It's Baby Time... Boppy cover

If you missed day one, day two, day three, or day four go take a look!

Today is the last day of baby gift ideas...

And I truly did save one of the best (and easiest) gift ideas for last!

If you have been a nursing mom in the last several years there is a good chance you had a sidekick called

THE BOPPY.

It is really the most amazing invention.

To bad they think so too.

Thirty bucks for a pillow?!

It makes this thrifty mamma cringe.

Good thing I use it like TEN time a DAY right now!

I am complaining about something I am not going to change with this post ;)

I will give you a tip though. 

When I was looking for other options I did find a nursing pillow 

(with a free pattern for a cover included)

at JoAnn's. 

It was expensive too but you could always use a coupon!

Anywho, back to today's gift.

My SIL has already received the boppy pillow but she still needed a cover.

I figured who wouldn't want a one of a kind cover over one anyone could buy.

So to google I went.

And I found this great tutorial that includes a PATTERN! Woo Hoo!!

I pulled some fabric out of my stash and an hour later I was done.

Seriously. It was that easy!

I tried it on my boppy pillow and it fit like a glove.

And just because I'm proud,

I wanted to show you my second- ever zipper!

I am seriously nailing my New Year's resolution this year. ;)

So, I want to know, do you have any babies in your life you have been crafting for? DO you have any great (easy) baby gift ideas? I am loving creating for my new little niece or nephew. (I am DYING to find out) It is making even MORE excited! Any of you expecting any new babies in your family?? Tell me about it!

xoxo

I'm linking to these great parties!

It's Baby Time... pee pee teepee :)

Can you believe it is already day FOUR of BABY TIME!

Dang, time flies when your having fun right?!

Today I have something special for those sweet baby boys

These are pretty self explanatory, but if your anything like me...

well let me just explain ;)

You use it to cover a little boy so he doesn't pee on you while changing his diaper.

(duh right?!)

(Sorry about the horrible pictures but I of course procrastinated and did not finish until late the night before the shower!)

I know I keep saying this but this was SO easy.

And I just used scraps I had in my stash.

These were the HIT of the party!

Everyone got such a good laugh out of them and I hear they are useful to boot!

(I wouldn't know. Thankfully little girls are kinder with their pee pee!)

I followed this awesome tutorial.

If your baby gift is missing a little umph...

this is exactly what it needs!

I hope this gives you a little inspiration!

Come back tomorrow for an easy peasy gift every nursing mamma needs!

much love 

I'm linking to these great parties!

It's Baby Time... baby leg warmers!

Are you ready for day three of BABY TIME!

I sure am!

(Mostly because each day that passes brings me one day closer to meeting my new niece or nephew! EHHHH!!)  

If you missed day one and day two you should go take a peek.

I promised yesterday that I would show you the other half of the stenciled onsies gift.

So here it goes...

BABY LEG WARMERS

Are these serious?!

They are so stinking cute!

You wanna make some?

They are SUPER easy.

4 EASY STEPS

1. Buy a cute pair of lady's knee high socks

2. Cut the feet off of the socks at the ankles

3. Flip them inside out and hem the bottom 

4. Take in the bottom about two inches and taper the seam out until you meet the edge

It really takes about 5 minutes to make.

SO...

Start perusing the dollar section at Target.

I give you permission ;)

Tomorrow I'll show you something cute (and easy of course) to make for a baby boy!

Come on back!

Much love

I'm linking to these great parties!

It's baby time... stenciled onsies

It's baby time again!!

If you missed day one go back and visit.

Today's craft was SO STINKING FUN to make.

Seriously.

I don't think I have ever been so excited to give a gift.

To bad Zade-babe was being a little turkey and I missed them opening it.

Such is life ;)

Have I told you yet that these were REALLY fun to make?!

All I did was dye each of the onsies and then I created stencils out of freezer paper.

A little fabric paint and Wha-la

a super cute,one-of-a-kind  baby gift.

(P.S. My brother-in-law loves to sail :)

If you want some great tips on dying and stenciling go here.

And...

Of course I have to show you my fail. :)

I tried to hombre dye this one.

Brent said it looked like the baby already pooped in it.

Bahaha!

That could have hurt my feeling if i didn't totally agree!

(To bad I gave it to them anyways. I mean the baby will probably poo in it anyways right!)

I hope this gives you a little baby-spiration!

(yes, i totally went there)

Come back tomorrow for the second half of this gift!

xoxo

I'm linking to these great parties!

It's Baby Time!

It's baby time here!

Don't worry, you didn't miss anything, I'm not pregnant.:)

But, my brother-in-law and his sweet girlfriend are!!

This weekend they had two baby showers.

One co-hosted by yours truly.

(Pictures to come)

I have been a busy bee the past few weeks making some precious baby gifts.

While working away I came up with a great idea...

Why not share these easy peasy, yet super easy crafts with YOU, my lovely friends?!

I consider myself a novice sewer (well crafter in general) and each of these crafts were very easy to accomplish.

The first gift I wanted to share, I have a mini tutorial for.

Yay me, except I forgot to take pictures of one part ;)

Nursing wraps, or as I like to call them- hooter hiders, are ESSENTIAL to nursing moms.

I use mine ALL the time.

If you try to purchase one you should be prepared to shell out around $30!

WHAT!

When I looked up tutorials on how to create one each set of directions I found was far to complex for

my taste.

Let's be serious, mine ends up bunched in a ball shoved into the diaper bag pretty much all the time.

The cute little pocket on the inside has never been used.

Honestly, I didn't even notice it until Zadie was 6 months old.

SO, I decided to create a tutorial for a super-simple nursing wrap.

Here we go!

You need:

1yd of fabric

(I recommend a pattern that with hide the inevitable wrinkles!)

2 D rings

1/2 yd of 1/2 inch boning

Sewing machine

thread

1. Cut your fabric into three pieces measuring 35x25, 28x5, and 10x5

2. On the largest piece of fabric fold the bottom under 1/4 inch and iron. Then fold over 1inch and iron again.

Hem the bottom edge staying as close to the top as possible to catch both folds.

(This will give you a nice finished hem.)

3. Now follow the same steps and hem the two sides.

4. Set the main piece to the side for a bit and grab the longer strap piece.

Fold in half, width wise, and iron.

6. Hem the two sides, leaving one end open to turn the strap. Cut each of the corners at an angle.

Turn right side out

and press.

 Now top stitch along the three edges.

(leaving the end not sewn alone because it will be hidden.)

5. Grab the smaller strap piece and follow the same steps, but leave BOTH ends open and only top stitch up  two sides.

Slide the D-rings on and pin the ends of the strap together.

Sew a seam as close to the rings as possible to prevent the rings from sliding.

(The baby is wiggly enough to not have to worry about a wonky strap!)

6. It's time for the boning...

(don't be scared :))

Cut your boning down to 13 inches, rounding the corners so they wont rip the fabric over time.

Fold the top of the main piece of fabric over 1/4 inch 

then 3/4 inch

iron.

Now we need to mark our fabric for the straps and boning.

First mark the center of the fabric with a pin.

Measure out from the pin 6.5 inches each direction and pin.

Here we go for my do-do moment. I got so into the project that I forgot to take pictures :(

Sorry! 

But, to make up for it you can follow this link and skip to step 7.

She gives very clear instructions and she has great pictures on how to add the straps and boning!

Here is my finished project:

I love how it turned out!

And...

The happy parents-to-be told me it was their FAVORITE gift from the shower!

(later, not in front of people... and they may or may not have been buttering me up to be a free babysitter...;)

Anywho, it was fun. It was easy. It is WAY useful. And it is cute to boot!

I call that a win!

Come back tomorrow for more baby-licious fun!

xxxx,

I'm linking to these great parties!

Lately...

I have been working on a lot of projects lately.

I actually just finished one I love today.

But I am far to tired to try to tackle those posts tonight.

So I just wanted to stop by and let you know what I have been up to.

image via

I finally went running again.

Boy, do I HURT today!

But it was so nice and the stress reliever I needed.

Today was an emotional day.

We had to say goodbye to an old and dear friend.

Ginger, my husbands childhood dog, died today at the ripe old age of 17.

She was a precious girl and she will be greatly missed by all.

A lot of tears have been shed and Zadie had her first interaction with death.

It has been a long day.

On a good note,

I get to spend every day with this smiling face.

She is such a sweet girl!

Please bear with me as I re-coop from our very active weekend and our loss of a sweet friend.

I promise I will be back soon with the super cool projects I have been working on!

How has your life been lately? Please tell me it has been better than mine?! :) Do you have any sweet puppies that have stolen your heart too? I would love to hear about them.

xoxo

Maxi Dress for my niece

My niece just turned 10

and she is just so precious!

Get this- 

She asked this year if she could celebrate her birthday at our family's Easter lunch  so that my grandfather (her great grandfather) could come!

Seriously. I just love her!

Except- lately she LOVES to remind me that I am 

17 years older than her!

 (add a 10 year old dramatic voice)

Thank you sweetheart- if I did not already feel ancient, I do now!

Speaking of ancient

I am totally not into this peace sign, neon color fad.

I know. Sad day.

But for my precious niece I will do almost anything.

Even sew hideous fabric.

(It is not really hideous- I am being dramatic)

To make this Maxi I totally cheated.

I bought 11/2 yards of fabric

and a tank from target.

I cut the tank where I wanted the waist to hit

and the rest I photographed for your enjoyment.

(Sorry about the picture quality. I cannot find the time to sew or photograph during the day. My rascals are very rascally lately)

* That should say skirt top. Sorry! (Blush)

TA-DA!

It was SO easy.

My niece LOVED it and

It took about an hour

and you know how slow I am ;)

x x x x

(hugs)

I'm linking to these great parties!