Let's Go Fishing!

I grew up deep-sea fishing with my dad. We would go out on our boat, get rocked by the waves, but enjoy the peace out on the Pacific Ocean. I can't believe I didn't get sea sick. Just thinking about the rocking now makes me want to throw up.

I'm excited because next week we are going to CA to visit my family and we are going to take C-bub and J-bub out on a boat. It's going to be on a calm lake with no crazy waves, so hopefully no one will get sea sick. Hopefully we will catch some fish. :)

To practice for our upcoming fishing adventure, C-bub has been playing more with the fishing play mat that I made for him a while back. I got inspiration from this adorable fishing set. And for the details of the pond, I got inspiration here.

Here it is~

Frog detail

Lily pad detail

Foxtail detail

Elastic loops to hold the fishing poles in place. There are two loops for the two poles that I made, but of course we have already lost one of the poles. Booo...

I had some Japanese handkerchiefs that I had found at an estate sale a while back. I used them to make the fish so they would look kind of like koi fish. 

Sorry I didn't take photos of the process of making the fish. Basically I cut out the fabric and sewed them wrong sides facing each other (making sure to leave the end of the tail open). Flipped the fish right side out. Then I put the screw in (head of the screw at the "mouth" of the fish) and filled with poly-fil around it. Then sewed shut. Having the head of the screw at the mouth and surrounding the rest of the screw with poly-fil ensured that the magnet would "hook" the fish at the mouth.

Screw that I used

For the hook of the fishing pole I used thick garden wire and shaped it into a hook. I then hot glue gunned a really strong magnet to the bottom of it. Then I used duct tape to wrap the whole thing.

For the "net" I used the bag that my SnoozeShade came in. I just sewed it in between the layers of my mat so that the fish would have a home when not in use.

Happy Sewing! :)

Activity Car Mat

I saw this On-The-Go Car Activity Mat here. My boys love cars, so I knew I had to make it for them. It's great because C-bub can fit 6 little cars (Matchbox and Hot Wheels fit perfectly) in the mat, roll it up and take it wherever he goes.

Here is my version:

I wished I had used iron-on interfacing in between the layers to make sure it didn't get all wrinkly.

Market & Gas: We frequent H-E-B (a supermarket here in Houston) and Costco often, so I included those.

Since I didn't have any black shoelaces on hand,  I used an old cell phone charger for the gas pump.

Church: For the flowers I used brads I got at Michaels.

Our house: C-bub loves to park his car in the driveway.

School: The swings actually move because they are just attached by the strings.

I sewed Velcro onto the ribbon so that I could wrap it up and close it quickly without having to tie it.

All wrapped up and ready to go!

This project was fun to make, and my boys have fun playing with it. The most time consuming part was cutting out all the little felt pieces. (By the way, I suggest using hot glue for the small felt pieces instead of sewing them on.)

Happy Crafting!