Glasses Cat Onesie

Just a brief bit of inspiration for you today.  Somehow all of my step-by-step photos got deleted.  But, it's pretty easy so you can figure it out.

I took a picture of our cat, turned it black and white, and then printed it on iron-on paper.  I ironed it onto a plain white onesie.  Then I cut out glasses from red jersey fabric and stitched them on. 

The onesie is already stained.  Oh the joys of a baby.

DIY Baby Photo Album Soft Book

Hello friends!  I have a project to share today that I am really excited about.  I've been planning it for months and finally got around to making it.  It's a photo album for my daughter!  All of our family lives far away and I wanted to help her learn who everyone is (eventually).  She also really loves the soft fabric books.  Family+Fabric Book= Family photo album soft book!

I used Spoonflower to create my fabric.  If you don't know Spoonflower, you should check out their site.  You can get custom-printed fabric.  I wanted to go this route rather than printable iron-ons because I was worried about bits flaking off as she chewed on it.

I created the fabric design in photoshop and scaled it to fit a fat quarter (18"x 21").  If you need more info on how to do this, see this post.  You can also just look at the picture below to see how everything was laid out.  I planned it so the pages going across could fold in half (you'll see what I mean further down.)

I smudged out the cousins names in case their parents don't want that on the internet.  They actually have names in the book :)  And in case you are wondering, Halmoni and Haraboji are grandma and grandpa in Korean.

Once I ordered my fabric, I checked the mail excitedly for awhile until it came.  Yay!  Then I got to work.

I started by cutting my images into three strips.  I trimmed right to the edge along the top and bottom but left the side edges as they were.

Next, I folded each page in half with the right-sides together.  I ironed the fold to hold it in place and then serged the other edge.  NOTE: Be careful about this.  I wasn't thinking about where my stitches were going to end up and I sewed too far in.  It didn't really hurt the project, but when I turned it inside out, the pages on that side were slightly smaller than the other side.

Next, I cut out pieces of fusible fleece that were slightly smaller than the pages.  By leaving a gap in the middle of each page spread, I was hoping to reduce bulk at the spine and make the pages easier to turn.  I ironed these onto the wrong sides of the pages.

I then sewed the top and bottom of the pages using my normal sewing machine and leaving a small gap along one side.  I then turned the pages inside out and sewed along the entire outer edge.

Finally, I stacked the pages and sewed several times through the middle to hold it all in place.

It's done!  I was really excited to make this so I worked through it really quickly.  If I make another, I think it might be fun to add little ribbon "tabs" to each page.

I'm pretty sure my girl is a fan.  She started screeching really loudly when she looked at it.  Excitement?

Photo Book for Father's Day

Really, the best gifts are given a month late, right?  I finally finished my Father's Day gift for my husband and am now able to share it here.  I chose to make him a photo book full of funny, altered pictures of our daughter.

I was inspired by this artist.  I had seen some of her fun baby photos and wanted to do something similar.  It took a long time but with some simple photo-shopping, I ending up with a book full of unique photos. 

Once done, I loaded them all onto Shutterfly and created an album.  I went with a simple black background and white text to narrate. 

I've shared some of my favorites here.  I hope they help inspire you.  [and yes, we do make our baby pretend to ride the cat]

Crinkle Tag Toy for Baby- DIY Tutorial

So babies.  They chew everything.  Everything.  And there is a lot of drool.  Copious amounts of drool.  Really the only solution is to give them something soft and absorbent to chew on.  Enter the taggie toy.

I'd seen similar toys around and thought my little drool-face (term of endearment) would like one.  Since I'm crafty and a fabric hoarder, I decided to make my own.  Double bonus that it fit with this week's Iron Craft challenge to make something with a needle!  

I started by cutting 9" squares of two different fabrics.  If you want to add a crinkle layer, cut another square of plastic to go in the middle.  I used a Twizzlers bag (am I the only one in the world that likes chocolate Twizzlers?  I think they are so good!).

Next, cut small pieces of ribbon to go around the edge.  I found some really adorable ribbon at Michaels (the bicycles, glasses, and cameras) and then added to those from my stash.  Make each piece a couple of inches.  I pinned the pieces to the square as I went just so I didn't cut too much ribbon. 

When you pin it, attach it to the RIGHT side of the fabric with the folded ends towards the middle of the fabric.  If you mess up the direction, you will end up with all your tags on the inside (like I did on my first attempt).  Sew along the edges to hold all of your ribbons in place.

I then attached the plastic layer to the other square of fabric (you don't have to do this but I didn't want my layers shifting around).  Next, sew your squares together, right sides together.  Leave a few inches on one side.

Turn inside out and sew around the edge to close the opening.  Now you are all done! 

I think she seems like a happy customer.

I've washed mine in the washing machine and it did fine but I wouldn't recommend the dryer if you added a plastic layer.  I made one without a crinkle layer and it did fine in the dryer.  As always, be extra careful since this is for a baby.  Double check that your removed your pins, there's no loose ribbons, etc.

Want to check out more Iron Craft projects?  Visit the flickr group here and the blog here.

Baby Flapper Headband DIY

Babies are cute.  Babies in headbands, super cute.  Babies in feathery headbands, I can barely even talk about it.  Here's a quick project to jazz up the heads of any babies in your life.

Start with some elastic (I chose ruffle elastic), feathers, and felt.  Measure your babies head and cut that much elastic.  My two-month old has about a 16" head if that helps.

Now start on your jazzy accent.  I created mine by hot-gluing feathers to felt.  I started with a heart shape but wasn't happy with it.  I then switched to felt circles.

This wasn't quite enough so I added a button.  I then added a circle of hot glue and covered it with glitter.  I had no idea if this would work but it created a cool dimensional effect.

Finally, I sewed my felt piece onto the two ends of elastic, securing them together. The last step is to find a cute baby to model it.  Probably it will fall off as soon as you set your baby down and she starts wiggling, but cute while it lasts.

Time Off From Blog

Hello dear readers-

I wanted to let you know that I will be taking some time off from my blog.  My little girl is due to arrive in about 2 and a half weeks so I'm going to take some time to prep for her arrival and enjoy her once she's here.  I'm planning on giving myself a maternity leave until April but may post from time to time if there is something I'm really excited about.  Same things goes for my Facebook, twitter, and my etsy shop.  I hope to see you when I return!  I'm planning some exciting changes for my blog and I hope you will tune in when I get back.

Oilcloth Diaper Bag- A lesson in trying again

I recently finished making my own diaper bag.  I had wanted one in green oilcloth and just couldn't find one for sale.  Since I'm pretty crafty, I thought I'd make my own :)  I'm THRILLED with the final product.

However, I definitely did not start out thrilled.  Here is my attempt number one:

I used a pattern that I bought online for this first one.   My sewing skills were not quite up to the challenge.  I had a really hard time putting it together.  In addition, I used PUL fabric for the interior lining and it was sooooo slippery.  The contrasting thread that I thought would be cute ended up showing all my mistakes.

When I finished this first bag, I was so upset.  Pregnancy hormones were not a help in this.  I felt like I had wasted so much money and time and would never be able to have a diaper bag I liked.  I was "in the depths of despair."  But time and sleep helped and I decided to try again.

This second time around, I used a pattern for a messenger bag from the book Sewing With Oilcloth.  I nixed the PUL fabric and used blue thread rather than white.  This helped hide all my crooked stitches.  I also used store-bought bias tape rather than trying to make my own.  Overall, this pattern was much easier for my current sewing skills and I found it easier to work with just oilcloth.

I wanted to share my craft fail to show that a project is always worth a second try.  Sometimes you just have to change it up a bit or try a different approach.  Have you ever had an experience like this?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win some awesome digital scrapbooking software.

IC#22- Vintage Sheet Baby Quilt

We were challenged this week to work on a UFO, unfinished object.  Basically, any project you had been hoarding for a long time without finishing.  Well, I have been gathering fabric for this quilt since before we started trying to have a baby.  I knew that if I ever had a little girl I would make her a quilt out of vintage sheets.  This week, it happened.  I finally made my quilt.  It was my first quilt but it went well.  I'm really proud!!  What do you think?

I found this blog to be a really helpful resource.  I used this as a guide for the entire quilting process.

I used this technique for finishing the edges.  The thought of cutting separate binding strips felt overwhelming so I just folded over some of the backing fabric.

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Girls Night Out and a New Carseat!

Last week I had the opportunity to attend an awesome bloggers night out.  The event was sponsored by Graco and hosted by Kat from Mama's Losin' It.   We all met up for Italian food and to learn about their new SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40 Car Seat.

I was really excited to meet some mom bloggers and hear their opinions on the car seat.  We have been looking at car seats and to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing.  Seeing all the experienced moms get so excited about this new seat made me realize it's probably a great choice.  It fits the baby from 4 to 40 lbs and will last until she is two-years-old which is awesome.  The extra awesome part?  I was given a car seat of my very own.  We tried it out with our fake baby when I got home :)

"The Graco SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40 – the first and only newborn to two-year infant car seat that actually grows with your baby from four pounds all the way up to 40 pounds. The car seat is designed for a parent on the go. The infant car seat can be easily removed from the base and used as a carrier when the infant is small, providing portability and convenience so you can easily move your infant in and out of the car without disturbing them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently made the recommendation to keep all children in rear-facing car seats until the age of 2. Graco set out to make this product so parents can keep infants rear facing longer while still keeping them comfortable."

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco. The opinions and text are all mine.

Baby Shower Projects

I recently hosted a baby shower for a friend who is also pregnant.  Her little boy is due next month and we had a blast celebrating him.  Here are some pics from the event.

For her gift, I made her a onesie that said "lil bro" and a shirt that says "big sis."  She has a two year old daughter already.  I used freezer paper stencils to do the lettering; you can see an awesome tutorial here.  I decided the onesies would also make cute decorations.

You can't really see it, but I also made some little clothespin airplanes for decoration.  Her nursery is decorated with teddy bears flying planes so that's what we did.  My friend also found some teddy bears and gave them little aviator scarves.

Finally, I made some tissue paper puffs.  These were much easier to make than I thought.  You can see a tutorial here.

It's A...

Girl!!!  I'm having a little baby girl!  I love her so much already and she is getting very active.  Since I'm stuck on the couch with my broken ankle, I've been obsessively looking at baby stuff online.  I've discovered I'm an even bigger geek than I thought because all I want to do is buy geekie onesies.  Here's what I've found:

Harry Potter Onesie from Geekling Designs

Wonder Woman Onesie from rhoadworks

Doctor Who Onesie from Geekling Designs

Microscope Onesie from happyfamily

Chromosome Onesie from Xenotees