Tooth Fairy Tears

A few weeks ago when my daughter Cora yelled into the other room that she could "bend her tooth", I gave an absentminded "Yeah, ok." in response. A few seconds later, I stopped in my tracks and realized what was going on. Sure enough, she had her first loose tooth a couple months past her 5th birthday and a couple of weeks shy of starting Kindergarten.

While she was super excited about it (which still remains a mystery to me as she cries over every hangnail), I was so sad. This was the first tangible sign that my little girl was becoming a big girl. So, I did what any sane mom would do. I choked back my tears, congratulated her, and soon threw myself into a sewing project as therapy. I'm a fixer by nature and for whatever reason, it helps me process things by doing something. ANYTHING.

I jumped on Pinterest to get some general ideas, then got to work crafting the best Tooth Fairy pillow this emotional mom could whip up.

1.  I cut out two 6" squares from some scrap fabric I had.

2.  I sketched a model of a tooth on a piece of paper to use as a guide and cut it out, then traced around it on white fabric.

3. I cut out a small square (about 2") from white fabric

4. I drew a smiley face on the white tooth fabric as a guide and used an embroidery setting to stitch a face on the tooth. Then I drew a C on the white square and used an embroidery setting to stitch her initial onto the tooth pocket.

5. I attached the tooth to one of the 6" squares with an embroidery needle, and then after stitching the top edge of the white square by itself, I attached it by the two sides and bottom to the other 6" square.

6. I took an old handle from a kids purse that was already in desperate need of repair and cut it about 5" long. I placed it upside down in a curve between the two 6" squares with the tooth/pocket sides facing each other.

7. I stitched around the edge with a 1/2" seam, leaving a 2" gap in the bottom. Then I turned it inside out and stuffed it, hand stitching the gap closed when I was done.

After the project, I felt just a little better about my little girl growing up. A couple of weeks later, on a beautiful day at the park, we plucked the tooth right out. Her smile says it all. She was so proud to put her tooth in her Tooth Fairy Pillow that night, and thrilled with the puzzle that replaced it the next morning. I think we are both ready for the next loose tooth now.