Catch and Release Fishing - Governors Island Inspired Craft for Kids

Since the advent of the {NewNew} Treasure Chest on Governors Island, my daughters and I have taken a few trips on the Governors Island ferry to drop off product and work at the store. My older daughter (2.5 years old) loves the ferry - her only regret is that the boat ride is too short! She was so enraptured by the boat that she is now pretending that everything is a boat - she swings her legs off her bed into the "ocean" and sits in shipping boxes that she calls her ferry. I decided she needed a fun activity to do on her sailing adventures.

It is very easy to made a simple fishing pole and fabric fish. I used one magnet at the end of the fishing line and one at the mouth of the fish so my daughter can catch fish and take them off of the line.

1. First, you'll want to draw a pattern of a fish onto paper or cardstock.

2. Next, trace the pattern onto fabric and mark where the eyes will go.

3. Sew eyes using thread or yarn. You can also cut eye shapes out of felt or use buttons.

4. With right sides together, sew along the edges of the fish with a 1/4" seam allowance. Leave one part unsewn and turn inside out. Insert magnet at the fish mouth, stuff lightly, and sew closed.

5. For the fishing pole, I put a magnet in the middle of a triangular piece of fabric, brought up all the edges, and stitched the sides and top together, capturing the magnet inside the fabric. Make sure the magnets are positioned so that positive meets with negative so they will attract instead of repel. I tied a big knot at the end of the fishing pole string and put the knot inside the fabric before sewing up the top. That way the line is held securely inside the fabric wrapped magnet.

6. Wrap and tie the end of the string to the fishing pole. You can use a stick, twig, or chopstick for the fishing pole.

This activity is great for building coordination in young children! Before giving my daughter this new toy, I read her "Curious George Flies a Kite" because the story has a part about Curious George observing a man fishing and then trying to fish for himself. I think this helped her understand how fishing works since we live in NYC and have never gone fishing ourselves!

I put a piece of blue fabric down as a "lake" for the fish. You can also make a bucket using an old yogurt container, punching two holes on each side, and tying a piece of stiff string through the holes as a handle. This also acts as a nice storage case for the fish and pole. Now enjoy a lazy afternoon fishing!

Karina

Windows of Agate

* Please note that magnets and buttons are choking hazards!

Coaster How-To

Halloween Coasters from the {NewNew} York Street Team

Basic Supplies:
-Sheets of felt
(mainly black + a contrasting color)
-Scissors or craft/exacto knife
-Embroidery floss in a bright color + needle

I like my craft projects quick and scalable! This Halloween themed coaster project is something you can keep very simple with the shapes provided and be done with some basic coasters within an hour, or you can really make them more durable by adding cork backs or even leather if you've got it, embellishing them with some embroidery via machine or hand, or even size them up to make placemats - it’s up to you!

The first thing I did was call out to members of The {NewNew} York Street Team to supply me with some scary silhouettes to work with. 6 Artists answered my call, supplying silhouetted artwork for a pumpkin (from CollectiveElements), ghost (from MayLuk), bat (from ME/KimmChi), bunny (yes, i said bunny) and skull (from Luckx4), and witch (by AlleneLaSpina).

All of this artwork, sized for coasters, can be downloaded HERE.

Choose the designs you want, or even make a set of all of one design.

Step 1:
Choose and print the designs you want. Use these as templates to cut the felt out. The size of the design files should be suitable for basic coasters if printed at 100%; for glasses with extra large bases you might want to scale these up a bit.


Step 2:
After you print out the templates, cut them out and pin them on to the color of felt you would like for your coasters. (I chose black for starters, but will cut them further and back them with a bright contrasting color in step 4).

Step 3:
After you have your desired number of designs cut out, use your exacto knife or scissors to add in details and design to the simple silhouette - making sure your accents are large enough to show through the cuts.

Step 4:
Use the templates you cut out in Step 2 to cut out more felt using nice bright colors which will be eye catching in contrast to the spooky black silhouettes. Pin these to the black silhouettes of the same design.
Step 5:
Using either hand embroidery or a machine, you can sew along the edges of the coasters in a nice bright contrasting thread - attaching the bottom layer as you go. For a great video tutorial on how to do the blanket stitch (the one around the bunny and witch CLICK HERE). You may have to press the whole thing with a hot iron when your done. And then you’ll have some spooky coasters to rest your spooky beverages on.

Optional:
If you want to make these coasters more durable, you can use these templates and a craft knife to cut the silhouettes from a roll of thin cork or even scrap leather. Back them up to the felt parts and use a good glue- gorilla glue or E600, press them together and let them sit overnight under a pile of heavy books. When they are dry, trim up any excess.

Thanks to CollectiveElements, MayLuk, KimmChi, Luckx4, and AlleneLaSpina for submitting designs!

And thanks to those that came out to the Etsy Labs for the craft night I hosted with this project on October 20 - that's you RedBridge and ThePeachTree - THANKS!

Download this whole tutorial in PDF format

-Kimm
KimmChi.etsy.com