Oh yeah....

So two things real quick.

1. Happy Together went .com!!!! That's right :) I made the switch last week and am very happy about it. The new site is www.happytogethercreates.com. The other names I tried were already taken, lol. Figures. So, this should be a lot easier to remember. The blogspot page automatically takes you to this now, so it should still be showing up and all, but you can change it if you like :)


2. I found out that Silhouette just came out with a new product, the Silhouette CAMEO (a 12" cutting tool). This means that they are discontinuing the Silhouette SD and are selling the ones that are left for $175 while supplies last. SO, that's a good deal ladies!!!!!

To get this offer, you can use this code:   TOGETHER until this Sunday, July 31, 2011. 

PS: All the things that go with it are still going to be offered for those of us who have the SD, but the actual machine will no longer be produced.

You can also use that code to get 20% all of their products, including the new Starter Kits (excludes the download cards and machines). Now's a good time to stock up on stuff.

Showered in Love

I have to say that I feel truly blessed by the amazing people I have met since we moved here to the Pensacola area in October. It's always hard when you move to a new place and have to start over again and it never ceases to amaze me how God works things out. (For those of you who don't know, we are a military family, hence a lot of moving around).

My friend Nina and Allison put together an ever so sweet baby shower to celebrate baby girl #2. It has been different this pregnancy, since with my first we were back in Virginia, surrounded by family and all. So, them doing this for me really meant a lot.

For me it wasn't about presents or anything like that. It was about these amazing ladies coming together and rejoicing over this little girl about to come into the world. I cannot tell you how much they all inspire me. They are all so full of God's love and joy and are so encouraging. They are my role models for sure!

They showered me with wonderful baby gifts.

Nina even made some beautiful custom burp cloths for baby :)

And the food, oh let me tell you. These ladies can bring it! They all brought something and it was all so yummy!!!!!! I ate some of everything :)

And of course, it was a time full of good times with wonderful friends.

And a great present helper!

 

I couldn't have asked for anything more. Thank you ladies for the blessings that you are! You are all amazing!

Preparing for Baby: The Oval Burp Cloth Pattern

It's a burp cloth/bib kind of day :) These are things that I couldn't live without with my first. She was a spitter upper for sure and messy when she got to eating solids.

Before a little round up, let me share my burp cloth pattern real quick. I made a ton of these in no time out of receiving blankets. I designed this pattern based on my favorite burp cloths I used with my first daughter. They were shaped kind of like this and were around this size (20"x7"). It was just perfect for me. I chose to use the flannel blankets for a few reasons.

#1: I wanted an absorbent material. I do love quilting cottons, but to me they are not the best for bibs and burp cloths. Don't get me wrong, I'll end up making some and use all the ones I have received as gifts, but my go to ones will always be the ones made from terrycloth, flannel, etc.
#2: I just had a bunch and decided I could just repurpose a few into burp cloths and not have to go buy some.
#3: The flannel material won't fray, so the edges don't need to be finished.

To make these, print the pattern from here.

You will need two layers of material for them, if buying off the bolt 1/4 yd of each (you can get two layers from a 1/4 yd). You could use two layers of flannel like I did or maybe one layer quilting cotton/one layer terry cloth, two layers of knits (upcycle t-shirts even), etc......

Place pattern on the fabric fold and cut two for each burp cloth.

If using fabrics that won't fray, just lay them together, wrong sides facing, and sew them together around the edge. I just serged mine, but you could just do a straight line or use a zig zag stitch if you like.
If using fabrics that fray like a quilting cotton, you can lay them right sides facing then sew (using a 1/4" or smaller seam allowance) around the edge leaving about a 2" opening to turn it right side out. Then after you turn it right side out, fold in the edges as the opening and top stitch around the whole thing.

It's a quick baby gift. So you could wrap them up cute like these:

Source: whitesatinribbon.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

And here are a few more tutorials that I found that are really cute for burp cloths and bibs:

Source: cloud9fabrics.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: chickpeastudio.typepad.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: alittletipsy.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: luvinthemommyhood.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: sewshesews.wordpress.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: nicolemdesign.com.au via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: dirtydiaperlaundry.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: lotsofpinkhere.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Preparing for Baby: Boppy Pillow Recover

Happy Monday to you! We had a fun weekend and I hope you did too :) As long as baby stays in, I've got about another week of baby things (and I promise after that there are grown up things in progress lol).

Another quick baby project was recovering the boppy pillow. I just used the cover I had and made a pattern, but I did a quick search and found a pattern with instructions for you :) You can find it here.

It's on top of the hospital bag ready to go with us now. I'm so ready for her to come!

Preparing for Baby: A Car Seat Makeover

Last for this week is one of the hardest baby related projects I have done in preparation for baby's arrival.

I finished this up a few months ago actually, but it took quite a few nights to get it all done. I used this guide by Ashley at Make It and Love It to go at it. I used a lot of the same fabric from the original cover but got rid of the stained fabric.

She does a great job of explaining how to do it all.

I even bought fabric from the home decor section so it would be more durable (like she did with some of. It's still really soft and not thick, but you can tell it will hold up better.

Now, enjoy your weekend everyone! I'm starting it off with a big bowl of chocolate pudding and sitting on the couch with my big swollen ankles up on comfy pillows :) See you on Monday!

Preparing for Baby: A Nursing Cover

 

This isn't a nursery thing and it's also more for me than the baby :) I found this really great nursing cover tutorial over at Diary of a Quilter and whipped it up in about 30 minutes. That's with me being super slow and all too. 

One of the main things I like about it is how she incorporates boning at the top to create a cup so air can get in under there and you can see the baby. It seems just the right amount too, not gaping too far out or too close in.

There is an adjustable strap so it can be lengthened or shortened depending on the mom. I made mine with a not so bright print so it doesn't stick out. I'm a private person so the last thing I want is to draw extra attention to myself while nursing. I found some really other great tutorials for various "nursing" things that I plan on trying if I have the time.

Source: shwinandshwin.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

A nursing dress tutorial

Source: homesweethomebodies.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Making a shirt into a nursing shirt. It's a really neat trick! And looks cute too.

Source: babyaidafiqs.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

This has to be one of the prettiest nursing top ever! Love the ruffles.

Source: mamasworldwide.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Turning a regular bra into a nursing bra

 

Source: diymaternity.com via Jessica on Pinterest

How to make nursing pads with free pattern

Preparing for Baby: B{ee} is for Baby *and a sale*

Remember the bees? My daughter was the recipient of all of those so I wanted to make sure baby has one too. I continued on with the Nicey Jane fabrics left over from other nursery projects, plus a few other scraps I had.

I used vintage chenille for the wings again, crocheted the antenna, and added a little bow.

Baby won't be playing with this for a bit since I used the plastic safety eyes instead of sewing on felt ones, but I had found an idea for using her as a decoration anyways.

Source: portabellopixie.typepad.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Sandi Henderson had some pics of a quilt market she did and what stuck out to me was the bunnies in the picture frames. I decided to do that with the bee.

So I found a frame that had a thick ledge at a thrift store, then painted and distressed it some. It was a little shallow for the bee, so I did tie her on with some fishing line stuff so she can't fall off. But she sits cute as can "bee" on the wall now :)

In honor of baby's soon arrival, I'm putting the scrappy bee pattern on sale. It will be only $4 from now until Friday. So if you have been waiting to get it, now is a good time :)

And of course, here are some free softie patterns that I found and think are adorable. You can always make some of the girlie ones more boyish.

Source: allsorts.typepad.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: oneredrobin.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: the-polka-dot-umbrella.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: lollychops.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: mmmcrafts.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest