DIY Superhero peg dolls. Or superhero bowling? | Gör-det-själv: Superhjältedockor

When traveling with kids, it's usually a good idea to bring small presents or surprises that can be handed out along the way. It kills time. And when I suddenly saw really cool superhero peg dolls everywhere on blogs, for example the really REALLY nice ones made by Homemade by Jill and lil blue boo, I figured they might be a good thing to bring on our skiing trip.

They were fun and quite addictive to make, and I must say they did the trick during the trip. The dolls were a huge success, even though A pointed out that Batman was missing. Well, I have promised to paint a Batman doll soon too. No problems. And the knight is not really a superhero, I know, but I so wanted to use the silver paint. Do you recognize them all? I am especially fond of Buzz Lightyear and Darth Maul (or Darth Owl maybe? He kind of looks like one...). Darth Maul of course got a double laser sword made by a painted match, but I have no picture of it.

The dolls were easy to make, even though I needed a very thin brush at times. It took some time to finish them though, since each color needed to dry before the next one was added.

I couldn't find the "boyish" peg dolls that the American bloggers used, so I went with what the Swedish craft store offered, resulting in quite chubby superheroes. Maybe they can be used as a bowling set as well?

Summary in Swedish: Jag har målat superhjältedockor i trä. Mycket roligt om än lite pilligt.

DIY The Candy Cactus | Gör-det-själv: Godiskaktus

This might look really weird, but the truth is that there was one thing A wanted for his birthday morning, and that was a candy cactus. So I made one. And remembered it from my own childhood. Do you remember making them? Or is this a Swedish thing?

It's really easy to make, and immensly popular with the five year old crowd at least. You'll need: 1 cucumber, candy, toothpicks. I usually put them in a paper cup, but didn't have one this time. Put the candy on the toothpicks and stick them into the cucumber. Done! A ate most of the candy before I remembered to take this photo, but you get the idea...

Summary in Swedish: På sin födelsedagsmorgon ville A absolut ha en godiskaktus. Gjorde ni också sådana då ni var barn?

Party forks | Kalasgafflar

We have gone skiing this week, that's why I can't publish as many blog posts as usual. But I'll soon be back! We're having a great time, but I think I will be done with winter when we return home. The season of longing for summer parties begin...

From jamieoliver.com

Remember the chocolate party spoons? Jamie Oliver has a similar idea, but with party food on forks. I had this at a party a few years ago, and it was great! Really easy to make, and very easy to handle with your party dress on. And you can use whatever food or snack you like, as long as it stays on the fork. Use regular forks, or nicer silver (or colorful) plastic ones.

Summary in Swedish: Snart är sommaren här (jodå) och jag börjar redan längta efter sommarkalas! Kanske kan dessa goda gafflar vara något att prova?

DIY Car Caddy | Gör-det-själv: Leksaksbilfodral

So, I decided to sew a race track. Any questions on that? My son brings die-cast cars everywhere, and I think he'll like this. I got the idea from Homemade by Jill and her fantastic tutorial (found here). I combined it with Mr Monkeysuit's tutorial that I used for the art caddies, and upgraded the road to a race track. This awesome jacket also gave me inspiration, you have to check it out. Scroll down and you'll see it, it's a jacket with a secret car play mat inside! Fabulous.

I like the way it turned out, and I feel that this blog really makes me get out of my comfort zone. I am not great at sewing, this was the very first applications I've ever made. It's not perfect but it works. And it was really fun to make.

The finished measurements are 16" (40,5 cm) x 14" (35,5 cm). The pockets for the cars are 2,5" deep (6,5 cm) and each pocket is 2,75" wide (ca 7 cm). The fabric for the pockets is double-folded to make it extra sturdy. I used 0,5" (1 cm) sewing allowance.

I also added one sheet of interfacing fabric. This is optional and depends on how sturdy your cover fabric is. The race track is 14,75" (37 cm) x 10,5" (27 cm). No sewing allowance on the race track! The track itself is 3,5" (9 cm) wide to fit two racing cars.

Attach race track with white thread to make it look road-like. Make a start-finish line and add a little flag if you like.

Pin the pockets to the lining fabric. Make the small car pockets by sewing one seam every 2,5" (6,5 cm). I made sure to go back an forth a few times at the opening of the pocket to reinforce it.

I you want to decorate the cover fabric with an application (I made the green car from Jill's template), this is when you attach it. Also attach the velcro.

Assemble the caddy like this: First the interfacing fabric, then the lining (the green fabric) right side up with the pocket right side up. Carefully place the tape lenghtways above the pockets to that 0,5" sticks out to the right. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of this step (Mr. Monkeysuit does, though).

Carefully place the cover fabric on top, right side down. Pin around the edges, leaving a 3" gap at the top. Pin the tape in place with a few extra pins. Sew it together, and trim the edges. Turn right side out through the 3" gap. Hand sew the gap closed. Trim threads and press. Done!

What do you think I should make next? A Lego caddy? A caddy for my knitting needles? Not another caddy but something else...?

Summary in Swedish: Jag har sytt en bilbana. Vad gör man inte för sina barn? Särskilt inte de som tar med sig leksaksbilar överallt. Detta bilfodral var roligt att sy, och jag fick överkomma min rädsla för att sy applikationer. Vilken sorts fodral tycker ni jag ska sy härnäst?

Five things I pinned on kids' birthday parties | Fem saker för barnkalas från Pinterest

From The Indigo Bunting

We thought about doing this for A:s fifth birthday party last Saturday, but ended up with putting the tail on the lion instead. Maybe we'll toss things next year?

From Williams-Sonoma

The only cupcake option for a Star Wars lover.

From Daily Candy

For everyone else, there are these cuties.

From Catch My Party

The photo booth trend hasn't really hit Sweden yet, but I know it is (or has been for a while at least) well known and used in the US. Have you tried it at a party? I'd like to, with props and all.

From LittleRetreat's shop on Etsy

And last but not least - how about mustache straws? Would actually work just splendid on a party for grown-ups as well...

Follow me on Pinterest.

Summary in Swedish: Här är några bra idéer till barnkalas jag markerat på Pinterest på sistone. Följ mig här.

DIY Car bingo | Gör-det-själv: Bilbingo

We're on our way on our yearly skiing trip! And guess what we'll be doing for the next couple of hours...? "Bil" in Swedish means "car", and "Sälen" is where we're going. You get the rest. You're correct, it's car bingo time! A car bingo is always a success with our family, and is really easy to make. This one is simply made in Word, and could have been somewhat more nice-looking if I hadn't put my four-year-old in charge of making it... His mind was set, it would look exactly like this.

Let the bingo begin!

Summary in Swedish: Vi drar till fjälls och roar oss med bilbingo på vägen. Har ni provat?

B-day (Birthday party day) | F som i födelsedagskalas

All went well, the birthday boy is happy, the scavenger hunt was a success and the eight kids had a blast. I could really recommend having the kids decorate their own party hats, a hat always brings party to the table (literally), and they did such a great job! I had bought stickers with stars, glittery flowers and skulls (!), and they also used colored washi tape to attach feathers to the hats. Very stylish.

The golden dinos also did their part, I glued them to the cake with Nutella...

Summary in Swedish: Födelsedagskalaset är avklarat med den äran, och allt gick finfint. Stationen där barnen fick pynta sina partyhattar blev en succé, så det kan jag verkligen rekommendera. Med hjälp av klistermärken och fjädrar blev hattarna ursnygga.