How to Make a Peter Pan Hat: Tutorial

I don't know if it's because he can fly, because he is his own boss, or because he has a cool enemy with a hook for a hand, but Peter Pan is a HUGE deal at our house! 

My cute little guy watches Jake and the Neverland Pirates just about everyday and since the new "movie" with Peter Pan came out he has watched that at least once a day. A couple of days ago he asked begged me to make him a hat like Peter Pan.... so I did!

... and now you can too! Here's how:


My little guy just turned 3 and doesn't have a huge head, so I was able to get away with using the felt pieces that you can buy precut to 9"x12". I bought 2 in "Pirate Green" {the actual color on the tag} and 1 piece in red.

Supplies:
• green felt
• red felt
• measuring tape
• 5/8" elastic
• sewing machine and thread to match
• pen or erasable marker
• pins


Start by measuring your child's head all the way around. Then add 1" and divide that number in half. That's how big the bottom line of your hat should be. Mine was exactly 12". Then draw a peter pan shaped hat. {this was hard to take a picture of so I hope you can see it ok!}

Then layer your two green felt pieces together and cut along your lines. 

Then if you are like me, you will realize the shape you drew isn't as peter pan-ish as you would like and make an adjustment! ♥


Then you are going to sew along the lines shown. The great thing about working with felt is that it is a little tacky -- in a good way! They two pieces pretty much stay put.. no need for pins... unless you really want to!


I like to sew just about to the edge on both sides of my stitching. It creates a nice crisp corner! Trim your threads and you are ready for the next step!


Now grab your red felt piece and draw a feather outline. It doesn't have to be perfect.. and mine kind of looks like a leaf! {sorry it's a little fuzzy.... felt is hard to photograph up close with my point-and-shoot camera!}


Change the thread in your machine to match your felt color. I sewed a simply straight stitch right down the center of my feather. This helped to give it a little added stiffness. 


Here are your finished pieces so far. 


Use some of your left over green felt and cut a small rectangle to cover the stem on your feather. This is where I had to use a pin... to make sure that teeny tiny piece of green felt and the feather stayed in place. Then simply sew around the rectangle attaching both it and the feather to the hat. 
{Make sure you switch to your green thread!}


I decided to stitch my feather down to the hat. Otherwise it was a little too floppy. I started at the base of the feather {top of the green rectangle} and sewed a straight stitch up about 3/4 of the way to the top of the feather. 


I don't know about the "peter pan" at your house, but mine is always trying to jump off of furniture and fly around the room. So, in order to make sure that his hat stays put I added some elastic to the inside. 

Place the end of the elastic on one of the seams of the hat. Stitch it in place. Then stretch the elastic slightly as you sew around the rim of the hat. Make sure you use a zig zag stitch so that the elastic is able to stretch. 


Just sew the end of the elastic when you reach your starting point. No need to measure your length ahead of time. Just stretch it slightly, sew it, and cut the excess off at the end. 

Once the elastic was in, I fringed the feather and it was DONE! All that's left is for your little peter pan to put it on and find the second star to the right! 


My little guy sleeps with this peter pan every night! He pretty much never let's it out of his sight!


My little goofball!


ENJOY!!

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Mingle Monday - 2.20.2012

Happy President's Day!!! Use coupon code "PRESIDENT" in my shop today to receive an additional 10% off your entire order!!!

Oh, and just for fun... we are finding out whether baby #3 is a boy or girl tomorrow!!! I can't wait! Leave your guess and your email address as a comment and anyone who gets it right will get a special surprise in their inbox! {totally worth the 50/50 chance of getting it right!!}


While you are linking up this week, feel free to grab my Mingle Monday button so you can remember to come back week after week.
Visit as many blogs on the link list as you would like. Make sure you leave a comment and tell them you are stopping by from Mingle Monday!

Become a follower here on my blog so that you can take advantage of any and all freebies that I offer {usually once a week}.


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And make sure to have some fun!!


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Homemade Lemonade Recipe

 I know it's probably not feeling like summer where ever you are, but lately here in So Cal it's been a nice warm summer. We got a bunch of lemons {and I mean a BUNCH!!!} from a friend at church who has a tree and decided to make some lemonade. There's nothing better than homemade lemonade!!

{not my picture, but I totally wish I drank my lemonade like this!}



1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3-4 additional cups of cold water {depending on your preference}

In a small saucepan, heat 1c sugar and 1c water to create a simple syrup. Heat until completely combined. Then add lemon juice. {I like to run mine through a small strainer to get all the pulp out... but if you like it pulpy.. then leave it all in!} Combine those then add water to your desired taste. I only add about 2 cups of water. That way we can add ice in our cups when we drink it and it's perfect!!
Garnish with some frozen raspberries or strawberries, or mint leaves!



Here was our POTD {picture of the day} for that day. The kids loved squeezing the juice out of the lemons. Then Danior double checked to make sure they got it all. 

So much fun!!! They have been asking to make more lemonade almost every day since... 
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Mingle Monday - 2.13.2012

This week f-l-e-w by! We had a meeting for parents of children starting Kindergarten next year .. sheesh, where did the time go!?!?! Plus some family gatherings and play dates... so unfortunately not much sewing or crafting got accomplished. But, my mother-in-law will be here for a couple days starting tomorrow and I'm hoping to get some crafting in.. .

If you have a sec, leave a comment with what you would be interested in seeing on the blog! More freebies {like what?}, sewing tutorials, home decor inspiration/tutorials, kids activity ideas... what are YOU most interested in!!?!? 

While you are linking up this week, feel free to grab my Mingle Monday button so you can remember to come back week after week.
Visit as many blogs on the link list as you would like. Make sure you leave a comment and tell them you are stopping by from Mingle Monday!

Become a follower here on my blog so that you can take advantage of any and all freebies that I offer {usually once a week}.

{oh, and speaking of freebie printables... be sure to check out my Valentine's tags here and here!}


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And make sure to have some fun!!


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How to Organize Baker's Twine

Baker's Twine is becoming not only a NEW favorite toy of mine... but also a big decorating and crafting phenomenon. Here are a couple of fun things I found that use baker's twine... 


A cute Valentine's card. 

Party favor tags. 

A mini wedding program. 

A thank you card.

I recently hopped on the wagon and bought my own twine. Mine came from The Twinery. Being new to the whole "twine thing" I chose a sample pack with all of their colors. This way I could see which one{s} I like love so I can buy more!! I have been using it in my packaging when I sell some of my KdBuggie Boutique products. 


They come in these cute little packages {15 yards each} with the name of the color on the paper band... that way I know which color is which for reordering. 

BUT, here's the downside. Although it is cutely packaged, it isn't really practical to keep them like this for everyday use. Here's what mine started to look like....


...all snarled and tangled... a real mess! So I set out for a better solution. I came across something like this a while back... but I have no idea where. {Sorry to whoever thought of this...}

I went to JoAnn's and bought 3 packages of 2" wooden spools {they are in with the wood crafting stuff}. They come 6 to a bag. I had 18 twine colors so I bought 3 packages - easy math!

Then I set to work untangling everything and winding them on my spools. I sat on the floor with the kids and we "watched" Peter Pan while I untangled and winded. My almost 5 year old helped by handing me the next color when I was finished with a spool. She very calmly asked, "Mom, when I grow up to be a mommy, do I have to work this hard?". I certainly hope not!! When I was done they looked like this:


Then I realized that my lid wouldn't fit on the top... and I want a lid to keep little fingers from being able to reach in, grab a spool and go un-winding cuh-razy {it happens a lot to my ribbon spools -- I find them all over the house!}. Not to mention it wasn't the cutest of containers... 

So, today I took the kids to Target and found this cute jar. Not quite what I was looking for, but at $6 I couldn't pass it up!!!

Plus... it has a screw on lid. It is technically a cracker jar... but in my case, it makes a GREAT twine jar!!

I got home, put my twine spools in there, and voila! the perfect storage solution!! I love that I can see all of the colors that I have. I also love that at some point - hopefully in the near future - when I am able to re-do my craft room I can place this beauty on a shelf for a little pop of color!! 


What projects do you use your baker's twine for? How do you store yours?? 

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