Baby Shower Idea - Washcloth Candies

Cute little socks made into flower bouquets or even a corsage, diapers turned into cakes, all manner of cute baby things transformed into something a little bit different for a celebration of birth... these are the cute touches that add to baby showers just that little something.  Some people may not notice them at all, but that is ok.  It's about the mom, and the baby, and sometimes that little extra detail just adds a special something.

Since most of the items we did for the baby shower we found on pinterest (and then modified to our own liking), I will not post tutorials on them here.  However, the little washcloth candies I will!

I'm sorry the picture isn't very good.  I didn't actually take a closeup of them.

These are super simple to make!  I bought a pack of four baby washcloths from the local Dollarama.  I needed one for the diaper 'tricycle', so I turned the rest into these little candies.  First... a list of what you need.

Tools:
Scissors

Crafts:
Pack of washcloths
cheesecloth/tulle
ribbon

That's it.  Since the washcloths came packaged in white tulle already, and I saved the packaging from the sets I bought for the cloths I bought for cloth diapering, I just used those!

Take the cheesecloth and cut it to about 5 inches by 8 inches, as many as you need.  It doesn't have to be exact.  I just took two sets of the packaging from the cloths and trimmed off the seams, then cut the bottom open.  Just be sure that they are big enough to wrap around the coils of cloth with a bit of overlap.

Roll the cloths into a 'snake', and then coil them from the center outward to look like a little lollipops.  If you need to, you can stitch a little handstitch on the outside piece to hold it together.  I didn't find this necessary.

Wrap the tulle around the cloth circle.  You can do a stitch here to keep it closed, or tape it to hold 'for now'.  Take your pieces of ribbon and tie into bows on the tulle that is on the ends to make it look like the wrapped cellophane on candies.  Fluff the tulle after tying.

You're done!

Since the Dollarama cloth set came with a ribbon on the packaging, and I kept the packaging from the previous sets I bought, I just reused all the packaging from two sets to wrap these up!  I even took the seams I cut off and used them as 'ribbons', as they looked totally cute and old fashioned to me. 

A Blue Baby Shower

Back in March, we had a baby shower for my sister and her sweet little boy.  It ended up happening later than we would have liked due to there being so many babies born into the extended family in the year, as Baby J was over a month old already, but it worked out.  I was in charge of making the cookies and a number of the paper decorations.  I ended up going a little overboard in some things... I blame Pinterest.  (I thank God for my husband who helped me pack everything up as I had to bring it all to the church that morning with the kids in tow and he was still in the barn!  Felt a little crazy that morning, and was so glad I wasn't in charge of cake, only cookies, which are much easier to transport!)

 

Sorry about some of the photos being 'smudged'.  I took a number of pics before realizing that my son had played with my camera lens.  Again.  After cleaning it earlier that morning.  Sigh.

 

 The table you come to upon arriving.

 

I have ALWAYS wanted to do a diaper cake, and since I saw this little beauty on Pinterest I just HAD to make one!  I kind of wanted to do a guitar (since my sis and her hubby are very musically talented) but I had more of what I needed with this.  Since I was in charge of the diaper notes and had to buy the diapers anyway, I decided to do a diaper 'bike'.  Vroom vroom!  ;) 

Another adorable pinterest idea was for those who arrived to write little notes on the top back of the diapers with markers.  Silly things, lovely things, whatever they thought would cheer up the parents during late night diaper changes.  I took some cereal boxes and dressed them up with scrapbook paper and fabric inserts.  I was hoping these would also be good for in the nursery for holding diapers a little more cutely than the giant bags/boxes they come in.

Another idea I got at some point (remember when I said 'overboard' I wasn't kidding, as I was only to do the diapers, cookies, and cake decoration initially) I decided to make a guestbook picture frame.  I cut out over 50 little tiny hearts, brought some coordinating colored pen Sharpees, and had glue there for guests to sign a heart and place on the tree.  Before they left, I inserted the glass into the frame.  The little sign on the bottom has baby's name and the date of the shower.  And the tree I cut out of scrapbook paper so it would be well defined against the blue (their room colors were blue, brown, and white). 

My sister-in-law was in charge of the decorations for the food table.  She bought balloons and streamers, and we dutifully hung them all as a backdrop for the goodies.  My mom made cakes, and gluten free cakes as well since my sister and a cousin are gluten intolerant.  I made cookies and they were also gluten free.  I put a sign on them that apparently everyone but my sister noticed.  I sent some home with her, and it took awhile for her to be convinced that she could indeed eat them.  My daughter LOVED those cookies. 

The cake my mom made, with a little baby clothes line that I made at home. 

 

I love to do this sort of thing for almost all the baby showers I am part of.  The cookie tray has footprints that spell baby's name, sometimes weight (if enough room) and date of birth.

 

 The table again.  I love all the tablecloths my mom and SIL brought!  There was still more food to be put on the table, mostly done by both my mom and my SIL.  Four cakes, a veggie tray, fruit tray, coffee, cookies, and punch.

 Another extra I saw on Pinterest.  A 'shower' for the gifts.  Lots of gluing on fishing line for that one.  Packing it without tangling was an interesting endeavor.  And they got so many lovely gifts!  I adored all the hats and cute monkey onesies and outfits!  <3 p="">

 My mom made blue 'ducky' punch! 

Her nieces, helping my sister open the gifts. 

 M was really wanting to buy a gift for her cousin all on her own, so she saved a little money and found something to buy from the second hand store.  Then she really really wanted me to make a 'closet' for a card.  'A paper closet, mommy, with baby clothes inside' (I think she really liked seeing the little onesies and sleepers I was cutting out for the cake topper).  So, we did.  My sister was very excited about it, haha.

 And of course, the guest of honor!  I was lucky to get a pic of him on the floor when he was not being held, that little boy was snuggled by so many during the shower!  *love*

Here you can see the guestbook with all the little heart leaf signatures on it.  Oh, and tiny washcloth 'candies'.

I know this is late, and you are already half a year old, but we love you, baby J!  We can just see those gears in your head turning, and you smile so easily!  You always look thoughtful!  I look forward to seeing you grow!

 

News!

So... seeing as I haven't been updating as I should, I have more news! 

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V

 

That's right!  Come January, our family is growing! 

We decided to wait to tell everyone until Father's day... when I was just over 9 weeks pregnant.  Honestly, this is the longest we've ever waited to tell close family.  We always told right away, but this time I wanted it to be a surprise.  Also, since I had virtually no symptoms (unlike with A where people were guessing already), I figured we could pull it off.  On the Saturday, we had some fun dressing up in Star Wars 'costumes' for daddy.  M was Leia, and Bram wore his Vader shirt.  We had cinnamon biscuit rolls for breakfast.

 

 Our family picture.  I'm wearing one of my husband's many SW shirts as I do not have any.  Baby A has a 'Stormpooper' onesie.  Haha... so cute.

 

We told the kids on Saturday evening, and M is very excited!  She says she hopes it is a boy.  Bram also is hoping for a boy because he 'doesn't want another girl in the house'.  I'm sure he'll love the baby regardless of if it is a boy or a girl, but I did find that kind of funny.

 

For the 'announcement' for my dad, I had a bit of fun.  Enter the paper oven.

Kind of unassuming, seeing as I like to bake with the kids often enough.  Inside, however, is the tell tale message!

 

 He picked up on it right away!  I don't know if you can see it, but the 'due date' is also on the clock on front of the oven.  1:16.

 

I did something a little different for my Father in law.  Cupcakes!  There are 4, and on the top of each one is the name of one of the kids, with #4 saying 'baby'.

Since we are on the topic of Father's day, this is the breakfast that awaited my husband for when he would get inside from the barn.  We had already left for church.  Under the 'blanket' is his present from us, and each of the cards the kids colored.

I made these and hid them from him.  I was going to actually make icing for the drawing, but decided I just wanted to use the chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chips.  The one on the left says 'You r a Trooper Dad' and the one on the right is supposed to be a trooper helmet.  He figured it out, and that is what matters.  :)

So, that was our fathers day (yeesh... two months late.  I seem to be playing bloggers catch up right now, haha).  Things have been busy here, so I'm sorry for the lack of updates.  I need to just take time off facebook and update more often, haha.

Hope you've all been having a great summer!  I can't believe it is almost over already.  :(

Birthday Party Catchups

 So I noticed that I haven't kept up with all the kiddos birthdays!  Yikes!  Anyway, here is a photo post of the parties I missed!

Bram turns 1 year

 Cookie and cake together!  Mmmmm.

 

 Pressies!

 

He LOVED his cake.  We did not get nearly as awesome 1st year cake pics with the girls.  ;)

 

 

M's 3rd (and her daddy's 33rd) Birthday

We had a combo Hello Kitty and Transformers birthday.  Made a kitty and an Optimus out of fondant.

 

 

Bram's Second Birthday

 He loves Mickey's Clubhouse.  So, I made a cake! 

 

 These little figures were part of his gift.  He still just adores these things!  He plays with them constantly!

 

 He just adored his cake.  Adored it!  He stood there and stared at it!

 

M's 4th Birthday

 She chose to do Minnie Mouse... actually, I think she was hoping for some figures of her own.  ;)

 

 We chose to keep it to one family coming over this time.  Made it so much easier on me.  And it was great.  The cupcakes were a hit.

 

 She just loved her Minnie cake.  Dressed as Minnie Mouse slightly as well.

Bram's 3rd Birthday

 Some of the 'cars' snacks.

 

The cake.  And the 'Rusteze' pop. 

He loved it!

 

Happy birthday, little man!

 

Bram's 4th Birthday

 He wanted Angry Birds this time.

 

So much fun!

 

 

It just amazes me how time is flying by!

 



Super Duper Late 1st Birthday post

I cannot believe how late I am on this.  Actually, I noticed I hadn't posted many of my kids birthday parties as of late, except for M's 5th, 2nd, and 1st.  I didn't post any of my son's birthdays!  WHAT?!  Well, besides the weeks in review I was doing at the time, but still.

Anyway, I need to post my daughter's first birthday, and so, I will do so!

 My kids helped me make a rainbow.  Aww!

 

 Rainbow cupcakes, and rainbows on cupcakes.

 

 The birthday cake... and inside...

 

 A rainbow!  Each layer is colored mostly with fruit rather than food coloring (except red and green... they needed extra coloring)

 

 Baby A just loves all the fun pillows in rainbow colors that we set in the living room.

 

 Mini cupcakes got a little rainbow cake treatment to them.  Did similar with the icing, sticking various colors into the tube before adding it on.  A swirl of colors!  LOVE.

 Another pic of the main table.  The pom poms were fun to make.  I just used whatever tissue paper we already had in the house.  And napkins.  I had red napkins.

 

 Rainbow jello!  YAY!  I got adorable mini spoons, too!

 

 The window with rainbow pom poms and a 'cloud'

 

 We made lemonade rather than the rainbow punch as I was thinking of.  It was so good!  The rainbow 'runner' is actually wrapping paper.  And the tablecloths are all reused from M's 5th birthday.  As for the cups/plates, I love Ikea's kids line.  Such fun rainbow colors!

 

 A rainbow smash cake!  A didn't know what to do with it and didn't really eat much.  I used sugarless 'icing' for the top.  I tried to keep the cake using date paste, honey, etc rather than sugar, but it was not easy.

 

Sigh... it is a lot of extra work to make a rainbow cake, but it is so cute!  I think all the food was eaten up, and I made a LOT.  The fruits and veggies were all gone!  Seriously!  I think that is fantastic!

In all, the cost was minimal.  I reused a lot of things from previous birthdays, bought posterboard for the rainbow for $1, the rainbow sour candies were $1, the decorations total cost was maybe $4 (for the cute cupcake holder she had her smash cake on, and the spoons/jello cups), and as for food... jello was $5-6 (and there was lots left over in a large bowl that I used for whatever didn't fit into the jello cups), whipping cream was $2, I had all the veggies/fruits/ingredients for cake already (I have no clue what the cost would come out to... $10?  Maybe?), gumballs and rainbow sprinkles for the cake was maybe $2... so total was about $25?  Dollarama had most of what I wanted, and I had a lot of the other stuff from M's birthday and among my various trays/dishes.

A, I cannot believe it has been so long... you are almost 18 months already, and I didn't post this until now.  I'm so sorry.  I love you so much!  You are my little squishy girl, I adore how you make this face at me whenever you do something 'big', like standing yourself up without using anything, and when you took three steps without holding onto anything today (for the first time!  Yay!).  You are so petite and easy to carry around that it is just so hard to let you do things on your own... but I think you like it that way!  You are such an easy going girl!  You love people, you love going places, and you adore your grandpas!  And you are always so excited when daddy comes inside!  You prefer him to put you to bed (probably bored of me after being with me all day).  You are already down to one nap per day!  You weigh 17.5lbs right now, and are 75cm tall! 

My little girl... I just love you so much!