Nursery Rhyme Felt Finger Puppets - Humpty Dumpty, Hey Diddle Diddle, Hickory Dickory Dock and the Three Blind Mice

My nephew's beginning to talk. And with really big words! So for his 2nd birthday, I made him a set of nursery rhyme felt finger puppets. I thought it'll be fun to have the characters accompany him during story time with mommy and daddy.

Here are the finger puppets I made for him - you can order your own for Christmas delivery individually or as a set from my shop. International delivery is cheap because they are light and usually fit in a letter envelope.

The very popular Humpty Dumpty:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Oh no! Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!

The very silly nonsense characters in Hey Diddle Diddle:

The cat playing the fiddle? The laughing dog? Cow jumping over the moon? And the dish running away with the spoon? Super silly indeed!

Hickory Dickory Dock:

The clock and mouse

The clock's hands are sewn in a way that make them moveable — which I hope will be useful when he starts learning to tell time.

And finally the rhyme that everybody sings to, Three Blind Mice:

Three Blind Mice

Seeing the entire collection of puppets together before wrapping it up brings warm memories of when I learned these rhymes in school. I can't wait to make many more nursery rhyme puppets for my son, Halford, when he's a little older!

Don't forget you can buy these handmade felt finger puppets for your own little ones from my shop. Remember, 50% of profits will go to charity.

DIY Cloth Diaper Cover with Fold Over Velcro Tab Pockets.

When my son was born, I was determined to cloth diaper. Researching online lead to many options, which lead to many confusions. What helped was when my friend lent me some of her cloth diapers, so that I can experiment what worked for me and what didn't. In the end, I preferred the following features on my cloth diaper cover:

• Velcro tabs instead of snaps—it's quicker to put on.
• Fold over pockets for the Velcro tabs—to protect laundry during washing.
• Soaker pads that are not sewn permanently on to the diaper. I like the soaker pads to come apart freely in the washer. It washes cleaner, and if it's really soiled after many uses, it can be replaced. It dries faster too.
• Simple to construct.

Here are instructions on how I made my own cloth diaper cover for my new born.

Materials

• Polyurethane laminate (PUL)
• Fleece
• 1/2 inch wide elastics
• Absorbent fabrics for the soaker pads (I use cotton flannel)
• Safety Pins 
• Velcro

Instructions

Print the pattern below, and join the pieces by lining up the arrows.

Step 1: Cut out the pieces

Step 2: Fold the Velcro tab pockets in half, and sew 1/4 inch along the folded edge.

Step 3: Pin all the pieces, right sides together.

Step 4: Sew 1/2 inch all around, leaving a 3 inch opening. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4 inch (except the opening), and clip around the curved edges.

Step 5: Turn right side out. Sew 1/2 inch along the edge as shown.

Step 6: Cut three 5 inch pieces of elastic (or your desired length), and thread it through the side "channels" you've just created. Sew the beginning and the end of the elastics in place. Remove the safety pins. 

Step 7: Close the opening.

Step 8: Sew on the Velcro. The soft side (loop side) can be machine stitched on the front. Hand sew the hard side (hook side) only to the fleece layer.

Step 9: Layer your soaker pads and it's ready to go!

To make a soaker pad, cut a 9 inch square from your soaker frabric, fold it in half, and zig-zag stitch along the three sides. I use 5 pieces of soaker pad at a time for my diapers.

During change time, excrement is rinsed off and the tab pockets are folded over the Velcro before placing the diaper into the diaper pail.