Card for the Expectant Parents

 K and G are expecting their first child at the end of January and recently found out they are having a little girl. I made this card before they knew for sure what they were having, but the colors seem to it now.

This is a super simple card, and a good reason to splurge on some of the $1 paper craft/scrapbook supplies available at Joann's.

The purple paper came from my stash and I used a decorative punch to filigree the corner. The yellow around the quote stands out so nicely on the purple.

The whole reason for the yellow flower in the lower right corner, which is set on a pink plaid chip board sticker, is to cover up a mistake I made with the punch. It never fails, I always seem to goof up one corner. But in this case you would never know if I didn't tell you.

The quote says "We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson  Personally, I think this is a great sentiment for expectant parents. I may use it on another card in the future...

Sweet Baby Gifts (pt 2)

 To go along with the receiving blanket from yesterday's post, I made this super-duper simple and girly quilt. Again, being short on time, I opted for a really easy, basic quilt design.

The new mommy is a Hello Kitty fanatic! So when I saw this pink, cutesy fabric, I knew I had to get it. I got a yard and a half of the Hello Kitty print, one yard each of pink and white, and matching binding. Naturally, there was plenty of the pink and white left over because it's always nice to have some solid colors around.

I used all the Hello Kitty print though - three strips on the front and then the rest as the back of the quilt. The HK strips were about 5" finished, the pink about 4" and the white stripes are all 2" finished by the width of the fabric. The finished quilt size was about 35"x 43".

The only thing I didn't get a picture of was the back - which is just the HK fabric bordered by the solid pink. In total this quilt took me about three days to finish given the limited time I had. You can see that I used simple straight line quilting. Really, if I had a good day to work on a quilt and needed to have one finished, this is the design I would use.

This is also a great beginner quilt. It is simple and can easy be made in to a more striking design by using more vibrant or contrasting patterns than the ones I've used.

In the end, the new mommy loved the quilt, and I had the honor of giving the new baby her very first Hello Kitty blanket!

Sweet Baby Gifts (pt 1)

 I love being crafty  when it comes to baby gifts. There are so many things that can be made for little ones that are not that difficult or expensive to make, but still loved by the new mommy and baby alike.

One of our cousins is expecting their first baby girl any day now. Her actual due date isn't until February 9th, but the mommy is so petite that there is no way she will make it that long. She is really fun and girly so I knew I would be able to make a super fun gift to give her.

Because I was limited on time, I was only able to really do a receiving blanket and quilt, but both were still very much appreciated.

Here is the receiving blanket. I love making these because they literally take an hour from start to finish. I chose a cute strawberry print to match the quilt and the flower/ladybug print to match the rest of the nursery. Both flannels were on clearance so this was a nice cheap project.

I got one yard of each, trimmed them to equal size, and pinned with right sides together. I sewed around the material, leaving an opening just large enough to pull the blanket right side out) after snipping the corners to reduce on bulk). Once flipped right side out, I sewed another hem all the way around which closed the opening and gave it a nice finished look.

Just imagine how easy it would be to turn out a bunch of these just to have on hand for last minute gifts. It makes me think that when my budget allows, I'm going to stock up on cute flannels and do just that!

Baby Gift, pt 2

So yesterday I told you about a friend expecting a baby girl and I showed you have the gift that I made for her baby shower. Well, today I get to show you the last two things in the gift. Not a lot of blah, blah, blah today, just going to get straight to it.

First is the first receiving blanket I've ever made. Knowing that the parents were going for an Asian theme in the nursery made it difficult to shop for material. But when I spotted this red, black and white lantern flannel I got so excited I almost did a happy dance in the middle of Joann's!

Again, sorry for the horrible, rushed pictures. I found a beautiful, rich red flannel for the back of the blanket and couldn't be happier with how it turned out!

The biggest part of the gift was a baby quilt. I knew they would have a hard time finding something in the stores in the colors they choose. It was an obvious choice for me to make the quilt but the materials I chose were less obvious. I spent over an hour trying to pick just the right ones.

Inspiration for the design came from Pinterest. I am the first to admit I was not really digging the color choices for a baby nursery. Yet, as I chose the fabrics and really thought about it, I realized it was actually a pretty good choice of colors. This blanket is something Kaiya can take with her throughout her life. It doesn't look childish or babyish, so when she goes off to college she can take this (by then well worn) blanket with her for security and a feeling of home without having to explain having a baby blanket.

I really wish I had gotten a better picture of the quilt, all laid out would have been great. I think I may have to make another one just to show the simple beauty of the design. If you want a better view of the fabrics used, take a look at yesterday's post, I made the soft blocks out of leftover fabric from this quilt! I love when nothing gets wasted!

Baby Gift, pt 1

So I took last week off to begin getting everything in my office organized. Something I've desperately needed  to do for quite some time, and still have not finished. This week I am back and hoping to post at least four days this week. I have been crafting like crazy and am really looking forward to sharing some of the things I've made.

First up is half of a baby shower gift I recently made for the friend of the family. She is having a little girl, due any time now, that they are naming Kaiya. The expectant mommy is not a huge fan of pink but both her and her hubby love the Japanese culture and Asian inspired decor. They chose to do the nursery in red, white and black.

All little girls have tons of hair bows and flowers and it can be very difficult to keep them all organized. So I made them this personalized bow board in their colors of choice. The monogram really stands on the damask black and white background. (Sorry about the horrible pictures, but I had to shoot them quickly before we delivered the gift!)

You can see that I even started them out with the first two bows for the board: a lovely red and white bow and a cute black and white with musical notes. Knowing the father is very musically oriented, I knew I couldn't pass up that ribbon when I saw it!

Another cute little item in the gift was the soft blocks in the nursery colors. They are good size blocks, but soft enough for baby hands to grip. Granted, baby Kaiya won't be playing with these for a couple of months. It is a cute little toy made from some scrap material that was a quick and easy addition to the gift.

Naturally, being a crafter, these were not the only gifts I gave. But, for the big gifts, you will have to come back tomorrow! I will add the last two items then and they are super cute and made the expectant mommy squeal!