SUPER simple, fun, practical, (one of the best gifts we got) gifts for babies / kids!!!!

Two and 1/2 years ago when I was prego with our first peanut (C), we received a gift.  It was a simple blue towel with a hood and a ribbon on top of that hood that said "Jesus loves me, this I know". We both loved the gift for our little man but did not realize JUST how much we would be lovin that thing!! As we now have experienced many-a-time, after ANY bath that the beloved blue towel is not clean, C shivers and cries "I FREEZIN"!!! Poor little guy! This is the INSPIRATION for this fun DIY gift-eroo!

Because before you know it those babies grow and they SURELY do NOT fit in the store bought multi-pack Gerber hooded towels. Our littlest peanut, Q's little cheekies have been hanging for months now! Looks like Momma needs to get to work for our house too! (This will be another project with our old white towels we need replacements for in the very near future).

Anyways back to the DIY gift. We are still lovin every piece of that baby gift we got so long ago and I imagine that we will be continuing to love that gift until about age 6 or 7. Wow!! TALK about longevity when it comes to a gift for a new baby or young child!!!!

Currently we have LOTS of friends having babies, mostly second babies (so I am making one towel for the new babies and one for big brother or sister). I have wanted to do this for a long time but need to 1. own a sewing machine (even if it is an ol'bitty) and 2. figure that ol'bitty out. Now that I had done both it was time to give it a go and make some awesome hooded towelness for our friends kiddlets. 

Here is how it went.

Attempt #1 (FLOP)

The hood was too big and it looked drastically out of proportion, hmmmm..... I realized I needed to sew a seam / hem in the front of the hood, this gave it a finished look and shortened the hood at the same time! YAHOO!!

Attempt # 2 (SUCCESS):

1. Fold long side of hand towel in about 3 1/2 to 4 inches, sew. This will be the front of the hood, adding the hem makes it look finished and corrects the proportions of the hood and towel

2. Fold towel in half, sew the second long side together (the side that is NOT hemmed)

3. Sew hand towel to big towel in the center, by attaching the two short sides folded out and with the point of the seam up and the sewn together side in the center (see pics below)

4. Place stencil in center of big towel, secure edges with clear packaging tape, spray stencil with fabric stencil paint

     

OR
DECORATE however you see fit!!

GET CREATIVE!

TAAAADAAAA!!!!!!

All in all each hooded towel cost about $10, not too bad.... however, in the future I will be hunting for towels on clearance and stock up for gifts and will NOT be paying retail. At this point in time I only paid full price ($5 for big, $4 for hand) because I couldn't pass up on the SUPER CUTE stripped towel funness that Target had to offer. 

Not too bad considering some of the larger hood towels that are for sale at boutiques and online are about $25 buckeroos and personalized hooded towels run closer to $40.

These from PB Kids are $39.50 a POP! YIKES! Really cute though!


Fantastic! From Moonbeam Baby, But cost $33.95 personalized

All in all this was a simple (towel took about 15 minutes total START TO FINISH), fun, personalized and handmade gift I am SO EXCITED to give!  Nothing is better than giving or getting a DIY gift that's practical, fun, cute and can be enjoyed for YEARS!!!

Here's the finished product being modeled by C =)

That's my Shiny ~

J