Felt Robot

Our sweet babysitter is graduating high school. We love her dearly and she is so wonderful with our kids. I asked my son what he wanted to get her for her graduation. Robots. Always his answer. I thought about making a robot card, but still wanting to make her something nicer (because she always does cute crafts with the kids) I headed to Pinterest.

So there we sat, my son in my lap, scrolling all the ideas posted under the search “robot crafts”. Suddenly, my son pointed and yelled, “That one!” A beautiful picture of a felt robot from Mango and Passion Fruit.

I probably won’t ever scroll through Pinterest with my kids again saying I would make what they found. This project was hard. It looks easy and maybe for someone with bit more experience in sewing it would be, but it took me FOR-EV-ER. However, the finished product is great.

So great, that I now have to make another for my son. I had to promise to make him one so I could pry this one out of his hands for our gift.

You’ll need:

Felt (color of choice – I also used a heavier felt – I think the softer might be easier to work with)

Thread (contrasting color or blending color, I used upholstery thread)

Needle

Buttons (for eyes)

Filler (to fill your cubes)

Scissors

Ribbon (for a bow or maybe a bow-tie?)

Felt Robot: pinmethis.com

What to do:

Here are the measurements I used for my cubes:

Body = 8 cm square (6 squares)
Head = 6 cm square (6 squares)
Hands & Legs = 4 cm square (24 squares)

Measure out your squares on the felt and cut them out. I was glad that they didn’t have to be perfect. You want it to have a homemade look.

Start with the feet and hand boxes and a long strand of thread that is doubled. Sew one end of two pieces together. At the end of that end start the next square, it will usually be the top or bottom square. Repeat. Repeat. Until you have a cube. Remember to leave an opening big enough to add your filler.

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

Felt Robot: pinmethis.com

Once you finish your 4 small cubes for the feet and hands you can add your embellishments to the “face” of the robot. I added 2 black buttons for eyes and used my thread to make lashes. Of course, no girl robot is complete without a pink bow, right?

Felt Robot: pinmethis.com

I found a Pin on tying a small bow using a fork. It was easy enough, although mine didn’t turn out as cute. Again…homemade!

Then you can sew your head cube together using the same method as the the feet and hands.

Finally we get to the body of the robot. I started by sewing the four sides together, then adding the bottom square to the front square. Then I added an arm to each side. I sewed through the edge of the cubes onto the sides of the body. It felt most secure this way. I then repeated this with the feet. After those were on I finished sewing the bottom square to the other sides.

Felt Robot: pinmethis.com

Now for the head! I sewed the top square of the body to the front body square. Then attached the head cube to that. Once everything was secure, I finished attaching the top square of the body cube to the sides and stuffed.

Felt Robot: pinmethis.com

Here she is! Soon to have a brother! This really did turn out well. If you have a kiddo that loves robots this would make for a nice keepsake.

Felt Robot: pinmethis.com

We also made her this robot gift card holder. Hope she loves robots (ha ha ha)! (The gift card is on the robots chest under the “buttons”)

Make Your Own Felt Robot!

Derby Hats 101: Making a Hat

So now, you’ve read part one and have decided between a hat or fascinator. I’m sure you also might have an idea of what colors you will look for. Annnd we’re off! (Derby joke)

Step one, find a hat. I’ve gotten hats everywhere. Dee’s Crafts in Louisville, KY, is my go-to when I’m there. And if you’re in the area after Derby, you can get a hat for the next Derby at a huge discount!!

But just about any hat can become a Derby hat. My hat for this year I got a Target! It’s just a large brim sunhat but it fit well and has so much potential. If you are going the fascinator route, I suggest a wider headband in the base color you want. (The best headband that I used was wrapped in ribbon so I could just pin my fabric flowers on)

Step two, is heading to the craft store and looking around for something that jumps at you. Sometimes I go thinking I want flowers, then I see feathers I can’t do without or vice versa. Decide if you want to permanently attach things to your hat or headband or maybe look for things that you can attach with pins so you can remove it later.

Once you have everything you think you’ll want, do a mock set up to make sure you like it all together and the placement of items before you go gluing and possibly permanently create something you don’t like.

Below are a couple of my hats and how I put them together.

This hat above is one of my favorites. I spent countless hours on this one. I tacked the ribbon to the crown and then hot glued all of the feathers and silk flowers to the hat. The hat, in plain black, I had purchased the previous year after Derby and got it for next to nothing. I usually try to include a peacock feather whenever I can since they are thought to be lucky. I also wanted a signature theme for my hats.

These feathers are my favorite to work with and are featured in the 2010 hat. The small ones on the left are individual strands that come in a bunch. They stand straight and you can manipulate them fairly easily.

The other, on the right, you can build off of and lay it flat on the brim of the hat as I did or even on the side of the hat so they stand up. The one on the right has a felt half moon that you could glue more feathers or flowers to and then add a pin to the back so you could make a removable hat clip or fascinator.

Derby 2012 I decided on the fascinator. This was the only year that I bought a dress first. Let me tell you, never again! Finally, I did find a white tulle flower clip (also with pin) at Hobby Lobby and hot glued white and green feathers to to make it more extravagant. The feathers were straight so I followed this tutorial from Dee’s Crafts on how to curl feathers! It’s much easier than you’d think!

Last, but certainly not least, Derby 2014. This is another hat that I was lucky to find at Dee’s after the 2013 Derby. I really liked it because it was more of a sheer fabric, but had a great wire brim so I could mold it to fit how I wanted. It also has a drawstring at the crown so you can adjust the size!

It came with the white and black sheer bow and band already attached. I found the two pink fabric flowers at a craft store for 50% off! They have a pin and clip on the back so reusing them (or the hat) will be really easy.

If you’re getting ready for the 142nd Run for the Roses, visit Kentucky Derby Party DIY for some easy crafts and foods to make your party a winner! For more ideas and hat etiquette for ladies and gents check out my post Etiquette & Style. Or you can see a full Tutorial for my 2016 Derby Hat!

Easy Every Holiday Wreath!

In Bismarck, companies started holding “Pinterest” nights where you get together with friends and do a prepared craft. Super fun, right?

One night we were doing wreaths. I love this because I ended up combining a couple pins into a wreath I can use year round. The best part is that my son and I do it together. We with make or buy the decor to go on our wreath. We’ve even gotten Hubby’s expertise involved! Check it out!

St. Patrick’s Day

This is my St. Patrick’s day wreath. Felt hearts held together with beautiful nail heads and an origami bow!
For the base wreath, I started with a green foam floral circle you can pick up at any craft store but I’ve seen them at Walmart and Target too. Then pick a neutral ribbon to tightly wrap around it. This one is a canvas ribbon. I think it’s better not to use ribbon with wire and definitely use something wide.

Just wrap around tightly and secure with pins. Easy peasy. You’ll want to wrap at a bit of an angle to keep it flat.
After that, it’s a free for all! I’ve gone from a wreath once or twice a year to all the time with a quick switch of decor.
This one we simply cut out small heart shapes from green felt and grouped them into fours and held it together with a nail head to make out four leaf clovers.

The origami bow was a pin I found from How About Orange, complete with instructions. My husband loves to do origami so I knew this would be an easy request. After a practice bow I got this perfect finished product and pinned it on. I had him make me one for Easter, since it’s right around the corner, and 4th of July since I was on a roll!
The possibilities are endless. We’ve cut shapes from felt, bought the foam cutouts from the store. Last easter we added eggs from Joann’s that Danny and I found. Sometimes I do a ribbon bow or no bow! You can also check out The Crafty Mummy for a great felt flower tutorial!
Today we found rabbit cutouts in the Target dollar section so we are ready to make our next holiday wreath! I’ll post more as we decorate for the holidays and seasons!