I’ve mentioned it before, I don’t feel that I am a particularly crafty person. Put me in front of a computer and sure, I can make something. But give me crafting supplies, and I often feel a little lost as to what to do first. Also, one other thing you should know about me: when I was about 7, I burned off a fingernail with a super hot glue gun. So I’ve always avoided those types of crafts.
But. I have decided to give craftiness a go. Why not? Glue guns are not as hot as they used to be, and let’s face it: I am no longer a child. It’s about time I get with the program.
My first project was a random one that I thought of as I watched my kids playing: I made some corn on the cob to go in my son’s play kitchen.
One thing my kids love to do is pretend to cook. My seven-year-old son always is confiscating cookbooks to browse through, and often I find them downstairs, by the kid’s play kitchen, where he has pretended to cook the recipes in them using the pretend and imaginary food at his disposal. I’m all for that! One of his favorite things to eat is corn, so when I was looking at my craft supplies, I decided that was something I could make for his kitchen.
Here are the things I needed to make my no sew felt corn.
- felt (green and yellow)
- beads (yellow, orange, and white)
- plastic craft string for the beads
- stuffing (I used two large yellow puff balls)
- a glue gun
First, I counted the yellow beads I had. This was the limit of size I could make my corn on the cob. I did not have too many on hand, but that’s okay, because this is for a pretend kitchen where much of the food is smaller than “normal.” I made five rows of beads on five strings. One was long, two were medium, and two were shorter. I mostly made my corn kernels yellow, but put a white and orange on the ends to make the string longer. Then, I carefully secured the beads on the string.
Next I took my piece of yellow felt and traced a pattern for the body of the corn cob by measuring the width of the strings of “corn kernels” I had just made. I put the longest string of kernels in the middle, with the smaller ones on the outside. When I had the right size, I cut the felt, put the puff balls inside for stuffing, and glued the sides of the cob together. Then, I affixed the ends of the corn kernel strands to one side of the cob as well.
Finally, I cut out a few “leaves” from the green felt to be the husk of the corn, making one large enough to wrap around the back of the corn and over in the front. The other two were smaller because they were for decorative purposes. These went on the two sides of the corn cob. Again, I affixed these with the glue gun.
There I had it! A corn on the cob for my kids to play with!
Over the past few weeks of play, the food has held up. Of course, because this is a homemade item and it is kept together by hot glue, it is not a toy for younger children who may try to put it in their mouths. Always use your own discretion when making toys for children, and supervise your children whenever they are playing! As I mentioned, this is primarily a toy for my seven-year-old child, who I know will not attempt to eat it!
Have you made any no sew felt food before? What food should I make next?
[…] cost DIY alternative: Save empty containers, such as mini-cereal boxes, for imaginary play. Or, cut food out of felt in the desired […]