Little Red Dress

Hi guys! Are you having a good summer? We're having lots of fun around here! I just thought I'd pop in and show you this cute little dress I made for a baby shower.

I didn't use a pattern, I just copied the shape from a dress I'd seen at the mall.

I just love piping on little girls dresses, don't you?  So cute.

It was tricky to find a good spot to photograph it; in this house of boys, there's not much girly stuff around.  :)  I tried the hooks in my "baby's" room.  Zoom out a little, though...and it's obvious it's a boy's room!  

It was fun to have an excuse to make something for a little girl!

Baby Dear Baby Shower

 

I had so much fun putting this baby shower together. Baby Dear was my favorite book as a little girl. I especially loved its beautiful illustrations. I still have a thing for Little Golden Books today (I collect them, even).  I'd been looking for an excuse for years to throw a Golden Book themed party and this little girl baby shower was a perfect chance to do it! 

 

I tried to have a bit of a vintage feel to the shower, since the book was written in the 1960s.  In a moment of serendipity, right as I decided to have the shower feel a bit vintage, my mom called and asked if I wanted a stork decoration.  She was cleaning out some storage and thought I might like it.  Yes!  This cute little stork, while not from the 1960s, was used at my baby shower--the one where I was the baby!  It may be from the 1980s rather than the 1960s, but it definitely gave the vibe I was going for. 

 

 I used some sweet girly fabric to make a pennant banner. 

 

 

I think my favorite part of the decor, though, was this Baby Dear banner:

 

I scanned in illustrations from the book, found a similar font to the one used on the cover, and worked some Photoshop (Elements) magic.  I printed the resulting images out onto cardstock and cut them out.  I attached the letters to baby pink ribbon and hung it in my living room.  I think it's adorable, if I do say so myself. 

 

 

 

(Well, really, my favorite part were the invitations, but I already wrote about those...)  :)

 

 

 

I scattered some Little Golden Books around the party area, especially ones that were illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (the illustrator of Baby Dear).  Her little baby cheeks and pudgy fingers are so cute. 

 

 

 

Add in some doilies and yummy food and you've got a fun vintage Golden Book party!

 

  

 

 

 

I made cupcake toppers with some pink scrapbook paper and these 1-inch Pretty Vintage Little Girl Circles from Free Pretty Things. 

 

 

 

It was really nice to have an opportunity, in this house full of boys, to enjoy such girlishness!  It was such a fun baby shower!

 

Baby Dear Baby Shower: The Invitations

I recently threw a baby shower for a dear friend of mine.  I collect Golden Books and have been looking for an excuse to throw a Golden Book party for years.  I even found a site that puts books in diaper cakes here. Baby Dear was my favorite book as a little girl, and I thought it would be perfect for a Golden Book themed shower for a baby girl.  I was a bit giddy with excitement over the idea of a Baby Dear shower.  :)

With a book theme, of course the invitations have to look like the book, right?  I scanned in my old copy and prettied it up a bit in photoshop (30 years takes its toll on a well-loved children's book).

I erased "A Little Golden Book" from the front cover and replaced it with "A Little Baby Shower" in a similar font.  

I just love that I was able to get the back cover and the trademark spine on my invitations, too.   (Even if the spine is a worn silver now instead of the original gold.  I like the worn look better, so I didn't try to fix it.)  

I even put in the inside cover, with the bookplate and everything.  So cute!  The party information was written in a similar font to the original story and I put in an illustration from the book.  

I am seriously in love with these invitations.  I guess I'm just a Golden Book nerd.  :)

Disclosure: I was compensated for a sponsored link in this post.

Scalloped Edge Baby Quilt Tutorial

A new niece is a lovely excuse for making pretty baby things. I've been dying for an opportunity to use some pretty girly, floral fabric. I thought this scalloped-edge baby quilt would be the perfect chance for it.

After prewashing and ironing your fabrics, lay out the fabric right-sides together (I used 1 yard of each fabric for this project).

Put the right-sides-together fabric on top of your quilt batting.

Smooth out any wrinkles or creases.

Trace a scalloped pattern onto the fabric with a bowl or plate.  The size of my bowl allowed me to do 5 scallops by 7 scallops on my fabric.

I measured how far in I wanted the scallops to go, so they'd all be the same.

Pin the three layers together.

 

Stitch along the line you drew, leaving enough room to turn it (I left one scallop).

Cut off the excess.

Trim curves, especially in between the scallops.  Cut all the way to the line in between the scallops, being careful not to clip your stitches.

Turn.  Using a pencil or your hand, push out all the seams, making it look the way you want.  Press.  Stitch closed the portion you left open. 

Quilt your quilt, "drawing" a line with your stitches from the edge of one scallop to the end of its sister across the other side of the blanket.

Continue quilting along the length of your quilt.

Admire your work!