Cambridge Printfair

This is just a brief note to let you know that I will be selling screenprints and linocuts next weekend at The Guildhall in Cambridge, UK.

 If you are interested in seeing some of my prints in advance, I have put a few of them online at https://www.kelleydonner.com/shop. I have made sure to make some that are as small as postcards, as I know that artwork is a wonderful thing to give at Christmas.

Thank you for your support!

The Great Kid-friendly Bake-off!

I love baking with my kids. We also love watching those cheesy bake shows which make amateur contestants go against each other to see who can make the best (or worst) cake. This past week, my children and I decided to create our own show.

I got out enough bowls, wooden spoons, and equipment for each of my three children, gave them each 2 eggs, and ingredients. I had to film them each coming in to the kitchen, as they love to watch Youtube and wanted to have everything look and be commentated on as if were a real show.

Activity 1: Bake your own signature cake.

Three little hands mixing batter

Then they all got to work. I led them through the basics, but let them do the heavy lifting. They had to grease and flour their own pans, measure and stir their own ingredients, and design their own cakes. It was fun and we had a blast.

My youngest, who is five, took the whole thing really seriously. When asked what kind of a cake he would make, he replied, “A waterfall cake made of chocolate with a Spinosaurus on it.” Not an easy task, if you ask me.

Waterfall cake with Spinosaurus

They all worked really hard, and in the end I was really proud of each one of them. Jonas, who is now 9, made a dinosaur cake with fossils stuck in the frosting; Lukas, who is 8, made a chocolate happy face cake; and Max made his extravagant cake with a waterfall falling down a cliff made of rice cakes into a painted river of frosting.

Here are the final cakes and a recipe for only 1 round cake made with simple ingredients. I hope you enjoy yourselves as much as we did. This was a fantastic way for the whole family to get involved in the kitchen.

Recipe 1 Bake-off cake:

The final three cakes!

Ingredients:

1/2 C Butter
3/4 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 C milk
1/4 C cocoa (optional)

Your choice of frosting and decorations!

How to make the cake:

1. Have children grease and flour a round baking tin.
2. First have children mix together the butter and sugar. Make sure your butter is nice and soft so that the kids can handle it.
3. Show how to break an egg and then let each add 2 eggs to their butter/sugar mixture and mix again.
4. Add vanilla, milk, and all dry ingredients. Mix well.
5. If you are going to make a chocolate cake, add a 1/4 C cocoa to the mix and perhaps a little bit more milk.
6. Bake at 350* F for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool and then decorate to your hearts content.
8. Don't forget to judge the best cake!

Please let me know how your cakes turned out!

Sensory Fun at Bangabandhu Primary School

This week I visited Maddi Outram’s special education class at Bangabandhu Primary School in London. 

Maddi has been using my book Ball! Ball! Ball! for topic this term in her class. As many of her students are autistic and have sensory processing issues, Ball! Ball! Ball!  offered various possibilities for tie-in activities and sensory fun. Her students are between the ages of 5 and 9.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my book: 

Ball! Ball! Ball!  is about an autistic boy named Tom who is obsessed with all things round and enthusiastically points out any object he can find that looks like a ball. From peas to balloons, Tom learns that “balls” can be smooth, squishy, pop, and even have different temperatures.

Maddi read my story to her class and then made various tie-in activities based on sensory play. She collected variations on all of the objects in the book, such as a rock, a round lamp, bubbles, etc. and placed them in a basket to be used as needed. 

Just as Tom is excited about the peas on his plate, Maddi made a table full of peas and let the children play and squish them as they wished. For science and physical education, they rolled and threw different balls. She even filled a trampoline with balloons and let the children jump in them. I think she is doing a wonderful job and it is clear that the children all really enjoy being in her class. I'm thrilled that my book is being used in such a positive way.

On the day I visited, we decided to do a sensory bag activity. I placed a round object, such as a ball, round Lego tire, marble, roll of tape, etc. into a bag and let each of the children feel the object with their hands. Many of the children wanted to see the object and take it out of the bag.

After this, I read Ball! Ball! Ball!  to the class again. One of the pupils who had been stimming with his hand in front of his face the entire time, stopped stimming for a little while. This made me happy, as this was the child that Maddi had told me loved balls more than anything. Another child sat very close to me and wanted to touch the page that I was reading. Although I received very little eye contact, I could tell that most of the students were listening and taking part in their own way. Having written a story about an autistic child, it was wonderful getting positive feedback from children who could directly relate to Tom's character.

Finally, we made a fabric collage together of a scene from outer space using a simplified version of the collage technique that I used for Ball! Ball! Ball! I brought pieces of scrap material and stencils and we glued the material onto a piece of poster board. The children needed some help with using scissors, but they all worked really hard and together we finished a nice piece of artwork. 

I really enjoyed visiting Maddi’s class and the staff at Bangabandhu Primary School were all very friendly and helpful. I love being an advocate for children with special needs and autism and I look forward to visiting more schools in the future. I am also planning on adding a lot of Maddi’s sensory activities to my webpage along with some ideas for sensory play so that other teachers can benefit from her creativity and dedication.

Ball! Ball! Ball!  is in the process of being published and will be available on Amazon in June of this year. The ISBN number is 978-1-73-395951-3. Please contact me if you would like to pre-order a copy and if you enjoy my books, please leave me a positive review on Amazon. Thank you.

Easter Basket Zwiebach Frogs

I don't know about you, but my kids get way too much chocolate on holidays. They get a bunny from family, friends, and neighbors as well as from the school, Kindergarten, and the grocery store. We end up swimming in chocolate. I wish more people would offer fun, healthy alternatives. 

If you are interested in making your kids Easter baskets a little bit healthier this year, these Zwiebach animals are easy to make and a lot of fun (What is Zwiebach?).  They would also look great in an Easter nest ready to be nibbled up on Easter morning.

Making Zwiebach Frogs is a great way to combine fun with food.  These frogs are easy to make and this dough requires very little kneading making it a great activity for children. Your kids can make bunnies and chickens, too. Add vegetables or fruit for garnish or lay them out on a pretty plate filled with goodies. Enjoy!

Here’s the how to:

Easy Zwiebach Frogs

1 C warm water

1 ½ T dry yeast

2 T sugar

¼ C oil

3 C flour

1 t salt

For frogs, you will also need string cheese, raisins, and a toothpick

1. Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy, then add oil. Blend in flour and salt with a fork until the dough starts to stick together. Use your hands to finish the dough by kneading it a few times, not long, and then forming it into a flat ball. Put dough back in large bowl, cover, and let rise until double in size. If it is still hot where you live, put the bowl outside to make it rise faster.

2. Pull off pieces of dough and roll them in your hand to form golf ball sized balls. These balls will be the frog body. Place them on a greased cookie sheet. Then pull off smaller balls and pinch them around the body to make the legs and feet. Roll very small balls to make the eyes.

3. Now take a toothpick, and poke a hole in the eye piece of dough. Move the toothpick around a little to make the hole big enough to fit a half a raisin. Cut a raisin in half and using the toothpick again, push the raisin into the hole. Do the same for the other eye.

4. Pull off little strings of string cheese. Wrap the cheese around the large part of the body dough ball and then use the toothpick to push in the ends into the dough, so that it stays in place. This part can actually be a little tricky. You may need to wet the cheese for it to hold better.

5. Now let your frogs rise again, about 15 minutes. I have also baked some Zwiebach, which you can also see on the picture. While they are rising, you can turn your oven on to 350 degrees. You may need to push some of the balls back into place, as the rising sometimes will push the balls apart.

6. Place frogs in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve the frogs on homemade lily pads. Cut out green hearts out of paper. I used a plastic flower, but you could also cut flowers out of paper as well. Eat with butter and cheese, but first have your frogs jump around the table.

Painted Tree Silhouettes

I love painting, but having small children hasn’t made it easy to paint very much, other than the occasional finger painting extravaganza.  Therefore, I was overly excited about painting the boys’ room. I have always wanted to do something creative on the walls and I finally had a good idea and was ready to begin.

. 

I’ve always found trees fascinating and thought that you could stare at them for hours.  I decided to make some tree silhouettes on two walls in the room with the trees white and the walls blue. I didn’t paint the whole room blue, because I didn’t want it to feel too small and I like the contrast of the white walls in between. 

After planning everything out, I waited until my mother-in-law came up for a week, so that I would be able to work in their room as uninterrupted as possible.  Unfortunately, Jonas got the flu that week.  Luckily, he was happy to lay in his bed in his room, watch Little Red Tractor on the Ipad and watch me paint.

I went online to see what info I could find about how to do silhouettes neatly, but could only find how-to’s on how to do patterns like chevrons.  This still proved very helpful and taught me what I needed to know in order to make crisp lines without any leaks.

I was very pleased with how the room turned out and the boys like it as well.  Jonas loves cats, and his stuffed Baby Kitty often tries to climb up the tree or catch a bird. At night when only a nightlight is on, it is easy to imagine being outside.  Even though blue is usually a cold color, the trees and dark color seem to add a bit of warmth to the room that was much needed. 

Here’s the How to:

1.  Decide what wall or walls you are going to paint, and make sure they are clean.  In Germany, almost all walls have Raufasertapete, which is a kind of textured wallpaper with a paper-like consistency that is usually then painted over with white paint.  I used a cloth to wipe down the walls and make sure they were dust and spider web free.

2.  Get out your masking tape!  There is a difference when it comes to masking tape.  If you can afford it, buy the good painter’s tape that doesn’t over-stick.  I began with this tape, but ran out and finished my project with plain old masking tape.  Both worked well, but the masking tape pulled off some of the wallpaper, which I had to touch up later. 

I drew out my drawing in a sketchbook first and then freehanded it with the masking tape on the wall.  If you want to make a rounded edge, you will need to just tear many little pieces of tape and lay them over each other like a fan. If you would like to make shapes, like my birds (and don’t want to free-hand them), you can put the tape in strips on wax paper and then cut out patterns with a scissors or knife.    

The most important thing is that the outside line of your silhouette looks sharp.  Use your finger to press the tape down along this entire edge. Don’t forget to do this also on the sides of your wall.

3.  Time to paint.  In order to get clean lines, it is very important that you follow this step.  You will need to first paint along the outer edge of your masking tape silhouette using your original wall color, which is usually white along with the sides of your wall.  This seals the tape on the side and prevents those little color drips.

Now you can take your background color (I used blue), and begin painting.  I used a professional roller made for details.  It is somewhat like a sponge and doesn’t hold as much paint as a traditional roller, but it also doesn’t splatter.  You will just need to press a bit harder and roll over some areas a few more times.  You may also want to buy a little roller for getting into tough spots.  A roller will leave a much nicer finish than a paint brush.  If you have areas that are too detailed, use more masking tape or paper to mark off the wall so that you can roll over it. It will save you time and look better.

4.  Finally, pull off the tape carefully while it is still wet!  This sounds a lot easier than it is, as masking tape is really sticky and now wet with paint.  I wear those plastic gloves like doctors wear when I paint a big project, so my hands don’t get covered. Then once your wall is dry, you can go in and do touch ups with a paintbrush.

 I think you will be amazed how easy it is to make beautiful silhouettes on your walls that look like they were professionally done.  Here is a picture of both finished walls.  I have now put Jonas's bed in front of the wall on the left and a white dresser on the left side of the wall on the right. 

As always, good luck and have fun!

Grow With Me - Movable Door Height Marker

When did you get so big? I remember hearing that line when I was a kid all the time.  I never realized just how true it is.  Kids really do grow amazingly fast.

When my boys were born I was amazed just how tall they were.  Was it really possible for them to grow so much in only nine months inside of me? Then at their first birthday, I was amazed again at just how much taller they had become.  Now that they are two and three they have already become little boys and no longer look like babies anymore. Where did the time fly?

I started this movable door height marker over a year ago.  By changing the fabric every year, you can see exactly how much your child has grown each year.  You can also see which of your children will probably be taller.  Already at three, I can see that Jonas will be taller than his brother, even if it is only a little bit.

Hopefully someday, when they are over six feet and have stopped growing, have gotten married and have their own children, they can hang their door height marker up again and their kids can compare themselves to daddy.  

Lukas just had his two year check up where he had to stand up against the wall and get measured.  At home, he stood against his door marker and said, “so big!” Maybe someday, his son will do the same.

For the how to, see  http://kelley-donner.blogspot.de/2011/04/movable-door-height-marker.html from April of last year.

Big Boy Bedding

Before I had kids, I thought that you only lost sleep the first six weeks after a child was born.  Boy, was I naïve!  I never realized that sleep problems continue and change as children grow and their world expands.

My first born Jonas is already three.  He used to be a great sleeper, and then last summer the nightmares started.  First he was scared that a truck was going to drive into his room, then later he had a horrible fear of elephants.  In addition to this, his blankets were always falling off his bed and he would call out a few times a night, “Mama, tuck me in!”

The bedding issue was more complicated then it sounds.  Three year olds are picky!  Jonas has three blankets, one fleece, one fake down blanket and one crocheted.  He needs to have them on in that order, too.  Like I said, three year olds know what they want.

I finally decided to make him a new blanket that combined what he loved about the other three.  I knew that I would have to sell it well, or he wouldn’t accept it, so I worked hard at making it perfect.  I got blue fleece for the underside of the blanket and construction vehicle material for the other side.  I put a slit on the bottom where a down blanket could be put in for more warmth in the winter and added a piece of extra material that could be tucked under the mattress so that the blanket wouldn’t fall off. 

Luckily, the nightmares have gotten a bit better as he has started to understand the difference between reality and dreams and he’s not waking up as often as he used to. Jonas also loves his new blanket.  He is entirely capable now of tucking himself in, although he prefers to do it with one leg always on top of the blanket and one underneath. I don’t mind, as long as he falls back asleep.

I also decided that since I had the sewing machine out, I might as well make a blanket for Lukas, too.  He is now getting old enough to like a blanket and be capable of keeping one on at night.  Lukas's blanket is a bit smaller and can also be used as a duvet-cover, only I did not add the extra flap on the bottom.  As you can see on the pictures, both boys loved their comfy blankies.

How-to:

1.  This blanket was actually very simple.  First, measure the duvet that you are going to cover and add at least an inch and a half around the side.  The underside of your blanket, I used fleece, will be this size.  Then measure the top of your blanket, I used construction material, but add an extra 18 inches to the length (this is the flap that you tuck in under the mattress later).  For an added touch, I cut a strip of the construction material and sewed it on to the length of the fleece before I cut it, so that when the bedspread is folded over, you see both fabrics. 

2.  Now, sew the bottom end of the fleece and the flap of the top material by folding over the edges of the material twice and making a nice seam. 

3.  Lay the two pieces of material on top of each other with the good sides facing each other.  Pin all edges.  First sew the bottom of the fleece where you have made the seam to the top material about 10 inches in on both sides.  This hole is where you can add the duvet later when the weather gets cold.  You can add snaps if you want so that the duvet stays inside.  Then sew the other three sides of the blanket together and turn back righ-side-in.  For a finishing touch, iron the blanket flat and sew around the edges from the outside one more time.  Your blanket is finished!  Good job!

Blessings Countdown Calendar - Guest Blog

I just love this Advent Calendar from Jen's Ink Spot!  It has such a personal touch and fits in with the true spirit of Advent. Instead of chocolate or little gifts, it shares blessings that the family has received throughout the year.

Behind each number card is a photograph representing a memory. These cards can then in turn be hung as ornaments on the tree. When Christmas is over, the cards can then be put in a scrapbook to show blessings from the past year. What a great way to share Advent with your children!

I’ve been friends with Jennifer since the fourth grade, and I’m so proud of all of her creative accomplishments. Her blog Jen's Ink Spot has great ideas for how to make cards of all kinds. If you would like to check it out and see how to make this fantastic Advent Calendar, just click on this link:  http://jensinkspot.blogspot.de/2012/11/blessings-countdown-calendar-with-lil.html

Have a wonderful Advent!

Kelley

15 Min Construction Site Birthday Cake Deco

This year Jonas’s third birthday hit right in the middle of family flu season.  Luckily, Jonas was already over the flu.  Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t, I was on antibiotics for strep, and Lukas was in recovery.  

Talk about multi-tasking!  Between bringing my boys to bed and  taking care of my sick husband, I only had a couple of hours to decorate the house, bake and decorate the cake, and get all of the gifts ready for the birthday party.

I originally had big hopes for Jonas’s birthday cake and had planned on spending a lot more time making it really perfect. As a mother, though, I’ve learned that you often have to make compromises, or nothing gets done.  Luckily, my sister-in-law Regina had given me some construction candles (I'm sure Hotwheels would also work) and I was able to rethink the cake and come up with an idea that was extremely quick and still did the trick. I don't know exactly how long I had to decorate this cake, but I'm pretty sure it was under 15 minutes. 

While I was decorating the cake with my hands full of sticky bright frosting (I couldn’t find my decorating tools, so I had to spoon the frosting into a Ziploc bag and cut the corner cut off) I was thinking - Hopefully Lukas will sleep tonight, instead of waking up screaming of an earache like the last few nights.  Hopefully, my husband won’t be out of order more than a day or two.  Hopefully, Jonas won’t wake up either, and I’ll get a good nights sleep, which I desperately needed.  I’d already come to the conclusion that we mothers really don’t have time to get sick and when we do, we have to do our best to just ignore it and keep going. 

  

Somehow, I managed to get it all done and it wasn’t until I had just laid down in bed to sleep that Lukas started crying.  Nonetheless, in the morning, when Jonas woke up, went down the stairs and saw his cake and gifts waiting for him and he smiled that huge it’s my birthday smile, nothing else mattered. 

“Mama, Lukas can have one half of the cake, and I’ll have the other half.” Turning three really is fantastic.   

The Hairy Bunny

For me the days before sleep training were the worst, worrying about how awful it was going to be.  I was so accustomed to having my little boy next to me, cuddling on my arm and holding my hair tightly gripped in his hand.  How would he react to being all by himself?

Often when I would try to loosen that grip on my hair, he would wake up as if he was startled, cry out and then grab my hair and pull it toward him.  There was no way he was going to sleep without Mama’s hair…and that was a problem.

I tried to wean him off my hair the few days leading up to sleep training, but I was only mildly successful.  I tried giving him his stuffed kitty instead, but he out tricked me.  He held the kitty in one hand and my hair in the other.  I tried giving him a little horse with a mane of hair like a Barbie dolls, but he knew the difference, even at 4 a.m.

Whenever Lukas was hurt or fussy, all he needed was my hair to calm down.  Even while I was still nursing him, my hair was his main source of comfort.  How was I ever going to sleep train this little guy without having to stick my head in the crib?

I finally decided to cut off a fairly long lock of hair.  I tied it in a knot and then while holding the knot taut; I sewed it to a ribbon.  I then tied the ribbon in a knot around the hair knot and then tied this ribbon on to his stuffed lamb.  My hope was that having a little bit of my hair in his crib would give him that little bit of comfort that he needed.  I even sprayed a bit of perfume on the lamb so that it would smell like me. 

Lucky for me, sleep training went really well and wasn’t at all as difficult as I had expected.  Lukas loves his crib now.  Yesterday after his nap I spied on him.  He was sitting in his crib holding his lamb, pulling my lock of hair through his fingers in his own little world.  And, although a part of me still wished that it was connected to my head, I was glad that he was happy without me.  

Bed to Crib Baby Pillow

My boy Lukas loves to cuddle, so I hated laying him in an empty crib. Although I used to think that babies should always be in their cribs, Lukas somehow always managed to make it into our bed.  I guess, things change when you have your own kids. 

Our relocating didn’t help the situation either, as often the only place for him to sleep was next to us.  Now that we are settled in, though, it’s time for him to finally move to his crib for the long haul.  I know this won’t be easy, as he is already almost 14 months old, but he’s just getting too big.  

I needed something to make the change a little bit easier.  I’ve tried giving him a stuffed animal, but he just thinks they are funny and then throws them out of the crib. 

I know, however, that as soon as he wakes up, he starts reaching out for anything to give him comfort, usually a piece of my hair or a pillow that smells like Mommy and Daddy. 

Therefore, I decided to make him his own pillow.  This pillow he can use in our bed or his, so that it stays the same (and smells the same) no matter where he is. 

As you can see from the picture, it sure looks like Lukas likes his pillow.  Let’s just hope he likes sleeping by himself, too. 

How to:

1.  For this pillowcase, I used the material from an old beige sheet made of 400 count Egyptian cotton.  Lukas is used to our pillows, so I figured a sheet would be similar material.

2.  Next, I measured out a piece of material to fit the baby pillow that I bought at Ikea.  I laid the material on the table, put the pillow in the middle, and then folded it over the pillow making sure  that there was about 6-8 inches of overlap in the middle.  I decided not to put a zipper or a button as closure, but to use a fold instead.

3.  Next, I took the ends that will be part of the open fold and sewed them closed like you would the bottom of a curtain.  I doubled them over and sewed the hem twice. 

4.  Then I laid the material down on a table upside down, folded it over like I had over the pillow before with the material overlapping in the middle about 6 inches and pinned the edges together.  I sewed around all of the edges.  Then I turned the pillow back right side in using the open fold.  The pillowcase is finished.

5.  Finally, I drew a picture on the pillow of a dumptruck using fabric markers.  You can also fill in your picture with color, but I actually like the black and white of this picture.  Maybe someday I’ll let Lukas color it in himself.

6.  Put your child to bed on his new pillow and watch him sleep.  Zzzzz…

Photo Calendar Wall Hanging

Do you make calendars for grandma and grandpa every year? We always make ourselves a copy as well.  It's so nice to look at the pictures throughout the year.

And yet, it's a calendar.  I won't be hanging it up again.  The year is finished. There will never be a 2011 again.  I should just throw it away.

But, I can't bring myself to trash it.  These are 12 pictures that I chose out of hundreds.  These are the cream of the crop, the best photos.  Hmmm....

Then I had a great idea. I decided to make a wall hanging.  Jonas's room is under the roof, so part of the wall is really slanted.  I love to hang up pictures, but I'm not about to hang up frames on a slant.  Not only is it too dangerous, but I don't even know how you would do it.  This calendar wall hanging is perfect for such a wall and the slant makes it easy for kids to see the pictures.

Jonas loves his wall hanging and often wants to talk about the pictures and all of the interesting places that we've seen throughout the year.  This calendar is so easy to make and looks great on a wall.  You can easily finish it in one afternoon or evening.

Here's the how to:

1.  Cut all of the pictures off the calendar so that they are the same size, usually about the size of a piece of paper.  Then punch a hole in each corner with a hole puncher.

2.  Lay out all of the pictures on a table like you would like to have them on the wall.

3.  Cut pieces of string about 6-8 inches long.  Then making sure your knots are about the same on every corner, tie the pictures together making a checkerboard.  Also, tie strings to each of the four corners.

5.  Pull your pictures taut across the table and then measure the distance vertically and horizontally.  Add an inch to each measurement and then drill holes in the wall (we have brick walls here) and screw in a hook facing outwards into each hole.

6.  Finally, take the strings which are tied to each of the four corners of your wall hanging and tie them tightly onto the hooks in the wall. Finished!  Doesn't it look fabulous?

Duvet-inspired Automobile Curtains

Jonas with his matching blanket and curtains

My son actually started crying when he saw these curtains hanging in his room.  He was convinced that I had cut up his beloved blankie.  In a way this was true, but not the way that he thought.  I had cut the end off of his adult-sized duvet cover a month before and shortened it into one that fit his kid-sized one.  Why this sheet set doesn’t come in child-size at Ikea, I will never understand. 

The idea that Jonas wouldn’t like his matching curtains never occurred to me.  Luckily, after taking his blankie out of his bed and showing him that it was whole, he quieted down and it was all okay.  We even had a little conversation and a smile about the dump trucks and cars.  Thank goodness!

His room needed curtains since summer is approaching and it is light here in northern Germany until almost 11 p.m. Without anything on the windows, he would most likely wake up around 4 a.m. as well when it starts to get light outside.

Automobile close-up

I’m not the biggest fan of curtains, but I didn’t want to have blinds due to the cords.  I’ll admit, I bought curtains for the main bedrooms.  With the price of material these days, it’s hard to sew them for less.  However, they are too thin, so I will need to sew on a darker sheet behind them to block out more light.  Good thing I can sew.

For this duvet inspired curtain, I used some scraps of red material, a long piece of blue material I bought at Ikea, the bottom end of one of the bedroom curtains (cut off at the window), and the rest of the duvet cover with the automobiles.  It only took me one night after the kids went to bed, and I think it really adds to the room and makes it more colorful. 

Here’s the how-to:

Red curtain loops

1.  Measure the window and buy enough material for a base curtain with the material folded in half.  I decided on blue and needed 1m40 x 2.5m (about 55” x 98”).  Trivia for you - European windows are different than American ones.  You can open them into the room to clean them or open them at an angle to let in a little bit of air.  Since there aren’t as many insects here, almost no windows have screens. 

2.  I first made the loops for the top of the curtain.  This is pretty easy.  All you need to do is cut a few strips of material 4 inches by 10.  Fold them in half and sew along the side leaving about a quarter inch.  Then turn them back right-side-in and iron flat with the seam in the middle.

Pinned Loops on main fabric

3.  Then I folded my blue material in half and laid it on the floor.  I cut open the fold so that I would have a straight cut and folded back one piece at the top.  Now I laid the red loops along the top of the material with the frayed ends hanging off the side of the blue material on the floor showing about an inch.  I pinned them loosely in place.  Then I folded the blue material back over the loops and added more pins. Finally, I sewed along the top leaving about a quarter to a half inch of blue material.  After you have made your seam, you can cut the rest of the loop ends also to a quarter inch. Now you can turn this piece of material inside out and lay it back on the floor.  With the loops on the top, it already looks like a curtain!   

Curtain on the floor

4.  At this point, I decided to add the automobile duvet piece of material to the curtain.  I ripped out the seams and then cut the material to fit.  Then I sewed in the bottom edge a quarter inch.  Finally, I sewed this piece upside down on the blue material about a foot from the top seam with the loops so that when it is folded back over it hangs like a second curtain over the blue one. 

Finished curtain

5.  I folded the blue curtain back inside out and laid it on the floor like in step 3.  Then, I took the rest of my bedroom curtain material and laid it on the floor underneath the blue curtain. I added this piece just for extra opacity.  I made sure everything was flat, pinned the edges, and then cut off any extra material sticking out.  I sewed around the entire edge, leaving only a little hole, about 8 inches, along one side.  Then I turned the whole curtain back right-side-in.

6.  At this point, the curtain looks a bit like a duvet cover.  In order to make it look more like a curtain, I sewed around the edges again and then sewed another seam a few inches from the bottom so that it looked like a hem. 

My duvet curtain was finished, which was good, because it was almost midnight and I was really tired.  I had tried to do this project during the day, but every time I laid the material on the floor, my kids thought it was something to play on.  Now I need to find the time to finish the other curtains…

Cars and Trucks Padded Toddler Headboard

Jonas enjoying his new headboard and pillow

My son loves cars and trucks.  He just can’t get enough of them.  This morning, as an example, he wanted to watch the documentary Mighty Machines instead of Barney or Elmo.  That says a lot.

For Jonas’s second birthday, I decided to pimp his crib and make it more toddler-friendly since he is still not ready to have the sides removed, yet.  However, with Christmas and our family planning for a big move from California to Germany, I didn’t have time to work on the project. I had looked at toddler beading, but the majority of it was 60–100% polyester.  I bought the Disney Cars beading once, but took it back because it seriously felt like a shower curtain. 

Last night, I decided it was time to take action and make something myself.  When we were in Germany over Christmas, Jonas fell in love with big fluffy down pillows.  Previously, he had only been using the baby pillows that I had made him a year ago (Baby's First Pillows, 3/2011).  As soon as we got home, I bought him one for his bed with a bright red 100% cotton pillowcase.  One big advantage to this pillow is that ever since he started sleeping with it, he stays in one place at night instead of moving around his crib like a bumpercar.  I decided to use the second pillowcase for my project.

This toddler headboard is super easy to make.  There is a flat pillow in the pillowcase which can easily be taken out so that you can toss the whole thing in the washing machine.  The snaps/loops on the side make it a breeze to take on or off the headboard and it can be used on a crib or toddler bed.

Here’s the How to:

1.  First you will need a pillowcase.  If you have a standard crib, ours is from IKEA, then a standard pillowcase will fit perfectly on the headboard.  I bought a cotton pillowcase in the adult section, since the kids bedding, like I said above, has a lot of polyester in it which can cause overheating, sweating, and heat rash.

2.  Sew a loop of ribbon, about 10-12 inches long, on each side of the pillowcase about 2/3 of an inch from the top.  I cut a hole on one side of the case and pushed the ribbon into the case before I sewed it shut.  Add snaps to the end of the loop and on the inside of the pillowcase as shown.  You may want to measure your crib before you do this just to make sure that your headboard hangs straight and doesn’t sag in the middle.  If your child already has a toddler bead and no sideboards, you can measure the loops so that they fit over the poles of the bed.

3.  I have a lot of scrap material, so it was not difficult for me to find some that already had cars and trucks on it.  You can also make your own vehicles, if you’d like.  I took all of the material that I wanted to use and ironed some heat-bonding material, like Wunderunder, onto the back of it.  Then I used a washable Crayola marker and drew the letters to Jonas’s name on the material.  I cut out the letters and vehicles.  Then, I took the letters and laid them onto some black felt which also has heat-bonding material on the back and drew them slightly larger.  I cut out these letters and the dotted lines for the street.  Finally, I ironed on the felt first and then the rest of the material cut-outs onto the pillowcase.

4.  Since heat-bonding material doesn’t last well through many washings, I went in with my sewing machine and sewed around all of the cars, trucks, and letters.  I also sewed a straight line through the dotted street line.  This is an important step, since toddler bedding needs to be washed a lot and even a headboard will get dirty and dusty. 

5.  Now add the pillow in the pillowcase.  If your pillowcase bunches open on the sides, use snaps or Velcro to hold it in place.  Hang your padded cars and trucks pillowcase onto the headboard of your toddler’s crib. 

You are finished!  Now, you can take off all of those baby bumpers (I'll do this as soon as Jonas wakes up. Goodbye Safari bedding!) and let your child feel a little bit bigger. Yeah!