Stars, Sailboats & Sweet Dreams {In Better View}

Remember my post about these toddler bedspreads?

 Well I didn't think the photos shown in that post gave a good reflection of what these bedspreads really looked like, so I decided to take some photos of them in the sunlight.

So, did this give you a better view?  

belle

simply . living . life

Fun Family Feature {Bat Mobile}

Its time for our Fun Family Feature here at Beautiful Nest.  Once a month Sparrow and I will feature a fellow blogger who has a fun family craft, dessert, etc...  This month we're featuring, Life With {The Cuties}.   When I saw the terrific idea, here, seen below, I knew I had to make some of these cute bats.  The Monkey's Mama got this great idea from her daughters school and decided to make some of her own. 

 Now, quiet honestly, I've never thought bats were cute.  Creepy yes, cute no.  However, like the Monkeys Mama said, making the bats provides an opportunity to teach our little ones about bats, read them books, etc.  

Interested in making a last minute craft for the weekend?   Well lets get started.  Be sure to stop by, Life With {The Cuties} to see her tutorial as ours are slightly different--mainly because I didn't have all the supplies she mentioned on hand.  

What you'll need and what I used.

soda cans {clean and dry}

black paint {or in my case chalkboard paint}

black construction paper

brown or black ribbon

large needle

googly eyes

tape {because I couldn't find my hot glue gun}

soda cans.

bend can 1/4 way down.

paint soda cans with black paint.

take construction paper and fold lengthwise.

make a bat wing pattern. 

 cut out as many pairs of wings, you'll need for your project.

I used tape to reinforce the bat wings.

make a small hole in the wing pattern.

take ribbon and place threw needle.

now poke holes in soda can a small distance apart.  pull ribbon threw both openings.

double tie a knot with your ribbon.

now slide the ribbon through the small hole on the bat wings and secure by tying another knot with the ribbon.  I also chose to add two pieces of tape to each side of the wings, close to the ribbon, for added security.  

add googly eyes.

seeing the left over soda can tab on the table I wondered if I could possibly use it in the project.  I could!  I took the tabs and placed them at the end of the ribbon so I could hang the bats up easily.

since I used chalkboard paint I decided to name our cute bats.  Of course, one of the bats was named Boo and since our favorite bedtime story book is, Moo, Bah, La, La, La, we named the other three bats, Moo, Bah and Lah.

So, what do you think, is he cute?

Voila!

belle

simply . living . life

i linked this to the following blog parties,

Stars, Sailboats & Sweet Dreams

Remember the bedspreads I mentioned that I was sewing a couple weeks ago?  Well I am proud to say I have completed this project.  Yay!

I realized while preparing these photos that I didn't take that many photos of the early stages of the project like I thought I had.  Oh' well.  Hopefully the few I have show clearly how I made the bedspreads.

I used quilt batting to go between the two layers of material.

I used pins to hold the material together. 

A lot of pins!

I then sewed around the quilt with a straight stitch.

I added some quilt binding to go around the edges of the bedspreads.

And of course I had to pin the material on...

...three blankets with quilt binding on and ready to sew.

Looking back, I wouldn't have used a straight stitch here, but a zigzag as I ended up following the straight stitch with a zigzag anyways.

The last thing that needed to be finished before the project was complete was the addition of little knots around the bedspreads so that the three layers of material would stay together.

I added pins as markers, making a pattern, so that I could add the knots with ease later.

I used a rather large and curved needle to add the knots.  

I than made a simple knot...

...twice.

After the knot was made I cut the yarn to make all ends even.

At about 11:30pm last night I took this picture...

...and this morning I put these adorable little bedspreads upon these three little toddler beds.  At long last, the bedspreads are finally finished!  Ces't fini!

To see more pictures click here!

belle

simply . living . life

blog parties i linked to...

It's Sew Stinkin' Cute

Freckled Laundry

C.R.A.F.T {creating really awesome free things}

Making The World Cuter