Gift Basket For A Mama

A friend of mine just had her third baby.  I think when we have our first child we are lavished with gift upon gift upon gift.  Usually, by the time the third child arrives, you don't need a whole lot of new "baby stuff", but it is still nice to get a little gift.  (At least I love receiving gifts...I'm sure I'm not the only one, right??)

So I decided to make up a little gift basket for her and her family.  Here are my ideas of what you can give a friend who is a new mom...again.  First of all, making a meal for someone is Always welcomed!  But a gift certificate to a great restaurant is a good idea, too.

Next, make a delicious dessert.  I made these pioneer woman brownies.  They are a favorite of the mama I gave them to.

Add a little something special other than food.  Comfy socks and a good book will do the trick.

And finally, a little something for baby.  And for older brother and sister, too.  A taggie blanket, a child-sized infinity scarf (make one or buy from etsy) and a cute T (tshirt tutorial coming next week!).

Throw a gift basket together.  It doesn't take a lot of time and it will bring a smile to the new (or new-ish) mama in your life.

Winter Blues

About the time February rolls around, I am completely over winter.  I am living in fuzzy socks and a bathrobe, because no amount of layers warms me up.  I am tired of all the pretty white snow I thought we needed back at Christmas time, and I am in need of a pick me up.  

Thank goodness for Valentine's Day, right?  That gives me a holiday to decorate for, but the thing is February is close to January, and January is when we do our big budget review.  I am still acutely aware of the dollar amount budgeted for decorating ($0), so I have to get creative with what I do.  I spent no money on decorations, and only used what I had.  

I am not gonna lie, I raided my daughter's school supplies and toys to find several items to brighten up the house.  Felt hearts with magnets on the back were one of these items.

A few more hearts up on the chicken wire frame, and some new photos were put up in the kitchen.

I had leftover fabric from a Valentine dress I made my daughter a few years ago, so that was turned into a pillow cover.  I also collected all my pink scrap material to make a heart pillow cover.

More leftover Valentine fabric from a dress.  If you need someone to help you determine how much fabric you need for a project, I am not your girl.  I never buy the right amount.  Do you have that problem, or is it just me?  

My daughter's room was the easiest to make look festive for Valentine's.  She had a quilt tucked away that I made her last year that is all pink and purple, so that was put on the bed, along with her bling'd out pillow that couldn't be more girlish if I tried.

Paper hearts made by my daughter were strung and hung in front of her door.

And finally, a new sensory box.  Rice colored various shades of pink, with wooden hearts, jewels, scoops, and containers.  I threw in some essential oils too, just to add a nice aroma to the box.  It is almost like playing at the beach in the sand on a sunny day.  Almost. 

This little sensory box keeps her entertained for a solid hour at a time, so I can work on my own projects (see the mess behind her?  That's my next project.)  Having fun things to do helps pass the cold winter days, as we wait for spring to arrive.

Quick Tip Monday

My husband and I never really had trouble keeping track of remotes until our daughter came along.  What is it about those things that's so interesting to little hands?  We used to place the remotes on the sofa arm rest, but once she was mobile they were often found in play kitchens, under bathroom sinks, pretty much anywhere they should not be.

The solution?  Velcro.  On a too high to reach spot for little ones.  We implemented this about 3 1/2 years ago, and it has worked really well for our family.

The rough side went on the remote.  The fuzzy side went on our Expedit 4x4 shelf

The remotes are at my shoulder height, so no need to worry about little hands sneaking off with them.

What method do you use to keep track of easily misplaced items?

"Embroidered" Art

I have a dream.  To stop pinning and start doing!

I've had this idea from JDC pinned for quite awhile and I decided to make my own version with materials that I had on hand.

I used:  

scrap material & scrap cardstock

glue gun & scissors

a nameplate

sewing machine & colored thread

marker & disappearing fabric pencil

I followed the basic method that Emily outlined in her blog post only I decided I wanted to "embroider" my letters instead of using paper.  I also decided to use the initials of mine and my husband's first names and last name along with our wedding date.

Here is how I did my fake embroidery.

1.  I typed the letters in the style that I wanted on my computer.

2.  I used my fabric pencil to sketch the letters onto the fabric.

3.  I then picked a couple of stitches on my computer that I thought would work to mimic the look.  Stitch 1 and 17.

4.  I used stitch 1 for the thin lines of the letters and stitch 17 for the thicker lines.

5.  After stitching the letters, this is what it looked like.

6.  I then placed the piece of glass on the back of the material.

7.  Hot glued the fabric in place and put it in the frame.

 

8.  I then hot glued the nameplate to the front.

9.  Cut out a piece of cardstock to fit and wrote our wedding date with a sharpie.

I'm very happy with the results and it is a nice personalized piece of art in our home.  It will probably end up in our bedroom but for now it is sitting on the piano. 

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to accomplish!  Is there anything that you have made off of pinterest recently?

Cloud Mobile

Sometimes you just need a quick project.  Today was one of those days.  This project took about 20 minutes from start to finish (and that is including me fighting with my sewing machine).  A friend of mine sent me this pin, and I knew it would be the perfect addition to my daughter's already bright room.

For this project I used felt.  It is one of my favorite things to work with because it is so easy.

Materials Needed:

Felt

Scissors

Sewing Machine

Thread

Ribbon to hang cloud

It is a pretty simple project, so let's get to it.

 I didn't use a pattern, and you can see all of my hearts are different.  

I free-handed the cloud as well.

If you are looking for perfection, you will not find it in this project.  

I did not measure anything for this project.  To space my hearts out, I just kept sewing until they dropped off the back of my machine.  

I hand stitched the extra thread at the tops of the chain of hearts to one layer of the clouds.

 Since I used felt, I didn't even mess with sewing the cloud pieces together, snipping around the edges and turning it right side out.  I just laid my two cloud pieces on top of each other and sewed around the outside leaving the raw edge.  After I was about 3/4 of the way around, I filled the cloud with a little bit of stuffing.  I also made sure to backstitch over the areas were the hearts were hanging just to give it some extra sturdiness should any little fingers feel the need to yank on the hearts.  

My daughter requested we make 'diamond hearts' to hang from the cloud.  Since I had no idea what that meant, I asked if we could just place tiny diamonds on the hearts.  This appeased her, so we glued diamonds to the hearts. 

What quick projects have you been working on this week?

Quick Tip Monday!

We are starting a new series called 'Quick Tip Monday!'.  We will be sharing a short post every Monday with a simple idea.  We'd love to hear your feedback in our comment section or fb page!

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Today's quick tip!  How to hang a frame, small plate, or other object that doesn't already come with a picture hanger.

Simply hot glue a pop tab to the back of your object.

And hang it on a nail.

A Monogram Taggie

I had a friend ask me to make a taggie for her baby boy.  While looking for fabrics at the store (and can I just say how many CUTE baby fabrics there are, right now?!), I decided to add a monogram to the front.  Nothing personalizes a baby item like a monogram and it is such a simple addition.

Materials:

various ribbon

two different 14" squares of fabric

a letter pattern

extra fabric for your letter

optional:  14" square quilt batting

1.  Cut out your monogram and pin and sew it to the front fabric piece.

2.  Cut pieces of ribbon in various lengths.  Fold in half and pin them to the right side of the back piece of fabric.  Sew along the outside edge.

3.  Layer your fabrics.  Batting, back piece face up, front piece face down.

4.  Pin and sew around the outside edge.  Leave a small space open in order to turn the piece right side out.

5.  After it is turned right side out, top stitch around the outer edge to finish and to close the opening.  Press, if needed.

Make one for yourself or for a friend who is having a baby.  Every mama will love the personal touch of a monogram taggie for her little one!