Baby Shower Prep--Americana Style!

 I have known Mel since 9th grade drama class and I'm thrilled to co-host a baby shower for her along with her sister-in-law, Tracy. I have been wanting to make a pennant banner since seeing them shown off on Pinterest  and I never mind an excuse to try a new pattern...well, as long as it involves sewing straight lines! LOL Mel is decorating the nursery in "Americana" colors and after making a few rounds over the past few weeks checking out fabric options at Joann's, I finally committed. I bought extra of each, hoping to use it in other baby shower decorations, as well.

I used the tutorial over at Sugar Bee for how to make a simple but beautiful pennant banner. A key tip I learned was to use  fusible interfacing on the pennants. I went for the thickest I could find. I also liked her suggestion of sewing the pennants to double fold bias tape. Genius!

The project did not take long and here's a sneak peak of the banner. I had planned to add the letters of the baby's name to the banner but now I'm debating if I will or not. I have a few weeks before the shower to decide.

I found some other terrific ideas on Pinterst for baby shower decorations that I will be working on this weekend, as well as attending the wedding for one of my dearest friends. What are you up to this Memorial Day weekend, fellow crafters?

Ruffles and Aprons and Brides, Oh My!

Mylinh over at hidden in the hem made over a dozen ruffle-ly aprons for our good friend's "50's Housewife" Bridal Shower The pattern she chose had a bib to it (see bride-to-be modeling!). Isn't she AMAZING?! The matron-of-honor made everyone a (fake) pearl necklace so the guests got quite the take home gifts! The shower was a blast, made all the more memorable by Mylinh's handiwork.

Several guests had to cancel at the last minute so Mylinh thoughtfully took the leftovers, added bibs, and sent them to my nieces! E is already quite the accomplished cook so she will put hers to great use!

Con"Grad"ulations

My dear sweet friend, Alexandra, graduated from college this month! I'm so proud of her for her accomplishments. A good student and a talented artist, I made her a messenger bag to double as either a sketch book bag or a grad student book bag! It would also fit a laptop, should she feel so inclined.

I got the pattern and instructions from Mommy By Day. The exterior pieces have fusible webbing ironed onto them to help make the bag more sturdy. The materials are from a Home Decor line, which are already thick, so I had a number of layers to sew through in spots.

Alexandra was thoughtful enough to take a photo with it for me! Gorgeous as ever, she makes the bag look fabulous. Her future is bright, can't wait to see where she goes and what she does next!

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last blog post! Easter has come and gone and I didn't show you the cutest Easter bunny, which I made for Baby G! Here in this
photo he's also modeling a boobie hat. His daddy has a matching one and I've yet to see a picture with him in it, too...lol! Must contact his lovely wife STAT.

Baby G was named after his grandpa, who was my favorite uncle...not that I don't have other wonderful uncles. I'm really blessed in the family department. But Uncle G lived in San Diego county and was thus a big part of my life. He even took the afternoon off of work to come to my high school graduation!

Losing him was rough. But when I went to his funeral, I had a chance to reconnect with one of his sons. The crazy thing is that my cousin is JUST like his dad...looks like him, laughs like him. Then I had a chance to get to know Baby G's mama, a fellow crafter with a great sense of humor, as we are both Facebookers. And as we mourned Uncle G's passing, Baby G's mama found out she was preggers with this precious boy. So while I lost my uncle, I feel like I gained three cousins.

The best part is having a baby boy to make things for in this family that is surrounded by girls!

The bunny pattern is from the book "Last Minute Gifts" (which I've mentioned before). I used size 5 Alpaca yarn, that I bought from Hobby Lobby and knitted him up on 10.5 needles. The pattern calls for smaller yarn and needles but by now, you'all know me...I love to make stuffed animals with the big dogs. ;0)

If You Ain't Dutch, You Ain't Much

I saw this neat knitted market bag on Pinterest a few months back and finally decided to make it this week. It's panels, before sewn, resemble a windmill.

You knit the first panel, then pick up stitches on the side of it to start the next panel. Repeat two more times, then sew up the sides. The blog it was pinned from has a great little illustration explaining that "clear as mud" description (lol).

I used four different earthy tones from Sugar and Cream but since I'm such a tight knitter, I went up to size ten needles. I knitted about 116 rows for each panel, in garter, so it's a very quick project.

You create the handles by knitting I-cords at the top of each panel and joining two together on one side and repeating on the other. I got a bit exuberant on my cords and thus my handles are quite long. Overall, I'm thrilled with the ease, the quickness and the inexpensive cost of the project!