Felt Blocks

**Warning: You will want to do this craft immediately. You might as well get your shoes and purse ready to go to the craft store for when you are done reading this.


As I mentioned before, I am becoming more and more interested in getting rid of the loud, ugly, plasticy toys in our house and finding and making more toys made with simple, natural materials such as wood, cloth, and natural fibers. (Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of plastic toys that are great and inspire the imagination. I am talking about the ones that are super noisy and do all the thinking for you and the ones that I step on in the middle of the night on my way to the bathroom).

I got much of my inspiration for this from reading Amanda Blake Soule's fabulous book, The Creative Family. She says about more natural toys that, "Not only do these toys feel good to play with and connect children to the outside world, but they are often strong enough to last a lifetime and even more." I love the idea of my children's children playing with the toys I made or gave them. It warms my heart.

So, I decided to try one of the craft ideas from The Creative Family and I am hooked! They are Wool Felt Blocks and they are so simple and fun to make. You don't even need a sewing machine, just some felt, stuffing, a small bell for the inside of the block if desired, a needle, scissors, and thread. That's it. You probably have most of this stuff already. All I had to go out and get was some felt, the stuffing, and some bells. And here's the final product, with many more to come:



And, as a bonus, just because they are so darn cute today:

Now I am off to bathe the babes. Have a great night!