I have a plan for Christmas presents for the kids. They are actually secretly self-serving Christmas presents – the very best kind!
We have this problem. The problem is toys. Since we don’t have a lot of room here in the barn, we’ve tried to keep toys to a minimum. I believe we have succeeded in volume, but we haven’t in number. There are millions of tiny toys of all kinds. Animals, vegetables, people – you name it.
When all is well (usually when children are asleep), we have all of the toys collected in a handy dandy set of bins from Ikea.
(notice at least one child is asleep here)
The kids are pretty good at picking up the toys and putting them back in the bins if they have some sort of goal (bribe) they are working toward (dessert, a movie, popcorn, playing on the computer, etc). They are, however, terrible at just picking up to pick things up. And they don’t actually play with a lot of the toys. They just throw them out of the bins onto the floor. Admittedly, August does most of the damage and none of the clean-up, but still. This is what it looks like after we’ve spent a half hour cleaning already.
On the Richter scale, this would be about a 2.4. “Felt by a few people, but at weak intensity. No damage to buildings.” Most of the time we’re at about an 8.1. “Can cause damage across very wide, large areas. Definitely felt in unusually large regions.”
So here’s my plan: Alden and Kato both like to make “nests” for their toys. They bundle up blankets and wrap a bunch of toys inside. They also like to play “trash,” where they get plastic bags from under the sink and put a bunch of toys in them. They also like to fill “purses” full of “supplies” and “baskets” full of “treats.” I figure if I can harness these various inclinations, they might actually enjoy putting their toys away (and this, parents, is where you may loudly roll your eyes).
So, for Christmas I’m going to try to make some nests. Nest bags. With drawstrings. And birds or something.
I had originally thought these would be cool in felt because they’d hold the nest shape better. But then realized felt gets covered with cat hair and is impossible to clean. So I’m leaning towards fleece, which I also happen to have a coupon for.
Let it be known that I don’t know much about sewing. That I’m terrible at crafting because I don’t follow directions well and always think I can figure out a better way to do things (which is never true). That I plan things out pretty well, and then wait until the last possible minute to actually do them (which means this project won’t get started until Christmas eve). So that’s where I am for now. If any of you crafty folks out there can give me some guidance, please feel free.
I will let you know how it goes.
I’m taking a break from/ procrastinating on holiday gift sewing by reading blogs. Timely post. Fleece also has a tendency to pick up stray animal hair, but it’s a more excellent choice than felt since it will gather more easily when nest is closed and also is so easy to wash. So, nice work!
Two suggestions from an experienced-but-still-sure-she-can-just-figure-it-out-without-a-pattern sewing enthusiast: one. If you’re going to wait until the last minute (and why wouldn’t you?), then use a pattern at least for its directions. Google “drawstring bag tutorial” and choose the one by a blogger named Jeni on a quilting blog. She’s got a free one that I’ve used several times, always messing with proportions, type of fabric etc, but usually having it come out at least functional. two. Choose something slippery for the actual drawstring. Like that polyester cord stuff called “rat tail”. It may wear out more quickly, but you can replace it, a price I think well worth paying for the low-friction element that will allow the kids to close their bag-nests easily. Function is as important as form in some of these sewing endeavors.
Oh, and if your coupon is for a Joann’s, then go by Saturday. I took my neighbor there yesterday for Senior Citizen Discount Wednesday and all fleece was already 50% off. But check the remnants because I had to wade through mounds of the stuff in search of fabrics suitable for the set of puppets I’m theoretically working on right this second. And, all remnants were 75% off. I don’t know if all Joann’s have the same sales, but I think they might.
Oh my, Amy – thank you thank you thank you! Good sewing advice AND good COUPONING advice! Hooray! And oh my, that Jeni character has some beautiful stuff on her site. I have a feeling mine won’t turn out quite so neatly. At least I always have the excuse that these are “nests” and not “bags” in which case some twiggy bits sticking out here and there just add to the authenticity, no?
You could repurpose any baby blankets you are not using anymore…little piece of the past, reused for the future.
Ooh, good idea, Peggy!
Now – where did I put those…?
If you need an extra set of hands, or just want a good laugh (I tend to never use patterns and things are never symmetrical!) I will be up next week until Christmas. Maybe Jack and August could meet and stare at each other (crawl, roll, kneel, clap, etc).