DIY Game Day Pillows for Football Fans

The DIY Game Day Pillows are the perfect afternoon project to be ready for Thanksgiving Weekend football...or get a jump start on a Christmas gift for your favorite football fan.  Special thanks to Shannon Fabrics and Fairfield World for providing me with product and to Fairfield World for compensating me for this post.

Basic Box Cushion Cover - For Chairs, Bean Bags, and Floor Pillows

Box cushions are easy to make and very versatile.  They can be used to recover chair and sofa cushions or made on their own can make great floor cushions, bean bags cushions, and pet beds.

One of the best things about designing projects for Fairfield World is that they send me free product that I can use to do projects like this to benefit individual classrooms at my kids school.  They sent me bean bag filler, poly-fil, and pillow inserts and compensated me to complete this project.  Dritz also sent me their brilliant Cut-to-Size Upholstery zippers.  All opinions, ideas, enthusiasm, and gratitude are 100% my own.

Depending on the level of support you need, you can fill box cushions covers with support cushion foam, bean bag filler, or poly-fil fiber fill.

And while these cushions found their home in a first grade classroom, these cushions also make for relaxing seating at home as well.

(Bean bag filler inside.)

Get the full tutorial, needed materials, and instructions to make your own Basic Box Cushion Covers on the Fairfield Site here.

Giant Floor Bean Bags

Giant Floor Bean Bags are easy to make and perfect seating for TV rooms, reading corners, and kids' bedrooms.  I'm super grateful to Fairfield World and Shannon Fabrics for compensating me for this post and sending the materials so I could donate these to one of the new teachers at my kids' school for her reading corner.  All opinions, ideas, and enthusiasm are 100% my own.

Whether your looking for comfortable classroom reading space, or a relaxing place to do homework or watch TV, these giant floor bean bags will be the perfect fit.  The Shannon Cuddle fabrics on the outside makes them snuggly soft and you'll love that the 60" wide fabric makes it easy to make nearly 30" large bean bags.

DIY Classroom Reading Corner with Cuddle® Fabric and Fairfield World

Every elementary school classroom needs somewhere comfortable to curl up with a good book.  Of all the reading areas we've helped with (and there have been a lot), this DIY Reading Corner is definitely my favorite.  HUGE thanks to Fairfield World for donating all the "insides" supplies for this project and another HUGE thanks to Shannon Fabrics for donating all of colorful chevron cuddle fabrics.  Both companies jumped into action when I requested materials and we got this project finished just in time for the first day of school.  Fairfield World has compensated me for writing this post, but all ideas, opinions, and enthusiasm are 100% my own.  This post also contains affiliate links.

My daughter's first grade teacher last year was brand-new to our school, and this year, she got to move in to a larger room with space for a reading corner.  She wanted a really large bench with lots of pillows for relaxing.  She's decorated her room with bright bulletin boards surrounded with chevron trim, so we decided to keep with that theme for the reading corner too.

We used mostly solid Embossed Chevron Cuddle® for the larger pillows and then made some smaller accent pillows using the Easiest Ever Cuddle® Pillow Instructions on Shannon Fabrics blog.

We also knew that it was a MUST that the reading bench cover and pillow covers come off for easy washing.  I NEVER donate any fabric goods to the school that can't be washed.

DIY Worry Pet - Pocket Pet - For Kids with Anxiety

If you have kiddos with anxiety about going back to school, they might like to take one of these Worry Pets with them in their pocket.  The poly-pellets inside give nervous fingers something to fiddle with and the super soft cuddle is soothing.  Once you make one, you won't be able to stop.  Your whole family will want one.

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.

Candy Land Reading Bulletin Board with Oly-Fun - Teacher Appreciation Idea

With Teacher Appreciation Week upon us, I thought I'd share something I did for my daughter's teachers earlier this year.  I've always been of the opinion that the BEST gifts to give teachers are helping them with thing they need and want rather than just cutesy generic gifts (although those can be appreciated too!)

My daughter's homeroom teacher is new to the school this year and wanted a Candy Land bulletin board to track her reading students progress in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program.

When my daughter's reading teacher heard I was up for doing bulletin boards, she jumped in and requested one too.

They were quick and easy to do and it's an extra bonus that the Oly-Fun I used doesn't fade or tear and is easy to cut and staple.

Get all the details on how to make your own Candy Land Reading Bulletin Board on the Fairfield site here.


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Cuddle Patchwork Body Pillow Cover - Seahawks Patchwork Pillow

Every pillow needs a good pillow cover, and if it's going to be used around kids, the pillow cover needs to come off for easy washing, so I thought I'd share how I made this simple cuddle patchwork pillow cover for my son's classroom.  (Thank you to Fairfield for providing me with the Poly-Fil and compensating me for this post, and thanks to Shannon Fabrics for providing me with the Cuddle fabrics.  All opinions and ideas are 100% my own.)

We went back to school last week, and I word must be getting around that I love to sew for my kids teachers because my son's teacher asked first thing for if I'd help her with some sewing to brighten up her reading corner.  (She's already earning the special treatment...she reports that Seth has been doing great behavior-wise...and I owe nearly all of that to her excellent classroom management.  Seth is a great kid who needs the right teacher to help his good qualities shine through.)

She uses a toddler bed in the corner as a kind of sofa for the kids and it had a very lumpy worn out old body pillow as the backing cushion, so we decided it needed an upgrade.

Giant Quilted Book Cushion Tutorial - Lesson 2 of 2

We made these awesome giant book cushions for the reading corner in our elementary school library.

A huge thank you to Fairfield for making these cushions possible.  They provided me with the foam and batting and compensated me for writing this post.  All opinions and ideas are my own.

The kids love them, and I hope they get the elementary kids excited about science and exploring more non-fiction books.

Giant Quilted Book Cushion Tutorial - Lesson 1 of 2

These quilted book cushions are the perfect addition to a reading nook, classroom, or library.  In this lesson and the second lesson, I'll be teaching you how to make your own and also provide you with the printable covers and spine labels to be printed onto fabric.  (And a huge thank you to Fairfield for providing the foam and batting for the project and compensating me for writing this post, making this project for our school library possible.  All opinions and ideas in this post are my own.)

The covers velcro on to the base, so that they are easily removable for washing...because anything you plan to have kids regularly use, needs to be washable.

A while ago, a friend sent me a link to some small book pillows.  I knew immediately that I wanted to make a much larger cushion size version for our school library.  I'd been thinking about using popular children's book fabric like Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, but hadn't come up with how I wanted the cover to look.  Then the inspiration came to make them non-fiction books, and I knew it was time to make the idea a reality.

And not to toot my own horn too much...but I really REALLY REALLY love how these turned out.

Conversation Heart Reading Pillow - Tutorial and Free Pattern - Valentine's Pillow

It's always a good day when I can combine two of my favorite things...reading and sewing.  This fun Conversation Heart Reading Pillow does just that.

One of my favorite things about working with Fairfield is that I've been able to supply my kids' elementary school with fun pillows and cushions to make their classes more comfortable.  (Note: Fairfield donated some of the supplies and compensated me for writing this post, but all ideas, opinions are my own.)

It's especially fun when we can combine comfortable with encouraging learning, which definitely describes this pillow which is now at home in her 4th grade teacher's reading corner.

I've got my oldest daughter well-trained...she keeps her ear out for hints about what her teachers might like for their classroom.  She told me a while ago that her reading and math teacher really loves the Peanuts, especially Snoopy.  Can you tell from the bulletin board?

So when I saw some Red Snoopy Fabric a while back, I knew we'd be able to think of something fun.

Then Katie came home and said her teacher wished she had more Valentine's decorations and I knew the Red Snoopy Fabric would be perfect for a Valentine's pillow.

 And the pillow was surprisingly easy to put together, so I thought I'd include a tutorial and pattern.

Skill Level: Late Beginner or Intermediate

Materials:

• 1 - Red Fat Quarter for the front (I used Kona Cotton)
• 1 - Matching Fat Quarter for the back (I used Red Snoopy and Woodstock from Quilting Treasures)
• 1/4 yard Red Fabric for the sides
• OR IF you want the whole pillow from the same fabric, you'll need 3/4 yard of fabric.
• 1/8 yard white fabric or white scraps  (I used scraps of Kona Cotton in White.)
• 1/4 yard paper backed fusible web
• Plenty of Poly-Fil Premium Stuffing Fiber
• 1/4 yard Stablize Interlining by Fairfield (not pictured.)
• Sewing machine, thread, scissors, pins, and other basic sewing supplies
• Heart Template Piece A
• Heart Template Piece B
• Heart Template Piece C.
• Letters Template

Instructions:

Tutorial: First Day of School Bunting Banners Using Oly*Fun

I know we're on the later end around here, but our kids just started back to school yesterday...at least two of them did.  Katie is starting 4th grade.  (How did that happen?!?!)

And Seth is going into 2nd grade...

DIY Back to School Projects and Weekly Block Party

Sorry to be a bit late getting this weeks Block Party posted!

DIY Back 2 School Projects

Outdoor Chalkboard | DIY Watercolors | Flashcard Decor | First Day of School Photos | Crazy Hair Pens | Back to School Countdown Printable | Personalized Bags | Fun Lunches | Harry Potter Kindergarten Letter | DIY Ice Packs | School Lunch Printables |Duct Tape Notebooks | Back to School Printables | Teacher Survival Kit | School Supply Station | Monster Pencil Cases

It’s time for another Block Party hosted by Making the World Cuter | Rae Gun Ramblings | Keeping It Simple Crafts | Pieces By Polly I hope you are all have a fantastic week.

It’s me Marissa and I’m your host this week. I cannot believe how fast this Summer has flown by holy moley. Sadly it seems like it's already back to school season but luckily that means tons of cute projects and stationary shopping (I can't be the only one that loves stationary shopping right?)

Also if you haven't visited my blog in a while here are a few of the things I've been up to!

• Huge Gigantic Harry Potter Blog series full of Harry Potter DIY's, Recipes, and More
• Peach Donuts Recipe
• 9 Great Books to Read with one Surprising Thing in Common

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

• We’d love it if you pinned the Back to School Round Up image above! :)
• Link to a specific post, not your home page.
• Don’t add links to promote giveaways, other link parties or your shops.
• Visit and comment on at least 2 other links in the party.
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