Monday, January 5, 2009

hello 2009

And hello to all of you as well! Did you have a nice holiday? We certainly did.. and I think I'm just now recovering from all of the get-togethers and crafting and eating and family and presents... :) One thing I'll do differently next year: plan better. I was a frantic crazy person the entire week before Christmas and I didn't even get everything done. Not fun.. but anyways.. it's a new year. I love the new year, a blank slate. A chance to start fresh. But before I start fresh I'd like to share some of the handmade gifts that made me go so crazy. It wasn't the gift's fault, just that I waited until the last minute to work on them! So here's the first one:

A set of six fabric baby blocks in a drawstring bag. I made two sets of these for the two babies in my life. These were fun and easy. Cut six squares of fabric for each block you want to make. I cut mine 3" for a 2 1/2" block. I stuffed them with bamboo stuffing. I've seen other directions that say to use a foam cube, which would give them a good shape, I'll admit, but that just freaks me out. The foam stinks really bad (chemicals!) and I can't imagine letting a baby chew on something like that.

You can make these as simple or as complex as you'd like. I originally wanted to do a little embroidery on each one but time prevented that. :) I still think they're pretty cute.
I'll share more this week!

5 comments:

Erin said...

i love the blocks, what a great idea! last year my husband and i and both our families decided to give only hand-made gifts. it was a blessing and a curse - i was up for, i think, almost 72 hours strait (right before christmas) cutting, sewing, stringing, etc. because i was such a procrastinator. but definitely worth it seeing the joy your gift brings to someone you love!! i'm with you on the whole planning better plan - definitely a 2009 goal of mine! :)

Leah said...

I would love for everyone to give only handmade; I think it's so special and thoughtful! But I'm sure I would be wondering why the heck I agreed to something like that when the time's running out. :)

Amy said...

love the blocks! I like that each one is a different color, so cute!

jamie said...

hi! i just discovered your blog (thanks to a friend), and it's great!

these blocks are terrific. high fives to you for the bamboo stuffing. i never thought about the baby chewing on them, but i guess they do that. :) also, i LOVE that each block is doing its own color thing. i've seen these blocks in various places, but usually sporting an "anything goes" kind of look. good job!

Leah said...

Thanks for the kind words guys! I love rainbow colors. ;)