Embroidered baby bibs

We recently hosted my husband's college roommates, their wives, and their babies for a weekend of fun in Northern Michigan.  Summer is the best time to be here, and we were so lucky that everyone could make it!  We had a total of 15 adults (including us) and 5 babies (including Lincoln, with him being the oldest at 11 months!).  Needless to say there was a lot of food, babies, and fun around this house.  In preparation, I thought it'd be sweet to make all of the babies matching bibs... you know... for all the work they put into coming up.  :)

I had seen onesies with little ties on them for boys in local boutiques and thought that was perfect for the little mini-men.  For the girls, I did a simple fabric stripe and bow.  I embroidered the names of the 5 babies who were present.  There are twin girls on the way for one couple, so they got a set of bibs, too.  But, the names are not being shared, so their bibs are nameless.  :)

I started by just free-handing a tie shape onto wax paper for my template and cut the fabric to match for the boys bibs.  Always leave a 1/2" seam allowance.  For the girls, I just cut out a strip of fabric.  To reinforce, I used some fusible interfacing that I had as scrap.  I then used a satin stitch and outlined the fabric.  To add the little details that make it more fun, I embroidered the name with my machine.

Lincoln's was the first bib I attempted since I was just kind of trying it out without any real direction.  I had set the stitch width to zero, which was not right.  I had to manually pull his through, and you can see it on the stitching.  He doesn't mind, though, and I learned better for the other bibs.

For the girls' bibs I also made a bow by cutting a strip of fabric and folding the edges under, and then in half.  I attached it with a few stitches and then tied the bow.  Next time it would be better to not stitch it down in the center, because when you tie the bow, one tail end is longer than the other.  But, the girls didn't mind this, either. 

Roll them up... tie with ribbon...

Arrange in a cute little bucket...

And attach a little tag for all our new friends.

:)

Baby Sleeping Sign

As a gift for a shower, I made a baby sleeping sign.  As a mom to an 11-month old (when did he get so big and old?!!?) with two golden retrievers, I personally hang a sad yellow post-it on the door when he is sleeping.  Once that baby boy of mine goes down, I will go to great lengths to keep him sleeping.  I think all moms can admit to driving around town just to keep a baby sleeping.

So, in hopes that my sister-in-law doesn't resort to a post-it note, I painted her a little sign.  It was inspired by this one on etsy.  I figured it was super cute... and also super easy to make.

So, I got things together.

I got this piece of wood from my father-in-law's custom cabinetry business.  It was scrap to him, and perfect for me.

Line up the paint colors and choose your combo.

Lay down cardboard and mix up your colors.  I used brushes for the paint, and the ends of the foam brushes to make the polka-dots.  I drew on the letters free-hand using a toothpick.  I think the original one that I worked from used the rub-on scrapbook letters... but I didn't have them on hand, and a bit of imperfection adds a bit of character... don't you think?

I love the polka-dots and the imperfection of them.  I did have to re-do the top line 3 times.  Not quite sure why it wasn't working time after time.  The little purple dashes along the stripes were done with a toothpick, also.

I hope she'll be proud to hang this on her front door.

Add a little ribbon for the hanging...

And paint the backside and use some picture hardware to make it more finished.

And, the little details that make it more special.  I don't know baby girl's name... but a heart and the date should do just fine.

I hope that baby girl is a good sleeper... and hopefully this sign will help!

Personalized Gift Tags

I love giving gifts.  It is just so fun to think of something that someone will really enjoy, and buy it for them.  And, one thing I love to do before giving a gift, is making it even more personalized with the wrapping.  There is just something about the little details that can make someone feel that much more special.

We celebrated many birthdays in July.  One being the first birthday of Lincoln's friend, Micah; and another being our sister-in-law Lisa's 27th birthday.  I decided to wrap the gifts each in the same paper... and make similar gift tags to top them off.

These just kind of came together as I went.  And, it only took maybe 5 minutes total.  Even better.

I just free-hand drew some letters on the extra wrapping paper after cutting it to the size of the gift.  Put it through my trusty sticker maker (which I love... and works like a champ at its ripe 'ole age of 9 years... at least!), stuck the letters to cardstock, cut it out with fun scissors, outlined in permanent marker and added an eyelet to make it feel a bit more finished.

And, of course you have to add ribbon... real ribbon... in colors to suit the special person!

I think that these will become bookmarks.  Even better.  The cuteness lives on.