Woodland Nut Babies {2013}

Oh my, things have been a little crazy over here trying to get ready for our drive to California this weekend! Would anyone like to fish-sit for us? ; )

Today I'm going to share a little craft project that I originally posted last year around this time. 

Crafting these little "nut babies" is a Christmas time tradition in our family. 

This little one is the newest addition to the Nut Family : ) My daughter made this one, and decided to create a little cap from paper instead of our usual acorn caps.

Below is the simple tutorial from my post last year. I hope you have fun creating your own little nut babies! 

 

 

I really can't remember how the first one came to be, but these little cuties have been appearing at our house at Christmas time for probably ten years now.

We've made ornaments out of them, but usually just tuck them in to the branches of the Christmas tree. They also make darling doll house babies!

 

Here's what you will need to create your Woodland Nut Baby:


*Hollowed out Walnut shells for the nut baby's cradle.
Try to split the Walnut as evenly as possible. The ones I used for this were a little "choppy"-I think they were leftovers from last year.

*Small wooden beads for the heads.

*Acorn caps. These came from actual acorns, but I seem to remember you can get these at craft stores as well.

*Cotton balls. I split one in half for two nut babies.

*Fabric scraps for creating the little "blanket" top. I used craft felt for these.

*Hot glue gun  

 One year we painted some of the Walnut shells silver. Natural or painted? You decide!

I have some fabric leaves just waiting for a little project, so I'm going to try something a little different. I'm tucking one into one of the shells for the nut baby to rest on. Kind of adds to the "woodland" feel, don't you think?

  

Now hot glue an acorn cap onto the wooden bead. Doesn't it make the cutest little baby head? Sometimes we'll draw a little face on these, but today I'm leaving these plain.

  Now hot glue the head to the inside edge of the nut shell.

Now take a piece of cotton ball and fill up the shell. Sorry about the fuzzy photos!

  

Fill the shell with enough cotton to create a puffy look under the little fabric scrap blanket that comes next. 

Cut a little piece of fabric the approximate shape of the nut shell.

Lay it over the cotton and begin tucking it in around the edges and under the head. When you like the way it looks, you can add a little touch of hot glue to keep it in place, but it really isn't necessary.

And that's all there is to it! After all these years, I still think they're just adorable.

Don't they look cozy tucked into their nest?

 Nighty-night babies...

I'll be back soon to share what will probably be the last little bits of Christmas around our house here in Colorado before we take off for California on Saturday. It's just going by too quickly!

I hope you're having a wonderful December week and thanks for coming by today, friends!

Jeanette



Sharing this week over at

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

 

Quietube-Super Simple Tutorial

This isn't my usual type of post, but I want to share something that's been really helpful to my family. 

Have you ever heard of quietube? It's a great tool for watching YouTube videos without seeing all of the sometimes offensive images and words in the sidebar and comments. 

I love to be able to look up videos to supplement whatever my kids and I are having a discussion about or even to enjoy music videos.

But as a mom of young children, there are definitely things that I would not want them to see. Honestly, I don't want to see it! If you've spent any time at all on YouTube, you know that people can post the most profane and outrageous things in the comments, and I really appreciate the ability to eliminate the possibility of my little ones scrolling down to that section. Get a life, people! 

Here's what you do: 

Go to www.quietube.com 

You will see a screen that looks like this (sorry about my crummy photos) 

 

 Drag the quietube button up to your toolbar

Mine is right next to the all-important "Pin It" button : )

Now, when you go to the video you want to watch on YouTube, simply click the quietube button and all of the stuff around the video player screen is eliminated with a white frame.

 I hope this little tip was helpful! 

I'll be back soon with something pretty.

Weekend blessings-

Jeanette 


Joining the parties this week at:

Inspiration Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor 
Creative Bloggers Party at Homemaker on a Dime