Baby Sister Blanket

My six year old has had it in his head that he NEEDS to sew a baby blanket for his baby sister before she arrives. I think it's cute that he's so excited about it. We finished the blanket just a few days ago. It only took us two afternoons.



Alexander picked out the fabric with a very specific blanket design in mind. A few days later my sister gave us a blanket out of the same flowered fabric for Christmas! It would have been very similar to the one Alexander would make, so I talked him into making quilt squares instead of just two large pieces sewn together as he had originally planned (although, I do wish the squares were larger). Now the blankets match, but are not the same. I was also able to talk him into using soft minky dots fabric for the backing instead of pilly fleece.



You may have noticed that the satin blanket binding is two different colors. (That comes from my grandma's stash.) Alexander really wanted the binding to be pink, but we didn't have enough pink to go around. So even though we had enough yellow binding, he decided to do half and half, exactly as shown with the two pink sides touching and the two yellow sides touching.



I love the little message he chose to put on the back of the blanket. So sweet!

I did most of the "steering" while Alexander pressed the pedal for me. It's really fun to have a little helper! It does make things go slower, but it's worth it. I'm trying to let him have more freedom, but I can't resist jumping in and offering my ideas (such as avoiding cheap-o fleece).

My Stella Pixie Hat Knockoff

I got this idea here from Sew Liberated. She is amazing! Her little boy looks so cute in this Stella Pixie Hat! But alas, I'm not a knitter. My sister Bridey is (as you can see from her blog), but I was hoping she'd knit my baby girl a sweater (hint, hint). So I decided to fake—I mean make—the hat myself.



I made this cap out of some knit fabric I had on hand. Who says blue has to be a boy color only? I think it looks so cute with the contrasting white jersey knit. And just to make it especially clear that this is a girl's hat, I added a little white flower with a tiny pearl-like bead center (bead from Grandma's trim stash that I inherited).



I wish I could try this on an actual baby because I'm not sure how the fit will be. (I still chuckle over the ill-fitting monkey newborn onesie and cap I made Lincoln, then had to cut off him because it was so small!) I think my Kirsten doll's head is smaller than a newborn's, so I can't get the full effect. If only I had my one-day-old niece nearby.



Speaking of my newborn niece, I wonder if she'd like one of these. Hmmmm...

Alligator Clips. Real Ones.

Currently in our homeschool (preschool and Kindergarten) the kids and I are learning about the Everglades, and more specifically, alligators. Today we made these alligator clips out of... alligator clips. The original idea (that my sister came up with when we were planning the school year) was to use clothespins and hang them from a string or use a magnet to hold pictures of alligators. But since I didn't have any clothespins I just used what I had on hand. The boys are having fun making their alligators snap at each other. I've got mine in my hair today—all in the name of making education exciting for my kids—but after today it will probably go on my bulletin board.

P.S. Family and friends: if you would like the link to mine and my sisters' homeschool blog for this year, "Soaring Over America", let me know in an email or comment and I'll send you an invite.

Featured!

I'm so honored that my Sawyer Bibs are being featured today on She Wears Flowers. Tammy, the blog author, makes adorable stuff for her three girls and her home. We knew each other way back when, before I had ANY little monkeys swinging from my tree. You should see the cute "cakes" she's been making this week, with tutorials for all the fixings. Thanks, Tammy!

Baby Swing Makeover

See that flowered fabric? I bought it a few months ago, not sure what I would make out of it, but knowing that I would "need" it for the baby.



I bought this baby swing at a yard sale earlier in the year. I wasn't crazy about the cover. So I decided to make a new cover. Then I decided I would reuse the old padding for the new cover. Then I decided to just cover the old cover. Then I realized that the only part I really didn't like was the animals with the weird patterned oatmeal background. So I decided to just cover those parts. I saved myself a lot of time!



As I looked through my fabric stash I realized that the orange and yellow flowers on brown would go perfectly with the striped trim already on the cover. Ah Hah! So I did "need" that fabric, just as I predicted!



The green striped bias tape was leftover from Sawyer's bibs (last post).



So what do you think? The baby swing was okay without the makeover, but it's definitely more girly than before (although not your traditional pink). And it's so much fun to be able to use flowers for the first time on something for my own kids!

Baby Sawyer Bibs

You are probably expecting to see baby girl things. But one of my sisters recently had a baby boy, so I needed something for him.



These simple-to-make bibs are backed with washcloths and have Velcro closures.



I love bias tape! Especially when it is inexpensive and comes in any fabric I want! (Meaning, I make it myself)



Lincoln, my little monkey, models one of his newest cousin's bibs:

Feminine Flower Brooch/Hair Clip

Remember my feminine flower headband from last year? This morning I needed a pin for my sweater so I whipped this up in a minute or two. So easy! The silk flowers came from a craft store closeout I went to last year. (Zim's—it was the craziest place, like I stepped into a time machine and went back to a craft store of 25-30 years ago.)



All that's needed for this project (besides the flower, of course) is an alligator clip, a brooch pin, and a little hot glue. Most of the time spent on this project was waiting for my mini glue gun to heat up.



Here's my 34-week pregnant belly with the brooch/hair clip and headband set.



Maybe I should save some of these flowers for the baby girl!



I like the flower as a hair clip because I can place it lower in my hair than the headband. When I wear the headband to church I feel like I'm blocking the view of the person sitting behind me!



Speaking of flowers, I'm really enjoying Grograin's month of Shoe Sugar. I need to make some of these! I also want to make more homemade flowers like the one I made for Melanie's purse last year.

Karissa's Apron

I promised an apron to my sister-in-law for her bridal shower ages ago. Here (finally!) is the finished product. A month or two ago the Relief Society had a craft day, and making aprons was one of the crafts. I already had the fabric picked out, so it was a great way to get the project going. How fun it was to sew along with friends! Let's do it some more!



Here's the little darling herself, modelling the apron. Doesn't that inspire you to cook or bake?



I love the over-sized rick rack and absolutely adore the turquoise ball trim. I got some more of that for a blanket I'm going to make for Baby Girl.