Home Made Weather Station

This was a super activity to start the school holidays with. Mr 5 is doing lots of weather at school, and loving it, and so they were both very keen to make their own weather station . We got the free printables from Mr Printables, I laminated them (with the thought they'd be up for a while and probably revisited when Miss 3 does weather at school), and then I did most of the cutting out and assemblng while the kids ran around the house imagining all sorts of wild weather.

The chart leaves you with a pile of cards for the "Today is" section. The kids have been keen to learn how to use my sewing machine, so they both sewed super simple bags for the extra cards, and then stapled the bag to the chart.

Ruffle Skirt

If a poor workmen blames his tools, I'm thinking my new sewing machine rocks! This skirt was a compilation of things I'd never tried before. But it was actually reasonably easy (Except for ruffling the brown material, which didn't pull easily for some reason). The brown material was about twice the length of the layer above, but could easily have been longer. There is a white cotton layer under the layer of the shiny material, to make sure that the skirt wasn't see through, and also wasn't scratchy. The waist is simple elastic.

Here is a beautiful simple tutorial on on how sew ruffles.

Notice the fairy wings I made a few days ago that haven't yet left the fairy's back (except at night). Luckily they should be fairly easy to wash!

Fairy Wings

I made Miss 3 some fairy wings a year or two ago. I think they were super sweet, made out of old lace curtains with red edging. I used some wire to give the wings shape. Unfortunately the wire didn't have memory, so after a bit of playing or a car trip, the wings looked more like something that belonged to a butterfly that had been dead for a few weeks. Not that Miss 3 cared, but I felt it was time for some new wings.

I know you can buy fairy wings very cheaply in the shops these days, and I know Miss 3 loves the girly pinks and purples and sparkles that they tend to come in but they're not really in my taste and, if I used things I already had lying around, the homemade option would be cheaper.

Soft Fairy Wings

First I made Miss 3 a pair of butterfly shaped wings (with upper and lower wings). However I didn't take any photos of how to make them, because I was making it up as I was going and I wasn't sure how they'd turn out. Mr 4 then wanted to join in the fun, and so he ordered some wings with only one round wing either side.

How to Make Soft Fairy Wings

Make a pattern from paper, and cut out the shapes from your fabric (I used an old lace curtain) leaving a 1cm edge for sewing. The lace curtain was folded double for the set of wings in the left photo, and folded to 4 layers for the right set of wings. I found that wings that are roughly the size of a tabloid newspaper (double spread) to be a good size for the kids.

Sew the lace together, leaving a 20cm gap for turning it inside out and stuffing.

Cut a piece of wadding to size. I included an extra piece of wadding for the area between the shoulders, to give a little more strength and help the wings sit flat against the back. In the photo below the extra piece is a triangle, in the butterfly wings it was in a heart shape.

Turn the fabric so the hem is on the inside, and push the wadding into place. Sew the wadding in place using what ever pattern suits your fancy. I used straight lines and a rim around the edge for the wings in this photo, and some circles and tear drops for the butterfly wings. Tip: at this point I found the lace was tricky to pull into place for sewing, as it kept getting caught on the dog feed. If you put a piece of paper over the dog feed you can slide your fabric in place much more easily. Pull the paper out before beginning to sew. Alternatively drop the dog feed down while you feed the fabric into place.

Attach elastic shoulder straps using a zig-zag stitch. At the top edge, the elastic should sit approx. mid shoulder blade for the child. This helps the wings keep their shape (and makes it easier for the child to put them on). 

These wings are so soft that they can fit in the car seat, turn somersaults, and survive rest time, without getting uncomfortable or out of shape. I certainly have one happy little fairy!

Simple Skirt

This is my first attempt at making clothes. (Hooray for my new sewing machine!) I used the instructions from this tutorial and but sewed the waist shut with elastic, rather than having a ribbon tie. I also added a little ribbon and button embelishment to the hem.

Rainbow Taggy Toys

I have a bit of a soft spot for rainbows, and so when Becced posted this picture of a rainbow lion taggie at about the same time as we were expecting three new babies from friends and family, I just couldn't resist having a go myself.

They were very quick and easy, simply a matter of sewing on a little face (I used fleece and a little bit of embroidery so I wouldn't have to hem anything), pin around lots of ribbons, and then sew it together. I added some bells in the middle of the stuffing to give them an extra jingle. For more detailed instructions, here's a great tutorial.

The hardest thing was getting a photo of them without Miss 2 cuddling them.

I-Spy Bags and I-Spy Bottles

I loved the look of these i-spy bags that are everywhere in the Internet. My kids thought the idea was very interesting, although they didn't really want to spend more than about 20 minutes with it (about the same time as it took me to make a second one). I think it kept my husband and me entertained for longer than the kids. This could be because Mr 4 has great trouble finding anything, and Miss 2 was too young. Or perhaps the coloured beads make it too difficult.

The finished objects turned out to be about 10 or 12 cm square. I first made the grey bag bigger (hence the big window) but it was too big for small hands. The big window does make it much easier to find the things inside though. The metal things are particularly hard to find, as they tend to sink down to the bottom of the beads.

I used the coloured beads because I had them in house, and also because they weren't a food product, and so wouldn't cause issues going through airport quarantine.

I also bought small bottles and some letter beads and made and an alphabet i-spy bottle. Again, it was too hard for my kids, and so didn't hold their attention for too long; they got far more entertainment out of sorting the letter beads onto chenille sticks and pouring the beads into the bottle. The grown ups played a little longer with it, and then I passed it on to a 4 y/o friend who loves looking for i-spy things and was going on an international holiday.

Button Shirts

I bought a bag of mixed buttons to do the tree shirt that Becced pointed out on Pinterest. I cut the tree shape from some old pants, did zigzag sewing around the edges (after first using straight stitch to hold it in place), and then sewed on as many buttons as I could before school pick up time. Kids are fascinated with the buttons on this one.

Seeing as I still had the rest of the bag of buttons and another plain t-shirt, I decided to do a fish. I sketched fish shapes on plain paper until I was happy with it, then used it as a template to cut out the fabric. Again I straight stitched and then zigzag stitched the fish in place. Finally I sewed on some blue buttons for bubbles, and one for an eye.