Sarah's Golden Book themed baby shower

I decided that before I moved away, I wanted to throw a baby shower for my sister-in-law and niece she is expecting. I thought and thought about a good theme. Then, the Thursday before the shower, it hit me. The girl loves to collect golden books. So I did a quick google search and found this blog post at Aesthetic Nest and set to work doing something similar, throwing it together in just 3 days. However, I did not want to do blue and yellow, so did pink and yellow.

First, there were the presents. I wrapped most of them in pink paper, and the cute ribbon, some white and yellow stripes, some white with yellow polkadots. Then I placed one of the dad-to-be's favorite books behind the presents.
Above the presents, I placed a few more books.
For the table, we decided to go incredibly fancy and use my great-grandmother's China. These dishes never get used, so I decided this was the perfect occasion to pull them out. The best part? They had gold.
The center of the table consisted of some pink flowers in a pink box, with a yellow ribbonn tied around the box. Two glass containers that held golden reeses cups and peanut M&Ms, also with yellow ribbon tied around them, and one of the golden book cutouts in the middle. Two small books stood on each side, with a small bowl of pecans, and a yellow container with pink mints in it.
I had found this adorable idea and decided to create one myself for my niece, Emmaliegh. Then I decided to use it for a wall decoration behind the dining room table. I love how they turned out. Also I loved that they were hanging on a light green wall, which is a color they plan on painting the nursery.
For dessert, I made pink (strawberry) and yellow (lemon) cupcakes with the book tags in a few of them.
For the food table, I used this adorable pink and yellow fabric I had as a table cloth. It was very appropriate as they are doing the nursery in pink zoo animals, such as giraffes. I also had this pretty pink and yellow flower arrangement in a pink vase with yellow ribbon, plus more golden books, as the centerpiece on the food table.
We offered fresh fruit, with chocolate dip, cheese platter, spinach dip with crackers, then there was also Publix's cubanito sandwiches, min pigs-in-a-blanket and meatballs, but I forgot to get a picture of them.

And a platter of golden oreos. For no other reason than they were 'golden'.
I have never thrown a shower quite like this, but I loved how it turned out, and so did every one else.

My newest craft projects

As I said before, I'm really in to crafting lately. It helps relieve my stress I've realized. So I was browsing the internet. While I like crafting, I'm not very creative, so I have to find ideas from others.

So I found this article, and made these for my girls! :) I love them and can't wait to hang them in our new home in a few months! These pictures would be a lot better if they were hanging, but I'm not hanging them to take them down within a month.

Then I found this post and thought "I could do that for all my ribbon!" So, I admit, I began looking at people's trash as I'd drive past, looking for a drawer. I must have looked for 2-3 months, and then, one day my dad was taking out the trash, and saw our neighbor throwing a dresser away. Here's the original:
And here's the redo! :)
And you can tell the only problem right? I need to buy more ribbon haha!!

Crafting

I have begun to learn that if I am doing some kind of craft, it really helps alleviate my stress and helps me to not feel so overwhelmed. I had decided a while ago to make the girls matching red, white, and blue dresses, for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and daddy's homecoming. I finished Hannah's last week. Here's a preview of it.
Here is a picture of the detail on the front, a flower.
And here is the back detailing, a cute star button.
And finally, my newest project I just started. Anyone want to take a guess at what I'm making? :)

Making a pillowcase dress

My best friend showed me how to make a cute pillowcase dress for my girls. I decided I would post directions/pictures for others so they could make their own.

You need two fabrics that will work well for each other.

1. Fold your fabric in half and lay it on your cutting board.





2. Lay a dress that currently fits the little girl on the fabric. You want to add about 2 inches in width and about 3 inches in length, cutting a rectangle around the dress. I did not add enough, so the dress will only fit my daughter for this St. Patrick's Day, but that's ok.




3. Cut your bottom fabric, enough for how much you want on the dress, plus about 2 inches. It needs to be the same with as the fabric you previously cut.


4. Sew the two fabrics together, wrong sides together.

5. Fold the sewn together pieces over, so the right sides are now facing each other, and sew again, making sure you sew far enough to not get the original seam caught in the new one you're sewing.



6. Hem the top of the dress.




7. Fold the dress like this, making the seams meet in the middle, and allowing a little extra to eventually sew together.






8. Fold in half again.




9. Cut the sleeves. Make sure they will be big enough to fit the child's arms.



10. Hem the sleeves. Another option is to use bias tape, but not necessary.



11. Sew the ribbon between the two pieces of fabrics. I had fun and did a decorative stitch.

12. Set down the back of the dress, first sewing with the two wrong sides together...

Then with the two right sides together, making sure not to catch the seam in what you're sewing.

13. Fold the top of the dress over, on the front and back, leaving enough room for the ribbon.

14. Thread the ribbon through each of the top two hems you just made, making sure there's enough room on both ends to tie it. Then stitch down the middle to make sure the ribbon stays in place.

15. Hem the bottom of the dress.






Try the dress on your child, tie the ribbons, and enjoy! :)