project // felt pizza pal playset

You shouldn't play with your food, but with this felt pizza pal playset your kids (or you!) can play and make faces to your heart's content!

I've been on a pizza kick here on the blog, thanks to my Kawaii Crossing Pizzeria cross stitch and embroidery patterns. And I'm quite fine with that! Anyway, I like putting faces on things, and that includes pizza. In fact, I recently added a new pattern set to my shop and it's filled with pizza-y things.



But let's get back to this felt playset. So, I've had these small pizza boxes sitting here for a while and I couldn't decide what to do with them. They are clean and never had any pizza in them, making them perfect for crafting. You could probably use a box with minimal grease and cover it, but having these ones was quite lucky. I don't know how I even ended up with them, it's been so long.

Once I got on a pizza roll with my making (pizza roll...get it?), I quickly thought of a felt board type pizza. And then I realized that you could use the pieces to make faces! Your own pizza pal!

It's as easy as cutting out felt pieces. If you have a box, it's a perfect place to store the pieces and play (there's even a printable label for your box top!), but it also works on a felt board or as its own thing stored in a bag or large envelope.

Here's what you need:

Felt in a bunch of pizza colors: I used tan, red, cream, two shades of green, yellow, orange, brown, lavender, and more
Freezer paper
Pencil
Scissors
Iron
Plate (should fit in the box if you're using one)
Rotary cutter and mat (optional – you can simply trace and cut the circle)
Pins
Pizza box (optional)
Glue stick (optional — for attaching the label to the box)

DOWNLOAD THE PIZZA PAL PLAYSET PDF



Print the first page of the PDF on paper and trace the topping pattern pieces on freezer paper. I like to group the pieces by color. Then, iron the freezer paper to the felt.

Cut out the pieces. For the center of the olives, you can use a hole punch, which is much easier than cutting! You can also cut some of the bell pepper pieces in half.

Finally, peel away the freezer paper.



Use a plate as a template and cut out a circle of crust-colored felt.



Next, flip over your pattern page and trace the plate. It's okay if it doesn't all fit on the page, as you'll be cutting it out smaller.



Trim the paper template down a little with a wavy line around the edge. Use this to cut out a sauce-colored piece of felt.



Trim the template down again in the same way. Once you make it a little smaller than the sauce template, cut out a cheese-colored piece of felt.



Print the second page the PDF on cardstock and cut out the circle. If you have a small (clean!) pizza box, attach it to the top with a glue stick.




Layer the crust, sauce and cheese pieces in the box and get ready to design a pizza pal!





You can use the toppings in all kinds of ways to make all kinds of faces and kids will certainly be even more creative than I have!






Of course, you don't have to only make faces. You can simply create regular pizzas with your favorite toppings!

And to end this, I'll add one more pizza that may be more than a little contentious, but it's one that I love:



Pineapple, (turkey) bacon, and onion pizza!

pattern // spongebob's indoors cross stitch chart

Okay, so right now everyone is encouraged to stay home. And some fine folks have started making free patterns to go along with this. Both to express the sentiment and to give you something to work on during your social distancing, sheltering in place, or full-on quarantine. And a song came to mind.

In one of my favorite episodes ever, Spongebob Squarepants sings a song that I've always related to and that is especially appropriate now. It goes like this:

I know of a place where you never get harmed
A magical place with magical charms
Indoors
Indoors
Innnnnndoors!

Since I like staying home AND since I've had to be careful in the sun, it's not unusual for me to sing this. So why wouldn't I make a cross stitch pattern of it?!? To give it a little Spongebob flair, I chose a color palette that feels reminiscent of the show. But you could change it up if you want.

DOWNLOAD THE INDOORS CROSS STITCH PATTERN PDF

Stay safe friends. Remember that staying home may be less about protecting yourself from COVID-19 and more about protecting those for whom it could be fatal. This is showing love to your neighbors near and far.

pattern // kawaii crossing pizzeria embroidery pattern

It's embroidery time! This little pizzeria is ready to serve up some stitching fun (and maybe a slice or two). Embroidering pizza is always fun, but I'd like to think it's even better when the pizza is also the pizza shop, right?

So, inside the PDF for this little free pattern, you'll find the small version of the pattern (perfect for making a Kawaii Crossing Mini Quilt) with a color guide and a larger version that you can use for stitching...well...larger things.

What you won't find is a stitch guide because I think you can have fun using the stitches you like. However, if you want some ideas, I usually outline things in back stitch. For thicker lines, I like chain stitch. The pepperoni and mushrooms, and maybe the crust too, would look great in satin stitch. And for the face I always use French knots and a scallop stitch.

DOWNLOAD THE PDF PIZZERIA EMBROIDERY PATTERN

When you stitch this, be sure to share your work! Tag me (@molliejohanson) and use the hashtag #wildolivestitchingclub or #kawaiicrossing so everyone can see.

I hope you're hungry because I'm still working on even more pizza goodness for this month. But for now, I'd love to hear what's your favorite pizza topping?

printable // philippians 4:6-7 coloring picture

Feeling worried and anxious? Maybe you don't feel it as fear, but the fear all around you is still bringing you down. I have two suggestions! First, coloring is often found to help calm anxieties, so I have a free PDF coloring picture for you! But there's more, and it's right there on the coloring page.

Actually, this isn't my suggestion. This comes from the Bible, so personally, I believe it's even better than coloring. A lot better.

"Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

DOWNLOAD THE PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 COLORING PICTURE PDF

The coloring picture is a shortened version of the verse, and I included the parts that especially spoke to my heart.

And here's the good news! You can color AND pray at the same time! So as you calm your worries with art you can also invite Jesus to carry your anxieties because he cares for you.

May the peace of Christ be with you, my friends!

pattern // kawaii crossing pizzeria cross stitch

On a list of things that I'm grateful for, I recently included cross stitches because stitching this pizzeria pattern really just made me happy! And I hope that the Kawaii Crossing pizza-shaped restaurant makes you happy too!

I'm also excited to show off that I'm officially all caught up from my stitching last month. Woohoo! And just in time because I've been seeing pictures popping up on Instagram showing off progress and fun modifications like stitching on dark fabric to make it a nighttime scene, or changing out the flowers for benches. You all are amazing!

And now you can add to your little town as I have.

By the way, my dad would be very happy with the layout of this happy village. You see, every time he eats pizza, he always goes looking for chocolate as a treat afterward. If he visits the pizzeria, he can stop by the chocolatier next door!

DOWNLOAD THE MARCH KAWAII CROSSING CROSS STITCH PDF

DOWNLOAD THE PDF PIZZERIA CROSS STITCH PATTERN

I can't wait to see your stitches! Be sure to tag me (@molliejohanson) on Instagram and/or use the tag #kawaiicrossing or #wildolivestitchingclub so all can see.

Sharing free patterns is one of my favorite things and I appreciate every kind of support. I'd love it if you tell your friends about my patterns, share my posts on social media, or buy me a coffee via the link below (because I pretty much run on coffee and Jesus!). Thanks, friends!