Boppy's and Burp Cloths

Burp cloths & boppy cover using Joel Dewberry - Heirloom fabrics (ruby colorway)

It's been a long, long time since I've had a reason to make myself a boppy cover... and I never have made burp cloths for myself at all. So I was excited to have the chance to be my own product tester. Two new boppy covers: Good ol' Sandi Henderson's "Secret Garden" (I feel like a broken record with using this fabric for everything, but I love it!) and finally - Joel Dewberry's "Heirloom" (LOVE the richness of these colors).

Sandi Henderson's "Secret Garden" fabrics for moses basket sheet, boppy cover, and matching burp cloth

Thinking about adding a pocket to the boppy covers to store nursing pads, a phone, and/or lanolin cream. AND thinking about offering a free burp cloth to match every boppy cover I sell in my Etsy shop. For whatever reason, the boppy covers just don't sell well on Etsy (sad, because I love them so!)

These burp cloths come in so handy and I love that I found a new way to creatively incorporate fabric into something so basic. Anywhoo! Hope you have enjoyed my handmade eye candy for the day!

Upcycled Bouncy Seat

Next on my list of turning something old into something new: the Bouncy Seat.

NEW Fabric: Sandi Henderson's "Secret Garden"

Again, my neighbor gave this bouncy seat to me... probably 12 years old and it was icky-poo. I had to take out the straps and Oxy-Clean them to get them white again and recover the barfy pastel-ness with the ever-so-lovely Sandi Henderson "Secret Garden" fabric.

Before: icky pastel fabric, dirty straps  |  After: pretty fabric, clean straps!

The result: a very fabulous bouncy seat! This is one of my favorite baby items to use right now because I can carry Paige around with me (if she's actually sleeping in it) and there's a foot pedal that I can use to bounce her in to soothe her (when she's fussing in it).

The foot pedal is a great hands-free feature, too!

This bouncy seat has allowed me to put make up on my face and eat a rare meal with BOTH hands - it's a miracle!

Can't forget my label!

Love how these fabrics compliment each other

Next up: SHEETS!

The Transformation of Something Old Into Something New

I'm going to do a few quick posts to show you some of the things I transformed from old to new for Little Miss Paige.

Before: Icky!   |   After: Pretty!

If you remember... I knew the sex of Baby #2 . My husband DID NOT. So I had a few months to sneakily plan and sew up some cute girly things while he was away at work. I was SO EXCITED to finally be able to use some of the pretty fabrics in my stash for my very own little girl! But then I had to hide everything so my husband wouldn't see what I was up to. Sneaky-Sneaky! He wanted to be surprised and I didn't want to spoil it for him.

We were given this baby swing by a neighbor 5 years ago when Parker was born and I keep it up at my parents house to use when we visit. It's probably 10-12 years old now and I loathed the worn blue plaid fabric on it. I was able to trace a pattern based on the old seat cover to hide its hideousness - and this is how it turned out: Super Upcycled Cuteness!

Old Fabric: ugly. NEW FABRIC: Sandi Henderson's "Secret Garden"

So Much Better! And it works so nicely with the existing swing frame, too!

Next up... the bouncy seat.

I Make 'Em Cute and Crabby!

I wish I was talking about heart shaped crab cakes when I say that... but I'm talking about my kids. I was hoping that my 2nd would be a calm, happy, mellow baby... but nope! She's just like the first: cute and crabby. There's no "quiet alert" state with these kids. It's either sleeping, eating, or fussy-on-the-verge-of-screaming. Bummer dude.

I say this to explain why you may not be hearing much from me on this blog, on facebook, or in my Etsy shop for the next few months. Fussy babies can't be put down for very long (read: more than 5 minutes) or else they explode. They need constant holding and soothing and walking and rocking and bouncing on a fitness ball... kinda hard to edit photos, type, and/or sew while in constant motion with one hand free.

So, while the baby naps, I opted to quickly write a blog post rather than shower... you can thank me later. HA!