The Final Countdown

As I mentioned a few months ago, I'm going to be an aunt.   Very soon, in fact - my sister is due TODAY!  As you might expect, things have been a little baby-crazy around here.  It's been especially fun picking up cute toys and imagining a little baby playing with them in just a few weeks!  Here are a few things we've gotten for the littlest member of the family.

Meet Marvin the Lion, the baby's first stuffed animal. (I bought this a week after I found out my sister was pregnant!)

via jellycat.com 

The cutest book of baby haikus:

via haikutwobytwo.com

A DIY mobile (inspired by this one):

via land of nod

A home-sewn blanket:

What are your favorite gifts for new babies?

Man Gift

We always talk about clothes and gifts for women, but rarely for men. We need to get better at doing that. So when I spotted this online store for guys, I figured I'd share. I love the notepads, the belts...everything from Wood & Faulk. The bag below would make a really nice gift for any boyfriend, brother, or dad who likes to travel. Looks like something that would last for years. And really nice for fall, which begins Friday!

Via Wood & Faulk

I hope you all have a great start to your fall. (It is definitely my favorite season.) Here's to crisp air, falling leaves, apple pie, the smell of wood in the fireplace, and cozy sweaters. Mmmm.

The Saturday Find - morning granola

Today we have "The Saturday Find" instead of "The Friday Find." Why? Because I was giving these jars of granola away as gifts and I didn't want to ruin the surprise!

This past week I made a huge batch of this delicious granola. It came out crunchy and chewy and sweet (and even a little salty, mmm) - everything you'd hope granola would be. It served as a yummy, affordable gift for a few great people. So far, it is the best granola recipe I have found out there on the world wide web.

 

For those who want to make this granola, the recipe suggests stirring the granola every ten minutes, but I would suggest every twenty minutes. That way you get bigger clusters. If you like crunchier granola, I also suggest turning the heat up to 325 for the last ten minutes of baking.

Enjoy! And have a very relaxing weekend :)

Baby blanket project

Since my sister shared her exciting news recently, I thought I would share a project I've been working on for her - a baby blanket!  I used this pattern - it is really more of a play mat, but I liked it because aside from being warm and snuggly, it can be taken on picnics, tucked into a stroller, or spread on the floor with toys.  Here are some pictures of the work in progress:

After I had the play mat sewn together in it's basic form, I basted it to keep the layers in place while I quilted it.  I used this tutorial since I had no idea what I was doing, and it was very helpful!

Once it was completely basted, I marked the fabric with tiny dots where I would embroider tiny X's.  I used this ruler (SO HANDY!) to make sure the dots were evenly spaced.

Then, I embroidered a small X on each of the pencil-marked dots.  This means the other side has tiny knots on it, but I decided that's okay since they don't compromise how comfy the blanket is.

Finally, I trimmed the blanket with this (bottom right) fabric.  It made the whole blanket much more exciting to look at, and was still gender neutral.

Since I am sewing the trim on by hand, I'm not quite finished yet.  I'll post pics of the final product in a few days. :) 

 

Teeny tiny hat

Ben had a shirt...

And it looked so soft and cozy.

Looked like it would better suit my coworker's future baby boy.

Pattern via Prudent Baby

So that's what happened to it :)

Holidaze

Christmas is absolutely my favorite time of year, so it seems fitting that our very first blog post should fall in the midst of the holiday.

Although Liz and I keep in touch in many conventional ways (thanks, google chat!) one of our favorite things to do is share new blogs that we find.  I find that the office work environment is perfect for blog reading--whenever I need a quick 2-minute break, I hop over to one of my favorite sites to check for a new post.  I love reading about different projects that people are working on or new recipes they've tried.

This time of year I especially like reading about some of the homemade gifts that are all over the web.  Without any final exams this season, I had more time to test my craftsmanship for friends and family.  I didn't get as far as I would have liked, but my grandmother will be getting one of these calendars, made with cute seasonal paper I've had stashed in my desk for a while.  My sister, who loves to take long walks, will be getting a cowl along these lines to keep her warm.  Andy's family got a tin full of buckeyes and Russian snowballs, both of which were recommended by smitten kitchen.

Even though I only managed a few homemade gifts this year, I already have a running list of future gift ideas.  Happy Holidays!