I love homeschooling my girls. Everything about it. I love being with them all day. Getting to spend all of their too short childhood with them. Seeing them learn and their little brains grow. I love being home with them on cold winter days, drinking hot chocolate during arithmetic, baking cookies after phonics, and seeing them snuggle a puppy or kitty during reading time.
And we love our art time. Yesterday I was folding some laundry and noticing how the girls are in need of new shirts. As I was folding up some too tight shirts to add to the garage sale/donating pile the girls were a bit sad, "Oh but I looooove that shirt." So I got an idea. Let's make t-shirt pillows. And let's make them as quick and easy as possible. We love how they turned out and would like to share these fun art projects.
We made little sis's pillow first. I stitched around the shirt, leaving an opening at the bottom for stuffing. We cut around the edges with pinking shears and little sis stuffed away. Then I shoved the thing awkwardly under my presser foot and stitched the opening closed. Voila! It was so easy and the girls love their new pillows.
Here's big sis's shirt before we started.
Too small boo hoo.
Stitching around the shirt, as straight as we can. But if it's not perfectly straight, I think that adds to the charm.
Now, this part is very important. While you are stitching around the shirt, your daughter will surely make a poly-fil beard and distract you. While you are laughing you will forget to leave an opening for the stuffing. So be sure you have a seam ripper handy. Which I didn't and spent 15 minutes looking for. Onward.
Now we cut around the stitching leaving about 1/2 inch seam allowance.
Stuff stuff stuff. By the way. I love poly-fil for the stuffing. While we were at the Walmarts the other day I decided to pick up a bag or two. And of course they just had to be out of poly-fil bags. It would have been weird if they hadn't. They had some other crappy stuffing that I've used before and didn't like so I was out of luck. But wait, they had a 10lb box of my beloved poly-fil. And it was $20.00. So the gigantic box went into our cart. I assumed they put a bunch of the little bags into the box. But oh no, I was very wrong. When I opened the box there was one BIG bag of stuffing. And when I opened the bag, it grew.....and grew...and grew....
Ya.....Where in tarnation am I supposed to keep this thing? And how much more will it grow if I completely remove the bag from the box? And more importantly....
Who doesn't love Santa eyebrows? Where were we... Oh, we were stuffing. And when stuffed we sew up the opening.
These were fun and we love how they turned out. We plan on making lots more for the girls' rooms.
By the way. Someone had a 34th birthday last week. And someone has the most wonderful friends who make her presents. Someone crys when she opens a gift that she knows her friend lovingly made just for her. Her are a couple of my lovely gifts.
M.T. made this retro hand for me. Oh my I love this thing. She has pottery molds and a kiln and all the good clays and glazes that go along with it. Isn't this just delicate and gorgeous?
She also made me this hand knotted pearl bracelet. Which apparently means she tied all of these little knots....When did this start M.T.?! I swear, you move 3,000 miles away and your friends start doing all kinds of crazy new things. In this case, 'crazy' means hand knotting pearl bracelets.
I think my rings look prettier on these pretty green fingers than they do on my own.
Just beautiful.
Sabine also sent me amazing gifts. Look at this beauty that she stitched.
A gorgeous sampler all in blue. I have always wanted a cross stitched sampler. And this one is so wonderful. I am thinking about what to do with it. Frame it, make it into a cushion? Not sure yet, but I love looking at it.
Wow. My friends are much kinder to me than I deserve. I can't wait to share more of what they sent to me. Not only do they bless me with their friendship, but they have spent their precious time making something from the heart, just for me. My birthday was so wonderful. My girls and I went for a special lunch right on the bay. After lunch we went and perused a huge antique store where I found some great Pyrex bowls, then it was on to the yarn store where we bought some beautiful wool. When my husband came home from work they all parked me on the couch and made me a special dinner. While I was on the couch it was so good to hear my loves in the kitchen laughing and wrapping gifts, while my husband brought me a glass of wine. They really made my day special.
My heart is full. x
I truly believe you are one of the smartest women I know. How do you do it all? By the way, Happy Birthday! I love all of your gifts but especially you getting to relax while the family served you.
Posted by: valerie | February 13, 2009 at 09:42 AM
Happy birhtday ( a little bit to late...)
I love reading about your life - thanks for charing. Life on the other side of the big ocean is very different from my life. And in another way it´s very much alike...
The t-shirt project was a nice idea - I´m gonna try that.
Posted by: Malin | February 13, 2009 at 09:58 AM
Happy late Birthday! What a great idea for old, loved t-shirts. Such cute pillows. And that hand! My goodness, that hand! It is truly lovely.
Posted by: MichelleB | February 13, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Great idea for much loved t-shirts! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Paula | February 13, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Belated birthday wishes Sarah , glad you had a lovely day and boy you did get some gorgeous pressies, great friends too.. Thats a great T-Shirt idea and so simple - I'll have to remember that one - but you know what I like best of all ,, that little stripy mini wash basket thing beside your sewing machine -- that is just sooo cute.... I posted Freya on the 4th so hopefully she won't be much longer :-). Have a lovely weekend
Lisa x
Posted by: periwinkle | February 13, 2009 at 11:12 AM
1st & foremost Happy Belated Birthday! I follow your blog, but very rarely post. I came out of hiding today to say...I LOVE THIS CRAFT! My daughter would just fall in love too. I can't wait to get home from work today because I think she may have a few t-shirts that need to be remolded today!
Posted by: Krista | February 13, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Happy Birthday! Very lovely gifts. And your girls did a great job on their t-shirt pillows.
Posted by: Stephanie | February 13, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Wonderful cushion for two wonderful lttle ladies!!!
And M.T. did an amazing job. This hand is gorgeous. And what a fantastic way to "decorate" the finger rings!
Hugs,
Sabine D. xxx
Posted by: Sabine | February 13, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Wonderful cushion for two wonderful lttle ladies!!!
And M.T. did an amazing job. This hand is gorgeous. And what a fantastic way to "decorate" the finger rings!
Hugs,
Sabine D. xxx
Posted by: Sabine | February 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
ltte????????? Hehehe....sorry...little!!
Posted by: Sabine | February 13, 2009 at 11:39 AM
I love these tshirt cushions - I can see some of these happening at my home very soon! What beautiful presents you got - that sampler is wonderful. Have you decided whether to frame it??
Posted by: The Chocolate Cat | February 13, 2009 at 11:46 AM
First let me say Happy Birthday! I have one this month two but a little older. Homeschool crafts, Awesome!!! I loved homeschooling my kids too. Love the gifts too. Your house is full of love.
Posted by: Carrie P. | February 13, 2009 at 01:36 PM
This was a wonderful project....great idea you had!!!
Posted by: belinda | February 13, 2009 at 04:12 PM
Just came across your blog. You are so funny!! I was really enjoying you making pillows. I'll have to try that sometime. And the poly-fill. I know what your talking about. The first time i opened on of those boxes and then opened the bag and it grew. LOL
Thanks for making my day.
Blessings Pam
Posted by: Pam | February 13, 2009 at 08:16 PM
Super idea with the cushions - I have t-shirts from quilt shows that I don't wear - now I know what to do with them! And as for the hand .... what a beautiful gift and a beautiful way to display your rings. The sampler looks wonderful worked in blue - I think one of those will have to go on my to-do list (which is probably about twenty pages long by now) Regards from a cold and snowy Scotland, Anne
Posted by: Anne Donald | February 14, 2009 at 03:51 AM
You are ever so clever. Bet your girls had a blast with this project. I am assuming that you made the fabric hanger that the t-shirt is hanging on. Do you sell those or have a tutorial for them?
Posted by: Mary | February 14, 2009 at 06:18 AM
Sounds like you had a very nice birthday! Very good....don't you love how good we are at wishing each other Happy Birthday? Ahhh good times. :) You should e-mail me the girls shirt sizes....in case I need to exchange their Christmas presents....which may never get to you since they are supposed to be going down with Mom. :)
Posted by: Beth | February 14, 2009 at 08:37 AM
I adore the T-shirt pillows and like you, I love homeschooling!
That ceramic hand is gorgeous!
And Happy belated Birthday!
Jane
Posted by: Jane Swanson | February 14, 2009 at 12:20 PM
A belated Happy Birthday Sarah!
What a great idea with the t-shirts. They both look wonderful. And, fun to do.
Sabine - your sampler is very beautiful. You are an incredibly talented and kind lady.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Posted by: Binny | February 14, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Great idea for those t-shirts. They will probably love those for a very long time! Happy belated birthday! What a loving family you all are.
Posted by: Alice Grace | February 14, 2009 at 06:38 PM
Happy happy birthday! My heart would be full too! That sampler is breathtaking!
Love the tutorial on the shirts. We certainly have some outgrown ones around here.
The box of poly-fil? I could have used that back in the days when I made each of my kids a little chair. Have you seen those? I had to buy 20 bags or something like that to stuff them.
Posted by: threeundertwo | February 15, 2009 at 12:53 PM
you and your girls have so much fun together...they will remember these times forever...☺...i would so wear oldest daughter's tee - how cool is that...yummy gifts, too...happy birthday!
p.s. please go to my blog and see my boo doing her abc's...you always leave such sweet comments about my grandkids...this one is killer cute...you will love it...♥
Posted by: t | February 15, 2009 at 03:33 PM
shoot! second time leaving a comment...won't take for some reason?
you and your girls have such special times together...they will remember them forever...and great gifts...happy birthday! ☺
p.s. please go to my blog to see my boo saying her abc's...you always leave such kinds comments about my grandkids...this one is killer cute...you will like it...♥
Posted by: t | February 15, 2009 at 03:37 PM
Happy Birthday!
What a fantastic idea for the t-shirts. They came out great and I've linked to your tutorial from my blog. Thanks so much for sharing!
Posted by: Chrissy | February 16, 2009 at 10:43 AM
That is such a fabulous idea! School where you get to make pillows...what an amazing learning experience! I'll be linking. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Here's to many more crafty years!
Posted by: Rachel | February 16, 2009 at 01:23 PM