Simple Wooden Nativity

When I spotted this lil' Nativity on Pinterest I immediately knew I wanted to copy it. 

I ran into a few bumps while constructing it... so I thought I'd show you all exactly how I made mine.

You need to start with gathering your supplies.

2"x2" Wood (which is really 1.5"x1.5"... didn't know this)
2" Wooden Door Knobs
1" Flat Circle Buttons
Wood Craft Spoon
Felt
Burlap
Acrylic Paint & Brushes
Twine

You'll need to cut a 6" and 5 1/4" pieces from your 2x2 wood.
Paint them and glue on the heads, I just hot glued them on, it works just fine.

Notice that the "Mary" figure's head isn't centered on the block.

You need to off center it a little so that they will stand flush together.
I promise once the burlap is on you can't tell it is off centered. 

Before you glue Joseph and Mary together, you'll neet to but the burlap on Mary. 

I cut a circle about 11" in diameter in half to get my burlap piece.
This was the piece that took me forever to figure out.

I just used a large bowl as my pattern to keep it simple, and it was perfect.

Drape the burlap, flat side on her forehead.
Make sure that both sides are even at the bottom. 

Tack it in place on either side, about where her ears would be. 

Add a large dollop of hot glue to her chest and pull around both sides and tack them down.
WARNING: The hot glue will seep right through the burlap, so be careful, it is hot!

Here is how you tack down the back:

First add a little hot glue to her back and tack it down.
Then pull the right side across and tack it down with a large dollop.
Repeat with the left side.


Now to make our baby Jesus.
On Pinterest they used all wood, but I liked the softness the felt added.

Attached a painted flat button circle to one end of the craft spoon.
Cut out a piece of felt into a 4" square.

Tack back one corner with a little glue.

Pull bottom corner up and glue it to the craft spoon.

Fold the left side over, folding it outward as you pull it across.

Repeat on other side and glue down in the back.

Awe, all cute and cuddly. 

Now to glue the family together. 

First liberally add hot glue between the Joseph and Mary. 

Be sure to give it a really good squeeze to let it seep through the burlap to Mary.
Also, make sure that you keep it level on your table so that your blocks don't end up being uneven.
Then add baby Jesus.
Lastly, tie up the new lil' family with twine. 

I cut my twine to 26".

Tack down the bow with a little glue at the base of loops so that it doesn't come untied.

Front.

And Back.

Now sit back and enjoy your simple and beautiful new creation.

Need to add some more of the Christmas spirit to your decor?
Or want to make some simple holiday gifts?

Craft.Me.This

Teacher Gift: First Day Survival Kit

There are so many cute ideas for Back to School gifts for teachers. 

But when I ran across this idea, I knew it was what we wanted to do.

We filled it up with any possible things that you might need on your first day of class.

Reward stickers, something sweet, nail file, bobby pins, safety pin...you get the idea.

Note the Advil... yes, I understand Kindergarteners and their two volume levels... loud and louder.

We found a free printable for a little gift tag to write a little welcome note in too.

It was really a quick and easy gift to assemble. 

So if you want to help your new teachers survive their first day...

Craft. Me. This. 

(links to printables too come... comment if you want them, so I'll remember)

Quilt: Baby Dinos

It seems like the only projects I've been making lately are car seat tents, because what else are my friends doing but having babies! And lots of them!

I realized that I never posted about the baby quilt that I made for my sister in law.

It is the first real quilt that I've made, and I even quilted it on my sewing machine!

How fun is that?!!

I used a simple pattern that I found online and adjusted it to be a square 

(I like doing a larger square for lil' babes)

My fabric wasn't wide enough to just use one piece on the back, so instead of just having a seam, I did an accent stripe on the back to add a little fun.

It isn't perfect, but I was tickled with how it turned out.

And this is how it sat in my house for a good month and a half until I was able to hand deliver it during my trip home this summer.

I'm sure you have someone in your life having a baby... or maybe it is you!

Craft. Me. This

Quilt Pattern: Zoo Dwellers Quilt Tutorial

Rag Doll Dress

My sweet friend gave my girls some rag dolls she found at the thrift store. This lil' doll was in a little red dress that didn't really match. It has bothered me ever since we got the cute dolls (over a year ago). I have been toying with the idea of making my own little rag dolls when I remembered this lil' doll and decided to make her a new dress instead.

Her tights and shoes are sewn on, so it was obvious the red christmasy dress she had on didn't go (sorry, I forgot to take a picture before I ripped it apart to use as my pattern). 

The fluffy white trim was so fun I decided to keep it and add it to this dress. 

I also made a lil flower and sewed it to a bobby pin to stick in her hair.

This costume sateen moved a lot, and could be tricky to work with...BUT because it was just a dress for a doll I wasn't too particular in my accuracy and I melted the edges to keep it from fraying (instead of serging...which is hard to do without a serger). 

It was awesome and saved so much time!

It was a quick project to get my craft fix for the day.

I'm pretty sure the dollie is much, much happier. 

Doesn't she look so?

Have a lil' doll that needs a fashion update?

Craft. Me. This.

Baby Walker Redo

While I was visiting my Mother in Law in Minnesota, she had some friends give her random baby items to make our visit more enjoyable. 

One of them was this old walker.

 My lil' man loved it (and they just don't make the new ones the same), so we took it home with us (it folds flat... so nice for storing).

Well, my lil' fella is learning to eat and of course he is getting lil' puffs and rice rusk goo all over the cover. I didn't really mind the dated look, but when I took it off to wash it I realized how gross it was. And it was falling apart.

No Bueno!

Can you see all the gunk (mold?!!) down at the bottom by the grommets? Yuck! 

So I pulled the old thing off, took a seam ripper to it, 

and took it apart to use the old pieces to make a pattern.

I was hoping to reuse the old foam padding...

but it was so well-loved that it was disintegrating. 

Once I got the old trim off it came pouring out all over the table. 

I tried taking outside to shake it all out, but it was never-ending.

So much for reusing the old padding...

However, I was able to selvage the trim. It was actually in really good condition.

I had a grommet kit in the house, some old fleece fabric (to use as my padding/batting), and fabric. 

It was nice to just use up some thing I had on hand (even nicer not draggin my kiddos to the craft store).

A few hours later and it was done!

I was surprised how quick it all came together.

My client was quite satisfied!

I decided that I wanted to use vinyl this time so I could wipe up the gooey messes the lil' mister made. I didn't have any vinyl fabrics on hand, but I did have some iron-on vinyl on hand so I just ironed it on to this cute dino fabric and it was perfect. Added an extra step, but it was well worth it.

Mr. Z thinks it is much more fun to play in.

Slime on lil' man, slime on!

So do you have a hand-me-down that you want to give new life to?

Craft. Me. This.

Father's Day Advent Calendar

Here is a fun way to count down to Father's Day this year.

It is a combination of a few ideas I saw on the wonderful pinterest.  

Inside each envelope is a little card that tells where the little gift is hidden for the day. 

We are actually going to be away from our Dad this year, so we set it up for him to find surprises around the house each day while we are gone. 

Wanna do Father's Day a little different this year?

Craft. Me. This

Super Dad Printables found HERE.

Daddy's Back Rub T-shirth

When I saw this cute gift idea, I knew it was a must do for the hubby.

It is a "Back Rub" t-shirt.

Or... more like a race track t-shirt, but the idea is that when the kids drive the cars on Daddy's back it is like giving him a back rub. 

It was a hit. A laugh out loud hit.

Just what I was going for.

And the girls beg him to put it on so they can drive all over his back.

So fun, and such cute memories. 

Craft. Me. This. 

T-shirt: Target $5
Tutorial: Car Shirt
She hand paints everything... but I was lazy and just used sharpies.
Be sure to put paper in your shirt so it doesn't bleed through to the front.