Welcome, Baby Girl! | A Shower Package

I got so excited at the fabric store. And since the gift is from our whole family, I had a bigger allowance. I also have a huge stash of scraps, which are all usable for baby dresses because babies are so little.

Here's a breakdown of the gifts we're giving!

1. Infinity Scarf/Nursing Cover
I saw something like this on Etsy and thought, "I can make that!!!" So I did. Totally simple, totally clever. No more lugging around an obvious nursing cover, or needing to dig through your diaper bag for it. Just wear it as a fashion accessory...

and unwind it (ta da!) to use it as a nursing cover. You can either be comletely covered...

or half covered. Your choice. Classy, chic, and discreet.

N.B. - Mirror selfies with a DSLR are really challenging. Holy Toledo. Took me soooo long to get these photos.

2. Sunny Days Blanket
 

I know the baby is a little girl, but that doesn't mean everything needs to be pink. I love bright colors and I know the new mama does, too! This blanket is a delicious yellow and aqua blue. Yummy, right?

I have these fabric tags that I accidentally bought from a scrapbooking sale, but they were perfect for these projects!

3. Sweet Blossoms Blanket
Not everything has to be pink, but a little pink is sweet. ;)

 Just the blanket by itself makes me melt. Can you imagine how heart-stopping the cuteness will be when there's a precious baby inside it? I can't even handle it.

4. Reversible Car-seat Canopy
This is my pride and joy from this project. These things are a rather new trend: a piece of fabric to drape over the car-seat to protect the baby from the sun. Instead of just tossing a blanket over, which can slide off and makes carrying the seat a challenge, they have velcro loops (that I embellished with oh-so-cute bows) that attach to the handle. That way the baby can be protected and you can hold the handle safely.

Many car-seat canopies are one-sided. But why?? The baby has different outfits that the mama can choose between... why shouldn't the car-seat cover be accommodating as well? So I made it reversible.

One side is bold and beautiful: black, yellow, and grey floral.

The other side is a little sweeter. Coral pink and light brown.

Both are tied together by a bright blue trim that practically screams happy.

5. Dress #1
Size 0-3 months. So pretty.

6. Dress #2
Size 0-3 months. Sunshine and happiness. Totally country. Totally channeling the new mama's spirit.

7. Dress #3
Size 3-6 months. It's pink. It has butterflies. Irrefutably precious.

8. Dress #4
Size 3-6 months. Not so girly, but I like that. Perfect for Indian Summer.

To package it, I wrapped every individual present in tissue paper, sealed them with washi tape, and numbered them using alpha stickers. Then I stacked them in the box, covered them with a sheet of tissue paper and affixed a "Gift Guide" card to the top, indicating which each numbered package contains. I impress myself sometimes.

Yamaclaus for Chrismukkah

My Jewish uncle calls all of us Catholics "Super-Jews" since we have all of the Old Testament in addition to the New Testament. Y'know, the whole fulfillment of the scriptures thing.

On the television show "The OC," they celebrate the "super-holiday" of Chrismukkah. Jesus and Moses were having lunch one day, apparently, and decided to combine their powers to create a celebration that would have twice the resistance of any normal holiday to the Scrooges of the world.

Since we watched "The OC" (yes, yes, I know...) and we're super-Jews, we felt entitled to have our own bit of Chrismukkah fun. Inspired by the show, I made yamaclaus.

These little felt and fluff hats are super easy to make, although the fluff gets all over your kitchen table, floor, and black sweat pants. Oops.

First, you cut a circle of felt. I used a cereal bowl, decided it was too big, and used a slightly smaller mixing bowl. Hence the circle of felt in the picture below.

Then you cut a radial slit (from the center to the circumference).

You overlap those two sides until you get the desired "peak" of the hat. You can glue it together, or you can run a quick stitch through it on your machine. I think the latter is easier, but if you can't sew, you should probably take your chances with the hot glue.

It's really convenient if you happen to be in a wedding where the dresses are the appropriate red-ish color and the shoulder pads are round and the perfect size.

Then you have a nice, long bonding session with the hot glue gun. Yay.

I put the little fluff balls on top first and then put the fluff around the edges.

You have to kind of mess with the edging since it's straight and your hat is curved... it can't be perfect, given the laws of space and matter, but it'll be close enough.

Ta da!! Yamaclaus!!