I can’t wait for my little niece to be born. My sister in law is due October 15ish…We had her baby shower today. So much running around, I don’t know where to begin. Have you ever carried those big backyard umbrellas by yourself? those things are HEAVY!!! I almost crushed my little toe trying to carry them out to the backyard!! Luckily didn’t, and was able to set up for the party. We (and I mean my Sister and I) went with a neutral, clean, and simple look. White table cloths, napkins, umbrellas, chairs, and blended in a bit of green to mix it up. We hung baby clothes with pins from the umbrellas in different colors, but it seemed to work okay.
Never in my life have I seen grown men in bibs, being fed baby food from jars…hilarious. For those who don’t know the game, you get a husband to sit in the chair, with a bib on (apparently you can get the disposable ones in toddler sizes that work great, just so you know) and the wives hold the jars of baby food, and try to feed the husbands….the kicker is that they are blindfolded while doing so!! Oh, and they only have one minute to try to finish the jar…haha, I felt really bad for the husbands though, sheer embarrassment. I mean, I know it’s all in good fun, but nothing like smashed up bananas dripping down your chin while others laugh at you.
…the musical chairs game was fun…yes…we played musical chairs. It was fun, I’ll admit, until I had a bigger guy try to sit on me, and almost squash my liver right out of me. 
anyway, getting to the crafty part… I made Melanie (my unborn niece) a cute little Kimono from Heather Ross’ Weekend Sewing. *Lucy’s Kimono (<that link will take you to corrections in the book [scroll down], that made me pause a few minutes, and evaluate my work…it would have made it easier for me, and I should have “googled” it first!, but such is life. you will run into these problems as they are typos!!)
I really love this vintage fabric…not like you can’t tell. I’ve made three clothing items with this fabric alone! 
Another item that I have crafted is this little nifty thing:
…if you’re still trying to figure out what it is…lol. It’s a marker holder, I got the idea from “the artful parent”. (thanks Jean! 
) Taylor loves this thing, we’ve even managed to take it out to one of Richie’s softball games, she sat for a few minutes coloring her elmo book, I just love how enthralled she becomes…only did it for a few minutes though, because she was too busy catching up with her little girl friend…hehe. They are so cute together…
alright, that’s all for now!
-G
that were laid out on paper spread across the picnic table. Nearby were tins full of crayons, and decorating the table we a few of Tay’s elmo stuffies and elmo books. A cheap way of decorating, I’d say…and the kids played with some of the toys on the table, so it was a hit! 
I used an old 80’s simplicity pattern, and just re-vamped it a bit, by adding a pleat in the front, and then smocking a little in the back, (since the smallest size on the pattern was a toddler 4, I knew I had to make some adjustments)
It came out okay, it was my first time using Bias Tape for the arm and necklines… and it fits perfectly over another Tee, and some jeans.. so cute! This Japanese fabric was actually a GREAT find at a yard sale for $1.00, and I used some bias tape I had lying around… the pattern was also from the yard sale and cost me .10 cents! and I have plenty of the Japanese fabric left over as well!! That I’m going to turn into a smocked top.. 
will be back to post the process! 
It’s the Cucito Toddler Summer 09 Book… so, I hope I get it soon, so I can make some real cute dresses for Tay.. here are some more patterns in the book:
any of you make anything from a Japanese pattern book before? I mean, I wont be able to read it, but I figure the illustrations will suffice… here’s to hoping anyway! 
( I know the name on the tin definitely gives it away! which by the way, doesn’t look so hot in a picture, I may have to fix that! lol)
