Tag Blankets
I'm so excited to finally show these!! One of my friends made me one when I had Owen. I loved it so much, I had to make one and add my own twist.
I made them like a rag quilt with a solid brown on the back. The different fabrics will provide different textures for baby to feel, and the ribbons are of course, for the "tag" effect.

The "boy" one I made for my sister.

The "girl" one for one of my husbands friends baby.

I decided last minute to make them more personal with a monogram letter of their first name. I've never done this before...it was interesting. I need my mom's nice machine that does the blanket stitch around the applique.
I love how they turned out and their babies will be thanking me when they are sucking away in about 4 or 5 months!!!

My little princess wanted a cape too. At least I made it purple right?!
When she put it on she asked me if it reached her feet or not!!!! She must have been around during the incident...

Okay, let's don't focus our attention on the 5 year old picture of me, this is about the ROCKING CHAIR I'm sitting on!!


BEFORE:
In it's glory days, not so beautiful forest green and light oak......

(sorry, this is the best shot of the chair I have)

AFTER:
We thought we'd update a little and make it match the living room decor, since there's no room for it in the baby's room.
This was my first time reupholstering anything. It was fun...

...and so much cuter!

There was enough fabric left over to make a coordinating pillow for the couch (also something that needs to be majorly updated, pillows).

Minor meltdown...

Yes, we had an intense moment here. But don't worry, it's been resolved after a few adjustments!! I got Ethan all excited about this cape I was going to make him. He is REALLY into superhero's right now.

I got all finished sewing, and was so excited to show him. So I tied it around his neck and...low and behold, he started crying! Spoiled? well maybe just a little ;)

Through the tears, I finally got it out of him: apparently it was not long enough!!! I had made it to his waist, and thought it was just perfect! Batman's cape is to his ankles though, hmmm. I didn't want to start all over so I just sewed another piece the same size and attached velcro to both ends and now then convinced my superhero that he has two capes now: a short one and a long one!
He was down with that, and now we have a happy (still a little spoiled) kid who wears his cape (long version) almost everyday! I even let him wear it to the mall one day :)

For when he loses that next tooth...

Ethan has a second loose tooth! We used a very sophisticated Zip-lock baggie to put the tooth in and under his pillow last time. I thought I'd class it up a little and sew this pouch so he can have a designated spot for his tooth and money from the tooth fairy!
It was way easy. I used fabric scraps I already had (recognize it from the wipes?) and just put in ribbon as a drawstring to close it up tight. I really didn't know what a tooth looked like, so don't laugh, I just guessed! :)

BOW HOLDER
Alright, I'll admit the fabric is ADORABLE, but a little too busy for this project! Something I didn't realize until I was all done.

It's just a canvas, covered with fabric and batting, with some ribbons hotglued on and fastened down with some brads.

Greg commented today that he couldn't see any of the bows on it...camouflaged perhaps? Next time we'll go with a solid background, or smaller pattern.

I really do LOVE having the clips all organized though, and it was a fun project!

The good, the BAD and the UGLY

I saw these rings on another girls blog and thought, oh what a great way to use up some old fabric scraps! Plus, how fun for little Owen to hold onto and suck on. Should be a breeze....
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Let me just tell you, this was the WORST project ever!
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The cutting and the sewing were easy. Then came the stuffing....next to impossible, and I consider myself somewhat patient. THEN just try, just TRY to stuff one end into the other and sew it up!!! I was so MAD and frustrated. I think she used a machine, but mine were too stuffed, so I had to resort to hand sewing...not something I claim to be good at! I even had my dear husband hand stitching with me to try and ease the tension (he showed me up by the way, surprisingly good at hand sewing :) )

You want to know what I ended up doing at 12:45 at night (after fighting with these little rings for 2 hours)?! I used a HOT GLUE GUN! They look awful, absolutely horrid, but they're DONE.

To top it off, Owen can barely hold onto them and he really has no desire to suck on them.
I guess not all ideas are great.