Baby Shower Gifts

Babies here, babies there, babies everywhere! In the past month I have been to three baby showers! I love making gifts for babies and have had a blast coming up with presents for all these new people coming into our lives!

Each baby gets a giant granny square blanket made with a different yarn. For this one I used multicolored yarn with an edging done in a sparkly pink. I love that the edge looks like a delicate ruffled lace edge.

I'm relatively new to crochet, typically more of a knitter so I used a great pattern called How to Crochet a Granny Square. It goes step by step and is perfect for newbies.

 

I also made each sweet girl a "necklace onesie". These onesies are all over Pinterest and are a cute way to personalize the clothing item that babies will wear the most the first few months. I created the necklace using the eraser of a pencil dipped in fabric paint. I then attached a felt rosette using a snap so that the mommies can take it off to wash the onesie.

  

And lastly I put everything in a cute basket and wrap it up with some cellophane. I love the presentation and know one can never have too many baskets to organize tiny things in the nursery. Sometimes I get wicker baskets with liners and have the liners monogrammed, it depends on what I find and the decor in the nursery. 

I also like to bring the baby and mom a gift once they get home. Along with the usual flowers and food I like to bring something that is personalized. Last week I decided to try my hand at some subway art for the nursery and made this for my friend who had a beautiful daughter. I created the "tags" in photo shop and then arranged them on a canvas using mod podge. I love the way it looks except I think next time I'll cut out the words using my Cricut and I'll paint them on to the canvas. I don't like the choppy look of the words on the canvas. I still love the idea and I'm thinking about making one for each of my kids even though they are not babies anymore.

Proudly linking to these awesome parties!!!

Making the World Cuter Mondays-Making the World Cuter

Just Something I Whipped Up-The Girl Creative

Made By You Mondays-Skip to My Lou

Market Yourself Mondays-Sumo’s Sweet Stuff

Motivate Me Monday-Crafts Keep Me Sane

Show Off Your Cottage Monday-The House in the Roses

Craftastic Mondays-Sew Can Do

Motivated Mondays-Becolorful

Made it! Mondays-Ninth Street Notions

This Weeks Cravings-Mom’s Crazy Cooking

A Marvelous Mess-Marvelously Messy

Menu Monday-Domestic Diva in Training

Creative Me Monday-The Southern Institute

Making Monday Marvelous-C.R.A.F.T

What I’m Making Monday-Baby Making Machine

Meatless Mondays-My Sweet & Savory

I’m Feeling Crafty-Feeling Crafty

Magic of the Mundane-Sofia’s Ideas

Show Off Mondays-Kampen Lane Designs

Get Your Craft On-Todays Creative Blog

Sew Cute Tuesdays-Creative Itch

Anything Related-All thingz Related

Tot Tuesdays-Delicious Ambiguity

Take a Look Tuesday-Sugar Bee Crafts
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday-Coastal Charm

Tutorial Linky Party-The Little Birdie

Totally Tutorials Tuesday-Measured by the Heart

Review: My Artist’s Way Toolkit

The My Artist's Way Toolkit is the online version of Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity. Like the book, the online tool kit presents a self-guided 12-week program which include daily and weekly exercises. These can be done online and offline and the expectation is that throughout these activities one will find the artist we all have hiding within us. Lastly it is important to mention that it is a subscription based program so there is a fee involved.

My favorite part of the program is the weekly 'Artist Dates'. I love that they are specific enough that I don't have to worry about the what when I'm writing. This week's prompt was "Go to a candy shop and buy yourself some of your favorite kind of childhood candy." It just so happens that I am in my native country and so this was a really fun one for me. I got tearful while writing about my favorite lollipops that my parents, who are now both gone, always used to buy for me. Writing about these lollipops was a wonderful exercise for my heart!

My least favorite part perhaps is the writing online, but after two weeks I have gotten used to it and actually enjoy it. I also like that I can do the exercises from everywhere since I always have my iPad or iPhone with me. If I only did these exercises in long hand then I probably would quickly fall behind since my journal stays at home. I find I do most of my creative writing while waiting in the carline at school- sad but true!

A note to keep in mind is that if you cancel your subscription they will keep your data for 60 days in case you change your mind. I love that!

This is a great toolkit for someone that needs help in self discovery, it's a great "wake-up" of sorts to get your creative juices going. We all go through dry periods and I think once in a while it's a great idea to try something new. I'd recommend this as I find that for me it's been a great tool!

Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about the My Artist's Way Toolkit.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

BlogHer Book Club: The First Husband

The First Husband by Laura Dave should be the first book you read this summer. Throw it in your beach bag or enjoy it on the plane, you will not be disappointed!

Dave carefully tells a tale of a woman who thinks she has it all until one day she hears those awful words, “we may need a break” (Dave, 7) Those simple five words grabbed me and I found myself immersed in a love story like no other I have read. The twists and turns are not only unpredictable but also very realistic. I felt like I was in Annie’s shoes many times while reading and found myself upset, elated , depressed, happy, etc.

This is not your typical boy meets girl story were they don’t like each other, then they do and end up together at the end. This story is more like something that would happen to your best friend and the way Dave writes it’s as if your friend was telling you about it over a latte at the local coffee shop. At one point I found myself asking “why” out loud while I read. Annie doesn’t necessarily take the easy route but perhaps that’s what makes the tale so interesting to read.

This book is one that will resonate with people in and out of relationships. It might hit closer to home for those in a relationship because the beginning of the book is a common nightmare. However, for those not in a relationship it will be interesting to see how someone falls out of love and the ability they have to learn to love again. Dave weaves this learning to love again in a way that is suspiciously easy when in reality Annie struggles and fights like no other.

I hope you’ll pick up a copy soon to enjoy this summer!

 
Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about this book.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Teacher Appreciation Week

 My kids have wonderful teachers this year! As Teacher Appreciation Week starts tomorrow we spent some time this weekend making gifts for them.

We love giving flowers to make their desks pretty so I had each kid write "Thank you" and sign their names on a mason jar. I had them write it with a Sharpie so that the writing won't wipe off but they can scrub it off at a later date to use the jar for something else. We wrapped the edges with some ribbon and called it a day.

Lastly I made the teachers a washer necklace. These are all over Pinterest and I have been dying to make some. I found really nice quality washers at ACE Hardware and the leather cord and beads are from the craft store. My husband had to help me with the actual stamping and we found that if you wrap the washer in masking tape it prevents them from moving around and thus prevents 'shaky' letters.

I hope the teachers love their presents and more importantly I hope they know how much we appreciate them! 

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BlogHer Book Club: You Have No Idea

As a fan of memoirs I was thrilled to be picked to review "You Have No Idea", the untold story of Vanessa Williams' life. I'll start by saying that I knew very little about her before starting this book which may or may not have influenced my reaction to it. I found it to be a beautiful story about a mother and a daughter. Because of the way it’s written with both Vanessa and her mom Helen telling the story at times it feels like we are eavesdropping into their conversations. Vanessa was thrown into a lifestyle of fame without much preparation and throughout the book we see how her mother was able to help her with the transition while teaching her very important life lessons.

Perhaps the most striking part of the book for me was the retelling of her winning the Miss America pageant. Not the actual crowning, but what happened later. Vanessa writes "The first black Miss America. I'd made history!" (pg. 31) Unfortunately this win was not received well by everyone and she faced racism from both sides of the fence. Later the crown was taken away from her because of an unfortunate leak of inappropriate pictures that had been taken years before. But before that happened her reign was shadowed by threatening calls and mail from those who felt she didn’t deserve this title.

This would be a great book to give to any mother or daughter because more than a memoir it seems like a great story of the relationship between Vanessa and her mom.

Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about this book. This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Airplane Goody Bags for Kids

Our dear friends are moving to Colorado in a couple of weeks :( Our entire family is heartbroken about it. I keep reading this quote I saw on Pinterest "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" but it's not really helping. They left this afternoon to find a house and school so we decided to make some goody bags to keep the kids happy on the plane. I found these re-usable vinyl bags at Walmart and thought they'd be perfect for the job.

I let each kid pick the items for their friend and they had so much fun. As you can see they picked coloring stuff, notepads, notebooks, a matchbox car, pen, a lollipop and a granola bar. Hopefully this kept them busy for at least the first flight!

I try to teach my kids a lot of things... one of the main ones is to be a good friend. I talk a lot about this with my daughter especially because she is older and more apt to understand. We talk about what a good friend is and how being there for someone when they need you is crucial for a good friendship. As both of my kids put together these bags we talked about how much they would miss their friends and I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that I bawled the whole time.

P.S. My friend just texted me a pic of her boys enjoying their goodie bags on the plane- score!

Proudly linking to:
Friday Fun Party
Project Party Weekend
Friday Favorites
Friday Fun Finds
Look At Me Party
Feature Friday

  

BlogHer Book Club: The Book of Jonas

Long time readers know that I love the BlogHer Book Club and truly enjoy reviewing books. However, I had a really hard time reading The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau. Regardless, I still think everyone should read it. As citizens of the world we think we know about wars, but this brilliant tale brings to light many of the truths that we would rather NOT know about wars. As a mother of young children my heart broke as I got to know and love Jonas. And it further crumbled as I met Rose, a mother trying to preserve her son's memory.


Dau does an incredible job in describing the feelings of a young boy who has lost everything due to war and been shipped to another country. As if 15 isn't already a hard age, this young is thrown into a new culture and family with little support but that provided by a court-ordered counselor. It is this aid who helps put him in touch with the mother of the soldier who saved his life. And their meeting brings about a beautiful union of two lives that under any other circumstance would have never intermingled.


I found myself putting down this book and embracing my children. I was more thankful as a mom during the time that I read this book. I hurt for Rose's loss and it made me realize that no matter how much we hear about wars on television and in the papers we really don't know the full story. Perhaps it's a defense mechanism because our hearts would truly break if we knew everything that is really happening over there.

Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about this book.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.