DIY Day Camps During Pandemic

Anyone with a child at home under the age of 18 is experiencing some level of stress as summer stretches out before us in a world dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic. This is NOT a post to debate the issues of whether or not to venture out for organized activities or camps. If you want that local (Arizona) debate, there is a great post from Raising Arizona Kids.

However, if you have decided to create your own "at-home" experience, here are some resources that might help you. The key point is plan, plan, plan! If your kids are at camp, whether sleep camp or day camp, their schedules are tightly controlled. To create your DIY camp, I would suggest doing the same. My second suggestion is to make these activities feel "different." You've been home with the kids for some time now and to get everyone in the "camp" mood, this needs to feel special or different. Of course, you can always pick and choose fun activities from this list. So, let's create your own DIY summer camp with step-by-step instructions!

1. Create a name for your camp. Many years ago, I entertained my (now adult) niece and nephew at Camp Campbell.  One of our first "arts and crafts" activities was making a camp shirt.  Here's a link for an easy way to make tie-dye shirts with acrylic paint. It would be very easy to create some stencils with your "camp" name and paint them on after your tie-dye shirts are done. You just created 2 days of arts and crafts activities and a memento of their camping experience!

2. Plan your "camp" meals. If you want to keep it easy in a "day camp" setting, you just need to plan fun lunches that you can eat picnic style. I've packed a ton of ideas onto a special Pinterest board, Day Camp so you should have no problem planning ahead. If you really want to be adventurous and include a "sleep-over" camp with a fire, don't forget to include the s'mores and at least one "campfire" meal.  I've also included some links on the Day Camp Pinterest board for that.

3. Keep a strict schedule. Be sure to plan educational activities, physical activities, arts & crafts and quiet time into your camp, keeping in mind the ages of your campers. See the list of links below as well as my Pinterest Day Camp page for specific ideas on each type of activity. Consider creating a schedule board for each day, or a handout for the "campers" so they know exactly what is coming.

4. Consider at least one overnight camp out in the yard. This could include a tent and campfire, or as simple as some blankets and sleeping bags in the living room. 

5. Get some "camp counselors." If you have older kids, get them involved! Younger kids will be thrilled, you give those older kids something to do, and take some of the pressure as "camp director" off of you!

6. Have a specific "start" and "stop" to camp, especially if you are doing a "day camp" format. It's not sustainable to keep "camp" going indefinitely and kids will likely lose interest if you try. Keeping a "start" and "stop" is almost as important as keeping a strict schedule because it gives kids the feeling of something "different".  You also get time off when camp is not in session!

Can't bear to do this alone at home?  Here are some resources to local virtual day camps this summer. 

Ideas for Educational Activities

• Phoenix Water Services has a brand new digital resources pages. The left side is for kids and the right is for adults. Don't miss the fun videos of "Wayne Drop" and "Loo Poo".  There are activity books with coloring pages you can print for the little ones or order free hard copies in advance. Be sure to check out the tons of lesson plans you can use.

• Virtual Water Festival is another page from Arizona Project WET and geared to teaching elementary students (especially 4th grade) about water. Filled with videos, lessons and games, this is a treasure trove.
• STEM Lessons Activities from Nerding teaches how to build or do a bunch of fun things, especially for elementary and middle schoolers.
• Mystery Science has a ton of activities for kids, Kindergarten through Middle School
• Make a Time Capsule What better time than now??
• Make homemade cards and send a letter to relatives (just like at camp!)
• Grow Borax Crystals
• Make Elephant Toothpaste with a few household items. Cool science experiment - outside.
• Make up stories, create your own book and illustrate (this can be done over several days)

Ideas for Physical Activities

• Play at Home - This is a great, interactive and local website that includes mindfulness, songs and a little yoga. It's especially great for preschoolers.
• Children's Museum of Phoenix has a bunch of videos with movement and yoga, as well as other videos with projects and learning.
• Swimming - Don't have a pool? Create a slip & slide with the hose, bubbles and/or shaving cream. Hose them down when you're done. See a bunch of DIY slip & slides on Pinterest
• Biking
• Scavenger Hunt, Obstacle Course or Relay Game - see my Day Camp board on Pinterest for tons of outside games you can put together for a relay
• Paint with Squirt Guns - Arts & crafts and physical activity in one!
• Make bubbles - see Pinterest for a recipe for giant bubbles

Ideas for Arts & Crafts

• As You Wish Pottery has complete kits you can pick up or they can ship to you!
• STG Top 5 Kids Crafts - our very own!
• Cake decorating. This is fun whether you have a lot of supplies for decorating or just a few. Each kid gets to make their own cake and then decorate it.

• Create Birdseed Hearts - for a truly outdoor craft
• Make Painted Kindness Rocks and then take a walk and leave them around your neighborhood!
• Salt Painting
• Q-Tip Painted Art
• Tie-Dye T-shirts
• Make homemade pizzas

Ideas for Quiet Time

• Listen to some stories!  There are lots of resources on the internet now to watch videos of someone reading to kids.  Here are a few of my favorites:
• Hall of Flame Museum
• Phoenix Public Library
• Dolly Parton
• NASA with Story Time from Space

• Virtual Field Trips! offered through Arizona State University are seriously cool for K-8 to explore
• Australian Reptile Park has a number of short, engaging videos on its YouTube channel featuring animals American kids don't get to see much, including koalas!
• San Diego Zoo has a bunch of animal cams for your viewing pleasure
• Kitten Rescue Cam because everyone needs a kitty fix.
• National Geographic Kid Videos - This includes some great projects and games.

Whatever you decide to do this summer, take some time to relax. It's been a hard couple of months for everyone and you deserve it!

cindy

SOM Costumes - Sailor Suits!

"Do a deer, a female deer . . ."

What is more iconic than the Von Trapp children in their sailor uniforms?  This particular costume was pretty easy (and inexpensive).  First, the boys needed navy blue docker pants - very easy to find at Goodwill.  Likewise the girls needed navy blue school uniform skirts.  The high school girls at our school wear the uniform I wanted to use, so I only had to find some Goodwill versions for the younger girls - not too hard.  Pair that with white knee high socks and black shoes and the only thing left was the shirt.  The sailor shirt makes the outfit.  To make these shirts you need a white long sleeve crew neck t-shirt, about 1/2 yard of navy blue poplin or cotton fabric, about 1.5 yards of white satin ribbon 1/2" width and a package of white Velcro.

First, cut off the neck and sleeve cuffs. Turn the raw edges on the neckline under and sew so you have a finished edge on the neckline. (The second picture is before I turned the raw edges under.)

  

To make the sailor collar, start by measuring the shoulder width on the back of the t-shirt.  Then in the front, measure the center point of the neck opening diagonal to the shoulder seam.  Cut your navy fabric with the dimensions of shoulder width x diagonal measurement + 8".  For example, one of my shoulder widths was 16" and the measurement from the center of the front neckline to the shoulder was 8".  The result is a rectangle 16" x 16" (because I added 8" for the back).  Next you are going to cut out a neckline, using your t-shirt as the pattern on the navy fabric.  You also need to cut the curve of the neckline in the front.  When you're done, it looks like this:

To make your collar, cut two pieces of navy fabric in this shape and then sew them together, right sides facing, leaving a small opening on the collar so you can turn it inside out.

After you turn it inside out and close the opening by hand stitch, you can sew your ribbon about 1/2" from the edge and then another 1/2" inside of that.  Notice how the ribbons will overlap as you get to the front of the collar.  Use a lot of pins to keep it straight while you are sewing, and for a finished look, use navy blue thread in your bobbin so the white thread outline of the ribbons doesn't show on the wrong side of the finished collar.  Pin the collar on the neckline and sew. 

 To make the cuffs, cut the navy blue fabric into 2 rectangles, 2.5" x 10" (for each cuff).  Sew the two rectangles together, right sides facing, leaving a small opening to turn it inside out.  Using two pieces of fabric this way gives more body to the cuffs and makes the seams invisible.  

Apply two satin ribbons, turning them under the wrong sides on the ends so you don't see any fraying.

Now cut a small square from the Velcro (you will have one "loop" piece and one "hook" piece).  Sew the loop piece (it's the soft part of Velcro) to one end of the cuff on the right side, and the hook piece (it's the rough part of Velcro) on the other end of the cuff on the wrong side.  Looking at the right side of your cuff should now look like this:

The reason you are using Velcro instead of just sewing the closed cuff onto the t-shirt is because the t-shirt is made from a stretchy polyester and your cuff will not stretch.  Lay the cuff onto the sleeve and sew along the top edge so the entire cuff is over the sleeve.  Don't be surprised if the length of the cuff doesn't go all the way around the sleeve.  It will look fine.

If you need more help making the sailor collars, don't forget to check out my Pinterest SOM Costume Board where I found inspiration for all of my costumes (and detailed instructions as well).

cindy

Sew Practical: Quilted Water Bottle Carrier

Knowing how to sew means you can create those little items you can use everyday out of fabric you like and in sizes that work best for you.  Here is another one of those little items that I learned to make and now I can whip one up in a half hour or so (which is great if you lose water bottles like I do).  This same idea can work with a lot of sizes of bottles and have shorter straps for kids.  This bottle carrier will hold many standard size manufactured bottles, but if you want one to fit a specific bottle, you can alter the pattern by using the circumference of the bottom of the bottle and its height as a guide.  Here is the pattern I used to make mine.  I borrowed heavily from this pattern from ilovefabric.com.

You need:

2 pieces of fabric 12" x 10.5" (I use home decorating fabric.)

1 piece of batting 10.5" x 9.5"

2 fabric circles 4" in diameter

1 batting circle 3" in diameter

1 strip of fabric 3.5" x 50" for adult size strap (Use 42" long for child)

The 2 main pieces of fabric can be the same design or if you want to have a coordinating fabric as a liner, you can use 2 different fabric designs (which is what I did on this bottle carrier). 

As a cheat, you can use a roll of duct tape or other circle to get that circle pattern. 

You can use twill tape or heavy ribbon for the strap.  I chose to use the coordinating fabric because I think the straps hold up better.  If your strap fabric isn't 50" long, don't worry - here's how to piece strips.  Take two pieces of fabric and lay them perpendicular with right sides together.  Sew a line diagonal across the area where the pieces intersect and then cut the selvage.

Taking your new 50" strip, sew the ends under and then fold the long side in half, right sides of fabric facing each other.  Sew a seam with a 1/4" seam allowance from end to end, leaving the ends open on either end of the strap. 

Using a safety pin attached to one end of the strap as a guide, turn the inside of the strap out so the right side of the fabric is showing.  Iron the seam.  At this point you can topstitch the lengths of the strap if you wish.  That gives the strap a flat look.

Next, lay the 2 main fabric pieces, right sides together and sew a 5/8" seam along the top (one of the 12" sides).  Iron the seam open.  (This would have been an ideal place to sew the strap onto the main fabric by placing either end of the strap between the outer and lining fabrics with about 1-2" of strap sticking out when you put the outer and lining fabrics right sides together.  The ends of the straps should be about 2" from either side of the fabrics.  You would then sew the ends of the straps to the wrong side of the liner fabric.  I didn't so it that way, so I'll continue with instructions for the straps sewn on top of the liner fabric.)

Pin the batting to the wrong side of the outer fabric.  This will hold it temporarily as you get started on quilting.  If you didn't already sew the straps onto the fabric, sew them onto the right side of the lining fabric, about 1-2" from the edges.  Be sure you are only sewing onto the lining fabric so the seams don't show through on the outer fabric.

Fold the lining fabric over the batting so the right side of the liner fabric is showing.  Topstitch along the top, right next to the seam you sewed to join the outer and inner fabrics.

Starting at the topstitch line, sew straight lines (about 1.5" apart) to the open bottom so the batting is evenly quilted.  Don't worry if you are sewing over the portions of the strap that are already sewn on.  I wish I knew the name of the tool, but see the metal doohickey in the picture to the right of the presser foot?  It has a bar that attaches to the machine and acts as a guide for sewing straight lines equidistant from each other.  You can also draw lines using a fabric marking pen (ink disappears).  Once you finish, if your batting is sticking out at the bottom, trim it back and sew the bottom closed. (Don't worry that the wrong sides are together and the seam shows.)

Take the circle pieces, right sides together, and sew around the circumference, leaving a 2" opening.  Turn inside out:

Gently insert the circle batting into the opening.  Hand sew the opening closed and then sew the circle with seams like a pie - 4 seams in all.

Take the main bottle piece and fold it in half WRONG sides together.  You will use a French seam to make the circular shape, and that is a two-step process.  First sew a narrow (1/4") seam along the raw edges to join the sides.

Now turn the tube inside out and sew another seam on the same edge, this time using a 5/8" seam allowance.  That will have the effect of "capturing" the first seam in a way that looks really clean.

Now you're ready for the hardest part - sewing the circular bottom on the open end of the tube.  Carefully pin the circle onto the bottom of the inside-out tube (striped side in the pictures).  Slowly sew it onto the bottom of the tube.  You can also hand sew it on if that is easier for you.

This is what it looks like when it's done.  It's not pretty, but it's the inside of the bottle carrier.

Turn your bottle carrier inside out and you're done!

cindy

Sew Practical: Drawstring Backpack

This pattern can now be found in my Etsy store, Pretty Home Threads.  Just click Drawstring Bag Sewing Pattern to go directly to the post.

Be sure to check out all kinds of items for home and baby at Pretty Home Threads on Etsy!  Thanks for your support of small handmade businesses!

Sew Practical - Decorator Dishtowels

About a week ago I told you about the terrycloth I bought that just didn't make the grade for my baby burp cloths in my Etsy store.  I already made some simple dish cloths, but I really wanted to try some dish towels.  You can find plenty of DIYs on dishtowels, but I had only a few simple requirements - a generous size of about 15" x 26"; and because of the quality of the terrycloth, finished edges to prevent fraying.

For each towel you will need:

Terrycloth  15" x 26"
Cotton Fabric  6" x 18"
Contrasting fabric for bias tape.  I used a home decorator fabric, which is slightly heavier weight.

Position the cotton fabric on top of the terrycloth about 4" from the bottom.  The cotton piece should extend beyond the edges of the terrycloth 1 1/2" on each side.  Fold the long edges of the cotton piece under 1/2".  Press and pin down.  Topstitch in a contrasting color thread, or use a piece of ric-rac or other trim over the edge or peeking out from under the cotton fabric.

On the short sides of the cotton piece, fold 1/2" under, and then fold a 1" hem to the other side of the terrycloth and sew on the opposite side.  

Next, create the 2 1/2" wide bias tape.  There are many tutorials on creating bias tape, but the main thing you need to know is that cutting fabric on the bias is just cutting on the diagonal.

To combine the bias strips, sew at right angles and then trim:

Apply the bias tape around the perimeter of the dish towel, including over the areas of the cotton fabric.

And there you have it - pretty decorator dish towels!

cindy