Personalized Handmade Muslin Blanket and How to Cut a Large Image

New babies are the absolute best aren't they? It's so hard sometimes to remember how small those babes are when they are first born, such teeny tiny little hands and feet! My newest niece was born last week. Sweet little Lottie James. She's baby girl number three for my brother and sister in law and she's got plenty of hand me downs so I thought she needed a little something personalized just for her. I made a muslin swaddle blanket {like I did for this project}, and used stretch heat transfer vinyl instead of normal heat transfer vinyl. Read more and I will tell you why.

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Hand stamped muslin swaddle blanket

I don't know what it is but I love a good handmade baby gift. I've enjoyed crafting and creating baby gifts for as long as I can remember.  Babies are just so small and fresh and new and there is so much excitement about their impending arrival. It's fun to dream and remember all at the same time! The older I get, the less and less baby gifts I seem to be making for friends and family members. It's just sort of that season as we wait for them all to grow {which is exciting too!}, but thankfully, my youngest son has young teachers and sometimes I get to craft some hand made baby items for them. 

This time though, I wanted my 10 year old son to do most of the crafting for one of his favorite teachers. It's nice to have a gift handmade by a parent. It's even more special if it's created by a student don't you think? 

I could not be more excited about how well this hand stamped swaddle blanket turned out. If my 10 year old can make it, I know you can too!

 Come find out how!

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12 month onesies custom order

Earlier this month I received an e-mail from a reader who wanted to buy a set of the 12 month onesies that I created for baby shower gifts several years ago.

I don't normally take orders and I don't have a shop,

but I thought I could whip up a set for this lovely lady who was buying them as a shower gift for her sister.

I think they turned out too adorable not to share!

They are gender neutral since the mama to be doesn't know what she is having.

I always love the side by side of the smallest onesie and the largest one.

Those babies grow fast!

Since the mama doesn't know what she is having, I threw in a little gift...

a bow tie for him or a flower headband for her.

I sure wish these were around when my kids were little. How fun to track their growth each month! Do you do anything to document each month for your babies?

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Mod podge mod melts and mod molds cell phone case and baby keepsake box

Last week I shared with you a sea glass jar

and a few coral jars that I created using mod podge collage clay.

I had some time to play with this whole line of mod podge supplies and I created a few other projects I wanted to share with you.

Silver airplane push pins to go in my son's vintage airplane room.

a baby keepsake decoden box for holding treasures from your little one.

and a travel inspired cell phone case

Because the baby keepsake box and the phone case are very similar,

I want to share that tutorial with you here.

Check back on Thursday for a very easy tutorial on how to make the airplane push pins.

These are the supplies that you need to create your own decoden cell phone case.

 You will start by using your glitter mod melts in your mod mold 

{you can pick yours up at Michael's}.

Place your mod melt in your high temp glue gun.

A low temp glue gun works, though it's harder.

Squeeze in your melted mod melt and let it harden for about ten minutes.

Once it's hardened in your mod mold it will pop right out.

I used both collage clay and the collage drizzle paint.

Practice using your collage clay.

There are three different tips that come with your clay.

It's a little bit like icing a cake.

Use your collage drizzle paint to add a little color to your project.

Gently press your mod melt embellishments into your collage clay.

Let your project dry overnight.

Enjoy your completed project!

To make your baby keepsake box, 

 I made a ton of different colored mod mold embellishments using mod melts.

I bought a box and painted it.

I used my star tip on the collage clay to create my keepsake lid top.

Place your mod melts randomly on top.

I added a line of coordinating ribbon around the edge of my box top.

You can use your baby keepsake box at a baby shower for guests to write messages to mom and baby,

or place note cards inside for mom to write down memories when full coherent sentences just aren't happening!

I'm having my best time playing with these mod podge supplies! What would you create?
Don't forget to come back on Thursday for a full tutorial on how to create the silver airplane push pins.

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Teacher classroom baby shower celebration

Several years ago, my daughter's fourth grade teacher was pregnant with her first baby.

I thought that it would be fun to throw a baby shower for her as a classroom celebration.

It was a fun party that you can read more about here.

Fast forward a few years, and my son's third grade teacher is pregnant with her first baby

{a boy they plan on naming Kamden} due in July.

I thought that it would be fun to host another classroom baby shower celebration.

The kids have had the chance to see their teachers belly grow and have been excited about the baby since they found out that their teacher was expecting.

The week prior to the classroom baby shower, 

I used my silhouette software to design a few items.

I found a cute whale in my silhouette library and decided to use that as my theme.

The whale image came with two small tear drop shapes for the spout,

I just replicated those and made enough for the kids in the class to each sign one.

While the teacher was out, I brought the grey shapes and a sharpie pen in for the kids to write their names.

I glued the shapes down in a pattern that I liked and put it in a frame with a mat for the teacher to have as a keepsake.

 I think it turned out really cute!

I used the whale image and designed two more keepsake type mementos for the teacher.

It's always fun to see what kids say when they fill in the blanks.

Since we are still in school, we played a few games that had an educational spin on them. For the literary component, we did a fill in the blank nursery rhyme game. You can find the free printable here. For the science component, we matched animal baby names. That free printable can be found here.

We also talked about math.

For instance, the kids guessed how many diapers a baby would go through a day

{3 was a popular answer!}

The kids took the average {it's 10} and calculated how many diapers a baby will go through in a week, month and year.

We also talked about using averages to guess the baby's height and weight and also how a due date can mean that the baby can be born two weeks before or two weeks after.

The kids filled in their "how to be a good mom" advice sheets and the teacher can keep those in a keepsake book for reference.

We collected money for a classroom gift card and some of the kids brought in some of their own presents for the teacher.

While we didn't have a real cake, we did have Popsicles outside on the playground during recess.

The kids will all remember the year their teacher had a baby,  and hopefully their teacher will remember how very special this time of celebration was.

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Tombow colored pencil gift tags

Last month, I was contacted by the people at Tombow to do a product review.

Tombow sent me these products to play with and if I did a review of them, in celebration of Tombow's centennial year, the company would donate $100 in products to the Council for Arts Education.

I'm always one to support Arts education so of course I was happy to review these great products.

Check out that blue box.

It's filled with amazing color pencils.

I've always borrowed my kids, so it's nice to have a box that is just for me!

I whipped out some of my old stamps and stamped white cardstock.

I sat down with the brush pens and color pencils and had my best time!

The products are so easy to use and are far better than your kids craft supplies.

Tombow has products for grownups.

I made a few gift tags.

This fish birthday tag

and this adorable giraffe for baby.

The pencils and brushes go on and almost make a watercolor finish to your project. I would definitely recommend them! Thanks Tombow for supporting the Council for Arts Education!

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Personalized baby products and my obsession with baby names

I've been thinking a lot about babies recently. Not because I am having any more  {that ship has sailed!} but because there is a little bit of a baby boom going on around me. My husband's cousin had her third baby girl this week {in just as many years} and my brother and sister in law just found out that they are having another girl last week. Fun family fact: my daughter was the first girl born into the Teodoro family in 26 years. In the past 5 years, there have been 12 girls born  {and one more on the way bringing the total to lucky number 13} in a row! I have always had a little obsession with baby names. My husband and I would struggle to agree on a name when I was pregnant, but I think the constant hunt for the perfect name that he would agree on, turned into a little obsession for me. Turns out with all three kids names {Aidan, Isabella and Owen} we were sort of trendsetters. None of the kids names at the time were even in the top 100 names. Aidan wasn't even in the top 500 when we named him back in 1998! Some of the names to watch out for this year according to Makaboo.com's list, made my list 15 years ago! Names like Quinn {for a girl}, Hudson, Easton and Ryder
Last year, several celebrities added to a growing trend of unique baby names. Blue Ivy {Beyonce and Jay Z} and Maxwell Drew {Jessica Simpson} were two of my favorites. My all time favorite celebrity baby name goes to John Travolta who named his daughter Ella Bleu.  A few weeks ago Circle of Moms posted this article on Unusual Baby Girl names for 2013. The two I love from the list are Hattie and Willa. Some of my favorite gifts when my babes were little, were always personalized items. Which is why I like to give personalized gifts to family and friends when they have a baby. I know they aren't always practical, but practical isn't always fun! I made these last year, when several cousins had babies. I made this print for a Christmas gift. I made this monogrammed onesie for another cousin the tutorial is here I thought I would round up a few of my favorite personalized baby gifts around the internet. I love this personalized birth announcement pillow from Three Little Stitches. These custom baby blocks are adorable! You can get the tutorial here from simply kierste. I love this personalized onesie from Zoey Sattic and this one from Simply Sublime Baby This custom layette gown from Kennidi's closet would be the perfect coming home outfit. This little hat from Nacho baby is pretty sweet too Of course every baby needs a blanket. Why not make it extra special and personalize it. Of course, you can always make your own quilt with a tutorial from UCreate. Of course, decorating the nursery is always one of the best parts to having a new baby! These personalized art prints will make the room ready for baby's arrival. From tree top studio From Personalized Kids From Miss Print Design From Freya Art {also, my brother's first and middle name!} From Kari Machal  This personalized specimen art is a definite keepsake from lulu and jayne and this button letter art from letter perfect designs is adorable this monogramed canvas from diana dreams is pretty special too. I have a special place in my heart for those who adopt their babies. These special jewelry pieces are a fantastic way to celebrate your babies adoption. from k and s impressions and the r house I'm curious. What are a few of your favorite baby names? Do you stick to the classics, or go with the trendy names? Do share!

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