DIY Baby Bedding - Bumpers

These are very time consuming and a little frustrating, but well worth it! It's way cheaper than buying the bedding (depending on the fabric you choose).  Here are the instructions that come in the bumper pads. 

This is what the bumper pads look like.

The bumper pads are $30, but you can catch them on sale or use a coupon and get them for around $15-20. I have gotten them at both hobby lobby and Hancock fabric. 

You will want to follow the instructions exactly. I personally wanted my ties longer so I bought a 1/2 yard more tie fabric. The ties were the hardest for me to sew because me and my machine kept having issues. :-) Other than that the bottom part of the bumper pad when I was done was a little sketchy, but no one but you will know! Well unless you have noisy family members that want to critic it. (We all have them!) I just sewed the bottom the best I could, but most of mine are not perfect at all.  If you have any questions comment and I will try to help. :-) Enjoy! 

Here are my finished projects!

DIY Infant Gown

First off I want to start by saying some people that make these want $40!!! That was the average amount I seen when I was looking to buy one. I knew with my previous sewing knowledge that I could make one, surely.  

What you will need:

Onesie - I used 0-3 months

1/2 yard of fabric

All purpose thread to match fabric

18 inches of 1/2 yard of elastic

Straight pins

Sewing machine :-)

Scissors

Safety pin

 Fabric pen (optional)

First off you want a onesie. I bought 0-3 months because I wanted to bring Emma Kate home in it. Luckily I have a spectacular aunt that embroideries so I had her monogram initials and Emma Kate's name on the onesies. If your local to me you can get her to do it super cheap!  

Next you want to get 1/2 yard of material. The material on the left is from Joann Fabric and the material on the left (which I eventually didn't use) is from Hobby Lobby. You will want to wash your fabric and onesie before you start. 

Next get the onesie. A rule of thumb that I have noticed researching this is that if you have a small onesie then measure 1 inch to 2 inches down from the underarm seam. I personally measured around 1 1/8 inch down. I used my fabric pen that disappears over time and measure a line from dot to dot under each arm. I then cut the onesie. Set this aside.

Now you will want to fold your fabric in half hamburger style. :-) When you get ready to sew make sure your pretty print side is facing the other pretty print side. You will sew the 'inside' part so the fabric crease will be on the inside where no one can see it. I know this fabric isn't what I used on this gown, but I plan to use it for another gown. :-) Love these!  You will pin and sew where I have it flipped over to show you the pretty side. 

Once you are done sewing that part then you will sew the top part. Be sure if you have a specific pattern that it's turned right when you start sewing. Mistakes are lovely to correct ( rolls eyes ). When you sew this part also make sure that you do not sew the sides together! You are simply sewing thread onto the fabric. So take off part of the arm (that holds your extra pressure feet, brush, etc). You will want to set your needle position all the way to the right, and your stitch needs to be the biggest stitch you machine will stitch. 

It may be hard to see on the actual needle but 6.5 is the furthest to the right it will go, and 4.8 is the biggest stitch I can get on my machine. 

All of this preparation will allow you to see the material and gather the material to reveal a gathered look. 

Here comes the trickiest part (to me). The best way to do this is start sewing where you sewed the sides together (on one side of the crease. Sew around once, but done rejoin your beginning stitch. You will need to sew around the top of the fabric once. Then change your needle position back to the middle (3.5) and sew again. Once this is done take your bobbin thread on the fabric. This should be the thread hanging down on the 'inside' or ugly part of the fabric (not the pretty side). You will want to hold those two threads tight, but not to tight because the thread will break (and you will have to redo it). Gently slide the fabric towards the other end. You may want to do a little on each side so that you make sure to gather both sides. If you do break your thread make sure it's both because if it's just one thread you can continue. If you break both you will have to use a seam ripper to take the thread off the fabric and start all over. I've done this many times don't feel bad.  When you gather a little on each side out it up against the onesie and see how much more you need to do. You will want it about 1/2 to 1 inch bigger on either side of the onesie. Make sure you take your thread and tie them together a few times so that they won't come loose anytime soon. 

Simply place the cut onesie inside of the gathered part. You do not have to do anything to the onesie. 

I put the crease where I first sewed the fabric together at the back so that it's not visible. Pin the onesie to the fabric and sew. Make sure again that you sew the onesie to the fabric and not all of it together (I did that too thanks to tending to a toddler at the same time).  Once this is done you can turn the fabric to the pretty side and look at what you have made. :-)

From here you can decide if you want to sew the bottom to make an infant gown or leave it open for a dress. If you want to leave it open for a dress then hem the bottom. This can also be done to toddler dresses just make sure you cut the shirt around 2 inches down from the armpit.  

If you want to continue with the gown then grab your elastic. You will want to fold up the fabric on the bottom of the gown about an inch.  You will then hem (start from the crease) the fabric all the way around BUT leave about a 1 inch space to feed the elastic in. 

Next safety pin your elastic. Feed your elastic through the hem and once it's through the other side sew the elastic together. Then fix your fabric around the elastic. Sew the rest of the hem together over the crease and TADA!!! You have yourself an infant gown!! 

Leave your comments and if you made one. Leave a picture too! :-) Hope you enjoy! It gets easier when you do one. I'm going on my third one!

Banana Cream Poke Cake & Bruschetta

Yesterday and today I fixed these recipes from Pinterest. You can follow me at BrandiandMatt Hughes.

Cake:
This one is similar to the Coconut Cream Poke Cake! Just different ingredients :-) Yellow cake mix, instant banana cream pudding, whipped cream, and nila wafers.

Bruschetta with Tomatoes & Avocados:
Basic ingredients are French bread, Roma tomatoes (my choice), and avocados. I changed the recipe up a bit. I mixed the oil, vinegar, and spices in a bowl and mixes the tomatoes in. It calls for placing the oil on the bread then use the rest to pour on top. We like the bread non soggy :-) oh and you have to bake the bread for a short time! 3 min or so at 350 degrees. It's really good! My husband even took the rest to work for his lunch! Hope you enjoy!!

Completed Pinterest Experiments

Here are some of the Pinterest things I have done so far, and that I actually photographed! :-)  If you have any questions about them or want the recipe or to see them on pinterest search/follow me.  My Pinterest account is under Brandiandmatt Hughes.

I was lucky enough to be building my house and researching on Pinterest at the same time. :-)  My grandfather is a carpenter so it was easy for me to say 'Hey, can you do this for me?!?!'.  I made him build me these shelves in my bathroom wall.  To this day I love them and they are super duper handy!!

This is a giant 'fish bowl' that I bought at Home Goods for $12.99.  The Pinterest photo/blog had big sea shells in theirs.  It would be a lot easier if I took a vacation to the beach and got some at the tourist traps, lol!!  Anyways I worked with what I could find here. 

This is my front door, and yes I know that both of the boots are decorated different!  My aunt bought me one for my birthday, and I went the very next day and got another boot vase from Kirklands and flowers from Hobby Lobby!  Cute find for around $15 (for one!).  The wreath I also got the idea off Pinterest.  Its a grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby ($3 at Hobby Lobby with coupon), flowers on clearance ($1.00 a piece), and a letter H ($1.50 Half off).  So $8.50 total?!?!

This is suppose to be a Coconut Poke Cake off of Pinterest.  I apparently didn't take the final photo. :-(

 It was really good!  I would only try it if you like coconut cake!  By the way the ingredients call for cream of coconut, and I guess I'm the nut because I couldn't find it in the store!  (Its in the chip aisle by the drink mixes!).

These are 'puffs' that are made from tissue paper and fishing line.  I made them for my daughters birthday party.  My daughter and I were actually born on the same day so it was part my birthday too :-)  Also off of Pinterest.

Homemade Salsa!  I made this simply from 5 lbs of roma tomatoes, 1 purple onion, salt, and 4 hot peppers (I like salsa hot!).  I put it all in a big food processor and blended it to my liking. 

This is homemade Laundry Soap!  I got the recipe from my wonderful neighbors Linda and Angelena! So far its great!  In the first picture I am mixing the water, borax, and washing soda.  The second photo that looks like cheese (my sister almost ate it for real!!) is felsnaptha soap, grated of course.  The third photo is the melting felsnaptha in a pot on the stove :)  I thought it was going to turn out terrible!  The last photo is my finished project!  I put them in quart jars so that its cute and ready to go!  If you have any questions or want the recipe email me at brandihughesphotography@yahoo.com