Birthday gifts

Here are some pictures of the colored pencil wraps I made for Abby and Olivia for their third birthday. The inspiration for the project came from Mr. Monkeysuit, but the (modified on accident) pattern is from Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts (Hoverson). I love, love, love this book and it is now on the list of books to purchase - along with Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitters Almanac, but that's a different story for a different post.
The exterior is a white embroidered linen that I picked up from the remnant shelf at JoAnn's. The interior is sewn from a selection of the vintage fabrics and the ties are some basic ribbon from the stash. The interior batting is flannel; in this case an old receiving blanket from when the girls were itty-bitty babies. The only difference between the wraps is the color of the outside ribbon.

I say accidentally modified pattern because I intended the wraps to accommodate 12 pencils each, rather than the 24 called for in the pattern. However, when I was cutting the pieces it was quite late and I cut them exactly as the pattern stated. This meant they were two times too long for my project - or so I thought. So, I took my scissors and cut the length in half. Duh. I forgot to make room for the seam allowance on either side and thus have sliced the first and last pockets a bit. I also decided to machine stitch the top opening which resulted in an extra line of stitches along the top, but I don't think that matters much to the little ones. I really like these as a gift for kids, of all ages. There is enough left over fabric that I may do two more for my twin nieces that will turn 3 in October.

The last picture is of 10 bean bags I quickly sewed up for the birthday party we're planning. They will be the superstars in a bean bag toss game - reminiscent of the one on the old Bozo Show (boy, anybody else remember that show?) The vintage home dec fabrics came in handy here and make some pretty fresh looking bean bags. Now, it's up to the husband to mount some cans on a board and we should be ready to go.

The last craft that I did for the celebration are some cupcake decorations made out of felt that will be mounted on toothpicks. Pictures of those to come (once the cupcakes are made and frosted)!