Baby Shower Gift: Painting

I have a few "go-to" baby shower gifts. Travel sized toiletries, burp cloths, and of course, diapers!

 My very first baby shower I  was ever invited to (of which I was in charge of buying the gift) was for Jake's childhood friend Susan. After receiving the invite, I called my mom lickety-split for advice. I didn't know what to get for a new mom! If I recall correctly, I ended up giving her washcloths and soap? But along with those useful gifts, I painted her an incredibly simple picture to decorate her nursery. Since then, I've tried to always include a homemade decorative item in my gift- whether it be a blanket, personalized letters, or a painting.

Now one of my best friends, Lindsay, is having her second baby- a little girl! Because she is hardly online I can share it early with you! This little one will eventually be sharing a room with her big brother, so Lindsay wanted something that wasn't TOO girly, but still had pink involved in it. I found a quilt pattern that I loved, tweaked the colors and design a bit to fit my needs and came up with this masterpiece!

I am in love with the blue and purple giraffe, I've named him Humphrey.

Thank Heaven For Little Girls!

Finally! Something creative that isn't a total Pinterest rip off! Or at least, I've yet to see this in MY Pinterest feed.

This is a gift for a baby shower this weekend, a momma of two adorable little boys is going to have her first girl soon! So, while I usually shy away from SUPER PINK because everyone should have some variety, I couldn't pass up this adorable pink fish bath set!

I cut a cute scrapbook paper down to size so that it stayed put when I rolled it into the jar. You don't need tape or glue if you plan on filling the jar up tight. Then I put all the bath supplies and washcloths in the mason jar, covered it with basket filler, the card,  and topped the lid off with a bow.

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The "card" is a jam label from Jamlabelizer.com. It was super easy to make and print (though the site has been overloaded and S-L-O-W due to it's huge rise in popularity.) the plan was to put it on top of the lid, but then Target went and had a clearance on their solid color party supplies.

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The fish just would not fit no matter how I arranged things, so she's swimming on the outside with a white ribbon holding on to her. I have since cut off the excess ribbon, as I cannot tie an even bow to save my life. The fish is enough "flair" anyway.

As this post is published I am at the baby shower, and hopefully the gift is well received! 

*Note to self: take photos when it's not 1am and pitch black outside. Yes, that is print paper and a board game in an attempt to make these look "better".  Project New Camera is underway though, so hopefully that means the end of cellphone photo quality!

You Drive Me Crazy!

As a special Valentine's Day treat for my primary class, I made each kid one of these!

I got 12 crazy straws from wal-mart for $2, and used my craft paper and crayons from home. The straws fit perfectly in a standard hole punch! I love that it's NOT FOOD. I'm always worried I'll give the kids a food their parents don't want them to have (peanuts, too much sugar, gum etc.etc) so I was happy when I found these. I took the photo in front of the melted crayon rainbow I made for Chucky Sue's room. It's pulling double duty as a party decoration too.

What cute valentines have you made this year? I want to see them!!

Baby Sophie's Gift

For baby showers I like to give nursery decorations, y'know, starting the love of art from a young age ;)

So I knew I wanted to make something extra special for this special baby shower. I took inspiration from the nursery bedding set the mother chose, I went to Michaels' and got some buttons:

Some wooden letters and pretty plum paper,

 painted the letters off-white,

 and mod-podge'd the HECK out of them.

If I ever do this again, I will NOT buy letters with beveled edges. Made cutting the paper much more difficult that I had planned.

However the buttons I found (on sale! score!) were adorable and covered up any mistakes ;) 

 How cute are these gems?! 

Another favorite detail, the teal/blue flowers are so CUTE. 

I  think the "E" is my favorite letter.

 I ended up with a lot of leftover crafting supplies, so I also made her a matching photo frame and journal for little Sophie to write in when she's older.