DIY: Crinkle Tag Toy

I've been collecting these wipes bags because they are perfectly noisy for a little baby toy. Every time I have wipes in London's proximity, she tries desperately to grab the pack. She loves the noise it makes. And one of her favorite things is a Baby Einstein cloth book that crinkles. So, I wanted to make her something that gives her this pleasure, and that I'm OK with her munching on...and of course, by making it, I get to choose the fabric that makes me happy.

I've been collecting these wipes bags because they really are perfectly noisy for a little baby toy. I have way too many now, which means I need to make lots more crinkle tag toys or throw them away! I have several friends with new babies, so I should probably just get busy.

Here's how I made London's crinkle tag toy:

Cut out the hard plastic opening of the wipes bag and both ends. Now, I have a flat plastic piece to fit inside of my fabric. I turned in inside out so that the bright colors would be less likely to show through my fabric.

I chose a few different materials to use as the "tags" for the tag toy. The gray ruffle pieces are a little stretchy, while the blue and yellow pieces are not. Each of them have a different texture so that London has a variety of textures to munch on.

I cut out two pieces of material...I think my dimensions were 7x8. In short, I measured the length and width of my plastic piece and cut my fabric accordingly.Next, I pinned in my plastic and tags.

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I pinned both sides of material together and sewed around the edge three times. Two for stability, and an extra for the look. 

And a happy baby :)

century old heirlooms

my uncle sandy and aunt pam, pictured below, generously sent me an incredibly special and sentimental gift today that will be in our family for generations to come; as i absolutely plan to pass it down to london when she has a daughter.

the beginnings of this gift came several months ago, when my aunt pam emailed and told me that she and my uncle sandy were planning to send me some of my great grandmothers ("gaggy's") clothing for our new baby girl.  since that email, i've been anticipating the package that arrived today! i thanked the mail lady, ushered the large box in, and quickly gathered my scissors and my camera.  i deliberately began removing the layers of tissue paper that protected and separated the vintage dresses, bibs and bonnet that my aunt and uncle had had restored from gaggy's early childhood. she was valerie davenport french (1898-1986), and is one of the girls pictured below. if i had to guess, i'd say she's the blond on the far left. and i think it also quite possible that the dress she is in, may be one of the dresses i received. (although, that could simply be wishful thinking!) regardless, i'm completely giddy to own such endearing pieces of my family's history.

the package as i received it. i was a little worried about the condition of the box, as it looked a little beaten, but everything inside was perfect.

 i needed better light, so i moved the box into the living room before emptying the contents.

 inside this initial envelope were pictures of each item of clothing before and after it's restoration, along with a card from uncle sandy and aunt pam explaining the items.

and here they are!

bibs

bonnet

dress 1

dress 2

front of bodice

back of bodice

 card from uncle sandy and aunt pam explaining the gift

in addition to the heirloom gifts, they also sent gifts from their recent trip to ireland. noah received an irish penny whistle (which he instantly loved!), and london received adorable baby shoes and a sweet lamb (that noah also took a liking to).

noah, enjoying his new whistle!

i can't say thank you enough for these incredible gifts. i am blessed to have such a rich family history and sentimental items to remember it by. thanks uncle sandy and aunt pam for entrusting me with these pieces!

bamboo cotton rocks

i was absolutely giddy today when i walked into cotton babies and found that much of their bamboo cotton collection was on sale! score!  i used to go in frequently to buy detergent for my diapers, and each time i liked to walk through their bamboo-cotton baby clothes section and just touch the soft little outfits that were generally out of my price range. today, tons of the bamboo cotton was 40% OFF! i couldn't believe it. so i picked up a few things for baby girl. 

i want her to wear one of them home from the hospital...which should it be? they're all newborn or 0-3 month sizes (this is what i don't have much of), although they look massive in the pictures.  here's what i got.

bright, cute, modern and so soft!

 this is a unisex sleeper...the color is charcoal gray and white, although it looks black in this picture. i like the idea that i can use it if we have a third baby, no matter the gender.

this picture doesn't do this sleep gown justice. it's a lilac (an interesting lilac...not a pastelly one). this is the piece that wasn't on sale, but i loved it! i'll be packing this one for the hospital for sure.

and finally, this comfy little shirt and pants set. another good purple...good purples are hard to find, don't you think?

can't wait to see london in these soft as butter little outfits. 4 1/2 weeks to go!