Swapping blogs with one of my favorites…Beckie from Infarrantly Creative. You can find me there today…but first you will LOVE what she has for you today! Take it away Beckie…
Hello Idea Room readers! Squuuuueaaal! I am so honored to be here today. Amy is one of my very favorite bloggers and I am excited beyond measure to guest post. If I was stranded on a deserted island and could only read five blogs…The Idea Room would be one of them! Errr…if I were on an island I wouldn’t be reading blogs. {Giggle}.
My name is Beckie, author of Infarrantly Creative. My blog chronicles my adventures in crafting, decorating, painting, decoupaging, sewing, and refabbing furniture. I have over 65 tutorials which I hope will inspire you get out there and DIY!
Today I am going to share with you how to make your own custom bean bags. These make a very inexpensive, personalized gift.
Did you know you don’t have to buy those fancy schmancy fabric printer sheets to have quality printed fabric? Did you know you don’t have to buy that fancy schmancy solution to soak your own fabric in beforehand? Here is a quick no-fail recipe to get the best results with the most vibrant colors when printing on fabric…
Mix 2 tablespoons of Alum (found in the spice section of your grocery store), 2 1/2 teaspoons of Washing Soda (found in the laundry section) and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid fabric softener. Then add one cup of hot water.
Mix it in a bowl bigger than you think because it foams up when you add the water. Stir. After a few minutes the foam will disappear. Next soak your 100% white cotton fabric in your solution for 15 minutes.
After fifteen minutes is up wring out all the excess liquid.
Wait!!! Can’t I just print it out on fabric since the bean bags won’t be washed? The solution gives you more vibrant colors and if they should get wet they won’t bleed. This recipe is perfect for quilters who want to add pictures to their work as well.
Store the remaining solution in a container and mark it well to use at a later date.
Next dry your fabric. I hung mine to dry overnight. But if you are an impatient crafter, you can put it in the dryer.
Next grab some freezer paper (found near the tin foil and Ziploc bag section) and iron your fabric to the shiny side of the freezer paper with a hot, dry iron.
Once your fabric is stuck to the freezer paper cut it into 8 1/2” x 11” rectangles. Iron one more time after cut just to ensure that the fabric is stuck well.
In whatever program you choose, size your pictures (I chose 4″ x 4” images) and print them onto your fabric. You can change your printer settings to the best print quality on fabric if you have that option. Make sure you print on the fabric side and not on the back of the freezer paper.
Cut out your printed fabric to size. I chose to do both sides of the bean bags with a picture. Of course, you can use just regular fabric on the backside.
With right sides together sew the two pieces together leaving a small opening.
Turn your fabric right side out (iron if you must) and fill it with any type of beans.
Tuck under the edges of the opening and sew shut. I machine stitch it but you can certainly hand sew it if that suits your fancy.
Tie them up with ribbon and present your gift. My son loves them he calls them his “Isaac Beans.”
What do you do with the bean bags?
1. Learn to juggle
2. Pair it up with some sand buckets and spread them out and have your child practice their aim by tossing them into the buckets.
3. Pelt each other with them.
4. Make up two sets of different bags and play tic, tac, toe with them.
5. Have each child put a bean bag on their head and have them try to knock the bean bag off their opponent’s head. The person left with a bean bag on their head wins!
6. Play Simon Says with them…”Simon says balance the bean bag on your elbow. Simon says, throw the bean bag under your legs.”
![IMG_0601_thumb[2]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_5GI6Pyw8srE/S5gbBZ6jFgI/AAAAAAAAG8o/7YyOEz54UsA/IMG_0601_thumb%5B2%5D%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800 "IMG_0601_thumb[2]")
![IMG_0395[3]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_5GI6Pyw8srE/S5gbCZG5rdI/AAAAAAAAG8s/96qHZwY5b2Q/IMG_0395%5B3%5D%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800 "IMG_0395[3]")
Over and out Boy Scout! Thanks Amy and the Idea Room readers for having me today. See you soon!
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I've never heard of this. Genius! I will definitely put that recipe to use in some personalized projects. Thank you so much!
Holy AWESOME idea! I've got to think of a reason to use this!
Great Idea! Your one more blog to add to my list of daily blogs. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
What a great idea! I am thinking Easter baskets!
This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I can't wait to try this! (Trust me…I'm really trying to resist the urge to run to the store right now to get all the supplies!)
I thought of making these photo bean bags, too–great minds think alike! ;) but had no idea you could make your own fabric/paper–what a great idea. I was also planning to use it for an Easter project–now I can make my own. What a great idea! I can't wait to go read your blog!
Love that post! I have purchased the expensive stuff, and have never heard of this little trick. Thank you! I'm bookmarking it!
What a cute idea, I love this! Thanks so much for the great idea, I'll be linking.
How fun! There is so much you can do with a bean bag! I need to give these a try!
Wait, you put the fabric/freezer paper through your printer and it doesn't jam????
This is so cool! I wish I had an inket printer!!
I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-make-your-own-printable-fabric/2010/03/19/
–Anne
I've been using bubble jet set, but your recipe is MUCH cheaper! How well does the color last in the washer?
I can't wait to try this. I've been trying to find an inexpensive way to print out some quiet book pages I've designed.
I just talked with Beckie and she said it washes great and the color lasts well too!
How long can you keep/reuse the solution? And it's machine washable, like for clothing tags? GREAT post, thanks!
Don't forget bean-bag as paperweights! Thanks for a great tutorial!
A link to Craftster where you got this recipe from would have been appreciated.
Thanks Anonymous for alerting me….I'm 'queenofdiy' from Craftster and a link would have been appreciated to my original recipe. I put alot of research into creating this recipe and ingredient proportions. I don't mind sharing however I would have appreciated credit by creating a link to where you got this information from. In any case, the original recipe can be found here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=129537.0
this is just amazing, can i use for silk fabric as well.
this is just amazing, can I use Silk fabric as well?
sorry for reposting but dont know if my previous post went th. can I use this with silk fabric
What a wonderful idea! I hope to try this soon!! These would make great Christmas gifts! I am definitely planning ahead for those!