Paper Roll Puppy

Yup. Still obsessing. But I guess there's worse things to obsess about. This one is free, not unhealthy, and I wouldn't be embarrassed if my neighbors found out. So you might be seeing a few more come your way.

My latest creation is this adorable paper roll puppy! Wanna make one, too? Follow along and I'll show you how!

The supplies you will need are: 1 paper roll, a 1/2" brown pom, two 5mm black poms, and a small piece of red felt.

Begin by lightly flattening the paper roll and cutting it into 1/2" strips.

Form a strip into a heart shape by inverting the fold on one side.

Pinch the fold firmly to encourage the new direction.

If you have a particularly stubborn roll like mine, you can help shape the heart by rolling the tube onto a pencil. Only do this at the section that will form the top of the heart.

You'll be using the heart upside-down.

Form another strip into a circle.

Glue the heart onto the circle, positioning the heart upside-down.

Take another strip and invert the fold on one side, pushing the fold through to the opposite side of the roll.

Glue the inside of the fold, then glue the fold to the opposite side.

Crease the curve to form corners,...

... flattening the strip between the folds. This will form the front paws.

Glue the paws to the bottom of the round piece.

Make a new fold about a third of the way from an existing crease, directing the fold inward.

Pinch the fold tightly and glue to maintain the crease. Make two of these to form the back legs.

Glue the back legs to the side of the circle, aligning the bottom with the other paws so it will stand when finished.

Like the back legs, use another strip and make a new fold about a third of the way or so from an existing crease, directing the fold inward. Crease tightly but do NOT glue.

Add another fold on the same side of the strip to shape the bottom of the ears.

Glue the ears to the top (bottom) of the heart.

Cut a tongue from the piece of red felt.

Shape another strip like the paws, except don't add the corners. This will form the puppy cheeks.

Glue the felt to the bottom of one of the cheeks.

Glue the cheeks into the face of the puppy.

Glue the black poms to the top of the brown pom. As with my Paper Roll Easter Bunny, you can do this step ahead of time if you're doing this with younger children.

Glue the poms onto the face of the puppy.

Form another strip into the tail. This is a great place to add your own creativity. You can leave it wide for a fluffy tail, or add a poof to the tip, etc.

Glue the tail to the side above the legs.

There you have it! All done! Wasn't that easy? And for a total cost of about 2 cents.

You can also personalize it by adding a dog-tag at the neck.

"Woof! Woof!"

How can you resist?
Let me know what you think and if you give it a try yourself. I LOVE comments. The 2 cents a day I get from Google just isn't all that motivating, ya' know?

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.



I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself.
While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links there too!

Pot o'Gold Rainbow Scarf

It's still really rather cold out, so I thought I'd put something together to help warm you up a bit, in more ways than one!

With St. Patrick's Day coming up next month, I've had my mind in the clouds -- on rainbows, that is! I. Love. Rainbows. I probably didn't need to tell you that if you happened to notice my blog header, but....!

It's not rainbows as much as it is the COLORS. Total eye-candy!

I don't think I've ever enjoyed photographing a tutorial as much as I did this one!

Of course, the Bean Bag Games tutorial was fun, too, for the same reason.

Anyway, on with the tute...

Cut long strips of fleece in a mix of rainbow colors. The strips should be about 1" wide and somewhere between 24-36 inches long. The length and width will vary depending upon what size person you want the scarf to fit.

Use a zig-zag stitch to piece the fabric strips together.

Fleece works wonderfully for this. As long as the edge is straight and your stitch is tight, the fleece melds together as if it was always one piece.

If you find that your zig is occasionally dropping a zag (or that your stitches are skipping,) you might try changing out your needle. I've had this problem before with different machines. My current machine is about 20 years old, and nothing fancy, but I managed a very nice stitch just by changing out the needle. Perhaps it was dull or bent, perhaps the new one was thinner (it's certainly more difficult to thread!) but it did the trick, and it was labeled as a standard red-line needle. You might also need to adjust your tension, but use this as a last resort -- you don't want to end up creating other problems for yourself. Check with your nearby sewing store if you still have issues.

When you're finished stitching the strips together, trim the end straight.

Next, cut a cloud shape from a piece of white fleece, then mirror the shape into a second piece of fleece. The cloud should be just slightly larger than the width of the rainbow, and about 4" tall. Place the cloud pieces in front and behind the end of the rainbow, covering the raw edge of the fleece.

Stitch the outline of the cloud to secure it in place.

Next, you'll need to make the pot o' gold that everyone knows sits at the end of the rainbow.

Size the pot so that the top of the pot when finished is just slightly larger than the width of the rainbow. Round out the pot below the rim, leaving a little extra fabric at the rim to form a cuff.

Stitch the pot, turn, and flip down the cuff.

Next, insert about an inch of the unfinished end of the rainbow into the top of the pot. Pin the rainbow onto one side only of the pot.

Stitch a seam around the rim of the pot, securing the rainbow to one side. The top of the pot should be open to one side.

Add a piece of Velcro to the inside rim of the pot.

And that's it, you're done! Isn't it lovely??

Here's the fun part! Since the pot o' gold is really a "pocket o' gold," it's perfect for storing a pocketful of foil-wrapped candy coins! Or perhaps some Petite Ribbon Shamrocks or Chenille Stem Shamrocks pins. This is a great tool for a pay-it-forward. Wouldn't it be adorable to encourage your child to share a coin or a shamrock pin whenever someone did something nice, or even just complimented their scarf, thus warming their hearts too?!

My son is too old for this (boo-hoo) but it will be perfect for his little girlfriend next-door!

Give this a try! Spread a little joy and brighten someone's day, and bring a little color to the world while you're at it. Let me know if you make one, and I'd especially like to hear how your little one uses the "pocket o' gold!"

Check out the big smile created by Kim at Life of a Modern Mom.

Be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.


I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few of your own links to my perpetual link party!