Car Playmat

I've seen a lot of Car Play Mats out there and I've really been wanting to make one for my son. I came up with this design after finding this great fabric at my local Joann's (it's sort of a combination of all the other playmat designs out there that I've seen). It was really easy to make and I think it came out so cute. I especially love the pockets or "garages" for the cars to park in (this was a great idea from Obsessively Stitching!). This is a great toy for around the house, but it also folds up nicely and can be thrown in to a diaper bag (or in my case my giant purse) and taken to the dr.'s office waiting room or anywhere else you need your child to be entertained!


I started with 2 pieces of fabric (the front and the back) that measured 14" x 21 1/2". This was the measurement I used because I wanted at least 3 roads for the cars to drive on. If your fabric is different, your measurement might be different.


Here's a close up of the fabric, complete with a toy store, fire station, school house, stop signs...


Next I cut my pocket material into a 11" x 5 1/2" rectangle. I double folded the sides and the bottom and ironed them down. Next, I used some leftover double fold bias tape from my Treasure Basket project and cut it to fit the top. Sew along the top edge only.



Next pin your pocket to the play side of the fabric. (Bear with me because I got on a role here and forgot to take a couple of the pictures to show my work).



I zig-zag stitched along the sides and bottom of my pocket to secure it to the play side of the fabric. Then I measured my pocket and marked 2 lines to form the "garages". Then I zig-zag stitched along the pocket to create the "garages." My pocket was about 10" long so my lines were at about 3 1/4" and 7 3/4".




Now cut a piece of your double fold bias tape about 24" long. Sew along the edge to close the tape. This will become the ties that allow you to fold and tie your mat up when not in use.



(Sorry...I skipped a few pictures here, too.) Next you want to pin the right sides of your 2 fabrics together. Fold your bias tape "ties" in half and pin it in between your 2 fabrics (making sure the ties are sandwiched between the 2 fabrics). Now sew along all 4 sides of your playmat, leaving an opening to turn your mat. Here's what mine looked like after turning it.



Iron your playmat and then sew a straight stitch around all 4 sides. This will reinforce your playmat and also close the opening where you turned it.




Now place your cars on the playmat and in the garages and have fun!



If you're closing up your playmat with the cars still in the garage, I found that the best way to close it is to fold up the bottom...



Then fold down the top...




Roll the playmat up and tie it to hold it all together. You can see that it folds up in to a pretty small, cute, little package.


Here's what it looks like when it's rolled up without the cars in it. So cute!



I can think of several little boys that we know that would LOVE to get one of these for their birthday!

If you make a playmat for that special little guy in your life, let me know. I'd love to see pictures! But as always, please only use this design for personal use, not for resale.



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Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design





Trash to Treasure Tuesdays

Dinosaur Party

Although my son turned 3 almost a week ago (sniff, sniff), today it was made official by his BIRTHDAY PARTY. He is into all things DINOSAURS. His favorite show on TV is Dinosaur Train on PBS. He knows more names of dinosaurs than I have ever known! So it was only natural that his birthday party be a Dinosaur Theme.

The party was a big success and I just thought I'd share a few fun pictures of the event.



Here's me and my "baby." Although his face doesn't reflect it, he had a really great time (I think he just wanted to get back to playing).


Remember the Dinosaur Crowns that I made? Well, I am happy to report that they were a big success! Here are all 21 that I made for the kids. They had fun picking out their own color!


And some fun color-your-own-puzzles for the kids to take home with them.


And of course there were dinosaur plates...


And dinosaur balloons...


And here's what the whole spread looked like.


The birthday boy enjoying his cupcake...


I've decided I'm going to make them a shirt each year for their birthday. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out! I'll have to make a tutorial for this to share with you all.

So there it is. We plan so long and hard for special occasions such as these and they go by in such a flash. I know it will seem like tomorrow when I'm planning his 4th birthday party (sniff, sniff).

A New Easter Tradition

This is the first year that my son (who just turned 3) has really begun to participate in holiday traditions, such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. So I decided that now is our opportunity to lay the groundwork for any traditions we hope to begin. For instance, my husband and I decided that Santa Claus brings one special present at Christmas, but the rest are from Mommy and Daddy.

Well when it came time to decide what the Easter Bunny brings, I decided that I didn't want baskets full of candy in the house for weeks (because I don't want my children hopped up on sugar and because I have no will power when there's chocolate in the house!). Besides, they get plenty of candy from other Easter parties, egg hunts, friends, family, etc...

As you may recall, I'm doing a patio redo. My children have both been having fun playing with the dirt in my empty planters and they always want to "help" when I get out the trimmers, gardening gloves, shovel, rake. I decided that Easter represents the start of Spring in a lot of ways, so how about if the Easter Bunny brought Spring-inspired gifts? So instead of a bucket full of candy to eat after Church on Sunday, here's how my children enjoyed their Easter gifts from the Easter Bunny...



Granted, gardening gloves, plastic shovels and cultivators may not be "traditional" Easter gifts, but at our house, they just might become the "tradition."

No-Fly-Away Tablecloth from a Shower Curtain

Every Spring I have high expectations of turning my backyard into the kind of outdoor living space you would see in Better Homes and Gardens. And every Spring I fall short of that goal (way short...like I don't even get started). However, this year I vowed it would be different. Now that my children both LOVE to be outside, I knew we would be spending A LOT of time out there and I wanted it to be a comfortable place to sit while they are running around picking dandelions and chasing butterflies.

We already had some nice patio furniture, but I wanted a little cafe set so we could eat dinner outside on occasion. So I picked up this little table at Target for $34.


Then I went in search of a cute tablecloth to add some fun color. Well let's just say I was very underwhelmed with the choices. I finally SETTLED for a blue one with white flowers, but it didn't have the punch of color I was looking for. Then, I caught a glimpse of the shower curtain aisle. I thought to myself, "what if I used a plastic shower curtain instead? It's plastic, it can handle being outside, and surely there will be more options than the three (boring) tablecloths I had to choose from." I was SO excited when I found this shower curtain!



This was exactly the fun punch of color I was hoping for! It was a little more expensive than the tablecloth, but once I saw it I knew it was PERFECT! I had to have it.

I had already decided I was brilliant when I had my TRUE STROKE OF GENIUS. I was thinking about what I would place on top of the table to weigh down the tablecloth so it wouldn't fly away. Then I thought, "what if I sew elastic around the bottom so it would keep itself in place without the need for something to weigh it down." It's sort of like a shower curtain cap for your table. See, genius, right? So I got to work.

My table has a diameter of 28". I decided to add 12" to the diameter, making my tablecloth diameter 40". Here's where you need to recall your high school geometry. Remember, the diameter is the measurement across the whole circle. The radius is the measurement from the center of the circle to the outside of the circle. This is the measurement you will need. For a 40" diameter, the radius is 20" (this seemed a lot harder in high school).

Now that you have that measurement, you need to tie a string to a pen or marker leaving 20" (or whatever your radius is) of slack. Lay out your shower curtain on a large table or the floor. It would be easier if you have someone to help you with this next step or you can just sort of wing it (like I did). Now, hold the end of your string with one hand and keeping the string tight, draw your circle. (I hope this makes sense, because it's really hard to explain but really easy to do). This will give you your circle. Make sure you like the image that will be the center because that's what will show up on your table top. Don't worry if you make a mistake, because it won't really show once you have your elastic in (if you look closely at the bottom left of my circle you'll notice my sharpie got a little off track but it doesn't show in the finished product).


Next I pinned about 1 1/2" casing around the entire tablecloth (no longer a shower curtain!). I'm sure if you're an expert sewer and you see my pinning job you'll be horrified, but I had never tried to sew around a circle before. And truly, this project is very forgiving so it doesn't really matter how sloppy the sewing job is.


Make sure when you're sewing that you leave an opening to feed your elastic through. I cut a "V" to make it easier to access the casing. Now just feed it through your sewing machine like any other project. If you notice your tablecloth is not moving on your sewing machine, it may be because the plastic is getting stuck on the automatic feeder. If this happens, just hold your tablecloth up with your left hand so it is up off the machine. This seems to alleviate the problem. I used an average-length straight stitch (number 2.5 stitch length on my machine).

Finally, it's time to feed your elastic through the casing. I started with a 3/8" elastic (because that's what I had) that was 72" in length. It's better to start with way more elastic than you will use so you can feed it all the way through and then pull it to the desired length. Pin one end of your elastic with a safety pin and beginning feeding it through the "V" you've cut in your casing. Once you've fed it all the way through to the other side, begin pulling your elastic and scrunching up your tablecloth to get the desired form. It really will look like a giant shower cap. Once you have the desired form, pin the 2 ends of the elastic together and do a dry run fitting on your table to make sure it fits properly. Once you have the right fit, cut off your extra elastic (I cut off 35") and sew the 2 ends together. Here's what mine looked like after I was finished with my elastic.


And here's what it looks like on my table...


So cute, right!?! It's sooooo much cuter than the plastic tablecloth I ALMOST settled for. And the best part is I don't have to keep anything on the table to weigh it down because it's not going anywhere!


I absolutely LOVE how this project turned out! Now I'm more motivated than ever to make my backyard oasis a reality! Stay tuned for more progress...Better Homes and Gardens, here I come!


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Trash to Treasure Tuesday

Toot Your Horn Tuesday