Clare Quotes (8 Year Old Edition)

Clare turns 9 years old today!  And that means it's time for one of my favorite traditions.  Here are some of my favorite quirky Clare moments I've caught this year.

Me: Did you know anyone else at the party?
Clare: Not at that pacific party, but I did see a girl I knew who was at a different party.
(She always get pacific and specific mixed up!)

Clare: Does anyone want my autograph?
Me: What are you famous for?
Clare: Saying 'oww' all the time... Never being in the Olympics... And for being annoyed by my younger sister.

Clare: I got a cooked potato!
Me: You mean baked?
Clare: Same difference

When you leave and then you come back, I always think you are more beautiful.  (Be still my heart, little one)

Yellow is a very zazzy color.

When I get married, my husband is going to fix my hair every morning.  That way I don't ever have to do it.  And he can learn new styles and fix it for me.  (She's got this all figured out apparently)

(In the middle of a normal conversation, Clare looks at me straight faced and says) Did you know 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance?

I'm drinking my life away. (Said while getting her 3rd glass of water for the evening)

The Morris Christmas Carols of 2016

We three kings of Orient are bearing gifts we traverse afar... Our family hit the road for over 20 weekends this year. We traveled to Albuquerque, Kansas City, Dewey, Amarillo, San Antonio, Lake Coleman, and more. We enjoyed lots of family visits, roller coasters, Braum’s milkshakes, aquariums, campfires, the Alamo, and hot air balloons. 

The first Noel the angels did say…. Clare Noelle has had quite a few firsts this year. Clare created and presented a project about blue whales for her gifted and talented program. She has joined a Girl Scout Brownie troop that keeps her busy earning badges. In the summer, Clare mastered doing handstands in the pool, swinging for hours in our backyard, and went on her first riverboat ride. We were also able to go with her to see the incredible musical, The Lion King. 

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming from tender stem hath sprung… Olivia Rose is blooming and growing right before our eyes. Her curly blonde ringlets are getting longer each day. Olivia continually surprises us with new feats; like climbing tall ladders, joining stranger’s booths at Chick-fil-a to be friendly, walking our cat by holding her tail like a leash, and already opening some presents under the Christmas tree. She is a handful, but you can’t beat her cheery smile and sweet personality. 

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day… To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, we were lucky enough to get away to Oahu, Hawaii. We spent our days snorkeling among colorful tropical fish, swimming with peaceful sea turtles, touring Pearl Harbor, dancing at a luau, and tasting all of the local cuisine we could discover. Kevin loved driving us to a new sight-seeing adventure each day, and Mary loved getting an uninterrupted nap each day. A special ‘thank you’ goes to both of our supportive parents who watched the girls for us back at home. 

Silent night, holy night! All is calm, all is bright… While most nights are silent and peaceful, we have had a few this year that were anything but. Sleepless nights with Clare when she caught a very painful pneumonia virus. Lukewarm baths with Olivia at 2 am in attempt to bring down a high fever. Worried nights thinking about the future when Mary’s Mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Nights crying when Mary’s Grandpa passed away in October. And of course, there was a night or two of searching for a 9V battery to quiet the annoying, beeping smoke alarm in middle of the night. Luckily all the bad nights were swept away by the dawning of a new day and the hope for a better tomorrow. 

Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth, Peace Good Will Toward Man… As we close this letter to you, our family hopes you are filled with peace this Christmas season. Peace does not mean to be in a place with no trouble, sadness, noise, or conflict. It means to be in the midst of all those things and to still find the calmness within. We wish you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Kevin, Mary, Clare & Olivia

Clare Quotes (7 Year Old Edition)

My Clare is growing up so fast, so each year I try to chronicle the awesome "kid things" she says.  Here is her 7 year old edition!

Momma, I have a question mark in my head.

Talking about our dog: Daisy is such a ding dong.

Talking about playing limbo with her two classmates: They don't do it right, because, you know, they're just kids.

While playing a hula-hoop game: My hips got the groove!

Clare: Do you know what those thick DVDs are called? 
Me: VHS?
Clare: Yeah

While seeing Kevin kissing me: Daddy's kissing his girlfriend.  Daddy's kissing his girlfriend.

I think William and his guardian angel play baseball in heaven. Maybe all the kids that died and their angels play together.

Asking a magic eight ball:  Can momma rob a bank and has she? (shake, shake, flip) It says "Definitely so!!!!"

Good Eats: Crock Pot Gyros!

I adore Gyros!  I flipped when I found this recipe for gyros cooked with a crock pot, because nothing is as easy as crock pot cooking. These gyros have become a staple in our house, and I hope your family will love them too.

1 lb. Ground Lamb
1 lb. (or more) Ground Pork
1 tsp. Paprika
2 tsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Salt
Black Pepper
Lemon Juice

1/2 Chopped Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic

1. In a medium bowl, blend together spices.  Add ground meats and mush up with your hands till well blended.  (The original recipe calls to it into a food processor to combine, but cleaning fatty meat pieces out of my blades caused my gag reflex to go crazy). Form into a even sized loaf.










2. Place chopped onions and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot.  Place loaf on top. Squeeze lemon juice on top of loaf.






3.  Cook on Low for 4 hours

4.  Serve with Pita Bread (or Naan), chopped lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, and tzatziki sauce

The Case of the Missing Remotes

   It was a normal Monday in the quite suburb house. The weekend had just flown by with fun outings and movie rentals. The only cloud that shadowed the weekend was a continual hunt for a missing stereo remote. Little Olivia had a fondness for remotes, so the family thought it would eventually show up discarded in a toy bin. They never suspected this cloud would turn into a storm.

   That Monday morning, Mary did her normal morning chores as she listened to TV news quietly in the background. Little Olivia was on the hunt for entertainment, and her attention was captured by a remote laying on the coffee table. As she held it with glee, she accidentally pushed a button that made the TV switch channels. This caught the attention of her mother. Mary smiled and chuckled as she pried the remote from Olivia's chubby little hands, switched the channel back, and placed the remote on the back of the couch. That was the last time she could remember seeing the remote.

   Nap time came, and Mary couldn't find the remote. Dinner past, no remote. Kid's bedtimes came and went, and still no remote. This became too much for Mary. Couches were overturned, toy bins spilled out, kitchen cabinets checked, yet still no remotes. By now the sun had set and darkness had settled over both the sky and Mary's mode. The hassle of getting up to change the volume and channel every few minutes had burned a determination into her to solve this mystery.

    Then something sparked a memory. Mary vaguely remembered taking a piece of paper from Olivia's hands earlier in the day that she had thought she had already thrown in the trash. On a hunch, Kevin and Mary trudged out into the dark alley with flashlights to the dumpster. A stinky trash bag covered with a mysterious rotten slush was fished out of the abyss. Mary carefully unloaded the refuse to find her hunch was correct. In the bottom of the trash laid the missing TV remote. While Mary and Kevin rejoiced at the find, they were saddened to think that the stereo remote missing over the weekend was most likely discarded days ago. Never to be seen again.

    It seems little Olivia has a new habit that will be impossible to constantly monitor. Now worries overshadow the house as to what object Olivia will heartlessly discard next and who is going to have to sort through the trash to save it!

Clare Quotes - 6 year old edition

Another year has passed, so it's time to document some of my favorite Clare quotes.  She never disappoints!

Me:  Eating green olives is like eating salt out of jar.
Clare:  Mmmm, I might actually like that.

"First things first, and second things second." True

"I miss Buddy Holly." (He is a Lubbock native singer who died in 1959.  That's a a whole 49 years before she was even born, but still she misses him)

"You know the best kind of throw up? It's when just a little bit goes in your mouth and you can just swallow it back." (Blech...)

"I pretended I was an angel getting married and I was God's daughter and a Saint. I rode a unicorn with silver shiny fur, flowers in her hair, and golden hooves."

Clare: We're writing our own stories in school. Mine has Mary, Dan, and Fart-o. 
Me: Fart-o?
Clare: Yeah, Fart-o is a hippo that farts a lot.
(In the story, the three of them go to the beach to swim, but all the other people leave because Farto farted too much.  The solution was to ask Farto to stop farting, and all the people came back to the beach!  And they all lived happily ever after)

"Daddy have you never seen the little mermaid before, because you are asking me a lot of questions."

Asked while people were washing dishes in the sink.  "Could I have some drinking temperature water?"

And my absolute favorite of the year:

"It's not fair that Olivia gets to stick her tongue out all the time and we can't."

Life is tough, sweetheart.....

Introducing Olivia Rose Morris

Olivia Rose Morris

Born: 6/15/15

Weight at Birth: 5lbs. 9oz.

Length at Birth: 18 in.

Hair Color: Blonde with hints of red

Eye Color: Maybe blue

     We would love to introduce y'all to our newest daughter, Olivia!  We started seriously considering adoption 19 months ago. We completed our lengthy applications 14 months ago.  We became a "waiting family" 11 months ago. Then on Monday, June 15th, we got a call in the afternoon that our birth-mother was going into to labor and to get there quick.  It took us 7 hours to get from Lubbock to the little town in south Texas!  

     Our drive was filled with excited conversations, debates on names, and beautiful signs from God. At one point we switched on the radio and happened to catch a praying of the 3rd Joyful Mystery of the rosary, the Birth of Jesus. We saw some amazing, towering outdoor crosses in different towns we drove through.  As we passed San Antonio, a beautiful firework show decorated the night sky.   We were called at around 5 pm to find out that we had a healthy baby girl waiting for us.  We had no idea what the sex of the baby would be before that point.  It wasn't until just before midnight that we drove into town and made our way to the hospital.  

     We quietly entered the nursery and got to see Olivia for the very first time.  She was so tiny and in an incubator.  The nurses couldn't really tell us any details due to legal constraints, but it was such a relief just to hold her little hand for the first time.  She ended up being fine and had no real complications.  

    Our birth-mother (I'll refer to her as "Eve" for privacy sake) originally wanted a closed adoption.  This means she did not want to meet us, know who we are, or have any contact with Olivia. This was kind of a shock to us because the agency showed us how beneficial to everyone an open adoption can be.  As we left the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, our social worker called us to say Eve wanted to meet us and could we come to the hospital right away.  

    It was very nerve racking to walk into that little hospital room.  As much as we wanted to meet her, I was terrified about making a good impression.  Eve is wonderful.  She's strong, brave, selfless, and gracious.  She told us that she had been to three different abortion clinics, but couldn't go through with it.  Eve knew that despite her cruel and painful life circumstances, it wasn't this baby's fault.  As Eve and I made our way to the incubator for her to see Olivia for the first time, the fierce love she had for Olivia filled the entire nursery.  The tears that streamed down her face will forever be etched into my memory and on my heart.  It brings to mind this quote:

      The next few days were a blur of nurses, beeping machines, night feedings, meeting Eve's youngest son and mother, rocking Olivia, Skype calls to our parents and Clare, and talking with our social worker.  After a long and intense 48 hours, Eve and her husband signed the papers to offer Olivia up for adoption.  Every emotion possible was pulsing through those hospital halls.  Eve still wished for this to be a closed adoption even though we assured her that she could change her mind.  Praise God though that in the weeks since, Eve has asked for more pictures of Olivia.  We hope we are on the path towards a real relationship with her.  

      We are back home and have been overwhelmed with love, support, and gifts from so many loved ones.  We can never thank all of you enough.  We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing group of people.  Clare is over the moon in love with Olivia.  She is so happy to be an older sister and can't get enough of her.  Life is great. God is good. Our hearts are full.

Clare Quote's - 5 year old Edition

This last year, Clare had some real great quotes that I want to remember forever.  So I give you Clare's 5 year old quotes:

"Someday I want to build a machine that will get daddy home from work early"

After Kevin ate a "poisened apple",  She gave him a kiss, looked at me and said, "Bleh, you try."

Said while looking at my feet, "You have fur on your toes?"

When talking to her about Lent.  "Oh I like this, because after lent is pom pom day" also known as Palm Sunday

"Mommy I love you more than I thought I would when I was in heaven before I was born,"

"Sometime I taste a creamy taste.  And I really like that."  Said while eating ice cream.

Me: "After this we can watch a movie." 
Clare: "Brilliant!"

"Can someone hold my beer?"  Said very loudly in a crowded parking lot while she had a cup full of root beer.

"I don't want to make you sad by talking about it, but why do they never ask you if you want a lollipop at the bank?"

"I'm dancing the cha-cha with Batman."

Waiting for the Newest Morris...

The Morris family has an announcement we would like to make.  We are going to be adopting a new baby!

FAQ

1. What kind of adoption are you doing? We are working through Lutheran Social Services of the South to have an open adoption for a domestic infant. (That's legal speak for a newborn in Texas)

2. What will an open adoption mean?  It means that we want to have contact and a relationship with the birth mother long after the baby is born. Both her life and ours will forever be changed with this event, and we want to make sure to do this right.  Her child will want to know where they came from and hundreds of more questions that she can answer.  And she deserves to know how her baby is growing and changing throughout the years. The type of connection varies greatly between different cases.  We are hoping for phone calls, e-mails, picture exchanges, and then see how the relationship grows from there.  

3. What has happened so far? We started talking about this in January, pre-applied in March, went through training in May, completed the applications in July, and were officially approved in August.  Now we are on a waiting list with other approved couples.

4. What happens next? We wait and work on our patience.  When a potential birth mother is 6-7 months along, the agency will help her find a match. She looks through photo albums/scrapbooks we've made that show our lives and who we are.  She's the one that picks us, so we have no way of telling how long this will take.  We hope to be matched within a year though.

5. How can you afford this?  With costs totaling over $18,000, we can't.  But we have been overly blessed with gifts from family and friends that will make this dream a reality.  We will forever be grateful to those who have donated. How do you properly thank a person who has helped change your family and your future?  We have longed and hoped for another child for over 4 years, and now loved ones are making this dream a reality.  

6. Why are you adopting?  We have tried to get pregnant for the last 4 years, but have not been able to conceive. We both feel called to have more children, so we're entering the adoption process to open another avenue for God to bless us with a child.  

Please keep our family in your prayers as we walk through this journey!

10 Years Ago: Will You Go Out With Me?

   Ten years ago this day, it was a warm Sunday.  Kevin & I had just gone to the CSA formal the week before as friends.  I lost my disposable camera at the dance, and Kevin had got it back for me.  As I dropped it off at Walmart's one-hour photo lab, I called him to let him know I was getting it developed.  Kevin said, "Really?  How long is it going to take?"  I said sarcastically, "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing an hour."  Little did I know, Kevin had added extra pictures to the film.....

The last two pictures were taken under the pretense of trying to capture what our finals were like.  Me thinking, and him hoping. 

I looked at the pictures at the Walmart kiosk, and immediately called him with a big "YES"! 

Tutorial: Turn a Plain T-shirt into a Fitted Tee

 
 

 
 
 


 

Skill level: Beginner    Time: about 30 minutes   

1.       Find a fitted shirt in your closet that you like.

2.       Turn inside out the shirt you are adjusting and the shirt that already is fitted.

3.       Lay them on top of each other as shown.  Because this is jersey fabric, you will never get it to lay perfectly flat with no wrinkles, so just do the best you can. 

4.     Using a marking pen, chalk, pencil, or whatever else you can find, trace the sides of the fitted shirt onto your shirt that needs adjusting.  Don’t trace the sleeves just yet.



5.       The line for the sleeves takes a bit more thought.  Sleeves of an ordinary t-shirt are cut much different than the fitted tee.  I like to take my side line up to the point of my fitted tee’s armpit.  Then I draw a line from that point to the edge of the sleeve, trying to keep it parallel to the sloping line of the top of the sleeve.

6.       Take off the fitted tee, and pin your original shirt to make sure the fabric won’t slip around.

7.       My machine has a “slant over edge stitch” made for stretchy fabric.  If this isn’t an option, you can use a zigzag stich, a straight stich using stretchy thread, or just a straight stich with plain thread. 

 

8.       If you have my stich option, keep in mind that depending on the way you start sewing you want the straight line to follow your traced line and the flaring slants to be on the outside.

9. Sew up both sides!  At the shoulder seam, just hold it down and sew over it slowly.

 



 

10.       Try the shirt on inside out, just to make sure everything looks right.  (And I hope it does, because that’s a lot of thread to pull out if you need to! Arghh)

 

11.       Trim the excess material close to your new hem line.

12.       Turn right side out and enjoy!

Happy 5th Birthday, Clare!

Happy 5^th Birthday!

Five years old.  It sounds like such a big number.  You sometimes have growing pains in the middle of the night, and your Dad or I rub your legs to help with the pain.  You always wake up happy and excited to run to your growth chart to see how much you’ve grown.  You can finally reach our tall light switches and can barely swing open our enormous SUV’s door. 

This was the year that our schedules started to look a lot more busy and full.  Lots of firsts: swimming lessons, Pre-school, and ballet lessons.  You were a cautious fish in the water, and loved every afternoon we spent in the sun.  You could even swim about 6 feet all by yourself by the end of the summer.  Then you got your first taste of school.  You love all the playing, but complain about how fast they want you to work on your letters before recess.  I have a feeling your slow working style will be an issue the rest of your schooling life.  You like to take your sweet time on most things.  And after many impromptu and improvisational dances in Albuquerque, we signed you up for ballet class.  You did really well and loved the class. 

While you are changing every day, some things have stuck with you since you were in my womb: hiccups.  If you get to laughing too hard, you always get the hiccups.  You had them in my belly, you had them when you’d laugh as a newborn, and I’m starting to think this might stick with you for life.  You’re a nice mix of optimism and realism.  You love to tell me, “It is what it is, Mommy.” And can typically find the silver lining in whatever situation arises.

Nap times are a thing of the past now, but I still insist on quiet time for my sanities sake.  You spend the time dressing up like a princess, bossing around your pretend friends, and pulling out every toy you can find.  Most mornings, I wake up to find you and our cat, Mae, sitting on the couch and “talking” to each other.  The cat likes you almost as much as she likes me now, and that’s saying a lot!

Your Daddy and I love you so much.  And as you have started to say, we love you to the moon and heaven and back real slowly.

Love Always,

 Mommy

 

Clare Quotes 4 Years Old Edition

Here are a few gems from Clare's 4th year of life!

Me: I can't remember off the top of my head...
Clare: Is it in the bottom of your head?

While walking on the edge of a lake and peering over:  Is there a whale in there?

While eating honey:  Oh those bees, they do such a good job making something so delicious.

While finding a good spot on the shore to fish:  Where do you think the fishes table is where they eat?  That's where we need to be fishing.

Clare: I love you even when you're stinky.

Clare: I love you to the moon and heaven and back... real slowly.

When we were visiting William's grave, we were crying and trying to explain why we were sad.  So then Clare told Kevin.  "Daddy you'll have another baby and if you don't, you can be a grandpa and I'll have a baby for us to love."

Why I Quit the Homemade Laundry Detergent Craze

 



Homemade Laundry detergent.  It was so appealing in the beginning.  You will find recipes and fantastic photos of it plastered all over Pinterest.  You can save so much money compared to buying it at the grocery story.  As an extremely frugal housewife, there was nothing more appealing than the cost savings.  I'm so cheap, I once decided against buying a shirt because it was $7.  So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to save a few cents.  But the honeymoon stage only lasted for so long...

4. Preparation - While I'm known for being very thrifty, I'm also known for being lazy.  I even had a friend (Thanks, Mandi) who would buy, grate, and deliver the soap bars to me.  Even then, I still got annoyed at having to mix together all the other ingredients.  I much prefer throwing a bottle into my shopping cart as I cruise for groceries down the isles.

3. Lack of smell - When your grating the soap bar, your kitchen will smell of lovely cleanliness.  When your clothes are swishing away in the washing machine, your laundry room will smell fantastic.  But when you pull those warm, clean clothes out of the dryer, you will smell... nothing.  Not stinky, but not fragrant.  Just the odd, normal scent of cloth.

2. Phantom grey stains - Does your Grandma's use those huge white, thin tea towels?  Both of mine always have, and my mother does, and so do I now.  Most of mine were given to me by my Grandmother that passed away last year.  Now I'm not saying that the homemade detergent caused these little grey splotches all over them, but they were never there before then and they never showed up again after I quit.

1. Grease Stains - Maybe it's a sign that I'm a messy cook, but every single one of my shirts ends up with some sort of olive oil stain on it everyday.  This detergent doesn't come close to cutting through those stains.  Every shirt needed to be rubbed down with liquid dish detergent before washing.  I always thought detergent commercials that boast stain fighting boosters were just exaggerating, but now I'm a believer.

Good Eats: Sesame Chicken with Stir-fry Veggies

 

Sesame chicken is a staple dinner in our house.  This is originally a Weight Watcher recipe, so you know it's got to be a great, healthy choice for the whole family.  I've added on a stir-fry veggie that's super simple and tasty.  I also normally cook white rice to make a good square meal.

 

 

 



 Chinese Sesame Chicken
2-3 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
6 oz. apple juice (or one juice box)
1 c. water
2 Tbs. packed brown sugar
4 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. ketchup
2 cloves minced garlic
Dash ground red pepper
2 Tbs. cornstarch dissolved in a little water
4 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Brown chicken in med-hot pan sprayed with pam.  Combine juice, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, and red pepper.  Add sauce to chicken and bring up temp to a low boil, then reduce to low for a simmer.  Cook for 20-25 minutes, flipping the chicken over half way through.  Remove chicken and whisk in dissolved corn starch.  Cook till thickened. Add back chicken and add sesame seeds.  Enjoy!

Stir-Fry Veggies
1/2 small head of cabbage
1 onion (I like red)
2-3 peeled carrots
soy sauce
salt
pepper

Dice up cabbage, onion, and carrots.  Add a little oil to a pan or pot on medium heat.  Sprinkle on soy sauce and add a few dashes of salt and pepper.  Cook till carrots are tender and cabbage nice a wilted.  Add more soy sauce to taste.  Approximately 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Travel Maze Tutorial

 

I found my maze on a google image search, or you can get creative and think of your own design.  The only important factor is that your path is wide enough for your bead or marble to push around.

 

I choose a crazy checkered fabric in hopes to make it more complicated for my 4 year old. 

 Don't forget to add your bead before you close the gap up, or you'll end up with a weird hanky.



 



 

 This takes a little patience, but it will all be worth it!

 

Now you have a start and a finish!

 

When your kiddo gets good at getting the bead from the start to the end and the end to start, then you can create variations.  I like to steal the maze, put the bead in a weird secluded part of the maze, and then ask Clare to get it to one of the buttons. 

 

It's a super simple sew, that can give lots of car time/waiting room entertainment.

Tear Stains on the Attic Floor

Up in my attic, you will find the general clutter of normal houses; red and green tubs filled with Christmas décor, dust coating every surface, and years worth of Clare's clothing that she has slowly outgrown.

I remember packing these tubs.  Smiling at the little outfits that were just too adorable.  Carefully folding each onesie, even those that were so stained that I would never use them again.  All the while, wondering how soon it would be before I was dragging them all down again to sort and clean for the next baby.

Life moved on.  More tubs were added.  We lost our son, William, before I even thought to start sorting clothes.  Months changed to years.  Now Clare is 4 years old.  Not a shred of her baby gear can be seen.  No soft soled shoes, no changing covers, no umbrella strollers.  All locked away in clear little plastic tubs in the attic waiting to be opened again.

I am doing a sewing project for my new niece and had to crawl up in the attic today.  I cracked open those bins and saw all the tiny clothes.  Clothes that were saved, because they were thought to be worn again soon.  And these past 4 years drew out before me like a long scroll.  Years filled with joy and sorrow, doctors and drugs, tests and negative results, religious prophesies and unfulfilled hope. 

I cried bitter tears on that attic floor.  I find it ironic that I feel more sorrow and loss for a child that I've never had, than for my own son that I held in my arms and buried in the ground.  At least he was alive. At lease he existed.  That's more than can be said for these tubs left to gather dust. 

I'm not writing this post looking for solutions or advise.  I've done everything I'm willing to do.  I've prayed the novenas, I've seen the doctors, I have looked into other options, and I have heard prophesies.  I know I am young, and my life will change.  I just desperately want to feel peace.  I hope laying this pain out for others to see will bring me closer to that.   

"Oh Lord, you will establish peace for us, since you have done everything else for us." Isaiah 26:12

DIY Personalized Baby Shower Gifts

I am very excited that my very first niece is due at the end of this month!  While my two little nephews are very sweet and wonderful, there is just something about a little girl that makes me sigh like a little love sick puppy.  With my love of all things crafty and original, I decided to make personalized gifts for Baby Maria.


The first gift is wonderful because it requires little to no skill at all.  Have a computer? Have a printer? Then you are all set!

I created the document in Word. (It did take a lot of experimenting to get the spacing right).  You can customize it to any name you want and any color scheme.  Print it out on a nice sturdy cardstock and place in a frame!  Easy Peasy!

These two onesies are a snap to make too!   I bought both in a combo pack with no designs on the front.  

For the one of the left, I used double sided fusible paper to create the initial and then ironed it onto the onesie.  I did a tight zigzag stitch around the edges just to ensure durability.  

For the one on the right, I created the image using PicMonkey.  It is an absolutely amazing photo editing site that is very user friendly.  Instead of adding shapes and text to a picture, I added everything to a white background pic saved from Paint.   Then, just print it on fabric transfer paper and iron it on.  No sewing required!

These are all super simple ideas, with beautiful results!  I hope you give them a try.