Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Summer Sewing

Bottled Rainbows, finished!
Blogged here
Next on my list:
Finish teacher gifts (by Thursday -- yikes!)

A few projects for the summer:
Mostly, though, I want this summer to be about having fun with my little artists!  I've missed them while they've been in kindergarten!  They finish on Thursday, so our first day of summer together will be Friday.  The girls have decided that they want Fridays to be "crafts with Mommy day" and "pajama day."  Could I be any more happy about this?!  I don't really think we'll spend the entire day in our pajamas every week -- but I could see going straight from pajamas into swimsuits for an afternoon at the pool!

I still need to come up with a plan for what we should do each week -- I want our crafts to be fun and simple, not too frustrating (for any of us!) -- so I'll need to stay one step ahead of them and really get to know the instructions or pattern for whatever we're making.  This worked pretty well for the Ruby Lou dolls I made for their friends this spring.  I think I'll try to do a weekend post about "crafting with kids" after some of our days together, highlighting our favorite projects.

So here's my list of summer projects (so far!) for "crafting with kids":
  • Kidlets (free download by JCasa handmade)
  • Bucket hats (from Oliver & S Little Things to Sew)
  • Wide brim hat (pattern by Susanne at Susanne Loves--I offered to be a pattern tester and have not gotten around to it yet!)
  • Drawstring bags for toy storage
  • Felt Memory Game (tutorial here)
  • Felt food (didn't Kate make these look yummy?!)
  • Stuffed Animal Tent (tutorial here)
  • Ruby Lou Dolls for my girls
  • More Doll Quilts
  • Library Book Bags
  • Kid-sized Messenger Bags (Thursdays this summer are going to be hiking days with Daddy, and they'll need somewhere to stash the "treasures" they find!)
  • Hiking Club T-shirts -- decorate with fabric crayons
  • Doll/stuffed animal sleeping bags like this
  • More pillows for their beds -- made from outgrown clothes
  • Doorway Puppet Theater (from Oliver & S Little Things to Sew)
Whew!
As I read over this, I realize it sounds totally crazy!
But it helps to at least have it all organized and in one place . . . we'll see how it goes!
Hooray for summer!
Linking up to:
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

14 comments:

  1. I love your rainbow quilt. Looks like you're going to be nice and busy this summer. :)

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  2. You certainly sound well prepared! I love my crafting days with my DD too - and she's 25!

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  3. Your summer plans sound awesome! Can I come? :)

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  4. I've been bloggy MIA the past few days, I must have missed your bottled rainbows! It looks fantastic. How fun to get to enjoy some time with your kiddos, I think "crafts with mommy day" sounds fantastic! and in pajamas?? even better!!

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  5. Your Bottled Rainbows looks fantastic!! And what a great list of summer fun! Boy I miss those days! :-)

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  6. Wow, your summer sounds like it will be so fun! I love that you have mapped out projects to work on with your children!

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  7. Can I send my children over to your house this summer? Sounds like there will be a lot of fun... I love your bottled rainbows, very pretty!

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  8. your crafting with kids list sounds ambitious, but also a ton of fun :)

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  9. I like your bottled rainbows! Mine is still in the "concept" stage! I have several of my solids but haven't picked out scraps yet. I need to get to it.
    We will be spending a lot of time at the pool too. We have a 14' round above ground pool we just set up at home yesterday but we will have to go to the big pool sometimes for a change and so we can slide and play in all the fun.

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  10. Ooh! Love your list. I will have to bookmark this! Thing 1 and Thing 2 will be thrilled!
    Love your Bottled Rainbows!

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  11. How great to have a list of fun projects to do with your kids (and to do yourself)! I can't wait to see what you make for the Bloggers' Dinner Party! (and thanks for the double shout out!)

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  12. LOOOOOOVE this quilt so much michelle --- it's just gorgeous. wow!!

    we should plan a crafting party play date ...... you have so many fun ideas on your list! what messenger bag are you looking at doing?

    FUN!!

    ella and zoe are at my parents until wednesday. i brought them yesterday and already miss them .... but i have fun job stuff to focus on and tom is working on the house : ) any dates next week look good for you three?

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  13. Hmmm, I might have to steal your idea to make Fridays "crafts with Mommy and pajama day." : ) It's basically our only "down" day of the week this summer, so we have to make it count! The Bottled Rainbows quilt is just beautiful. Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday!

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