Shhhh....

I never made a quiet book for my kids... I thought it would be too hard... huh... Well, I got the bright idea of making a quiet book for my sister-in-law's Dr. Seuss baby shower.  I ended up making most of it myself and it was kind of fun... but it was a LOT of work!

 I got the idea for the cover from Serving Pink Lemonade.    I made it fairly similar.  I used eyelets to make the holes in the book and used rings to hold it together.  I have the flap close with a large button.  I thought it would be fun to have the cover a little different, so I just appliquéd the letters "shhh" on the front rather than having it say "quiet book."

 I didn't do a ton of pages... there are only 3 front and back.  But I figure my sister in law can add more if she wants.    I made the pages out of Pellon as was suggested by Serving Pink Lemonade.  I think it was a wise decision.  I glued everything to the page first with a felt glue, then I sewed everything with clear thread.  I thought that would be easier than changing colors all the time.  It worked out great.

 The first page is the art paint pallet.  I got this pattern from Serving Pink Lemonade as well.  I did make a slight change.  I thought it would be fun to have the colors come off and on with a button.  (It was very difficult for me to figure out how to sew the button hole exactly where I wanted it to go, so I finally got smart and sewed the button hole in the felt first before I cut out the paint swatch.)

 The car page also came from Serving Pink Lemonade.  She had cute signs on hers, but I didn't quite get to that part... I think it's okay without them.

 I also got the tree idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  I changed it just a bit.  I thought a less detailed tree would be easier.  There are flowers, fall leaves and summer leaves that snap on and off.

My favorite page is the tent page... my family are big campers.  I loved the idea of having a barn with animal finger puppets from Serving Pink Lemonade, but I really liked the tent idea on Laura Thoughts. So I combined the two ideas and created my tent.

When you open the tent zipper, there are forest animal finger puppets inside.  Aren't they cute???

I created a pdf file with the template for the tent and finger puppets.  You can download it here.  (I'm not sure the best way to share files, so let me know if the link does not work)

I got the shoe template from Made by Me... Shared with you.  Her's was a lot more detailed and way cuter, but I think mine looks okay:)

It turned out great and I'm excited for my little nephew to be able to use it... he finally came into this world on Oct. 2nd... but I'm sure it will be awhile until he's old enough to enjoy his quiet book!

Dr. Seuss Baby Shower

Time has flown by and I haven't had time (at all) to blog.  Working full time, moving, and life have taken up any of my spare time!  So, I brought my laptop to work...

Over labor day weekend, we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law and her baby boy.  It started out being a book shower, but as we continued to plan, there was just so many cute things that were Dr. Seuss that we decided to keep it just Dr. Seuss... and books:)

 The idea all began when I saw this post on Pinterest.  I loved the idea of having everyone bring her a book instead of a card.  As I continued to search for ideas I came across this idea of a library card pocket.  I found a free printable for the library card and a template for the pocket on Creature Comforts.  I was able to customize the library card and then I hand cut all of the pockets.

 I wanted to add a cute Dr. Seuss graphic, but I ran out of time... it's all good!

We had this table set up when the guests walked in the door.

1 Fish, 2 Fish, guess how many fish?  I had a jar of Swedish Fish for the guests to guess how many fish.  The jar was just an old pickle jar (or something like that...I save all of my empty glass jars).  I spray painted the lid.

We had a stack of Dr. Seuss books with a cute ribbon for decoration.

I had already made these banners for girls camp.  They were perfect colors!  So, I hung them up throughout the living room and kitchen.

I found Dr. Seuss stuffed animals for $1 each at a yard sale.  They were brand new.  The dollar section of Target had Dr. Seuss bags and cards and such.  I used my mom's antique china hutch and set up a Gift Table.  

Here's a close up.

For the food table, my sister in law bought these cute stacking blocks.  We put them in the center of the table.

Now for the food... in no particular order.  I used this site to create my signs.  You can actually type text in the bubbles and print it.  I didn't like the font, so I saved the images with the bubble and used photoshop to add my text so I could choose any text that I wanted.    I put the name of the food and the book that it was from under.

 Cat in the Hat Fruit Kabobs.

 "Hop on Pop"corn

 Thing 1 Thing 2 Cupcakes (my sister-in-law made these... she's the cupcake queen)

 Truffala Seeds

Green eggs... 

 ... and ham (sandwiches)

Pink Ink Yink Drink (which was really just wedding punch... raspberry sherbet with sprite)

 Now, here's the part where I went wrong.... I thought since it was a book party... and since I don't like shower games that it would be FUN to make a quiet book for Sydney... I don't think many other people shared in my fun.  I had a few cousins and an aunt help... a little... I basically spent HOURS finding patterns and getting them ready... and I spent hours finishing the book... and I'm not quite done yet.  So, I wouldn't suggest this idea... play cheesy games instead!  However, the quiet book is REALLY cute and I will post pictures as soon as I finish it all the way.

 I really wanted to have party favors... little baggies of Swedish fish with this sign on them.  But my mom talked me out of it.  Instead, I made this sign to hang on the door as people left.  And I made Sydney some thank you notes to give to her guests.  (I don't seem to have a picture of the thank you notes, but they are sitting on the Cat in the Hat's lap on the gift table)

If you are interested in any other baby shower ideas... visit my Pinterest Board.

Baby "Shower"

My two youngest sisters-in-law are having babies!!!  Both in September.  One is having a boy and one is having a girl.  I'm super excited to have babies in the family!  And I'm having fun making baby gifts and planning showers!

Shower #1 for baby girl was this past weekend.  I LOVED this idea of a "Shower" themed baby shower.  I pretty much copied what she did, but added a few minor details.... and took out a few.

 Here are my invitations... pictures don't do them justice.  The cloud is a shimmery paper.

 Here is kind of an overall picture of the table set-up.  We had it outside in my sister-in-law's back yard.

 We hung rain cloud (tissue paper pom poms) from the arbor above her patio.

 This umbrella is a vintage umbrella that my grandma had.... It was actually the reason I wanted to do the "shower" themed shower.  The original ruffle was white and was quite dingy.  So, I unpicked the ruffle and attached a new ruffle.  My sister-in-law had made these pink coffee filter poofs for another shower, so we stuck them in the umbrella.

 We made watering can centerpieces and used them to mark the path into the back yard.

I loved this idea of centerpieces out of rain boots.  I borrowed boots from some of my friends that have girls.  They turned out so adorable!!!  We punched the flowers out of solid and patterned papers and had them in varying sizes.  We put buttons in the center.  Then we hot glued them back to back onto the wooden skewers.

 This is what the table looked like when it was the food table.  The Partyland near my home sells sixlets candy in solid super fun colors. I had my mother-in-law put those in cute glass containers.  We had a pasta salad and rolls from Texas Roadhouse:)

I couldn't resist the cute striped straws.  They are so adorable.  I would have had us drink out of mason jars, but we were travelling almost 300 miles for this shower and I didn't want to haul the mason jars in the car.

 Here is the dessert table.  My cute niece made oreo truffles covered in pink candy melts... yummy:)

I made the cupcakes.  I used the same shimmery paper to make the clouds for the cupcakes.  I found the sprinkles and wrappers at Michaels.  ( However I just ordered some super cute striped and animal print cupcake wrappers from Pick Your Plum this morning)

I used this White Texas Sheet Cake recipe for the cupcakes and they were super moist and super delicious!

I think the shower turned out great and we are super excited for baby Jennika to get here:)

Burp Cloths Re-visited

Do you remember this blanket I made for my nephew, West? Well, I planned on making him some burp cloths to match... but I ended up making these burp cloths for my friend, Rachel. Well, West is in town (and sadly I don't even get to hold him because I'm sick), so I had a deadline to get his burp cloths made. It was so fun to do the owl thing with boy stuff!
I added a little ric rac and that turned out cute. And yes, I know the owls are sideways, but that is all of the fabric that I had left over.

And I am just loving applique right now.

-Anisa

Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

It's been a busy week for me... and I've had sick kids... no fun. I needed to get a baby shower gift for my friend, Rachel... but just didn't really have time. I live about 20-25 minutes from Target, Old Navy, etc.... and just wasn't up for a drive clear across town. Plus, I really like to make home made gifts for my friends. On my way home from work, I stopped by a little boutique and saw burp cloths... they wanted $20 for them!!!! I had actually purchased some cloth diapers to make burp cloths to go with this blanket... so, I thought, I guess I'll make some girl ones for Rachel. I had minky left over from the blanket... and this super cute fabric that I had bought for a project for my sister in law...(that I never made)... So, I started cutting, and sewing....
I'm into appliqué right now.... so I appliquéd a flower on the minky to give it a little something extra...
Here are pics of each burp cloth...

(I didn't do a tutorial for the burp cloths, but I found a tutorial online at Chickpea Sewing Studio that is similar to the same technique that I used)
Here's a little tip about your bobbin thread.... it is the thread that shows on the back. So, when doing a project like this, use white bobbin thread... then the thread doesn't show!
Here are the burp cloths all wrapped up...
I totally love how they turned out and I hope she likes them too! -Anisa

(PS Shellie... I am still going to make you some to go with the owl blanket)