Preparing for Baby- Crib Bedding

The time has come, the time is now...Lauren go into labor!!


My sister is only 38 weeks so she still has time but everything is complete the baby can come at any time now!!! I am very excited about my sister becoming a Mommy and me becoming an Aunt. Yeah, a little girl to spoil that I can give back!! You know what I am talking about if you have a little girl.

The final piece to baby peanut's room is done. The bedding is complete. The crowning piece to any nursery I had the honor to make!!

Here is my sister's bedding!!

Up close! You will notice this is not your typical padding. but 4 bolsters going the length of the bed. Once she starts moving around they will be removed. Then we plan on making them into throw pillows when she moves into a toddler bed. Double usage!!!
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I have 2 children and never attempted to make their bedding, so Peanut you are mighty special & we can't wait to meet you!!

Also, I should add I am changing over to www.strictly-homemade.blogspot.com very soon!! If you like what you see on this blog you will love my new blog. Be sure to follow me on the new blog so you don't miss anything!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to 2010!!

Preparing for Baby- Door Hanger

It is no secret, my sister is having a baby and I am excited!! Every time I turn around I see something else I would love to make her!! I got the idea one night to make her a Door Hanger with her bedding fabric. To make it EXTRA special I wanted to monogram it. Well, Auntie Maridith doesn't have Embroidery Machine so I had to come up with another alternative.

Trust me if you LOVE monograms....you will want to read on....

I read how to do this originally on Neither Hip Nor Funky.

You use Plain old Freezer Paper that you buy at the grocery store. I printed the letter I wanted, cut it out, traced it on the dull side of the freezer paper and cut out the inside. Lots of cutting, but worth it.


I positioned it on the fabric, and pressed onto fabric. TIP #1 : Be sure your iron DOES NOT have water in it! TIP #2: If you do not like the placement after it is pressed you CAN remove the pattern and press again. You can do this up to 4 times!

Use regular acrylic paint mixed with Textile Medium and Paint! Do not use brush strokes...dab going up and down if you use brush strokes it can get under the paper! I waited until the paint was slightly dry to pull off. Here is the results. Perfect crisp lines!

I added trim and ribbon and it is FINISHED!!

Now let's hope when my sister and her husband meet their new baby her name will start with an "M" or they are out a really cool door hanger!!

Twice Remembered- Baby Blanket

Do you have an old lovie (blanket) from your childhood or your children's childhood that is now sitting in storage? My sister did and now her lovie is a teddy bear for her baby girl!

What better way to make a Mother-to-be cry!! I think she likes it!

Lauren even had to smell it to see if the "smell" was still there.
Twice Remembered Baby Blanket from one generation to the next!

I didn't just make one...I have made two!! Lawson saw me making this for the new baby and said "you have never made me a bear" (guilty as charged) Now Lawson has a matching bear!!

Preparing for Baby- Dresses

NO, it is not for me...

For my SISTA!!

I am so excited to be an Aunt!! As an aunt I can spoil my sister's baby girl and give her back (hehe)!! My sister has been a loving and wonderful example of what an aunt does for her nieces and nephews so now it is my turn to be an aunt.

In preparation for this new bundle of joy my sister has me really busy. I should mention I volunteered to do all of this she never asked. To keep me on check here is my list...

- Crib Skirt (Check out this website to see her bedding)

- Bumper Pads

- Diaper Case Cover

- Top Secret Project (to be revealed after Nov 21st)

- Dresses (lots and lots of dresses)

I have finished 1 out of 6 dresses to be made (off-white not shown)!! I am going to wait on finishing out some of them so we can have them monogrammed once the baby is here!

Isn't getting ready for a baby fun???

Little Boys Don't Do Pink!!

God has blessed me and my husband with a daughter and son. We truly count our blessings everyday that we have one of each sex and they are so healthy. That being said, my kids have a cheap-cheap mommy, which means some staple baby items that are gender specific are used by both. For example, pink baby bath towels, pink blankets, pink sippy cups & pink strollers. All items listed are used by my son and it doesn't phase me for the most part. But there is one item that my son uses that epitomizes my cheapness and that is the pink stroller.

Little guy hugging on his sister's pink blanket!

The story of the Pink and Black Stroller

When we had my daughter we chose not to find out if she was a boy or girl, so everything we received like big ticket gifts were very neutral. Perfect!! Having everything green and yellow didn't bother me, but as she came into her own she was so girl-y BUT she had no hair. Some people would say "Oh HE is so cute", it didn't matter if she was in all pink she was still called a he!! My response was always the same "He is a she" and would move on. Well, one day I decided to break free from my sensible side, and bought my daughter a pink and black stroller. I was so proud of this pink and black stroller for my daughter it just made me giddy to push her around. I think it was more for me then her, but still, it was something that should only be used for a girl and I loved it...2 years ago.

Now, I hate this stroller. Why? I am embarrassed to say I have been sporting my son around in a pink and black stroller since he was 8 months and I cringe inside every time I use it. I would cover the pink back with a diaper cloth to hide the large area of pink (pictured below), but the pink trim just screams pink to me. No one has ever said anything about my little boy and a pink stroller but I can see it in their eyes!! How cruel am I ??? Throw practicality out the window "Little Boys Don't do Pink" I know, call me petty I don't care. he is 15 months old and it is time for me to do something about it!!

I thought about selling it, taking the money and buying a new one, but I would still have to shell out an additional $40-$50 for a new one. I could buy a used one after selling this one, but the process of finding a used one would be too time consuming. Then I had an idea. It was a little crazy, maybe even stupid, and beyond cheap, but I decided to paint the pink trim and make a new headrest cover. I figured if it didn't work, oh well I tried!!

I took one more picture of the pink and black stroller for old time sakes. Then my daughter and I started painting!!

Before:


After: A one-of-a-kind NCSU stroller!!

How did I do it? I used black paint (have lots around), mixed in some Textile Medium (had some of that around too, not sure why) and started painting all of the pink trim black.

The cover is made out of some left over material I bought for baby gifts. Go NCSU!!

Cost: Nothing!!

Saved: $40-$50

Verdict: No more pink and black stroller for my little boy!! No more cringing!! Yeah!! I even like the stroller again. I just wish it had a cup holder. Oh Well.

Ribbon Blanket

When I was pregnant with my first child I did not know the sex of our child. It was wonderful and the gifts we received were neutral and some were very creative. One gift really stuck out. It was a ribbon blanket made by a co-worker in NCSU fleece material. I immediately loved it because it was NCSU and I love homemade gifts!

We had a little girl and didn't give much hope for the blanket being around very long. Let me tell you I WAS WRONG!! At around 6 months she loved the silky tags.


At 12 months she started calling it "ri-ri" because of the ribbon. Today at 3 1/2 it is still the object of her affection! She loves it and sleeps with it every night.


It is really hard to make boy crafty items I thought a "ri-ri" (ribbon blanket) would be a great project! Plus, now I can say I have made SOMETHING for my son.


Truth be told I was looking for something else, happened to find the material cut out, the ribbon cut out and some scrap gingham material that made me realize I should probably make this TODAY!! I was probably going to make this as a gift for NCSU baby but never got around to it!! oops!

Procrastination Time: 2 years minimum. I really think this material has been cut out for that long. PATHETIC!! I do believe things work out for a reason because now I can give one to my son!! Another project finished only 1000 more to go...

Pack-rat: The whole thing was part of my pack-rat collection. (I never throw anything away!)

Cost: Two years ago it cost me something but today it cost me $0.

Verdict: Although this was probably intended for some one else with my procrastination and pack-ratting skills I have a happy little boy!!

I love that I started this blog because it does keep me motivated to finish those projects that have postponed for a LONG TIME! Plus, I hope it helps motivate other women to not keep on looking for latest and greatest projects on HGTV or the web but finish up the projects in your home. It is SOOO much more rewarding!! Maybe later I will do a tutorial on how you can make one of these very easily!!

Towel Power

Does your Toddler still use his/her baby towel? Mine does and she looks kinda silly considering the towel doesn't cover half of her! My son uses all of my daughter's pink hooded towels but that is another problem for another day!

My friend Elizabeth sent me this tutorial on how to make a hooded towel.

This is the finished product and my super model L was ready to try it out!!

Front View:

Back View:

Procrastination Time: 7 months (Elizabeth sent this to me back in the summer 2007)

Pack-rat: Old Towels from when it matched my old house bathroom, ribbon from ribbon collection

Cost: $0

Verdict: Easy! Loved this project and would love to make this for gifts for toddlers (with new towels of course). I changed one thing from the tutorial, I did not turn over on the end of the hood (hand towel). It just seemed too bulky and unnecessary. I just measured the hand towel to the 10.5 inches and cut it that length.

My First Project of 2009

In honor of my son's 1st birthday today, I thought I would finally get around to making the diaper/wipe carrier I have wanted. I don't carry around a diaper back but I do carry a rather large purse, so I know I would get a lot of use out of this and diapers won't be on the loose in my purse!!

Procrastination time: 10 months. I wrote down these instructions while I was on maternity leave. I figured I would have a ton of time since my son is my second child and I am an old pro! Ya right!!

Resources: This outside material is leftover material from my kitchen curtains, that I got for free from my mom (change in decorative direction). The inside material is leftover material from another project. The Velcro is older then me, but it still works o why throw it away! I got it when we were cleaning out my grandmother's house when she moved.














Time to make: 20 minutes

Verdict: It only took me 10 months but it is done!! Easy to make! Don't know why I took so long to make. Would make great gifts for friends!

Happy Birthday W!!