Cheap Baby-Doll Bed

If you ask my son what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you quite frankly “I want to be a daddy!”  He loves babies and kids and he’s always asking if we can have 20 kids in our family…of course my response is always “Nope!”  He has a baby doll that he got when he was almost two and in that stage where all that little toddlers love babies. 

When his baby sister was born last December, my mom came to visit laden with matching items such as blankets and pajamas for his baby sister and his baby doll.  It was very thoughtful of her.

There have been many times when my laundry baskets have been confiscated by Christian to use as his baby’s bed.  Until one day after a visit to Sam’s Club when I realized that one of those dumb half/cardboard box things they give you to load your giant items into was about the perfect size and shape for a baby bed.

So, Christian picked some paper that he liked and I modge-podged (sp?) the thing and made a cushion.  Now it’s a very cheap baby bed that I won’t feel guilty about discarding when his love of his baby doll has bid its last farewell and I can use the cushion as a toddler pillow for one of his sibling(s)…

Infant Play Mat Combining Functionality and Design…

One of the things that I indulge in way too frequently is watching HGTV.  I don’t love all the shows, but I think the real problem is that as the ability to buy a house is approaching, I’m completely enamored in the idea of knowing what I want to do with my someday home.  Good grief, I’ve wished for a home since I was 14 and I asked my mom why she did something a certain way and she said “You do it your way when you have your own home”.  My favorite shows have designers staging or redecorating (I love “Divine Design”!).  Jared is a HGTV addict too but he’s much more interested in Holmes on Homes and the Home Buyers shows. 

One of the common threads that I’ve found in all this TV watching is that a lot of parents let their children’s toys overtake the main rooms of their homes.  In my parent’s home toys were banned from the front room.  This is fine and dandy if you have a family room as well as a living room.  But for those of us who have less space it’s tricky.          

I came up with a wonderful solution… I designed a tummy-time play mat that uses the colors of my front-room and is a piece of art—using a bold contrasting pattern while mixing patterns and not being too garish—a visual delight.  I used a combination of cotton, velvet, valor, and faux suede to indulge the tactile sense. The leaves make crackle noises while the centers of the flowers squeak.

Now my baby can play on the floor in happiness with lots of stimulation and my room still looks organized and modern.  I’m considering opening up an on-line shop to sell these.  I would customize them to match the colors of the room that they were made for (not necessarily the nursery colors).  What do you think?  Would you pay for something like this?  Or would you rather have a pattern and make your own? I am planning to design some that are more gender-neutral/masculine as well if this idea is well-received.  If you do like it, what would you pay for something like this? 

Constructive comments would be very welcome.

Repurposing Store-Brand Box

   

When Vivian was born, I got a darling gift-set for her from a woman in our ward.  It came in an equally cute box.  The only problem was that it had the store name on it.

 

Not a problem.  I Just added this…

 

Now it is ready to hold her darling memorabilia!

Vivian’s Blessing Dress

As it turns out there is a nice learning curve to sewing.  When I made this dress I had never been very successful  making anything wearable before.  According to my friend that I gave it to it has received more complements than all of her daughters other dresses.  I thought that making Vivian’s blessing dress would be a difficult undertaking but it actually only took me about two days: one to cut and sew most of it and the second day for the finishing touches.

   

Here’s Vivian sitting on Grandma’s sofa on her blessing day.  I really love the ivory brocade satin that I found and the gorgeous Venetian lace that I found to trim it with.  I also got creative and made a pleated bow for her head since the bonnet  seemed a little overpowering for her little sweet face.

   

Here she is with her daddy ready to go get blessed.      

 

It’s a little difficult to see the bow detail because of the lack of contrast but I’ll make another in color at a later date and do a tutorial if anyone is interested.

Here’s a pretty fuzzy though cute picture of her big brother trying to kiss her!

Newborn Baby Bracelet

When I made the green bracelet a while ago I cut the cord a little too short so I decided to make an infant bracelet.  The standard size for infants in 4”- 4.5” so I just made it 4”.

 

Darling Baby Bibs!

I love these baby bibs…These are some more things that I made using ideas from the the book “Sewing Projects in an Afternoon” by Susan Mickey.  These are nice because they are actually thick enough to ensure that what the baby is spilling on themselves is not going to soak through (if you can bear for your baby to wear these while eating).  The bunny is probably the best for eating in because it is actually all made of terry cloth in the front which will keep it nice when washed.  I’m not sure how the fleece on the bear and duck will do.  Next time I hope to find a larger variety of terry cloth colors…or I’m just going to have to buy towels to make these with!

    

White bunny on yellow

   

Yellow duck on white

Brown bear on purple