My First Toy Drop: Mission Accomplished! (UPDATED)

Two weeks ago I told you about The Toy Society and how people all around the world make toys and secretly "drop" them for children to find and take home (you can find that blog post HERE).  I've had this toy bagged and ready, riding around in my car, ever since then!

I had thought I would drop it in one of the parks in town, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I might look strange and conspicuous, wandering around a park or playground with no kids with me.  So I just kept thinking about it, waiting for inspiration to strike--and it did!  I realized the perfect place was outside the library; it is a small public space, with fountains, benches, and a pergola; and although you don't have to walk through it to get from the parking lot to the library, lots of parents with children make a detour to go through it, because it is a magical spot that children love!

There she is--my Happy Critter!  I was there in the morning before the library opened, and I waited until no one was around to tie the package to a thick vine at child-height.  When I stepped back to take pictures, the woman in the purple hoodie (behind the beam where my toy is tied) wandered in and sat down.  Darn!  She was so close to my package that it was hard to take the pictures without drawing her attention.  Luckily my camera has a zoom lens, so I took the picture without having to get too close to her!

I will go back tomorrow to see it if is still there.  I wish I could be there when it gets picked up, but I might get arrested if I lurk around the library too much!  So I will just send it off with my good wishes for the child who finds it and takes it home.

If you have a spare handmade toy around your house, or you feel the urge to make one to give away, come on!  Be a toy dropper!  The weekend before Christmas is when The Toy Society is making a concerted effort to reach their goal of 300 toys dropped in a single weekend.  I will be part of that--I hope you will be too.  Then please come back and leave a comment--I would LOVE to know about it!

UPDATE:  I went back this morning, 26 hours after dropping off the toy, and it was gone!  I casually wandered around, looking in the fountain and the trash cans to be SURE it was gone, and there was no sign of it--now to wait and hope that it will turn up "found" on The Toy Society's web page.

More Scrappiness!

I want to show you what I sent to my wendiek, my Craftster partner (in The Netherlands!) in the Scrap Happy Swap; here's the whole package:

 What's that big green thing in the foreground, you ask?  Why, it's a plastic bag dispenser, of course! Wendie listed that as one of the things she would especially like to receive.  I have one hanging in my kitchen that I could use as a model, so I decided to go for it!  I had to make a BIG piece of scrappy fabric (16" x 16") which took a lot longer than I expected!  (You can click HERE to go to my tutorial for the scrappy patchwork technique.)

Once the scrap fabric was pieced, the plastic bag dispenser went together quite easily; it is basically a fabric tube with elastic at each end, and a hanging loop.  I am extremely happy with how this turned out!

What's up with the cows, you ask?  Wendie has several pictures of cows on her Wist list, and I had some fabric with cows on it...Wendie struck me as being like me:  a practical woman with a sense of humor.  I thought she would find the cows funny, and she did!  She says she loves the whole package, and that's what I love to hear!

Veteran's Day, November 11, 2011

To all who have served their country in the military,

including my father

Lt. Col. Jennings O. Larson (Ret.), U.S. Air Force

and my husband

Maj. William R. Andersen (Ret.), U.S. Army

I wish to say two words:

Thank you

(These pictures were taken at my father's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in 2006)

Hungry Monsters--For Christmas!

Natasha, a blogger "mum" in the U.K., has compiled a list of her Top 10 Handmade Gifts for Christmas this year.  Coming in at #2 are the Hungry Monsters we swapped recently at Craftster!  Remember them?

You know, making these for the children on your gift list is a great idea!  Why didn't I think of that?  Go to Natasha's blog, Serenity You, to view the whole list and get some more great ideas for your handmade Christmas gifts.  (And you can click on the blue words "Hungry Monsters", above, to go directly to the tutorial.)

The Making of a "Hope" Heart

After last week's post, "Hearts and Hope for Amanda", several of you have let me know that you are busy making small hearts with the word "hope" on them to send to this fellow-crafter who's husband has been diagnosed with advanced cancer.  Since I asked you to have them in the mail by November 15th, I thought I should get going and make mine!  I made these two for Amanda:

Since I'm big on tutorials, this is a good chance to demonstrate a couple of things I've been asked about.  I'll walk you through how I made the blue heart (it's a really basic step-by-step tutorial for beginner sewists, so you advanced people, just skim right through it!)

Make a heart-shaped template any size you want.  Mine is 3 3/4" wide.  (You can find the gridded template plastic at most fabric stores; or just use cardboard.).  I cut two blue fabric strips 3" wide and about 10" long (that's for two hearts--I'm making one for my own jar of hearts!), and one strip of  plain muslin 1" wide and 10" long.  I sewed them together as you see in the picture, using a 1/4" seam.  Cut out one heart from the pieced fabric for the front of the "hope" heart.

Here's my light box.  To transfer the word "hope" to the front of the heart, I printed out the word on my computer; I made a lot of different sizes so I could choose the one that fit best when I was at the light box. These are the marking pens I use:  micron, and Staedtler.  I prefer the Staedtler because on some fabrics the micron pens will bleed and ruin the word.  I have assorted sizes, and I used the largest size (0.7) to trace "hope" onto the heart.

I cut a heart-shaped piece of iron-on interfacing and ironed it to the back of the heart, so the finished product with be smooth and firm--not lumpy and bumpy.  (Stay tuned, anyone with questions about interfacing, I will do a separate post about it soon!)  Here's my heart front all done:

I used a different, coordinating fabric for the back of the heart.  I ironed interfacing onto it, and cut it larger than the front, so I don't have to worry about the two sides shifting when I sew them together.

 Sew all around the perimeter, using a 1/4" seam.  Trim the excess fabric, and BE SURE to make a cut at the top of the heart, right to the stitching line, or it will pucker terribly when you turn it right-side-out.  (Yes, I've forgotten to do it before!)

This picture shows a pair of hemostats, like doctors use in surgery!  They are the best thing EVER for turning things right-side-out.  Do yourself a favor and get a pair (or 6, like I have!)--and then go ahead and turn your heart right-side-out. (Or use a chop stick or knitting needle.)  Press it flat.

Stuff the heart with fiberfill, sew the opening closed by hand, and you are done!  This would be a great Christmas tree ornament, using holiday colors and a Christmas message.  You would want to sew a loop of ribbon into the seam right at the top of the heart when you sew the two sides together.

For the pink and green heart, I wrote "hope" on a separate piece of fabric and machine-sewed it to the front of a pieced heart.  I left the edges raw and exposed, and pulled out some threads to make a fringe around the sides of the word. 

I'll give another update next week--hopefully I will have some of YOUR hearts to show off!

Happy Critters Toy Drop

I finally figured out what to do with these cute little stuffies I made as prototypes when I was designing the Mystery Critters pattern.  (The one on the left was my original idea; he morphed into the guy on the right.  Quite a change, isn't it?!)

The two above, as well as the three below (which were the "models" for the swap on Craftster) will soon be going to new homes, thanks to a group called The Toy Society. They encourage people to make toys and secretly "drop" them in public places, for anyone to claim and take home.

A few days ago I got an e-mail from my friend Diane, saying she had just seen a picture at The Toy Society of two stuffies someone had just "dropped" near the town where she lives.  The stuffies were made from my Mystery Critter pattern!  Of course I hurried to take a look, and I was instantly captivated by the idea.  Here's a quote from the website:

"The Toy Society is a craft/street art project spreading love throughout the streets of the world.  From Melbourne to Lisbon, Antwerp to Michigan and everywhere in between, The Toy Society is all about giving you a 'something for nothing' experience."  How cool is that!

To participate, you just go the www.thetoysociety.blogspot.com and register by submitting your name and e-mail address.  They will send you an e-mail which details how to do a toy drop.  On the website you can also see pictures of toys that have been "dropped", and  read about some of the toys that have been found.

I decided to give these critters a makeover--I switched their button eyes for safety eyes, so they would be ready for any child who finds them. (I just noticed that some of them still have a button on their bodies--don't worry, I will snip those off too!)

The Toy Society will give you links to print out the labels and letter that goes with each toy you drop.  You seal it all up in a zip-lock bag, and take it somewhere you think a child might find it.  I'm going to drop this one in a near-by park.

 The letter that accompanies the toy gives the website address, so if the finder wants to report the toy "found", they can.  This would be a great family activity!  My kids are in college now, so I guess I will do the toy drop by myself!

They have a special toy drop date just before Christmas, when they hope to have 300 toys dropped around the world.  I will save one or two of mine to drop that day, and then I will register them at the site.  I'll be sure to let you know if any of them are reported after they are found!

Matchbook Notepads

Here's a tiny little gift that I like to make in big batches so I always have some on hand--these Matchbook Notepads are fairly simple to make, and they are great to tuck into a card for a little something "extra".  I saw something similar on etsy and decided to make my own.  They are great to have in your purse--if you need a slip of paper, just tear one out!

Here's a tutorial all in one picture! 
1.  For the outside, cut a piece of pretty cardstock 7" x 2 1/4".
2.  Fold the cardstock 1/2" from one end, and 3 1/8" from the other end.  (When both flaps are closed it will measure 2 1/4" x 3 3/8".)
3.  Cut regular computer paper (or any kind of paper you want) into 2 3/4" x 2" slips.  You will want 12-15 slips of paper per notepad.
4.  Position the slips of paper under the short flap at the bottom, and staple in place. (You will want your staple fairly low, to leave room for the big flap to tuck in.)
5.  Decide how you want to decorate the front.  I used my Word computer program and printed the phrase "happy heart" on whitecard stock, and cut it 1 7/8" x 2 1/4".
6.  With the notepad cover closed, center the white card stock and glue it to the cover.
7.  Cut fabric scraps into heart shapes (or flowers, or anything you want) and glue them to the white cardstock.

That's it!  I included the quarter for size reference. (Someone melted a hole in it before it came into my hands!  I will do something with this special quarter some day--but I don't know what!)

I included one of these notepads in each package I sent to partners in the recent Jar of Hearts Swap at Craftster.  They were PERFECT for that!  I also include one when I mail an etsy purchase to a customer.  They are great in a thank-you card too.  Try making a few, I'm sure you will find lots of ways to use them!