7 Months

Unlike Nitrogen, Vera is not odorless

Bunny Slippers for Vera

Love this pattern!

Baby Tag Blanket Tutorial

Despite all the fun toys hanging from her activity gym, Vera was intrigued by the tag...until she ripped it off. That's when I decided to make her a tag toy. Here's what you will need to make your own baby tag blanket:

One 10" x 11" piece of cotton print fabric
One 10" x 11" piece of polka-dot chenille
One 10" x 11" piece of batting
Twenty 5" pieces of ribbon, different colors and sizes

Fold each 5" piece of ribbon in half. Pin onto patterned fabric, raw edges together. Pin five ribbons to each side of the square. Place batting on top then chenille on top of that, right side down. So you will have your cotton print, right side up, ribbons, batting, and chenille, wrong side up.

Sew around the edges with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving an opening for turning. Clip corners and turn right side out. Push out corners with fabric turner and press. Sew opening closed with a slip stitch then top stitch around the edges about 1/2" in.

Baby Toy Clip Tutorial

Materials:

Suspender clip

22" piece of ribbon

4" piece of cord (I used hemp bracelet cord)

Make sure the total length of the ribbon and cord is 12" or less to keep baby safe!

Fold cord in half and tie a knot in the end.

Fold both ends of the ribbon over 1/2" and press. 

Slide ribbon through suspender clip so that the clip is in the middle of the ribbon.

Pin cord in between the two halves of the ribbon, at the open end.

Sew right along the side of the clip and around all three edges. Sew back and forth across the cord a couple of times to make sure it's secure. Make sure the knot on the end of the cord is inside your row of stitches.

I use this clip to keep Vera's toys off the ground when we're in public, but it could also be used as a pacifier clip.

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!

Cat pencil bag

Last year I made Zach a pencil bag using this tutorial. After I finished it, I thought the zipper looked kind of like a mouth, so I made a few changes and came up with this cat pencil bag for my niece. It's made of wool-blend felt and a cotton print for the ears and stomach.

6 months

More precious than a diamond