This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support! As you already know, Alicia recently had a baby a number of weeks early. He is doing great! Just after he was born, I flew off to go and give her and her family a hand while the little guy was in the NICU getting stronger. (Lindsey gave some tips about how to help NICU parents on this post!) Before I left, my granddaughter pulled out her sewing machine and we worked together to create a special gift for the baby. Here is what we made! We got into my stash of flannel fabric and found an adorable elephant print and a chevron stripe that coordinated with it. We wanted to make a receiving blanket with a matching burp cloth. My granddaughter loves elephants, so it was the perfect choice. Here are some other choices you might love: ...And don't forget a solid or coordinating stripe or print for the back of the receiving blanket ! REMINDER: Be sure to prewash and preshrink your fabric before sewing your items. Flannel is notorious for shrinking and getting a little misshapen and you want that to happen before you cut it out and sew it together. Plus, you will want nice clean fabric to give as a gift to a baby! To Make The Blanket, we used a little over a yard to cut matching sized squares of the main color fabric, (the elephants) and the backing fabric, (the stripe).
The burp cloth was made much like the blanket only on a smaller scale. But, instead of tying the fabric together, we simply sewed them right sides together and flipped them right side out before finishing the edge the rest of the way and top stitching around. The burp cloth fabric measures about 8 inches wide and about 18 inches long. You can adjust these measurements according to how much fabric you have and the way it lays on your shoulder. Burp cloths are very forgiving and can be sized according to your personal preference. 6 inches by 12 inches could also work! I like to make the burp cloth with double flannel fabric to help it be nice an absorbent. It can't be simply cute, it has to be functional! I may have added, (I can't remember), and extra layer of flannel on the inside of the burp cloth just to give it more thickness and absorbency. The Stuffed Elephant: We used Simplicity Pattern 2613 to sew the elephant from gray fleece. The pattern was so simple to make that my granddaughter did most of the sewing by herself and she is an age 13 beginner! I was very proud of her. That girl has no fear of trying new things! We didn't want the eyes to be able to be pulled off and choked on by the baby, so we embroidered them on with embroidery floss. Then, we used some of the left over fabric from the blanket to make a bow for his neck. We loved how it turned out! As the baby gets older, I'm sure that he will love it as well! There is something especially special about handmade baby gifts, I think. These little works of art can become heirlooms one day, or a cherished blanket that the child adores. Not only are handmade gifts nice and helpful for mom and baby, I know that my granddaughter felt a lot of pride and happiness, a sense of accomplishment from making it for them. When I came home from my trip, she asked me if it was appreciated. I know it was and will continue to be loved by her aunt and cousin. I hope you will have reasons to give these special gift ideas a try. More baby gift ideas:
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THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. WE WILL BE COMPENSATED FOR PURCHASES MADE THROUGH THOSE LINKS AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU. ALL VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE OUR OWN.Our 6 year old daughter is really into arts and crafts. I can always guarantee the toys she is going to play with everyday are her Legos and her arts and crafts bin. If she has a spare moment she will pull out paper and pen and draw. So when she had a Daddy Daughter Date night they decided to pick out a craft project they could do together. She got really excited about Perler Beads, and so did her creative dad. They spent the night making cute scenes of unicorns and rainbows to decorate her new room with! Then the Perler Beads came out to be used everyday for the whole of the next week. Many MineCraft characters, more unicorns, Godzilla, and even a big Megaman made their appearance. But I was hitting a creative block of what to make to join in on the fun. That’s when my daughter said she was going to make her own bracelet. She designed a very cute simple square bracelet for herself and it reminded me of the fun earrings I used to wear in high school. My freshman year of high school those large chandelier earrings were in vogue and I loved to wear them. (Side note: One of the reasons I loved them was the nostalgia they provided from this picture book we had about getting pierced ears. Lots of fun earring designs in there!) And so I decided to design and make little, funky, colorful earrings. It was so easy and fast. I made three pairs for myself and then used a jewelry making kit my cousin gave me to attach them to hook earrings. Here is a kit I found on Amazon. And here is a kit specifically for jewelry! To make the earrings I used a square base plate and whatever Perler Beads I liked to make cute designs on the plate. If you decide to do this, make sure the beads are adjacent to each other so they will melt together. After you have the design you like, use a hot iron and a piece of parchment or wax paper over your beads. We found it worked best to Let it melt the beads for a few seconds before trying to move the iron around. Otherwise the beads would come loose and your design could be ruined. Once the first side is done flip the base plate over and remove your designs. Put the melted side down on another piece of parchment. Replace the parchment over your design and melt the other side. When that’s finished, set something heavy over your earrings to keep them flat (if that’s the look you’re going for. I accidentally melted the hole away in my peeler beads so I just heated up a needle and melted a new hole in the top bead. You could also attach post earring backs or clip on earring backs with glue or by melting the plastic and pushing the post into it, though I have not tried that method. The earrings came out so cute and fun! My daughter decided to make me more and we’re going to get some clip-on backs to add to some of the earrings for her to wear.To make the earrings I used a square base plate and whatever Perler Beads I liked to make cute designs on the plate. If you decide to do this, make sure the beads are adjacent to each other so they will melt together. This would be a fun activity to do at a birthday party. I love the kind of party favors that will last more than a week and will be something the party goer can use over and over again. Or do it for a Girls Night with your friends! It would be an awesome Galentine’s Day Activity. Or just on your own, the possibilities are endless! We've found other sources of ideas for Perler Earrings, too! Check these out: Maker Mama The Thinking Closet Here are some great Perler Kits to help you with designs:
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. I am very picky about muffins. I do not like dry ones! They must be moist, flavorful and if they have a streusel topping then that is even better! Luckily, this version of banana muffins really fit that bill and hit the spot! I also love it when you don't have to mix up muffins or quick breads in a mixer. For years I have used my Tupperware Mix and Store Batter Bowl for making everything from cupcakes, to muffins to pancakes. That pour spout is just so handy when it is time to fill cupcake liners or to pour out pancake batter onto a hot griddle! My Tupperware bowl is getting a little worse for wear, but I still use it. Plus, I also have a Pampered Chef version in glass. When I'm not using my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, these are the best bowls to use when mixing with a portable mixer or by hand. There are quite a few versions of this type of bowl, such as this one by Anchor Hocking or a set of them in stainless by Rorence. This recipe can be all mixed together in one of my favorite mixing bowls by hand in no time and then popped in the oven. It is a quick clean-up after that which is another reason to love this recipe. Using up black bananas? Check! This recipe uses 3 of them! Will feed a crowd? This recipe makes about 18 muffins, so not bad! Since I made them for just myself and my husband, then shared some with friends, we still have a few on day 3. But guess what! They are still as moist and delicious as day 1! So check and check! It helps to keep them stored in an air tight container of course. I'm using my Tupperware 12" round container. It is always my go to for muffins, cupcakes and cookies. The brown sugar streusel topping adds the perfect crunch to the tops of these muffins because the muffin itself is so soft and moist. Together you get the perfect combination for what tastes like the perfect muffin to go with your Hot Cocoa Bomb, or your hot apple cider! (I've tried them with both!) I found this recipe awhile back on Sugar Spun Run, and tweaked it a bit for my purposes, so you can click to her recipe or here is my version.
This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support!
A couple of weeks ago our women's group at church had a crafting day and one of the projects we made were tile coasters decoupaged with scrapbook paper. They came out very pretty!
Because I was teaching a different craft, (the bookstacks!), I simply brought home my coaster supplies with me to finish at home. While I was thinking about making them, I was also thinking about our churches' general conference that is coming up in October and wondering how I could best remember some of the messages and incorporate them into my life. Perusing Pinterest, I found a beautiful set of past conference quotes that someone had designed into little square note sized cards. They were created by Aretta who has the blog, My Upside Down Umbrella. They are beautiful illuminations of quotes from conference in 2022. I thought that they would be perfect to add to my coasters! Since she offers them as a free download, it was so easy to do! (She also has April 2023 quotes here!) |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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