Outer Space Pack

Continuing my plan to make any and all gifts needed, here is the next gift.  Oh and I should clarify, I am trying to only use supplies that I already have on hand (and not purchase anything new). For a boy's birthday coming up, I made him an outer space pack full of lots of fun things. (Plus this is the second project I made on my serger!).  There are no knew tutorials with this project though.

I made a bag and pillowcase and made water coloring pages with space themed pictures (boy can I draw some awesome pictures...NOT).  I also included glow in the dark stars and the watercolor pencils and a paintbrush.

Here is the bag.  I love this fabric!  I used the tutorial from Dana over at made for her Hobo Sack.  I love this bag.  It was very easy to make!  I didn't have enough fabric left from making the pillowcase, so I had to piece the outer space fabric with the blue fabric.

See how the flash washes the color out??  I really need a photo box or learn to use manual mode.

Here is one of the coloring pages.  See this project and this project for watercolor painting using the watercolor pencils.

Here is another coloring page.  I made a coloring page for each of the planets and other space coloring pages (rockets, etc).  The back of the page is a postcard, so once they are colored and painted, the child could mail them out to Grandma or Grandpa.

I also included glow in the dark stars.

Here is the pillowcase I made.  Again, I used another tutorial from Dana.  She makes everything so easy!!!

I put all the gifts into the bag.

See the stars glowing at the bottom of the bag!

Then I typed up a tag on the typewriter listing the contents and that the pillowcase and bag were both machine washable.

Then on the back of the tag, I put the instructions for the watercolor postcard pictures.

Amazingly I already had everything for this gift, so I didn't spend a penny.  Well technically, I did spend a penny when I first purchased everything, but I hadn't used it yet and it was in my craft room taking up space and it needed to be used.  And that is what I am trying to do this year, not purchase any gifts and use up my craft supply (so I can buy more stuff later!). 

Bean Bag Toss Game

This year I have decided to make any and all gifts needed for all occasions.  I'm not sure if I will be able to actually do this or not, but I am going to try.  For an upcoming birthday, I decided to make a bean bag toss game.  I hope she likes it!

What you need is:

2 different fabric prints

plastic pellets

and a bucket or paint can or something to toss the bean bags into

Cut out 5" squares.  Usually I make 10 or 12 bean bags per game.  Once you are done sewing, the bean bags will be about 4".

Using 1/2" seam allowance, stitch 2 squares together (right sides together) leaving about 1 1/2" opening to turn right side out.

Clip the corners.  Then turn right side out and use a pencil or knitting needle or paint brush handle (whatever you have) to make the corners nice and pretty.

Once turned right side out, stitch a very small seam allowance around the outside edge (1/8" or less).  But don't stitch the opening closed!!

Get a funnel and fill the bag with the plastic pellets.  I used about 1/3 cup of plastic pellets.  The reason I use plastic pellets is because they can be run the the washing machine and dryer.  If you use beans or something else to fill the bags, you might want to let the person know that the bean bags will not be machine washable.

Once the bag is filled with plastic pellets, shake the bean bag to get all the pellets to the 'bottom'.  You should have about an inch at the top where the opening is.  Put a pin above the pellets and this will help keep the pellets away from the opening while you sew the opening shut.

Happy Crafting!