Appee Buthday, to yoooooou!

*Sung in the manor of one sweet little kid I birthed.*

So - It recently occurred to me that I know a lot of little ones born in the month of July.

It occurred to me when I was looking at my personal sewing to-do list and saw all these little names on it.

Oh dear.

Well, at least I can say I've gotten started.

The good thing for you guys is that WHEN I get finished, you'll get to see all the sweet little birthday things.

The good thing for me is that WHEN I get finished, I won't have to live under the overwhelming guilt that they aren't finished.

Win/win.

More Cape-ers.

I have a special buddy in Mississippi who is turning 3 this month and I happened to know he was seriously into pretending.

And since he's a little boy, I kind of figured he'd like to pretend to be a superhero.

And I also figured that being a superhero shouldn't be limited to a specific character.

So I turned him into his own superhero:

It's Super MattMan, y'all.

I knew that because his daddy works at the Co-Op, he'd appreciate a little John Deere Green in his costume, so I used that in a nice, poly gaberdine as the cape proper.  For the "M" shield, I simply created a pattern for both on paper and then cut them out to trace onto yellow and red cotton.

The cape is approximately 24" long (I guessed at a measurement to span from the nape of his neck to his knees), and is wide enough to be appropriately showy and flowy without being twirly.

Want a cape for your little superhero?

Let's talk colors, initials and lengths.

Buy your Cape Now:
$17.00 + $3.00 S&H

Color Requests

Initial + Measurement

This is si-wii-us.

We're not much into superheroes at our house.  We tend to run more on the Fairy/Princess side of pretend than the Super/Bat/Spiderman side.  Not that Lilah isn't exposed to those things...her father is the youngest of three boys, so he makes sure that she's well versed in all the things little boys would like, too *so that he has an excuse to buy new toys to play with* And actually, she is so good at playing with boy stuff that all the little boys at daycare are in love with her because she is the only girl who will go play cars with them - or so her teacher says.

That makes me proud.

And a little bit nervous.

Anyway, in the midst of the playing princess/doctor/mommy, we sometimes have to stop for a wild game of the best little superheroes I know:  The Wonder Pets.

Or, as Lilah calls them, "The Wunner Pets."

There's Lenny.  He's a "winnypig."  There's Tuck.  He's a turtle.  And there's Ming Ming.  She's a duckling - with a speech impediment.

They go on adventures in their "Fly Boat" to save baby animals, extolling the virtue of team work.

And they wear capes.

So guess who wanted one?

Yep.

And guess who made it?

Yep.

Y'all are so smart!

I freehanded everything about the design, so I'm not totally pleased with the size.  It's too wide, in my opinion.  But I got lucky finding the right colors of fabric; I just went and picked out some costume satin at Wal-Mart (Oh Happy Day - they are leaving the full fabric department in my closest Wal-Mart, according to the lady who cut this fabric for me!) and got to work trying to recreate Lenny the "Winnypig's" blue cape, because she needed that one first.

Needed.  First.

So one down, two to go.

Hmm...maybe now is a good time to really start talking about the difference between "Want" and "Need."

Piping

Piping isn't just for medical labs and bakeries.  It is a fun little additive that can take a nice sewing job and make it a little extra special.  While you can buy piping at your local fabric store in a rainbow of colors, sometimes what you really need is something that is an exact match for what you're working on.  Sometimes, you need to make your own, which is what I did with Chef Seanna's little apron.

You remember my supercute butterfly apron for sweet Miss Seanna, right?  Well, because I added the contrasting top to the bib of the apron, I really wanted to have some sort of special border for it; a regular seam line just seemed so...blah.

So I considered running out to buy some fun piping when I spied something out of the corner of my eye - a ball of yarn.  Why I end up with balls of yarn at my house, I don't know.  I think there is a part of my craft brain which is constantly pretending it can do things like knit or crochet.  I would like to inform it that this is simply a lie and it needs to get with the program and stop buying yarn.  Except for this one time, when it came in handy.  Because to make piping, you really only need a piece of yarn or thick string and a piece of fabric.

You can see the piping detail a little more clearly in this photo.  Now, technically, you are supposed to cut your fabric on the bias, as if you were going to make bias tape, so that it would work around curves.  But I knew I had no curves to work around, so a straight piece of scrap cloth would be just fine.

It is so easy that you're all going to do a *facepalm* right at your computer.  Are you ready?

• Cut a piece of fabric about 3/4 of an inch wide by a little bit longer than you need it to be.
• Cut a piece of yarn/string a little longer than you need it to be.
• Wrap the fabric around the yarn/string.
• Using your zipper foot, place foot against the side of the yarn/string and sew a straight stitch, encasing the yarn in the fabric.
• Voilá, piping.

I hope that didn't hurt your hand or your face too bad.

But now you can all go out and start adding matching piping to everything!

I got ya covered.

I know that a lot of you really loved the nap mat that I made for Lilah and would be interested in one for your own little ones, but I think it fits more into the "bed roll" category and as such might not be practical for a lot of daycare situations.

Anyway - As I was doing my grocery shopping over the weekend, I ran into WalMart for some sundries and realized that, even though it's not quite mid-July, it is BACK TO SCHOOL TIME at all retail establishments.  Well, except for Hobby Lobby where it is also already HallowThanksMas...but I digress...SO:  I noticed in the back to school section that they had those little red and blue blocky nap mats and just kind of wondered out loud if I could possibly create a nice, cushy cover for one of those - you know, something to make it a little more plush, a little less brick-like - that could be personalized and removable for easy washing, perhaps THAT might be a good option for all you folks looking for the brick alternative.

And then Lilah said, "Mommy, who is you talkin' to?  Is you talkin' to yourself?"

So we went away from that section of the store before she could point out any more of my "special" traits.

But I am interested to know if you might be interested.  And if so, perhaps one of you would like to be a guinea pig and get one at cost for me to have the practice of making it?

withpinandink@gmail.com

UPDATE:

I have a willing guinea pig.  If it is successful, they will be available in August!

The phrase "Easily Amused" comes to mind.

Today started off rather unfortunately for me at 1:00am when my body decided to reject all sustenance supplied it in the previous 12 hours.

When I woke up, the toddler was sporting an elevated temperature and the whole situation was enough for me to send up the white flag early in the day.  We were beaten, and would be happy to spend the day looking pitiful from the sofa together.

Luckily, the little one rallied later in the day but I've still been feeling kind of "bleh," until I remembered something I had tucked into my purse on the way out of work on Friday.

I had intended to share it with you over the weekend, but now I think it was divine intervention that it get lost and found when I needed it most.

I give you, the PENcil.

Click it one way, it's a pen.

Click it the other way, it's a mechanical pencil.

You all may "ooo" and "ahh" now.

To ME, this is better than a Snuggie could be in its wildest dreams.

Ok, so I can't even blame being sick and weakened from lack of food on how amazing and awesome I think this PENcil is.  I discovered the awesomeness when I picked up this pen and in an attempt to "click" the pen closed, I learned it was a mechanical pencil.  When I pointed out my faux pas to my boss, she said, "But wait, there's more!" (Ok, not really, but wouldn't that have been hilarious?!) and showed me how it swings both ways in the writing world.  And then and there I announced I was taking the pen home and writing about it.

You are so welcome.

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

If you're in the midst of a flurry of baby showers, births, and impending announcement arrivals, then join the club!  I couldn't be more thrilled for all of my friends who are joining me as a parent or who are adding to their families.  I love perusing baby registries and trying to choose just the right gift for my friends, the one I found most useful during my own early days in parenthood or one that I wish I had had.  But I also like to include something personalized, because - especially when you are a new parent - the simple fact is this: nothing and no one is as amazing to you as your own child.

One thing that you can never seem to have enough of with babies is bibs, so I'm thrilled to share that I have a limited number of these Little Miss Matched bibs that can be personalized with any monogram or name!  For just $6.00 (plus $2.50 S&H if you're not in my area), these are a great little item to add to that registry gift or to use as a fun package tag.

And they are so fun and colorful!

Order yours today and have it in time for that baby shower next weekend!

Bib & Shipping Choices

Pink Trim Stripe Bib $6.00 Pink Trim Stripe Bib + S&H $8.50 Blue and Red Stripe Bib $6.00 Blue and Red Stripe Bib + S&H $8.50 Floral Bib $6.00 Floral Bib + S&H $8.50

Initials (F/M/L) or Name

Monogram Color Preference

Pin It