Friday, July 27, 2012

Bean Bags

Hi friends!

So, the award for most unoriginal blog post goes to me today. These weren't my idea. Not even a little bit. However, I believe they're a classic toy, and classics should be shared!


This is a perfect project if you are a new sewer. Straight seams, minimal cutting, instant gratification! This is totally a naptime project. Or, in my case, a PopPop took the tiny child to Home Depot and Steak n Shake project. Ha!


I had some leftover fat quarters from a project. I loved the patterns and colors, but didn't have enough of any of them to make anything substantial. Until I remembered bean bags! Woohoo for stash busting!


These could not be any easier. You probably don't even need a tutorial but, just in case, I'm going to give you one anyway!

I started out by cutting 4.5 x 4.5 inch squares from my fabric.

These then get stitched together, right sides facing, leaving about 2/3 of one side open. This will let you turn your bean bag, and fill it.

Fill up your bags. I used rice, but you can use whatever you have on hand. If you use something food based, like rice or beans, these aren't washable. No one wants sprouting bean bags! However, if you use the plastic pellets you can get at craft stores, then these should go in the wash with no problem.

I filled my bags about 1/2-2/3 full. Any more than that and you won't be able to sew around the edges.

Now you close up the bags. There are a few different ways you can do this. If you want, you can hand stitch the opening closed and be done. I chose to pin it closed, and sew a top stitch seam around the entire bean bag.

I've had enough bean bags bust open on me that I thought this way was better. More seams = more strength. At least in my head.

Aren't they pretty?

At first Abbey looked at them like "what am I supposed to do with these things?", but now she loves them. She loves to "build tall towers" and balance them on different parts of her body. There are all sorts of fun ways to play with bean bags!

Here's a fun one:

Line up a few plates and use them as target practice. Have kids aim for a specific plate, or set them out at different distances. There are a million ways to adjust this game for your kids.

Have fun!

Be blessed!

Heather

I'm linking up. Come play!

8 comments:

  1. We received a set of hand-me-down bean bags when my first was born and each child has loved them ever since. Great use of fat quarters... yours are way prettier than mine!

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  2. These are adorable! My aunt gave little bean bags to my kids one Christmas and they were the biggest hit!

    Thanks for linking up too :)http://theterpblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/living-width-volume-iii.html

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  3. Love the bean bags! So Cute!

    What a cute blog! Just found you from July's hop. Still going down the list looking for some good reads.

    Love for you to stop by and return the follow when you can! Also hosting Mom's Monday Mingle tonight and tomorrow. Love to have you link up! Last week we had close to 250 blogs. Hope to see you there!

    www.thenaptimereview.com

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  4. I love them Heather! They are so bright & colourful...the fabrics you used are absolutely perfect! Angie xo

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  5. Stopping by from Jelli Bean Journals...those are pretty, I would play with them. :)

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  6. Featuring these today! Thanks for sharing! http://theterpblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/living-width-great-reads.html

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  7. Interesting post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting.

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  8. Perfect, I totally agree with it. This blog has good bean bags information and for that I thank the writer of this blog.

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