Mailing Hugs

We live far from Family, and the girls' grandparents always say they just want to give our girls a big hug. So for Valentines day we decided to mail them one! 

Zoey had so much fun making this project, and picking out the colors of paper and ribbon. After tracing and cutting out the hands I measured their arm span and cut a ribbon to that exact size, so it really is a Zoey and Paige sized hug just for their grandparents. :)

Nursing Cover

To make this Nursing cover you will need:

Material measuring at least 20in high and 70in long (This size fits most)

Satin Binding (optional) 

Elastic

 First cut your material to the correct length

 Fold the edges in about 1in and sew with a 1/4 in seam allowance. This creates an opening in your material to insert the elastic in later.

Next, if you are using the satin binding you simply open it up under your material, lining the inside fold up with the edge of your material.

 Then fold over your material and pin in place

 I burn the edges of my satin binding so they don't fray, you don't want strings hanging off of something your baby will be eating in! Also, I swear I didn't mean to be flipping you all off in this photo. Ha ha.

   Because Satin binding is hard to keep perfectly straight I usually use a zig zag stitch, and sew it "cute side up" so that I can keep it even along the edge.

 Because this is what my back usually ends up looking like. It's not nearly as straight and neat.

 My adorable "helper" for this project :)

 Next cut two strips of elastic 22in long and thread it through not just the satin binding, but also the opening you created in your material, which gives it extra strength. I pin a safety pin on the end of my elastic to make threading it through a million times easier.

Once you get the elastic all the way through you can pin them together so you don't lose either end and do the other side. After that you sew the elastic together, and pin the raw edges of material together and sew the whole thing into a big elastic tube of material.

And you have a simple DIY nursing cover! 

To put it on you put one arm through the top, and keep the other arm inside to support your baby. You wear it kinda like a beauty queen sash. :)

These are my favorite covers because in my opinion they give the most coverage. When your baby is little you can tuck the whole baby inside the cover, and when they are bigger you can have half of their body sticking out the bottom. As your baby gets older they won't be flashing your goods to anyone, because this cover actually stays in place! The only issue I have ever had with it is when my little girl was a newborn and still needed help latching, it was a little hard to maneuver around inside of it and see what I was doing. But once she got better at latching on herself I wouldn't leave the house without it!

Scrappy Flip Flops

I saw these adorable flip flops on one of my nieces and because I have sooo much extra material I decided to make a few. You can get kids flip flops for just over a dollar at hobby lobby, and since I already had all the material this whole project cost me about $1.50 each pair. If you don't have material or want specific colors I suggest buying a pack of fat quarters from Hobby lobby.

I cut a bunch of material in pieces about 1 in wide and 4 in long. This will of course vary on the size of flip flop you are using.

Wrap the pieces around the straps of the shoes and tie a
knot. 

Alternate the colors and push close together to make fuller.
Repeat until both straps are covered.

Trim to preferred length for your finished product.

I love them, and best of all, so does Zoey!