91 Days to Go...

We have decided to start calling the baby "Jet Li". No more cute little thumps...Jet Li lets off full kicks and punches now.

Also, our baby will join our family thinking that their Daddy is Mark Wahlberg. Darren has started talking to the baby only in the Wahberg SNL skit lingo. He tells our baby to "say hello to your mother for me, alright" every day!

Making Your Own Baby Shower Gifts

Knit Hat, Receiving Blanket w/ Name & 3 Burp Cloths

Knit Hat 1/2 skein yarn
Cast on 80 sts
Knit in the round until it measures 5" from roll
Decrease each row as follows:
K2tog, K6
K2tog, K5
K2tog, K4
K2tog, K3
K2tog, K2
Decrease to 10 sts, continue to knit 10 sts for a 4" tail. Bind off and loop knot.
You will need to use double ended needles as sts decrease to continue in the round.

Receiving Blanket & Burp Cloths-
Purchase a 5 pack, flannel receiving blanket package. Use 2 full blankets to create named blanket, sewing back to back once name is sewn on. You will need to square off the fabric, they are never the same size. Use the other 3 blankets to create letters and long strips for burp cloths. Use pre-fold, white diapers for burp cloths. Wash and iron all fabrics BEFORE cutting or sewing since they all tend to shrink or pucker. Use Heat Bond Light to tack letters and strips to the fabrics, then use a simple zig-zag stitch to sew the edges. Tie 3 bows with matching ribbon and hand sew at the middle of the bow at the end of the diaper.

Due Date Update!

Baby Williams is scheduled to arrive at 11:30 AM on Monday, February 2, 2009!

Onesie Mania at SMU!

I stole this great craft idea from my friend Leslie.

Best craft project ever, and so easy. I sent out an email to everyone in the office inviting them to bring a onesie to decorate during our lunch hour on Wednesday and it was a HIT. People are asking our boss to have craft time, once a month, in the office now! But, we created 22 onesies in a variety of sizes for our good friend Ali's baby, Sophie.

Here is my contribution to the pile:

Adrienne gets "Best" for execution and real painting skills:

Baby Williams' Wardrobe

Baby Williams- Debuts in February 2009

This blog is about to be taken over by Baby Williams. Click here for baby & belly photos... BABY!

What we know so far....
Due: 2/11/09, probably will arrive early and easy through the miracle of a planned slice and grab job.
Sex: Yes, please! I mean, we are not finding out.
Alias: "Thumper"

Baby's Room: Stripes & Dots click here, baby will be in the suite section of our room so it will have to like what we like. No Winnie, sorry little one!
Baby's 1st Margarita Party: November 23rd at the Ash's
Baby Stuff: Click BabiesRUs or Target

18 Week Sonogram: Baby Yawned, very precious, probably because we tired it out during our quick weekend to Phoenix and was already 11 oz. or basically the size of a can of Coke. 11 oz. of baby has added 10 pounds to mommy!

Toddler Sweater- Knit

This is an EASY Knit sweater. You will only need 1 large/cotton skein of each color(3) of yarn for the 24 month old pattern. Click Here for pattern. The pattern is *free* if you fill out the registration form.

Christmas Star

Use 20 of your cutest photo and nicest holiday cards to create a yearly Christmas Star. Scale the pattern to fit your desired size. This one is a bit big for a tree ornament but looks great on a shelf or mantle. It's a fun way to decorate for Christmas and it doesn't matter if you never put it away! Be sure to arrange photo cards in a way that shows the cutie-pie baby faces all on one side and not creased in the middle of their face.
SUPPLIES: sharpie (to trace on photos), scissors or straight knife, hot glue gun, 5-6 sticks of glue, 20 cards, the pattern and a bit of patience.
Click Here and Here for patterns.

Kiddo Pillow

The kiddo pillow is easy and can be done in the theme of the birthday party if you can find the fabric. It helps to have a die-cut machine for "perfect" fast letters, but tracing and scissors works fine too! You can stuff it or just sew another pillow case for the inside so that a regular pillow can be inserted and it is easier to wash the case alone (and probably more sanitary if they really are going to sleep with it!).

Supplies: 1 yard of juvenile fabric, stencils or die-cuts, 1 or 2 pillow cases, HeatBond Light, & matching thread.

Detail Photo- Click Here

• 1 pillow case and stuffing material for closed pillow
  
• 2 pillow cases, sewn back to back at the open edge after the embroidery stitching is completed. I purchase a pillow so the gift is ready to go when it is given! This is also faster...stuffing a pillow is a lot of work!
• Use HeatBond Light to adhere appliques to cases instead of using pins
• Be sure to wash juvenile fabric and pillow cases and then iron both prior to sewing.

Playbills & Tickets

I have saved every plabill and ticket since my first show (A Chorus Line in 1985) and finally had the time to put them all together for some wall art in our house.

Large Poster Frame- $25 World Market
25 lb or heavy duty picture hanger for the wall (it's heavy)
Hot Glue Gun & Glue sticks
Double Sided Tape

The difficult part of this project is arranging them and then "flipping" it- in tact- without loosing it's shape or organization.  I chose to use the entire booklet for each playbill which made this heavy and difficult (especially as a solo project).  This is where the glue gun came in handy.  It also keeps anything from 'slipping' as the years go by as it hangs on the wall.  This was done 4 years ago and still looks perfectly placed.  I don't think tape would have held up as well.  I did use tape to arrange the tickets.