Two By Two

Now that I shared with all of you that were expecting a little baby boy, I can share a little project I just completed for his nursery. After seeing some adorable giraffes on Esty, I thought it would be fun to attempt make one for my baby's nursery. I think handmade baby gifts add a bit of whimsy to nurseries. I did a simple Google search and came across a pattern on Womans Day. Oh how I love Google!!

I headed to Joann's a few Saturday's ago armed with 50% off coupon ( I swear buy coupons now) looking for the perfect 'giraffe' fabric. I came across not to floral print in the quilt section { Tabari was with me } and he agreed the print was cool and would make a cool giraffe. I'm glad I got the big brother to be approval. Originally I planned on making two matching giraffes, but thought the same print in a different color would look amazing! I went with blue and green. I like that the giraffes will be in a bright saturated color. Here's the fabric I choose. I decided to do the gusset { under belly } in a solid green fabric, I call this color artichoke/inside avocado its also a quilting fabric. I'm pretty much in love with this shade of green. 

I thought the giraffe was darling the designer made, however I wanted to put my own stamp on it, so I made a few little tweaks. I added a mane using little white baby poms { which are the cutest thing ever } Instead of buying 'what I needed' for only a $ 1.99 I bought a role of pom poms for future projects, don't know for what yet. I also decided to add a flat fat tail and opted not to stitch eyes. 

I followed the directions and enlarged the giraffe pattern 200% and cut the paper pieces out and then placed each pattern on top of the fabric and cut.

I've never sewn anything so small before and with so many curves { on a sewing machine } so this was a challenge for me. I would say the giraffe was machine sewn and hand sewn about 50 / 50. The upper was machine sewn { mane hand sewn }  and the lower half was and hand sewn. Which made it easier for me, since I was attaching a middle piece 'gusset' so the giraffe would be able to stand. I also hand sewn the ears on, they were tricky!! But I like how they look they give them more character.

Here's the two giraffes I made standing side, or two by two. I love how the pom pom mane gives these little guys so much detail and looks darling. I made the blue one first and its far from perfect, its underbelly needed a little outside stitching, I underestimated the seam allowance, but tit stands it still looks cute.  Thats whats important to me. The green one, is pretty much perfect.

I love that the artichoke belly & fabric pattern ties both of them together.

Here's a close up of the white pom pom mane. The pom poms add fun and charm to the giraffe, making it even cuter.

Here's how thier ears look close up and thier faces. I love that the fabric I choose gives face extra demension.

I so excited to place these two in the nursery, but for now they are kicking it in the living room, standing two by two. 

I loved sewing these little giraffes and seeing how they turned out after being stuffed. I'm taking orders :) lol I also saw a cute How To for a stuffed puppy, also on Womans Day. I might end up making that one too. Of course I have a few other sewing projects for the nursery I'm working on, so stay tuned. 

What do you think? What stuffed animal would you love to sew/ have sewn for you?

We Are Having A.......

When we had a little boy, who's now 10! We decided not to find out if the baby was a boy or girl. The surprise of the unknown was exciting, we never had the pull for the need to know. We simply bought gender neutral items and I went shopping for all things baby boy after he arrived. We totally shifted our personal positions this time around, we couldn't wait it find out. Maybe it's the nursery fever we both experiencing, or already have one amazing child { I'm a little biased } or getting excited about seeing or son go from only child to protective older brother or a boy or girl?? Whatever ever the pull was, we feel so blessed to be adding a little one to our family. And before I share how 'Where Having A.....' news I have to say, watching our baby on the sonogram monitor, made me fall deeply in love. I'm in love with our baby! And overwhelmed with joy, OK deep breathe before my tears cause my laptop to malfunction.....and I'm not able to share :)

With great joy, I'm so happy to share we've been blessed with a Baby BOY!!! We are beyond happy and excited and full of wonder and so excited to meet him. I had my husband take some quick pictures of me Sunday evening before we headed out to dinner. Here's my belly at 25 weeks / 6mos 1 week -- It's odd now that, I count in weeks now and not months. My belly is much rounder and bigger than it was just when you last saw it in The Nate Berkus Show (House Proud)

There's something so much fun about holding up a onesies to your belly and know soon your baby will be wearing it. I'm holding up a onesies I got from Baby Gap with a little embroidered bear on it. The bear reminds me of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Bear I recently got for the baby.

The plan is to take pictures of my ever expanding belly every couple of weeks until my due date. Time is flying by! Before we know our little baby boy will be here, can't wait { YES, I can we have a nursery to complete, lol }

Were still mulling over names for our our son, hopefully will find something unique and meaningful to our us. It's been wonderful sharing our joy with all of you and a little nerve wracking for me sharing my growing belly with everyone!

Oh Baby: Found

I have recently Found the most amazing baby blog for crafty moms. The blog is called Prudent Baby, and I just discovered a few weeks back, after searching for a diy on burp cloths. Yup I plan on making my own burp cloths!  By no means am I a crafty momma, so I value their step by step directions! Check out this amazing burp cloth and bib set, this darling set would also make a pretty gift. I have a few friends that recently had little babies and I can't wait to make them a gift set like the one below! 

{ via Prudent Baby }

I have a ton of fabric in stacks looking at me, waiting to be turned into fun projects for the nursery and pretty much all over the house! I think my sewing machine and I will be come best friends very soon!! 

{ via here }

Have you found any great blogs new to you blogs lately? Do share! 

Bathroom Update: Choosing Colors & More

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned we plan on giving our bathroom a mini update. We decided to start with the color palette. We began our color search by checking out Martha Stewart's new color line. I love how she has a mini booklet full of her color line.

We narrowed down three potential colors for the wall. I placed the color samples near the mirror to get a better idea of how the color will look against our white baseboards (which will also get refreshed). We don't don't get a lot of natural sunlight in this room, so we went off how the color looks with the bathroom light. As I mentioned before we want to add color into the room, so I'm really excited about the three colors we are considering. From top to bottom: River Mist, Artesian Well & Rainwater.

After looking at the colors for a while, we are leaning towards Rainwater. With both like the soft blue green color.

In addition to choosing a new paint color for our bedroom, I've been looking at pretty wall hooks. I started my search at Anthropologie fir ideas. I've seen similar hooks at Cost Plus, unfortunately the don't have pictures of their hooks online. I really like the hooks below and think they will add a nice touch to our bathroom.

{ via here }

Originally we planned on replacing our white waffle weave shower curtain with something more colorful. However, since were doing our mini bathroom update on a budget of $100 I thought adding rick rack to our existing shower curtain would add colorful punch.

{ via here }

Over the weekend, we'll be painting the bathroom, adding a punch of color to our basic shower curtain and hopefully I'll find some pretty hooks.

Would you add rick rack to a plain shower curtain or curtains to add punch at little cost? If so, what color or colors would you go with?