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?