Chalkboard napkin rings

Want a napkin ring that also serves as a placeholder? All you need is a wooden napkin ring and some chalkboard paint!

I bought a package of 8 wooden napkin rings at my local craft store for a couple dollars. I painted the rings with watered down gray paint, let dry, then dry brushed white paint on top, wiping off the excess. The inner part of the rings got two coats of black chalkboard paint. Once the paint is dry you can personalize your napkin rings with a chalk marker or chalk. That's all there is to it!

Shhh!

Between nap time and nursing, I snuck in a little embroidery and sewing...

A little drawstring bag to hold ear plugs. I have this in our guest room. Even if I'm not getting any sleep, maybe our guests still can.

Pleated Zipper Pouch

I like to travel light, but know with baby on the way I'll be toting a lot more around, including a diaper bag.  To keep my personal items (the things I would usually carry in my purse) organized and easy to find, I made a zippered pouch to go inside the diaper bag. It keeps everything in one place and can be easily removed if I need to hand over the diaper bag to Zach.

I followed Skip to my Lou's Pleated Pouch Tutorial, enlarging the pattern to 150% since I needed my bag to be a bit larger (Finished size is approx 11" x 8.5"). I used leftover upholstery fabric from the nursery for the bag exterior and a cotton print for the lining. 

Baby Mobile

I used an oval picture frame, an old necklace, a curtain ring clip, and a few needle felted animals to create a special mobile for our little girl.

Frame and necklace before

I removed the clip from a curtain ring clip and wrapped the ring in fabric, similar to what I did for the closet dividers. (It's the same fabric I used for the curtains.)

I also added green pom pom trim to the inside lip of the frame, to give baby something extra to look at from below.

Felt Corsage Tutorial

Supplies and Materials

Cut the following pieces out of your main felt color:

Corsage ruffle- One 3" x 9" strip
Ribbons- Two 1 1/2" x 6" strips
Corsage backing- One 3" diameter circle

Cut the following pieces out of your accent felt:

Ribbon accents: Two 1" x 6" strips
Corsage face: One 2 3/4" diameter circle

You will also need:

6 1/2" piece of pom pom trim
1 medium sized safety pin
Coordinating thread
Scissors/rotary cutter
Chalk or marking pen
Ruler
Embroidery needle and floss/sewing machine with embroidery function

Directions

1. Embroider the message of your choice onto your corsage face, either by hand or using your sewing machine.

2. Pin the pom pom trim onto the wrong side of the face, near the edge.

3. Temporarily sew in place with a basting stitch. Remove the pins and set aside.
4. Fold the corsage ruffle in half, lengthwise. If necessary, pin to hold in place. Mark off 1" increments at the top of the folded edge. Using scissors, cut 1" notches at each 1" mark.

5. Pin the ribbon accent to the ribbons, lining them up down the middle. fold in half lengthwise and make a mark 1/2" up the folded edge. Cut a v-shaped notch in the bottom, up to the 1/2" mark, through both the accent and main ribbon.

6. Topstitch the ribbon accent onto the ribbon. Match your bobbin thread to your main felt color.
7. Pin the ruffle to the outside edge of the corsage backing. Line it up so the bottom of the ruffle
notches are just inside the edge of the backing. Sandwich the ribbons in between the backing and  the ruffle, overlapping the tops of the ribbons slightly (you may need to remove a few pins, but I found it easier to pin the ruffle first, then add the ribbons).

8. Next, sew a safety pin to the back of the corsage. I placed a small piece of felt on the inside for reinforcement. You can do this by hand or with your sewing machine. I used my machine and sewed one stitch forward one stitch backward, multiple times, at three different spots along the safety pin.

9. Sew along the edge of the backing circle.
10. Pin the face to the front of the corsage, centering it within the ruffle. Stitch around the edge with a zig-zag stitch. Match your bobbin thread to your main felt color. (You could also use a straight stitch but I wanted to make sure I caught the pom pom trim in my stitch.)

11. Remove the basting stitches from the face.

I made two of these for the grandmas to be at my baby shower, but they would also be great as name tags at a party or for birthdays or bachelorette parties.

You can purchase your own custom corsage in my etsy shop!

Gum Drop Ottoman

Two nursery projects down, two more to go!

• Curtains
• Ottoman
• Crib skirt
• Changing table

I made a 24" ottoman for the nursery using Amy Butler's Gum Drop Pillow pattern. I'll have to post another picture of it next to the chair for scale, it's actually quite large. I found the pattern to be simple and straightforward. There are only two pattern pieces, the side panel and top panel. 

The fabric I used is Zig Zag Village Green/Natural by Premier Prints.

Similar ottomans sell for around $100 on etsy, but if you're willing and able to make your own you could do it for around $40, depending on the cost of your fabric. This thing requires a ton of polyfil, which adds up. I was skeptical that I would need all 120 oz of polyfil recommended in the pattern, but you really do need that much. I found the best price at Walmart, where you can get a 50 oz bag for under $9.

I closed the ottoman up with a slip stitch but you could add a zipper if you wanted the cover to be removable.  I plan to use this as a footrest while nursing, but it will also make a great floor cushion when baby girl gets older.

Please Knock...Baby Sleeping

My friend Jenn gave me this sweet alphabet embroidery sampler pattern for Christmas:

I haven't attempted the full sampler yet, but used some of the designs to create an embroidered sign for the front door.

I sized the pattern down to 45% of the original size, for the word "knock." Since it was so much smaller than the original, I couldn't use all the recommended stitches, so I ended up using satin stitch for many of the letters. The rest of the words were done with back stitch.

Zach dug the frame out of a dumpster about 5 years ago, one of his favorite hobbies when we were still living in an apartment.

Moss Letters

Image from Pottery Barn

Image from dear lillie

What you'll need:

Wooden craft letters (I used 6" letters)

Reindeer moss

Hot glue gun + glue

Total project cost for 6 letters: $11

Using a got glue gun, glue the moss to the front and sides of the letter. I suggest doing one small section at a time, so the hot glue doesn't harden before you have a chance to stick the moss on. For six 6" letters, I used one 4 oz bag of moss. The moss tears easily and is very pliable, so it's not difficult to fit it to the shape of the letter. However, to help define small curves, I found it helpful to wrap the moss around to the back of the letter and secure with a drop of hot glue.