Happy Birthday Banner!

I made little baby dileonardi a happy birthday banner to take to the hospital. The idea is to have it hanging on baby's birthday, take a picture, and we will use it as decor for all of baby's upcoming birthdays! That's our first attempt at starting a tradition :)

Here's a quick photo:

Baby Quilt. Mission Completed.

Finally finished my first baby quilt! After a few hours of hand stitching the binding today, the quilt is complete! I'm not sure if I'm keeping it or giving it away as a gift. So fun to complete a project!

Name Applique!

Well, I had this idea that I just couldn't shake. I wanted to applique our last name onto a onsie, so I started hard at work trying to complete my idea! Whew! Each letter took forever.

Of course I loved my hard work when I was done.

Of course I made one for my sister's baby due in April.

Of course I made one for my friend Joe's baby due in November.

Of course it took forever.

But I'm happy with the result :)

Thrifty Cake Plate Project

Classic Glass Plate = 4.99 at 50% off = $2.50

Glass Candle Holder = $2.99

Super Glue for Glass = $3.99

Total = $9.48

So Easy, So Fun!

Just had to clean the plate and candler holder ahead of time. Apply nail polish remover where I was going to bond the two pieces together. Bond, let set, bake a cake :)

Applique a Gift, eh?

One of my childhood friends, Theresa, called us over the weekend to tell us she's pregnant! Completely elated with the news, I tried to think of a quick gift I could put together and mail to her to help celebrate in the excitement of the little one on the way! Her due date is far off but I hope this onsie will help continue the momentum of great joy they will be experiencing in the months to follow!

Again, I used a button-hole stitch. The bird was the simpilest of simple appliques, the bird is actually a print on the fabric! I didn't need to trace or freehand a single thing! The onsie was a $0.50 purchase at a garage sale. It had a minor stain on the c

hest that my little applique covered up quite nicely.

With that being said, I think it's fair to say that the shipping of this gift back to Chicago will cost more than the actual gift itself!

Here's to babies and the fun of applique!

Sleep Sack

For my 25th birthday, my good friend, Stephanie, got me this amazing book by Anna Marie Horner entitled "Handmade Beninnings". It's contents include sweet, nostalgic patterns for mom, baby, family, and baby decor.

I just finished my first big project out of this book, a sleep sack. for those of you who don't know what a sleep sack is, a sleep sack is a wearable blanket designed to reduce the risk of SIDS and keep the baby safe while he or she sleeps. Since SIDS unfortunately runs in my family, I thought this pattern was a practical project to work on, not to mention how cute it turned out! I already have fabric ideas picked out for future sleep sacks as gifts for friends and family.