Painted Blocks

One of my best friends has a little boy who is now 18 months old! He is just the cutest and the best part is that I get to have his adorable hand-me-downs. He just recently grew out of his 12 month clothes, so I went through them and took a whole bag home for my little guy. She also gives me the toys that he doesn't play with anymore. 

One of the things that I got with the 12 month clothes were some blocks. I got 6 total. Each block had 2 letters and 4 random pictures. I wanted the blocks to just have letters, so I decided to paint them! 

I first painted all of the blocks completely white. I then wrote out the letters that were already on each block and figured out what other letters to put on the blocks in order to spell certain words and have at least one of each letter of the alphabet. 

For the sides that were pictures, I drew the letters on with a pencil. I then painted the letters and edges navy blue. 

As I said, each of the letters of the alphabet are included at least once and there are a few words that I made sure the blocks could spell. The blocks can spell BABY, NASH, and our top 3 names: LOGAN, OWEN, and ISAAC. 

Now we will be all set for whichever name we pick! I can't wait for him to come. 

~K.A.N.

Diaper Bag

I can hardly believe that I only have about 8 weeks until my due date! I am so excited to meet this little guy. I have now completed my undergraduate degree and am officially a stay-at-home wife (and almost mom). 

It has been so nice to relax and just enjoy the free time I have. I have been filling it with all sorts of things including cleaning, cooking, organizing, and of course crafting! 

I still have lots on my to-do list to be ready for the arrival of our baby boy, but I have now officially completed the diaper bag! I love it even more than I thought!

This was my first time using a real pattern, but I still did not completely stick to it. The pattern was the birdie sling by Amy Butler which I borrowed from a friend. 

I initially planned on following the pattern, but as I started the project, there were some things that I knew I would like better if I changed. I still liked the general pattern, so I thought it would be a good starting point. 

Things I changed: 

1. I made the bag less deep. My mom told me that with a diaper bag that is too deep, things will just get lost, so I cut a couple of inches off the bottom of the pattern. This was a simple change that didn't have any effect on how the bag would come together other than making it less deep. 

2. The pockets on the inside. The pattern makes a panel for each side which you are told to sew down the center to divide the pocket in half. Essentially you would end up with 4 simple pockets. With this being a diaper bag, I wanted a little more versatility with my pockets. On one side, I kept the smaller panel pocket, but did not sew down the center. For the other side, I made two pockets of different sizes which are pleated at the bottom and have elastic at the top. These pockets will be perfect for bottles, but can be used for pretty much anything.

3. The gussets at the base of the bag. Rather than having rounded gussets, I made mine straight. I preferred this because the bag then has a rectangular base that will be better for holding things as well as setting the bag down. 

4. The pleats on the exterior of the bag. Instead of using several small pleats, I used four larger pleats on each side. This was another simple change that I love the look of.

5. The handle. This was a pretty big change. I cut the fabric piece for the handle in the pattern and realized it was not at all what I wanted, so I decided to just make a straight handle. I then found a picture of a different bag that I loved and saw that it had an adjustable handle. This seemed perfect for a diaper bag, so I decided to do it. I found a bag at a thrift store for $2.15 with the metal pieces I needed (score!) and was able to make the handle following the picture of the other bag. 

6. The last thing I added was a magnetic snap closure. This was actually an afterthought, but after talking to my husband, he helped me figure out how to add it in without too much re-construction. 

I'm so happy with this diaper bag and I am so glad that I took my time to make it exactly how I wanted it. It is perfect and I can't wait until I can get some good use out of it!!

Finished dimensions: 12" x 16" x 5"

Strap adjustable from total length of 32" to 54" 

~K.A.N.

Baby Gift

One of my professors had a baby boy over spring break! I was so excited for him and decided to make him a gift. I love Joann's and one of my very favorite days is black Friday when they have their huge flannel sale. It is awesome and I love to stock up. I always get 1.5 yards of a print with 1.5 yards of a matching plain color for the back. 

When I found out this professor had a baby boy, I just knew that this car fabric would be perfect. I love how they turned out and he really liked them too!

For the blanket, I cut a square piece of the print and the plain fabrics, placed them right sides together and sewed around all four sides, leaving an opening about 8 inches in the center of one side. I trimmed the edges and pulled the blanket through the opening so the correct sides were now facing out. I pressed the seams flat and sewed all the way around the edge of the blanket. 

For the burp cloths, I used Gerber cloth diapers...nice and absorbent. The center of the diapers measures about 5 by 19, so I cut two pieces of the print 6 by 20. I folded the edges under, pinned it down, and zig-zag stitched all around the edges. 

That's it! It is an easy gift perfect for any little one. 

~K.A.N.

Pillows

Well, it's been another while. I guess it is fair to say that I am just not super consistent about getting these posts up. To be honest I haven't even been crafting very much lately! It has been quite busy around our little home with school and pregnancy and such. I was just going through my pictures and found a simple project that I did for a friend though....recovering pillows.

She bought these pillows at a thrift store. If you are re-covering pillows, it doesn't matter if they match, as long as they are about the same size. She also picked up some normal-sized pillow cases to use as the covers. 

The pillow cases were envelope pillow cases. I first laid out one pillow case and cut up the sides of the smaller flap.

I next cut the bottom off and up the sides. I was cutting through both layers of the pillow case.

I then cut straight across to make two squares just bigger than the size of the pillow.

The fabric squares were then placed right-sides-in, pinned and sewn along three full sides and a few inches in both sides of the top.

All four corners were then cut.

The cover was then turned right-side-out and the pillow was placed inside.

With the pillow inside, the raw edges were tucked in and pinned. 

This edge was then sewn. You can do this by hand to give a good, clean look, but I wanted thee fast way out, so I did it with my machine. It gives a little bit of an edge that sticks out, but for these, I thought it turned out fine. 

The same process was repeated with the second pillow! 

~K.A.N.

Cousins

A while ago, I was able to see my cousin! She lives in Canada and I don't get to see her very often, so I do love it when she comes to visit. She really is superwoman! She has two adorable little girls who are so great. I loved spending time with them and I just can't wait to see them again. 

While they were visiting, I loved taking pictures of them...they are just too cute not to. Don't you agree? :)

This little one is quite the talker and there is never a dull moment.

The younger girl was a little more shy and took some time, but finally warmed up to us. 

We spent this day up there and were also able to go up for Halloween! Did I mention my cousin is a superwoman? I wasn't kidding...the little ones were dressed up, but she just went as herself with her ladybug and snow bunny. 

It was so much fun and I am truly grateful for them. I can't wait to see them again.