I'm Special!

I seriously feel so special right now.

My wrap was featured at Mummy Crafts (LOTS of great ideas there)

Ginger at Super Stinky Boys (How cute is that name!? Cute blog too!) gave me this:

If that weren't enough, Margo from Blue Family Scene (You'll for sure want to visit her blog) awarded me with this:

Go check these 3 talented ladies out if you want to be inspired!

For the Happy 101 award, here are 10 things that make me happy:

-The fact that my husband can still be so good to me even though I'm such a brat

-When my kids make eachother laugh and are both cracking up together

-Amazing women in my life who teach and inspire me and are just plain there for me

-Finding a fun new project to work on

-Saving money (by budgeting, finding deals and living on less)

-Will & Grace

-The internet

-When I have time to shower (INCLUDING washing my hair AND shaving)

-Easy dinner recipes

-Getting these awards and being featured!!

~Star

Tutorial: How To Make A Baby Wrap Part 2

***Please always use extra caution when wearing baby (especially newborns and sleeping babies) and do your own research on the safety issues as that's not what is covered in this tutorial. I know a few things for sure; make sure baby's face is visible, their chin is off their chest and please note that jersey wraps should not be used for a back carry hold.

EDITED TO ADD: Check out my more recent tutorial of a one-sided baby wrap here.

I love my wrap! It doesn't hurt my back and it's easy to stuff in my diaper bag.

Remember my original post about making a baby wrap here? Well I've totally overhauled it and come up with an even better one for ya. This one has a cute fabric support panel in front, it's way less bulky, it makes 3 wraps instead of just 2 AND it's reversible so it's like you're getting 6. So here goes!

You'll need:

2 cotton squares of fabric 22"x22" (optional)

Sewing machine (only if adding panels)

Rotary mat & cutter

5.5-6 yards jersey knit fabric that is the same on both sides

Lay out your huge fabric STILL FOLDED like it was on the bolt. If the edges are messy (big holes, rough spots or discoloration) then trim those off. If there are just small holes, those should close up after washing & drying. I normally recommend washing and drying first but the edges will curl so much in the wash that you should wait til it's cut then wash and dry it before adding the panels.

Measure the entire width (should be 60" or more) and divide that by 3. You should get about 20" or more. Half that number... this is how far from the FOLD you will cut your fabric. Get it? See how you'll have 3 wraps approximately 20" wide once you cut? Continue cutting that far from the fold for the entire 5.5-6 yards.

Now either leave the edges alone or taper them. If you don't taper, the knot you tie in front will be a little more bulky but I still prefer not to taper because if you do, that part does not look as clean as the rest because when jersey fabrics are cut diagonally, their edges don't curl. You decide...

To taper, take a wrap and lay one end of it on the table FOLDED in half like the picture below. Starting about 20" or so from the end, taper all the way to the end leaving about 4" on the end (so really only 2" since it's folded)

Open it up so it looks like this:

Now round the sharp corners

You can stop here if you want and it looks great!

Or you can get out your panels, trim them so they're the same height as your wrap, and iron the sides that you DID NOT TRIM under about 1/2" (so wrong sides are together).

Here are my 2 already ironed.

Now put the right sides of each panel together and make sure the edges line up

Now find the center of your wrap and add pins to mark it. I tried ironing those dang edges flat but they just curled back up so don't bother. That is why there are wet spots on my fabric in case you're wondering :)

Place the panels (with their right sides together still) on top of the wrap at the very center using your pins as a guide.

Pin them to the wrap on both the top and bottom raw edges.

Sew 1/4" from edge where you pinned

Here it is sewn on the top and bottom.

Lift both panels and stuff one side of your wrap through the opening

Here's what it will look like at this point:

Now lift your top panel and stuff one side of your wrap through opening

Now it looks half-way decent!

See the seam?

It needs to be ironed flat

Once ironed, pin sides of panel to your wrap so you can top stitch around the whole thing and close those sides

Top stitch as close to the edge as you can. Remember that the thread has to go through the fabric on the opposite side too so you might not be able to get as close to the edge as you want unless you made sure those 2 panels were lined up PERFECT. I used a green thread for this top side and a blue bobbin thread for the under side.

Here is one side of my finished product:

and here is the other side:

See my front and back?

Cute baby girl, cute wrap and even though she'd only been in it for 2 minutes, it was already covered in drool - it didn't stand a chance.

She even managed to get both sides!!

Front shot:

Back shot:

Click here for a video demo on wearing your wrap and your baby.

~Star

Nursing Cover Part 2

I was asked to make a nursing cover for a new mom recently (the purple one pictured above). I haven't been happy with my old one so I was excited to try again and change some things. I found Sew Much Ado's tutorial and it was perfect and easy to follow. I decided it was about time for me to make myself a new cover too (the paisly one pictured above)! I unstitched my original and started from scratch. I love love love how they both turned out.

There was another tutorial I liked by Freshly Picked but the D-rings I had on hand were 1.5" and it calls for smaller ones but I had to mention this one because there's one thing she did that I tried to copy and couldn't. I have no idea how she pulled it off. Don't think I'm a dork for loving this tiny little detail so much but I tried over and over to do it like her and I finally got out my zipper foot and it still wasn't great so I gave up. Here's hers:

Cute right? Any idea how she got the stitch line so close to the rings??

~Star

Recipe: How To Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Need something for Mother's Day last minute? Go buy some strawberries and get out about 12 ounces of chocolate chips and a stick of butter. Don't forget the cookie sheet and wax paper and clear a spot in the fridge.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl with a couple tablespoons of butter for about a minute and take out and stir. Now put the rest of your butter in a separate bowl and melt it. Add the melted butter to your chocolate until it is "dippable" (you don't have to use it all). Make sure your strawberries are clean and dry before dipping. Dip and place each one on the wax paper until it's full. Place in fridge to harden then wrap them all up in some clear wrap from the dollar store and tie a pretty bow around it!

~Star

Mini Badge Album

How cute is this mini photo album!? I used the tutorial and FREE layout from Paige and Brooke and luckily my friends were nice enough to let me come over (twice) and use their Photoshop since I am a loser and don't have it on my computer. Thanks Adam & Jenn! This is a great Mother's Day gift and it's also great for kids (my 2 year old loves to look at pictures) because it's inexpensive and easy to make in case they ruin it and easy to clean off in case they get food and gunk on it :) LOVE IT. Oh and make sure you use a lighter on the edges of your ribbon so they don't fray.

~Star