Baby Shower Gifts

I have mentioned before that I LOVE sewing for baby girls! I was invited to a baby shower for my cousin and I am just so excited for them!!! My family does a joint gift in either a wagon or a lamper (yes, that is a real thing- it's like a big laundry basket/hamper) and I wanted to sew some things to put inside. My mom made a beautiful crocheted blanket, so I didn't do my traditional rag edge flannel blanket (tutorial HERE).

Her nursery colors are pink, purple, and red. I was really excited when I found this princess fabric in my stash! We were asked to bring a book instead of a card and my traditional girl baby shower gift includes Karen Kingsbury's Always Daddy's Princess. (Seriously, it makes me tear up every time!) Everything just coordinated so well!!! I made a ribbon taggy blanket and backed it in pink dot minky fabric.

I just want to take a moment to point out that if I ever sew something for you using minky fabric, you are really special. I hate working with that stuff! It is so slippery and a huge pain to work with.

My 11yo wanted to sew something, too. So, we made these flannel rag edge burp cloths. I did the quality control work and the decorative stitching around the edges.

Finally, I got a stuffed dog and added pink bows to make it more girly and coordinate with the gift and sit on top of the lamper.

Everything went together so well, so I was really happy with it. It made a nice gift combined with the lamper, mom's blanket, books, some of our favorite tried and true baby products, diapers, and more. We are really excited about this baby girl!!!

As I said, I really love making things for babies. Here are a few posts you might also be interested in...

Shirt and Suspender Memory Pillow Covers

I was asked to make these special pillow covers in memory of the recipients' loved one who had recently passed away. He was known for wearing these button down shirts and patriotic suspenders.

They were fairly easy to make. I had to iron all of the shirts really well, then slip my rotary cutting mat inside the shirt. Being careful of the placement of the buttons and pocket, I cut out a 16 1/2"square. I then cut another square out of the back of the shirt. I made loops out of navy bias tape that I had sewn together and sewed those to the bottom of the shirt panel.

Then, I just sewed the front and back all the way around. I serged the entire edge for durability. It was easy to use the button front to insert the pillow form. Last, I just hooked on the suspenders. It really was not too hard. I actually made six of these pillows, but just had Mom snap these pics of one of them on her phone.

A picture and a poem were placed in the pockets. I think this was a lovely idea, and I can't take credit for that part. I was honored to be a part of something special to make this Christmas a little nicer for the family.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do

,

 Monday Funday,

Motivate Me Monday

,

 Inspiration Monday,

Take a Look Tuesday

, 

Naptime Creations

,

 The Gathering Spot

, 

Carolyn's Homework

, 

The Winthrop Chronicles

,

 Handmade Tuesdays

,

Your Whims Wednesday,

Weekly Homemaking Party

,

Create It Thursday

, 

Treasure Hunt Thursday

, 

Thursday Favorite Things, 

Wildly Original

, 

Thriving on Thursday,

Grace at Home,

The 36th Party

, 

Freedom Fridays

, 

Feathered Nest Friday

, 

Simple and Sweet Fridays

,

 Craft Frenzy Friday

, 

Think Pink Sunday

, and 

Threading Your Way

Scrapbook Paper Collage Canvas Art ~ Hippo and Tiger

The next Christmas gifts were these canvas art pieces my daughter and I made together for her to give to her friends. Since this is her thing, I am going to let her tell you about them while I go make breakfast...

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Hello! I'm Halley, and as my mom said above I will be telling you all about these "Art Pieces".

First of all, I want you to know these were easy to make, and are worth any trouble you go through to make them. We started off by finding an adorable template for the animal on Pinterest. We traced the pieces that we needed onto paper and cut them out. Of course we didn't want an all-white hippo or tiger, so we picked a patterned  piece of paper for both the body and body pieces. (We used scrapbook paper, but you can use anything.) 

We did a collage for the background to make the animals really pop! I suppose it would work with a single piece of paper, but it definitely would not be as cute.We picked 3 pieces of scrapbook paper that  I think complement each other very nicely. We ripped them up into random shapes and used Modge Podge to make them stick to the canvas. We used the matte Mod Podge halfway through the hippo canvas then then decided that  the glossy would just give it "that look".

We again used Mod Podge to attach the actual hippo. Black buttons were hot glued on for eyes and nostrils. (It was very hard to let go of the hippo canvas, by the way!)  We just did all of these steps again for the tiger. The face and stripes were painted on with black paint. We thought we were done, but then we realized there were staples on the side. That was an easy fix- we just hot glued coordinating grosgrain ribbon onto the sides for a clever and cute way to hide the staples.  

Now, I know I'm not very good with instructions but I hope you can translate them and get results as good as ours, and possibly better! Overall this is pretty easy, and guaranteed to make the person who receives it VERY happy! 

Now, back to my oh-so-crafty mom!

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Thank you, Halley! I think these turned out really cute! One of her friends LOVES hippos and the other is soon getting her own jungle themed bathroom. These would be really cute for a nursery, but they are also a good kids craft, too. Besides scrapbook paper, you can use tissue paper or fabric. A friend of mine made me one of these and she used rubber stamps to add more dimension and pattern to the background. There really are a lot of possibilities. I was just glad that this was something she could make for her friends.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Monday Funday, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Your Whims Wednesday,  Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Feathered Nest Friday, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Think Pink Sunday.

Jelly of the Month Club Christmas Gift Idea

My family likes to do some homemade gifts and food is usually a good option because then the guys are happy, too. This year, for a few people, I decided to up my game a bit and do a "Jelly of the Month Club" with 12 assorted jams and jellies.

The ideal game plan was to do them throughout the year and eliminate stress in December. Well, I did half of them and then life happened. Things got busy and jam making was lower on my priorities list. I threw the last 6 together at the last minute, but WOW did my house smell good!  They are just the 4oz. jars, because that way, if they didn't like it, there was only a little. I hope that doesn't happen, though.

I love the assortment of colors and textures!I printed out little certificates, tied baker's twine around them, and printed out labels (from HERE).

Here is what I made (recipes linked as available):

Sour Cherry Jam
Gingerbread Jelly
Blackberry Jam
Blueberry Preserves
Orange Marmalade- I didn't really follow this- I zested the peels and didn't leave many of the thicker edges in. I hear they are good for you, but I just didn't want to do it.
Strawberry Lemon Marmalade
Cranberry Orange Pear Jam
Apple Butter
Caramel Spice Pear Butter
Apple Pie Jam
Carrot Cake Jam
Christmas Jam

Because it drives me crazy that the labels weren't lined up in the first picture...

I think I might try this again next year. It was fun to try out some new recipes and, after all, it is the gift that keeps on giving... the whole year! ;)

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Sew Can Do, Monday Funday, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays,Your Whims Wednesday,  Weekly Homemaking Party,Create It Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Feathered Nest Friday, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Think Pink Sunday.