My five year old is really getting into doing crafts. He is always trying to make something out of popsicle sticks or paper. The other day he asked me if I could help him make something. I opened up some blog posts I had bookmarked and this tutorial for The Long-Reach Gizmo was the first one that came up. He thought it looked great and wanted to try.

We first made an alligator and angler fish similar to the tutorial.

Then he wanted a shark,

And a frog:

These were so much fun, and not to hard to make!

Winner!

What a fun giveaway week! I hope you got to enter a lot of giveaways. I found out I won one! A cute yoga mat bag from DevonRed.

Now for my giveaway, out of 64 comments, the random number generator picked #17, Olivia!

If for some reason I don't hear from Olivia in the next two days, I will choose another winner.

Giveaway!!

I'm so excited to be participating in Sew Mama's Giveaway. Each time one of their giveaway days come around I have wanted to participate, but haven't gotten anything put together in time. So, today is the day!!

I will be giving away something hand made by me. The best part is you get to choose what I custom make for you!

One of my favorite things to make are little baby shoes. If you win, I could make you a pair of baby shoes of your choosing. You can choose from a girl Mary-Jane style shoe, or a boy penny loafer style. I have made the Mary-Jane style shoes for lots of friends and they are so cute. My youngest boy had several pairs of the penny loafer style shoes when he was a baby. They are great for church or any more dressy occasion.

Here are examples of what I have made.
You can pick a Mary-Jane style girls shoes in black or brown micro-suede (I do have pink, purple, and navy blue if you want something a bit different) :

Or you can pick the boy penny loafer style (I will be making them out of the micro-suede, but the first picture was made out of leather because you can see the penny loafer style better. The second picture is the navy blue micro-suede). Again, you could pick from black, brown, navy blue, or go crazy with pink or purple micro-suede:

Both styles of shoes I can make in a newborn up to about a year old size.

If you don't happen to have a baby in your life (the shoes make great baby shower gifts!), but would rather have something for yourself, or to give away to someone without babies, I can make you a hanging hand towel. I love hanging these on the handle of my oven. Especially with little kids who like to fiddle with things, it is so hard to get a towel to stay put. But these are harder to remove, so generally my kids leave them alone. They are secured with a little snap.

Here are just a few examples of some I have made. If you win, you can tell me what color you prefer, and I can see what I can do.

So, here is what you need to do.
Leave me a comment telling me what you would like to win. Your choices are:
1) Mary-Jane style baby shoes in preferred color
2) Penny loafer style baby shoes in preferred color, or
3) A hanging towel in preferred color.

Because I want to reward my faithful readers, if you are currently following, subscribe to my feed, or you become a follower or subscriber, leave me an extra comment telling me. Extra comment means extra entry and extra chance to win!

Make sure you have an email or blog address on your profile or in your comment so I can contact you if you win. If I don't hear from the winner within two days I will pick another winner.

The giveaway will be open until late Wednesday night (or maybe even until I get up Thursday morning).
 
Be sure to visit Sew, Mama, Sew! to see all the rest of the giveaways going on this week!

Little Kittens

I found this tutorial for a tiny little kitten from Obsessively Stitching. I thought they were so cute. So, I made up a pair for a birthday present for a friend.

Tiny enough to fit in your hand!

My 5 year old decorated the boxes for them, a portrait of the little kitten, and a couple little flowers:

On a different subject, make sure you come back on Monday. I am going to participate in Sew, Mama, Sew's May Giveaway Day. I will be giving away something handcrafted by me. You won't want to miss it!

Reading Nook

We have a fun little dormer window in the playroom of our new house that I have been wanting to turn into a little reading nook.

My 5 year old also likes to have a private little spot for his "fort."  So, I took an old shower curtain rod, some curtain clips that I am not currently using, and part of a sheet, and made him a little corner with some privacy.

Behind the curtain, I made a book sling to keep a few books.

I love how the book sling turned out. I used some left over sheet from the bed skirt that I made, and put some blue accents on the end out of another sheet I had.

It really holds quite a few books.

I found the tutorial for the books sling here from Penny Carnival. It is really quite simple, you just need a double curtain rod a some fabric.

Next on my list is a Rollie Pollie to sit on!

Hobo Sacks

I made boys their own personalized hobo sack to take on a recent trip we took. They worked great!

I put a few little toys, books, and coloring books in their own sack to keep them occupied while traveling. I even put in a diaper and wipes in my 2 year old's a couple times, so I wouldn't have to bring an extra bag.

I got the tutorial from MADE, here. The only things I did different was add the applique initials, and I made the ties a loop, so they can be hung on things (like a shoulder, or stroller).

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

I love it when my 5 year old takes a project that I show him and goes crazy with it all on his own.

I made this popsicle stick puzzle for my boys. I have seen the idea several places and I thought it would be a fun puzzle for them. My 5 year old thought it looked like so much fun that he wanted to make some himself. So he made another rainbow...

And then a bunch more!
A flower:

A tiger:

An airplane up in the clouds:

A house:

OK, this one is mine, he asked for a little chick:

And here is him and his brother playing ball:

To store them, I put an elastic around each individual puzzle, then put them in an old tootsie roll can. Both my 5 year old and my 2 year old have enjoyed putting them together.