{Handmade Goodie of the Week} Hoop Hair Bow Holder

Today I'm sharing a little project that I made for Korra's room.  She has a lot of flowers and bows that clip onto her interchangeable headband that I made her as well as some bigger headbands, so I made her a little organizer.  The nice thing is it's not too baby-ish, so she'll be able to use it as she gets older.

The very best part about this project?  It was completely free!  I had all of the materials already on hand!  Always awesome when you can use what you've already got!  The hoop and the ribbon were left over from the chandelier I made for her nursery, the wooden dowel was left over from another project and the spray paint I already had.

To make yours, you'll need:

One large embroidery hoop-you'll only need one of the circles

Wooden dowel

Coordinating ribbon and spray paint

Hot glue gun and glue

First, spray paint your hoop, making sure to get all of the sides

and the wooden dowel.  This is my trick for rounded things like this-stick them in the dirt, just far enough in to hold the item up and spray paint.  Once it's completely dry, stick in the painted end and paint the other end that was previously in the dirt.  You get all of the sides at once with less dry time to wait on.

Once your hoop and dowel are painted and dry, it's time to start adding the ribbon.

The spacing of the ribbon is completely up to you.  I started with one in the middle of the hoop and spaced them from there.  I recommend not cutting your ribbon until you've decided where you want it and have glued down either end, as shown above.  That way you don't have to worry about your ribbon not being the right length.

Repeat until you're satisfied with the number of strands.

As you can see, I spaced some of them a little farther apart that others.  Some of her flowers and bows are bigger than others, so I wanted to have room for those without it looking crowded.

Once you've finished gluing your ribbon to your hoop, it's time to add the dowel.  For this step, I laid my finished hoop on the floor and laid my dowel under it, spacing how I'd like it to hang.  The dowel is going to hang from two loops of ribbon attached to the hoop, which we'll tackle in the next step. 

  Figure out where you want the loops to attach to the hoop and measure from there and double.  Attach to the hoop with some hot glue.  {You can skip the dowel if you wish-totally up to you!}

Add clips to the ribbons and hang the headbands from the dowel.

I love it because now I have a visual of what she has and what goes with what she has on.

And the dowel slides easily in and out of the loops so her headbands hang all nicely and are easy to get at.

Super easy and FREE!

Nursery Tour

So I know my little lady is like nine months old now and this is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over due, but I wanted to share some pictures of her nursery with you all.

She doesn't have a room all to herself, as her room also doubles as our "office," so I didn't have a whole lot of space to work with or to hang things, etc.  I choose shades of purples and greens accented with brown as the colors for her room {because, as mentioned, I'm not much of a pink girl.}  While some of her things were hand-me-downs from her big brother {like the crib and car seat,} I wanted her to have a few things that were just for her and incorporated some vintage baby items {the print hanging at the head of her bed and the vintage baby booties} that I had received from my Nana. 

I made her this cute name mobile with scrapbook paper in "her colors."

You can find a tutorial on how to make your own over at From Blank Pages.  Diane's blog is one of my favorites{and I was lucky enough to have her as a guest here}! I plan on making one for the little man, too.

I love love love her changing table/dresser.  It was a baby gift from my dad-the one we had with our first didn't survive the cross country move well enough to be used for baby # 2.  

This time around, I wanted something a little longer than a typical changing table, so I'd have room for a diaper caddy and wipes and whatnot in addition to the changing pad.  And I wanted something with a good amount of storage.  This one has good-sized drawers and a little cupboard where I store her extra wipes, swaddling blankets, shoes, binkies, and little headbands.

Of all of the things in her room that I made, this is tied for first place of what I'm proudest of.  This cute ribbon chandelier/mobile was inspired by this one shared on UCreate and I just love how it turned out!  The paper flowers are from the same paper as her name mobile.

Oh, how I love this crib!  I love the color and the sleigh details on it.  It was our little man's and I hope it lasts through the rest of our kids, too.  I got her bed set at Target for super-cheap and it went with the colors I had picked out perfectly!!

This is what is tied with the chandeleir-my very first ever quilt.  I decided a while ago that I want to make a quilt for all of my kids, and chose to start with an easy one first.

I have to say, I am quite pleased with how it came out.  I was inspired by this quilt I saw over at Little Birdie Secrets.

Ah, little clothes hanging in the closet-I love it!

I've got a project that I made for her room that I'll be sharing a little later-you'll love it!

{Handmade Goodie of the Week} No-Sew Tutu

Ah, it's good to be back.  Every time I think I'm on top of things and am able to get back to blogging, life comes and smacks me in the face.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep it up (keep your fingers crossed!)  

Today I'm sharing something that every little girl should have at some point in her life-a tutu.  This is a no-sew, no-glue, two-items-only tutu that can be turned out in a half hour or less.  If that doesn't make you smile, then I just don't know what will!

One of the fun things about having a little girl is getting to dress her up in frou-frou outfits, giant bows and flowers and lots of pink {which we all know I am not a personal fan of for myself, but I just love it on my daughter!}

So a pink tutu was needed {yes, NEEDED.}

And it was 100% no sew, which I loved!

To make one of your own, you'll need:

Ribbon

Tulle

Scissors

I used my little princess as a model to measure how long I wanted the ribbon.  I wanted it long enough to fit around her now, with room to grow {the ends get tied together, so the bow is adjustable to allow for growing.  How awesome!}

Once cut, I folded it in half to find my center.

Then, again using my model, I eyeballed how long I wanted the tutu to be {I made mine a little longer than usual, because I want her to be able to wear it for a while.}  I then doubled that length and cut strips of the tulle the same length {my tutu used 33 strips of tulle.} Starting at the center of my ribbon, I took one strip of tulle, folded it in half and laid the ribbon over top of it, as seen above

With the tulle still under the ribbon, pull the ends of the tulle up over the ribbon and through the loop at the top of the folded strip, like so

Pull the ends tight through the loop, so it's knotted onto your ribbon, like in the picture

Repeat on either side until you've filled up your tutu to the desired length

Tie it on your baby girl and ta-da!  A pretty, easy {and tasty :) } tutu for your little princess!

Tipping Thursday: Traveling with a Baby

Don't forget to enter our Freckled Bug giveaway and the blog button design contest!

Finishing up last week's thread of packing light but still having what you need, I thought I'd share my tips on packing for your baby.  Traveling with a baby or toddler can be rough, especially when you're going to be gone a while.  Here are some tips I've learned through my travels with the little man:

1.)  Make a list.  I know, I know, this was my Number One last week, too.  But trust me!  It works!  Mentally go through your day: what things to you use in a typical day for your baby?  Think about your baby's mealtime, playtime and bed time routine and what you use and write it all down.  Then look over what you'll actually need.  You don't need to bring your own baby towel-wherever you're going will have towels, be it to a hotel or to see the family.  You don't need to bring your baby's entire toy box.  Just bring a couple of his favorite toys to keep him occupied.  And if your baby has a snuggly, DON'T forget it!  Or be prepared to not sleep your whole trip.

2.)  Long haul or weekend getaway?  The length of your trip obviously determines how much you'll need to bring, especially with a baby.  Things like diapers, wipes and baby food can get heavy and take up space.  If you're going to be gone more than a couple days, consider buying them once you reach your destination.  Example:  I flew to Washington last summer, just me and the little man, to visit my in-laws.  We were there for 8 days.  I brought enough diapers and baby food for two days, then bought a small pack of diapers, wipes and enough baby food for the rest of our trip once we got there. It gave me more space in our bags, since I was limited on what I could bring and was much cheaper than having to pay for an overweight bag.

3.)  Sleeping Arrangements.  Do you co-sleep or does your baby need his own space?  Schlepping around the pack-n-play can be difficult and cumbersome.  Plus, if you're traveling with baby by yourself, you're limited to the number of items you can check.  If you can, find ways to leave it at home.  If you're going to see family, see if someone has one that you can use while you're there.  Some hotels offer cribs for their rooms-you just have to request one, like you would an extra cot or pop-up bed.  If you do co-sleep and are staying with family, make sure your bed away from home will accommodate the both of you (or three of you.)

4.)  Just 'cause you're gone for 2 weeks doesn't mean you need 2 weeks' worth of stuff.  One week of outfits, with a back-up outfit is plenty.  After all, there is this magical thing called a washing machine : )  And it's ok to wear an outfit more than once.  Same thing with bowls and utensils-if you're little person is eating solids, you don't need to bring a set of silverware for every day you're there.  One set is just fine.

5.)  Even baby stuff comes in travel size.  You can get shampoo, baby powder and rash ointment in travel sizes.  Even wipes come in travel packs.

6.)  Know what you're getting into.  Try and find out what the plans will be, activity-wise, while you're away so that you can be prepared for them.  

What are your tips for traveling with a little one?

Chubby Face

I was going through my folders and folders on photos on my computer, organizing things (because I'm a little neurotic about those kinds of things) and came across this picture of the little man when he was just a few months old.

This face makes me melt.  I can't believe it's been 19 months since he entered our lives.  I can't imagine things without him.  Now he's a "big boy," running around, talking, wanting to do things himself.  But he'll always be my baby.