No-Sew Fabric Flower Hair Accessories

I subscribe to the Prudent Baby website, as they offer a wealth of tutorials and creative ideas.  The other day they posted a tutorial for a no-sew fabric flower headband.  With my first daughter, I made a bunch of headbands with big, ostentatious flowers.  I always got compliments on the cute headbands, but with baby girl #2, I seem to be over them.  I still love the headband idea for babies, but think the flowers could be saved for 'occasion' wear.  When Prudent Baby posted the subject tutorial, I figured I'd give it a try... I love the look, as it seems a little more 'casual.'

We've had several girls born into our group of friends in recent months.  For the first baby, I decided to make a headband to match the collegiate onesies I had purchased, as both parents are huge fans of University of Florida.  I did the center of the 'flower' using orange fabric, then attached the blue fabric as the outer rim.  In order to keep the headband and flower versatile, I adhered the flower to a clip so they can use different accessories on the headband and so the little munchkin can wear the flower as a hair clip when she gets older.  

For the second baby, I did a simple pink and white motif.  I used a button for the center to jazz up the plain white flower.  I finished the flower as stated above...adhering it to a flower clip.  By doing this, you could also make a matching hair clip or hairband for an older sibling, or even a cute flower pin for mom!  

Ikea Chair Finishing

I am definitely way overdue in posting.  I considered not posting anymore, since I am busy with our newborn, her older sister, work, etc.  What the heck...I will continue to post here until I have absolutely no time or desire to do so anymore.  I was shocked to see how many hits my blog has gotten, with little to no promotion or recent posts...it was kind of encouraging.  

Anyway, I have worked on a lot of things since JUNE!  One of my projects was to finish my daughter's chair that I purchased about a year ago at IKEA.  

THE BEFORE . . . plain, bland, boring, but still kind of cute. 

THE AFTER . . . chic, stylish, and FINALLY matches our decor!

I first stained the chair to a darker color, to match our brown leather couches and chocolate brown tables.  Once it finally dried (a week later - I think it slapped it on a little thick), I drew a pattern to create a cushion for the chair, cut out the fabric (same fabric as our curtains) and busted out the sewing machine to finish the look.  It was actually quite easy, so it won't be a big deal to make another one for my second daughter.  If you are interested in a pattern/tutorial for this chair cushion, please post a comment. 

Coloring and Activity Pages

While on Facebook this evening, I saw a friend had posted how much she loved Color Wonder paint.  Having never heard of it, I decided to Google it to find out what it's all about.  The "paint" is clear, but magically appears on special paper.  Gone are the days of set up and clean up...where we had to wear smocks and worry about staining our clothes.

While on the Crayola website, I browsed around to see what other craft ideas they had to offer.  I happened upon the "Coloring Pages" section, which was actually quite impressive - well organized with not just coloring pages but also activity pages.  From puzzles and games to cut and color, they have quite a variety to choose from.  The beauty of it is that you can print them all at home for free, stick them in a binder, and save them for a rainy day.

Holiday Gifts

It is always a struggle to figure out what to give teachers and classmates for holiday celebrations (with budget an obvious concern).  There are a total of ten children in my daughter's daycare class (nine plus her) so I felt I could spend a little more on each child without spending too much total.  Since they are ages one to two, I didn't really want to get candy or sweets to put in their Valentine's bag, so I decided to go to the Dollar Store to buy stuffed animals (can be found cheap at Michael's, Target $1 spot, Dollar Store, etc).  I made personalized Valentines and had them printed as a 4x6 photo and put them in an envelope, then wrapped the cards around each of the stuffed animals' neck by punching holes in the envelope and tying ribbon through it.  They turned out very cute - the teachers raved about how much the kids would love them. 

Below is the Valentine I made, and at about 15 cents each, it's not that much more expensive than the generic ones you buy in the stores:

For the teachers, I made truffles and put them in a candy box (purchased a a package of 1/2 pound candy boxes at Michaels), which fit about six truffles.  I then put a personalized label on the front of each and tied it with a bow to jazz it up a bit.  

Below is the label I made: