side. Then turn them inside out. When stuffing don't ram too much wool into the arms and legs. This is because a) the doll will feel nicer if it isn't stuffed too solidly and b) the more you ram in the more the jersey wool will stretch. The first doll I made ended up with ridiculously long arms and legs because I pushed far too much wool in.

Before sewing the head onto the body I recommend sewing the eyes. I think the eyes are the most important bit of the doll and if you make a mess of them once the head is sewn on there is no going back, but if you do it before you sew it all together you can always recover the head and try again. 

To sew the eyes get two pins and position them where you think you'd like the eyes. I usually put them quite far apart on the dent line. Then tie a knot in the end of the black embroidery thread and go in from the ear - or further back. Come out exactly where you placed your pin, then sew three or four loops to create the eye. Take the last stitch back to the ear and cut the thread - it will hold without having to tie it off.

I don't put mouths on my dolls. The idea behind Waldorf dolls is that their expression is neutral so that the child can project their own emotions onto the doll. I have seen a lot of Waldorf dolls that do have mouths but personally I think it is harder to project your own feelings onto a doll if the doll has a mouth which conveys an emotion that doesn't match yours. However its entirely up to you whether you want to give your doll a mouth.

Now the hardest bit, sewing the shoulders. You need to fold the front and back up, over the arms and pin to the neck. Then pin around the arms making sure to fold in the rough edges. I usually sew round the arms first and then finish off with the shoulders. And here is where you can see that I am not a perfectionist and that my visual judgement is not always that accurate - Can you see that I have made one arm significantly longer than the other. If I was a perfectionist I would unpick the shoulders and move the arms across. But I'm not so I didn't. It gives the doll character.

Finally you need to add the hair. I usually make the hair longer and then trim it up. So I take my ball of yarn and loop it from my hand to elbow until I have a full hand of hair (you can always add more later). While it is still in loops I lay it out on the doll's head. Rather than pinning it I go straight for stitching it roughly with a thread of a similar colour to the yarn. Start a little bit back from the forehead and anchor the thread, then lay out a few lines of yarn down to the forehead and stitch these on. Then just work your way back in one straight line laying the yarn down and stitching it onto the head until you get to the nape of the neck. When you have finished snip the loops and trim the hair so it is the length you desire.
If you leave it there the sides of the head will be exposed. There are several ways to deal with this. The one I use is to bring some of the hair forward and stich it to the sides of the face and then anchor odd bits of hair hear and there to cover the rest of the head. If you want to make a merman I have a boy doll hairstyle tutorial.

There you have your basic doll. How you dress her is your choice. I made my one a little tankini. Because the dolls head, with all her hair, is much bigger than her shoulders, it is easier to make clothes that wrap around rather than go over the head. So the tankini has a little button at the back so it can be taken off.

Now call me ridiculous but I worry about her getting cold so I wanted her to have a cardigan. I have an old jumper that I have been using to make other things. It has a lovely pattern and some ribbed bits. I have found a neat trick when making doll's garments is to use collars and trim from your own old clothes. So I used the neck of a T-shirt to make the waistband of the tankini bottoms, and I used the collar and cuffs of the jumper to make the cardigan. 

Finally, and most importantly I made the mermaid tail. I found an old pair of dungarees I had in my funky hippy days. They had a lovely patchwork effect that looks great as scales for the tail. I drew round the dolls legs and then added some extra length for the tail end. I loosely stuffed the tail end. Around the waist I added some elastic and lined the tail with silver shimmery material, the only bit of the doll not completely natural - I couldn't resist, it shines through the green when it catches the light and makes it look fishy.

And this is what she looks like with her tail on.

I'm running a competition over at Taming the Goblin this month, to win this doll. All you have to do is link up something (ANYTHING) you have done that was inspired by this mermaid doll. If you don't have a blog you can still enter. Just email your project to tamingthegoblin [@] gmail [dot] com. The competition is open to international entries. Of course you won't need to enter because now you have read this tutorial you will be making your own, right? But why not come and check out what other people have been up to. And happy sewing.

{Time for Mama: Freezer Paper Stencilling Tutorial}

Freezer Paper Stencilling

Tutorial for Beginners

by my crafty sister, Kate 

Freezer paper stencilling is as easy as you want to make it (i.e., the complexity or ease of design) and it is one of those rewarding crafty projects where you stand back and think "How cool is it that I made that!"
 

You will need:

• t-shirt - pre-washed, or your paints may not adhere well
• fabric paint - follow the instructions on the packaging
• paint brushes
• freezer paper - note, this is not wax paper. It is specifically called “freezer paper” and is sort of waxy on one side but just paper on the other.
• exacto knife
• self healing mat or some corrugated cardboard
• iron (dry, no water in it!)
• piece of corrugated cardboard or plastic  

Step 1: Choose a design
To start, keep it simple. Avoid designs where multiple colours touch or overlap, or very detailed designs, until you’re comfortable using the exacto knife. Silhouettes are a great way to start. 

You can find cool (free) programs to download to play with designs, etc. Try taking a photo of someone and using the "posterize" effect on these programs. I really like “Photoscape” and “Paint.Net”.

Step 2: Print out your design in the size you want
You can put the freezer paper in the printer to print the design directly onto the paper side. Or just print it out on regular paper and trace it onto the paper side of the freezer paper. 

Step 3: Cut out your design
Be mindful of your positive and negative spaces and what exactly you want painted or covered. Keep in mind small pieces you cut out and whether or not you will need them ironed on (think eyes). You’ll see what I mean...

Also (obvious tip alert!), make sure you are angling the exacto knife the right way. I did not and could not understand how a - literally - razor sharp blade could not cut paper! 

Step 4: Iron your stencil, waxy side down, to your t-shirt
Press first so your stencil won't shift and then use normal back & forth iron motions. Be careful not to hook the iron on your edges.

Try to line it up correctly (my brother is now the proud owner of a slightly crooked Lego Stormtrooper t-shirt). If you need to, peel off the stencil and iron it back on. That’s one of the beautiful things about freezer paper!

Also, make sure the edges (inner & outer) are properly sealed or the paint will bleed and the clean edged stencilling effect will be lost.

And remember to iron on your little saved pieces!

Step 5: Paint with fabric paint
Put your cardboard (or other material) in between the t-shirt layers under your stencil, so the paint won't bleed through to the back. Make sure it covers your entire design. 

Apply your paints going from the outer edges inward. Try not to brush from the fabric towards the stencil as this can push paint up under your edges and cause bleeding. Go in sections and then once the whole design is painted, go back over to blend any lines or clumps so it is smooth. 

You don’t want too much paint or the design will be heavy and not a flexible part of the t-shirt but you don’t want too little paint or you won't get proper coverage, and the fabric (especially if dark in color) will show through. 

Let it dry.

Step 6: Remove the stencil
Take the edge of the freezer paper and gently pull it up. You cannot re-use the stencil, so don’t worry if it tears a little but don’t pull too hard. Remember, if you ironed pieces on in the main body of the design (e.g., eyes), peel them off too. I find it easiest to use the exacto knife to lift these little pieces.

Step 7: Show it off to everyone in the house with a big smile and a sing song “Ta Da!”
Recognition is an important part of positive reinforcement, right?

Tips: 
* Follow all instructions on your fabric paint - mine says not to wash your t-shirt for 72 hours after applying the paint.
* Tape your papers to a window to do the tracing.
* For brushes, I like foam brushes for bigger areas (but try to dab rather than brush as the foam tends to pull on the t-shirt fabric). Regular bristle paint brushes are better for small areas, but in bigger areas you tend to see the brush strokes in the paint. Trial & error really, see what you like.  
* You can also stencil scarves, skirts, table runners, pillows, hats, tote bags…seriously - endless options.

I hope this was helpful. Have fun and thanks for having me, Mama Pea Pod!

This post is part of the Time for Mama series here at Mama Pea Pod. Join us each month for ideas for creative playtime just for moms!