Starbucks onesie

This is the perfect onesie for coffee loving parents! I made this using my Silhouette machine.

First I saved the starbucks logo and imported it into the software and used the trace function to create the cutable image. I used photoshop to make the words in two separate file (I LOVE YOU and A LATTE) but you could also use paint or word or some other application if you don't have photoshop as long as you can save the words as a jpg. Then you can import the words into the Silhouette software too, trace it and arrange it around the starbucks logo.

Then follow the Silhouette instructions for cutting your heat transfer vinyl, iron it to the onesie and it is ready to go for the parents-to-be! I gave this to Katie as part of her shower gift and cannot wait to see the baby rockin' it!

Cute As A Button Baby Shower

Last month I hosted a baby shower for one of my best friends along with her sister in law. The Cute As A Button baby shower was fun to plan and Melissa and I really enjoyed making it a special day for Katie and baby.

First up is all the decor. I knew it would be good to do something sewing-related since Katie loves to craft and sew and when I was talking to a sweet neighbor about it she suggested the theme and even had the banner that I could borrow. The banner was already gender neutral with orange, blue/teal, lime green and brown which was perfect since the shower needed to be gender neutral. I loved the bright orange and blue/teal colors so I used those as the main colors.

I made the big buttons using paper plates from Party City - they are the smaller of the two sizes of the paper plates that come in a ton of colors. I cut out small circles and taped those to the plates to make buttons

For the table centerpiece I did a diaper bundle on top of a cake stand. It makes for a nice centerpiece without being as involved as a diaper cake. I printed out the stork from an image found online onto white cardstock and had my mom serge around flannel for a blanket. You fold the blanket so it is almost as narrow as a rolled diaper and tie it up and fill it with rolled diapers. It had about 25 diapers in it.

I also filled two vintage mason jars with assorted buttons.

For the mantle I made two onesies with my Silhouette (one with the Starbucks logo that says I love you a latte and one with their last name). I put a wipeable/washable bib in the middle that had big dots on it that sort of look like buttons. I also cut out two buttons with the Silhouette to complete the hanging string. I filled vases with assorted buttons and a square glass container with thread and propped up my pin cushion for decor.

This was the circle garland I made that I did a tutorial on here.

When guests arrived everyone chatted for a bit and had food and drinks. Now for the menu.. we did an afternoon shower so a full meal wasn't necessary and we did lots of different snacks/appetizers and desserts. Melissa made most of the food and it was delicious!

Food: 

Fruit

Cheese, meats and crackers

Pizza roll bites

Spinach artichoke dip and pita chips

Spicy ranch type dip and chips 

Icing filled thumbprint cookies

Cupcakes

Drinks:
Lemonade
Water
Wassail - apple cider-like drink that my mom makes

And I used some fun striped orange straws and mason jars for those having lemonade or water and then use coffee cups for the wassail.

Once everyone was done eating we had games and activities. We played Baby Price is Right, Make a diaper out of toilet paper on a stuffed animal, and Baby Scategories. 

We also had people leave advice or wishes for the mom to be. I made the cards in Photoshop to go with the shower invite I made.

These were the invites. I looked up various ideas and designed them myself in Photoshop and then had them printed on cardstock at staples.

Then it was time for opening the gifts! Katie got a lot of really wonderful gifts from her registry and some handmade gifts too. And the Mathes family got her the crib and mattress... two very essential items!

Katie is a Detroit Tigers fan and her husband is a St. Louis Cardinals fan so I made a parents divided onesie using my Silhouette. Can't wait to see the baby in this during baseball season.

Melissa made these adorable button cookies as a party favor for the guests wrapped up with a note that says Thank you "sew" much for coming!

All the sweet Mathes ladies... Katie's mother in law and sister in laws.

Katie and I showing off our bumps. We are 10 weeks apart and I cannot wait for our babies to hang out and I know they will be great friends! I'm even more excited to find out if baby Mathes is a boy or a girl!

Hope this helps anyone out who is planning a cute as a button baby shower. A huge thanks to co-host, Melissa... I would plan another shower with you anytime!

Super Easy Garland

This is literally the easiest garland you will ever make. I first made this a few years ago for a baby shower and have since learned an even easier way for subsequent showers which I'll show you below.

Materials:

- cardstock
- circle punch or craft cutting machine (I used my Silhouette but a punch would be just as easy)
- sewing machine and thread


First cut out/punch out however many circles or whatever shape you want for your garland. My circles were 1 1/2 inches. I forgot to take a photo of the giant pile of circles but you can sort of see a few of them in this photo where I made some button cupcake toppers using the same circles (more on the baby shower these are from soon!).

Pull some excess thread through your sewing machine so you have a long string at the beginning end. Start to feed the circles through your sewing machine sewing through the middle of them. I like to space them out just a little so I started to feed in a new circle as soon as the previous circle was fully sew through but you could space them closer or further apart.

The sewing machine is what makes this garland so easy. My machine had absolutely no problem sewing through the cardstock. I'm sure if you made whole bunch of these it might dull your needle some but in that case you can just change out your needle but I've made several and my needle is still fine.


Then just hang your garland! I use scotch tape to hang mine and it works fine and didn't pull off any paint.

Not gonna lie I tried really hard to convince Eric to leave this garland up for awhile in our family room because I really liked it (plus the colors went with the room). He didn't go for it.

If you want to save your garland, take it down slowly wrapping it around a piece of cardboard to keep it untangled. Word to the wise - don't let your husband take down the garland or you may end up with a big tangled mess :)


Note: I used to make the garland by gluing circles to twine which does take a lot longer than sewing but is an option for someone without access to a sewing machine.

Rubber Duck Baby Shower

At the end of November I threw my sister in law a Rubber Duck Themed Baby Shower. I asked for her thoughts on what themes she liked and this was one of the top ones. They did not find out so it also needed to be gender neutral which this theme worked well for. An old friend of hers did the invitations and ordered a cake. I made the decorations and some of the food. Eric and Keith's mom generously offered up her home and thankfully their Aunt Kathy and two friends, Carla and Emily, offered to help make food.

Note - I had challenges getting enough light in the photos because the house is a bit dark on that side so I had to really amp up the exposure in some of them.

I made the Baby Duck banner and circle garland using my Silhouette and then the garland is sewn together... it's the easiest garland to make.

Megan's mom brought these delicious sugar cookies from her favorite bakery and they were a big hit!

My mom gifted Megan a diaper cake which also served as the perfect centerpiece. She made the felt duck on top... very impressive.

The shower spanned lunch time so we had a lot of food. Here was the menu:

- Little sandwiches - chicken salad, pimento cheese
- Pasta salad
- Muffins
- Hummus and veggies
- Ranch onion dip with pretzels
- Corn dip with chips
- Lemonade and water served in mason jars

I scattered little rubber ducks on the tables and used food labels I made (a post on those in the future).

This was the sign on the door I made welcoming everyone inside.

And I decorated the mantle with some onesies I made using my Silhouette. Of course the Clemson one you have probably seen here on the blog before and then the other two are related to Megan's job and Keith's job.

Mom to be with the two grandmothers.

First everyone ate and then we started in with fun activities and games. Megan's friend Jen supplied the wonderful Wishes for Baby cards to fill out and Megan's sister Nichole came up with the other activities and games. We guessed M&Ms in a bottle, played pin the pacifier and paired up to try to make the best diaper out of toiler paper.

I made this boy duck and girl duck guesses foam board for everyone to put their name on and it was dead even (Abby was on the fence with girl first and then changing later). Guess we will find out who is right in less than a month!

After the games Megan opened up her gifts and everything was so cute and we did a book in lieu of a card so that there is a nice library started for Baby LaForce. I only wish I had taken a photo of the Clemson quiet book that Carla made... it was fabulous!

To finish out the shower we served the cake.

We got a photo with the Clemson girls (minus Susan who happened to be in Clemson to root our Tigers on to a win over the Gamecocks. Yeah!).

Carla is due just a few day after Megan so we got a great bump photo of them. Can't wait to meet these two babies!

Sister in laws!

Eric and Keith's family was also a big help taking down the shower. I was extremely thankful for their help (especially being pregnant 13 weeks at that time) as a shower has lots of things to clean up and take down afterwards.

The shower was a big success and it was a great day honoring the mom to be and her little one, nicknamed Peach. We are very excited for his or her arrival!