Rocket Boots!

A few weeks ago our lil man spotted some red gumboots at the shops and went stark raving made! It was all he needed to make his life complete! Or at least, his alias of Astro Boy. He's been doing the black undie thing for a while now and the red boots were the icing on the cake. So I caved - he got the red boots.

While this seemed to fill him with a glow from head to toe, there have been a few fleeting comments that they don't have rockets coming out of them like Astro's - geez, is this kid hard to please or what?!

To the craft table! Enter my rocket pack felt fire from this post!

Take some felt scraps, hot glue gun and some elastic of choice....

 Ta da! Rocket boots fit for a, well, Astro Boy!

 Rocketing around the yard

 

The cutest bit? Once he'd taken them for a spin in the yard he placed them ever so neatly at the back door ready for another day's play. Bless. 

Oh, did he like them? Ee yeah. Yeah, he did. After closely scrutinising them and concluding that "the fire is supposed to come out of the bottom of the boots!!" Sheesh, definately hard to please!!!

Blast Off: Rocket Pack!

Things are heating up around here - its fire season and there's plenty of it at our place!

Our lil guy has spent most of the summer tearing around the house & yard in black undies. Just black undies. Thats it. Black undies. His latest superhero crush is Astro Boy and he has taken on his character boots and all - quite literally! He just loves those rocket boots and gives the cutest little rendition of "what?! I've got machine guns in my butt?!" - not the greatest movie line for  for a tiny tot to be quoting but I have a quiet chuckle each time I hear it.

I had this little project in mind for a while and even had the empty soft drink bottles sitting under my kitchen sink for months before I finally got around to it.

It is THE BEST craft for a little boy - any little guy would love it and its super cheap..just stash away a couple of empty soft drink bottles!

Here's how it turned out.....

And here he goes  rocketing down the yard....!

Want to make one for your lil dude? Its simple -

1. Take some sturdy cardboard (an old nappy box or the like) and make a panel to fit his upper back

2. Add some elastic to the panel to act as arm bands

3. Paint your "rockets"

4. Use some felt/fabric scraps to make fire shapes and glue into the bottle spouts

5. Glue your "rockets" to the back panel

6. You're done!!

How cool are these?!

Ollie took his for a spin at the local shops and had onlookers in stitches! Picture him running alongside me (with clothes - I do make him dress when we go out) while I'm running with bubs in the stroller - priceless!

We are still getting mileage out of these a week later - a long time in the land of Ollie who tires of things very quickly!

And while these aren't exactly rocket boots, the rocket theme is definitely a winner.

He Works Hard for the Money

Now first off, I can't take any credit whatsoever for this little gem I'm about to show you. A friend of mine had this project in mind for a while, but with her little boy still only 4 months old she took on the challenge for our little guy so I handed over a spare work shirt of hubby's and let her go crazy!

Basically its a cut-down-to-size shirt for the little man and he thinks its the best thing ever! EVER! Okay, so maybe the best thing after Superman and Astro Boy.

When he first clapped his eyes on this I thought they were gonna pop right on out of his head - and the squeals of delight that accompanied the eye popping were a little crazy.

Here he is modelling the new pride & joy of his dress up box......

 Could the grin get any wider? Yeah, someones impressed.

 The best part? The pen pocket! 

(Or pencil for those yet to obtain a pen license!)

 

Now a couple of days later "my friend Sophie" (as he affectionately calls her - bless) came to play. And SHE loved it! And she wants one. 

So what does one do when your best friend is taking the new shirt for a spin? Strip down to black undies and become Astro Boy of course! I love kids at play, just mind bogglingly imaginative.

I love how the shirt looks in the next few shots - "Look mum - look at the reflectors!! HAHAHA!!!".

And so begins another chapter of Oliver at play. I caught him walking around in this shirt talking to himself..."I need to go to work to make money so I can buy things". Love it.

Get Tanked

I (embarrassingly) have had this shirt for about 10 years, and although its had a good innings as a bed shirt its really time to boot it out of my bedroom!

So what does one do with such a shirt? Refashion it into a tank for a little guy, of course!

Poor old Apex shirt has had its day...

 ...but has new life breathed into it!

I pretty much just traced an outline of an existing tank, added some ribbing to set off the text on the shirt, sewed it all up and bang! A brand new tank ready for summer.

He loves his new "soccer shirt". Not too sure where he thought that up given the big basketball on the front, but hey, he's given it a good wearing already.

I'm thinking a few more of these will be in order very soon...I can smell Spring just around the corner!

Super Duper Tool Belt!

Happy New Year everyone!

Its been a crazy couple of weeks what with the silly season and all, but I've managed to slow down and whip up my first creation of 2012.

Ok so I've mentioned before that our lil guy loves all things that roar - cars, bikes, lawnmowers, power tools - so today we're making a tool belt to help him carry his trusty tools around the house. Poor little fella has been crying out for one of these, resorting to stuffing his tool shaped puzzle pieces in his pants!

 

Me thinks these tools need a belt!

This is a really simple idea and yet a fabulous item for a bit of boy role play. I cut two squares of fabric - the same width but one slightly longer that the other - and joined them together at the bottom. The front (shorter) piece will provide little pockets for the tools to live. 

Feeling slightly creative today, I decided to add a little embroidery floss in the shape of a hammer to give it some character. 

Next I simply sewed some straight lines down the front to create pockets, and added this little belt to the top.

The belt came with a pair of jeans and had been sitting in his cupboard for well over a year because frankly I find belts on little kids clothes annoying and unnecessary. I am glad I hung on to it though as it came in very handy for giving this tool belt some boyish grunt! 

Previously homeless tools love their new pad!

And the verdict from the man himself? Pretty stoked! Here he is giving it a whirl....

"Is it for me? Oh, thank you so much!"

We're Live!

Welcome to my very first post! Wow, I am totally new to blogging and am still finding my way so please bear with me. I have recently stumbled upon some fabulous projects in blog land and am super duper keen to try my hand at so many of them! This blog is my way of making sure I set aside some 'me time' to give these projects a red hot go - you see, if I have to post, I have to sew! 

I am by no means a professional, in fact if anything I would describe myself as a bit of a hack sewer. But that's ok. In a few weeks I'll be taking some lessons with my girl JM, but until then I'll continue on my merry way making things up as I go along. 

Here's a little peek at a project I am IN LOVE with! Its so easy even for non-sewers and, might I add, completely addictive. Its the 90 minute shirt from Dana Made It.

I made this one last summer....

...and more recently this one.

What makes these babies even sweeter is that they were made from brand new thrifted shirts that cost only $1 each! Gotta love that. 

Did  I also mention that I am seriously lacking in photography skills?