I hardly ever have the time or planning necessary for creating more involved projects for baby gifts. I like to buy a small gift and match an embroidery project to the gift-a sun hat, a bib, or onesie.
I made this butterfly hat to give to my cousin’s new daughter for Christmas. The leather baby shoes are from Target, as is the sun hat. I hand drew the butterfly pattern with a pencil. Sometimes I will iron-on a pattern to the hats, but it is easy to burn the nylon fabric of the hat. I try to stick to simple designs that I can easily match or use transfer paper to trace a pattern.

Here are a couple more examples of baby gifts I made this summer to give to my husband’s co-workers.

hand drawn caterpillar, paired with a Zutano tee.


Cherries pattern is from Sublime Stitching.


The Vespa pattern was posted by Average Jane Crafter.

I almost lept out the door at the UPS man the other day when he dropped this off. I was so excited to get the new Sukie Iron-On Craft Pad from Chronicle. I had high hopes I would be able to pull off some quick Christmas gifts. The many designs in the craft pad are colorful and fun. I love the color pallette.
I was able to make this set of napkins and two baby tees.

Even though I followed the directions as closely as possible, I ran into a lot of problems. The transfers bled through substantially. If the iron was hot enough to transfer all the color, several times I burned the fabric. If the iron was cooler, the design did not transfer very well. Also, I washed the two baby tees and the animal design came almost completely off. The butterfly still looks good, but it is much lighter than in this picture. The napkins faired better. I think the design will hold on those. They are 100% cotton napkins from Target. All in all, if you are persistant you can make this work, but be prepared to have some false starts. It took a large amount of patience, a good movie to watch, and coffee to keep at it until the wee hours.

Next, I am going to try to come up with a project to do with the transfers once they have been used. I hate to throw out the pretty designs, so I want some kind of paper project to re-use these. Stay tuned.

Last night, faced with wrapping the teacher thank-you gift for my son’s class, I decided to borrow the button-ribbon idea from this Anthropologie box my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday. I used grosgrain ribbon and embroidery floss to secure the buttons. The Anthropologie version has actual button holes on the cotton tape. I was working on this at 11:00 last night, so no time for button holes! It turned out nicely, but I think I prefer the muted colors of the Anthropologie version.

On a good day, I could be called a novice knitter. My great-grandmother first showed me how to knit when I was a little girl. Even though I have not practiced much, it comes back to me pretty easily. I just need to work on following a pattern! Luckily, my daughter, C., requested a scarf for Christmas. A pefect rectangle is right about my skill level.
She picked out this lovely purple yarn from the Knitting Nest. I have had such a great time working on this. It gives me hope for future projects. Now I am looking forward to wrapping it
in a beautiful package, and watching C. open it on Christmas.

I love to give and receive books. My nine-year-old son has requested books for Christmas, which I think is great! It warms the hearts of his librarian parents. Here are a few of my favorites for gifting this year.

Ages 3 and Under

Bright Baby Books-My Big Animal Book
The clear, bright photographs make these enticing for the little ones.

Max’s Toys
Max and Ruby are a favorite here. I especially like the older titles.

Roses are Red. Are Violets Blue?
This is my favorite book from childhood. I have our original copy. It is a color naming and color mixing book. If you can find a used copy, it is worth it!

Car Wash
An easy, fun picture book that has collage pictures.

Ages 4-8

Make It
Crafts for kids made from recyclables. We originally checked this out from the library, but C. loved it so much, I thought she needed her own copy. It is a great book.

How to Build an A
Build the alphabet with the included shapes.

Giant Play and Learn
From Chronicle Books, fun and quiet entertainment!

Zoo-ology
A fantastic book to give as a gift. This oversized book has beautiful illustrations of animals. The animals are grouped into categories including “On the Seaboard”, “Underground”, “Spots and Stripes”, and “Black and White”.

3-D Atlas and World Tour
Really for big kids too-who doesn’t love 3-D?

Big Words for Little People
Usually I am not a big fan of celebrity written books, but her books seem to resonate with kids. Her playful language and themes are a hit.

Ages 8-14

Magic Thief
Once kids really start reading, it is hard to keep them in books. They go through them so fast! This wizard adventure book is just what my son has in mind for a relaxing Winter Break read.

Gods of Manhattan
An adventure story, featuring thirteen-year-old Rory as the main character. Rory finds a parallel city to Manhattan, called Mannahatta, which is populated by Gods.

Savvy
The Beaumont family each is endowded with a special talent-a savvy- on their thirteenth birthday. When middle child, Mississippi, turns thirteen her adventure begins.

Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide: Extreme Junior Edition
I think this will get some laughs from my nine-year-old, and spark his imagination.

Almost Everything
By the same author as Zoo-ology, this giant book has categories including “Trees and Flowers”, “Human Body”, “Costumes of the World”, and “Tools”. The index has a description of each picture.