Try, try, again

I have been trying to make bibs for a while now. I figured it'd be easy to follow a tutorial, but really, I've found that I prefer trial and error to instructions on pretty much everything. I started with a couple old Tshirts for my first ones, but the neck openings were way too small for any babe. Plus, I did a button closure. What was I thinking?! What mom has that kind of time?!

Here are my second, third, and fourth tries. I used a sheet from Goodwill for one, old Tshirts for another, and a retired set of Elana's jammies for the last.

 


The hardest part of this project was the edging. I used double-fold bias tape for the cream/flower bib, made my own double-fold bias tape from an old Tshirt for the green bib, and used the bottom of a t shirt for the hippo bib - so the fold was well defined. That one was less trouble, just because I could be less accurate/straight with my stitch and still have it look fine when trimmed. I didn't mind the rougher finish, either.




Overall, I'm pretty pleased, but these took FOREVER, especially making my own bias tape. I hope to get better with time and practice.

I also made a baby blanket with some scrap and clearance micro-fleece. I was initially going to a ribbon square, but it turned into a small blanket with crinkle and ribbon. I haven't taken a picture of that yet, but I'll share it when I do. I feel like I can definitely improve on it.

Fabric decorated marker board and mini scrapbook

Do you read Real Simple magazine? You probably should. They constantly have easy crafts or creative uses for things. I made this markerboard with a $4 picture frame and a piece of fabric I already had. I was surprised that dry-erase markers work fine on glass. I'm not sure why.... Anyway, now I have a pretty markerboard! Simple. Here it is, fully functional, hanging on the wall by my calendar.

See that blue postcard on the wall there in the upper right of the bulletin board? It says DVP? That stands for Danny Vasquez Photography. He's amazing. Go and see for yourself. If you have any of my and Elana's family pics, you've already seen his work.

Here's something else I've been slowly adding to since, Ooooooh August :) It's a flip book/scrap book of our trip to the Iowa State Fair. I got the idea out here in Blogland a long time ago. I like it, but I'm not a scrapper. I'm sure any experienced scrapper could have done wonders with this idea!

I used 5x8 tabbed index cards and trimmed 8x8 cardstock, a couple sets of pinking shears, mod podge, and pretty much any scrap trim I could lay my hands on. I'll be doing this one again!