Road Trippin' T'shirt pillows!

We are road trippers!  I love to hop in the car and just drive and explore.  I love it.  And, lucky for me my kids are good travelers and like it too.  They will, like most kids, usually fall asleep at some point in the journey, though.  You know, heads bobbing, drool, and eventually necks kinked at 90 degrees.  It looks so uncomfortable.  You know what I'm talking about, right?

Well, one thing that makes them a little more comfortable is a t'shirt pillow.  I'm sure you've heard of them.  I made my first one in 2000 prior to a 3,000 mile journey across the US.  My oldest daughter was only 3 at the time.  It worked wonders.  She was never a blanket kid but has always loved clothes so when her favorite t'shirt got to small we turned it into a pillow and it worked like a charm.  She was comfortable on the drive and had something familiar with her, too.


Since then I've made many t'shirt pillows.  Every couple of years we make new ones.  Sometimes the girls will help and even add fabric paint and sometimes I just whip them up quick.  If you are interested in making your own, here is how:

1- Gather your supplies.  You will need a crew neck t'shirt, fiber fill, thread, scissors and a sewing machine.  (You could sew them by hand if needed)

2- Lay the shirt out flat and you are going to sew closed all the places where the arrows are pointing.  I usually start with the neck, line up the front and back and pin it.  Then I sew it.  Next I do the sleeves and then the bottom.  On the bottom only sew about 1/2 of it closed.  You need to leave an opening to add the stuffing.

 The photo above shows the neck and one sleeve sewn closed.  I just use a zig-zag stitch but any stitch will work.

 

 3- Next start adding your fiber-fill. The trick to adding it is to keep the wads soft and loose.  Don't ball it up and then stuff it or it will make your pillow look bumpy.

4- When you are adding the fiber-fill, push it into the sleeves first, then up near the neck of the shirt and finally the rest of the body.

5- When you have it filled to your liking, stitch up the opening and believe it or not, you are done!

Some other fun things you can do:

Have your kids help and let them either make it themselves or  have them paint and decorate it with fabric paints.  I held a craft camp a few years ago and we did just that, the kids LOVED their creations.

  And, last year, on the last day of school, my teenager took sharpies to school and had all of her friends sign her shirt.  Then we turned it into a T'shirt pillow as a keepsake for her.  

With school coming to a close this would be a fun thing to let your kids do and then they could make their own pillow.

So there you have it!  Simple and useful.  Two of my favorite things.

Enjoy!

THANK YOU!

I've been away on vacation.  I guess it was a vacation.  It was 4 days without the internet and 2 of those days were used to drive across Wyoming - hmm, neither of those things scream vacation to me.  However, I did enjoy the two non-driving days even if they were without internet.  Shoot! I'm rambling.... I do have a point in all of this.

When I returned I had the most delightful surprise EVER.  I was the subject of some major (yes, I'm from the 80's and we said "major" all the time) blog love. WhipperBerry featured me and all I can say is, THANK YOU!  If I knew you personally, or if you lived near me, I'd make you something crafty to show my appreciation but since the internet is our connection, simple words will have to do - Thank you! It was such a delight!

And, to all of my new followers who found your way here through WhipperBerry - thank you to you, too.  I hope you'll stay awhile.  The vacation is over and the creative juices are a flowin'!

Sending my heartfelt thanks to you all!

Cake Walk

So today is Carnival day at the elementary school.  Hmmm, school carnivals?  Not exactly sure how I feel about them.  But, I do know that my opinions aren't important because my little ones have been talking about it for a month!  They simply CAN'T wait.  Today is going to be the longest day ever for them.  They have to sit through class while all the prep work is going on around them.  Ya, let's just say, I don't think there is going to be much learning done today.  :)

Anyway, doing my part, I made a cake for the cake walk.  I know it's a carnival but I just couldn't make a clown cake.  Clowns are creepy.  And, I wasn't really feeling anything else so, instead, I made a spring/Easter cake.  I wasn't sure if my ideas were going to work so I didn't take step-by-step photos, but I did explain a little about how I made it below.

The cake is three round cakes, stacked and crumb frosted then covered with blue marshmallow fondant.

The bunny body is a cupcake wrapped in white marshmallow fondant.  The body was nice and firm but as I put on the head, it started to shrink.  The weight was too much.  So instead of a bunny that is sitting up tall, this one is lounging.  I meant it to be that way, right?  (hahaha)

The head was made by cutting down a cupcake and wrapping it in fondant as well.

Everything else is just decorated with fondant, nothing to overly hard, it's cute though and my girls loved it.

So, there you have it.  That's what I've been working on.  Luckily, there's more to crafting to come, too. I feel like I've been in a bit of  a slump but the creative juices are flowing again, which feels great. 

See you soon!

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

I am just like every other mother out there, I have picky eaters for children.  I've accepted this fact and so it's not very often that I will try new recipes.  I usually make what I know they will eat.  However, I ventured into the kitchen yesterday and was feeling the need to try something new.  

And I did. 

And, it was GOOD!

 

I knew it was good because one of my picky eaters, whose favorite food is pickles, exclaimed "These are BETTER than pickles, mom!"  To that I say, SCORE!!!  Here's what made her little palate sing:  

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

2 & 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 TBS Baking Powder

1/2 Cup butter, softened

1/3 Cup Milk

1/3 Cup Vanilla or Plain yogurt (I'm a big fan of Dannon All Natural Plain)

1 Egg

1 TBS Vanilla extract (I used slightly less)

2 Cups Frozen Raspberries

1 Cup White Chocolate Chips or Chunks

Directions:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.  Combine all dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Using a pastry blender or fork, work butter into dry ingredients until butter pieces are pea sized.  Combine milk, yogurt, egg, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl and mix well.  Then pour mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until ingredients are combined.  Stir in fruit and chocolate chips.  Spoon about 1/3 cup of batter for each scone onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  DO NOT over cook.  In fact, for best results pull them out when the tops are just barely starting to brown.

Eat while warm or store in air tight container or bag.

Enjoy!

Sock Bunnies

Yesterday while we were watching our church's general conference, my daughters and I got out the craft bin.  We craft together a lot, it's just something we love to do.  However, I especially love to do it while conference is on because the girls are quiet.  There is very little chatter or complaint and instead we just happily craft.  The peace that is in our home when conference is on is something I cherish and look forward too.

Once the session was over we had some pretty cute little crafts to decorate our house for Easter.  Remember the sock snowmen from a few months ago?  They were our inspiration but  we made Sock Bunnies instead. 

 We pretty much made them the same as the snowmen, only instead of make hats we made ears by just cutting one knee-high sock down the middle to make two ears. 

Enjoy!