Turn old jeans into a ball!

 

 

 

I believe I first saw the link to this on Craft Gossip, but technically, I found the instructions here.

I just love this idea!  And it couldn't be easier. I learned that it also works really, really well with fleece and  you don't have to sew a button hole for that!  I recently made 10 out of fleece to give to children attending a barbecue we had.  I didn't think to take any pictures of those, but they were a huge hit with ALL the kids (aged from 1½ to 14!).  I just made sure that the stretch of the fleece went across the ball.

 

For the denim ball, I started with a pair of old, well-loved, ripped jeans. 

 

 

And I cut my pieces out.

I followed the instructions for the first little bit, then stopped.  Don't do that!  I sewed up all the large pieces and then had to rip a seam.  You don't sew it completely together by machine because you need a hole so that you can machine sew the two end pieces on.  One end piece has a button hole to insert your balloon through.  Once you have the end pieces sewn in, you hand sew the remaining seam.
You poke an uninflated balloon through the button hole, blow it up and tie it, then just stuff the knot into the ball.

 

Fantastic entertainment!  The kids, from the youngest to the oldest (and even some of the 'grown ups') played with these at the barbecue, then the kids took theirs home.  They got a little dirty, but you just have to pop and remove the balloon, toss the ball in the washer, and replace the balloon next time you want the ball.

 

The author of the instructable I followed points out that you can also bounce this off people's heads without causing damage.  Yup!  That is correct!  It was done over and over again.

 

I'll bet these would work if they were made smaller and used (air-filled) water balloons.

 

Thanks for looking!!!!

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Cuddly Baby Toy made by me!

I finished the toy I was planning to make for my cousin's month-old son. I just need to run it through the washing machine and make sure it'll come out of the washer okay.  He is just a month old (well, seven weeks, if you want to get specific) so he can't really play with it just yet so there is no huge rush to get it to him.  I can be patient.  For a little while longer.

I found the tutorial here. I did a Google Image search for 'baby toy tutorial' or something like that and saw this and just loved it.  When I read how to make it I knew that I was totally capable.  It is very simple, but looks great.  Right up my alley!!  I did underestimate how long it would take me though.  I think it took about five times longer than I expected.  My thirteen year old wants me to make her one because it is so nifty!

I got my 12 little stuffed pieces made.  This is the back of the pieces.

Here is the front.  I wanted different textures for him to experience.  The backs of the pieces are a very soft grey fleece.  I've got a red velvety section, a soft fuzzy white section,  a plain cotton green section and a courdoroy-ish blue section.  I have a lot of pink and purple 'girly' fabrics in my cupboard so coming up with these more manly pieces was a challenge in itself!

Sewing the sections together was a breeze.

Sewing the whole thing together was pretty easy too.  The whole thing was a little time consuming, but not difficult at all.  I may make my teenager one after all.....

Click on the link and make one for yourself or a baby in your life! Pin It