Felt Food Fridays

(Okay, I know it's really Saturday. But I took the pictures yesterday. Does it still count?)

Back with another humble offering! I originally used this awesome pattern to make a few ornaments for some special people in my life, but since Oscar was so intrigued with them, I figured I should make some pretend cookies for him too. He was introduced this year to the art of cookie cutting and I wanted to reinforce the memory somehow. What better way than with play cookies?!?

I give you the gingerbread men.

Felt Food Fridays

Happy Halloween, everyone! I've saved this special little pumpkin specifically for this weekend. I hope it's a happy one for you, reader!

Felt Food Fridays

It's time for another Felt Food Friday! (I hope you aren't getting sick of these, reader. I have a few more things I still want to create...) Well, this one is more of a felt food container - the picnic basket. I got a basic tutorial here and just altered it a bit. I've never been great at following patterns, so this kind of evolved. I think I like my top better, just because I think it will be a bit sturdier. I sewed a whole top side down (plus a little extra) so that kiddo can't destroy the opening. It's not that he is the destructive sort, it's just that boys have a hard time being "gentle." Anyway, I filled it with some other goodies that I previously made. Enjoy! (I made Tim be my hand model. Didn't he do a swell job?!? Almost Seinfeld worthy.)


Well, I figure if you read this far down the post, you deserve a bit of honesty. I HATED doing this project. I almost quit... hmm... about 4 times. I feel like the whole thing is a bit of a Monet. It took me TWO weeks to finish because I just kept putting it off and cussing at it. I finally finished this monster last night after Project Runway and instead of feeling wonderful and accomplished, I just wanted to drop kick it across the room. Maybe it was pregnancy HORRORmones or the fact that I can't let Oz play with it any time soon because he attacked it with his tiny fingers and tried to pull some of the weaving out (yeah, I almost had a nervous breakdown when he did that because I was several hours into the project). Little punk. Anyway, if you decide to attempt this jive, approach it with caution. You have been warned.

Felt Food Fridays

I'm back with another installment to Oscar's felt food collection!

We got this cool red wooden toaster a few weeks back at a garage sale and I really wanted something fun to "cook" in it (especially since the wooden "toast" that came with it are slightly rectangular and are kinda hard to put into the slots - yes, as you can imagine, we've had a LOT of frustration with that). Anyway, mommy's favorite thing to cook in a toaster is the always delicious "Poptart." So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Poptarts were pretty special and rare in my household growing up. Our grocery budget didn't usually allow for such delicacies. I think that is one reason for my reverence toward this scrumptious treat. I really hope I've done it justice. I made strawberry tarts, because that was my favored flavor as a child... I'm now more of a "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" girl. Oh, how things change. Enjoy! (And I really hope you notice and appreciate the bite taken out with a hint of strawberry filling! Make you hungry?)

Felt Food Fridays (and Oscar's New Kitchen)

Here's my baby.

And here is his newest toy. We got the COOLEST kitchen ever at a yard sale a few weeks ago. Oz is crazy for it. (It's a sturdy wooden "manly" kitchen and it was only $20 bucks!) Now Oscar is always pulling you by the hand and saying "Play cooking?" And he'll spend hours stacking those wooden food blocks (behind him) and placing them just right on his shelves. We got those at the Children's Museum of Manhattan for like a dollar a piece and they have already seen a lot of action. Oh happy investment! Here are some more pics of the wooden blocks...

Anyway, now Oscar has a place to play with all his felt food. Huzzah! So this week, I decided he needed something he could "cook" on the stove top. And I wanted it to be something healthy this time around because making these play foods gives me all sorts of wacky cravings. I swear, the week I made the cinnamon rolls, we had to have them for breakfast not just once but a few times. Ask me what I had for lunch today?!? Well...

I had ravioli! And here is why... Looks good, huh? How about some broccoli florets and ravioli?

Almost good enough to eat!

(But you probably shouldn't try... Otherwise you'll make this face.)

I saved my favorite photo for last (above). This one cracks me up because there is some strange lighting thing going on (bad sun exposure or something). Basically, it looks like Oscar is really cooking! It makes me imagine a steamy kitchen as my little fella fixes a real pot of ravioli. Are these scenes to come? Will my baby grow up to be a top chef? And will he say that it's all because he grew up playing with some awesome felt food? Only time will tell.

Felt Food Fridays

Look yummy? Good enough to eat? Well, I'm back with another offering to the felt food gods... This one was mostly based on a great online tutorial by Snazzle Craft. Check it out! It was pretty easy - just cutting out and blanket stitching pretty much. I did change the tomato slice to look more like this awesome little guy, though. (The seeds are a "Lazy Daisy" stitch. My mom will get a kick out of that.) And I added the word "Chips" to the chip bag because Oz is into letters right now. He chants the letters of his name all the time... "O! S! C! A! R!" Oh well. At least he knows how to spell it. That's half the battle.

Sandwich Contents: tomato slice, piece of lettuce, slice of Swiss cheese, slice of American cheese, piece of salami, and two slices of bread

The chips look a lot more complicated than they should... Those are actually machine stitched. The tutorial has you basically sew a bunch of lines on a piece of felt and THEN cut out the chip. Hey, time saver! So, all in all, the whole project took about 3 or 4 hours scattered throughout the week, in between playing cars and "cooking" with Oz.

(And just for kicks, I did some PB&J too. It's also in with the tutorial, but I did two pieces blanket stitched instead of just a single piece of purple and brown felt.)

Felt Food Fridays

Hooray! I finally finished this one... Oh man, between the funky cravings and being tired all the time, this felt contribution took it out of me. Plus I didn't have any kind of pattern to go on. Sheesh. Anyway, it's CINNAMON ROLLS! Delicious, right? I made Tim go out and buy me some pretty late at night. Pregnancy craving #1. (Why can't I crave something healthy? Like broccoli?)

All in all, these were decent to make. I used two cocoa pieces and two tan pieces of felt to make half dozen rolls - and had stuff left over even. This is what I did: I cut craft felt (the stuff at Michaels) into about 2-3 inch strips, long ways so they were about 10 inches long. I also angled the strips a bit, so when you coil them up into cinnamon rolls, the center is a tiny bit taller. Then I machine sewed them up on three sides, making sure that the widest end gets sewn and the skinny end gets left open. Turn them, and then stuff them. Oz had a blast "helping me" do that. He calls fiberfill "clouds." It's really sweet. But make sure you don't stuff the tubes too tightly, cause then they'll be hard to wind and end up looking funky. Sew them together as you wind them, making sure to not let your stitches show too much. When you get to the end, sew the open end down, folding the dark "cinnamon" brown felt in so it doesn't show. As the finale, I used some white "puff paint" for a swirl of icing. I hope that made sense!

Now for more pictures...

Felt Food Fridays

Hey there! I'm posting this from "Deep in the Heartland" way down yonder in Texas! Yeehaw. We're out here visiting Tim's fam. For today's treat (and to celebrate our heritage), I bring you the All-American Oreo cookie. Oh yeah. Just need some felt milk and we're in business. Oscar seems to think so, anyway. Funny story: Oz was so excited when I told him I had a chocolate cookie for him... a combo of two of his favorite things. He tried to bite into this week's contribution, only to get a mouthful of wool. Now he picks up the Oreos and says "No Bite!"

Felt Food Fridays

Today is PIZZA!!! This has to be one of my all-time favorite meals, so hopefully Oscar will share in the love. It's a meal we partake in about once a week, so have no doubts that he is already quite familiar with it! Plus, his newest favorite book is Pete's a Pizza by Steig. (If you've never read it, you should... it's pretty cute.) This wasn't too complicated, just time consuming.

Probably the best feature is that the pepperoni and mushrooms are removable, so if Oscar wants to be like his Uncle Andy (who he ADORES), he can turn it into just a lovely cheese pizza. Or he can dish it up like mommy, who enjoys a bit of pepperoni. Or he can be like daddy and add a few mushrooms to it, as well. Delicious!

Felt Food Fridays

Shew! I just got this one in under the wire. I finished literally RIGHT before Oz woke up from his nap. Oh what pressure. Here is my latest creation: a bag of popcorn and a chocolate bar! I got the fun idea from this awesome tutorial. (Thanks Jess!!! Your pictures are way cuter, btw.)
This jive is so cute - the chocolate is a bar plus the wrapper and the popcorn is all removable, too. And yes, I made the popcorn pretty big so that they're not choking hazards or anything, not that Oscar is still popping things in his mouth, but just in case. The tutorial was way easy to follow along with. I just altered the size of the popcorn bag so that I didn't have to make quite so many pieces of popcorn. Seriously, the 12 pieces just about put me over the edge anyway!


(And I was thrilled to see how this popcorn bag came together, because it's the same principle in making the bottom part of a milk carton - which is totally something I want to make.)

Another success story!

No Felt Today

I don't have any felted food concoctions for you today reader. And I'm all out of former creations. I've just been too busy working on other stuff (which I'll post soon). I hope you aren't too disappointed! Here is a preview of things on my radar to make soon. These are my current inspiration photos...

Pizza! Yummy! Especially since one of Oscar's new favorite books is "Pete's a Pizza."
This is a cool pattern (to purchase) by Umecraft.

And speaking of pies...

This is a great free tutorial by American Felt and Craft of some yummy cherry pie!
(Their flickr page is WAY cute... I also want to make this milk carton.)

Chips and a sandwich by Snazzle Craft (with a free tutorial! Yay!)

And some cinnamon rolls by Buggabugs

And finally, this one isn't food, but I am gonna have to make it for Oz for sure!

It's a "Cozy Cone" by One More Moore.

Felt Food Fridays

I've been working on finishing an old scrapbook this week, trying to complete projects I started ages ago, so I don't really have a new felt food to post this week. But don't worry reader, it will still be new to you!

This is a felt food I made back at Christmas, for two special little girls in my life and I figured I'd make a set for Oz while I was at it. I got the pattern for the Chinese Take-out box here. It's really a great pattern - the box even opens! (And I know hers is WAY cooler, but since this was among my very first attempts at felt food, be merciful. I love the dumplings she made and the other whatnots, so I'll probably attempt - like some time in the future - to make more stuff to put into Oscar's take-out box.)

I made the fortune cookies the same way you would do the origami version, just with felt. I also stuck a thin piece of pipe cleaner sandwiched in between the felt to give it a bit more structure. I was tempted to embroider a fortune onto some white felt, but I figured that would be so much work and you know it would probably last like an hour before being lost forever. Seriously not worth it.

The sushi rolls are felt and terrycloth. And for the record, I know that sushi doesn't come in take-out boxes!