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Feb 22

A Sip & See for Sydney

Say that 3 times fast.

Last Saturday we had a Sip & See for my sister and the newest member of their family. It was a relaxing afternoon at my sister’s home where friends stopped by, we snacked on brushetta, fresh fruit, and desserts, and guests brought frozen meals in lieu of gifts while baby Sydney got passed from one set of hands to the next.

Kind of a perfect afternoon.

Sydneys Sip & See

1. I made a simple garland by cutting different size circles from various paper and sewing them together. (I’d post a tutorial, but really, it’s so simple it doesn’t need a tutorial.)

2. Whenever I make tissue poms, they turn out like crap, but I love the way they look. I finally broke down and bought the Martha Stewart kit from Michaels and they were pretty impossible to screw up.

3. A simple banner that was attached to 2 pink paper straws and strung on top of the mini cakes.

4. Chocolate cake made in tin cans! Have you tried this method? It was super easy! I just used a cake mix, but you could use a recipe from scratch, clean out 4 tin cans, grease, fill cans about halfway, and bake on a cookie sheet for 30-35 minutes. Once they’re cool, flip the cans over and the cake should fall right out. Slice into 1″ pieces, slather on some frosting, and continue to layer on more slices until you have your cakes the desired height!

5. I’d seen “Wishes for Baby” on Pinterest where you have guests fill out a sheet with a bunch of different answers, but I decided to change it up a bit. I stamped different “Prayers for Sydney” on mini cards and created a prayer/shower book that I’m finishing up now. The book includes everyone’s prayers for Sydney as well as pictures from the shower…a fun little memory book from the afternoon (without the pressure of having to fill out an entire sheet!)

6. Quite possibly, the best dessert ever, and they are SO simple. My mom made these for the party and they were a hit! Take store-bought thin chocolate wafers (not all stores carry them), and place whip cream between each cookie (again, you can make these as tall as you want). Cover with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for a few hours, the whip cream will soften the cookies and make them cake-like, and they can be served straight from the fridge. Top with a sprinkle of cocoa or shaved chocolate and you have the perfect, bite-sized treat!

Such a fun, pink-filled afternoon to welcome this beautiful baby girl into the world!

Feb 20

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DIY Embossed Card

Gold and coral seems to be my color scheme of choice right now (too bad I can’t use it in the baby room), but I decided to use those colors as I prepared to make a new set of notecards. I got started with crafts back in high school by making cards with my sister-in-law, but card-making has been put on the back burner the past couple of years as I’ve learned to sew, and digital design has taken over. When I do get a chance to sit down and make cards, I try to get an assembly line going and whip out as many as possible, which is exactly what I did with these.

Here’s what you need:

: : notecards : : I used | this | in papaya
: : a stamp : :
: : coordinating paper : : I used | this |
: : embossing stamp pad, powder, and heat setter (not shown) : :
: : paper punch : :
: : some kind of adhesive (not shown) : :
* You can also just use a normal stamp pad and skip the embossing step, but I liked the way the gold shimmer looked.

Use your paper punch to create a few circles from your decorative paper.

I like to use my Xyron sticker-maker so that all the edges stick, but you can just use a normal adhesive if you prefer.

Lay out your circles on your card any way you’d like.

Stamp with your embossing stamp pad.

Cover in embossing powder, then set it with heat.

Done!

You can also punch the edges for a fun, decorative addition!

Feb 18

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DIY Baby Blocks

Lately I’ve been searching for some new homemade baby gift ideas since I’m getting a little sick of burp cloths. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fun to give, but I feel like a little bit of a burp-cloth-making-machine and I wanted to challenge myself to take on a new project. So here’s my new project of choice:

Soft baby blocks perfect for little hands!

Although they look a little intimidating, they are surprisingly super easy, thanks to a technique I saw on Pinterest the other day and modified for this project. The best part is that no pins are required! What’s better than a sewing project that doesn’t require any pinning?!

All you need for this project:

: : fabric of your choice (you can choose a couple coordinating fabrics, or make 1 solid block)
: : fusible interfacing
: : sewing machine
: : thread
: : double-sided fusible interfacing
: : scissors
: : iron

1. Begin by cutting out your fabric. You’ll need 6 squares all together, and I recommend using a quilting template to make sure your squares are perfect (trust me, it makes it a lot easier down the road).

2. Lay your squares out on the fusible interfacing with the wrong side of the fabric facing the right side of the interfacing.

3. Make sure the corners of your squares are lined up perfectly, then iron the fabric to the interfacing. It’s best to just set the iron on one section and not move it around, but steam the area to adhere to fabric and interfacing, then pick up the iron and go to the next area. Be sure to get all of the seams completely adhered.

4. Once you’ve ironed everything together, trim away the excess interfacing as close to the fabric as possible.

5. Now, you’re going to sew along anywhere that there’s a fold. It sounds confusing, but basically anywhere there are two fabric blocks touching, you’re going to fold them over:

6. Sew a straight line along the back, with a 1/4″ seam allowance, like in the photo below:

7. Once you’ve sewn the seam, open it up and use your iron to press the fold open. Now, you’re left with a perfectly straight seam that required no pins!

7. Continue this process for all sides where 2 blocks meet. When you’re done, you should have something that looks like this:

8. And a closer view for you:

9. Next, it’s time to start forming your block. Your block should look like the one in the photo below, so start be sewing side B and C, right sides together, leaving the same seam allowance. Next sew D to E, H to A, G to F, etc.

10. Don’t forget to leave your seam allowance. It will make sewing your corners much smoother as you get to certain pieces.

11. You can start to see your block forming!

12. Finally, sew all edges together, leaving just one side open. I sew along the edges of mine, leaving about a 1.5″ opening, backstitching multiple times so that when you flip it inside out, it still stays intact.

13. Next, comes my favorite part because I hate hand-stitching seams closed, and this saves me from having to do that! Measure your small opening (it can be a rough estimate) and cut a small strip of double-sided fusible interfacing to fit there.

14. Peel and stick your double-sided interfacing, then iron. Peel the other side off, stick the opposite fabric on interfacing, then iron your block shut.

15. You’re left with a seam that’s invisible and looks like every other seam on the block!

16. Done!

Here’s a set I made for another friend, using 5″ and 4″ squares:

Done

Whip up a few matching burp cloths and you have an easy, inexpensive homemade gift, made with love.

Done2

Or make a trio of blocks using 4″, 5″, and 6″ squares:

*I added appliques to these for my niece, if you’d like to do the same, I recommend adding them to the squares before you adhere them to the interfacing. You can also add ribbons to the seams so they stick up and give baby something to grab on to.

Have fun with them!

Feb 15

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