A Visit From The Tooth Fairy!

When you have a six year old in the house, you can expect some exciting milestones. Things like the move from kindergarten to first grade, learning to read and losing baby teeth are all such exciting steps towards being a big kid!

For the last 9 months or so, my daughter has agonized over the fact that her baby teeth didn’t seem to be budging. She constantly asked when she was going to lose a tooth. Her friends at school were starting to have wiggly teeth and even lose them. One of her favorite cartoons even dealt with loose teeth. I think she had lost all hope that she would ever shed those baby teeth.

And then, about a month ago, she said her tooth felt funny. I looked at it, thinking maybe she had some food stuck in it (it was right after breakfast) and that was when we made the great discovery – a wiggly tooth!!! Oh, she was overjoyed! And I, being a crafty person, decided that I had to make something for the occasion.

Now, we know that tooth may hang on for months, but I wanted to get started, just in case. I had seen numerous examples of tooth fairy pillows online. Some were simply small pillows with pockets, others were cute little fairies or even teeth, and some hung on the doorknobs, saving the Tooth Fairy the hassle of reaching under a sleeping child to collect a tooth and leave a treat. My favorite came from Mmmcrafts. I encourage you to click on the link and see the cuteness there! And, she offered a free pattern, too!

The actual pillow came together quickly. A bit of planning, a bit of cutting, some gluing and stitching and I had a cute pillow, perfect for my girl’s teeth! See, isn’t it sweet? (And it isn’t completely done yet – I need some thin pink ribbon for the shoes since she is a ballerina! I need to get to the craft store for those soon.)

This pillow is made mostly of craft felt. I used some stiff felt for the wings, then simply coated them with glitter glue, so they actually sparkle. I had a bit of lace I used for the skirt and some ribbon in my stash served as the door hanger. Thankfully, with my huge felt stash, I was able to craft this tooth fairy pillow for free! What a deal!

That tooth is still holding on. The adult tooth is starting to come through behind it, so I am guessing it’s days are numbered. My daughter has yet to see or even know about this pillow, as I plan to save it for the day she loses the tooth. And I am already planning on a boy version for my son, even though it may be another 2+ years until he loses his first tooth!

Oh, and one more thing. A few weeks ago, another blogger, Tiffany over at Simply Modern Mom, introduced me to a new website called Pinterest. She offered a few invitations to join and I got one. I LOVE it! It is a great way to organize all of your bookmarks in a visual way, and you can share those bookmarks with others, too. I have made good use of it, organizing my bookmarks for all of the great crafts I want to try, the tutorials I have seen and just great ideas I want to reference in the future. There is a button for your Bookmarks Toolbar to make it easy to add a “pin”, you can choose from any picture on the page to represent your pin, plus you can see other people’s pins, like them or even repin them to your pin board. It is a great sharing tool and so much fun to use! And so much better than searching your bookmarks for specific entries! It is still in beta testing, so you can either sign up for an account (no idea how long it will last) or you can be invited to join. I currently have 4 invitations, so if you are interested, please let me know! I would love to have more crafty minded friends using the site!

Why I Could Use A New Serger!

Sew! Mama! Sew! is running a contest on their blog to win a new serger. I thought I would enter, so here is my entry!

When my daughter was small, I started using cloth diapers. I loved all of the cute diapers out there, but couldn’t afford the prices charged by the WAHMs (work at home moms.) Since I had dabbled in sewing a bit, I decided to try making them myself. Each diaper was cut, sewn, then turned and top-stitched. I dreamed of a day when I could own a serger to make it so much faster and easier.

A year or so later, my dad gifted me with some money. I immediately jumped on eBay and found a used serger, bought it and waited for it to be shipped. Now, this was not a new serger by any means. I think it may have been originally purchased in the 80’s. I was so excited to finally receive it! I opened the box and was assaulted by an overwhelming scent of the most horrible potpourri I have ever smelled! My husband has issues with smells, so before I could set the serger up in the sewing room/office, I had to let it sit outside  to air out!

Once I was finally able to stand the smell, I lifted the serger out and noticed the piece on the back that holds the thread was broken. I am sure it happened in shipping, so I didn’t complain. Besides, I hardly paid anything for it so I couldn’t complain!

I set the serger up, managed to figure out how to thread it (there was no instruction manual) and started sewing. It worked! But the thread holder kept falling over on me as I sewed, which was inconvenient to say the least. I immediately put it to use, sewing diapers for my daughter – and then for my son when he came along. My serger saw some good days, but those days were frustrating. I can’t figure out how to go from 4 threads to three, I don’t have any other feet for the serger and it has proven hard to find parts that fit since it is no longer made. The serger used to be white or off white, but it was a lovely yellow when I got it. And the sewing room/office still has a slight potpourri odor about it thanks to the presence of my old White serger.

Both kids have potty trained and diapers have been retired. And unfortunately, because of the quality and the issues with running a serger without a manual and with a thread rack that keeps falling over, the serger has been retired, too. All of my seams fray and things that could use an overlock stitch are instead turned and top-stitched. I dream of the day I can have a serger that works, has a manual and parts to compliment it, and doesn’t smell up the office!  Maybe one day!