Freezer Paper Love

So I didn't know it until recently, but I love freezer paper!  Last year, while searching for something fun and unique to do at my good friend Carla's baby shower, I found a project for freezer paper stencils. I knew that with a little bit of effort, it would be fun!

I started out with random graphics that I liked.  Most were found from Google images.  This one is a tree with hearts as the leaves.  I traced the graphic onto a piece of freezer paper with a pencil (on the smooth side, not the waxy side), and using an Exacto knife and a self-healing mat, I cut on all the lines.   We wanted to have 20 different stencils for guests to choose from at the party, so my party planning hostess partner Janae cut out 10 and I cut out 10.  I'm not going to lie.  It took a long time.

 

Before the party, I ironed the stencils to the center of each onesie, positioning them so if Carla were to put pants or a skirt on the baby, you could still see the design. 

Here are some of the party guests painting onesies.  They choose the design they liked the best, and using sponge dabbers and fabric paint, sponged the colors on that they wanted.  Some girls used a one color design, some got bold and used a variety of colors.  We loved that guests could get creative with their onesie, but you did not have to be artistic for it to come out cute.

After the paint dries for about an hour, you can peel off the paper.  Make sure to launder it inside out for the first time.  How very Portland of us - a peace sign and a recycling symbol :)

As a Christmas gift this year, I decided to break out the freezer paper again.  My little sister lives in Eugene, a very Earth-conscious, "green" city.  So naturally, I made her a bicycle t-shirt.  I bought the plain gray t-shirt at Target and found a bicycle graphic that I liked from Google images.  

Here is my stencil, all ready to be ironed to the shirt.

And after ironing it. I positioned the triangle in the middle of the bike and the circles for the insides of the wheels while ironing.  It's important to remember where each piece goes as you are cutting.

Here is my Tulip brand fabric paint.  I got the palette and sponge daubers at Michael's.   I just sponged on a thin layer, making sure the coverage was good, but that I didn't use too much to make it bleed under the freezer paper.  I put a piece of cardboard on the inside of my shirt so the paint wouldn't soak through to the other side.

Here I am modeling the shirt before I sent it off to Marley.  Cute, huh?  And since I only had to buy the t-shirt, it ended up being a very inexpensive gift.  She said she loved it, so hopefully she wears it while riding her bike around Eugene! :)

Have you used fabric paint before?  What are your ideas for fun baby shower activities?  I'd love to hear about it!

Giraffe Diaper Cake

I went to a baby shower last week that had jungle animals on the invitation.  So, I thought a giraffe themed diaper cake would be adorable!  My idea was to find a giraffe print fabric for the burp cloth and matching onesie.  I thought the mom would love how graphic it was and that it wouldn't be too babyish.  She also doesn't know what she's having, so the giraffe print would be gender neutral.  I ended up finding a perfect giraffe print flannel at my fav Fabric Depot (where I've gone for fabric for this project and this project).  Here is the onesie and matching burp cloths I made:

I decided to put a star on the onesie, thinking it would be a good graphic for a boy or a girl.  I also sewed on the new fabric labels I just got for my Etsy shop, Pic-Nik Designs.  I got them here.  Super fast shipping from Australia, great prices, and wonderful customer service.  If you want to get customized fabric labels, I highly recommend them!

Back to the diaper cake.  Since the new mommy and daddy-to-be live in Kentucky and requested gifts to be travel friendly, I only made them a one tier cake.  I used a half pack of Seventh Generation diapers and gave them the other half in a  gift bag (so they would see which brand and size the diapers are).  I wrapped the diapers with some giraffe printed ribbon I found at Joann Fabrics and added some green washcloths, folded to look like flowers (I knew from their registry they were going with a gender neutral green color palate for the nursery).  I also added a yellow stuffed giraffe from Target that has a little wind-up thing on the side to make it play lullabies (kinda like this one) and a little giraffe rattle from Babies R Us. This is kinda like the rattle.  Maybe I couldn't find the original one online because I had bought it in the store a couple months ago?

When I walked up to the baby shower, I saw a giant wooden giraffe on display on the front porch, wearing a bib.  "Score," I thought.  "My gift matches that giraffe."  I then got inside and noticed the mommy-to-be was wearing a giraffe printed dress.  Not only did my gift match the decor, it matched the mommy!  Perfect!  500 points for me!

Another Mill Park baby shower

Here are some fun pics from Laura's baby shower that I helped throw.  We wanted a woodland theme, so notice the pine cones, brown, blue and green colors, and the cute baby food jar favors filled with seeds.  Of course Carla and I made another diaper cake.  Details at the bottom!

 

Mama Martinez

 

Yummy cake from the Johnson Creek Fred Meyer.  Apparently they have an amazing bakery!

 Friends on maternity leave came to visit: Katie & Baby Nash

 

 Abby & Baby James

                        Carrie & Baby Ella

 Playing a game: Creating baby Grayson's first ABC book!

 

  

Game winners: Laura's favorite pages!

 Baby gifts!

 Diaper cake!  Laura's baby bedding has little lambs on it, so naturally we needed a lamb for the top of the cake.  It is decorated with rolled up washcloths, a handmade crinkle toy (I forgot to take a picture of it, but you can see a similar one here).  Inside the cake is a really soft blue and white star blanket and this super cute onesie I made.  I've never done the tie before, but I've really been wanting to.  I think it turned out so cute!

3 different parties, 3 different projects!

This weekend was a busy one!  I went to three different parties for three different occasions!  And of course I had to make something for each of them!  

Party number one was for my wonderful friend Kara's bridal shower.  I went in on a group gift with the girls, but I also added something extra: an oven mitt and hot pad that match her wedding colors.  They took awhile, since they are quilted and I don't have much experience quilting (i.e. no experience quilting!).  I used the patterns from the book, The New Handmade.  The book has lots of cute, simple projects that would make great gifts.  Although I can see every single flaw in the oven mitt, I think they turned out cute.  Here are pictures of both the sides.

For party number two, I took the kids and went to my friend Kelsey's baby's first birthday.  I got the birthday girl, Genevieve, a really cute baby's first birthday book by Karen Katz and I made her an adorable owl out of girly flannel fabric.  I used this tutorial to make it.  I think next time I make an owl, I'll put a bell or some crinkle fabric inside so it can make noise.  Babies love toys that make noise!

For party number three I made a diaper cake for my friend Bob's baby shower.  He and his fiance, Elle, are having a little girl, and since Bob went to U of O, I made a duck themed girly cake.  It had a little Oregon cheerleader teddy bear on top and lots of cute pink, yellow, and green decorations.  Inside the bottom layer was a little outfit I put together: a burp cloth, a onesie with a duck sewn on it, little yellow shorts, and a headband made by my friend at work, Michelle.  Bob and Elle loved it!

Another diaper cake

Baby Shower #2 for this spring at Mill Park was for my friend and colleague, Katie.  She is having a little boy and his name will be Nash. Carla and I once again got together to make her an adorable diaper cake. Instead of trying to find fabric that would match her crib bedding that she registered for at Target, I just bought the flannel receiving blankets from the set. From that fabric, I made a burp cloth (looks like this), bib, two different toys (a crinkly square toy and a wooden ring with fabric and ribbon toy), and a onesie with a cute owl sewn on it (that I designed myself - go me!)

Here is a pic of all the goodies inside the cake:

Here is the cake the night Carla and I made it. Carla is so wonderful at making the cakes. She used this tutorial to learn how. She also uses two different sized quilt rings to keep the diapers together as she wraps the string around them. She covers up the string with ribbon and makes sure to hot glue to the ribbon to itself and not to the diapers, as to not ruin them. She likes using Seventh Generation diapers because they are bleach and chlorine free and also because the light brown color looks like whipped mocha frosting! :) After the cake was built we put these things on it: the Jittery Pals owl on top, blue Avent binkies, and washcloths folded up to look like roses stuck inside the bottom layer of diapers. We even put a Gerber thermal receiving blanket inside the bottom layer. The rubber duck ended up getting cut from the cake after this. He was just a little too awkward hanging out on the bottom by himself.

I then started adding some stuff to fill it up, since it was a little bare. I added silk flowers and leaves, little clip on bumble bees to the ribbons, and 6 Ring-a-Links, 3 on each side. My son Nathan has two sets of alphabet blocks, so I snatched the letters to spell Nash from the set he never plays with. The cake was cute, but now it was a little too busy.

On the day of the baby shower, I covered the lower piece of cardboard with tissue paper and then Carla picked it up to decorate. She paired it down a bit, so the finished product was perfect. It still had all the goodies and was pleasing to the eye. What do you think of our masterpiece? I think it's pretty cute! And the most important thing is that Katie loved it!

Another diaper cake

Baby Shower #2 for this spring at Mill Park was for my friend and colleague, Katie Mauck. Katie is having a little boy and his name will be Nash. Carla and I once again got together to make her an adorable diaper cake. Instead of trying to find fabric that would match her crib bedding that she registered for at Target, I just bought the flannel receiving blankets from the set. From that fabric, I made a burp cloth, bib, two different toys (a crinkly square toy and a wooden ring with fabric and ribbon toy), and a onesie with a cute owl sewn on it (that I designed myself - go me!)

Here is a pic of all the goodies inside the cake:

Here is the cake the night Carla and I made it. We still needed to decorate it, but it has most of the stuff on it: the Jittery Pals owl on top, blue Avent binkies, and washcloths folded up to look like roses stuck inside the bottom layer of diapers. We even put a thermal receiving blanket inside the bottom layer. The rubber duck ended up getting cut from the cake after this. He was just a little too awkward hanging out on the bottom by himself. 

I then started adding some stuff to fill it up, since it was a little bare. I added silk flowers and leaves, little clip on bumble bees to the ribbons, and 6 Ring-a-Links, 3 on each side. My son Nathan has two sets of alphabet blocks, so I snatched the letters to spell Nash from the set he never plays with. The cake was cute, but now it was a little too busy.

On the day of the baby shower, I covered the lower piece of cardboard with tissue paper and then Carla picked it up to decorate. She paired it down a bit, so the finished product was perfect. It still had all the goodies and was pleasing to the eye. What do you think of our masterpiece? I think it's pretty cute! And the most important thing is that Katie loved it! 

Baby stuff

Since starting my sewing projects, I've mainly made baby stuff: bibs, burp cloths, and a little crinkly toy. For my co-worker Abby's baby shower, I decided to make her a set of these items, and also threw in a onesie. She doesn't know the gender and went to U of O, so a Duck theme seemed appropriate. I used U of O fabric for all the items that I found at JoAnn Fabrics. The bib is smaller than other's I've made and doesn't have a pocket. I lined the back with terry cloth, to make it useful for when the baby starts drooling and teething around 3-4 months. The toy has a piece of a wipes case sewed inside to make the crinkle noise. I sewed lots of ribbon loops on the outside for the baby to grab and chew on and also a small wooden ring that I stained with organic beeswax from the PSU Farmer's Market.  The onesie is a silhouette of a rubber duck ironed on with webbed interfacing and then sewn around the border for extra security. If you want any of my patterns for specific directions on any of my projects, let me know!

As the baby shower got closer, my wonderful friend Carla, who made the diaper cake for my baby shower, suggested we make a diaper cake together for Abby. She agreed to make the actual cake and I would use my homemade items to decorate it. We also added a cute stuffed ducky for the top, gender neutral newborn sized pacifiers, and some green and yellow bathtime rubber duckies. The crinkle toy is under the duck, the burp cloth is between the layers of diapers, and the bib and onesie are stuffed inside the bottom layer along with a couple newborn sized diapers and a Hooter Hiders nursing cover. This is what it looked like when we were done:

We thought it looked a little bare, so for the actual event, we added some green and yellow silk flowers and wrapped the bottom cardboard circle with green wrapping paper. We think it was perfect and Abby loved it!

My latest project - Burp Cloths

If you have been around newborns, you know they spit up, throw up, and drool quite often. I'm not the biggest fan of bibs, especially since newborns don't have full control of their arms and most the time push the bib in their face. So, I needed lots of burp cloths. I saw some fancy ones at Segals (my fav baby store in Beaverton) and thought, "I can make those!"
I bought pre-folded cloth diapers and sewed fabric down the center and ribbon in the sides. This was a perfect project for me, as I only had to sew a straight line! And with some of the ribbon, I got fancy and tried different stitches that my machine can do. It was fun to experiment. The great thing about these, too, is they make great gifts. I ended up making some for 4 different co-workers' baby showers and our friend's daddy baby shower. The two in the picture were the ones I kept for myself.

After I ran out of the diapers, I searched Etsy to get inspired on another way to make burp cloths and found this design. Again, I can make those! I went to Jo-Ann's and stocked up on Minky Dot fabric and some flannel. I cut both fabrics 9x15, sewed around them leaving a 1 inch allowance, sewed a large x in the middle so the fabric can't separate, cut the fringe, then sewed around again for extra durability. This is how mine came out:
I think my favorite is the Oregon Ducks fabric! Many friends will be getting one of those!

Diaper cake - by Carla!

Another part of this blog is to showcase my friends' crafts as well. Carla made this adorable diaper cake for my baby shower. It turned out so cute and I can use every single thing it's made from!
She started with Seventh Generation chlorine and bleach free diapers. Size 1 for the top tier and size 2 for the bottom. She decorated it with fake flowers (I'm saving those for another project), pacifiers (the only kind Audrey will use!), ladybug and butterfly patches (and she gave me plain bibs to iron them onto later!), ribbon (who can't use extra ribbon!), a couple small toys (that hang out in Audrey's crib) and a stuffed elephant piggy bank on top! You can order a pre-made diaper cake from Babies R Us and the retail price ranges from $49-$109!! I think that Carla will have to make more in the future, because now all our friends want one when they have babies!

Bibs

On Ben and my anniversary vacation this year, we went to San Juan Island in Washington. I was 4 months pregnant at the time, we actually got to find out the gender of the baby the day after we got back home. So naturally, I wanted to get the baby a gift, but it needed to be gender neutral. 

I ended up finding a book, Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. It has 20 sewing projects from toys to crib bedding and diaper bags. I decided to start with the bibs, thinking they would be easy. Let me tell you, to a sewing novice, they were not! With time and lots of patience, I have finished 3 as gifts and have the fabric cut out for one more for Audrey.

Here is Nathan modeling my first bib that I made for Whitney's new baby boy Riley.