50 Travel Tips & Activities

Summer is here and with it vacations! And while vacations are AWESOME, they involve a whole buncha planning and that daunting thing that gets you where you're going...TRAVEL.

In April I made a 12-hour (each way) road trip alone with both kiddos and survived! So how do we make it through our trips? With a whole lot of activities, snacks, books and a little something called patience. 

I gathered some great tips and activities from some of my favorite bloggers, threw in a few of our ideas and compiled a list of 50 Travel Tips and Activities.

Most of my tips are geared toward toddlers and preschool-aged children while road trippin'.

Snacks
1. Pack your child's favorite snacks. Now is not the time to try something new! (unless it's a fancy new snack you're sure your child will love)

2. Make a snack together for the trip. We love making Happy Trails Trail Mix for our trips and it's a fun way to connect. It's also fun to talk about how it's a special snack just for the trip.

3. Save up coupons for 100 calorie packs, which are the perfect size for little hands and mama hands! from Adventures in Mommydom.

4. Pack snacks in a fun new container like a reusable baggy from SewEco or a fun little water bottle/snack combo like this one.

5. Easy to eat and mess-free snacks are best, especially if you're traveling alone with your kids. Here are a few of our favorite travel snacks:

• Boxed raisins
• Trader Joe's fruit bars
• Puffed corn
• Chopped or whole apples
• String cheese
• Trail mix
• Baby food pouches: such as Plum Organics, Happy Baby or Ella's Organics (I know I said mess-free, but these are too great to pass up)

Toys
6. Scour Michael's, Dollar Tree, Target's 1Spot and other $1 areas for fun new toys for the trip.

7. Wrap up new (and rarely played with) toys for toddlers (this could work for older kids too, but they are pretty good at opening presents by age 3!). Unwrapping the toys takes time and also makes a great sensory activity! When she was younger, Sweet P usually ended up playing with the wrapping instead of the toy! Toddler Approved recommends this for airplane travel as well!

8. Give your child a box with a latch or a backpack to fill with her favorite toys for the trip. If you are flying, remind your child that she is responsible for the backpack. This can help her decide whether to pack several light items or 2-3 heavier items.

9. Remember to pack any favorite toys or lovies! These can both calm your child during the trip and help him to fall asleep in a new place during your vacation.

Games
10. Play I Spy. This is a great game for any child who knows her colors and can be played in the car, in an airport, or while waiting in line for the restroom.

11. Count semis, cars, train cars or trucks or have your child choose a color for you to look for while driving. from Hands on: As we grow

12. 20 Questions or try "I'm thinking of something that starts with C", continue to give hints until they guess what it is.

13. The ABC game: a great game for preschoolers learning their letters. Find letters of the alphabet in alphabetical order starting with A. Moms and dads can help with tougher letters.

14. Find A...train, yellow truck, red car, motorcycle rider wearing a helmet, billboard. A great game while driving through large cities.

Music
15. I want you to stay sane on this trip, but sometimes kids music is the way to go with kids in the car. Find the CDs or fill the MP3 player with songs you all know well. Play them and belt them out at the top of your lungs! Encourage your kids to clap, dance or wave their arms to the music.

16. Check out children's CDs from your local library. from Creative Connections with Kids

17. Music from musicals like Annie and The Music Man are also fun tunes to teach your kids while driving.

Books
18. Lift-the-flap books are hours (or at least 10 minutes) of fun. Our favorites are Fisher Price Little People lift-the-flap play books. They have about 40 flaps per book and colorful pages for kids.

19. Books that play music. We reserve these for road trips and while they may get annoying after the 100th push of the elephant sound, they keep kids busy and happy.

20. Interactive books like this Elmo ActivePoint book. A friend let us borrow an Elmo and Thomas the Train ActivePoint book for our last road trip. I suggest covering the speaker with masking tape as it doesn't have volume control and is very loud.

21. Check out or bring along books on CD. from Creative Family Fun

22. Buy, borrow or check out Seek and Find books like Where's Waldo, First Look and Find book and I Spy books.

Activity Preparation
23. Put activities in a 3-ring binder for easy access for your child. Place washable markers in a zippered bag inside the binder. Paper, stickers and other flat activities will fit well inside the binder. from Creative Connections for Kids

24. Bring along a cookie sheet as a tray for activities. It give kids a place to write, draw, drive cars and eat snacks. I buy mine at Dollar Tree and they can be drawn on with a dry-erase marker and easily erased with a tissue.

25. Magnetize activities if you can. If you're using a cookie sheet as a tray this helps your child keep the activity on the tray and minimizes lost pieces.

26. Create your own or bring along a felt board for felt activities. For a DIY version check out this simple (and GENIUS!) version from MamaSmiles.

Activities
27. Stickers! Whether you buy a sticker book or just bring along a few of the 100's you have at home (you know you do), stickers are a hit in the car. Make your own sticker book or bring along a cheap notebook for sticker placement. from Creative Family Fun

28. Make a Miniature Mailbox for tiny hands. At Home With Ali made this adorable one for her toddler to play with on their trip.

29. Toy cars for racing, driving, crashing and cruising. The cookie sheet makes a great road for all kinds of cars.

30. Busy or Activity books. Make your own or purchase one from Etsy. These are sure to be a hit with any toddler or preschooler. Find examples at Inspiration Laboratories and Teach Preschool

31. Felt Dolls. You can find several templates online for simple felt dolls. Sweet P LOVED (and still loves) her felt dolls during the trip. Use a felt board to help keep felt dolls and their clothes organized. I love this version from MamaSmiles and we used this template from Smile and Wave.

32. Lacing cards. Ours fit in our 3-ring binder with the laces in a plastic baggy.

33. Usborne Books Sticker Dressing books. We have the "Fancy Dress" book and it was hands down Sweet P's favorite activity on the drive. It's also a great church activity. Sweet P got it as a Christmas gift this year and we'd never played with it so it was new to her. Usborne's sticker books are awesome and reusable, we also have the Soccer version.

34. Our Making Face Magnets were a big hit on our drive as well. These are super simple and cost almost nothing if you have magnets on hand. Don't want to make them? Check out Melissa and Doug's Make-A-Face Sticker pads or other make-a-face stickers. Also a favorite and it's hilarious to see where your toddler/preschooler puts the magnets/stickers.

35. Fill a bag with baby toys and keep it in the front seat with you. As your baby throws or drops toys, hand him a new one. When the bag is empty, it's time for a pit stop. Refill the bag and start over! This worked well for Baby Blue for most of the drive.

36. File folder games. We used Confessions of a Homeschooler's Paint Brush matching printables and our folder fit snugly in our 3-ring binder.

37. Mustache Match game or other magnetic match games or puzzles. Again, magnetizing the games makes them easy to play without dropping pieces in hard to reach spots in the car.

38. Empty notebooks or coloring books for coloring, writing or drawing.

39. Pipe cleaner creations. These bendable craft supplies can be used to make just about anything, including houses, glasses and people. from Let Kids Create

40. Clothes pin activities. I made Sweet P a clothes pin/paint chip color matching game, but there are several other clothes pin activities like this clothes pin number match from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

41. I Spy or sensory bottles or bags. A great activity for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Make your own for simple fun for your kiddos.

Organization
42. Put items you need for pit stops in a separate bag (diapers, wipes, diaper pad, wallet, etc). from Dirt and Boogers

43. Use a simple organizer for things you need easy access to while driving: wipes, sippy cup, activity binder, snacks, etc. from Creative Connections for Kids

Pit Stops
44. If you have a potty-training or recently potty-trained child, bring along a portable potty on a road trip just in case. You never know when a fear of public potties, automatic flushers or dirty bathrooms will arise.

45. Bring post-its or stickers for automatic flushers. Stick the post-it over the sensor to keep the toilet from flushing while little ones take care of business. Forgot the stickers? Put a wet piece of toilet paper over the sensor.

46. Pack a lunch and stop at a playground or park you've scouted ahead of time.

47. If you're traveling through lunch and dinner, stop at a nice restaurant (not McDonald's) for one of the meals. Call ahead of time to place your order so the food is ready when you get there. A tasty meal without the long wait. Brilliant idea from my friend Beth.

Don't Forget
48. Blankets and pillows. These are great in the car, in hotels and while bunking with family or friends. And if you're like my child, you won't sleep well without blankie.

49. An extra change of clothes and underwear for EVERY family member in a carry-on or easily accessible bag because you NEVER know.

50. To relax. Road tripping or flying with kids doesn't have to be stressful. Remember to have fun, play games and sing along!

For more travel tips, activities and ideas visit my Travel Tips/Ideas Pinterest Board.

Pretend Play: DIY Grocery Store

I've been meaning to post this for a LONG time and here I am finally getting around to it!

One day last fall as I realized Sweet P really loved shopping carts, I had the idea to create her own grocery store. I started saving boxes and containers from food we ate and her grocery store was born.

We have a little blue cart from IKEA that worked great as a cart, but she got her very own shopping cart from Papa Ray Ray for Christmas (now she uses both).

I threw in an old giftcard to serve as her credit card (she even signed the back while playing with The Farmer one day) and a few little bags.

She loves to play grocery store. She puts everything she wants in her cart (yogurt is ALWAYS in there) and comes to check out ("Will you check me out please?"). I scan all her stuff, tell her the total and help her bag her items. After it's all bagged, she pushes her cart with her bag on her arm to her "car" (aka the futon in the basement). And she ALWAYS has a baby in the cart as well.

This was such an inexpensive way to make play food for her and the containers are great for opening and closing activities. And as we do more with math this will be a great way for her to learn adding. I like to think it also shows her how we can reuse containers and boxes from our food.

Last week we put another shelf in the basement (read more in this post) and now she has shelves for her groceries! We'll eventually fill that shelf with other things, but for now it's a great place for her store.

Pretend Play: Cardboard Car Wash

Sweet P is OBSESSED with the car wash. She tells me every time we run errands, "We need to wash the car." And half the time she is right! Especially since we don't have a garage and it snows! One day she was talking about taking her toy cars to the car wash so I decided I'd whip one up for her.

I found a medium-sized box and got to cutting. The hole had to be adjusted several times to accommodate larger vehicles that also needed a wash. 

I'm not lying when I say this activity has seen HOURS of play. And it is SO simple. 

One of her favorite things to do was line up all the cars at the entrance, then drive them through and park them on the sides of the box. The Farmer and I had a great time with it, too! 

We didn't, but this would be so fun to decorate with paint, paper or markers! We're doing that next time!

So what are you waiting for? Go get a box!

Wouldn't want to wait in that line!

DIY Christmas Gifts for Kiddos

Looking for simple, inexpensive gifts for adults and kiddos on your Christmas list? Here is a round-up of the gifts I made over the past year for Sweet P, friends and family. Click on the links for detailed posts.

For Kiddos:
Felt Car Mat: By far my favorite item. This is easily personalized for any child on your list, made with a glue gun and doesn't take as long as it looks.


Felt Fish Magnetic Game: I love these little fish and they can be used for so many different learning activities (counting, color matching, etc.). Somewhat time consuming and tedious, but well worth it.


T-Shirt Quilt: Take your kiddos' old t-shirts (sports, etc.) and turn them into a keepsake! T-shirt material is super forgiving and again, if I can make them, you can too. The LSU quilt was my 3rd!


DIY Felt Food: By far the easiest and cheapest gift you'll ever make/give.


Hopefully these homemade gifts inspire you to make something homemade for your kiddos or other kiddos in your life this year. If you haven't noticed, I LOVE felt. It's super cheap and easy to work with (what's not to love!?).

Please comment if you try any of these projects! I'd love to see pictures!

Simple I Spy Bag

While cleaning out the kitchen cabinets a few weeks ago I found several bags of beans and grains we were never going to eat. You can use rice, beans or anything else you find. Our bag has red lentils, split peas and millet.

The Activity: Simple I Spy Bag

What you need:
Filler (beans, rice, etc.)
Plastic bag or plastic bottle
Small figurines, balls, letters, etc.

Fill the bag/bottle with the sensory item of your choice (rice, beans, etc.). Push small items into the bag and seal the bag. Glue the bag/bottle shut and tape over the seal (if using a bag) with packing tape.
We started with ours in a bag, then transferred to another bag when Sweet P bit a hole in the first one. Luckily I saw her do it and was able to confiscate it before the contents poured all over the kitchen! I'll be transferring it to a plastic bottle soon, since those don't tear quite as easily as plastic bags (even if she bites it!). In her defense, I think she really wanted to get the ball in there out.

She loved finding all the little knick knacks in the bag. This would be great for a car ride (not the plastic bag version! unless you fancy vacuuming up little tiny grains/beans).

Sweet and Simple Apron

While Blair was here, I decided to make her and Sweet P aprons. This post is about Blair's apron because I haven't taken pictures of Sweet P in hers (and honestly, I just finished it last week!). This was such a simple sewing project (remember I am NOT a seamstress) and I love the way it came out (and I hope Blair loves it too!).

The fabric is leftover from the sling Auntie Rosita's friend made for Sweet P when she was born. It's a thick, sturdy fabric and I love the print. Blair chose lime green ribbon for her tie. I followed this tutorial (without the fabric crayon embellishment) and adjusted the measurements for length. The other measurements actually turned out perfect. I used the same measurements on the waist, neck and arms for both Blair and Sweet P. (I'll talk more about Sweet P's in her post).

The ribbon loops around the neck and ties in the back. You could sew the ribbon down if you wanted, but since I hoped the aprons would grow with the girls, I left them unsewn.

I made the apron double-sided for sturdiness. I also added a pocket for spoons, a towel or other cooking or craft supply!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the progress, just the finished product.

What do you think? Isn't she the cutest? And that apron is pretty darn cute too!

Strawberry or Cherry Popsicles

Another recipe from our trip to Berry Patch Farms: Strawberry and Cherry Popsicles! Nobody ate these, but Sweet P and while they may have been a bit sour, I'd say they were a hit with the popsicle loving toddler.

Like our other popsicle recipe, these are SUPER simple and quick to make. They also freeze well in about 2 hours (with our freezer anyway) so you can make them before naptime and have them ready when your munchkin wakes up!

The Recipe: Strawberry/Cherry Popsicles

What you need:

1/2 c plain yogurt

1/4 c pureed strawberries or pie cherries

1 tbsp honey (for cherry popsicles)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and pour into popsicle molds. Freeze for at least 2 hours. Serve.

This recipe may need to be adapted depending on the size of your popsicle molds. Ours are really small equaling about 3 to 4 tbsp of whatever you're putting in it.

That's it! Seriously. I used honey with the cherries because they are pie cherries, which means they are SUPER sour. Because of the tartness of plain yogurt, I was afraid it'd be too sour for Sweet P so I added the honey. She made a few "this is sour" faces, but gobbled them up.

Fabulous Finds

I'm a sucker for a bargain. The stuff I found at a garage sale while Auntie K was here was such a good deal that I have to share it with you. It was at a local church and some of the stuff was a STEAL! We got all of this:

For a grand total of...drum roll, please...$7! Can you believe that? And there are 3 items not pictured! Here's what we got:

4 children's puzzles (that Sweet P LOVES) (.25 x 4)

4 Christmas books (that I'll save for her Advent calendar) (.25 x 4)

2 VHS movies (Veggie Tales and sing along songs) (.25 x 2)

5 pieces of fabric (about 3 yards total) (.50)

1 placemat (it was in the fabric section paired with the burlap...I'll use it for fabric)

burlap (.25 for the placemat and burlap)

A large bag of yarn $1.00

A large bag of embroidery floss $1.00

Not pictured:

Scrabble Jr. $1.00

2 books that we sent to Gammie (.50 x 2)

Such great finds! I'm especially excited about the fabric scraps and can't wait to make something with them!

What great things have you found lately?!

Simple Art Display

Auntie Rosita gave Sweet P these adorable and colorful bird clothes pins for her birthday. While Auntie K was here, we decided to use them to create an art display in Sweet P's area of the basement. I used a scrap of twine, the clothes pins and some packing tape (because push pins don't push into cinder block we have in our basement...in case you were wondering). And viola! Instant art display. It's pretty darn cute and Sweet P likes it, too!

What you need:

twine

clothes pins

push pins or packing tape

Clip the clothes pins to the twine by sticking it as far into the clothes pin as possible. This will keep the clothes pins from sliding around. Position the twine on the wall where you want it (it helps to have someone, like Auntie K, hold the other side for you!). Tape or push pin the left clothes pin to the wall. Leave room for swag and repeat on the opposite side. Easy peasy.

Father's Day Activity

I have to admit I'm not good at thinking up gifts. It's a very hard thing for me. I made something similar to this (with Auntie Rostia's help) for Gammie for her birthday so I thought I'd make something for the Farmer with Sweet P's help for Father's Day. I'm hoping he'll take it and hang it in his office at work. This was pretty simple. I had everything on hand, which was my requirement for this craft! The hardest part was getting Sweet P to let me trace her hand (she was NOT into it).

The Craft: Handprint Father's Day Canvas

What you need:

Small canvas

Cute scrapbook paper

Brown paper bag (or another sheet of scrapbook paper)

Paint

Small paintbrush

Modge Podge

Scissors

Pencil

Sandpaper

Trace your child's hand on the scrapbook paper, then cut it out. If your child it old enough, he/she can do this part. Measure your canvas and cut out a piece of the paper bag (or paper) large enough to cover the canvas. Modge Podge the paper to the canvas. I left my paper bag paper a bit crinkled because I liked the look of it. Allow it to dry, then Modge Podge the handprint to the canvas. If you don't want to paint the name, place the handprint in the middle of the canvas and you're finished! If you do, then place it in the top with space at the bottom for the name. Wait for it all to dry before painting the name.

The name was the most difficult part. I wiped it off twice before I got it where I liked it (and you can't even see it because I blurred her name out. Oh well, you get the idea). If you don't want to paint, you could use scrapbook lettering or if you have a Cricut, use that!!!

Allow paint to dry. Sand the edges for a distressed look and you're done!

There you have it, an easy Father's Day gift for daddy!

Homemade "Goldfish" Crackers

I don't buy goldfish crackers for Sweet P, but when I saw these I had to give them a whirl. These don't taste exactly like goldfish crackers, but they'll do! I found the recipe at Smitten Kitchen and knew I had to make them for Sweet P. She's been sick for the past 2 days so she didn't love them as much as I think she will, so we may have to try again when she's feeling more up to snuff.

These crackers are super easy and super yummy (and you save money by not buying Goldfish)!

The Recipe: Homemade "Goldfish Crackers"

What you need:

4 tbsp organic butter

2/3 cup organic whole wheat flour

1.5 cup organic sharp cheddar cheese

1/8 tsp onion powder

small cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients in a food processor until it forms a ball of dough (about 1 minute). Roll out the dough on a floured surface and get to cutting! Transfer to ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 15 minutes or until edges start to brown. 

I didn't have a fish cookie cutter so I used a bunny and a star. Also, I think I overdid it on the onion powder so I'll be using less of that next time. Also, the original recipe called for salt, but I rarely add salt to recipes so I left it out. The recipe makes approximately 50 small crackers. We had a tiny cookie cutter and these are still probably double the size of a goldfish cracker.

Try em! You'll like em!

Sweet P's Owl Birthday Extravaganza

Ok, it wasn't quite an extravaganza, but it sometimes felt like it. Thanks to Auntie Rosita's amazing graphic design abilities and my amazing sewing skills (do you hint the sarcasm here?), this birthday was a hit. I was thrilled with how it all came out. This is an overview of the party and each section will have an additional blog to highlight that area. You can also find an entry on Auntie Rosita's blog (which you should visit anyway if you never have).

The Party

Invites

Auntie Rosita made the invites, of course, and they turned out super cute. I love owls and since Sweet P does too, I thought Look Whooooo's 2 was an appropriate theme. I've actually loved the theme since she was 1, but thought Who and 2 rhymed better. Am I crazy? Maybe. Check out Auntie Rosita's blog for a pic of the invites.

Birthday Banner

The adorable banner was also designed by Auntie Rosita and overnighted to us in time for the party! I made the tissue balls the night before with tissue paper I had lying around the house and some pipe cleaners. Super simple and they turned out really cute.

The Party Hat

Who do you think designed the party hat? Yep, Auntie Rosita. She emailed it to me and I printed, cut and glued it together. Hole punched holes in the sides and tied in some ribbon, glued on a cute little pompom for the owl's hat and added a sprig of ribbon to the top. LOVE how it turned out.

Cupcakes

I've seen these cupcakes in various places and went on a mission to make them as healthy as possible. They turned out pretty cute, pretty healthy and pretty tasty. More on the recipe and construction of the owl cupcakes in an additional post.

Masks

I saw one version of these masks at Joann's and Auntie Rosita sent me a pic of the girl version from Michael's. And of course, our Michael's didn't have them so Auntie Rosita overnighted 3 masks as well. Auntie Rosita must really love us!!! The kiddos colored these using Do-A-Dot markers during the party and took them home as a party favor. This was a great activity and I think Sweet P and her friends had a fun time with them.

Party Favors

The icing on the cake (teehee) was the party favors. These bad boys (and girls, I suppose) took me about a week, but it was well worth it. I LOVE how they turned out and that each kiddo got their own. I found the idea here and made MUCH smaller versions for the toddlers at the party. I also included two bottles of bubbles I had left over from her party last year.

I love how everything turned out and I think my girl had a great time, I know I did! We got to reuse the banner and hat at her birthday party in Dallas with my family and now I have them to put in a scrapbook.

Check out 2012's Monster Birthday Party!

Monogram Keychain

What? What's that you say? It's almost March? You mean I can't tell you about another Christmas gift? C'mon! It'll be quick. Promise. And then I only have one more after that (one TK (Auntie K) really wants me to post and might be mad if I don't soon...she also informed me that I needed to start blogging more before I lost readers, ay yi captain! so here I am). This was a relatively easy and inexpensive (ya know, cheap, but sometimes cheap sounds, well, cheap) to make. Ok, it was SUPER easy to make.

The Craft: Monogram Keychain

What you need:

2 1.5 inches of felt (any color)

embroidery floss (opposing color from 1.5 inch felt)

1 1 inch piece of felt (same color as floss)

1.5 inch piece of ribbon (coordinating color)

Cut the 1 inch piece of felt into the letter of choice. I did lower case letters because those sisters and I tend to like the lower case alphabet (well, I know Auntie Rosita and I do, TK will have to respond in the comments if she does).

Affix the letter to one of the pieces of 1.5 inches of felt. I used the same color felt as letter, but opposing would fine as well). Place the 2 pieces of 1.5 inch felt together, letter facing out. I used a simple stitch to hold them together (although a whip stitch would work, too).

I started at the top where the ribbon would go and went all the way around, stopping just before the ribbon. Leave the floss threaded and attach the ribbon. I then sewed in the ribbon using the stitch to seal the pieces together. And there you have it, a simple monogrammed keychain!

Homemade Clay Recipe

I can't remember where I found this recipe, but I picked it because it sounded SO easy and I knew it wasn't going to make 18 tons of clay/dough. Sweet P calls it PlayDoh because that's what it ended up feeling like, maybe a bit harder than PlayDoh, but very similar in texture.

The Recipe: Homemade Clay Dough

What you need:

1 cup flour + 1 tsp flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup water

Mix 1 cup flour and salt together, then slowly add the water, stirring as you go.

After I stirred it a few times and it started to mush together (like my technical terms?), I dumped it all out on the counter and kneaded it for about 5 minutes (which was hard because Sweet P was yelling PayDoh! PayDoh! asking me for it). It was a little sticky so I added about 1 tsp of flour.

Roll out and cut out shapes, smush for awhile or sculpt!

You can leave your shapes to dry for 48 hours, but we baked ours at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.

We painted them with tempura paint, although I'm sure acrylic works better (it just doesn't wash out!).

Felt Coffee Collar

We decided not to exchange gifts this year unless they were homemade. (the rest of the gifts you bought yourself and showed to everyone else, sounds silly, but really we did not need one.single.thing.) Since I've often thought of myself as the least crafty of the 3 of us, I had to dig deep ya'll. Real deep (that's Texas talk). But in the end, I made some stuff I think they all liked (at least they said they did...). I also made these items for Gammie as well.

There were 3 things and the first of the 3 was a Felt Coffee Collar. I was super proud of these and super mad at TK (Auntie K) for figuring it out (okay, I was making them with her nearby). She'd already guessed "bracelet?" "headband?" and then in the car on the way to pick up Auntie Rosita and Unka Will "coffee collars?! Are they coffee collars?" to which I scowled, "NO." Meh, I guess it was scowly enough for her to believe me because boy was she surprised on Christmas morning, "They ARE coffee collars?! I was kidding!" Yep. Whew, I'm long winded today. Without further ado:

(the CC pictured is Auntie Rosita's. She was kind enough to take pictures of hers (although TK offered as well) and send them my way since I was a ding-a-ling and forgot to do it myself. There are no pictures of the collar lying flat, so I did my best to explain the process.)

The Craft: Coffee Collar

What you need:

1 rectangle of felt (as in the large rectangles they sell at Hobby Lobby, Joann's or Michael's, in color of your choice)

1 small piece of felt (in different color of your choice)

embroider floss (1 or 2 colors)

1 cute as a button, well, button

1 small piece of ribbon

scissors

embroidery needle

Cut a small bird, heart, star, any doodad of your choice out of your small piece of felt. Put to side.

I used a Starbuck's coffee collar for measurement since I wasn't about to freehand that bad boy. I doubled up the piece of rectangle felt and cut 2 pieces for the collar. I pulled the pieces apart and stitched the bird onto the front piece of the collar. I used a regular stitch on the bird.

Then, pressing the 2 collar pieces of felt together, I sewed a whip stitch around the edges, stopping at each end (leave the needle/floss attached...don't tie off because you'll keep going with it) to put on the button and the ribbon.

I had a grande sized coffee cup on hand to measure around it to make sure I got my button and ribbon in the right place. Pull the collar tight around the cup and mark where you want put your button. Sew on your button using embroidery floss. Sew up that end and keep whip stitching until you get to the other side. Then, put the collar back around the cup to decide where you want your ribbon. I made a loop in the ribbon, attached it around the button and then cut it where I needed it. Sew the ribbon to the inside of the collar (you'll see some embroidery floss, but it's still cute. Stitch up that end and Wah-la! Coffee collar! Simple as that.

Use it with your favorite cup of coffee.

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