July Fun Days

July has some fun days mostly involving food.  So it might be a good month to try some new eats.

But you want to start the month with International Joke Day on July 1.  Tell as many jokes as you can, maybe even teach a couple to the kids in your life.  The first one I learned was “Why is a barn so noisy?” – “Because cows have horns.” 

Now for you who are interested in extra terrestrials, July 2 is  World UFO days.  (and I don’t think they mean quilter’s UFOs which are un-finished objects.). And while we are in space, July 20 is National Moon Day.  And you can continue to look at the moon in a hammock on July 22 for National Hammock Day.  You might want to share your hammock with someone on July 30^th which is the International Day of Friendship.

Of course here in the U.S. July 4 is Indepedence Day.  And July 6 is International Kissing Day.  I probably don’t need to give ideas of what to do that day.   If you have been thinking of cleaning out your closets,  July 15^th is a good day with Nation Give Something Away Day. And don’t forget to do something for your favorite Aunt and Uncle on July 26^th because that is their day, National Aunt and Uncle Day.

We do have a couple of animal days in July.  National Kitten Day is July 10^th so spend some time with your favorite feline or if you can, go adopt one at a local shelter.  July 14^th is Cow Appreciation Day.  Go visit a farm or a zoo which might have cows or if nothing else just eat chicken or fish that day.  We end the month with National Mutt Day, giving equal time to dog lovers.

As I mentioned earlier the rest of the month fun days are filled with food.  Starting with National Fried Chicken Day also on July 6^th.  The 13^th is National French Fry Day  followed by National Mac and Cheese Day on the 14^th. Eat your Hot dog on July 23^rd because it is National Hot Dog Day andthen have a chili dog on July 30^th because that day honors the chili dog.   Make sure to get one meal thru a Drive thru on the 24^th because, yes, it is National Drive Thru Day.   If you can’t decide what to have on the  29^th, think about lasagna since that is National Lasagna Day.  

Now that your main meals are taken care of, here is what to have for dessert.  Ice cream is an important dessert in July.  You need that creamy goodness to cool you down.  So have  A strawberry sundae on July 7^th and a hot fudge sundae on the 25^th and then any ice cream on National Ice Cream Day on the 19^th.   A sugar cooke has its own day on July 9^th.  July 12^th is Eat your Jello Day so cool down with your favorite jello.  July 28^th is the day to drink your chocolate milk with any left over cookies from National Sugar Cookie Day.  And finish your desserts with cheese cake on July 30^th.

So if you are still social distancing and your family needs some fun things to do, here are some ideas for July.  Put them on your calendar and get the whole family involved with the planning of the day.  Happy July.

©2020 Cheryl E. Fillion

 

Yoyo Flower and Leaf

In recent weeks, I have been making a lot of yoyos.  Most of them have been my mini yoyos but I decided to make some flowers with leaves.  I thought I would share the flower with you.

You start with a completed yoyo.  I showed how to make a yoyo in an earlier tutorial.  I made this Yoyo with a 4” circle and it finished about 2” in diameter.  You can make the flower what ever color you want. 





The leaves you might want to choose a green color but you really can use whatever color since it is your flower.  You want to start with a 4 inch circle and before doing any stitching, cut it in half.

Now take one half and fold it in half right sides together.  You will now want to stitch along the straight edge.  Repeat with the second half of the leaf fabric. (I used dark thread so you can see the stitching.  You will want to use matching thread.  You can also do this by machine.  I just like hand work.)

Now turn the leaf right side out and center the seam in the back.

With the curved edge of the leave, turn down a small seam allowance and stitch around the edge like you did with the yoyo. Pull it in tight to gather the edges and knot off the thread.  You now have a leaf.  Do the same with the other half circle.



Now what to do for the hole of the yoyo?  You can keep it open as it is.  Or stitch a button or some other embellishment to cover the hole.  You might even want to sew a smaller yoyo there.



When the center is complete, turn the yoyo flower over to the back and stitch the leaves to the back  (Make sure the seam of the leaf is facing away from the yoyo flower.). Arrange them in any way you find pleasing.  You may want to stitch the leaf down at the edge of the yoyo so that it lies flat.



Once everything is sewn together, you can stitch or glue a pin back to the back of the yoyo to make it a fabric piece of jewelry.  Or thread a fabric loop to one side as I did to make it an ornament.  If you do the flower in red and then add green leaves, this would make a great Christmas ornament.

©2020   Cheryl E. Fillion



Weaving a Berry Basket

This is another fun thing to do over the summer.  I thought I would share it again.  How many of you go to the farmers market during the summer months?  There is nothing like fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables to add to your menus.  And do you get berries that come in little baskets like these?

Not sure what to do with all those baskets?  How about a simple craft for the kids? Or adult? Why not weave a Berry basket.

All you need is an empty (and maybe washed out so any berry juice residue doesn’t attract bugs) berry basket and some leftover pieces of yarn.  If little children are doing this, is it best to start with small lengths of yarn – 6” or so—so they don’t have as much to pull through in the weaving.



I started at the bottom corner tying the yarn around one of the corner lattices bars of the berry basket.  I pushed the tail of the knot inside the basket so that the weaving would look smooth on the outside but you might like the little tails poking out. Knots and knot tails sticking out might give the weaving a  little texture and a secondary design.  That choice is up to you. 





Now it is simply a matter of weaving which is taking the yarn and going under and over the plastic lattice bars of the basket.  This is where little ones might need help especially if they don’t know the concept of under and over.  This could be a fun way to teach them.

I went over the first one so you could easily see the weave since there wasn’t a lot of space from where I tied the yarn.  Then continue under the second bar and the over the third, etc.  Keep weaving around the basket until you get to the first knot.







If you have run out of yarn as you go along, just tie another piece to the first piece and continue weaving.(in my picture I have it on the bottom of the basket just for the photo so you can see the colors.  With the white background I am using for this tutorial it was hard to see the white yarn.)  If you want push the knots and tails to the inside of the basket





With these types of baskets, you will have to weave around a corner.  At first I just went around the corner because the lattice bars were so close together.. But as I continued, I found the yarn slipped underneath the basket.  So I took it out and weaved around each little bar even though there wasn’t as much space between the bars (Hint for little ones – it was a little hard to get the knot through the narrow space.  They may need help so they don’t break the plastic basket.).



When you get to where you started make sure the weaving is on top or above the original weaving line.  Make sure now that the weaving is going opposite of the first row.  So as you can see with mine where the white went under a lattice bar, the red now needs to go over.  It is OK if you continue as you did, it will give it an interesting design but the weaving will hold tight if you alternate with the weaving rows. 

Now for my basket that meant I had to adjust the weaving so I went over two lattice bars right before the start so it would alternate which bars I would be weaving.  I found this happened at another corner so I just did 2 lattice bars rather than one so the weaving was opposite of the yarn row below.  This also works if you accidentally go over or under two bars instead of taking all the weaving out.  Note:  berry baskets can be different so the one you get may not create this adjustment for you. 

Continue with the weaving until the entire basket is covered.  Depending on the age of the child, the younger kids might get bored with this which is OK.  Just set the weaving aside until they show interest again.  Maybe save it for a rainy day when they can’t play outside. I have to admit it was tedious at time even for me.

When the entire basket is covered in yarn, tie off the yarn on the top and you are done.  You can now fill it with anything you want.  I wouldn’t put berries it in though.  The juice from the berries could stain the yarn (which might attract bugs).  Below is also a picture of the inside which gives you a hint of what the weaving would look like if you let the knots hang on the outside.  You could also weave the bottom if you wanted.



I had fun with this myself and it used up a lot of bits and pieces of yarn.  And if you have baskets but no children around, do it yourself.  You don’t have to be a kid in age to be a kid at heart.

©2018, 2020 – Cheryl Fillion



Paper Plate Spiral

I posted this a couple of years ago and thought I would share it again.  My favorite summer craft when I was doing crafts at the farmer’s market was the paper plate spiral.  It was always a big success.  And it is very easy to do and fun to watch the spiral in the wind. All you need is a paper plate, crayons, scissor, a hole punch and yarn or string.

 

For the plate, the flimsy non-wax coated plates are the best.  It is best for coloring.  The wax or plastic coating on them does not allow for a rich deep color to show up.  And if the plate it thick it is hard to cut out the spiral.  I found my plates at a discount store.  If you can’t find them, a circle cut out of card stock will also work.  Use a 6-7” circle.

The first thing I do is draw a spiral on the plate. Don’t cut into the spiral yet.  It is easier for the child to color if the plate is still intact. I do the spiral first in case the young artist wants to do a design along the spiral. 

When the artwork is done, explain to the child that you are going to cut into the plate to make the spiral.  (You might even want to do one yourself to show the child how it will look.)  Cut carefully.  Once you have finished cutting, poke a hole at one end.  I usually do it at the middle of the plate because I have a bigger area for the hole.

String a piece of yarn or string through the hole and tie it in place.  Then you and the young artist can decide where to hang it and watch it twirl in the wind. 

My favorite memory of it was watching one little girl walk away holding the string of her spiral and bouncing the spiral along the ground as she walked as if she was walking a dog.  I love kid’s imaginations.



Try this one lazy summer afternoon or a rainy summer afternoon.  I bet you will have spirals all over your yard in no time.

©2017, 2020 – Cheryl Fillion