Sock Monkeys and Surprises
Remember my friend Jess? The one who introduced me to jewelry making back in April and got me totally addicted?
Well, she’s having a BABY in August, and I have been trying to keep her surprise baby shower a secret for way too long now! I can’t even count all the fun things I’ve wanted to post about the preparations…the diaper cake, the favors, the prizes and prize display, the games…but most of all, I’m so excited about the gifts I made for her. Get ready to see all of it this week, but first, here are some of the things I’ve been working on. {PS – I’m such a dork that I set this to auto-post during the shower when I finally can let the cat out of the bag!}
First and foremost, every baby needs clothes, right? What gets tricky is that Matt and Jess aren’t finding out the baby’s gender until he/she is born and there aren’t too many cute, neutral clothes out there. Solution? Artsy Mama to the rescue…we’ll just make some!
All you need are onesies, fabric paint, and paint brushes. Wash and dry the onesies first, then go to town!
Matt and Jess are both huge MD Terps fans since they both graduated from University of MD and that’s where they met. So, of course, baby has to be a fan too, right?
These are two of my favorites: the first is the logo for our Bible Study group, and the second is a sock monkey!! Jess has a thing about sock monkeys, so I thought she’d appreciate it.
I also made one that looks like a jersey and has “Team {Last Name}” on the back along with a number 4, since Baby will be the 4th member of their family.
And, of course, when Little Crafter saw what I was up to, he wanted to decorate some onesies of his own for the baby. Here are his contributions:
I love them, don’t you? The great part is, Noah has big boy versions of both of these and they have washed well and held up awesome even when being worn almost constantly by a toddler. So, I figure they’ll hold up okay for a baby.
While I was at it, I put a sock monkey on a cloth diaper that Jess can use as a burp cloth.
I got her some spoons, some socks, the little mesh bag to put fruit in, some hand sanitizer for the diaper bag, a Hershey bar {she’s addicted to chocolate}, and a few other goodies to go with it all, and I made her a family necklace with all 4 birthstones in it…that I forgot to take a photo of. Oops.
Anyway, instead of putting it all in a standard gift bag, I decided to give her a bag she could actually use. I got this black canvas tote for just a few bucks at Michaels back at Christmas time. It was just begging to be decorated, so it got to have a sock monkey on it too!
I used a different technique on this than on the onesies because just painting on the black bag wouldn’t have shown up. Instead, I used some Heat and Bond and fabric to make this little guy. I ironed the adhesive onto white, brown, beige, red, and black fabric, then cut out the shapes I wanted. {I sketched a pattern on computer paper first}. Then, I peeled the backing off, laid things out where I wanted them, and ironed them onto the bag. After everything was ironed, I traced around the raw edges with puff paint and added the nostrils. Finally, I glued on button eyes.
Noah helped me wrap all the gifts and we stuffed the bag full. I can’t wait to see her reaction…
How exciting. Good for you, holding in your secret for this long (love that you sent out this post the second you could, lol). Who doesn’t love a sock monkey,…Jess is going to be thrilled.
So cute! I just hosted a sock monkey shower and this would have been a great gift for the mom to be! http://gigglesgalorenmore.blogspot.com/2011/07/sock-monkey-baby-shower.html
I’m so grateful that you linked up in this week’s Creative Bloggers’ Party & Hop 🙂 This awesome post totally rocked the party!
love all your cute little monkeys we have a daughter nicknamed “the monkey” so monkeys are special to us come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com