Watch Me Grow

My mother gave me this idea when I had my baby boy and it's a fun way to document your baby's growth. You buy a 12 month onesie and you take a picture each month of your baby in the onesie (starting with the first week the baby is born) up until the baby is a year old.

This worked for the first 5 months with my baby boy...than he grew out of the onesie at 6 months. He is a very tall boy for his age. But it was still fun to see him grow so fast.
Here is the collage I made for him out of his monthly pictures in the onesie:

I know there are a lot of new mother's out there and I thought I'd share this fun idea. I am starting to do this with my new baby girl, go figure she was born a lot smaller than my boy was and I bought an 18 month onsie just to be safe - I guess we will see if it works out!

And you can start the documentation at any stage - if you have a month old just start with the one month picture and document until 12 months.

A Gift for a Sweet Tooth

There is always that one person in the family that you have a hard time shopping for. For me it is my brother. So for his birthday this year I just decided to give him a bunch of candy because face it who doesn't like candy! I found this idea from the crafty website "The Idea Room" - but they used it as a Father's Day Present and I just changed the labels and it worked out great for a birthday gift.

I figured it's pretty self explained so I did a quick photo tutorial:

It is made using a four pack of Stweart's soda and some scrap book paper.

You can also make it out of a six pack of IBC Cream Soda if you have tons of candy.

Find out what the persons favorite candy is

Fill the bottles with candy

Scrapbook on a label...I just looked up the candy logos on a google image search and photoshoped a little label for each individual candy bottle.

And top it off with some birthday ribbon!

Easy as can be and a fun gift for anyone and any holiday.

Bow Holder

Here is the bow holder I just finished yesterday for all the bows I have made for my little girl. I have seen this on so many crafty blogs so I don't know where to give credit to. It is so easy it took me only a few hours to do (that's including painting twice).

I found a picture frame at DI for only $2 (I picked one that was already sanded and ready to be painted-that saved me some time). I painted it brown to match the brown dots on the material I used for the background. Next time I do this project I won't be using material with dots (they weren't even and it made the frame and ribbon look way off centered). I just superglued the material and ribbons on the back and it was easy as that.

Ways Motherhood makes you a Celebrity

1. Someone's always hounding you for your autograph. Even if it's just on a permission slip for the class trip to the recycling center.

2. You travel with an entourage. Okay, so two of them are fighting over a bag of Doritos and one of them has a crusty nose, but STILL.

3. You spend your days club-hopping. How else would your kids get to Brownies?

4. You're front and center at every awards show. Because your 10-year-old would never forgive you for being absent when he wins the school carnival karaoke contest.

5. You change clothes three times a day. And it's much more fun if you pretent it's because you're being stalked by the paparazzi, not a messy toddler.

6. You're on a spa diet. Your kids only leave broccoli on their plates for you.

7. You've flashed your boobs in public. Hey, it's not easy to juggle a hungry baby in one hand and unhook a nursing bra with the other!

8. People beg to sleep with you. Well, only because there's a monster under their bed.

9. You're covered in tatoos that your kid got in a birthday-party goody bag and plastered on you when you were too pooped to resist.

10. Hassled as you feel right now, in 20 years you'll miss all the chaos.

I found this in the September 2009 issue of Parenting. Thought it would be fun to share.

Enjoy your time in the spotlight!

Sippy Cup Leash

I saw this neat little project on one of my favorite blogs Make It and Love It forever ago and decided I needed to finally sit down and do it. And I actually did it and it has been wonderful to have.

Here is my end project

learn how to make this Sippy Cup Leash:

My leash has a few alterations:
-I didn't put in a liner around the leash for the cup
-I used Webbing (I think you call it that) for the leash and not ribbon, seems for durable.
-I sowed on a large snap around the part of the leash that hooks to the stroller instead of Velcro, stays on better.

It really does come in handy! It's actually a lifesaver if you have a child that likes to throw their cup when they are done, like mine does.

Hooded Towels

I am such a fan of hooded towels. I think they are the best! But you go to buy the cute decorated ones and they are anywhere from $30-$40 (at the baby boutiques). Or they are hard to find. So I decided I'd take a stab at making my own and well now I am addicted!

I found some really cute towels and hand towels at T.J. Maxx on clearance and even some cute decorated towels at Wal-Mart on clearance and now I have some very cute hooded towels for my kids. I didn't take pictures as I went along - sorry (I was kind of experimenting as I went) but I took some different pictures to hopefully show how to do-it-yourself.

I made a couple of really cute towels for my baby girl they were even cheaper because I used a hand towel and a wash cloth for a smaller version. My favorite one is pictured above.

How I made my hooded towels:

I took the hand towel and cut 1/3 of it off; than I took the finished edge and sowed it together (this forms the hood). I had to hand stitch the edge because it was to thick for the sowing machine.

I measured the big towel and found the middle and sowed the hood to it. (If your towel is a loose knit you may have to pinch the material in the middle at you are sowing the hood on because the material moves a lot).

And it's as easy as that!

Another nice part of doing it yourself is the 1/3 piece of the hand towel you cut off you can cut up and make matching wash clothes...or if you have a baby they work for burp cloths also.

Here are all of the ones I have made so far.

Hospital Bag Checklist

By Babytalk

You can't anticipate every need, but keep these in your bag, and you'll be ready for almost everything.

-Pre-registration forms
-Health insurance card
-Cash and credit cards
-Watch (with a second hand to time contractions)
-Massage lotion
-Lollipops or lozenges
-Lip balm
-Your favorite pillow
-Robe
-Nightgown(s)
-Light sweater or bed jacket
-Slippers
-Nursing bra
-Breast pads or shields
-Underwear (3 pair)
-Socks (3 pair)
-Sanitary pads
-Toothbrush
-Toothpaste
-Soap
-Moisturizer
-Body lotion
-Deodorant
-Shampoo & conditioner
-Hairbrush
-Hairdryer
-Makeup
-MP3 or CD player and favorite songs
-Magazines
-Books
-Snacks
-Water
-Camcorder
-Disposable or instant camera
-Film
-Batteries
-Contacts list
-Pen
-Travel clothes and shoes
-Coat or sweater
-Shopping bag (for gifts)
-Baby's Take-Me-Home outfit
___________________________

My wonderful Mother-in-Law asked me the other day if I had my hospital bag packed...honestly it hadn't even crossed my mind. I wasn't even really prepared with a bag for my first pregnancy and I totally spaced it again this time. And I can't, for the life of me, remember what I even packed so I checked out Parenting.com and they had a list. I personally don't think all of the item are even necessary but I just listed everything for those of you who are getting close to your due dates and are starting to prepare to the hospital.

If anyone can think of something that they think was a need at the hospital that's not listed PLEASE leave a comment with the suggestion!

Thanks - And happy packing!