We had an awesome Pioneer Day party in July that I sort-of organized. We had a blast. One of the activities/games that I thought would be fun would be to have horse races, that is to say stick horse races. What's not to love, amiright? The problem was that I didn't have any stick horses. Hmmmmm. I went to Goodwill - nothing. I went to the toy stores around here. Oh, there were stick horses all right. Fancy stick horses. Stick horses that made sound. Stick unicorns. Stick horses with glitter and ribbons. The problem was that not one stick horse was under $25 dollars. Each.
While wandering Target in a stick horse funk, I spotted pool noodles for $1.25. An idea was born.
I like to sew. Liking to sew has its advantages, one of which being a stash of sewing and crafting supplies. Using my stash, I found felt, safety eyes and stuffing. I was in business.
The horses were a hit. The little kids immediately went for them. They galloped and trotted all over the park. It was a challenge finding 4 horses for the races. All but one of the horses were adopted, I am happy to say.
Each horse took me about 15 minutes each (I am pretty quick with sewing stuff) and cost the price of the pool noodle. Awesome. Here's what I did.
I cut a notch about a foot down from the end of the pool noodle. (don't judge)
Duck tape the noodle to make an angle. It doesn't need to be pretty. No one is going to see this part.
Out of felt, cut out a horses head. Make sure the head is a little longer that the pool noodle head section. It doesn't need to be perfect, just wing it. Leave an inch or so above the neck and head to cut for the mane. Sew, wrong sides together, along the neck and head for the mane.
Cut 2 ear shaped pieces of felt. Fold them so they will stand up.
Sew ears onto the right side of the head. Attach eyes.
Turn head inside out and sew the rest of the head and neck. Turn right side out and cut mane fringe. (Emily did this part).
Add a little stuffing/batting to the nose and cheek of the horse. Slide horse head onto the pool noodle. Duck tape around the bottom of the head to hold it onto the noodle. Tie twine around the muzzle and then tie the ends loosely around the neck.
Kayla and Alanah both loved the horses! Alanah has been talking about them ever since. Great job making them!!
ReplyDelete