Baby Bean Bags

I really enjoy making bean bags and they're great for using up small scraps of fabric. I made these as a small gift for two very special boys who repaid me with the most beautiful smiles and cuddles when I visited! I stitch lentils into a felt pouch which then goes into another pouch of my chosen fabric. These ones were all different sizes due to the scraps being used so I added matching ribbon loops to each. Little hands love loops and this ribbon from The Works goes well with the woodland theme.

Will They Remember Her?!?!?!?

That's it. All done. Jessica has finished her time at preschool and is ready for seven whole weeks with her Mum (she's been counting down to that!). So, as a very last goodbye and thank you she decided she wanted to give gifts to another nine members of staff from Abacus. So, we made nine double-sided wooden tags. As always, it had to be a cat! 

Mixed Media Buddleia Card

One last thank you card for Abacus on Jessica's last day. She used ink pads, paint, stickers and crystals to create this impression of a buddleia flower head to say a final thank you and goodbye to all  the staff who have made the past fifteen months at Abacus so enjoyable. Farewell!

Hand-painted Storage Jars

These were our main gift for Jessica's nursery teachers. She filled the storage jars with feathers and pompoms and decorated them with (yes, you've guessed it) a cat! She drew a cat and wrote a couple of messages on paper, I then traced them onto the plain glass jars. Once they were dry Jessica painted the cats. We do love a keepsake!

Homemade Gift Tags

I think a personalised, homemade gift tag makes any present just that little bit more special. Jessica wrote the names on a piece of paper. I then scanned and reduced them before embossing and finally burning them into plain wooden stars. 

They looked fab hanging on the gift bags...

Fingerprint Thank You Cards

I can hardly believe that Jessica's time at preschool is coming to an end this week. She's made some fabulous friends, many of whom will stay with her through her journey into Primary school, and she's had some really caring teachers who have helped her to flourish and ensure that she's ready for the next steps. 

With so many people to thank we haven't gone over the top this time but Jessica and I have tried to make some lovely things for her teachers to remember her by. I'll share them over the next few days, starting with these fingerprint cat cards...

Jessica's fingerprints were a bit little for her to be able to draw the faces on the cats so she asked me to do everything but the tails. She's always loved a crazy cat tail! She used ink pads to do the fingerprints and to stamp the "Thank You". I absolutely love these cards and they were so quick and easy.

Mixed Media Allotment Pictures

For our penultimate session at Toddler group this year (how did that happen?!) we'll be heading out into the West Bergholt allotments for our last half hour or so. The children will be invited to complete a treasure hunt while we're there and we'll have a little sing song in the sunshine. Before we head over though, there will be plenty of time for the usual play and crafts. This week we will be making our own mixed media allotment pictures inspired by our visit. We'll be "planting" our vegetables in roller painted soil and using green wool and shredded paper as the veg tops...