Crafts for Boys

What can I do Mum?

posted by Helen

It's a phrase often heard round here and my reply is often a list of crafty things in the hope that I might inspire Tom to leave the computer or my phone for half an hour atleast. Today, after running through all the usual options which were greated with slience, I tried a different tack and suggested sewing and knitting, which to my great surprise resulted in an enthusiastic, "oh yes, we could knit a shark for me to cuddle in bed!!!!!!!!!"

I'm not sure the words cuddly and shark appear together very often, but it is very Tom, so we set off on a hunt for some grey wool. Now I like a challenge but i did think this time we'd bitten off more than we could chew. But after scratching my head and sketching for 5 minutes I came up with a basic pattern and with varying amounts of help from Tom (it did take a little longer than half an hour) we succeeded. Apparently it's not as big as Tom had hoped, but there was only a little bit of grey wool (actually left over from a tea cosy I made for Cara ) so that was my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Rather than two identical halves, I just made the body to be stuffed, leaving the tail and fin as single pieces. I incorporated a red section for the mouth, then crotcheted some teeth on afterwards. So here he is, Tom's new friend, Sharky, a smily and cuddly knitted shark!

(Please scroll down for the photos!)

bathroom blues

Thankfully both my boys love bathtime and all the associated toys (no need to mention Tom and all things fishy...) However this (combined with a lazy mummy) results in my bathroom being a complete tip.  When we replaced our windows and put obscured glass in the bathroom, I struck on the idea of re-using the old shower curtain to make two bags to put the bath toys in - out of sight, and out of mind (for me at least.)

Before...

 

I cut the curtain into four pieces and used the two with holes at the top for the bags.  That way hopefully the draw strings won't tear too easily.  I then painted two scenes in shades of blue (to match my tiling in the bathroom) - in theory there's one with with boats etc for the boat toys, and one with marine creatures for the fish, etc, but I'm sure that won't last!

 

I sewed a double seam along one side to make and tube, then using yellow and brown thread, I used the largest zigzag stitch to make the sea bed.  Hopefully this will allow any water inside to drain out.  I finished the bottom edge with pinking shears and found some nylon thread to make the drawstring.  Hopefully tidying the bathroom will now be more fun for the boys and less of a headache for me!   

After...

 

 

... just wanted to sneak in my bathroom scales too which I rejuvenated with an old cork place mat and my trusty acrylic paints.  I love paint :o)

 

Helen's picks of the year

posted by Helen

Of all the challenges I've set myself this year, I think this has been the most difficult - to choose three or four of my personal favourites from all of Cara's projects over the last twelve months...  In the end I narrowed them down to four - one costume, one item of clothing, one bag and one other, but it was tough and I may yet change my mind before I publish this!

I've had lots of fun looking back so here are my top hi-lights of our first year on-line:

In at number one - my all time favourite with top marks for originality. Tom still loves it too and takes it to school every day : Tom's shark bag

I just had to include Dean's fab transformer costume - it's ingenious: Dean's costume

Picking one item of clothing was really hard, but in the end for the shear amount of detail and just cool boyishness it had to be Anthony's robot shirt.

And last, but by no means least, although maybe slightly off topic the brilliant gift that Cara made me for Christmas - it's really cute, fits perfectly in my bag and has already proved incredibly useful - after all boy mums deserve good stuff too :o) My out and about pack.

Here's to the next twelve months :o))

 

Birthday Countdown - Helen's best according to Cara ;)

posted by Cara

Helen and I started this little blog almost a year ago.  We decided to have a little look back at the year by choosing our favourite projects, so I am going to link you up to my absolute favourites from Helen's posts.

Third Runner up:
I love this fish frame, it's even more amazing in real life when you can really see all the details up close.

Second Runner up:
Practical and adorable all in one, Anthony gets great use out of his craft box, and Philippe does as well when his brother's not looking ;)

First Runner up:
This project makes me want to grab a mini Harry Potter, a teeny broom and a snitch and get down and have some fun!  Check out Helen's Hogwarts play scene at the bottom of this post!

My Absolute Favourite!!!
I didn't have to look hard to find this adorable, crocheted Yoda.

"Looking? Found someone you have I would say, mm?"  

I don't know what to say about this little guy except that Jacques loves him as much as I do and is sometimes caught sleeping with him when he thinks no one is looking.  She did a fabulous job, he looks great!

"When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not, hm?"

all that glitters isn't necessarily girly

posted by Helen

Ok, so most boy projects are pretty devoid of flowers and frills, but when you're four and a half, glittery shiny jewels have universal appeal!

A couple of weeks back Cara and I took some well earned kid-free time to make a fab calendar project from LollyChops with Live at Prima  Here's a quick sneak at mine, as it IS relevant (honest!) 

 

 

Poor Tom was so sad that I was going to make mine without him, that I had to promise we'd make his own version with any left-overs I had. 

Tom LOVED the image transfer technique - as far as he was concerned that was really magic.  The drawing and cutting was started with enthusiasm, but after a couple of months that was left mainly to mummy, but with the insistance that Tom was still chief jewel sticker!!

So here it is, slightly less flowery, but still pretty sparkly, and still managing to be 100% boy.  The hi-lights of Tom's calendar 2011...

Mummy's paisley fish:

 

... and Yellow submarine:

Tommy's racing car with flames coming out of the exhaust:

 ... and his favourite dinosaur (Ruby from Land Before Time!)

 

a sparkly whale:

 

and Mummy's alien planet:

 
 
 
 
 

shark bait

posted by Helen

We're very lucky to have a free bus service for the kids in our village, so the start of another school year means another bus pass.  I have no idea if enyone ever checks them, but in theory all the kids are supposed to have their pass with them. As Tom is only 4 and my son to boot, I'm really nervous that he'll lose his card, especially as we have to pay for a replacement!

Last year I made a temporary holder which I tied to his bag with elastic.  Of course I never got round to replacing it, so this year I was determined to make something more permanent. 

If you didn't see Cara's post from June, tom's school bag is a REALLY cool shark , so of course I had to make it a tasty fish-shaped snack!

I recycled part of a thick, clear pastic packaging to hold the pass, which I simply stitched to two pieces of printed cotton (another off cut from Tom's playing out trousers)  Then I made a simple fish pattern from scrap paper and stitched around the outside using a close zig-zag setting. 

To attach the holder to the bag I used an eyelet through which I knotted some blue cord and tied it onto the drawstring of the bag.  So hopefully next 'rentrée' I'll just have to switch the new card over and Tom will be ready to start another year. 

Nana's cushions

Posted by Helen and Maggie Billings

I can’t remember learning to sew, it’s just something I’ve always done, and that is entirely down to my Mum.  She loves making things for ‘her boys’ too and with four grandsons there’s plenty to keep her busy!  These cushions are some of my favourites.  I think the photos show how much Tom loves his big fish.

Over to you, Mum:

As you already know Tom has always been a fish fan. Whilst watching T.V. I saw an interviewee with several fish-shaped cushions placed along the top of his sofa. 'What a brilliant idea for Tom' I thought, so I quickly made a sketch. Using different coloured fleece (Helen's favourite!) I made Tom one for Christmas.

I made a pattern out of newspaper and cut two pieces so that I could make the stripes exactly the same size. I sewed the stripes together first. I made the fins and tail separately with two pieces stitched together and stuffed them. I sewed them into the seam as I went and after turning right side out I stuffed it with washable, polyester toy stuffing.

 

As Tom has a cousin (Dan) of the same age who loves all animals, I devised a lion cushion for him. For this I made a large circular cushion and made the head separately. The mane and tail are made from wool.

 

Daniel's mum loved the soft fleece of the cushion so I made her a dog. I used the simple circular shape again adding the features directly to the cushion with unstuffed ears attached in the seam.

 

For the boys' cushions I bought the special toy eyes which have a fixing inside. Unfortunately these broke easily so I have replaced Lion's eyes with suitable buttons. Although maybe not a first choice for kids’ toys, at least you can see whether these are becoming detached. For Dog I simply used felt for the eyes which was more successful.

Jaws

posted by Cara

 Tom has always loved fish and anything to do with the sea.  Helen has mentioned before that fish (or fsssssh) was one of his first words.  If it lives under the water, Tom is a fan.  So for his birthday I decided to make him this shark bag.  I did ask Helen what he might need it for and so I went with a regular kids size back pack, to at least fit a pair of slippers or a school snack.  The bag itself is canvas with fleece teeth and the tail is padded, just a bit.  

 

 
The thing with pregnancy is how differently my mind works, especially at night, it seems to go into over drive.  I don't know how many times in the past months I've woken up with some great craft idea.  A lot of them recently have been about how to make a shark shaped bag ;)

Picture perfect

posted by Helen

One of Tom’s first words was fish, or more precisely “fsssssh”.  We have a pond full in our garden and every expanse of water after that was declared to be “fsssssh” too.  This fascination has grown and he now has quite a collection of all things fishy including many cuddly ones which are favourite companions. 

 It’s not surprising then, that when thinking of a topic for my picture framing course a fish themed picture for Tom sprang to mind. I have a friend, Patricia, who turned her picture framing hobby into her own business and now runs classes as well as taking on commissions. www.atelier.braun.encadrement.over-blog.fr

 

The starting point was a postcard of two clown fish and I designed a layered mount to reflect their pattern and to give the impression of depth.  This looked OK, but just wasn’t fun enough for Tom so I took some inspiration from one of his best loved books, and my most admired illustrators “Fidgety Fish” by Ruth Galloway ( incidentally a Mum of two who started out writing & illustrating books for her kids).  http://www.littletigerpress.com/lyndall/interviews.htm

 

The illustrations are full of life and colour, but instead of paint, I opted for my weapons of choice – paper & scissors.  I used torn paper as a base then cut out some coral & seaweed to give the fish a home.  The picture was complete and a shimmery shiny silver frame finished it off nicely. It now has pride of place in Tom’s bedroom.