Ten in the Bed: 100 Days Project - mat time resource

This Ten In The Bed resource was simple to make using empty toothpaste boxes, card, wooden pegs, scraps of fabric and glue. I didn't want the bed to be too big, because it is supposed to be a single bed, but it needed to be able to accommodate 10 peg dolls. The peg dolls are the perfect shape because they roll! So when the little one says "Roll over, roll over", children can roll the peg dolls so one falls out - perfect! I just used what I had available in my craft room - I am always saving empty grocery boxes and packets to take to school or to use 'one day'. Today was that 'One day!'.

Ten wooden pegs to make ten in the bed peg dolls

This is a great project for using up any little scraps of fabric, ribbons, lace, etc. You can use a variety of fabric for children to feel different textures - I used fleece, brushed velvet, satin, silk ribbons and cottons.

To make skirts: Cut fabric to fit peg. Apply glue to fabric and roll around peg.  

For the top, cut a series of small slits across the top of the fabric for ease of fit around the shoulders. 

Apply glue to fabric, roll around the peg and push the tabs down around the shoulders.

To make shorts or pants, cut two squares of fabric for the legs, and one long thin piece of fabric for the waistband.

Put the 2 pieces of fabric for the legs facing inwards, and slide between the legs. 

 

Do one leg at a time so you do not lose the fabric - it can be hard to slide a piece of fabric in between the legs when there is another piece of fabric already there.

Slide one piece of fabric out as far as possible without completely taking it out.  Apply a liberal amount of glue onto fabric.

Slide the fabric back through, so the glue spreads itself on the inside of the legs. Roll the glued edge of the fabric over the peg doll's leg to secure.  

Apply glue to the other side of the fabric, and roll over the leg to secure. 

Repeat with the other square of fabric to cover the other leg.

Apply glue to the waistband and wrap around peg doll. Try to keep all seams ending in the same place to keep your work looking neat.

Cut a piece of fabric for the top.  Cut a series of slits across the top of the fabric, for fitting around the shoulders.

Apply a liberal amount of glue to the fabric and roll around the peg doll. Press down tabs around shoulders, overlapping them to create a neat and tidy finish.

Fabric for skirt and top. You don't need much fabric to complete these dolls - it's a great way to use little left over scraps.

Pink edging and purple satin.

Ten in the bed: 5 wearing pants and shorts, and 5 wearing skirts. I didn't give them arms because I wrapped the pegs in fabric, but not having arms means that they roll easily.

The Bed

The bed was made from empty toothpaste boxes and masking tape. I just used what I had handy in my craft room. I used some satin fabric for the bed sheet, and decorative paper for the bed ends.

Use masking tape to shut the boxes securely.

When putting the boxes together, I used glue on the sides of the boxes where the boxes met, making sure the glue did not seep onto the sides where it would affect the masking tape.

Line the boxes up together and begin wrapping in masking tape.

Overlap the tape to keep it secure.

Keep wrapping in tape until you get to the end.

Cut 2 pieces of card (I used matboard) to fit the boxes to make a secure base. 

Spread liberally with PVA glue and attach to the top and bottom of the toothpaste boxes.

Wrap again in masking tape (this bed needs to be secure to withstand lots of handling). 

Making the Bed Ends

Making the bed ends... measure the size of the ends of the bed, and cut a Headboard and footrest accordingly, leaving about 4cm extra for the footrest and 7cm extra for the Headboard.

Choose how you will cover the footrest and headboard. I used decorative flocked paper to make it look fancy.  Place your card for the bed ends on the paper and begin measuring, leaving about 2-3cm space on each side.

Cut paper according to your measurements.

Place your board on your paper.  

To fold paper neatly around the board, I start by folding the paper to give it crease-lines before applying glue - this tells the paper where I want it to go, and makes it much easier to put the paper in the right place once it has glue on it. 

Begin by folding the corners over the board, making sure the folds are at right-angles.

Unfold the corners, and begin folding the sides over - along both length and width of card.

Unfold the sides, and fold corners again, then the sides, creasing the paper so it knows where to fold. Repeat with other bed end.

Begin applying a liberal amount of glue onto the matboard.

Place glued board face-down in the centre of the paper, using your creases as a guide. 

Apply glue to corners of paper and fold over, pressing down firmly.

Apply glue to the sides of the paper - do the widths first, then the lengths, and fold over, pressing down firmly.

 You should now have two bed ends covered on one side only.  You do not want to cover the unfinished sides until right at the end of the project when you have finished attaching the bed ends to the bed.

 Covering The Bed

 You will want to cover the base of the bed. I found that a sheet of scrapbooking paper was the perfect size for covering the bottom and sides of the bed base.

Place the bed base in the middle of your paper, and fold the paper up over the sides of the bed - do the lengths first, then the widths. Make sure you crease the paper clearly when folding into place.

 Unfold the paper and work out where you need to make cuts, to make flaps in order to be able to fold the paper around the sides of the bed base. 

Apply a liberal amount of glue to the bed base and position on the paper using the creases as guides.  

Apply glue to the sides and top flaps and adhere to base.  

Do not attach the side and bottom flaps just yet - this will be done at the end, as they will help hold the bed ends in place and keep them secure.

Cut a piece of fabric to fit the top of the bed base. I used blue satin fabric.  Apply a liberal amount of glue to the top of the bed base and  adhere the fabric.  Cut slits at the ends of the bed, to allow for folding down at each end.  

Glue the fabric to each end of the bed.  

 To attach the bed ends to the bed...

Place the bed end, covered side facing towards the bed.

Apply a liberal amount of craft glue (or other strong glue) to the end of the bed base, and press one bed end against it (right side facing the bed).

 Place glue on the paper flaps and fold the side paper flaps inwards.

  Apply glue to the bottom flap and fold upwards, pressing firmly.

 Repeat at other end.

 Measure the size of the bed ends and cut matching paper to fit.

 Apply a liberal amount of glue and press paper firmly onto each bed end to cover.

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Christmas Cards

 Last weekend I went out to visit my Mum and we spent the day making Christmas cards - what a wonderful way to spend a miserable wet, rainy day!  Mum had never used a Cuttlebug before, and she was very excited once she had a go and saw how easy it was to use and how stunning the results are.  I spent half the day cutting up paper so she could cuttlebug it! 

 Silver embossed paper on red cardstock.  Little stick-on pearls to decorate.

 Silver embossed paper on dark green cardstock.  Stick-on pearls to decorate.

 Pre-printed cards (Warehouse Stationery were selling boxes of 50 pre-printed cards with envelopes for only $2.50 a box! I love those kind of bargains - I bought 3 boxes! Haven't seen them do that kind of special since).

Christmas pre-cut pictures/words bought on special in an after Christmas sale.    

 Christmas pudding stamp; red gingko leaves paper; green cardstock; paper punches using gold card.

 Embossed white gold paper on green and red card stock; glitter glue to decorate.  'Merry Christmas' was embossed on green paper and a bit of gold and silver wax rubbed over it. 

 Metallic white paper embossed; part of a green paper doily (cut using a doily die) with blue paper underneath; Christmas shapes (also cut using a Cuttlebug Christmas die) to decorate.

 Same design embossed on gold leaf and silver paper; dark green and red cardstock.

 Baubles embossed on silver paper; red and green cardstock.

 A selection of christmas cards.

1. Gold leaf paper embossed with a reindeer & berries design, which I cut in half to separate and put on the top and bottom of the card.  A pre-printed 'Merry Christmas' put in the middle.

2. Silver paper embossed with the reindeer & berries design; I cut it in half and kept the reindeers for another card, and used the berries on the bottom.  I used a flower punch to cut out metallic pink, silver and gold card flower shapes, put together into a pyramid shape to resemble a Christmas tree.

Embossed reindeers used on the bottom part of cards with pre-printed Christmas slogans.

 Gold cardstock; Red embossed berries placed diagonally on corner; Christmas pudding was one that I had made when making paper Christmas decorations last year for my own 100 days project (The 100 Days project didn't run last year but I did it anyway - 100 days of Christmas!) Click on the link for instructions on how to make Paper Christmas Pudding decorations.

White gold paper embossed with the Reindeer and berries design.

I always look in the specials and clerance bins on my rare outings to big stores.  I picked up the die for this reindeer and sleigh for only $5! Die cut deer and sleigh using gold corrugated card; Flower punch using silver card; Pre-printed Christmas slogans. 

The Gigantic Turnip

This is a wonderful story with lots of repetitive language.  It was fun to make and fun to tell, and the tamariki have been doing this story every day since I brought it in.  The first time I told it, I sat down with 2 children who wanted to listen. It wasn't long before I had 10 children around me, all sitting quietly and listening to the story.

 The old man and the old woman.  See the link on how to create them using scraps of felt: How to make Jack's mum (and many other human characters).

Details are added using a fine black sharpie pen.

The little house that they lived in.  

I used coloured pens to do the details with, but the colours have run. Will not be able to wash this.  I quite like the effect but have learnt that I need to find other ways to add details, such as using fabric pens, markers and paint (which I do have, somewhere!).

The vegetables that they sowed... peas, beans, potatoes, carrots, and turnips.

The old man and the old woman trying to pull the turnip out of the ground.

The cow and chicken I made when doing Jack and the Beanstalk; the horse and sheep template was from Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?; I made the cat when doing the story The Gingerbread Man.

The cast and crew of The Gigantic Turnip ready to go into a story sack and take to school.

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The Gingerbread Man - 100 Days Project: mat time resurces

I have been so excited by the wonderful response from the children to these felt stories that I have been creating. It makes it so worthwhile to do, even if I just manage to make one thing or do one sketch in the evening. I have put the stories into story sacks which are hanging on a little wooden 'tree' in the room, so the Tamariki have full access to them, and every day there are groups of children scattered around the room, sitting on the floor re-telling familiar stories. The language, collaboration, waiting, sharing, and creating that has been going on since I started taking these stories to school has been wonderful.

Today I have finally finished another story which I can't wait to take in on Monday to show the children - The Gingerbread Man!

I made two gingerbread men - one running, and one fresh out of the oven. Details added using an outliner paint - black for the eyes and metallic brown for the smile and buttons.

The little old lady.  While I used the same template as for Jack's mum (see the link for Jack and the Beanstalk), I made her a little differently.  When I made Jack's mum, I had to cut the arms seperately and glue them on, to make them overlap the apron.  This time I tried a different technique that did not require me cutting out extra arms.  When cutting out the pink felt for Mum's dress, I cut around her forearms back up to her skirt, so that her arms could be lifted up over the top of the apron.  

Side view where you can see how her arms lift up over the apron.  

When making people, I cut out a base figure using beige felt, onto which I then glue the clothes and hair.

The cow, horse, chicken, cat and sheep.  I used the horse and sheep template from the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

I made the chicken and cow when I made the story Jack and the Beanstalk. The cat was created when I made the story The Gigantic Turnip.

The little old an, and the children chasing after the Gingerbread Man.

The pig.  I accidentally cut off one of the pigs tails, so I drew it in onto it's body.  The second pig will be for another story I am creating.

The fox.

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