Some time ago, I was smitten with one of Michelle’s posts at Scribbit, where she outlined instructions for making a “quiet family”. Michelle, in turn, had borrowed the lovely idea from the clever author of Simply Stork.

I read both posts and thought of the numerous, nay countless times we have found ourselves waiting in doctor offices over the past five years and the many times I had wished I had something small, fascinating and quiet to command Jacqui’s attention as we waited. And here it was. An adorable, clever, and affordable answer. I even had everything to make a set or two in my craft bin, with the exception of the wooden game pieces (which I found at a craft store for $1.29 for a pack of four). Soon I was happily crafting away while my bemused husband looked on — wondering what in the world I could possibly be up to. I finished one set and then got distracted by family illnesses until a bloggy friend, Tiff at Three Ring Circus, posted her lovely version. That inspired me to finish up my second set, and here are the results:

The first set, like Michelle’s first set, is a traditional family — a dad, mom, brother, sister, and I just couldn’t resist adding a baby. I also was in the possession of some wooden beads, wooden spools and yarn remnants. After goofing around for a bit, I came up with a floppy pair of family pets — a puppy and kitty. The little wooden set is called a “quiet family” because they don’t have any mouths… get it? “Shhhh… Jacqui, they don’t talk… no mouths, remember?” Works like a charm.

The second set, like Michelle’s second set, is a fairy tale set. I modified the characters a bit, changing them to a king, queen, princess, knight, fairy, and a floppy beaded dragon (who for some reason just makes me want to laugh).

And I have to tell you… they are a huge hit. HUGE! Jacqui played quietly with them at our last doctor outing for the entire visit. Something that has NEVER happened before. Sometimes a little simplicity can accomplish wonders! Thanks Michelle and Simply Stork, for sharing a bit of your collective genius with a most grateful mom.

crafts quiet family wood crafts busy box toy travel toy

One of the snuggly comforts of winter in our house are hot water bottles. I’m honestly surprised that so few people own them these days… I wouldn’t trade mine even if someone demanded it as ransom for one of the four pillows I insist on sleeping with (a source of much mocking in our house, but that’s another story). However, I am not taunted about my fondness for my hot water bottle… because when the temperature in our corner of the world drops, my feet turn into icebergs. I often joke and tell Ken that his marriage vows to me were to “love, honor, cherish, and warm thy feet for as long as we both shall live.” Ken doesn’t find this humorous in the slightest. Let’s just say he’s more than willing to pass the responsibility of “foot warmer” along to my hot water bottle.

Problem is, I like the water in mine REALLY hot. So it stays warm all night. So instead of wrapping it up in a flour-sack towel like I had for years, I finally decided to make a cozy for it last winter. And it was so simple! For the standard hot water bottle, I used a nice soft piece of flannel, and cut out two rectangles sightly wider and a few inches longer than the bottle. Then I sewed them right sides together, leaving the top open like a bag. After turning it, I hemmed the top edge, then turned it back inside out.

I then pinned a strip of flannel about 1 1/2 inches wide, flat around the circumference of the bag at the height the neck of the hot water bottle would be when placed in the bag. I sewed each edge of the strip to the inside of the bag so that there was about one inch between the parallel seams.

I turned it right side out again, then snipped two small holes in the front just through the first layer of fabric between the parallel seams to thread the draw-string ribbon through. You could be fancy here and sew button holes as your very first sewing step, but I didn’t bother… I’ve never been fond of sewing button holes and my ancient sewing machine has been less than cooperative in this task. My last step was to tape a length of ribbon to a short dowel and thread it through one hole, between the parallel seams and then out the other hole to form the drawstring. I also knotted the ends of the ribbon so they wouldn’t un-ravel. Voilà! Hot water bottle cozy and toasty warm winter feet!

I made a heart-shaped variation for my daughter Jacqui. She has a rare condition called Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome which results causes a lot of abdominal pain for her. A hot water bottle has been a real comforting item for her so we ’splurged’ on a heart shaped one from Victoria Trading Co.

She loves her heart bottle, but wasn’t so fond of the cover that it came with. I let her choose the material for making a new cover and she was torn between two fabrics, a soft flannel and a cotton princess crown print. So I got both and made her cover reversible. She loves that she can decide if hers is “soft” or “princess-y” as she says.

To make a reversible cover, follow the same first steps, cutting two sides from each fabric in the appropriate shape with the seam allowances and extra fabric for the top of the cozy. Sew each matching set of fabric right sides together leaving the top open like a bag. Turn one of the sets, leaving the other un-turned. Tuck the unturned bag inside the turned bag, smoothing it so the seams match up. Fold the top edges of each bag inward towards each other, pinning as you go. Sew the top edges together, close to the edge of the fabric.

Measure out where the neck of the hot water bottle will hit and then sew your two parallel seams just like with the single layer cozy, except this time you don’t need an extra strip of fabric because you already have two layers. Snip two holes in the front between the parallel seams and thread your drawstring ribbon, knotting the ends. Then turn the cozy to the reverse layer and snip two holes on the opposite side between the parallel lines for your drawstring for the reverse layer. Thread the ribbon drawstring, knot the ends and you are done!

For more Winter Bazaar ideas, visit Scribbit

Special thanks to Corey at Living and Loving Every Minute of It for inspiring me to finally start posting some of my half-done posts from my over-stuffed drafts folder! sewing crafts hot water bottle cozy crafts winter bazaar Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar CVS cyclic vomiting syndrome