Homemade gifts as of late ...

I've made a lot of homemade gifts lately. Unfortunately I haven't been taking pictures :) Here are a few I managed to capture before I wrapped them:

A scrabble-tile necklace for a little girl starting the first grade:

I let my daughter pick out the picture (in this case, a pink gerbera daisy picture that we found through a google images search) and we put it together on some stretchy fishing cord with some beads. Total project only cost me $2 in supplies since I already had most everything at home :) I love when that happens!

We paired the necklace up with some flower hair clips -- 6 is definetely not too old for some bling and bows in your hair!

My sister-in-law turned 16 this week. This gift was a challenge. Teens love storebought stuff (at least I did when I was a teenager!) and I didn't feel like I could come up with a jewlery/room decor gift that I was sure would fit her style. In the end I went for a "back-to-school" theme and used turqoise/lime green to pull it all together.

Here is a picture of all the goods:

I mod podged a clipboard, some binder clips and a mini notebook with matching scrapbook paper and then got some candy and pens/pencils to match.

I decided to bag everything up in cello bags so it would look less random ;) I think presentation is very important with homemade gifts. I wanted to put it all in a turqoise bucket/basket but I ran out of time, so I think the individual bagging and bag toppers helped :)

I'm working on Christmas gifts and more birthday gifts this month so stay tuned :)

I'm back.

Don't have a heart attack. Here are a few easy-peasy projects and recipes I've been up to lately:


These super yummy peanut butter balls. The original recipe is HERE. But I added chopped dried cranberries and followed some suggestions from of the recipe reviews to improve them a bit.

I made THIS banana bread into mini-muffins. I liked it even better this way. SOO good.

I finally mailed off my sisters very late birthday present which included this cute picture frame (found at the $1 store and then covered with fun paper), and a few idea notebooks, also covered with cutesy paper.

Remember those THREE sheets of paper that I bought that have since covered three picture frames and two sets of wood blocks for home decor?? Well, I'm not done with them yet. I needed some new magnets for the fridge so I whipped up some of the classic glass marble magnets. I don't think I'll ever get tired of those.

I wonder what else I can make out of that paper?? :)

Then my mother-in-law walked me through (i.e. held my hand and told me exactly what to do because I'm clueless) making a diaper/wipes holder for my purse or diaper bag. I loved this project and it was so fun to actually SEW something (rather than just blog about sewing projects others have done).

This is a picture of the holder with the changing pad. The changing pad was a pain -- we used plastic on one side and fabric on the other. I will never sew with plastic again! But it was worth it in the end:)

Here is the inside with the pockets and binkie holder:

And the finished project all ready to stash into my purse. Love it!

I still have a message board I'm working on and another birthday present in the works ...expect exciting stuff.

homemade hairbow holder

My niece celebrated her 2-year birthday this weekend. Rather than try to figure out what toy she didn't already have, or what outfit her mom would like, I decided to make something useful:) I have been meaning to make a cutesy hairbow holder for awhile so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I simply bought two pre-painted wood pieces (in this case I found the butterflies at the craft section at Walmart), a yard of ribbon and some hot glue. I glued the ribbon to the back of one of the butterflies and fashioned a nail-hanger from some extra ribbon, which I then glued to the back top of the butterfly. Then I simply glued the butterflies together, back to back. Throw on some cute hairbows and you're set! Easy huh?

I'm in love ... with a monkey

I'm in love with this project. I love that I have kids young enough to appreciate it. I love that she has an incredibly detailed photo tutorial. I love that it only takes two socks and two buttons to make it. I love that it would make the cutest baby shower gift ever.

The last of the baby stuff...

Ok, so this is the last of the baby stuff! For now at least ;)

Here is a pic of the diaper wreath that my mom and I made for my sisters shower. This is the third one that I've done before. It was definitely the most decorated, but we kind of made fun of the 80's retro look it had -- I think it was the gingham bow that did it. My girlfriend brought one to me in the hospital when I had my second child and it was the sweetest hospital gift! I hung it on the door and felt so special :) My sister and I made one for a shower she attended once, and they really are a fun, functional shower gift for a friend -- especially if it isn't their first child so they really just need diapers!


This wreath was for my sis-in-law. It was the first we'd made.
For a tutorial of this EASY project check out this LINK.

Now for the diaper cake. Here is the first attempt made with my girlfriend:
And another, made for my sister.
I love diaper cakes because I think they look great but are completely usable too. They're really simple, but I would recommend making them with a friend becuase it gets tricky holding all the diapers up while tying them together :)
Here is a helpful tutorial.

BabyPALOOZA

Ok, so I'm a young mom, so I am understandably interested in BABY crafts. There are so many fun projects out there! Here is a quick rundown of some of my favorites!!

I Love this diaper and wipes carrier. Now that my kids are older I don't have to lug around a huge diaper bag, but I still need some diapers and wipes wherever I go. My diapers tend to get thrashed in my purse (which my husband refers to as "outer darkness" because once something goes in it never comes out ..) so I could use one of these! There isn't a tutorial on her blog, but if you have a two-sided placemat and a sewing machine it looks like it could be easily recreated!


Here is a similar idea wipes and diaper container from this blog.
I don't really like her picture, so here is one I found for sale online:


I've seen these cloth ones at the boutique, and with the right kind of fabric they are super cute! The only problem is that they look like they require sewing AND measuring ;) TOo much for a beginner like me.

Just in case you aren't tired of a wipes holder, here is ANOTHER! This is one that my sister received as a gift at her baby shower:
I had never seen this type before, but when we went to the boutiques on Monday I saw them all over the place. These are really simple because they require NO sewing. Just a hot glue gun and your materials. Gotta love that! There is sort of a tutorial here.
If you like this one you can check out her blog where she sells her products here.
She also got this adorable bow from the same crafter who made the wipes container. We thought it was so cute so of course we had to spend Monday making our own baby bows for Baby Sophie!
My sister got a lot of bright colored clothes for her baby shower so we went for a really bright korker bow:
And then a couple of the quickie flowers for the headbands:
(Both of these are pretty common crafts around here, but if you don't know how to make them and want to know how then just leave a comment and I'll send you the directions!)
Moving on, my last, and new favorite, baby craft are these adorable applique t-shirts from good ol' Martha (or, really, her creative team of craft divas).This is super simple, and (depending on the price of your t-shirt) super cheap. My favorites are the examples put together on this blog (again! I love her stuff), she gives some great ideas on how to get creative with the appliqués. I especially love the onesie with a tie because it is so hard to find 0-3 month baby boy clothes that would look cute for church! My sister and I already have plans to make some BYU applique shirts for the kids to wear to the homecoming parade so I will def. post the results!

Sorry for the blog explosion, but there are so many fun crafts that make great baby shower gifts, and I definetly had baby showers on the brain this weekend.