Last week I hosted a baby shower for a good friend. She is having her fourth boy! I really wanted to have a celebration for her (not so much for the baby). Now don’t get me wrong, babies are good. But I think the party needs to be for the pregnant lady. It’s no small thing [...]]]>

Last week I hosted a baby shower for a good friend. She is having her fourth boy! I really wanted to have a celebration for her (not so much for the baby). Now don’t get me wrong, babies are good. But I think the party needs to be for the pregnant lady. It’s no small thing to have a baby. Motherhood is a big deal and needs some loving attention.

So, this party wasn’t very “boy-ish” because Melissa was my main focus.

I was inspired by this rustic party table. I really tried to only use materials I had around the house (that kind of thing makes my husband happy…) I covered my table in brown kraft paper. On top of that was a wrapping paper table runner using a blue on blue floral (from IKEA). I added one more layer with a burlap table runner. The red and orange tulip centerpiece wasn’t quite tall enough so I stood the vase on a glass salad bowl turned upside down. Perfect. The food signs are printed on construction paper and held up with giant clothespins. For my guests, I gave a little seed kit in a tiny clay pot (love those dollar bins at Target!).

I’m the awesome kind of party host and mom that sets up the buffet table the afternoon of the party. So the boys had to eat dinner outside on the deck.

The Menu:

+ Mango Salsa with chips
+ Broccoli Salad
+ Artichoke and Spinach Dip with crackers
+ Rolls and strawberry jam
+ Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
+ Fresh Fruit cups
+ Chocolate Cake
+ Peanut Butter Pie
+ Lemon Pudding Parfaits
+ Caramel Brownies
+ Pomegranate Izzes

Melissa has had baby name drama (to say the least) and so I had slips of paper prepared for each guest to suggest some names for her new baby.

We had a great time chatting and eating. And eating. And eating.

Party success.

Happy baby!

I’m happy to say Katie Kortman is back today (remember her ruffle bottom onesie tutorial?). Here is her baby legs tutorial.

I’m really seriously thinking of making my baby these. Is it socially acceptable for little boys to wear these?! Help me out here.

HOW TO [...]]]> Back to baby. (Have I mentioned how excited I am for another baby!?)

I’m happy to say Katie Kortman is back today (remember her ruffle bottom onesie tutorial?). Here is her baby legs tutorial.

I’m really seriously thinking of making my baby these. Is it socially acceptable for little boys to wear these?! Help me out here.

HOW TO MAKE BABY LEGS (LEG WARMERS)

When I first got pregnant and started looking at baby clothes (I started buying them when I was only 3 months along… I bought at stores with a 3 months return policy so I could return once I found out what the sex was. I KNOW I am crazy. But I was just way too excited about all the cute stuff I was seeing! Anyway, I happened upon “baby legs.” These are super cute little legging/legwarmers that are basically socks with no foot. Great for warming the legs and not having to take them off for a diaper change! Anyway, the REAL things are $12. That is just ridiculous. So I perused the internet and found a tutorial. I was able to get the idea of how to do it, but the images were less than inspiring. SOOOO alas, here is my own tutorial on how to make them! Enjoy!

1. cut off a 2.5-3″ piece of the sock (if you are using regular socks, then this would be the section where the foot goes. just trim off the toe cap, and the heel, and you have the middle section to work with)

2. Push the little tube through itself, so that the wrong sides are facing each other.

3.Put the long part left from the sock inside the hole created by the little tube you just made. Right sides should be facing each other.

4. Once you sew the 2 tubes together with your machine (or hands I suppose), you may want to turn the entire thing inside out and then sew it narrower if your baby has thin legs like mine does….

Turn them right side out and there you have it!!! Your own baby legs!!! Almost as cute as the little legs you are about to put them on…..

Alternative way to make these: Cut the sock and just serge the raw edge. Done.

As you know, I have a baby on the way so I thought it’d be fun to have a few weeks of baby-related tutorials (at least for me, haha!).

Katie Kortman of Blue-Eyed Freckle is the genius behind this ruffle bottom onesie tutorial. She has so many great ideas and is such an artistic and fashionable girl! [...]]]>

As you know, I have a baby on the way so I thought it’d be fun to have a few weeks of baby-related tutorials (at least for me, haha!).

Katie Kortman of Blue-Eyed Freckle is the genius behind this ruffle bottom onesie tutorial. She has so many great ideas and is such an artistic and fashionable girl! We first met in college on a study abroad to New Zealand. You are going to love her.

(do you think baby boys can have ruffle bottoms? haha. kidding)

HOW TO MAKE A RUFFLE BOTTOM ONESIE

Materials needed:
-( 1 yard-ish) nylon chiffon or tule, or other non-fraying translucent material
-thread/ sewingmachine
-onesie/bloomers

1. cut 3 strips of the chiffon the lengths you want the ruffles to end up. make the strips about 3/4 to 1 inch wide.

2. next, cut out approx 9-12 circles per strip (depending on how long your strips are. mine were 5 1/2 in. long and I used 9 circles that were 2-3 in. in diameter).

images via Thimbly Things

Today I wanted to list all the projects I’m excited to give a try because I have a baby boy on his way… that’s right! I’m expecting! And I couldn’t be happier. Soon there will be THREE LITTLE BOYS tromping around here. Oh how I love my little fellas.

+ [...]]]>

images via Thimbly Things

Today I wanted to list all the projects I’m excited to give a try because I have a baby boy on his way… that’s right! I’m expecting! And I couldn’t be happier. Soon there will be THREE LITTLE BOYS tromping around here. Oh how I love my little fellas.

+ Soft Baby book by Thimbly Things
+ Baby Boy Onesie by Omi Creates
+ Little Boy’s Tie by The Purl Bee
+ Starched Fabric Wall Decal by How About Orange
+ Papercutting by AllAboutPapercutting

A few nights ago I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my friend and her new baby boy. I love these types of celebrations!

Some party details:

Of course the only photo I took of the food table was before all the food was on it. (I would do something like that – maybe because [...]]]>

A few nights ago I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my friend and her new baby boy. I love these types of celebrations!

Some party details:

Of course the only photo I took of the food table was before all the food was on it. (I would do something like that – maybe because a half an hour before guests arrived I was in the shower haha). We had the most delicious cheesecake ever (thanks, Amy!!), lemon bars, and chocolate cupcakes filled with whipped cream. Plus, we had Vietnamese Salad Rolls (thanks, Tricia!!) which are so yummy, artichoke-spinach dip, fresh strawberries, fresh clementines, and fresh veggies. Lemon water and Izzes to drink.

(love my Kroger flowers?!)

I made the garland out of craft paper and string. A matching one hung on the mantle.

The food was all labeled with these cute signs. I’m working on making this into a free download for you – I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

******UPDATE: Click HERE for the free download of these labels to use at your own party! It’s a 2-page pdf with the big labels I used for the food and the little labels I used on the cookie treats. Enjoy!******

I don’t believe any party guest should leave empty handed so everyone took a “glad you came” cookie for the road. (These labels will also be available soon for download)

And, of course, there were candy munchies a plenty (everyone needs buckets of m&ms!)

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I’ve also had a bunch of custom book orders lately – keep them coming! I love custom orders. I’ll post pics soon.

I just shipped off these baby shower invitations to my friend Jill. Cute, right?!

She wanted something accordion-style and this is what I came up with. The front covers are Amy Butler paper. The invitations measure 4.5″ by 3″ when they are all folded up.

So the next time you host something and need invitations, you can do [...]]]>

I just shipped off these baby shower invitations to my friend Jill. Cute, right?!

She wanted something accordion-style and this is what I came up with. The front covers are Amy Butler paper. The invitations measure 4.5″ by 3″ when they are all folded up.

So the next time you host something and need invitations, you can do this (or can hire me to, wink wink)! But, really, you can do it. Especially since I posted a detailed tutorial on how to make accordion books a couple months ago. If you are feeling fancy, you could adapt the pocket accordion book tutorial to be an invitation. The possibilities are endless here!

Like I’ve mentioned before, I am so excited to have a new nephew on his way to earth. It is great cause for celebrating. So, our family decided to celebrate together over a delicious dinner in mom’s fabulous yellow dining room. My sister, mom and I all worked together to make this meal from scratch. So [...]]]>

Like I’ve mentioned before, I am so excited to have a new nephew on his way to earth. It is great cause for celebrating. So, our family decided to celebrate together over a delicious dinner in mom’s fabulous yellow dining room. My sister, mom and I all worked together to make this meal from scratch. So tasty! I love dinner parties.

Menu:

Broccoli and Cheese soup (not the velveta kind – real cheese)
BBQ Brisquet
Spinach Salad
Crescent Rolls
Homemade Raspberry Icecream
Chocolate Cupcakes with yummy frosting

Decorations:

Red and orange pom poms
Name tags out of craft paper with an animal silhouette on each one
Coordinating cupcake toppers from the craft paper
Crowns for mom-to-be and dad-to-be to wear during the meal (of course the kiddo cousins each needed a crown after they saw them…)

Game:

Opening presents (that’s a game, right?)

The bottom line is that most bibs are ugly. And too small for toddlers. And say silly things on them. And are ugly.

So I tried out making my own. Except they are not for my family but my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting their first baby! Hooray!

I traced a bib I have to [...]]]>

The bottom line is that most bibs are ugly. And too small for toddlers. And say silly things on them. And are ugly.

So I tried out making my own. Except they are not for my family but my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting their first baby! Hooray!

I traced a bib I have to get the right shape and then I started sewing. I know, I know. It was crazy. I used a waterproof pad from Target in between the front and back layers of the bib. My original plan was to top stitch the binding on, but it was much easier to do a double binding and handstitch the back.

For a first try they turned out pretty good. I didn’t even have to unpick any of my seams!

… for the whole family! I made these spa wraps for my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting their first baby. Matching towels! They are very simple to make and totally satisfying.

I followed Skip to my Lou‘s hooded towel tutorial except I appliqued those cute strips of fabric on instead of sewing on ribbon (I couldn’t [...]]]>

… for the whole family! I made these spa wraps for my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting their first baby. Matching towels! They are very simple to make and totally satisfying.

I followed Skip to my Lou‘s hooded towel tutorial except I appliqued those cute strips of fabric on instead of sewing on ribbon (I couldn’t find any boy-ish enough that wasn’t also brown).

My mother-in-law showed me how to do the spa wraps. She usually attaches a silk flower to the girls’ wrap, but I decided to make a fabric flower instead. Wise Craft has a great tutorial for this little fabric flower pin. Super easy.

Is this a great baby shower present or what?! (Can you tell I’m feeling proud of myself?)

New idea here. By the end of the summer they will be in the shop.

Just like my other products, the baby journal that is listed in etsy is the very same one that will arrive at your house in the mail. This time, though, you can add a single initial to the front cover [...]]]>

New idea here. By the end of the summer they will be in the shop.

Just like my other products, the baby journal that is listed in etsy is the very same one that will arrive at your house in the mail. This time, though, you can add a single initial to the front cover in a coordinating print.

It’s the perfect baby shower gift.