I am really close to my younger brother, largely due to the fact that I was responsible for looking after him a lot when we were kids. Honestly though, I loved to play with him whether I had to or not. He was such a sweet little boy. He’s six years younger, but the age gap makes no difference these days. He can always bring a smile to my face.
This past weekend I took a little road trip with my parents and my 11-year-old, to SC for he and his wife’s baby shower.
Today I’m going to share what I made for it.
First up this is my baby brother and his cutie pie wife:
This is their first baby, due October 24th. They are welcoming a precious baby girl: Eva Grace. My younger sister and I have five boys between us with no girls so when we found out they were having a girl, we were so excited! Then my SIL dropped the bomb: NO PINK. Wha???
It was hard, but we managed to restrain ourselves.
This is the nursery bedding she picked out for the baby’s crib:
To me it says, “boy”, but I’m warming up to the vision she has for the space.
I knew I wanted to make her something and guess what I found out? You can buy fabric to match the bedding!
So I ordered the blue paisley-like print and the ivory chenille. I had no idea what I would do with them, but I figured it out.
First up is this organizer to hang on the side or end of the crib. The back side is ivory chenille and the pockets are also lined with it:
It can hold all those little things like nail clippers, extra pacifiers, or even all those tiny little shoes you can’t resist buying for little girls.
Brennan still has his hanging on his bedroom wall. It now holds stuffed animals.
Then I found a great deal on these baskets:
One of them needed a little dusting and I freshened up the finish with a coat of spray acrylic sealer in a gloss finish. Then I used the original liner as a pattern to make new liners from the leftover paisley-like fabric:
You can’t go wrong with a gift like this. Baby’s have a ton of things that need to be organized!
And finally, I wanted to make something special.
My son received a hand-made quilt when he was a baby that was made from flannel. After a bajillion washes, it is so soft and cuddly and at four years old, it’s still the blankie he sleeps with, curls up on the couch with, and can’t do without when he’s just not feeling well.
I wanted to make one for Eva that would be her favorite blankie also. The only hard part was that I couldn’t use pink, but I think I managed quite well…
I went with soft aqua and grey.
I made one for my neighbor a couple of months ago, but I did the pattern in this one a bit differently.
I shared the how-to in a guest post, but I’ll be sharing it here at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
UPDATE: See the how-to for this easy-t0-make quilt here.
There’s one more thing to share. My SIL called me the other day and told me to be on the look out for a mirror for the nursery. She sent a couple of photos of what she had in mind. I had just been yard saling the weekend before and picked up not one, but two mirrors! One of them was perfect. It started out like this:
But a little paint and some minor repairs and it looked like this:
Before:
After:
It will help add a feminine feel to the space I think. I actually got it for free because the back was missing and it was coming out of the frame. I asked if they would throw it in when I was purchasing several other items and they did! I fixed it good as new!
I packed the rest of their goodies in the baskets.
I put diapers on the bottom and then filled it in with all the things a sweet new baby needs.
The little elephant teether is pink, but I couldn’t resist…
Here’s a cell phone pic of one of the sets my Mom knit for Eva…
She also made a beautiful aqua set. I never thought to take good pictures?!
My brother and SIL loved everything and were so appreciative.
This was just before their shower…aren’t they so sweet?
A lot of heart goes into making things for the ones you love.
These two people are loved a lot. 🙂
I’ll be back on Thursday for Furniture Themed Thursday. Our theme this month is decoupage!
This is what I’m making over:
See you then!
UPDATE: See it HERE now! 🙂
XO,
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Sue Farmer says
Your brother and sil are very lucky!! So much thought and hard work went into everything you did. The blanket is absolutely adorable as is everything else.
Christy K. James says
Thanks so much, Sue! They are really special to me. 🙂
Beverley Leonie says
Wow…what a sweet post. I felt the love. I can certainly relate to not wanting pink. I myself have been a blue and green girl all my life. Ironically, I love pink in the garden. The blanket you made with such skill and love is absolutely beautiful. One little girl is going to have a most loving aunt. Congratulations to all.
Christy K. James says
Thanks so much, Beverley! They are very special to me and it was a pleasure to make things for their little one. 🙂
Diane Zueck says
The hanging organizer is going to be so handy. How thoughtful of you to order matching fabric to make it and the other items. I really like the chenille you used with the organizer. The baskets turned out perfect and it all wrapped up into one extra special gift. BTW, Your mom is an excellent knitter. I see where you get your ability for sewing, crafting, and making new things. Any chance you would do a post on how to make the organizer?
Christy K. James says
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment, Diane! My creative side definitely comes from my Mom. As for the how-to on the organizer, the fabric took a bit longer to come in than expected and so I was a bit pushed for time. I really wish I would have photographed that as well as the basket liners, as I went so I could share. I was also working on them late at night which isn’t the best for tutorial photos. Sorry about that. Enjoy the rest of your Holiday weekend! XO
Shannon J. Perkins says
That’s so sweet of you! These couple looks cute. I love the “no pink” idea for a baby shower. It is very common in many baby showers and maybe your sister-in-law wants something that’s really unique for hers. I’m so sure that you have impressed them because everything you do turned out so nice. Good job!
Christy K. James says
Thank you!