Forest Friends Infant Car Seat Cover

Friends of ours were expecting their first baby next month (in about 2 weeks). She showed up early on Monday - healthy & perfect. Oops in that I hadn't yet shipped the gift! Luckily I had made it already.

They had a car seat cover listed on their registry so naturally I made one instead. I had fun shopping for fabrics. I was trying to find something feminine but not pink overload. This fun forest friends print jumped right out at me. Surprisingly, Dylan also loved it when I showed up with it asking if it was for "our baby." Aww. At the time we still didn't know whether we were expecting a boy or girl so I assured him I would go back after to buy fabric for our baby. (Note to self: still need to do that  - but we have a few months still.)

For the inside I chose a complimentary light green check patterned flannel. Just dark enough to help block a little extra light during nap time.

I packed it up and got it in the mail yesterday. Thankfully, they are in the same city so it should be delivered today - just in time to welcome the new family of 3 home.

PS - thanks to LM for once again letting me use her infant car seat for photographing!

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Teacher Appreciation

It's Teacher Appreciation Week and while there are a million cute ideas floating around on Pinterest and social media, we kept things simple. Truly, this is the gift I give Dylan's teachers for every occasion - a card with written note and a gift card.

I love crafting and DIY. I know there are plenty of great things we could make. But I've also been personally stressed the last few years by too much stuff. It particularly hit me when moving. On the other hand, I know I could use a Target gift card on a weekly basis and assume that his teachers could too. Hopefully they will use it to splurge on something for themselves.

And there is the note. Particularly in this digital age, I don't think there is much more powerful that the written note. In the past, I've usually taken that role and made sure to express how much we appreciate what Dylan's teachers do for him on a daily basis. I know teaching, comforting, and having patience for hours each day with 25 four year olds is challenging. He comes home happy, telling stories about his day and new things we had no idea he knew. And he hugs his teachers goodbye every day. Those things are all proof to me of how great they are at their job.

Now that Dylan is learning to write, I had him help this year. I handed him plain white cards and wrote the names of his teachers on a piece of paper along with "Thank you! Love, Dylan" for him to refer to. He carefully sat at our kitchen table and wrote out both cards as well as drew hearts and flowers inside (he wouldn't let me take a photo though!). I was so proud and think his teachers are sure to appreciate that note and the love behind it.

Thanks to all of our teachers. I hope you feel appreciated by parents not just this week, but every week of the year.

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Gift Idea: Share a Unique Children's Book from Blurb

In our family, there isn't much better than a new book especially to a certain 4 year old. Every night it's a hurry to get ready for bed to be sure we have time to pick a special one (or two) and snuggle up to read. Looking for a new favorite to gift for the holidays? Take a look at the children's selection at Blurb. It includes an assortment of self-published children's book you won't find anywhere else this holiday season.

Title: The Great Bear Surprise
Author: Carolan Coughlin
www.blurb.com/b/4259737-the-great-bear-surprise
Join Carolan on her hike up Red Plume Mountain where she discovers much more than the view of the surrounding landscape. This is a sweet story of unexpected friendship.

Title: My Bug Journal
Author: Hannah Rollings
www.blurb.com/b/1925331-my-bug-journal
Bug-lover or other, this journal is sure to spark interest from anyone who takes a peek inside the covers. Enchanted illustrations, bug facts, room for records and much, much more.

Title: The Adventures of Dude, Squat and Mose
Author: Michael Hall
http://www.blurb.com/b/4720681-the-adventures-of-dude-squat-and-mose
With fabulous illustrations from Gerald Kelley and a fun-packed story from author Michael Hall, the adventures of this brave trio of adopted dogs if sure to become a favorite.

Title: Ollie + Loo
Author: Joni Cooper
www.blurb.com/b/4554150-ollie-+-loo
Joni Cooper brings incredibly original characters to life with brilliant illustrations in a book that will have parents and kids laughing along together.

Find all of the Blurb Children's Books here and don't forget there is a sale right now - save 20% on print books when you spend $40 or more through December 15, 2013.

This post was sponsored by Blurb. See my previous reviews of Blurb products: Custom Planner and Designer Collection Photo Book. Find more of my Gift Idea suggestions both purchased and handmade here.

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Give Something Personal This Holiday Season

If you have a digital camera-whether it's your smart phone or your DSLR-chances are you have a lot of wonderful photos of the people you love. And there's a pretty big chance that if you do, those photos haven't seen the light of day since you first took them, posted them to Facebook, or picked that new wallpaper for your smart phone or computer.

Now, imagine those photos in a book, given as a gift. Wouldn't you look like the best most thoughtful person ever? Yeah, you pretty much would. And with Blurb's easy, custom books, you can make a photo gift book that's both personal and extremely polished.

You can use your Facebook photos, Instagram photos, or photos on your computer. You can design your own book, or have it automagically created with the Blurb Designer Collection templates. All these tools are designed to run right in your web browser, letting you make a book in as little as ten minutes, and they start at just $12.99.

A real book. One you can hold, share, and pass on. Plus it's so easily customized that you can create different versions for different people. Just swap in a few new photos, change the text, and re-order. Looking to make something a little bigger, like a family history book? Yeah, Blurb has ways to do that too.

Of course, this is a custom gift, so you don't want to be last minute about it. Even though you can order up until December 19, ordering early is always better (and a bit cheaper too).

So, get started on making a beautiful gift book now Blurb.

This post was sponsored by Blurb. See my previous reviews of Blurb products: Custom Planner and Designer Collection Photo Book. Find more of my Gift Idea suggestions both purchased and handmade here.

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Gift Idea: Personalized Photo Books

When looking for a meaningful gift, a photo book is always a hit especially when it's made by you. If you don't consider yourself crafty, no worries - with Blurb, you don't need to be. Blurb's website and free tools make it easy. 

Struggling to decide what type of book to make? Take a look at the Blurb Gift Center for lots of ideas … perhaps a Family History Book for the family member that loves researching the family tree; a Baby Book to share all those firsts with grandparents; a Food Book to pass on family recipes to the newlyweds. There really is a book for everyone.

Ready to get an early start on your holiday gift list? Blurb has two great offers to save on any of their print books:

Save 20% when you spend $40 or more on print books at Blurb
When you use the coupon code: MORESAVINGS
**Offer valid through November 11, 2013 (11:59 p.m. local time). Valid for printed books only. A 20% discount is applied toward your product total with a minimum order of $40. Maximum discount is USD $100 or CAD $100 off product total. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

Save $25 when you spend $100 or more on print books at Blurb
When you use the coupon code: EARLYSAVINGS
**Offer valid through November 11, 2013 (11:59 p.m. local time). Valid for printed books only. A $25 discount is applied toward your product total with a minimum order of $100. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

This post was sponsored by Blurb. See my previous reviews of Blurb products: Custom Planner and Designer Collection Photo Book. Find more of my Gift Idea suggestions both purchased and handmade here.

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Fat Quarter Bag

We have a birthday party for a 5 year old girl this weekend. I liked the Fat Quarter Bags I made at Christmas so much, I decided to make one for her gift. I used the same tutorial, but changed up the bottom a bit to give it a more rounded look vs boxed.

Supplies: Heather Bailey (outside) & JoAnn fabrics; Coats & Clark thread; grosgrain ribbon.

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Baseball Birthday

In December, Trent, Dylan & I stopped by the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for the Holiday Open house. One of the perks turned out to be an opportunity to buy old stadium signs. While thumbing through the options, an idea hit me - one of the signs would make a perfect first birthday gift for one of the boys in our playgroup. His parents are big Bulls fans and we had all attended a game together last spring. When I found a sign for Section 216 (his birthday is today, 2/16!) I knew we had to buy it.

I made a baseball themed card to match using both digital and traditional scrapbooking supplies I had on hand.

I had printed several pieces for embellishments, but wasn't pleased with the look of all of them. Thus, I grabbed some blue paper from my scraps bin and cut it freehand. Then used my sewing machine to stitch it on. For the star, I had envisioned a chipboard piece but didn't have any. I did have an old frame of chipboard shapes from Basic Grey on hand. I traced a star onto an old coffee cup sleeve, cut it out, bent it up a bit for a rough leather-ish look and tacked it on with a brad. Honestly, it's my favorite element on the card.

Not the most traditional gift & card for a first birthday, but it seemed to fit just right. :)

Supplies: Recollections card & white cardstock; Sara Schmutz's No 1 Fan kit; Bazzill cardstock; patterned paper; Coats & Clark thread; coffee cup sleeve; Making Memories metal brad.

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Fabric Marble Maze

In December, I made 6 fabric marble mazes - one for Dylan and one for each of the older kids in our playgroup. Each maze had it's own fabric combination. Of course, I completely forgot to photograph the ones we gifted. But they all generally looked like this:

Front

Back

I used a template provided from Sew Very Simple blog here to cut the rectangle fabric pieces and mark the maze lines. After cutting the fabric, place front and back pieces together with right sides facing. Sew around all sides leaving an opening in one of the shorter ends. Turn right side out. Sew maze lines. Place marble into maze and sew opening in end closed.

The fabric marble maze provides a quiet, eye/hand coordination activity for children. The idea being you use your hands to move the marble through the maze from one end to the other. Honestly, I've found it rather relaxing myself and played with it several times.

Supplies: fabric (monkey toss - David Walker); thread; marble.

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Tea Wallet

One of my good friends went out of her way to help me yesterday and I wanted to do something to say thanks. Knowing her love of tea and how much she travels for work, I thought a tea wallet could be handy to stash her favorite tea in her purse or briefcase.

Closed

Interior with pockets to hold several tea packets

Exterior

I followed this tutorial at Is It Naptime Yet? blog. The only change I made was to use a hair elastic instead of a fabric or ribbon loop for the button closure.

Supplies: fabrics (Robert Kaufman & Moda); thread; elastic; American Crafts button.

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Knitting Needle Roll

My mom started knitting again a couple of years ago. She's made a number of beautiful items including sweaters and hats for Dylan. For Christmas, I decided to make her a Knitting Needle Roll to store some of her needles and other tools in.

Rolled up.

Open

Flap lifted back

I used this tutorial from the blog at Warehouse Fabrics Inc. Be aware that the tutorial was based on fabric in 54" and 56" widths. Plan to buy slightly more fabric if you use 44" width like I did.

Supplies: fabric; Coats & Clark thread; velcro; American Crafts ribbon; D-rings.

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Gift Idea: Fat Quarter Bag

With a couple of fat quarters and coordinating ribbons, I made these cute bags for my nieces by following a tutorial at Make & Takes. They turned out so cute I almost wanted to keep them for myself! They are large enough to use for a bag to tote dolls and other treasures or as a purse.

Supplies: Heather Bailey fabrics; Coats & Clark thread; grosgrain ribbon.

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Gift Idea: Fabric I Spy Book

I feel like I'm swimming in fabric remnants from various sewing projects. I've searched Pinterest for ideas of what to do with them. One idea shared on Skip To My Lou was to create a Fabric I Spy Book. Following the tutorial, I created this book for Dylan with a mix of solid and pieced fabric squares:

Front

Pages 1-2

Pages 3-4

Pages 5-6

Back

Pages 7-8

Pages 9-10

I am pleased with how it turned out, but, I confess, if I make another, I might try changing it up a bit to relocate the closure tab to the far side of the fabric square adjacent to the cover. This way all the pages could be folded to the inside and a spine created. Following the tutorial, my book ended up with "spine" side being open so it does not remain fully closed when fastened.

Supplies: fabric remnants; freezer paper; thread; velcro.

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Gift Idea: Decorated Sketchpad

Since I was making a gift for my sister last year, I thought I should make my brother's as well. The first half of his gift was a sketchpad I decorated. It was inspired by Mod Podged Notebooks at the Crafting Chicks.

Supplies (minus the masking tape - honestly not sure now why I had that out!)

I scanned in a photo of him from the early 90s. Edited it in Photoshop using Totally Rad Bitchin B&W and Coffeeshop Vintage actions. Printed it onto white cardstock. Then I roughed up the edges with my edge scraper.

I used Mod Podge to adhere a patterned paper I had cut to size and the photo to the cover. Then added another layer on top to seal it all.

The completed sketchbook:

Supplies: sketchpad; Cosmo Cricket patterned paper; white cardstock; Making Memories edge scraper; Mod Podge.

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Gift Idea: Root Beer Reindeer

It's December 1st so I'm turning the page to Christmas. Here's a fun gift idea for you. I came across Root Beer Reindeer at Betty Crocker Wannabe blog last year. I immediately marked it as a "to make" for my sister. She has loved IBC Rootbeer since we were kids and used to have (maybe still does?) a huge collection of bottle caps from the drinks.

These were so fun and easy to make. And, best of all, she got a good laugh out of the gift (not to mention some tasty drinks if she'll ever crack them open!).

Supplies: six-pack of IBC Rootbeer; 10mm googly eyes; pipe cleaners; 10mm red pom poms.

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