felt board for babies

Like Joel from Made by Joel (if you haven't seen this blog, definitely check it out--he's a crafty dad who makes lots of fun things for kids), I also had a felt board as a kid and unless this is all a figment of my imagination, it was big and green and had a whole farm scene--barn, animals, etc. made out of felt that you could move around the board. I definitely want to make one for e when she gets a little bit older.

For now, I found Made by Joel's Felt Board for Babies and knew I had to make one right away. I still have lots of felt scraps from the Alphabet Quilt I made in December and I happened to get a box with a book in it this week that folded into a perfect triangle shape for the felt board project. Super easy--I glued felt to the cardboard and let it dry overnight.

Then I cut up a shoebox and cut out some shapes and glued felt to them. I picked high contrast colors that babies seem to like. So far, e seems somewhat interested in it, but she's still a bit young to move the shapes by herself.

a bassinet of sorts

When I was a baby, I slept in a basket hung from the ceiling. For the past 30+ years, my parents kept the basket and have now given it to me to use with our baby-to-be. When I slept in the basket, it looks like my parents just put me in there with some blankets and called it a day. Of course, I need to make things at least 85 times more complicated.

My dad made an amazing rocking stand for the basket and then I cut a bassinet mattress to fit the basket, and started to make the bedding. I found a tutorial that was somewhat helpful, but I had a lot of trouble making the fitted sheet. I'm sure it doesn't help that I am not great at sewing and I'm even worse at measuring. Finding instructions for making an envelope-style pillow cover and many emails between the knitting triangle gave me the breakthrough I needed (including one that gently reminded me that I needed to make more than one sheet...apparently babies can be messy).

Even with a few frustrating moments and a bunch of trips to the fabric store, I'm happy with the way it came out!

crafts for babies

I have said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. I love crafting for babies (and now kids, as all of my favorite babies are getting so big!)

My brother's friend and his wife had twin girls at the end of October, and I found these super-cute leggings with ruffly butts that I knew they had to have, but I wanted to also make something to go along with them. It started with a couple of little hats with knotted tops (made with Knit Picks merino yarn, leftover from the Wild Stripes baby blanket from Knitty). And then I decided they needed matching onesies embroidered with a strawberry.

Now I just need to get over there and meet these girls!