Hmmm...shoulda had this done already...

So just when I thought I was through the most recent wave of baby showers...I realized I didn't take care of one.

Heehee -- whooops...

And so this week I'll set things right and get some fancy baby onesies drawn up and sent off!  I mean it's not like the kid won't come out if I don't hook 'em up.  Actually that's pretty presumptuous to assume the little one even wants to wear one of these.  Then again, it's destined to be puked on, among other things...

So, this is what I'll be working on this week!  Onesies just beg to be drawn on in my opinion.  Honestly babies grow so quickly that even if Mamacita isn't a fan of your art, the baby will probably only be able to wear it once anyway.  But you should stop by regularly juuuuuust to be sure they get a little air-time.


These are a few onesies that I made for my little cousin:

I told you -- I worry about making boy stuff too girlie so a dinosaur seemed like a safe bet!

 
Of course some humor makes sure Dad will slip at least one of your creations on the wee one.

And of course, storybook and nursery rhyme characters are always a welcome addition amongst all the, 'Mommy's Little Angel' and 'Poop Happens' themed gifts.  

Well...it's back to the drawing board for me -- just in case that kid does hold out for some onesies...

So Speaking of Craft Fails...

 A craft gone wrong can ruin your reputation in the blink of an eye. If this happens you might as well start crocheting cake cozies with cat hair - 'cause your projects will be banished to the depths of the rows of folding tables at women's club craft fairs.

(Yeah, yeah - I can hear the hate mail now...but if I see one more clown hugging a pot of cacti or faceless pantyhose child facing a wall a'la The Blair Witch Project...so help me the Happy Painter gets it!)  

So, uh, cough cough - I mentioned the Craft Fail website in my last post...so it's only fair to show you one of my fails.

Meet the Munny cake - duhn, duhn ,duhhhhh!

It began well enough - I even did a little research.  How to make your own pan.  Scratch that - I had gotten to that point because I had tried my shaky little hand at carving pound cake into the shape I wanted with unnerving results.  So I went about looking for tips to use any object to form your own pan.
  
But as soon as I introduced cake batter into my foil shell it burst like a cheap swim toy.

Soooo I had the bright idea to use cast material over the foil to better define the shape and give the batter some support.

 All I can tell you is that no amount of icing made this acceptable.  None!

My stupid pride be damned I should have bought a lovely card from the Dollar Tree.

But I couldn't bring myself to abandon all my hard work!  I choose to give this monstrosity and in turn I created a craft-nemesis...

Take heed my craft cupcakes:
Your crafting can be your undoing!

What Next?

 I've been thinking about what I want to work on next...alright, I'll quit lying.  I'm trying to figure out what additional project I'll be working on next.  Because to be perfectly honest, I never work on just one project at a time.

One thing I really want to try is doing some clothing reconstruction.  Partly out of necessity (I'm 5'1" - not even petite clothes are made for me!) but also because I'm impressed with some of the cool stuff people do with the plain old pieces they're bored with.  To be honest with you it doesn't take me long to get bored with the stuff I wear everyday to work not to mention all those t-shirts that I rock all weekend.

But to be terribly honest the idea of altering my clothes scares me.  It's something about the permanence...
Of course some of the pics on sites like this: 
http://craftfail.com/?p=602   - don't help! 

The closest thing that I've really done to something that I wear regularly is this shirt that I got from a consignment shop.

I thought the shirt was cute but as you can see it had fantastically ugly sleeves...
Those suckers HAD to go.

So I brought out the seam ripper and removed the ruffle.  It was a little tricky because it was well done and I had to make sure not to rip all of the stitching out.

Since it was just a surged edge I rolled the sleeves.

Muuuuuuch better...now I won't look like I'm playing pretty pretty princess...

I really need to find some easy projects that can break me in slowly to re-fashioning.  Of course all those other projects are the perfect distraction - at least until I find a project I can't refuse...

Baby Bento Box

Since I'm showing off baby gifts, I found one that I made awhile ago for a friend's first baby.

It really started with a cute little memory book of baby's first and I thought it would be a good idea to have something to collect all those firsts.  I came up with a memory box with separate boxes for different keepsakes. 

I attached the memory book to the box lid with ribbon. I glued one end of a length of white ribbon inside the box lid and attached velcro on the other side.  I covered the spot where I attached the velcro to the ribbon with a small wooden star.  

 
The added challenge was the fact that I had no idea if it was going to be a boy or a girl...
So I decided to go with a star theme.  I painted a wooden keepsake box a light yellow and embellished it with white ribbon and rub-on stars.

I painted the smaller boxes white and trimmed each box with thin yellow ribbon.  Each box was titled with a sharpie and embellished with the rub-on stars. 
(I have to give credit to my Mom for her lovely handwriting!)
The smaller boxes correspond with pages in the baby book.

The book had pages for news from when the baby was born.

There was a page for everyone's inspirations and suggestions for names for the baby.

It included space for keepsakes like the bracelet from the hospital.

Then there were places to record baby's first impressions.

And who could forget the first tooth and the curl from the first haircut!

It took a little (ok, a lot!) of maneuvering and switching out box sizes and shapes to get them all to fit in the large box.  ...I'm probably on some watch list at Michael's...  But eventually I got the combination and got everything to fit just right.

So now that my friend is due with her second little one...I guess I had get to work again!

What a baby...

So my Memorial Day Weekend was spent with a bunch of babies...
Literally!

I got to meet a few new additions to the family.  So since the babies are on the brain, I'll show you a gift for showers that I've done recently.

It's a pretty easy project and even better - I usually don't have to worry about someone else bringing one of these to the shower!

I also make sure the diapers can actually be used...you know, in case...

Admittedly, doing a wreath for a little boy and not making it too frilly can be a little tough.
However a theme like this Star Wars Wreath helps a bit...

I came up with the metal initials since I thought a bow would take away from the theme.

And strangely enough it's always little details and last minute additions that I like best from each one.

One word of caution however - Parents have been known to change the baby's name...(Yes that did happen here...ah well!) So if you know the parents to be are a little indecisive, go with 'It's a Boy/Girl' or maybe skip that sort of thing altogether!