Gogo and Blinky

I was going to make handmade dolls for my nephews (ages 3 and 10 months) and my sister asked me to try and model them after the Ugly dolls that are in stores right now. This was probably my favorite project. I drew a couple free style patterns to figure out what shapes I wanted and just got to work. The hardest part was figuring out the best way to make the eyes. The easiest part was the fact that because they are Ugly dolls, I could look over any imperfections. In fact, the imperfections make them cuter I think. My nephews loved them, especially the oldest. He immediately gave his doll a big hug and took him on a trip in the car where he named it Gogo then went on to say, "Oh Gogo, I love you." Blinky was named by my BIL, I think it goes well with Gogo. Monkey made sure to tell everyone that Gogo only has one eye. I love that kid. (Sorry, the pictures are backwards, but they are all there.)

Gogo

Blinky was the first, and therefore a little lopsided, but he's supposed to be "ugly," right?

Pre-stuffed Blinky.

Hand painted dolls

I found these cute wooden dolls on Etsy a while back and have been putting them to use. The first set I painted was for a friend's little boy who liked trains. He got Sir Top'em Hat and a train conductor. These were for my niece for Christmas. They are supposed to be me (in the purple) and her (in the pink). She loved them and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Misc Projects

Just some of the other things I've made these past couple of weeks.

my first stocking. not too shabby for free hand cutting. I found the owl fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnns for less than a $1 and had the blue fabric on hand.
Matching travel/car pillows for Miri and Mike who will be driving to Texas in the next couple of days.
A blanket for Whitney. My favorite part of this fabric is that it says "dot tree" like that is supposed to mean something. I don't get it, but think it's hilarious and a cute pattern (and it matches Whitney's things).

Monogram Hat Box

This was Amanda's present. She has all sorts of little things in her room so I figured she could always do with another box. It could be used for jewelry or little odds and ends.

I used the same method as with my clipboards - tear the papers into large chunks and Mod Podge them to the box. Make sure there are no bubbles in the paper. I did that all around the box and the top of the lid then I sealed it all with another coat of Matte finish Mod Podge. I cut a strip of paper to fit the brim of the lid and circles of paper to fit the inside of the lid and the bottom of the box and I Mod Podged those pieces in the appropriate places.
Just to give it a little more character, I added a ribbon across the lid and a fun, colorful flower. I left the ribbon hanging over the box and attached a monogrammed card to it.
I have plans to make some of these for myself. It was a quick and easy project and it produces something useful.

Library in a box

So I made this for Megan this Christmas. I Mod Podged a book shaped box with paper and ribbon. I wanted it to be fun, but also look realistic.

I took paper with writing, cut it into strips and antiqued the strips with a gold stamp pad. Then I Mod Podged the strips.
Here's the inside of the box. I used a rub on pack of letter's to make the "Megan's Library" plaque and used raised stickers to adhere it to the inside of the box. I bought a date stamp, pencil and stamp pad for documenting borrowed books. Finally, I cut out cards from manila card stock and used the gold stamp pad to monogram the cards and antique the edges. Then I tied them up into a little pack with a cute bow and stuck everything in the box.
I also Mod Podged the top of the inside of the box with a piece of scrap book paper that had a story "hand written" on it. I left the inside of the box plain so none of the contents could get stuck to the Mod Podge.
I was excited to give this to Megan (a future librarian and current employee of the library on campus) because I knew she would love it. It would be a great gift for anyone who loves to read and can be made for various prices (I found everything on sale, used a coupon and used paper I already had on hand so this was all done for about $5).