Strawberry Baby Shower

My friends threw me a huge, girly, strawberry themed baby shower a couple of weeks ago.  So much love and effort went into every detail, thank you to everyone who helped put it together and came to celebrate with me.  It was a night I will never forget.

 Party favor gumballs with a cute thank you note.

 It was an "open house" style shower, so my friend had a door prize game.

 The advice notebook was so cute, I loved all the entries.

The clothes are being washed and all the wonderful baby gifts are finding places in her room.  Now, the waiting begins!  Just a couple more weeks, hopefully.

Diaper Castle

 A friend of mine is due with her first girl just a couple of weeks before me.  I made this as a gift, along with a couple of other small things, and it served as a table decoration for the shower as well.  Perfect!  I just browsed around Pinterest to see what others had done and kind of made it up as I went.

All of the diapers are size 1.  The bottom level is 3 rows of 20 or so diapers each.  I wound some washi tape around the three rows to hold them in place while I cut the ribbon to size and attached with double sided tape in the back.  You can see my polka dot washi tape through the ribbon if you look closely.  I used it on each level and to wrap the individual turrets.  It held the diapers in place and is easy to peel off without damaging so you can actually use the diapers too.

The second and third levels are circular.  I folded each diaper in half and awkwardly held them in a circle while I taped them together.  It would have been much more difficult to just attach the ribbon around without the washi tape.  Those diapers are small and slip easily.

Each turret is one rolled up diaper, individually wrapped in washi tape and ribbon.  I cut some semi circles out of scrapbook paper and made a cone shape, secured with double sided tape.  Lastly, the flags were made with green washi tape wrapped around a toothpick.

I didn't secure any levels or turrets to each other since it needed to be transported to the shower and assembled there.  It is really easy to assemble, and since it was a table decoration, it wasn't necessary for it to be super sturdy.  As long as your washi tape and ribbon around each level and turret are secure, you are good to go.

Congrats to Vanessa and her little princess....coming soon!

Boy Oh Boy Baby Shower

 A few weeks ago, I helped host a baby shower for a friend expecting her 4th boy!  We went with a "Boy Oh Boy" theme, keeping the decorations and food clean and simple.  Since it was an evening shower, we did a small dessert spread and hung paper lanterns above the table.  Some white cake stands for the food and a little bit of blue tulle and we called it good.

 One of the guests made a diaper trike out of diapers, baby blankets, bibs, socks, and a bottle for the headlight.  I should have asked her how long it took to make!  Super cute and would make a great centerpiece at a baby shower.

Another friend did some fun games and made an adorable video of the three older brothers talking about their new addition to the family.  It was so cute and something that the Mom to be can take home with her to cherish for years to come.  Such a great idea.

 As guests left, we had a small treat for them to take home.

The push pop containers were bought at a local craft store and filled with mini cupcakes or brownies, layered with frosting.

On a personal note, sorry for not keeping up on this blog lately....if anyone actually reads it anymore.....(crickets chirping).....

We've been busy with summer traveling and getting back to school.....AND growing our own little baby!  I'm due with my 4th around the end of March and we are excited for this new adventure.  I could be having my 4th boy, just like my friend!  And I can honestly say that I would be completely ok with that.  Boys are awesome!  We'll find out the gender after Halloween sometime, so stay tuned and hopefully I'll get a few more things up on the blog before then.

Retro Cupcake Oven Box

  Retro Cupcake Oven Box

So cute, right?  Bought the printable HERE and am so glad I did.  They are adorable to look at, hold the cupcake well so the it is protected during transportation, and easy to print and assemble. 

So far, I have made a few for a baby shower, including a little flag on top of the cupcakes that said "bun in the oven".

And then, my son decided he wanted to make them for his class on his birthday.....

It took a long time, but we pulled it off...and the kids loved it, so it was worth it.  Just pop in a movie or two if you are planning on busting out 30 of these.

Three Baby Quilts

 Baby #1

Our YW leaders have been having babies lately!  Flannel top with a minky back, tied with cute yarn by the Laural class.  I bound the edges by cutting one side of the fabric a little smaller than the other and then rolling the edge and sewing it closed.  Didn't take too long and they all turned out cute.  Beware: Minky fabric (the cute, bumpy, soft fabric that everyone loves) is really hard to work with on a sewing machine.  It's a bit stretchy and slippery, so watch your fabric to make sure it stays where you want it to stay!  Lesson learned after picking out a couple of spots where the fabric slipped out of where I  was stitching.

Baby #2

My quilt holder's head showing a bit here...

And his assistant....

 Quilt holder's arms getting very tired!

Baby #3

Babies #2 and #3 are twins, thus the matching fabric.  Can't wait to get these delivered, Enjoy!

Trouble Onesie

Here is my adorable nephew in his onesie that I made him.  He does look like trouble, doesn't he?

Double Trouble

My friend is having twins next month! Couldn't resist making these for her baby shower.

I had one extra baby onesie, so this one is going to my new nephew.  My boys had a similar shirt when they were little.

Sisters Baby Shower

My sister in law is due with her first at the end of this year.  Her sister is due soon as well and their mom decided to throw them a double Sisters Shower.  I can't make it to the shower due to hundreds of miles of Nevada desert between me and the party, but I got to do the next best thing...make decorations and invites for it!

Paper Ball chains from MADE.  So easy to make if you have a circle punch and can sew a straight-ish line.  I only "fluffed" the first few balls on the chain so they wouldn't get crushed in the mail.  

Welcome sign for the front door.  We don't know the gender of one of the babies yet, so we are going with polka dots in neutral colors.

Food labels.  I wrote out what I knew would be served (brunch, yum!), but sent a bunch of blank ones as well, just in case there were menu changes or additions.

Banner for the fireplace.  I didn't string it together for mailing purposes again.  It was fun to coordinate everything with the same polka dot theme.

 The invitations.  The girls' mom came up with the little saying at the beginning and I took care of the rest.  I've had the digital scrapbook paper and embellishment on my computer for while now, sorry I don't know the source.  I'm sure it was free though, I don't normally pay for digital scrapbook stuff.

 

 We also included a little insert with the invitation explaining group gift options and registry information.  I hope you have a wonderful shower Tiffany and Katie!  Wish I could be there!

Little Irish Girl Quilt

One of my son's autism tutors recently had her first baby, a girl!  Knowing that the mom loved her Irish heritage (her wedding colors were even orange, green, and white), we decided a little tribute to Ireland for the baby was in order.

I do realize if this was a flag it would be upside down.  I already gave her the quilt before I realized my mistake and couldn't retake the pictures.  Luckily, this is just a loose interpretation and can just pretend it's a color block quilt instead, right?

Backing was a simple yellow floral print.  We didn't know the gender at the time I was making the quilt, otherwise we may have thrown in a bit of pink here.

There is the correct way for the flag!  I quilted a lot of small width straight lines with a couple of wider strips down each color, for some visual and textural interest.

I'm not going to lie, it took a while to sew all of those lines, but it was a worth it in the end.  The quilt washed up beautifully and is super soft.

Congrats to the Nelson family!  Can't wait to see more pictures of their little Irish girl!