Baby Shower for Emma Jean

{Warning Photo OVERLOAD!}

I need to start off this post by saying I have the most amazing family and friends! Seriously! The amount of love and support that the hubby and I have received up until this point is amazing, but it certainly showed at the baby shower for our little girl. The grandmas and aunt to be went all out in creating the perfect baby shower with a jungle theme.....based on my color scheme for her nursery...pink, teal and grey!

I could not sleep after all the excitement of seeing my step mom and seeing all the little things come together! I was up at 3AM, 5AM, 7AM......finally I just got in the shower at 8 and took the pup for a walk. She then went on a lead in the backyard and I started to "help" as much as I was allowed to! I helped by putting dishes in the dishwasher, organizing the thank you gifts and placing my custom designed chalkboard outside the front door. Basically I wasn't allowed to do anything. Haha. The ladies sent me off to get chips, salsa and batteries for cameras. When I came back, baby shower set up was in full force. They did such a great job, so I am going to try and let the photo's do all the talking. All the decor was meant to be useful, so there were diaper cakes, toys, wreaths....all with things that can be used later on!

Pictured above: My mom made the blocks with Emma's name on them. They have little animals on all the other sides and they were made with the fabrics that my mom and I selected here. The photo's are of me and D as babies that my M.I.L. put on foam core and hung with adorable clothespins.....no detail shot of those. She also made the wreath with socks, headbands, washcloths and mini bathroom products.

Pictured Below: OMG....my mom made this wall hanging/quilt for the shower. Neither of us want it to be used as an actual quilt though! It's too cute! She got the pattern before I decided that I wanted elephants and pink and grey too! She knows me so well! Haha.

Pictured above: We had two different types of cupcakes made by a family friend. They were so good! Lemon Coconut and White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake! The lemon coconut ones must have been popular because they were gone! My mom made the toppers with her Cricut and a cute punch we found at Michael's.

Pictured Below: These cookies were from a friend of my M.I.L. We affectionately call the chocolate covered pretzels "Crack Pretzels" because they are SO addicting!

The dessert table!

Pictured above: The Lemon Coconut cupcakes

Pictured below: My mom made adorable popcorn boxes, like the ones we had at the gender reveal, but stamped them on each side with a different jungle animal! My M.I.L. got a giant bag of kettle corn, per daddies request, also to fill them

Pictured above: One of the many diaper cakes that my M.I.L. made for center pieces for the tables! I love the stuffed animals on top!

Pictured below: These cupcakes were done by my mom and they consist of a receiving blanket base and onesie for the icing!

As you can see there was a diaper raffle and I honestly think that I will not need to buy diapers for a LONG time. We filled two 36 gallon plastic totes with diapers size 1 and up, and still have about 10 packages of newborn diapers! Plus another awesome diaper cake!

Here are some shots taken during the festivities and everyone enjoying the taco truck, sweets and games!

My two moms: My step mom on the left and my mom on the right

Playing games with good friend! Do you think she won?

I forgot what was said, but obviously I found it amusing!

Then it was gift time! Oh my goodness the amount of love that was showered upon this child was completely unreal and I am truly grateful to everyone! I didn't take pictures of everything being opened, but here's a few shots.

Reading cards

Wall decor

Family watching

The pile won't even fit completely in the frame!

We then had a mini photo shoot with us and our wonderful moms in the backyard.....please excuse how tired I look!

Me and my two moms

Us and my two moms

Me with my three moms. See this kid is already spoiled with THREE grandmas!

Us with D's mom

Us with my mom

D and my stepmom

And finally.....my mom bought everyone these socks and we of course had to take a photo of everyone wearing them. Note: They are already in my hospital bag! Hehe

There you have it. The whirlwind of a baby shower. I know I have said it already, but THANK YOU so much to all of the grandma's and my cousin who helped put this whole shindig together. It would not have been near as good without your expertise! Also thank you to the family and friends who spoiled our little girl already! She truly is a lucky little girl! <3

Baby Shower Preview

The day has arrived!! Today is the day of my long awaited (at least for me) baby shower. As I sit here thinking about the day and feeling our precious little one move around I cannot help but think how lucky I am to have such a wonderful support system around us. It's true what they say that everybody loves babies but so many people have told me just how excited they are to welcome little Emma into the world! She will be such a loved child and I am so grateful for that.

We kicked off the celebration by picking up my step mom from the airport yesterday afternoon. She had no idea I was going to be at the airport so when she saw me and the tears came for her, they did for me as well. We made the trek back in from lax, if you live in L.A. You know what an irritation that is on a Friday afternoon. We ran a couple errands and then relaxed at my cousins house to try and stay cool out of the triple digit heat. Apparently things for me are always planned on weekends where we have record breaking temps. Sorry family! We then told my step mom that we were going to dinner, wings and fries of course, but actually had booked another 3D ultrasound so she could see babes precious face on the screen. D's dad also came because he missed the last one as did his mom and my mom. Once we pulled into the parking lot I could see the perplexed look on my step moms face and I pointed to the sign exclaiming "obviously were not going to dinner yet, but here first." She instantly lit up and of course started to cry again. We enjoyed another 30 minutes of little miss stubborn with her hands in her face, but we did get some good photos and I will post those soon! :)

After that we made our way out to the local Bdubs (BWW) for wings not realizing that the Kings were playing the Ducks for game 7. The place was a zoo, but it was a buzz with excitement because they ended up winning 6 to 2 dealing the Ducks fate in the Stanley Cup race and moving on to defend their title! We got home and put together our car seat and stroller, both of us were so tired that it was interesting watching the hubby reading the directions how to snap everything in place. All in all it was such a great Friday and the perfect way to start off the weekend.

I know this post promised something other than a recap if yesterday so here's a couple of photos I was able to sneak in with regards to the shower. I can't wait to see what the ladies have done and I cannot say enough times how lucky I am to have such wonderful women in my life!!! Stay tuned for the whole recap (you know I'll be snapping away and the details!)

My Only contribution...the chalkboard layout!

The color scheme

Decor - Cupcakes made out of receiving blankets and onesies

Decor - Adorable diaper cakes

Decor - Popcorn boxes and cupcake toppers!!

DIY Quilted Carseat Canopy

Does it feel like it's been forever since I posted a DIY? It does to me since every time I go to write a post some of them say to me...."when is it my turn?" I haven't posted this yet because I was kicking myself for not taking more progress photos, but since I didn't I'll have to get away with simple text instruction. I know....POO! Text is no fun, but I at least took SOME progress photo's so the main part is at least easily figured out!

What You'll Need:
(6) Fat Quarter's in various patterns
1/2 yard fabric for backing, sashings/borders and straps (shown in blue plaid)
Sew on Velcro
Pins

Fabric Cuts:
Cut (12) 11"x 9.5" squares out of your various fat quarters
Cut (8) 1.5"x 9.5" Strips out of your sashing fabric (blue plaid)
Cut (3) 1.5"x 34.5" strips out of your sashing fabric (blue plaid)
Cut (2) 1.25"x 39.5" strips out of your sashing fabric for the left and right sides (blue plaid)
Cut (2) 1.25"x 36" strips out of your sashing fabric for the top and bottom (blue plaid)
Cut (1)  36"x 41" square out of your sashing fabric for the back (blue plaid)
Cut (4) 8"x 3" strips out of your sashing fabric for the straps (blue plaid)

Note: Not all fabrics pictured were used for this project

Directions:
1. Lay out your 11"x 9.5" squares and 1.5"x 9.5" strips until you get a pattern you like. Sew a 1/4" seam end to end of the squares and strips until you get 4 long strips. Press your seams to one side.

2. Take your (3) 1.5"x 34" sashing strips and attach them using a 1/4" seam along the long ends of the body strips you made in step one, leaving the top and bottom free. Press your seams to one side.

3. Take your (2) 1.25"x 39.5" top and bottom strips and attach them to the top and bottom of your main body. Press your seams to one side.

4. Take your (2) 1.25"x 36" side strips and attach them to each side of your main body. When your finished your top should look like the below photo. Press your seams to one side.

5. Take your backing fabric and place it right sides together to the front quilted piece and pin around the sides. Sew a 1/4" seam around the entire perimeter leaving a 6" opening for turning. Clip your corners, turn right side out and press.

6. Turn in your opening 1/4", pin and top stitch a 1/4" seam along the perimeter closing your opening and leaving a nice finished edge.

7. Now its time for the straps. Take (2) of your 8"x 3" strips and place them right sides together. Sew a 1/4" seam along one short end and both long ends, leaving one short end open. Clip your corners, turn and press. Turn in your open end 1/4", pin, and top stitch around the entire edge closing your opening. Repeat with the other two strips.

8. Cut a 2.5" strip of your sew on velcro onto the one end of the back and front of the strap to create a loop. See main photo

9. I centered my straps along the long center sashing strip and on each small sashing strip. Fold your strip in half long ways and sew several back and forth lines to secure it to the canopy.

I hope this all makes sense. I know text directions don't help as much as pictures, but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to comment or email me! It was just too cute to not post a tutorial of. I realized I made this the week I found out I was preggers so my brain was a little pre-occupied and forgot to take photos. Oopsie.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Happy crafting!

DIY Owl Pillow

If you remember a couple of months ago my friend Mrs. H had her baby shower and it was an adorable Owl theme. The second I got her invite my wheels started spinning and I remembered I had pinned a pattern on Pinterest for an adorable pillow from The Eternal Thread. It was a quick and easy project and the end result was just so cute I couldn't stand it!!! I have to make one for our little!

What You'll Need:
(1) fabric for the back (I used denim)
(1) fabric for the front (I used an upholstery ticking)
(1) fabric for the wings (Blue plaid)
(1) fabric for the tummy (Green polka dots)
Interfacing (If your using cotton fabric instead of heavy duty fabric like I did)
Felt or scrap fabric for the eyes
Trims - I used wide fabric ribbon and rickrack
Owl Template
Pillow Stuffing
Pins
Iron
Sewing Machine


Directions:

1. Cut out all your pieces. Using the owl body templates and create your eyes and nose with your felt and scraps. I used a coaster, a soda can, and a roll of thread to make my circles and just cut two different size triangles out of felt to create my face. I created (4) rows of scalloped fabrics as well.

2. If your using regular cotton fabric then you need to adhere some interfacing to both body pieces to create some stability. Follow the package directions to attaching your interfacing to the wrong side (backside) of both body pieces.

3. Sew on your scalloped body rows to the front of your cut out owl template using a simple straight stitch. Do the same for all layers of your eyes and nose pieces. I sewed unevenly around the grey felt and the green circles to create some interest. Once around the denim was enough for the last eye piece.

4. Zig-Zag stich (if desired) your trim piece over your raw scalloped edge, then stitch down your wing pieces, making sure they are on the correct sides and sewing around all the edges.

5. Stitch down your rick rack to the inner edges of your wing pieces only.

6. Trim off any pieces that might hang over the edge and create bulk. Place your back piece right sides together over your completed front, pin and sew a 1/4" seam around the entire pillow, leaving a 6" opening at the bottom for turning.

7. Clip the tips off your ears, and clip around all your curves making sure to not cut through any of your seams. This will make turning your pillow much easier. Turn your pillow right side out and push out your ears to make them pointy and press your seams.

8. Fill your pillow with stuffing until it reaches your desired fullness and hand stitch your opening closed.

Toss on a chair or in the crib for cute decor! Voila! An adorable addition to any nursery or kids room. This doubles as a stuffed animal because I am sure he will be named and talked to!

Shower for Baby Aidan

I have been posting about all the craft projects for our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. H's new addition, and I finally can post everything I made and a couple of shots from the shower because it has finally passed! Yay! She had an adorable Owl themed shower and the minute I saw her invitation I knew exactly what I was going to make. I meticulously stalked her registry to make sure that the bought items I was going to include were still on there when I was finished. I MAAAAAY have gone a little overboard on the handmade gifts, but honestly I so thoroughly enjoyed making each piece and I know that they will be loved forever. Her little bump is just the cutest!

Let's talk a little bit about the shower. Her friends and family were the warmest and kindest people! I was standing in the corner, because I didn't know anyone really, and her girlfriends from high school took me under their wings and brought me into their circle without question. That was so sweet. We had wonderful conversations from all aspects of life.....all the ladies were around the same age but we had newlyweds, engaged, old time marrieds, (raises hand) and mothers. The conversation went all over but it flowed nicely and we laughed and laughed. The family was outpouring of hugs, smiles and AMAZING food!

They played many games.....some I have played before and others were new to me. Old favorites included the pin game....I lasted a long time, but eventually got it taken from Sam....who ended up winning the game. Guess the baby food.....we were able to smell them which did NOT help at all. Let me say that when we do have kids, we are making our own baby food.....that stuff was nasty! How many Jordan almonds are in the jar and the guess how big the belly is, which I won! Hehe.....I tend to be good at this game. My trick when you think you are right (always put it on yourself) back it off an inch.....not only are you not going to be as big but it tends to work for me. I came within 1/4 of an inch! Yea. New games to me were: wrapped baby items that you had to feel and guess what they were.....man was that difficult. We all had concentrative faces trying to guess those baby items....It was harder than it outwardly appeared. Next was memory. Which apparently there were 18 items on the tray, but I only remembered 10.....not very good. We also played bingo too.

Decor was amazing and this homemade owl cake from her mother-in-law was something to be envied! It was fancier than our wedding cake!!!! I love the little owl with the tree branch!

Are you all anxious to see what I made? Have I talked too much thus far? Ok well get ready for photo overload! Above is the basket of everything she got. It almost all didn't fit in there. I had to play puzzle to make it work. From her registry I bought her these adorable Owl Crib Sheets from Carter's for Babies r Us, a couple of Pacifier's to go with another part of the gift, and as a free gift with purchase I got a cute Dr. Brown's holiday bottle as well. Now here we go with the handmade items:

Like I said earlier, the minute I saw her invitation I knew what I was going to make. This little guy stuck out to me on Pinterest and I had to make him. He is made with denim, upholstery fabric and felt with a little rick-rack and trim thrown in for good measure.

Carseat Canopies have been all the rage with crafter's and DIYers alike. They are easy as well as functional but I wanted to make mine a little different and throw in my quilting skills also. She told me at the shower she had been looking for one for months but couldn't justify the price of buying one....well now she has one of her very own. Also I found the cutest baby fabric!

Another Pinterest find, but this one was just too good to pass up. This diaper bag has multiple straps so that it can easily hook onto the stroller and then re-attach as a messenger-type bag. It's got a denim front and upholstery fabric inside so it's durable and still will work for mommy and daddy to use. The hubby has pre-requested that I make one to hold onto because he liked it so much.

I made her four burp rags with the cutest material ever! That square material has mini animal silhouettes on it. Elephants, rhinos, giraffes.....sooo adorable!

She got a couple of bibs from my denim bib stash....the construction worker and the red stripe were the last "boy" ones.....people need to have some girls here!

She needed some nursing pads as well....these were the only things that didn't coordinate with the whole gift, but I made them girly just for her.

The cute minkie taggie blanket has now found a home. I really enjoyed making this project! She also got two pacifier clips and two diaper/wipes cases.

I discovered that the owl looked really good on my recliner. I think I need to make one of these cute little guys for myself. Thanks for bearing with me. I know that it was a long post, but I hope it was worth it. I really had soo much fun coordinating this gift for baby Aidan, and I hope he gets a lot of use out of it! I will be posting tutorials for the Owl Pillow, the Quilted Carseat Canopy and the Convertible Diaper Bag so I hope that you stay tuned for that! :-)