Mother’s Day is just around the corner…I mean just! So what are you doing? Lavish gifts? Dinner out?  None of the above? Well if you’re like me and like to acknowledge all the mother’s you know, just not as lavishly as you do your own mother, then here are a few links for small crafts and cards to make for the special mother’s in your life.

Take Me Home: Printable Mother’s Day cards.

Mother’s Day Tissue Paper Card

Make Handmade Sachets for Mother’s Day

Spring Bouquet for your Mother’ Day table.

Darling and Cute Eco Mother’s Day Crafts

Mother’s Day Crafts for Kids to Make

Mother’s Day Cup and Saucer Flower Holder

So our daughter’s 5th birthday has past. Sort of. We like to celebrate things month long so we still sing “Happy Birthday” and come home with the occasional balloon etc.

But! How did the Felt Dollhouse finish up, finalize and go over…

So if you didn’t know our daughter has been hinting for sometime that she needed a dollhouse with a family. I spent a good amount of time online looking for ones I thought might work out but then I decided I wanted to make it. I made dollhouses with my mother’s help when I was a child and I thought this could be a nice mother/daughter experience for us too.

Turns out it was a great grandmother, mother, aunt, daughter experience.  We all got in on this one.

The Doll House:

Peanut and I had originally saved one of the boxes you get when you visit the warehouse clubs and were doing our best to make a dollhouse. We sort of lost steam and ideas mainly because we used it flat with the the divider down the middle only giving us two rooms.

In my browsing of Etsy to find felt food and patterns I landed upon a dollhouse felt pattern. I bought this not realizing it was a very small scale. The patterns were actually for a house about 11 inches tall. Too small. So….

We snuck the original flat house out of Peanut’s sight and my mother came over and helped me to revamp it to be upright and three stories. She added a roof which gave us an attic and shored up the side to enclose the house on both sides. I proceeded to cover the whole thing with felt and she flet tiled the roof. We wallpapered the ceilings.

The Furniture:

We started off with a Peanut activity trying to make paper mache bathroom and kitchen appliances. While it was fun everything ended up too big for the dollhouse.

Back to the patterns I bought from Etsy. I blew them up on the printer and sewed two beds, a tub, sink, toilet (complete with toilet paper), refrigerator, and stove/sink combo for the house. I fashioned a couch and a small table from odds and ends and a bit of felt and my aunt added some Michaels’ mini furniture she stained.

I did all of the sewing by hand and I was up many a night with a tiny needle and oodles of felt. I still have a few items I want to sew up and my husband has been making jokes about this being folk art and to make sure we sign it so years down the line it can bring a lot of money at auction (we’ve been watching  Antique Roadshow).

We add a family from Ryan’s Room.

How did it go over:

Well since I was the one bringing the dollhouse downstairs I did not notice the air pump little Peanut apparently gave. This was the gift she REALLY wanted. She’s been playing with it non-stop.

This house was made with complete love and was so much fun. We HAVE to add on to it but I have to finish up a few projects first and gardening calls too.

This is the front of the dollhouse. The picture isn't that great but after trying to make it better for so long I decided to post the bad pics anyway.

Here is the first floor of the house. Note the leaning sink/stove and the leaning fridge.

Here is the second floor. Bed with hand crochet throw, thread spool table. The sink and toilet paper in the bathroom are anchored to the wall.

P.S. -She’s asking for chairs and a chimney

I bought all this fabulous felt to make a ton of play food for my daughter but as usual the thought had more energy than the actual application. I have made a nice set of items to present her with on her birthday (which will have to have pics later when she has seen them) but found myself with much more felt than I cared to turn into food.

Then my little Peanut had been really trying to play with this sorry dollhouse we attempted to make together a few months ago. I knew it needed a renovation but was fresh out of ideas. We had started it with one of those boxes they give you at the warehouse store for your purchase. We had a two sided on and I had (genius) made the dollhouse to be one level with two rooms. I wanted better for my Peanut.

I had been looking at the different ones online but with all we were putting into her play kitchen I kind of felt that buying a new dollhouse too was just too much.

By the way if you are looking for a nice store bought dollhouse Pottery Barn for kids has a nice cute one for younger children that is about %50 off.

Sooooo. I called my mom, artist extraordinaire, and she hopped over to help me out. We ended up turning the doll house on it’s end and she fashioned a gabled roof and patched up the sides with rogue cardboard I had been begging my husband to get rid of.

While she did this I started to felt and wallpaper the inside and outside of the house.  And made a diving wall for the upstairs.

A while ago we had papier mache’d a few bathroom items that are now too large for the new house’s proposed bathroom so we’re thinking of making the new attic room the bathroom. We also papier mache’d a couch which I covered with felt and made a big fat cushion for. I’m in the process of making a bed frame for the bedroom and figuring out what else to do around the house.

This sounds probably much better than it looks. I’ll have to take pics another time as the family has come down with a cold and I find myself with limited energy.

In the meantime dollhouse making with stuff around the house is nothing new.  So here are a few links to inspire you.

• Dollhouse Furniture With Everyday Objects
• Wood Built Handmade Dollhouse
• Make a Dollhouse Dining Room from Recyclables (so cute to see the little girl working on this)
• Make a Dollhouse Dresser
• The Perfect Dollhouse This was just amazing. The stuff the came up with!

I can’t believe this! Where have I been! I mean I have a child! I’ve cared for several (foster)! Why wasn’t I told!!!

I’m talking about this new obsession called felt play food. Well actually felt anything. You can make so much stuff out of this! It’s amazing!

Check out this amazing refrigerator with food!!!

This is by DearMyKid’s Shop on etsy.

Then she also has this darling farm set up which I wish I had known about eons ago!!!!

And follow this link to see a great magnetic cantaloupe slice with rind! Now that is cute!

But this is only some of the felt play things I’ve seen. There is so much my eyes are bugging out. I’ve found several doll houses. Another kitchen set up that included the stove along with utensils and food (that was a book). Now these are all patterns but the stuff is easy to make (just not so easy to design).

Apparently this stuff has been around for a while and I’m just now finding out! What else is out there that I’m missing??!!!

I’ve been struggling with what to make and buy for my daughter. Her whole Thanksgiving dinner has taken a bit of a turn. The main dish is still the same but I’m trying to figure out what to round it out with. I also want to make some of it myself.

Anyway enjoy!

I’m in the midst of shopping for my daughter’s birthday and boy is it hard to make a choice!

Some background: Back when I was a new mom I thought it was great to get that cheap plastic and cardboard play food in great quantities. Fast forward 3 years and we have had a ton of it that was just finding places to find around the house. One of those cases of quantity not quality.

So we had little talk with our Peanut and made the decision to donate our excess of pretend dishes, food and such and replace it with just a few pieces of well thought out pretend food based on how she plays. She says “Okay”.

Our daughter has this great love for Thanksgiving. Ever since her school program spent a month going over the Pilgrims, Native Americans, being thankful etc she prepares Thanksgiving dinner on a daily basis for her stuffed animals.

Sooo…

We decided to get some play food for that meal and some new dishes. You see her previous set included 2 teapots, about 8 plates maybe more, several pots, ice cream cups, regular cups, a juicer, a pitcher… really it goes on but there was so much I’ve forgotten all of them. Her kitchen set, which we spent more thought on, came with one stock pot and a ladle which we are keeping.

Now after browsing around I found myself on Etsy again (I love Etsy, people are sooo talented) and fell in love with felt food. This is not my first time seeing felt food. My aunt has several books laying around with it in there and has been trying to get me to make some to no avail but this time it spoke to me. So cute and fluffy. All the lovely things you someone else can make. It’s so beautiful.

So I’ve already ordered the main dish from mudpiekids…

We’re discussing dessert. She REALLY likes pumpkin pie so mommy24cs is looking good for this…

And The Birch’s Perch Shop has adorable crackable eggs, peeled bananas and shucked corn I have my eye on.

As tempted as I am to overindulge and get Breakfast, and lunch, some fancy desserts and more I think this will keep Peanut happy for some time and I really need to try my hand at making some (right before posting this I made a very ugly pancake with a pat of butter and some syrup).

If you’re looking to buy some felt food ,besides Etsy (which I think has the best), you can also find felt foods at…

• Oompa Toys
• Cillerenda’s
• Lillybean
• Felt Food Creations

Or if you’re creative and talented you can get patterns and supplies to make your own felt play food at…

• Lillybean
• Etsy
• Keeper of the Cheerios (links to tons of free patterns)

Wow ! And just after my sewing post! What am I talking about?

Sarah at Sewing Business is having her annual Holiday Giveaway! You can enter to win a gorgeous pair of 8? Gingher Designer “Sarah” Series Dressmaker’s Shears in a gift tin with sheath, PLUS a length of pattern paper.

A little background. The “Sarah” series from Gingher has been retired and currently retails for up to $99.99, and the value of these collectibles tend to rise as they become more scarce. I have a few pairs of Ginghers and they are wonderful scissors to sew with. So sharp and durable. Use them as a special gift for the holiday’s, or keep them as a gift for yourself. Or even better yet – USE them to make gifts for other people.

To enter, go to Sewing Buiness and simply comment about your favorite fall or holiday project, or submit a link to a favorite fall themed project tutorial. You can also get a second entry if you post a link on your blog or website to this giveaway page, or add us to your blogroll.

Email Sarah at submit@sewingbusiness.com to let her know that you qualify for a second entry.

Enter by Saturday, November 28th and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 30th.