Baby E loves to find new things to explore with her mouth. The other day I quickly made this toy with some vinyl (left over from my DIY iPad case), and a little fabric I still had from these dolls. It was so fast, I think I’ll make some more that look a little different, so I can put...

I was drawing with some non-toxic fabric pens the other day just for fun. (See my favorite tools, if you want to know what kind of paint pens.) I’m not sure what I’ll do with all the drawings yet, but I made this bird into a little pillow toy. Kind of cute, and very fast and easy...

We got to spend all of last week at my mom’s house. Among the exciting fun with grandchildren, I got to spend some time with my mom too. We made this play mat for little E. I was lucky enough to somehow end up with this very cool strip of fabric from London that my mom bought in the late...

Baby E got ahold of my son’s old giraffe toy that I made when the twins were little, and she is having a pretty good time with it. I just used some natural canvas fabric and drew on it with non-toxic fabric pens. It’s held up really well over the last two years. I might have to...

Our baby girl is starting to play with toys! At almost 5 months old, she’s still having a little difficulty holding on to things, and getting the right parts of certain toys into her mouth. So I decided to make her an easy to hold, sun shaped toy, with lots of rays to suck on. I also...

Our new baby girl loves looking at the Modern Paper Mobile for Babies that I made awhile back, but her favorite place to relax is in her bouncy seat. So I made this simple stand with some scrap wood and wire. It’s very lightweight and sturdy, so I can carry it around the house along with...

Here’s an easy little fish toy that I made today for the baby. I used fabric scraps, including part of an old neck tie. So far she likes to watch me wiggle the fish tail in front of her. It’s pretty cute. If you want to try making one, there are photos and directions below. Happy...

The other day, I decided to try making some car seat and stroller toys for our new baby girl to look at. I used high contrast scraps of felt, so they’re soft to touch, and fun for babies eyes to focus on. They were very fast and easy to make, and so far she loves looking at them!...

My kids have been practicing throwing and catching a lot lately, but the rubber balls we have are a little difficult for them to catch. So last night when I cleaning out my closet, I found some old jeans, and thought I’d make a ball with some of the fabric. It was really easy to make...

Here’s another sock project. I got the idea from the very cool book, Sock and Glove. I love sock projects because there is so little sewing involved, which makes them super fast! This fish took only 10 minutes to make. Also, sock crafts are a great way to repurpose my stripy socks so I...

First off, I’m very excited to to announce that we will be having a new baby girl in six weeks! Our four year old twins have been having a great time helping us get ready. We’ve been wanting to make some baby booties for weeks now, but haven’t gotten around to it. Then today,...

Here is a simple toy that I just made for LMNOP Magazine. It’s a no-sew, fleece version of my Play Squares for Babies. Making them takes only minutes, and an older child could even make them as a gift for a baby. All you need is some fleece (felt would also work) and some scissors,...

I loved felt boards when I was a kid, and when looking at some felt the other day, I thought it would be fun to make a simple felt board designed for babies. Infants, with their developing eyes, love to focus on high contrast shapes, so I used black and light cream for my felt colors. But you...

LMNOP Magazine just released their new 2010 Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide issue. For my column this time, I made some little photo albums to display the kid’s favorite activity. I think the books will be a nice keepsake and they also gave the kids a nice sense of pride. If you’d like...

Recently we were going through our hats for cold weather.  I decided it was time to get rid of an old fleece hat that I’ve had for many years.  I was about to trash it, when all of a sudden a black sheep flashed into my head.  I had to try it.  My daughter has already taken it for a...

I just came across these photos the other day and thought it would be fun to post them.  Before the twins were born I wanted to make them special receiving blankets.  So this is what I came up with.  They turned out to be more playmats than blankets, but they were enjoyable nonetheless....

When the twins were one month old I made them a mobile like this and hung it over their crib.  Looking at it was my daughter’s favorite activity for almost 6 months.  The contrasting black and white shapes are perfect for infants’ undeveloped vision.  It’s also very simple...

I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that they will save my projects for when their babies get a little older.  But what about the babies?  They need to have some fun too!  When my twins were little, I didn’t have much time to make toys, but I was always thinking about what...

I just discovered a fantastic vintage fabric and craft supply store here in Portland, and made these simple pillow dolls with some of the fabric I found.  I embroidered the faces with my regular sewing machine, but it worked pretty well.  The twins love to pretend they are putting the dolls...

This post is a shout out to my sister. She recorded this classical piano album after becoming a mom. I think it’s brilliant, but of course I’m partial. I also did the artwork. It is available on iTunes Music Store, or at...