Chevron Love

In February I finished probably the most special labor of love I've made yet. My little sister is due with her first baby in May, and I started this blanket within weeks of finding out she was pregnant. Certain that she was having a boy, I ran out and chose the yarn with that in mind. As a pile of skeins, the yarn looked a LOT more gender-neutral than the blanket turned out. I held it on the needles just after the darker blue row knowing I'd need to add some pink should the baby not, in fact, be the boy I was so sure she was having. As often goes, I was dead wrong! =) And I couldn't be happier about it. I adore this blanket, and it was an absolute joy to knit. Knitting projects are so perfect because they're portable, can be worked on when you have time, and give you plenty of time to think about and pray for the recipient. I can't wait to see pictures of my sister's little bundle of joy wrapped in this sweet blanket.

For those of you interested, I doubled the width as the finished blanket in the pattern was really, really tiny. I used this pattern and this yarn (purchased from Hobby Lobby but also sold at JoAnns) and this tutorial for winding the yarn. After buying the yarn and knitting most of the blanket, I read some terrible reviews. But I used 9 skeins in almost every color available in the entire line, and I absolutely loved it. I never had any of the problems people complained of.

A Sweet Tradition

When I had my first baby, my sister-in-law brought a couple dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies along with a little card to set out in my post-partum room. The card thanked the doctors and nurses for taking such good care of me. It got a huge positive response, and several of the nurses would just drop in to grab a cookie. It was also nice to have something sweet to offer all of our visitors.

It's become somewhat of a tradition in my circle of friends and family, and I loved sharing it with a friend who just had her second baby recently. Since she loves, loves, loves all things s'mores, I went with that theme. I made Golden Graham s'mores bars inspired by this recipe, cut them into 2" squares, stuck them in a plastic bag, and tied it with an "It's a Girl!" ribbon. I printed the sign above, and stuck everything in a cute gift bag for her to carry to the hospital. This might be one of my very favorite baby-related traditions now!

Infant Carrier Tent

I'm so sorry for my blog hiatus. Life just sneaks up on me sometimes, and I can't find a spare moment. I'm hoping to be a bit more disciplined now that Fall is almost here and things have started back into a much more normal routine.

For now, I wanted to share my latest project. We had some friends in town last weekend, and they brought their precious twins over one night for dinner. A friend had made them infant carrier tents that I thought were so clever! I had never seen one before, and I instantly knew I had to make one for one of my good friends who actually delivered baby #2 this morning. The twins' mommy went over the features she loved and the features she thought could be improved upon. And I set to work...

I love the finished product (so much so that my baby fever hit an all-time high after completing this! I better get out to meet that new baby asap to cure the fever!).

I copied the binding on the twins' tents, and I think it is precious. Basically I just sewed the top and bottom pieces together wrong-sides facing. Then I cut the edge into fringe. It should fray a bit when washed. So cute and unique.

I also gave the straps a little ruffle decor which I think adds so much to what could be a very plain piece.

Since my friend plans to nurse, I made this strap that matched which can be thrown in the diaper bag to turn any blanket into a nursing cover.

I love whipping up quick, easy, and precious baby goodies!

Baby Shower Activity Idea

Me, Leslie, Casey, Kim

A couple of weekends ago I helped to host another baby shower for one of my very best friends. She is expecting her second boy next month, and we wanted to bless her socks off. I am a big fan of doing something at a shower to create a lasting memory for the guest of honor. In this case, we made personalized onesies using fabric backed with heat and bond. It was such a hit, and everyone was so super creative. But the best part about this idea is that you can be as simple or as filled-with-creativity as you are comfortable with being. It really works for anyone.

The set-up

I made a sample to get the ball rolling

Instructions and supplies

We hung the onesies as decoration. Guests could go pick one and take it into the dining room to embellish.

The process: tracing, cutting, iron, embellishing

Some of the finished products - SO cute!

More party details: Cupcake toppers courtesy of the Cricut

Favors: Candy bar in the shower colors

This was probably one of the most fun I've ever had at a shower. If you're interested in the idea but don't feel up to re-creating it, look for the kit in my etsy shop this fall!

Cookies and Milk

I threw a mid-morning cookies and milk baby shower for a great friend (at another great friend's house) a couple of weekends ago. It was a fun, simple morning, and I thought I'd share the details in case anyone needs any ideas.
The color scheme was chocolate brown, cream, and turquoise blue. The budget was very limited, so it was a fun challenge coming up with cute details at very little cost.

For these centerpieces, I just rolled diapers, tied them with raffia, and filled some blue glass vases we usually have in our master bedroom. Then, using double-sided tape, I wrapped them in ribbon to finish the look. Simple, practical, and precious!

Here's the cookie bar. I chose cookies that froze well. So I spent one week making one dough a day and freezing it. Then I just pulled them out the day before the shower and just baked and baked. The containers were all clear glass tied with raffia and a label in the color scheme.Lots of the details were made using the Cricut, a tool I'd highly recommend!
We played 2 games that turned out to be a lot of fun. The first was a game where I listed 20 crazy celebrity kids' names, and everyone had to guess whose child it was. The second was a match-the-mom-to-be game. I provided a word that's typically associated with a phrase or saying. Then people filled in the blank afterwards with the first thing that came to mind. For example, one was Little Boy _________. Another was Mom __________. We all had to fill in what we thought the mom-to-be would say. The prizes were the cookie-in-a-jars pictured in the center of the table below. Both game ideas were my talented, creative sister's.

The favors were cellophane bags to fill with cookies. Then I cut strips of tulle to use to tie them and strung all of the recipes on the tulle.

Fun weekend. Fun celebration!

One of my favorite projects ever!

One of my very best friends is preparing for the arrival of her second sweet son. I saw a similar quilt somewhere (can't find it now to give credit where credit is due!), and I knew it would be perfect for her. I immediately got to work, finished this quilt weeks ago, and couldn't wait to give it to her this morning at her shower. I love, love, love how this turned out! It was so much fun to make too!

Crinkle Bots

(Photo courtesy of PrudentBaby.com)

I think I need to make one of these this afternoon. LOVE them for a little boy. You can find the tutorial here.

Coming Home Hat

I knitted a hat for my daughter to wear home from the hospital, and I wanted to make it a tradition for my sweet son as well. Here's the result. I'm smitten.

Stroller Accessories

The double stroller we just got for our expanding family is awesome. We love everything about it except for the price of accessories - through the roof! It doesn't have a 'parent tray' or a place to hang the diaper bag, so I set about solving that problem. I made an all-in-one diaper changing station that folds up easily to hang. I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and I'll definitely be making more of these. I'll promise to, at some point, make a pattern available here (for free, of course!).

Here it is folded. There's a pocket on the front for diapers.

And here it is open. The two white rectangles are pockets that velcro closed for wipes, diaper rash cream, hand sanitizer, etc.

Those pockets fold out to the side leaving plenty of room (25" x 16") to use as a changing pad. It's quilted with batting in the middle, so it's comfy too!And here it is hanging on the stroller.Here's the stroller satchel I made. It's got two large pockets (for wallet, keys, etc.) and one small outer pocket for my cell phone. Simple, yet practical.

Baby stuff

I heard a great tip a few weeks ago about swim diapers. Did you know that you can wash and dry them with the regular laundry and reuse them as long as they are only wet and not soiled? Awesome money savings! I was a little skeptical thinking they'd lose their elasticity and their ability to hold the urine, but they don't at all. Good as new. Of course, if you so desire, you could just buy the cloth swim diapers. But we got a pack of Pampers swimmies last Labor Day when we went to Georgia (and to my sister's pool) and couldn't find anything smaller than a size 3. Hannah's still in size 3 diapers, and I'm still on the first pack of those diapers we've ever gotten.

Secondly, Hannah got her 15-month shots and the very next day started to cut all 4 canines (eye teeth). I've heard horrible things about these teeth coming in, and Hannah definitely suffered (and she's still at it). She spiked a 101 fever from the shots and teeth combo, and she developed a horrible diaper rash. She would scream and writhe in pain when we'd change dirty diapers, and it was heartbreaking. We ran out of wipes, and Chris went to the store for me. He came back with a different wipe than I normally get (Huggies Naturally Refreshing with Green Tea), and I was leery to try new wipes on such a rashy rear. When I used them for the first time, I was shocked. Hannah didn't even flinch! Her rash was no better than it was when I used my old standard (Huggies sensitive skin - no dyes or perfumes), but she showed no discomfort at all. When we were out and about, she screamed again at the use of the sensitive skin wipes that are in the car. Then again, when we got home, she didn't react at all to the new ones. So, for once, the claim on the packaging seemed to ring true for us. It's worth a shot!