Little by little, Ethan’s bedroom is coming together… at least in my head! Progress is slow because I’m a DIYer to the core and want to make everything myself — bedding, curtains, art, and even furniture upholstery. Are you the same way?

Ethan sleeps in an IKEA Sundvik crib, which has solid panels on the ends, rather than slats. I wanted the crib skirt to come down just to the bottom of the frame, and since one side of the crib faces the wall, I could get away with using just a single rectangle of fabric for the skirt. So it’s more like a crib “apron” than a crib skirt, and since I didn’t want any ruffles or pleats, this was the easiest sewing project ever.

MATERIALS:

1/2 yd. fabric (54″ wide) OR 1 1/2 yd. (42″ wide)
packing tape

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Hem the fabric on all four sides so that it measures 52.5 x 16.5 inches. (I sewed mine, but you could also use iron-on hem tape.)

2. Tape it to the crib with clear packing tape. Nobody will know!

I wanted fabric that would just blend into the background and not compete with other fabrics in the room, so I chose white broadcloth, which is nice and heavy and not too see-through. Many fabrics are just 42 inches wide, but I lucked out with 54-inch-wide fabric, and thanks to a coupon, I spent just $2.40 on this simple crib skirt.

My next project will be reupholstering the chair that sits in the corner of the room next to the window. I already have the fabric — I just need to find the courage!

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Ethan was starting to focus more intently on objects that were dangled in front of him. He loves to lie down on the floor and kick his chubby legs, and he was ready for a more interactive environment.

So I made a baby gym.

Obviously, it would have been easier to just buy one, but it was much more fun to create my own. I had complete control over the design and color scheme AND it was cheaper than buying one — even with the purchase of snap pliers. I scoured the internet for inspiration and then loosely followed this tutorial.

The baby gym I made is basically a very simple 35×35″ pieced quilt with tabs sewn onto the corners for covered hula hoops to snap onto. This makes it easy to remove the arches to wash, store, or transport the mat. And when we’re finished using it as a baby gym, I can just rip out the stitches that attach the tabs to the mat, and it will just be a simple little quilt again.

I did invest in a set of KAM snap pliers for this project, and this was my first time working with plastic snaps. Setting the snaps was SO easy, and it made me want to create lots of items that require snaps. If you live locally and you ever want to borrow my snap pliers, I’d be glad to let you use them.

Each arch on the baby gym has five ribbon loops for hanging toys, and I bought a pack of 24 plastic links for just a few bucks. To hold the two arches together at the top, I sewed a long strip of fabric with half of a snap set on each end. Then I just twisted it around like I was tying ribbon onto a gift upside down: center the fabric strip underneath the two arches, bring the ends up to the top and criss-cross them, then pull the ends down to the bottom and snap them together underneath.

Ethan is three and a half months old, and spends lots of time wiggling, rolling around, and kicking and batting at toys in the baby gym. Happy baby, happy mama!

SOURCES:

yellow, green, and polka dot fabrics: JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores
blue fabric: Walmart
hula hoops: Dollar Store
snap pliers and snaps: KAM Snaps via Amazon
plastic links: Amazon (also available at Walmart)
butterfly and turtle toys: received as gifts
cute baby: not available for purchase

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I enjoy the product enough to share and recommend it. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I receive a small commission. The opinions expressed here are always my own.

Back in December, just ten days after he became a big brother, Hayden suddenly decided one Sunday morning that the tote bag he always took to church was too childish. He was pretty insistent that he could just carry his Bible, activity books, and writing tools in his arms, but I somehow convinced him to keep using the old tote bag with the promise of a new one soon.

He didn’t know this, but when the mother of a newborn uses the word “soon,” she might mean “in six weeks.”

Last week I bought four feet of royal blue nylon webbing at JoAnn Fabric to match some canvas-like fabric I already had on hand. And on Saturday night while the kids were getting their baths, I sewed up a little blue tote bag.

Hayden told us that the Phillies wallet and Angry Birds watch we gave him for Christmas made him feel “like a man” (he’s six!), so hopefully this little blue tote bag also makes him feel like a little man.

As much as I love making things, I usually don’t want my creations to look like they’re obviously “homemade.” I’m realizing that often the difference between an item that looks homemade and something that’s handmade is all in the details.

Friday night found me sitting at my sewing machine, stitching up a cozy flannel pillowcase. I’ve fallen in love with the color gray, but I thought a gray pillowcase might look too boring without a little something special added to it. Fortunately my sewing machine has a nice reinforced straight stitch that basically makes two stitches right next to each other. So I just finished off my plain gray pillowcase with three rows of white topstitching, and it made all the difference in the world.