If you have been following my blog here for very long, you know that most of the things I post about (when it comes to children) has to do with girls. I’m sorry, I can’t help it, I have two of them!!
Well, I have been working on some birthday presents for my daughters little friends and they happen to be mostly…………boys. I love to make Savannah’s little friends handmade gifts for their birthdays. Now it is not always possible to make ALL of them totally handmade, but I try my best.
I’m a huge fan of making super-hero capes for the little ones, but here are some other gifts I made recently that will be given to my daughter’s 2-year old “boyfriends”.
The Car Cozy:
I love this gift idea! I think this is so perfect for a little guy on the go. Mom can take this simple “Car Cozy” in her diaper bag or purse and whenever she needs to entertain the little guy, she can pull it out and he can have instant fun!
I based this design off of the “Car Cozy” tutorial by Homemade by Jill. So if you are interested in making this gift for someone, I definitely recommend checking out her tutorial – it’s great and very thorough. I did change it up a bit, so I’ll let you know what I did.
As you know, I love toys that encourage imaginitive play and this one is perfect. You’ve got the street and the different cars – so much fun!
I used brown and yellow felt to make the road. And used Riley Blake’s new “Wheels” line for the fabric to hold the cars. The light khaki color is a thick cotton twill.
I appliqued a car out of fabric (again, Riley Blake “Wheels”) and sewed wheels made from felt to the exterior of the “Car Cozy”.
For the exterior, I used a thick denim. This would be a great idea for recycling a used pair of jeans that you are no longer wearing.
To speed up this project, I used my serger to sew around the entire exterior. Homemade by Jill’s tutorial does not use a serger. I know many of you don’t have a serger, but if you do, I think this is the way to go!
For the tie, I used two pieces of felt ribbon that I got at my local Michael’s.
To close the “car cozy” you fold it in half (as you can see, I included my “The Cottage Mama” label).
Then you fold it in half again and secure with the tie.
Charm Square Car Bean Bags:
I included these four bean bags in one my my daughters friends gifts. The main portion of the gift was a tote with a bunch of outdoor sand toys and I thought these bean bags would make for some additional outdoor fun!
These four bean-bags were all made from charm squares of fabric. I made one side from Riley Blake “Wheels” fabric.
And on the other side I used a fun polka-dot in “boy” colors.
Again, if you have a serger this makes for a super-simple project. Just serge three sides of the fabric together, fill with beans, and then serge the fourth side. I finished all of the corners with fray-check to prevent future fraying.
If you do not have a serger, place the right-sides of the fabric together and stitch three sides (1/2″ seam allowance), then turn them right-side out and press your seams. Fill with beans, and hand-sew the fourth side to close the bean bags.
I used an entire bag of beans for these four bean-bags.
Cottage Mama’s Note: Since this wasn’t a full tutorial, if you have any questions about these gifts, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email.
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
Oh my goodness! This car cozy is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. My ‘little’ boy just turned 9 so I won’t be able to make one for him, but maybe for someone else! Let’s see….. Love your blog! Great tutorials! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you’ll come back.
Those are AMAZING…can your little girls be friends with my little boy (his 3rd birthday is this Tuesday:)…I’m not sure I can take that on for this birthday….maybe just a fun gift for later in the year…he would love it…the car cozy would be perfect for church…thanks for sharing!
really cute! I wish I had a serger. 🙂
These are super cute! very creative…wish I had some little boys around! Kathi
My daughter and I just got done making a bunch of bean bags for herself, her brother, and her cousin! 😉 We also made an Alien beanbag for her little brother. Lots of fun!
Thanks for sharing.
Kim
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~Trista
So cute! These turned out great!
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Very creative, and what little boy would adore this! Thanks for sharing such a clever tutorial.
Those are precious! What a great idea!
I posted a Kids Travel Felt Mat Tutorial … you might be interested!
http://theclayfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/travel-felt-mat-tutorial.html
This is such a great idea! I have boys and mine would love this!
This is too cute! Wish I had a little guy to make it for!!
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~Morgan
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wonderful gifts!! i always have such a hard time coming up with stuff for my son! thanks for sharing!
Darling ideas! We have only 2 little ones in our family and they are both boys so its nice to see boy projects! thanks!karen….
I just love the little car case and Im going to copy it for my three grandsons.. all under 5 yrs….thanks!
Sandy
http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/
Love it! Come link at my party: Thursday’s Treasures!!
http://treasuresfortots.blogspot.com/2010/04/thursdays-treasures-week-16.html
This is just so adorable and perfect! I love this fabric and it’s perfect for something I’ve been wanting to work on for my son.
Stopped by from Tatertots and Jello.
I saw your post on Tatertots. I really like the use of the serger. I made something similar here
http://letsgoflyakiteuptothehighestheight.blogspot.com/2010/01/car-caddy.html
using a different tutorial, but I think using a serger really takes it up a notch. I also love the Riley Blake fabric. Great job!!!
Thank you all SO, SO much for your comments – you really have made my day – I just love reading them.
I had so much fun making these gifts and I think the boys who received them will really enjoy them!
Thanks again,
Lindsay
Hi,
Just came across your blog & am loving it. I have a MckLinky party called Tot Tuesdays. I’d love it if you’d stop by & share some of your great ideas for tots:
http://delicious-ambiguity-nennyk.blogspot.com/2010/04/tot-tuesdays-4.html
Cheers,
Jenn
I love how yours turned out! If only I had a serger, my car caddy would have been so much quicker!
I love the bean bag idea too! I’ll have to make some for my son, especially now that it’s warm outside!
I went over to Jill’s blog for the tutorial but liked how your car cady only held 4 cars. Do you have the measurements for your version?
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Cute blogs 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
I made up a car cozy tute LAST year after not finding one anywhere 🙂
Here is the link:
http://mygratitudeattitudes.blogspot.com/2009/09/car-cozie-tutorial-and-etsy-re.html
Now there are lots of variations out there of this, -Jill’s is super cute! I used some of her ideas to later make one from a place mat. 🙂
Hello,
I was wondering if you could explain how did your tie closure on this car cozy, Ive been looking at alot of them and LOVE yours the most, can you explain how it ties, im not grasping the concept!!
Thanks!!!
email is [email protected]
I’ve been looking for something to make for my son and this would be perfect. Did you use the same dimensions give over at homemade by Jill? I’m a good sewer but need VERY precise measurements 🙂 or I get overwhelmed. If you could let me know ASAP that’d be great.
SeekingHim at gmail dot com
I’m also following you now 😀
http://homeschoolblogger.com/ohiosarah
I love, love, love this cozy and was wondering if you would ever make some for your store and if you did I would buy TWO of them. 🙂 If you ever add them please let me know!!!!