Kids Teepee

I was looking to make something a little differnet as a Christmas gift for a  nephew and I remembered that I'd seen a teepee pattern that looked pretty east to follow. The pattern used a "Twin sheet" which I worked out from the measurements is a single bed sheet in Australia. Here's the link to the original "Twin Sheet Teepee".
I decided to hunt down some cheap fabric to see how I went making one. I went through the marked down fabrics at Spotlight and I picked up a piece of fabric that was 145 cm X 266cm (Narrower and longer that the sheet used in the original pattern). As the original pattern involved triangles that then had their tops cut off, I figured I could re-arrange the pieces a bit to fit it in. Who would have thought that highschool triganometry could come in handy in real life!

If anyone is going to make their own, you should note that the fabric must be double sided (same on both sides), as one of the door flaps needs to have the wrong side facing out.

Mark out the fabric and cut into triangles

The measurements I used ( I had intended to make the pieces another centimetre or so wider but there was only2.66 metres of fabric left on the roll).

A small hem on the top and bottom of all pieces. I didn't bother rolling it over twice since this is a selvage edge anyway. I'm making a calico teepee at the moment and I don't intend to do this step at all since the selvage edge is so clean looking.

I overlocked and then hemmed the vertical section of the two door pieces

This was the only bit I found to be tricky. One or the door pieces is too big at the top (so that you get some over lap at the bottom of the door) and the other door piece is about half the width of the other panels. I put the smaller door piece on top of the larger piece and measured from the side of the larger piece and marked off 11cm (the size of the top of all of the other panels). I pinned the top (smaller) door panel to the larger piece so that side of the panel lined up with the 11cm measurement  and the hemmed part of the door was roughly in the centre of the larger piece.

I pinned the piece in place so that door panel was now the same overall size as the other panels. To make sure that it was straight I measured from the side hem of the small door piece to the side hem of the larger door piece.

I then made sure that the side seams remained the rame distance apart (meaning that I'd pinned it straight)

Sew the two door pieces together. I sewed down the front piece's hem about 50 to 60cm and then across the top of the door to the side of the panel.I re-enforced the stitching because I figure it will really get a work out.

I sewed the top door piece to the lower door piece along the diagonal just to keep the two pieces together for the next few steps. I then cut off the little triangle piece

sew all ot the panels together by sewing the right sides together down the entire legth of the side. I over locked mine but you wouldn't have to as the seam will not be seen.

Turn the teepee right side out and sew a casing down each of the seams. Each line of stitching was 4cm from the side seam.

The end result is five casings for the poles.

Insert the poles and it's done. The poles are 5 x 20mm PVC pipes but you could use dowel or bamboo(180cm long, although the ones in the photo hadn't been cut down and are 2m. On the site I got the idea from, the poles were left long and flags were hung from them).

Enjoy (indoors or outdoors)!!!!!!

Reindeer food

When Miss 4 received candy canes and cards from child care it made me think that we really should be doing something similar but I don't like feeding other people's kids sugar. I decided that we'd go with an idea I've used before: Reindeer Food.

 I made 45 Bags of Reindeer Food using 1 1/2 kg rolled oats (Miss 4 wanted regular and the quick cooking oats becasue she thought the reindeers would prefer that!!!), 1/2 cup of green sugar, 1/2 cup of red sugar and a packet of cake decorating sprinkles. Each bag used about 3 tablespoons of oats and a bit under a spoon of sugar (both colours combined) and a teaspoon of sprinkles.

I made my own coloured sugar by adding a few drops of food colour to 1/2 cup of sugar and stirring it through.

 I've seen lots of variations for this mix on the internet including: with glitter or sequens and without the coloured sugar.
I used a label and poem downloaded from this blog.

These are the packs I made last year.

DIY wrapping paper

A friend gave us a pile of butchers paper that I thought I could turn into wrapping paper. My vision was that I could get the girls (2 and 4) to help me stamp the paper with potato stamps in red and green to make it Christmassy and they'd have some fun while they were at it. I sort of saw a prouction line in my head. The reality was quite different but still lots of fun.

production line under way

Red and green stamped stars and Christmas trees

Apparently stamping wasn't fun enough

Must not leave the kids unattended for even a minute while they're painting

I'm still using the paper, even though it isn't quite what I envisaged, because family will appreciate the effort. (Family - You WILL appreciate the effort. OK!!!!!)

Handprint baubles

Every year we get at least one new decoration for the Christmas tree, this year we made some (or at least decorated some that we bought). I painted the kids' hands with some house paint (I needed something that would stick better than poster paint and this is all I had in white) and got them to put a hand print on a bauble. I quite like these baubles because they're clear plastic with gold glitter stuck to the inside, this means that the outer surface is smooth. I was going to use a plain bauble but I think this is better (and only $3 for 2 from Kmart!!!) I just made sure that the bauble I bought was big enough for the oldest child plus their details.

This really shouldn't have been tricky but we did struggle a bit to get a good quality print (especially as I wanted to make them for the Grandparents as well).

 I bought a white paint pen and wrote the child's name, age and the year. I gave them a coat of clear sealer so that they should last quite well.