This is another little hat that I made for Alice when I was past due and dreaming of her. Amazingly, it fits her just right now that the sun is starting to shine in Oregon. It sews up so fast with fabric scraps and bias tape, that I think I need to make a few more for this summer!

I used this pattern from The Purl Bee. It says it fits newborn – 4 months, but Alice is almost 9 months and it fits her now (maybe she has a small head?)!

She wore it to our community garden plot last weekend.

And to the Farmer’s Market this weekend.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Alice is growing like a weed and desperately needed some new diaper covers. We use Mother-Ease cloth diapers (and LOVE them), but the covers they offer aren’t very cute. Thirsties covers are cute, but they don’t fit right over the diapers. So I was pretty excited when I discovered Babyville Boutique. They have super cute PUL fabric, buttons, and elastic. Plus patterns and instructions that take a lot of the scariness out of sewing your own diapers.

Plus I was so happy to see that the basic pattern they provide fit perfectly over the Mother-Ease diapers. Hooray! Here’s my little girl in a dinosaur cover. She’s working on learning how to crawl.

Here are the other covers I’ve made so far. I made the red one with the 4th of July in mind. But now I just think of Wonder Woman when I see it!

They are so simple to make – just cut out the shape, add the snaps, and sew the elastic around the outside. They sell everything at Joann Fabrics, so it’s not too expensive if you use those handy 40% off coupons.

Yay! I love cloth diapering, and am so happy that I can now add some cuteness into the system!

I made this adorable bonnet for Alice in my last days of pregnancy. I was past my due date and needed something to do to pass the time. It was August, and every little baby I saw around town had on a cute summer hat. So I pulled out some fabric scraps and whipped up a few hats. I used this pattern from Prudent Baby, but made the straps longer so that I could tie them into a bow.

Luckily it fit her just in time for Easter!

And just in time for playtime in the spring sun.

Alice even likes to eat in it! munch munch munch.

Happy Easter!!

Alice is at the perfect age right now: six months. She can sit up and play by herself, can’t move from where I set her, and delights in absolutely everything. I stuck my hand above her face this afternoon, and she laughed for 5 minutes. It’s been relatively easy to stick to my “one craft a week” goal when my cutie just plays on the floor next to me. (Check out those awesome blocks she’s playing with; her grandpa made those for her for Christmas.)

I’m pretty proud of myself for making a craft well in advance of the holiday it’s meant for. I made this Easter bunny basket for her using  this tutorial and this pattern for ears and a face. I obviously need to work on my hand embroidery skills a bit, but I don’t think my baby girl will mind! She’s too little for sweets still, so she’ll get a basket full of books this year. Hmm, maybe that should be an every year tradition.

We have spent the weekend recovering from various sicknesses, so I didn’t get much crafting done. But I was able to take a few minutes to finish up this yo-yo robot that I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks. I made a few yo-yos a night using the Clover large yo-yo maker and used this tutorial for the robot. I love how colorful it is!

I made extra yo-yos to make some barrettes for when Alice’s hair grows longer. What are some other things that you’ve used yo-yos for?

Alice and I went on an adventure last weekend. My sister-in-law (who is blogging now – check her blog out!) flew us home to surprise the rest of my family for a visit. Alice and I left Dave behind (boo grad school) and set off on the flights alone. We had a great time! I especially loved seeing all of Alice’s cousins together. Sometimes it’s nice to go home when there is no holiday stress and you can relax and just be.

Now that our travels are over, though, it was back to crafting! I took full advantage of my three day weekend and baked bread, cooked some great homemade meals, and made a dress for Alice.

This was the first dress I’ve made for her, and I love it! I used this pattern, which is super simple and easy to follow. I plan on making the diaper cover out of the orange lining fabric eventually. But since it’s February now, she needs to wear leggings to keep those chubby legs warm.

Alice approves! Oh, I could just eat her up!

Whew! Life with a baby sure goes fast! We have survived the newborn stage and are thoroughly enjoying our five month old sweetie. I am back at work full-time, Dave is back in school in his terminal studio (woo, the end of architecture school is in sight!), and Alice is settling into daycare. She smiles all of the time now, and her laughs melt our hearts!

I’ve made a goal to make one craft a week and I’m going four weeks strong! I started with these adorable baby booties made from this pattern. Aren’t they to die for cute??

Then I used the left over yarn to make this crocheted loop toy (pattern here).

It’s a good size for her little hands to pick up and she loves chewing on it. I did put jungle bells in, but they don’t make much noise, so I think you could easily go without.

I made this A because I thought Alice might want something that crinkles and silky ribbons to feel. But she pretty much just loves to shove it as far into her mouth as possible. It’s her current favorite toy and is always soaking wet with baby drool.

I hear that disposable wipes bags work well for crinkle material, but we use reusable wipes so I didn’t have any. But I did have a crinkly tortilla chip bag, so I cut an A out of that and two fabric scraps. Then I stacked the bottom fabric A, crinkle A, ribbons, and top fabric A. I sewed 1/2″ around the edge, cut the crinkle material down close to the seam, and sewed again 1/4″ from the edge. The outside fabric frays a bit, but the plastic edges are secured inside of the seams.

Today I finished my first sock monkey (pattern here)!

I bought these socks for myself and think they are so cute. But then I realized they would make a good sock monkey for Alice, so I resisted wearing them and set them aside. The sacrifices I’m making already. Ha!

What should I make next weekend? Does anyone have any suggestions for good baby toys/crafts?

And the stockings were hung…on the apartment wall…with care.

My daughter finally learned how to nap in her crib the last week that I was on maternity leave, so I finally got a few minutes to work on a project. And what better project than matching stockings for our new family of three? I just love having them all the same red fabric with different linings/cuffs. I saw this idea on another blog and had to replicate it.

I wrote up a little stocking how-to for all of you. Let me know if you make them; I’d love to see what fabrics you pick out!

Supplies:

• Stocking Pattern (note: my husband made the stocking pattern based off of my paper one, so it may vary slightly from my photos)
• 1/2 yard red fabric
• 1/2 yard lining fabric
• 1/2 yard batting
• 10″ ribbon
• thread

Step 1: Cut two stocking pieces out of batting, red fabric, and lining fabric.

Step 2:  With right sides of red fabric together, pin batting on either side like a sandwich. Sew around with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving the top edge open. Trim seam allowances, notch convex curves and clip concave curve (here’s why).

Step 3: Repeat with lining fabric, also leaving a ~3″ opening on the long straight side.

Step 4: Turn lining stocking right side out. Fit inside of red stocking with right sides together. Pin, matching side seams. Sew around with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Trim seam allowance. Turn stocking right side out through opening left in the lining fabric. Hand sew opening closed (here’s how).

Step 5: Fold 10″ of ribbon into a circle. Sew to inside of stocking.

Step 6: Fold down cuff and hang. Fill with sweets and treats!

It seems like all baby things at the stores are decorated with African animals. Don’t get me wrong; I think giraffes and elephants are adorable. But so are squirrels and black bears! My degree is in Natural Resources and I want my daughter to know about the animals in her own back yard.

So when I saw some forest creature mobiles on Etsy, I knew I had found the perfect thing for Alice! I bought some 25 cent felt squares and got to work. I got inspiration from several mobiles on Etsy for the different animals. This was actually the first baby craft I made, and it was the perfect pregnancy craft. I could make an animal a night while sitting on the couch.

I didn’t get around to assembling the mobile and hanging it until now. I had planned on hanging them from madrone sticks from my friend’s land. But it was proving difficult to work with, so I finally gave in and just used dowel rods. I think it looks great!

Alice approves! Plus she’s sleeping more in her crib these days, so she has more time to enjoy it. And I have more time to enjoy my own warm bed. Win-win!

Happy autumn!

These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins have two cups of sugar and two cups of chocolate chips. I’m pretty sure if I frosted them, they would be called cupcakes. But since I ate a dozen of these myself in the last three days, I’m going to pretend they are somewhat healthy and call them “muffins.” That’s how it works, right?

This muffin recipe is so easy to make (you don’t even really need to break out the stand mixer) and it makes 36 muffins! I guess I should stick the remaining two dozen in the freezer before I gorge myself any more. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 16 oz pumpkin
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. Grease or line muffin tins.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and oil until smooth.
5. Mix dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture.
6. Fold in chocolate chips.
7. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 400*F for 16-20 minutes. Makes 36 muffins.

Recipe adapted from Food.com.