Sewing for Maggie Kate

 I have been busy sewing for Maggie Kate. 

I have always loved to sew and especially for little girls :) 

I love these little diaper covers with all the ruffles.  (I posted the pattern here)  I need a little model for them but she won't be here until September.  I used some of the pink and white gingham I bought to use as a table topper for the Gender Reveal Party.  I still have plenty of fabric left for a dress and other things.  I knew when I purchased the fabric that I could later use it for items of clothing.  I have the baby blue gingham also. 

 

I've been busy making burp clothes too.  I had the cloth diapers leftover from some I purchased to make burp clothes for a friend's grandbaby last year.  I did buy a small amount of pink flannel to trim them with to "dress" them up (I had the purple already).  I added the monograms and  the appliqued flower to these.  I have more I am finishing with different fabrics and appliques.  Bibs too!

I love sewing for babies :)

 

For Mother's Day my sweet husband gave me Monogram Wizard Plus, a software program to use for monograms.  I have plenty of designs and software on my Bernina but I wanted this quick and easy program.  I have been experimenting with it the last few days.  So many fonts to choose from and designs also.  Fun!

 

Jennifer has chosen fabrics for the nursery ... they are a soft pink :)  I am waiting on another fabric I've ordered to use in the bumper pad.  As soon as it comes I will begin the sewing.  I have so much to sew in the next few weeks for the nursery.  The bed is set up in the nursery and it is gorgeous! 

 

I also found my pleater for smocking.   It pleats the fabric perfectly for smocking.   I have been "pinning" on Pinterest to refresh my memory on how to smock again.  The last time I smocked was in the 1990's when I made Christmas ornaments.  A long time ago :)

 

Now I am off to finish up some more things and then pot some plants for hanging baskets.  I am so far behind this year with everything in my yard. 

 

Thank you for the Mother's Day wishes!  Those days are difficult since Amber went to Heaven.  Next year I will have Maggie Kate to celebrate with ;)

 

And I haven't had time to visit blogs so I have catch up with all of you!

 

Thanks for visiting and God Bless!

Hugs,

Donna

Happy Mother's Day

Enjoy your Mother's Day!

 

I will be back this week with some sewing posts :)

 

Hugs,

Donna

Sewing for Baby

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days but I had a terrible cough and I suppose allergies for over a week... ugh!  The rain has hopefully washed the pollen away!

 

 I have always loved sewing garments.  I will share with you soon how I learned to sew.  I made all my girls clothes when they were growing up.  You can really make baby garments out of just a small amount of fabric.

 

Jennifer had a doctors appointment yesterday and all is good.   She is 20 weeks and her little bump is adorable!  She is so tiny and seeing her with a belly is just precious to me!   After her appointment we went to several shops in B'ham to shop for patterns and fabrics for Maggie Kate ;)  We went to one shop that carried ready made dresses and oh my goodness at the prices!  One little heirloom dress was $240!!  Jennifer turned to me and said thank goodness you can sew!  Jennifer wants Maggie Kate to have plenty of "Nonna made" garments :)  Smocking, monograms ... all the things little Southern girls wear!

Look at this little diaper cover!  This is the cutest thing ever!  Maggie Kate will have plenty of these :)  I love ruffles on little girls.  We also bought the little pretty little pink fabric to the right of the pattern.  ADORABLE!  Of course I have plenty of fabric in my stash.

 

I've actually had these books for a couple of years hoping to have a grandbaby one day.  Kari Mecca has the sweetest things for embellishing dresses for little girls.

 

I bought these Sew Beautiful magazines when I found out Jennifer was pregnant.  I secretly hoped for a little girl to sew for :)  I subscribed to this magazine for years when my girls were little and I still have every copy packed away.  The designs are really timeless for little girls especially if you live in the South!  We love smocked dresses and heirloom sewing.  I learned to smock when my girls were little.   I kept all their dresses.  No wonder my husband thinks I am a hoarder!

 

 

When I had Amber and Jennifer over thirty years ago it was so hard to find newborn patterns.  Now they have lots of newborn patterns.  Jennifer bought these two yesterday.  There are multiple sizes in each pattern so I can use these for many years. 

Now I have plenty to sew in the next several months!

I have been making burp clothes this week and I will show them later this week. 

 

And I just ordered fabric to use for the nursery bedding.  Lots of sewing this summer for  me!

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Donna

Boy or Girl Part II

As promised this is Part II of the Gender Reveal Party you can read about in the previous post.

 

I made the decorations for the table ... all pink and blue!   Maggie Kate's sonogram in the picture frame is placed on the left side of the table.  I purchased blue and pink gingham for the table toppers over the white tablecloth I had.   I knew I could use the fabric for making little dresses or bubbles for Maggie Kate.  I love to sew so this little girl is going to be very well dressed!

 

I love using apothecary jars to fill with candy.  Of course I used pink and blue for this party!

Each jar was decorated with blue and pink ribbons. 

 

 

The Hershey bar idea is from Pinterest.  I just used a pink and blue marker to color in the HE or SHE on each bar.  The little onesie cards I cut out with my Silhouette digital cutter had little sayings on them for babies.  I also made some for food labels.  I didn't take pictures of the food trays I prepared.

People arrived early and I completely forgot :(  The food was good!! 

 

More blue and pink candy in jars tied with ribbons.  I had another jar filled with Hershey Kisses in pink and blue.  So much PINK and BLUE :)

The centerpiece was the yummy cake with blue and pink buttercream icing.  The cake was strawberry which was pink.  The cake was ordered before I knew the baby was a girl so it worked out perfectly :)

Sometimes with gender reveal parties the cake is the reveal but if you saw the previous post the happy parents-to-be opened a box of balloons.

 

I made the little bottles, pacifiers and booties from candy melts.  Quick and easy! 

In another jar I didn't get pics of closeups were pink and blue pretzels I had dipped in candy melts and sprinkled with colored sugars.  Yummy!

 

 I hadn't made pinwheels in years.  They were so much fun to make out of scrapbook paper and I used scrapbooking supplies to embellish them.  More ribbons too!  I placed the pinwheels in mason jars filled with rice that looked like milk and shredded pink paper.  So sweet :)

 

This was a fun party to plan and to decorate for after I came up with a few ideas.

 It was a lot of work but so much fun for this sweet little blessing we will be welcoming into our lives in September :) 

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Donna

Boy or Girl?

My husband and I hosted the Gender Reveal Party at Jennifer and Jeremy's house on Saturday night.  We went with the parents to be for the ultrasound on Thursday morning but had to keep it a secret for two days!  I didn't talk to anyone I was so excited!  I knew I had to be quiet :) 

I used a chalkboard to greet the guests. Jennifer's "W"s on her front doors are so southern :)  Southern girls love monograms and ferns!

 

Nolan or Maggie?

It's hard to tell in the picture but the banner is made from shades of pink and blue scrapbook paper and strung with ribbon.  I really had so much fun decorating!

 

I asked everyone in the invitation that I made to wear pink for a girl or blue for a boy.

I made the signs for pictures of Team Nolan or Team Maggie.  Jennifer said a boy and Jeremy is thinking pink.  We took pictures of each team before the reveal so no one changed their mind after the reveal :)  I wore blue and pink.  I just want a healthy grandbaby.

 

 

Here's the box I decorated for the balloon release.  We placed pink or blue balloons in the box.  Some people choose to cut a cake with pink or blue icing. We had a houseful of people so Jennifer wanted to do the balloon release so everyone could see at one time. 

 

And it's a GIRL!!!!  Yes little Maggie Kate!!! 

 

Pink bows and ruffles ... so sweet.  Maggie Kate already has a new outfit :)  Jennifer had seen this little onesie at a shop the day before so my husband and I surprised her with it in the box too!

 

Jennifer and Jeremy knew the baby was a girl before the party.  Some parents choose to wait for a surprise but not these two!

We did the party to let friends and family know the gender at one time.  More personal than a text or phone call.  It was a special time and Maggie is already so loved :)

 

My next post will be the table with the cake.  Everything is pink and blue! 

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Donna 

Pink or Blue?

I have been so busy making pink and blue items for the Gender Reveal Party we are having this weekend for Jennifer and Jeremy.

I have to admit I am having so much fun!!  I made the Boy or Girl banner to hang from their mantel.  I left plenty of ribbon attached to arrange the banner like I want it.  I used scrapbook paper and printed out the letters on the computer to the size I wanted. 

I've also been making the tissue paper balls to hang from their chandelier.

 

Gender reveal parties are the latest "thing" for parents to be.  Some people cut a cake and the icing reveals the gender.  Blue icing or pink icing.  We are having cake but Jennifer decided she wanted to open a big moving box with pink or blue balloons inside.  Now I am decorating the box for the balloons.

 

The table will have blue and pink goodies also.  I have been buying blue and pink candy for  apothecary jars.   I have several things planned.

 

I made the invitations for the party and asked the guests to wear pink if they think the baby is a girl or blue if they think a boy.  I really don't care if it is a boy or girl as long as it is healthy!  I am wearing pink and blue :) 

 

One more thing I wanted to share.   I am placing a chalkboard at the front door to greet the guests.  I knew I had several in my basement that Amber and Jennifer had as little girls.  I went downstairs last night to get one and the first one I pulled from the stack of six (yes my girls were spoiled) was one Amber had written on years ago :)  I always feel her near me but when I find little things like this with little notes it brings back so many memories.  I miss her so much but I know she is smiling down from Heaven!  And just think ... she already knows if it is a boy or girl :)

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Donna

Planning a Gender Reveal Party

  I have been deep in thoughts of pink and blue!  I am planning a Gender Reveal Party for my new grandbaby!    Gender reveals are becoming more popular every day.    There are wonderful ideas for inspiration on Pinterest.

(source)

 

Will it be a boy or girl?  The mommy and daddy find out next week.

We are excited!

 

 

(Source)

 

If you have ever been to a gender party please let me know.

I would love to hear your ideas!

 

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Donna

Happy Easter

Have a blessed Easter Sunday!

 

Hugs,

Donna

Bunny Bark

I made this sweet and salty goodie last year and loved it. It was so good to munch on I made it again this year.  I thought it would be too sweet but with the pretzels it's the right balance of sweet and salty.

I began breaking the bark up before I took this pic.  You can see all the Easter colored sprinkles :)

 

 

Bunny Bark

 

14 whole Oreos broken up (I used vanilla flavor)

1-1/2 cups pretzels, broken into pieces.  (I used the small stick pretzels)

1 lb. almond bark

1 cup M&M's

Colored sprinkles

 

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper.

Spread broken cookies, pretzels and 3/4 cup of M&M's on wax paper

Melt bark in microwave for 1-1/2 minutes.  Stir and then heat 30 seconds more.  Should be smooth and creamy.

Drizzle chocolate over cookie mixture spreading with spatula if needed.

Sprinkle remaining M&M's and sprinkles over chocolate while it's still wet.

Let harden until firm and break into pieces.

Store in air tight container.

 

 

I love all the pastel colors.  Perfect for Easter.  This would be fun for kids to help with adding the sprinkles, etc.

Have a good day!

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Donna

Looking Like Spring

Spring is arriving at my house or at least I hope it is.  We had severe storms on Monday and many trees are down and homes were damaged in our area.  We had no damage except for neighbor's trees blown into our pasture.  The power was off for two days :(  Oh how we miss the electricity when we don't have it.  I was thrilled when the power came back on last night! 

 

Now I am playing "catch up" with things around the house.  Laundry, cleaning ... all the fun stuff :(

I stopped a few minutes to take a few pictures of the dining room table for Easter.  I placed pink and yellow flowers in an old pitcher and scattered eggs around it in a cabbage themed platter.

 

Sparkly colored eggs for each carrot themed plate. 

 

My carrot filled with eggs.  I didn't even put a tablecloth on the table.  We won't even eat at the table for Easter!  Jennifer has to work this year on Easter (people want their prescriptions filled) so I probably won't even cook this year.

 

On each plate I try to place a different colored egg.

 

 I don't use pink in my house except for Easter.  I love pink

but it just doesn't go with my décor.

 

A bunny in the bay window of the dining room ...

 

and a bunch of carrots.  I love bunnies!

 

I hope to be back to regular blogging now that I am feeling better and we have no more storms that cause power outages.  Colder weather has moved in after 70 degree temps and snow flurries are expected tonight!  Only in the South can we have such crazy weather.

 

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Donna