Pieces by Polly: DIY

Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Cozy Crochet Yarn and Knitting Projects and the Weekly Block Party Link-Up

With fall right around the corner and cooler days coming, it's time to pull out some bright yarns and dust off those crochet hooks and knitting needles. These projects will provide all the inspiration you need...

Crochet Pouf | Celtic Weave Fingerless Gloves | Shelby the Turtle | Hexagon Baby Blanket | Peacock Hood Pattern

Triangles and Stripes Baby Blanket | Barefoot Sandals | Loafter Booties | Moss Stitch Cardigan | Trinity Stitch Coin Purse

A few of these blogs are in other languages but the amazing projects are worth it.

Asymmetrical Body Pillow with Cuddle® Fabric - Free Pattern

This asymmetrical body pillow is hip and classic all at once. You can make your own in under an hour. Many thanks to Shannon Fabrics for providing me with fabric and to Fairfield World for providing me with product and compensating me for this post. All ideas, opinions, and enthusiasm are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Besides offering support while you sleep, body pillows make great floor pillows, sofa accents, and can work almost like a headboard for beds. Add some Cuddle® fabric from Shannon Fabrics and you've got your family's new favorite pillow.

The only way to up the awesomeness from there is to add a coordinating Cuddle Quilt. You can find the free pattern for this Disappearing Nine-Patch Cuddle Quilt on the Shannon Fabrics site here.

Materials:

DIY Astronaut Boots with Aluminor - Silver Moon Boots

Need some cool silver moon boots to go with your astronaut costume? We've got you covered. These are easy to make. Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Our boys have an outerspace themed room and my youngest says he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up...so when we saw astronaut costumes as Costco we couldn't resist. (This is a similar astronaut costume on Amazon.) The costume didn't come with any kind of footwear though, so we thought we'd make our own Astronaut boots.

All you need is some Aluminor ™ cushioned material, some old snow boots, and a glue gun and in less than half an hour, you'll have your own cool silver moon boots.

You can get my full tutorial with step-by-step photos on the Fairfield World site here.

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Friday, August 19, 2016

DIY Weighted Vests for Anxiety, ADHD, Autism, Sensory Issues & More

With Back-to-School, that means many of us are looking for new ways to help our kids deal with challenges brought on by anxiety, ADHD, autism, sensory issues and more. In our family, we have one child with a severe form of social anxiety called selective mutism and another child with ADHD. As we've been working with professionals over the last year to help each of them, I've been struck by how many strategies can help both of them.

First of all, though, a few disclaimers. Please don't take anything I say as medical advice. If your child is struggling with any of these issues, please make sure you're working with a professional(s) and check with them before starting new therapies. Fairfield World providing me with Poly-Pellets and compensated me for writing this post, but all ideas and opinions are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links that help support my blog and keep bringing you new ideas.

My 7-year-old struggles a lot with social anxiety at school. Last year, there were quite a few days when she insisted on wearing her winter jacket through her whole school day. It would get hot and the sleeves were bulky and could get in the way, but it helped her feel safe. I wanted to find a way to help her get the same feeling without all the bulk. I've been considering trying weighted vests for my kiddos for a while, and this month when Fairfield asked us to use their weighted Poly-Pellets in a challenge project, I decided it was time to make them a reality...and they're surprisingly easy to make.

DIY Harry Potter Themed Election 2016 Shirts - Happy Harry Potter

I'm usually not one to get too passionate about politics, but some tickets are just so perfect, you have to get excited (or too awful to ignore.) If you're as disgusted as I am with this election cycle and the candidate options, you'll probably be excited with some rumored third-party tickets that may be entering the race at any time. (This post contains affiliate links to help support my blog. I have not be compensated in any way for writing this post and all ideas are 100% my own.)

Who wouldn't love to vote for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley as President and Vice...

Or is that Ginny Potter and Hermione Weasley (that's how my 7-year-old is reading it.)

Or if you're looking for a ticket with progressive minds and creative thinking, you might find yourself supporting Hermione and Luna for a run for the White House.

Yeah, I know all the characters are English...but at this point I'm willing to consider anyone who is not Trump or Clinton, and we're sure you'll like these logos more than the recently retired logo from the Trump campaign.

And you can have your very own shirt to, because I'm sharing the files to make your own as my contribution to the Happy Harry Potter series on Raegun Ramblings. (Seriously...my favorite blog event of the whole year.) You'll want to head over to Raegun Ramblings and check out all the cool tutorials each day.

DIY Animal Cuddle Pillows

I just love animal prints for summer projects, so I thought I'd share these fun pillows I made for a tutorial on the Fairfield World site a little while back, featuring some fun Cuddle Animal Prints from Shannon Fabrics. (Big thank you to Fairfield for sending me the pillow inserts and Shannon Fabrics for sending me the Cuddle, so these could find a home in our school's special ed classroom.)

My kids had a really hard time seeing these go, because they just LOVE the snuggly softness of the Cuddle fabrics.

If you want to make your own, this is what you'll need for one pillow:

10 Last Minute DIY Costumes and Weekly Block Party Link-Up

I know Halloween is coming up faster than I'd like at our house. We're in some serious need of easy DIY costumes around here, so I thought we'd start our Block Party with a round-up of some great Costume Ideas.

Now it's time for the Block Party Link-Up hosted by Making the World Cuter | Rae Gun Ramblings | Keeping It Simple Crafts | Pieces By Polly

Polly here from Pieces by Polly as your host for this week.

I've been crazy busy the last few weeks trying to keep up on orders for Harry Potter themed items in my Pieces by Polly Shop. (There are still a few days to order scarves and wands in time for Halloween delivery). I did manage to get one of my own new projects posted this week: Mummy Wrapped Halloween Letters

Now let's see what you've been up to! Be sure to read over the guidelines…

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