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

A Little Lemon Whimsy

Well the freebie find "garbage diving" highchair, that I previously posted about here, is now painted, complete and being used by our little peanut daily! It turned out great! It was a bit of a slow go at first. The can of spray paint I purchased of Rustoleum Sun Yellow didn't work properly and I spent too much time shaking and the nozzle kept clogging. We got things moving once I found the PERFECT fabric for the seat cushion and got a new can of paint.  

HERE SHE BE ~

BEFORE:

DURING:

This was the slow part using the faulty can of spray paint

CAN YOU BELIEVE I found this AWESOME lemon fabric?! It was almost like I picked the fabric first then picked the paint (this would have been the smarter route) but I picked the paint first and hoped some suitable fabric would follow. This is more than suitable it's PERFECTION!!!

AFTER:

I used quilt edging for the ties and the buckle. These old school highchairs don't have a safety guard to keep the little buggers from sliding under the tray, so I added straps on either side and one in the middle with a loop, adding a belt buckle thingy purchased at Joann's along with the fabric, batting and quilt edging.

 For the seat cushions I bought a pre-cut piece of outdoor dense batting that is washable and mildew resistant, this well DEFINITELY NEED to be washed a time or two. I cut it to size for the back and bottom cushion. I then made a basic cover using the fabric, sewing three sides inserting the batting and then closing the last side by hand.

So there you have it a piece garbage is now a little piece of sunny yellow in our dining room, fun and lemon whimsy! Oh yea, the best part, this project cost about $11.00 TOTAL!!! I spent $3 on the spray paint and $8.00 at Joann Fabric on fabric, batting, buckles and quilt binding (this would have been more but I utilized several of their AMAZING coupons!!) and I have fabric left over too, hmmmm I will have to think about how to use this on another project!

P.S. See you later large, chunky, ANNOYING, plastic Chico highchair!

That's my Shiny ~

J