Monday, February 13, 2012

Tutorial: Snowball Fight in a Bag

My sister recently suffered a miscarriage.  She's doing great, but has had some hard days and it's took a while to feel well and get her energy up.   (She's back in her creative groove if you want to check out her blog at The Red Kitchen.)  Just a week or two before that, she was telling me how she'd sent one of her friends a little package of fun things as a pick-me-up, so I figured my sister would love a package herself.

Quite a while ago, I saw a fun gift idea of an indoor snowball fight.  Little brother had outgrown a bunch of white socks and they were a little too stretched out to want to save them for the baby.  I thought I'd try making an indoor snowball fight out of them.  Plus it was looking like we might not get any real snow this year...and then we did just in time for a little photo op.

Here's the original that I pinned to my Gift Ideas Board (image via Pinterest since the listing for where they were sold is no longer active.)

After I'd made mine, I saw tutorial for some fluffier looking handmade snowballs from Kayln on And I Thought I Love You Then.

Mine aren't quite as fluffy and cheery as my inspiration...but I do kinda like these quirky little faces.

Although there are one or two that look like they've seen better days...



I figured if nothing else my sister could throw them for her 2-year-old to retrieve...or the 2-year-old could throw them at Mommy while Mommy rests on the sofa...and then retrieve them for herself.

Firecracker was actually pretty disappointed to see these leave our house, so I might have to make some more for us to keep.
...and it really doesn't get any better than turning old scraps and socks into something fun.

The doctor has been telling me that I should take it a little easier...so these were the perfect thing to work on while watching videos with Firecracker.

First you'll need to gather your supplies...a bag o'scraps or other stuffing material, old socks, some thread or yarn, and a needle.  I also used fabric pens to make the faces.
I found I could get one snowball out of an infant sock, or two snowballs out of a toddler sock.  You could get even more out of bigger socks.

You can also tell the difference between the snowballs I stuffed with white colored scraps and those I stuffed with brighter scraps, but I figured my niece would have fun throwing them around whether or not you could see some little bits of color peaking through.

You start by stuffing your sock.  It's really amazing how much they stretch and how much you can fit in there.
Once your sock is full, you'll need to stitch around the top...or at least where you want your top to be by stitching in and out.  I used some thick-ish white string for most of them, but strong thread will also work.

Once you've sewn all the way around, you'll need to pull the thread up tight.  If there's just a little of the top left, just tuck it inside as you're pulling the threads.  If there's a lot of sock left, you'll need to trim it to 1/4-1/2 inch from your stitching and tuck it in as you pull it tight.

Then tie several knots to make sure it doesn't come undone.

Then I pulled the end through the stuffed sock so that the ends wouldn't be hanging out.  Then trim.

And that's it...unless you want to draw some cute faces, in which case you'll need to get creative with a fabric pen or sharpie.

I also sewed up a little drawstring bag for them to go in.  The bag ended up a little on the small side and kind of a funny shape...but that was literally all the white fleece I had left in my stash.  I wrote "Snowball Fight in a Bag" on it with a paint pen...which was a mistake.  I should have gone with a sharpie or fabric pen.  (I had to wipe paint off my table because I didn't realize it would smear.)

And they've since been packed away in a box with a big bag of my Mom's Crunch Granola, another bag of my Mom's chocolate chip cookies, a little bag of felt heart ornaments to be used for a Valentine's Tree or some other fun...

And because there was still room in the box, I threw in some fun little ribbons and trim for my sister to do something crafty with.  I figured you can't go wrong with some comfort food from Mom's cookbook...and it turned out the package got to her just about the time she started feeling well enough to be able to eat some of it.
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Who can you think of who needs a pick-me-up?


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16 comments:

  1. Thanks for sending these, Polly! They were a great idea and fun to get in the mail! :)

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  2. So cute! At first I thought you'd embroidered those little faces...(where does she find the time???)...then I saw that you cleverly used the fabric pens. Which is just to say that, the faces turned out SO cute. They look great! A wonderful pick-me-up.

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  3. Fun! We haven't had much snow here either and my daughter was anxious to have a snowball fight, we ended up using old papers that were going to the recycle bin anyway. I like this idea though, they're a bit softer :D

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  4. How fun! My son (2) is reading with me and loves the faces :)

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  5. I've seen these in stores for way too much money. Very cute to make your own! I love it!

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  6. Visiting through Fabric Tuesday...What a darling idea. So cute!

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  7. What a great idea, I have some friends that never had a true and tireing snow ball fight - if they know snow at all.

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  8. Whoa! Now THAT is an awesome Mommy Solution! I would LOVE for you to come share this in my Mommy Club link up http://www.crystalandcomp.com/2012/02/the-mommy-club-share-your-resources-and-solutions-31/

    Thanks, Crystal

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  9. This is something I would love to make for my little boy, but I think he might get a little crazy with the throwing. Haha. I might have to try it and find out since we don't really get to go play in the snow much.

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  10. So very cute & such a fun idea! I'd love it if you'd share these at my Sharing Time Linky! http://www.raisingmemories.com/search/label/sharing%20time
    Have a great weekend!
    ~Heather
    www.raisingmemories.com

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  11. What a thoughtful sister you are! I saw that original bucket of "snowballs" too, but then never did anything about it! I love your version! I'll be sharing these on my spotlight post tonight! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. So cute -- love those faces! Bet the little niece will have fun and maybe invent some games herself! I would love it if you would come link up with Busy Monday (open Monday through Thursdays) at A Pinch of Joy, a linky party for ideas that make life better, easier and more fun!

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  13. So cute! I bet my one year old would get a kick out of the faces and throwing them at people

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  14. These snow balls are so cute. Waiting for snow it's just what I need. :-) Have a great day! Regula

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