Category Archives: Baby

Mini Album idea!

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Today over at Practical Scrappers we are having some serious fun with mini albums! I took this opportunity to make a mini album of my sweet baby girl! She is not so little anymore, but she is still such a little sweetie!

I had a little tin that had sprinkles for Christmas cookies in it at one point.  It had been laying around for a while begging for me to find something to do with it to give it a new lease on life!  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I used some flowers, a vellum leaf, and an eyelet to beautify the tin’s lid.  

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I layered some cardstock and created a pretty simple title.

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I wrapped some ribbon and created a bow around the base of the tin.  So pretty!

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Next, Inside the tin!

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I used my Slice machine to cut all of the circles.  It does such a nice job and If I had hand cut them, it would not be pretty!!

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Some itty bitty pictures of my itty bitty little pretty one!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAdd some simple embellies and voila an adorable and simple mini album to cherish forever!  

Come on over to Practical Scrappers to see what the other lovely ladies have up their sleeve today!

Toadstool Baby Rattle!

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Toadstool Baby Rattle

So, To be completely honest, I am not crazy about how this rattle came out…Not quite how I envisioned it, but my children all think it is adorable and that I can not possibly leave it off so I will give you  a tutorial for it, and you can take this opportunity to make some suggestions about what I could have changed to make this “Toadstool” look more like a mushroom rattle and less like a microphone! LOL!

I started with:

 Cotton fabric scraps

A little vile filled with rice

Embroidery floss

needle

   

As you can see I simply traced the edge of a glass to get my perfect circles. Cut one out of two different fabrics.  Then place the fabric circles together with their wrong sides together.

            

Use a blanket stitch as illustrated above to join the two circles almost the whole way around.  Leave a small opening to stuff the mushroom top.

 

Stuff the top then sew it shut also using the blanket stitch.

         

Cut out two pieces of brown fabric similar to the ones above. Place them right sides together, sew up the sides and bottom using an overhand stitch.  Turn it right side out. Stuff the stem but leave the widened part empty.

 

 

Sew half of the stem top onto the bottom of the mushroom top.

      

Wrap the vial with rice in stuffing and insert it into the opening.  Fill the rest of the stem with stuffing until it is firm and you can not feel the rattle. (I used the vial with rice trying to do my part to be green!  Feel free to use whatever you have lying around that will serve this purpose) Sew it up!

Now, I know you have some suggestions that I can try to make this better…. Let me have em!  In my mind this is adorable….I think it’s still pretty cute, just not as much of a “toadstool” as I hoped!!

Join Us as we grow our Community of Creativity!

Baby Bird Nursery Birdhouse: Day 7

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Baby Bird Nursery Birdhouses!

Aren’t these just darling? And SUPER simple!!!

Supplies:

~Unfinished Wooden birdhouse (JoAnn’s)

~Acrylic Paint

~Paper

~Paintbrush

~Sandpaper

~Decoupage Medium (Mod Podge)

~Xacto Knife

Paint the edges of the birdhouse that will not be covered by paper.  It does not have to be perfect as you will be covering most of it with paper, and any defects in the edges add character!

Next measure and cut paper to fit the roof, front, back and sides.  I do this while the pain is still damp as any paint that carries over it just an extra detail!   I used a hole punch to create the hole for the perch.

Coat each part in turn with an even coat of Mod Podge and adhere the paper to the house.

Press down firmly with your fingers to adhere properly and eliminate any air bubbles .

Press the opening down with your finger so you can see it clearly, then cut it out with an Xacto Knife.

Now let it dry and then take a piece of sandpaper to the edges or any part you wish to appear worn.  Sometimes I go crazy, other times, I  don’t sand it at all.  Each piece is different!  Now you have a cute and simple birdhouse!  You can leave it as it is, or embellish it as much as you want!  I love how versatile it is!

One lucky winner will get to keep this birdhouse!  Leave a comment so I can enter you in the drawing!!

Check out the rest of our Baby Bird Nursery Ideas!

~Baby Bird Quilt  ~Baby Bird Mobile  ~Baby Bird Wall Hangings  ~Baby Bird Tree Mural

 ~Baby Bird crib rail cover  ~Baby Bird dresser

Please join us as we grow our Community of Creativity! I would love to meet you and see what you have to share!

~A Community of Creativity~

Baby Bird Nursery Crib Rail Cover: Day 6

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Baby Bird Nursery Crib Rail Cover

Today’s addition to our Baby Bird Nursery is this cute and functional crib rail cover.  As baby gets bigger and starts to teeth, there is nothing more delicious to them than the wood railing of their crib.  I wanted a coordinated and soft alternative to the plain plastic crib rail covers available in the store so I once again decided to create my own!  Here is what I started with

  • fabric: (2) 6″X45″ , (4) 6″x4.5″
  • Ribbon: (10) 6″ pieces
  • thread
  •  pins

       Pin one 4.5″X6″ piece to each end of the 6″X45″ pieces on their 6″ sides with the printed sides of the fabric together.

Sew a 1/2″ seam at each end so you will now have 2 long pieces.  Press your seams open.

Next, take your 2 long strips and place them right sides together.  On the long sides, sandwich your ribbons at approximate 12″ intervals beginning about 1″ from the edge and pin them in place through all layers.  The second side can be done by matching placement with your first ribbons.  Be sure the ribbon is between the fabric with the printed sides together.

Sew a 1/2″ seam around 3 sides leaving one end open for turning.  Be sure not to catch the ribbon from the opposite side when sewing.  Turn your project.

Turn in the open end seam 1/2″ and press.   Sew a narrow seam to close the end.  Press.

Fold the cover over the crib rail and tie the ribbons in double knots.

Perfectly cute, coordinated and functional!  

Hope this helps save your baby’s beautiful teeth!

Check out our other Baby Bird Nursery tutorials:

Baby bird Quilt  

Wall Hangings 

 

Baby Bird Mobile 

 

 

 

Baby Bird Tree Mural

Baby Bird Dresser

Baby Bird Nursery Mobile: Day 5

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Baby Bird Nursery Mobile

This adorable mobile is SUPER easy to make!
 Gather your supplies:
  • Small grapevine wreath
  • (7) 1/2″ X 22″ fabric strips
  • (4) sheets of cardstock
  • Paper Glue
  • Glue Dots
  • 8 buttons
  • Xacto knife
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Hole punch
  • Cutting Board 

Create a pattern for the body, wings and beak for the birds. 

Fold your cardstock in half with the printed sides together. 

Trace one of each body part onto the paper and holding the paper together, cut them out. 

You will have two identical pieces of each body part.  Glue the wing and beak pieces together with the unprinted sides together  Line the pieces up as closely as you can. 

Add glue to one side of the body and place the beak where it belongs.  Add the final body piece and place all of the glued pieces under a heavy book to dry and flatten. 

While you are waiting for them to dry, take (3) of your fabric strips.  Fold them in half, end to end, and tie an overhand knot at the centers incorporating all pieces. 

Next, take the ends in groups of two and tie them to the wreath spaced equally around the wreath and about 8 inches from the knot.  

You may want to leave the pieces to dry overnight, depending on how quickly the glue you used dries.  If you used paper glue, it may be dry now and you can begin to build your birds.  Take your xacto knife and cut a horizontal slit in each bird.  Next, add a glue dot to each button and place the eyes on both sides of the body.  Use a hole punch to create a hole at the back of the head about a 1/2″ from the edge.  

Fold your wing pieces in half and slide them through the slit you created.  Thread a piece of fabric through the hole in each bird.

Even out the fabric ends for each bird and trim them: cut 1″ off one, 2″ off one and 3″ off one.   Pull one end of fabric through a loop in the wreath and tie both ends into a  single knot.  Do the same to each evenly spaced around the wreath.  

You may choose to trim the excess fabric but I like the look of it so I decided to keep it.  I attached the mobile to an existing mobile base so it willl sing and spin.  As baby grows however, it will have to be moved from the crib to a light fixture, fan, or attached to the ceiling. 

Once again! Thanks for Checking out my tutorial!  Please join us!

Craftpicks: A Community of Creativity

Baby Bird Nursery Crib Quilt: Day 4

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I’m back with Today’s feature: My Baby Bird Crib Quilt.

Now, let me start by saying that I am no quilting expert…I have only made a couple of quilts in my lifetime and they are never perfect.  That being said, I could not find a quilt that fit what I was looking for so I decided to give a shot  at designing my own.

My finished quilt is 36″X52″

  • Fabric: 100% Cotton
  • 2.5 yds for backing and borders
  • 1 yd each of 6 prints
  • 1 crib size cotton batting
  • Fabric for binding
  • Thread
  • Iron on adhesive (Heat and Bond)

I choose a fabric with a white background and birds in primary and secondary colors.  I wanted the quilt to be appropriate for either a boy or a girl, because we never find out the gender before the baby is born.

My other fabrics were patterns in the colors of the birds:

red, orange, yellow, blue, green & brown.

After the fabric is chosen, bring it home and wash it in baby detergent and iron it.  Cut as follows:

Bird Fabric:

(1) 35″ X 52 “

(2) 4″ X 29″

(2) 4″ X 50″

(4) 6″X12.5″

(1) 6″ X 45″

One of each color:

12.5″ X 12.5″

Next I applied the adhesive to about a 12″ X 12″ portion of each colored fabric.  I then cut

1 body,  1 Wing and 1 triangle for a beak from each color.

This is the pattern I used to cut the body and wing.  I cut a small triangle for each beak.

I assembled each bird with one part in each color and another color for the base.  I  ironed each piece to it’s base so now I had (6) 12.5″ X 12.5″ squares with the birds adhered.  I ran each through the sewing machine with the zigzag stitch set wide and short.  Having never done this before there may be a better way, or a better stitch but I was very happy with the results. I added little feet to each.

I then sewed the quilt front together:

(1) 6″ X 12.5″ to the bottom of four of the bird squares.

Sew a bird square on the bottom each of those rows.  Now you have 2 rows.

Join those rows in the center with the 6″X45″ piece

Add a 4″X29″ piece to the top and bottom, and then a 4″X50″ to each side.

Next I built my quilt sandwich, layering the quilt top, the batting (I use the natural cotton as I like the feel and weight of it for a baby quilt), and the backing.

I pinned it and “stitched in the ditch around each square and around the large outer rectangle.  I created the binding with the orange fabric or you can use store bought binding.

I hand stitched the binding to the back.

The final product:

Thanks for checking out my tutorial!  I know it is not a technically correct quilt, but I was happy with the results and wanted to share!

Be sure to comment to enter to win a baby birdhouse at the end of our Baby Bird Nursery series!

 

 

Baby Bird Nursery Crib Quilt: Day 4 Preview

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Day 4: Baby Bird Nursery Quilt

Good Morning! I will be back a little later on today to show you how I designed and created this baby bird quilt, in the mean time, make sure you check out the other baby bird nursery ideas I presented so far this week!

Baby Bird Nursery Mural

Baby Bird Dresser

Baby Bird Wall Hangings

Don;t forget to leave a comment! Let us know what you think or if you have a question and we will enter you to win a baby birdhouse later this week!

Baby Bird Nursery Wall Hangings: Day 3

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Hi! It’s day three of our Baby Bird Nursery Week and today I am going to show you how I made these adorable Baby Bird Nursery Wall Hangings!  

You will need:

  • 4-12″X12″ cork tiles
  • 8-sheets of 12″X12″ coordinating paper or cardstock
  • 4-buttons
  • 4 large glue dots
  • scissors
  • stapler
  • glue stick
  • 4-12″ pieces of ribbon
  • Large hole punch
  • brown marker

I began with four plain cork squares purchased at the craft store.

Next, trim 4 of your papers to about 11″X11″.  You can use a paper trimmer or regular scissors for this, just be sure to cut it straight.  Set those aside.  I then cut a chipboard pattern for the bird’s body and wing.

Trace this bird and wing on each of the remaining  papers.  Also draw a proportional triangle for the beak on each remaining sheet.

Cut out each piece.  You will have four of each of the three pieces.  Place them in groups with one of each piece in different patterns.  Next, use a glue stick to attach the body to the 11″X11″ papers like so:

Quickly, before the glue sets, slightly lift the top right edge and add the beak.

Add the wing centered on the body.  Use a glue stick to secure.

Run you hand over the entire paper to eliminate any air bubbles and to securely seal the glue to the paper.

Place a large glue dot, I used “ZOTS”, on the back of your button, then secure it in the correct place on your bird. Be sure you use firm pressure to adhere the button.

Next take your marker and add some little bird feet!

Then I centered my bird on the cork square and using an open stapler, attached the bird to the cork square.

I used a “Crop-A-Dile” large hole punch to punch two holes along the top edge about 1 1/2″ from the edges.

The final step is to add some ribbon to hang it with!  Pull the ends of the ribbon through each hole and tie a knot.  You may need to double it to make it large enough to secure it.

Hang them on the wall!  Such a sweet addition to this baby Bird Nursery we have been putting together!

Be sure to check out the other posts in this series:

Day One: Baby Bird Tree Mural

Day Two: Baby Bird Dresser 

Thanks for checking us out!  Leave a comment to be entered to win a baby birdhouse to compliment this adorable baby bird nursery!

Day Two: Baby Bird Dresser

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Day Two of Baby Bird Nursery Theme Week: Baby Bird Dresser

This dresser was a polished wood finish before I decided to incorporate it in the baby bird nursery theme.  I sanded the dresser down to remove all of the previous finish.  I used high gloss furniture paint with a single coat of primer.  I took the drawers out and primed and painted them one at a time being careful to get in all the nooks and crannies!  During the drying time between coats (it took two coats of paint over the primer),  I painted the knobs.  I started with plain, UNFINISHED wooden knobs like those below.

I primed them and painted them white with the same paint I used for the dresser.  Again, two coats over the primer.  I used craft paint for the birds.

The birds were done free hand one step at a time, letting each dry before painting the next step.  I did not want the colors to run and smear.

You could apply a sealer to the knobs but the paint set very well and I did not feel it was necessary.

  This dresser was an adorable addition to the baby’s nursery!

If you would like me to create some custom drawer knobs for you, send me a message on the Custom Craft Picks page!

Check out the first day of our Baby Bird Nursery Theme!

Subscribe or comment to my blog to be entered to win a miniature bird house at the end of our week long Baby Bird Nursery Theme!  Winner will be drawn 6/15/2012.  Good Luck!

Day one: Baby Bird Nursery

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I have been thinking about the best way to organize my ideas and present them to my readers and decided that a weekly theme will do the trick!

Baby Bird Nursery!

Today begins my very first theme!! A Baby Birdie Nursery! I am VERY excited about this theme because it is something very close to my heart!  In February 2010 I found out I was pregnant with my fourth child.  We always keep the gender of our children a surprise so I needed a neutral nursery theme.  I had fallen in love with birdies that year but, unlike now when I see them all the time,  there were absolutely no nursery sets available…even if there were, I probably would have wanted to make my own anyway. It was a little tricky keeping the theme neutral but I decided on a bold primary/secondary color palette.   I found this amazing fabric by Heidi Grace at JoAnn Fabrics and that was my jump off point!

 I created a quilt, painted a mural, created wall hangings, a mobile, added baby bird details to the dresser, a cover for the crib railing (Anti-Chew!), and a little birdhouse for an accent.

Today, I will be showing you the mural I painted and how I added paper baby bird accents.

This is one on the two tree murals I painted.  I have to apologize that the pictures are not fabulous, but I am unable to take new pictures, as we have sadly left this beautiful tree behind when we moved from our home this past January.  There was another tree on the opposite wall right next to the window in this room.

As you can see it is a curly tree with baby bird and leaves throughout.  I penciled the tree free hand on the wall so that I could change anything I was not happy with before I began paining.  I would like to mention that I had never painted anything in my life so I was quite anxious about how it would come out….Be sure to lay out a drop cloth under your trees so you do not ruin the carpet below!  I used two coats of Interior wall paint in a gloss finish and several different types of brushes.  You can see a little bit of texture in the bark and that was just created by the paint below coming through.  You can paint another coat if you prefer a more solid look.  I also painted grass all the way around the room to give it a more finished and cohesive look.

I added clouds in the sky for a whimsical touch!

Now that I have shown you how to paint the tree, how about I show you how I added those cute little birdies!  I choose a range of papers and cardstock as seen below:

I took a thick piece of chipboard and drew a pattern for the birdie and its wing.

I traced about 30 of each piece on different papers and cut them out.  I also cut out 30 simple triangles for the beaks.  I used regular white glue to glue the wing and beak onto each bird.  I kept the body and wings different colors so the wing would stand out.  I then chose a button in another color and attached it with glue dots.  Voila, cute little birdies!

I also needed some leaves.  I free handed mine so there would be some variation in the leaves.  I used about ten different types of green paper to add a bit of interest to the trees.

Next, I had to find a way to attach them to the tree without ruining the wall behind them.  This took some thinking but, I decided to use flour and water!  It worked like a charm, and should be removable with steam or just water!  I mixed about a cup of flour with water until it resembled a thin paste.  I brushed it on the back of each bird and leaf than pressed it firmly to the wall, using my fingers to work out any air bubbles.   There you have it!

I was so pleased with how this mural came out and it really inspired me to create other items to complete the look.  Later this week I will show you how I created a quilt, a mobile, painted a dresser, made wall hangings, a crib bar cover and birdhouse!

Thanks for checking out my Baby Bird Nursery! Subscribe to my blog to get all the info on how to create the other components in this adorable nursery! Leave a comment if you have a question or something to share! Check back tomorrow for the next installment in our Baby Bird Nursery theme!