Recovering the Toddlers Dining Chair

We had some Ikea chairs (most of our house is ikea) for our dining table (also Ikea) - they're a great shape for putting the booster seat on for C. Unfortunately, the seat is covered in a felty fabric and I can't describe the mess..... It was just irritating that I couldn't get it clean! So, with my left over PUL from the Ikea LATT project, I recovered a seat!

 

 

 

 

There are 4 screws underneath, I just undid those, cut out the fabric around the seat pad, and hot glued the fabric to the chair, making sure not to cover the holes needed to screw it back to the chair. Wrap it tightly!

 

Screw it back to the chair, and you're done!! Yay!

 

I am planning to do another one for when H is in a booster seat rather than the high chair. 

Ikea LATT make over part 1

I had seen on pinterest some fantastic ideas for making my Ikea LATT table and chairs look less ikea. I chose my fabric and decided to set to work using these instructions from Lella Boutique.  

 

 

 

I chose to use PUL fabric so it would be cleanable due to the nature of its owner. I wanted something "fun", but not too childish, so I found this terrier fabric on Etsy which took 2 weeks to come from Korea.

 

I found these instructions very easy to use, but when I pull them apart to paint them, I think I will use a hot glue gun to keep the fabric down instead of tape. The tape I had was packing tape, and it was useless and was peeling off.

 

Also, I found it easier to put the covered panel into the sides first, then screw the back into place and then the front. It was tight.

 

 

The chairs look amazing though! I am very happy with how they turned out and can't wait to paint them - I am thinking dark blue. 

NOTE: I just painted the frames and they look amazing! I did use hot glue to attach the cover to the chair.... BAD idea!! If you are going to make the seat cover using hot glue, make the fabric bigger! I can't actually get the seat pad back in the chair!! Going to get father in law to router the groves a bit bigger so I don't break the seats. Will update the photo soon!

2nd Birthday Cards

These next 6 weeks are crammed full of birthdays for us, closely followed by Christmas! C is one of 8 from my antenatal group, most of which get together quite regularly and they are all turning 2 this month! So, We decided to get cracking making the cards.... I started by printing a sheet of  little "2"'s and a couple of big 2's - the 2's I chose are hollow I suppose, so that C could colour (scribble) them in. I then cut them all out once she had made them beautiful. I also used my circle paper punch (effectively a giant hole punch) and cut out some sparkly card I got from Tesco. It is insanely sparkly and the magpie in me just had to have it! Anyway, I cut a load of circles out in blue, pink and silver, gave C a pot of PVA glue (from Sainsburys) and some coloured card folded in half and we worked as a team to get them done!

If C had her own way, they'd have just been glue... she loves gluing, but not too fussed about actually sticking the bits on.

So I used:

A4 coloured card (folded in half)
printed 2's for colouring (I'll add the template later, the font is on my other laptop)
super sparkly card
paper punch of your choosing
pva glue and a spreader.

So C glued........

and then I prompted her to stick the bits on.........

 And taaaaa-daaaaa! Aren't they gorgeous!?

The Box.......

Now this one was so ridiculously easy and has been a hit with all the toddlers coming in to our home! It's a box..... a generic cardboard box. Growing up, I remember hearing about kids loving the box rather than the toy... it's true!! C has been in her element since I emptied my box of cushions (project for another time!), tipped it on its side, then gave her the bowl of crayons.

I later cut 4 small holes for windows and attached some ribbon to the "doors" making feel rather homely. And just yesterday, she tipped the box over so the opening was on the top and dived in and out through the window. Very cute, I must say.

Sparkly Peppermint Playdough

C loves play dough - she's only ever had home made play dough, not because I am precious about such things, but because I have never bought or been given any. On one of our days at a friends, she found a recipe for a super easy play dough here on The Imagination Tree.

I halved the recipe as it made far too much for one little girl, added peppermint essence and a load of crafty glitter and it's beautiful! It smells so yummy and sparkles in the light (although sadly my camera couldn't catch its glory!)

Christmas Sacks

I wanted to make some Christmas sacks for C and H - something we could put at the end of their beds when they're asleep, so when they wake up on Christmas morning, they'll have some pressies, just like I had when I was little. It would only be for small bits, I always used to get jammies, colouring book and crayons, socks, chocolate and a Satsuma.

I made this one up myself! I am still a "noob" when it comes to sewing, and this was my first attempt at applique so please bare that in mind when you're looking at the pics.

Here's the general pattern and instructions....

Hallowen and Christmas Skirt

I made these skirts for my little C during nap time last week! I am almost totally happy with the Christmas one, the Halloween one went a little wrong as I thought I could remember the instructions but actually messed it up! Ah well, the beauty of making clothes for a 23 month old :)

I got the free pattern from Infarrently Creative. It is so simple, and if you follow the instructions, they look even better! I did make one earlier in the year (pictured below) which I think is the best little skirt on the planet.