Nursery Decor - In Progress

 

     Oh, Dumbo!  Such a classic movie, such a cute little guy!  Yes, I know it's sad, but it's also good.  I decided recently that I love elephants, and since we're big Disney geeks, Dumbo seemed like a good theme for our baby's area in our room, and one day, bedroom.  I also liked that it works as a nicely gender-neutral color scheme, of gray, red, and yellow.  It helps that it doesn't clash much with our bedroom's existing red and brown color scheme.  Here's a preview of the decor in-progress.

     First up, I started on some felt elephants for a mobile.  I loved this mobile on Etsy, so some of those ideas will probably show up in the final product.  Here's what I have so far.  I'm proud to say that these elephants and the Dumbo were not only all made by hand, but also from patterns I created!  The elephants are two-panels, and Dumbo is three so he's flying.  I actually sketched the elephants based on Google image searches of elephants in profile, and of course I had plenty of pictures on which to base Dumbo.

 

     To go along with the theme, I decided to make some customized bedding based on Dumbo's collar.  I started out just planning to make a flannel rag quilt of three layers, but partway in, had a brilliant idea.  I had already made this quilt to fit standard crib size, so that we can use it for a lightweight bedspread when our little one is using it as a toddler bed.  I realized that if I made the quilt with only two layers, and I left one end of it open, I could later stuff a toddler comforter (any kind or design!) inside and use it as a duvet cover!  So that's what I did, and now we have two options to keep it in use year-round.

     Strip quilts are seriously the easiest things!  I was actually bummed that this quilt went so quickly.  I have been trying not to zip through projects so fast since that tends to make me also zip through my fabric and craft budget!  At least making it a rag quilt adds some time and effort.  I was once again very grateful for my spring-loaded fabric scissors, making the fringe cutting part less painful on my hand.

     Also, check out what I found at Target! It's too perfect!

Turn an Adult T-Shirt into a Newborn Gown

     Over time on Pinterest, I've collected a lot of pins, so it's not really that surprising that I'm this excited to finally make use of all the baby item sewing tutorials I've saved.  One such pin links to a great tutorial on This Mama Makes Stuff for turning an adult t-shirt into a newborn gown.  I was glad to make use of this pattern because I had set aside a couple of Andrew's shirts that were holey, but unique, and nicely worn to a thin softness.  After I made one, I asked my dad if he wanted to contribute any old t-shirts and he gave me a bagful, too.  My only comment on the tutorial/pattern is that the neckline's curved hem really is tricky, so don't beat yourself up too much if it's not perfect.  Mine certainly weren't.  See for yourself:

Here are my finished gowns! First try, with Andrew's shirt:

     This one's from my dad, who as an avid poker player gets plenty of t-shirts from casinos.  The funny thing is, his name is actually Jerry, too, so I thought it was pretty appropriate that his grandson wear something making him "Jerry's Nugget". :) For this one, I used the logo as a patch, because the back of it was scratchy.  This way there's another layer between it and sensitive baby skin.  Always an option!

Bath Apron

    At some point, I saw this pin with a link to an Etsy listing for a pattern for a bathtime apron.  Having given quite a few baths as a babysitter, getting awfully wet in the process more often than not, I realized how great this apron would be.  I'm sure the pattern is great, and especially helpful for anyone intimidated by sewing, but I enjoy the challenge of figuring it out on my own.  I found a lovely soft yellow towel at my favorite thrift store, Savers, on a 50% sale day, and paid just $5 for it!  This is, of course, part of why I don't mind just jumping in to try things -- they are usually pretty low-risk investments. :)  I got some navy blue binding at JoAnn and for my accent fabric, I used a section from a button-up shirt I plan to make into an apron (like these).  It's hard to show you what it looks like since I don't have a cute baby to model with yet, but you get the idea.  I left the length of the towel the way the Etsy seller did, because I figure it'll be helpful to dry off a kiddo and because I quickly found that sewing with terrycloth is kind of a pain.  Best to keep the original seams whenever possible.  

Laundry Tricks

     Awhile back I tried out this laundry trick I found via Pinterest, so I thought I'd share how it worked for me.  The original pin I found linked to a blog post about whitening pillows, and I used the special soak instructions to do just that, with a twist.  First, here's my t-shirt test rag with set-in stains to show how well the soak works, though the photos of the original poster's pillows are prettier.

     So the problem was, I can't stand pillows that have been washed, because I have never found a way to dry them without the fluff bunching up inside so that they are lumpy.  Maybe the tennis ball / dryer ball trick works, but I personally was not willing to try it because I'm picky.  Still, my pillows have gotten dingy and gross, so what's a girl to do?  Well, if you sew, like me, you get creative!  I decided it would be better to take the case of the pillow itself off, wash it, and replace it.  To do that, I added zippers to the pillows (which also makes it easy to wash them again later!).  I know that probably sounds like too much work to some people, but for me it wasn't too much hassle, and I got to practice sewing on zippers (actually I think these may have been my first ever). Ta da!

      Lately I've purchased several used baby items, and was looking for a way to wash them effectively.  When I saw this, it motivated me to thoroughly wash everything we've bought for our baby, just because stuff is bound to get gross through years of use.  

     Unfortunately, this blogger was using cleaning supplies I don't have on hand, so I ruled that out.  I found myself coming back to the laundry trick from above, and just adjusting to colors instead of whites.  Several commenters on that post had said that you could substitute color-safe bleach, but I didn't have that on hand so I just skipped the bleach and used everything else.  

     Today, I washed all the pieces on our stroller, the bassinet attachment for it, and our pack and play.  I think I fell in love with our stroller all over again because of how easy it was for all the fabric pieces to come off and how wash-friendly they all are!  For the record, UppaBaby recommends spot-cleaning for the most part (check your manual), but I took a chance and it turned out fine.  When we bought our UppaBaby Vista used, it had some stains and scuff marks, and now it looks brand new!  I was kicking myself for not taking before and after photos, or I could show you. 

     The pack and play was a little trickier.  I knew from comments that the mattress part of it had some kind of cardboard piece as the base, so that was not going to wash as well.  I decided to do the same trick as I did with my pillows, and just cut the boards (actually a pressboard type wood) out.  I'm planning to add zippers to each little section, which, while it's probably more work than I want to do, will let me wash it again as needed.  I really recommend against washing the mattress with the boards inside; I doubt the wood would ever dry fully, and I think it's likely the stain of the wood would color the mattress fabric.  Check out the dirty water from the pack and play!

     Gross. Look what was left when the water drained -- this is why I washed it in the first place!!

     Overall, the pack and play came out of the soak pretty well.  The railings look less dingy (but not obviously different enough to show up in pictures), and the mattress, sans boards, also went through the washing machine and came out beautifully.  Whatever you do, just let it dry all the way, which could take awhile.

Baby Apron Bib

      I love Pinterest.  All the best things are on there.  This pin lead me to Craftiness Is Not Optional, and her pattern for a baby bib to beat all other baby bibs!  

     The pattern is just $ 6, and since I wanted to make some for us and some as a gift, that was no big deal.  I knew from babysitting for over a decade that this bib had some excellent potential, because it doesn't velcro (to be pulled off easily by small hands), or button (cute, but can be a pain), and it goes behind the baby's arms so that ideally the bib doesn't get pulled straight up quite as easily either.

     I went to JoAnn's armed with a coupon, but found that they had a sale on flannel for a much better deal than my coupon. Yay!  I definitely bought more flannel than I had intended to that day, haha.  The friend for whom I'm making this as a gift has a new foster daughter who is 8 months old, so I got some cute girly fabric, and also some gender neutral fabric since we didn't know what we're having. (I made mine essentially reversible, with flannel on both sides. The fronts are pink and green, with the cute brown on the back for both.)

     The pattern is easy to follow, and the bibs themselves are super quick! I was surprised how fast I was able to churn out three of them (in one night).  I love the results, and my friend reports that they work well for her little one, who's a messy eater to boot.

     My only comment on the pattern is that the binding you use for the outside edge really is 'too short' on purpose! It made me nervous, but after you try it, you realize it has to be shorter so that the bib curves on baby's shoulders the right way. If you made it longer, it would work, but would fit more loosely and thus not be as effective. See?

Burp Cloths

     I did warn you I'm going a little nuts on the baby projects, right?  Well, I am.  Today's pin is about burp cloths.  There are lots of kinds of burp cloths, and while you wouldn't think that the shape matters so much, I spotted these from Homemade by Jill and immediately knew they had potential to be better than most.

     I loved the peanut-shape, and that they focused on absorbency without sacrificing it for cuteness.  As an example, some people have made burp cloths as gifts from prefold diapers (flat cloth diapers, with a thicker middle section) that have fabric added to them, but they don't always think about the fact that the fabric they add, often quilting cotton, decreases the absorbency of the cloth.  I love that these are both cute and absorbent, because of the flannel.  Note: when I printed the pattern from Jill's website, I thought it printed too big, because it seemed huge.  I didn't think about seam allowance, shrinkage, and just generally wanting more coverage, not less, while burping an infant.  Thankfully an experienced mom made the pattern, not me. :)

 

     For various reasons, I made some changes to my burp cloths compared to how Jill does hers.  Instead of using batting, I used two extra layers of flannel; I can't comment yet on how they compare as far as absorbency, but I'm not fond of using batting and I got the flannel on a great sale.  The other thing I changed was to have finished edges instead of ragged edges.  I love flannel rag quilts, but I know how much they fray, and I thought these might be nicer as gifts with a more finished look.  Because I was using the extra flannel layers instead of batting, it was easy for me to sew the burp cloths with the outsides facing in, flip them around, and sew once more.  I have no idea how I would have done that if I had been using batting.

     I found that my edges looked nicer on the cloths I sewed a bit further from the edge the second time around, but either way (whether you have a 1/8" allowance or 1/4" allowance) they look great.  Aren't these fabrics cute?

DIY Thread Holder

     I'm pretty sure I saw this pin ages ago, and I'd been meaning to get it started for a long time.  At first, I was intimidated because I thought I wouldn't be able to do the drilling at home, but I figured it out, even in my little apartment!

     So Melissa at Melly Sews did her project by cutting out a piece of wood into her custom logo, but I didn't care that much about making it a particular style/font of "S" (for my last name), so I just bought a precut unfinished wood S at Hobby Lobby.  I also found a great website to buy them from, if you do care about the specific font or size, but Hobby Lobby was cheaper for me.  My letter S was 0.5" thick, and 18" tall. 

     I bought some long skinny dowel rods (0.5 cm thick) at the same time, and went to work.  First, I sanded the letter S with a hand-saving sandpaper sponge, and then I decided where I wanted my dowel rods -- make sure you use some actual thread spools to help you determine spacing!  I got a drill bit that was the right size (3/16" I think), and started drilling.  I didn't drill straight on all my holes through like she shows she did; I thought it worked better to drill only partway in.  The dowel rods I cut with the sharper section of pliers, and then sanded the ends down too. 

     With a little Gorilla Glue wood glue in the holes, the dowel rod pieces were ready to go in (plus a little pressure for adherence), and then it's just a matter of letting the glue dry.

      I decided not to paint mine, since the wood was the same color as my desk in my sewing room, but it'd be easy to spray paint a fun bright color it if I ever change my mind. Ta da!

     Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was go buy more thread to fill up those spots, but I guess I will wait and just have room to grow. :)

DIY Baby Wrap (Moby Wrap Style)

     I'm pregnant! Cue all the baby craft projects!! Actually, I haven't held back all that much, but now I'm really not holding back!  Seriously, my craft budget has been...flexible lately. ;D

      Today I'll show you the DIY baby wraps I made, for about $14 each!  I found this pin on Pinterest, linking to Mile High Mom's blog. 

     Her instructions and photos are straightforward and easy to follow, so I'll just make a few comments on how my project went.

     First, if your baby's father is interested in babywearing (hooray for involved dads!), you will probably need at least 6 yards of fabric.  I almost got less than that because my first choice of fabric had less than 6 yards on the bolt, but I changed my mind and I'm glad I did.  Since we have no baby to practice on yet, we are estimating how it will fit, but I think it's still helpful.  For me (5'7", normally 120 lbs), 5 yards probably would have done just fine because as it is I criss-cross in back and tie in front.  For Andrew, six yards gives him enough to tie in the back, with no additional criss-cross. He's 5"11", and around 190 lbs.
[Here's Moby's instructions, so you know what I'm talking about.] 

     The fabric I chose was a jersey cotton material, and with a coupon at JoAnn's, 6 yards cost me about $ 28, for enough to make two wraps.  It has a good amount of stretch, but not too much (no spandex), and it won't fray so I didn't bother to hem it (score!)

     I did cut triangles off the ends, like she suggests, and I think that helps reduce the bulk at the ends. 

     One additional thing I did was sew on a ribbon tag where Moby puts their tags, so that Andrew and I can find the center easily.  I just used a simple gray ribbon, but it looks pretty nice with my dark purple fabric.  If I were making this as a gift, I would put a "Made with Love" type of tag there.  You can always tie your wrap with the tag facing in, too. 

     I can't wait to use our wraps! Andrew is excited, too, and was kind enough to model my finished product for this. Just pretend there's a baby in there.

Felt Needlebook

      I really enjoy working with felt, so when I stumbled onto a Pinterest board dedicated to a ton of felt crafts, I had to do at least one.  I found this pin that inspired me to make a needlebook.  That way, I made something cute and useful with felt.  Here's my inspiration:

Here's mine:

      Of course I wanted mine to be purple, and it worked out well to use some scrap fabric as a bit of decoration.  I thought I'd need a pocket for my cross-stitch needles, which are more blunt, but my felt is not as tightly woven or something; they were fine.  I made some labels for mine since I wanted to keep track of the several kinds of needles I have.  There's also a blank page at the front for basic hand sewing needles.  I really like how it turned out!  Cute and functional, if I do say so myself.

Springtime Grassy Yarn Wreath

      I know, I know, it's definitely not springtime anymore.  The fact is, I've been wanting to make this wreath since March and have been looking for the supplies for this craft for months now.  The pin basically shows you how to make it; it's simple enough to figure out.  Apparently, no one carries yarn that looks exactly like this, and I haven't seen any ribbon with flowers like those either.  In June, my sweet in-laws gave me a Michaels gift card for my birthday, so I was determined to find something to make this work before the end of summer.  It's a very springy wreath, but I think it carries over into summer pretty nicely.

      So I found some yarn that I thought would have a similar effect, and I stumbled across a plastic can of flower confetti (the Brides brand that Michaels has, I just wish they'd had white), I added the flowers using some yellow-tipped quilting pins, and voila!  Here's mine:

Monster Coloring Totes

      It's probably no surprise to any visitor of this blog that I am an avid Pinterest user.  I love the sharing of good ideas, whether they are for date nights, kids' activities, recipes, or crafts.  I also love the way that people in the blogosphere can inspire creativity in each other.  This pin links to a blog with these adorable monster coloring totes, but they're actually the second version of them (she links back to the original blogger).  Since creativity is not exactly my greatest strength, I basically copied the second poster's design.

      Since I am also cheap, I picked up two tote bags on clearance at JoAnn crafts instead of making the bags too.  This ended up being the harder way to do it, in a way, since I had to sew and then attach the monster face to the bag with more difficulty.  I made mine to size for crayons, but you could make the faces and slots longer for colored pencils too.  Here are my two, all laid out, pre-sewing:

      I don't have kids; I am actually making these to put in our two shoeboxes this year for Operation Christmas Child.  Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse (originally Billy Graham's ministry, now run by Franklin Graham) that packages and sends millions of shoeboxes filled with small gifts and basic necessities to children all over the world.  I have been involved with OCC since I was in junior high, either through packing shoeboxes or volunteering at the processing center here in Orange County.  Last year, my husband and I packed two shoeboxes, for a boy and a girl in the 10-14 age range, filling them primarily at back-to-school sale time, when you can get school supplies really cheaply.  This year, our boxes will probably be for two boys in the 5-9 category.  I picked up some flip-flops on sale for about $1 each, and plan to pack these two totes, along with notebooks and/or coloring books next month.  The great thing about this project was that it was very inexpensive; the gusseted tote bags I got on clearance were just 30 cents each, and I was able to make each monster face from one sheet of felt at 33 cents each!  The crayons were the most expensive part, and an 8-pack was only 99 cents.

One finished tote (so far):

Stegosaurus Softie

      Ever since I saw this pin and attached tutorial for a felt stegosaurus, I knew I'd have to make it eventually.  I am married to a huge paleontology buff -- we have dinosaur toys models on shelves in our bedroom; I'm not kidding.  Then my sister sent me fabric scraps from Africa (she's been volunteering as a teacher in Tanzania, and will be returning next month -- shameless plug for her blog here) and I knew I had to figure out how to use those. 

      The tricky thing about this project was that the tutorial gives you a pattern for a felt softie, but I needed one with fabric in mind.  I ended up drawing my own pattern (don't do that, just use the printable one the tutorial gives at the end of the post) and adjusting it for fabric.  It was certainly a challenge to have to think about how to make this work with seam allowances.  I knew from the beginning there was no way I'd use anything but felt for the spinal plates!  I screwed up the sewing of the felt to one fabric side of the body, so I was trying to fix that for awhile afterward.  It turned out alright, but I wish I'd had little black beads for the eyes like the original blogger had.  Since I wanted my stego to have a face as soon as I finished him, I made do with what I had.  My husband approved, anyway. :)

      Isn't this African fabric great?  I used a solid green portion of the same fabric for the underbelly.

Baby Door Muff

 
      So a friend of ours is having a baby this fall, and that is all the impetus I need to go nuts with all the fun baby craft and sewing projects!  I have tons of them pinned to my sewing for kids board on Pinterest, but I thought I'd start off with this one, since I expected it would be a quick project and something I could make with materials I had on hand.  This baby door muffler or 'door muff' is available for sale on Etsy in various colors.  It lets you open and close the baby's door without the click, so you don't wake the baby, and keeps toddlers from locking themselves into a room.

      I had some denim scraps left over from the denim quilt I finished recently, so I thought I'd use some of those.  I also wanted my door muff to be gender neutral, and denim works pretty well for that idea.  Basically, the door muff ended up being three layers of denim, with the ends sewn down around two elastic hair ties.  The elastics serve the same function as the ribbons, but are a little less girly, and perhaps more straightforward if you ever want to take it on and off.  It sounds simple, but it took longer than you might expect to get the measurements right.  Also, my sewing machine was being extremely uncooperative.  Anyway, the basic finished product was boring, so I added two felt stars to hint at a night sky theme.  Here it is!

Denim Rag Quilt

      When I saw this picture on Pinterest (no real link attached), I thought it was a brilliant idea for old jeans, because you could make a quilt with such character, and reuse clothes you might normally donate or toss.  I was given a pair of very light blue colored jeans by a friend, and I knew they wouldn't be worn, but the color was unique enough to inspire me to make this happen.
      This quilt was the first I did 100% on my own, start to finish.  My only previous quilt was from a kit, with all the pieces pre-cut, including the fringe (it was a fleece rag quilt).  Although this was a little intimidating, I loved the idea and wanted to make one for a picnic blanket, (that I could maybe even use this summer) so I was motivated.  I bought the denim from thrift stores in the form of denim dresses and jeans at good sale prices.  This way, I avoided buying denim fabric new, which runs $12/yard, and got the additional character pieces like pockets and pleats (from a dress bodice).  I recommend against doing what the picture shows, with all the seams running across and sewing on waistbands to keep the labels, because it was hard enough to sew through 4 layers of it when all my fabric was smooth.
      I also made sure to get denim that was generally lighter weight (my machine is by no means industrial strength).  If you do buy the denim new, I think my weights were in the 7-11 oz range, and I recommend keeping it under 11.  I say this not only so you don't kill your machine but because if you go heavier the finished quilt, especially if it's bigger than mine, will weigh a ton!  I wasn't sure how well the quilt would turn out if I left it fringed all around the outside, so I went ahead and put some quilt binding on it.  It was really easy, but I think you could go either way.  I think it makes it look a little more put together, and hopefully it'll hold up a little better long-term.
      If you're going to tackle a denim quilt, make sure you buy the special denim sewing needles for your machine, some heavy duty thread, and definitely spring action sewing scissors like these.  Here's my finished product! I'm pretty proud of it.

Here's a close-up so you can see the cool square with buttons I got from a pleated dress bodice.   I ended up with 4 pockets, so I put those by the corners so I can hold down napkins or keep track of silverware on a picnic.

      I also used the ties from one of the denim dresses to make a tie for my blanket to keep it neat when it's rolled up. 

Delicious Soft Pretzels!

      I have about a million pins on my "fun food" board on Pinterest.  I've been wanting to try so many of the recipes, and now pretty much whenever I decide to bake something, I go to my board and find the right pin.  Because of this, if you look for soft pretzel recipes, you'll find I have about 5 different ones saved!  I finally got around to trying one, and I found the easiest one to try -- no dropping in boiling water, pretty simple prep, and it takes about an hour to make.

Don't these look mouth-watering?

      This "Auntie Anne's copycat" recipe is care of Yammie's Noshery. Since it's just my husband and me, I halved the recipe so we wouldn't be pigging out too excessively.  When I first made the recipe, I used 2 and a quarter cups of flour, and, like some of the original poster's commenters noted, the dough was quite wet.  It made it pretty difficult to work with, even as I floured my hands when I was shaping it into pretzels.  The second time around, I added a bit of flour, just under 1/4 cup, and it was perfect!

Way easier to knead with my hands (rather than the mixer) if I wanted to.

Lovely little pretzels!  I would make them skinnier if I had a bigger surface to roll them out on.

Since I didn't roll them really skinny, they puffed up and became all one piece.  Still delicious!

      One more thing -- the first time I made them, we had kosher salt, which was good.  The second time, we used coarse sea salt, which really gives it that pretzel look.  Just be careful you don't oversalt them, the larger salt is stronger tasting, so a little goes further than kosher salt.