Simple play mat for shoeboxes

I found this on Pinterest about a month ago. It's a simple way for a child to carry their matchbox cars with them. I started thinking about this and remembered that my grandson had a play mat type of rug when he was little. He loved driving his cars all around it. I've seen some of these since I did this one but they are a little more complicated than what I've done. I like simple with little or no sewing. So here is mine.

This was made with a solid colored man's handkerchief, a little bit of sewing (straight lines),and a black sharpie. 

I folded the handkerchief over 1/3 of the way. Sew the folded 1/3 on the sides and then sew straight lines about 2 1/2" wide down the folded section making pockets. You can make 8 pockets at this size or you can make fewer bigger pockets. Both will work. 

Use a pencil to free hand draw some lines for roads. Make them wide enough for a matchbox car to fit on. After you free hand your roads and have them how you want, then go over them with a black sharpie. The sharpie is permanent and will not wash off even after a lot of washings. The lake or pond in the middle is optional. I used some blue acrylic paint but fabric paint will work just as well, maybe better. I just dabbed the paint on the handkerchief and let it dry for a while. 

You can sew a piece of rick rack, yarn, ribbon, or fabric on one edge for wrapping and closing the play mat. To close, fold it in thirds and tie with the yarn around it like you see in the second picture. On the blue one below, I numbered the pockets to help with number recognition and counting. The majority of the world has numbers that look the same no matter what language they speak.

As you can see, I tried using different designs of handkerchiefs. They have a large variety at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents to $1.29. I think I like the solid ones better but that is just personal opinion. 

You can also add trees, buildings, etc on to the play mat, depending on your artistic ability.

When they are rolled up and tied, they will easily fit in a shoebox with 3 or 4 cars in them.

I've added a bit to the play mat (3/15/15). I used Memento Ink, Tuxedo Black and stamped a few animals on the mat.

I used stamps from SU! Zoo Review (#122197) and Every Little Bit (#120558). I recently ordered Zoo Babies (#130456) that I think will be really cute on here also. I used the brush end of a Pacific Point blue marker to make the lines on the pond.

Crafty Sheep for VBS or street camps

Here is the sheep that I made for the street camp that we will do in Galveston this summer for our mission trip. We will do a different craft each day but they are really simple ones that you can find in many elementary classrooms.

Here are most of the supplies that you need for this.

Toilet paper roll
Black cardstock or construction paper
Cotton Balls
Wiggly eyes
Extra-large Oval punch (#119859)
Large Oval punch (#119855)
toothpicks
white glue like Elmers
Paper-Piercing Tool (#126189) optional

1. Use the paper-piercing tool to poke 4 small holes in the tube for placement of legs. You can use other items to punch the holes but the paper-piercing tool makes a perfect size. Place a toothpick in each spot. If the toothpicks fit tight (like they will with the paper piercing tool) you won't have to add glue to these. If they don't fit tight, add a few drops of glue to hold the toothpicks in place.
2. Pour white glue on one side of the tube. Place cotton balls over the glue & press down. Add more glue & more cotton balls until the outside of the tube is covered with cotton. Use 3-4 cotton balls to cover the open ends. If you place some white glue on the edge of the tube the cotton sticks easily. Also, use a bit of glue to stick them together.
3. Put a few drops of glue on each toothpick and press a cotton ball onto each toothpick to make the legs.
4. Punch out 1 large oval and 1 extra large oval from black cardstock. Glue the eyes in place on the extra large oval. Allow it to lay flat for a few minutes for the glue to dry. If you try to put the face on too soon the eyes will slide.
5. Use the large black oval for the ears. Snip a small triangle out of one side of the oval near the center. That will make it look like the ears are two pieces. Flatten one cotton ball. Glue the black oval on to it and fluff the cotton around the ears. Place some glue on the back of the extra large oval. Then add the ears behind the face. You now have the sheep face.  Place the face over the cotton on one end with the ears slightly above the body of the sheep.
6. If you wish, you can add a small pom-pom to the back end of the sheep for a tail.

Pop up Brag Book

Who doesn't look a brag book to show off your kids and grandkids? Today, I'm going to show you how to make a cute pop-up brag book that you can show to all your friends. There are a lot of steps to this but it really is not all that hard. I learned how to make pop-up books from a lady named Dinah Zike who used to do workshops for elementary teachers all over the state of Texas. I had my second graders make pop-up books showing the 6 flags over Texas, classifications of animals, and all sorts of different things. Just think, if second graders can do this, you can too! lol

I did the label for "GiGi's Brag Book" on my computer. The rest was done by hand. When you open each page, my great-grandson pops up for you to see.

1. Cut 6 sheets of white paper or cardstock(cardstock stands up longer) to measure 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" each. Score and fold each piece at 4 1/4." 

2. Cut pop up tabs on the folded edge of each piece. Cut one tab if you are using narrow pictures; cut two tabs for wider pictures. For wider pictures, you could cut the tabs at 1-1 1/2" and 4-4 1/2." Cut and fold the tabs as per the detailed instructions on pop ups, click here and here.

3. After you have cut the tabs on all 6 pages, you are ready to begin to put the book together. Doing one page at a time, place adhesive

on three sides of the cardstock, where you see the arrows here. Do NOT put adhesive across the back/top where the cut and folded tabs are.

4. Place page 2 carefully on top of the adhesive. Try to keep your edges as straight as possible for a neat & attractive look.

This shows you how it looks with 2 pages attached to each other. Repeat the process with each page until you have all six pages together.

This is how 6 pages look.

This show you 6 pages from the back side. You can see that all of my pop ups are not exactly even. That is ok. It doesn't hurt anything. When you are finished, no one will be able to tell.

5. Now you are ready for your cover. Cut a piece of patterned paper to measure 5 n3/4 x 9." The patterned paper that I used was from the SU! Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper(#129919). Score and fold this paper at 4 1/2 and 4 3/4."  

6. Cut a piece of ribbon 24" long. I used Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon(#109034). Apply a strip of adhesive to the center of the back side of your paper. Each measure the center or eyeball, whichever way works best for you. Lay your ribbon along the strip of adhesive and press the ribbon in place, leaving excess on each side as you see in the picture.

7. Put adhesive on 3 sides of ONE half of the patterned paper, just like you did when you put the pages together. Do NOT put adhesive along the spine area. The spine needs to be loose so that the pop up tabs can move easily. Place the pages on the adhesive on the back of the cover. Press in place. THEN, you can do the front inside of your book. Put adhesive on 3 sides of the white cardstock. Place the front cover down and press. You should have your ribbon sticking out on both sides of the book in order to tie it closed.

8. Now you are ready to decorate your front cover. I made a butterfly to put on the front of my book. I used the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die(#114507) to cut my butterflys. The paper is Marina Mist cardstock and a pattern from the Summer Smooches DSP pack. I only put adhesive on one side of the butterfly so that the other side would look like it wanted to fly.

If you wish, you might add more information on the back cover, like you would find on the jacket of a purchased book. The authors picture and about the author is always cute! And remember YOU are the author so be sure to sign your work somewhere!

9. Now for the inside. Place adhesive on the tabs of one page. Press the bottom of your picture against the tabs to secure it. Check it out to make sure it pops up easily. If it sticks some, you may have put too much adhesive or adhesive over the place the photo goes. Simply sprinkle a small amount of baby powder onto to the excess adhesive and shake off. Your photo or picture can not be taller than 3" or it will stick out the top of your book when you fold it. It is best for the width not to be over about 4 3/4."

Do the pages one at a time, checking the folds as you go. Decorate the pages approiately for your theme. I decorated my inside pages with stamps from Animal Stories(#116716), Choo Choo (#113982), Happy Together(#114314), Forest Friends(#113748), Fox & Friends(#118565) and Little Lambs(#120525).  Some of these stamp sets are retired but there are many more super stamps that you can get for your projects. Write information, such as names, places and dates, on the pages to identify your pictures.

Check tomorrow to see the insides of my book!

Punch Bunny

I made this card using a bunny that I made from my punches. The bunny is really easy using punches.

1. Punch all your pieces out first.

You will need 2 white ovals using the small oval (#120908) punch and 2 pretty in pink small ovals.

Punch one white oval with the extra large oval(#119859) punch for the body.

Punch 2 white ovals with the large oval(#119855) punch for the ears.

You need one white circle from the 1 1/4" circle (#119861) punch for the head and one small pink circle using the 1/2" circle (#119869) punch.

2. Cut the 2 small white ovals in half to use for the feet and arms. Place a small amount of adhesive onto the cut edges of the small white ovals. Slide these under the bottom of the extra large oval for feet and under the upper half of the extra large oval for arms.

3. Place adhesive on the back side of the small pink circle and place behind and above one of the feet so that it sticks out slightly.

4. Place adhesive on the back of the small pretty in pink ovals. Place those on the center of 2 large white ovals for the ears. Use a bone folder or your score board to score one of the ears about 1/2" from the top so that is will flop over. Attach these behind the head with adhesive.

5. Put the head over lapping the body.

6. Using your SU! markers draw a face on the bunny and toe & finger marks on the hands and feet. I used Marina Blue for the eyes, Pink Pirouette for the nose and mouth and Early Espresso for the whiskers and eyebrows.

7. Tie a bow in a piece of 1/8" organdy ribbon from the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad pack that you can get free with a $50 purchase during Sale-a-Bration (until March 31).  Attach it at the bunny's neck with a glue dot(#103683).

8. To complete the card, I used patterned paper from the Flirtatious Specialty(#122360) pack cut 4 1/2 x 5 1/2." I used the small oval punch to cut out some "eggs" for the bunny. I cut the ovals in half and tucked the bottom part under other paper.

9. For grass, I punched Old Olive card stock with the Pinking Hearts border (#117649) punch and place it just barely over the bottom of the bunny.

10. The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes(#115370)[Yes, I use this set ALL the time!] I popped it out with my Word Window punch(#119857) and mounted it on the Modern label (#119849) punch cut in Old Olive. I attached it with a brad from the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad pack.

I think this will give me a cute Easter card for one of my grandchildren. Hope you enjoy it.