{sweet} baby cakes

I love it when good things happen to good people, to much of life is unfair. After 12 years of waiting, one of my dear friends was finally able to start a family through adoption.  It was a miracle and happened suddenly, so some friends and I whipped up a shower over the weekend.

Of course I had to dress up the mantle for the affair.

First, I made this painted burlap banner.  It's a project I've wanted to try for a while and I love how it turned out. 

Once I was done with the banner, I had all this leftover paint and just wanted to use it on something. That is when I remembered some wood blocks I had from a past project. I used my western stamp set for the letters. It wasn't necessary but turned out to be a nice gift for baby.  

Does my sign look familiar? I used it HERE. It used to say FAITH but I altered the lettering a little. If you look close you can see what was erased and what I kept.

I got a new chalk marker since my old one ran out. I don't think I can tell you enough how much I love chalk art and these chalk markers. AMAZING.  

The drink station. We served a mint lime punch and pretty flavored water. 

I'm loving multi layered bunting right now. I found a package of oblong paper doilies that were perfect and altered my SPRING banner to spell out the new baby's name.  I think I put about 30minutes total into all four banners. 

Since it was a late-afternoon open house, we stuck with simple finger foods and a few desserts, including my favorite mint brownies. 

The invite. I was able to make these up in minutes using my FREE Silhouette Studio software. If you are like me and don't own photoshop it's a great way to design and print your own invitations. I've told you about it in the past, but wanted to give it another shout-out.

It was nice to celebrate something so wonderful and exciting.

HERE is a list of parties I link to.

blessing shorts

I was asked to make a pair of shorts for my nephew's baby blessing last weekend. 

They have a modern lederhosen look.  

the front:

I made my own pattern from a pair of his shorts and simply added straps. 

I love the little pop of color from the blue rimmed buttons.

the back:

I added a bit of elastic to the center of the back. 

I was so excited to finally use one of my special stitches for something. 

my sister added to the outfit making a cute pair of shoes to match. 

Aren't I lucky, I get to see this cute face almost everyday since he is also my neighbor. 

Kensington

One of our neighbors recently had their first baby.

I was excited to make another painting for their little girl, Kensington. 

I was given these pictures to help me decide what to do. 

The brown is looking almost black in these photo's. The real thing is lighter.

I hope they like it.

an owl shower

My friend and I threw a shower for another dear friend over the weekend. When thinking of a theme I couldn't get owls out of my head.

The invitation: The baby had already come so I said "Look whooo's here" instead of "Look whooo's having a baby."

a matching banner:

owl cookies: I used the same method I used HERE

yummy mint chocolate cupcakes

I found this remnant at Joann's for $2. It was the perfect colors and reminded me of owl eyes. I had to make a table runner out of it.

I couldn't resist making this fun owl as a gift. I got the pattern for free from Toad's Treasures, HERE. It was so fun and easy to make, I'm dying to make a million more. Seriously people, this was a half hour project with scraps I had on hand.

It was a fun party with great friends, I'm very blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people.

I'll be linking HERE.

Sharon Grace

My newest niece was born months ago and I just got around to finishing her painting. My only excuse is that she lives on the other side of the country.

I really like this one and it sounds like my sister does too.

She sent me this picture of her curtain fabric.

I've still got so much to learn about painting but I think it's my favorite thing to do right now. It's just so relaxing.

Maybe someday I can take an art class and figure out the right way to do things.

For now I hope people can find character and love in all the imperfections.

Last Minute Baby Gift.

I was reminded this afternoon of a baby shower being held for my daughters dance teacher, after class tonight. There was no way I could get to a store before then, so I threw together this gift.

Luckily I try to have new onesies on hand. I added little knit ruffles to the sleeves and neckline.

I also made a little hat to match. It was the first time I made a hat for a baby. I was like a mad woman trying it on anything that looked like the size of a baby's head. I hope it works. You can find my tutorial for the hat HERE.

Baby Gifts

It seems like everyone around me is having babies right now. I've kept myself busy this last week making gifts for all of them. I haven't been very good at taking pictures. It isn't till after I've already given the gifts away that I realize I never took a picture. Here are a few of the thing I remembered to grab a picture of before they went out the door.

I've made a lot of these tie onesies. Char at Crap I've Made , was nice enough to provide a PDF file HERE, that I download at least once a month.

I make a lot of flannel rag quilts too. They are the easiest and fastest thing to make, yet so cute. I love the birds in this one.

Another rag quilt and tie onesie. This quilt was actually made of vintage PJ pants that were never worn.

This was for my brothers new boy. He is a huge Ute fan. Since I'm to cheap to buy real sports apparel, I had to make my own. Using a red fleece jacket I just added the lettering.

It should fit him perfectly by the time football season starts.