Last week my 7 year old daughter asked me if she could do some embroidery. She made this pillow a couple of years ago, but hadn’t done much since. Sounded like fun to me! She does a lot of drawing, so I got out a disappearing fabric pen and let her create a design on...Continue Reading

I’ve been thinking about making some sort of Easter felt board, then yesterday I had the idea to make egg shaped boards for the kids to decorate. Our 2.5 year old really enjoyed helping me, and was so excited to play when they were done! After she finishes creating a design, we put them up...Continue Reading

Cooking is still one of little E’s favorite things to do. We’ve been getting so much milage out of the miniature kitchen set, that I decided to make a little pizza oven for her. In the last 24 hours I’ve “eaten” about 50 pizzas. After she puts the pizza in the oven and closes the...Continue Reading

When the twins were younger, I made these vintage fabric dolls. They still sleep with them almost four years later. Yesterday I decided little E and I better make one for her to sleep with too. It was very cute working together. She chose some vintage necktie fabric I had lying around, and then we...Continue Reading

Our youngest daughter LOVES anything that involves cooking, and she’s also enchanted by tiny objects. So I decided to paint the top of an old mint tin to resemble a stove, then I created some cooking objects that could be stowed away inside for a miniature kitchen set. So far, it’s been a huge amount...Continue Reading

Our daughter just turned 2 yesterday, and she loves taking care of her dolls. And like many other kids her age, she’s also pretty fascinated with poo. So when I was at the sewing machine a few days ago, I couldn’t resist making some doll diapers with detachable velcro poo. Yesterday morning I gave her...Continue Reading

Warmer weather is coming, and last week I made cutoff shorts from some holey jeans. A couple of springs ago, I made this ball, and I always wanted to try narrowing the panels to make a football shape. So yesterday I gave it a go and it worked! In addition to some regular stuffing, I...Continue Reading

Last night I made this little mixed media bird with various scraps from my art studio – wood, feathers, wire, and fabric scraps by the awesome people at Umbrella Prints. Not sure what I’ll do with him yet. Maybe a stop-motion animation skit would be fun.Continue Reading

I finally tried painting fabric and made some simple little dolls. Last night I laid out a few scraps of muslin and the non-toxic acrylic paints I always use for kids stuff. (See my favorite tools page if you’d like.) I kept the paint pretty watered down so it soaked into the fabric. It was...Continue Reading

Our twins love to get up early in the morning and play together while the rest of us are still asleep. But now baby E is wanting to get up early too. So, when I get the chance to nap, I’ve usually ended up with a stuffed animal draped over my eyes to block out...Continue Reading

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...Continue Reading

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....Continue Reading

My son loves stripy pants as much as I like stripy socks. You can see in this old post that he’s been sporting these trousers for almost a year and a half. After finally wearing a hole in them, we tried to talk him into cut-off shorts, but he didn’t like the idea of his...Continue Reading

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be doing a book signing for my new book, Made to Play, at the kid-friendly downtown Powell’s Books here in Portland on Saturday, October 15 at 2pm. If any of you are in the area, I’d love to meet you in person. It’s going to be pretty fun!Continue Reading

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....Continue Reading

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...Continue Reading

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...Continue Reading

Someone asked me if I could please make a fairy doll craft, so here is my attempt! I also had some requests for ways to repurpose plastic cups and containers, so this is really efficient! My daughter really enjoyed taking these outside and playing with them in the yard, too. So if you have any...Continue Reading

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, then...Continue Reading

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...Continue Reading