Diaper Cakes

I have had several friends that have had their first babies recently and I have made diaper cakes for them.  I start with a small bag of of diapers that I roll up and hold with rubberbands.  I roll up one diaper and then roll another around it and continue to layer them.  I make one round larger than the other for the different layers of the "cake".  I then wrap a receiving blanket around the outside.  I also custom embroider cloth diapers for burp cloths and I drap them over so the image is visible on the side of the cake.  I stack the layers and top it with a toy.  It is a fairly simple gift that always impresses, plus no wrapping necessary!

 

Simple Centerpieces

Here are a few different centerpieces I have made that are quick and easy to make.  The flowers can be placed in bud vases, mini clay pots or glass salt & pepper shakers from the dollar store.

Felt Flowers

Fold over a strip of felt and cut even slits throught he folded edge but not all the way through the width of the felt.  Roll the strip up from one end to the other and secure with floral wire.  Fluff the felt petals and place in vase.  You can layer differnt colors too for different looks.  You can also use them for other things like taping them to a pen and arranging the pens in a jar.  Then you have pens at hand but they look like pretty flowers.

Tissue Paper Flowers

Several layers of tissue paper and a little wire and you have a pretty flower.  The step by step directions can be found over at Hey Let's Make Stuff.

Plaster Flowers

Dip inexpensive fabric flowers from the dollar store into a thin plaster of paris mixture and you have porceline like flowers.  They can be placed in vases or perched on top of glass candle stick holders.

Airplane Baby Shower Favors

I helped with the decorations for a friend's baby shower recently.  She knew she was having a baby boy and they decorated the nursery in an airplane theme so we used an airplane theme for the shower too.  I found the idea for these cute favors on Craft Gawker and tweaked and personalized them for the shower.  With a few simple supplies and a little time these cute planes were quick and fun to make.  They take Smarties, Life Savers, a stick of gum and a rubberband.  I added a personalized wrapper to the stick of gum to make them extra special.  I think these would be a fun idea for a birthday party too or any airplane themed party for that matter.

Biennial Haircut Donation

My hair grows fairly quickly and is pretty healthy  so for the past 10 or so years I have been donating my hair to Locks of Love.  Locks of Love uses the hair to make wigs for children that have health problems that cause them to need wigs.  My hair usually grow fast enough to cut it every other year.  I let it grow an extra year this time.  My hair was long enough to reach my waist when pulled straight.  After it was cut I had 15 inches of curly hair or 18 inches when pulled straight.

Ziggy's Haircut

I gave Ziggy his semi-annual haircut on Saturday.  This was the third time I have given him a haircut myself.

Before

He usually does a good job of staying pretty still and letting me cut his hair with the electric clippers.  This time he was a bit reluctant to let me clip his leg and paws.  I checked and there were no injuries or sores.  I finally had to turn off the clippers and hold them against his paw.  Once he was willing to let the clippers stay against his paw he let me turn them on and clip the hair.  Not sure what made him reluctant this time but we got the job done.  We had quite a pile of fur after we were done.

After (He always looks skinner and a bit funny after a hair cut.)

Ziggy is a "designer dog", a mix of Yorkie and Bichon.  I bought him from a breeder in Kentucky and picked him up at the airport when he was a tiny 9 week old puppy.  His hair grows more than it sheds so he gets a haircut in the spring and one in the late summer.  His coat is soft and has curl from the bichon and he gets the brown with flecks of black from the yorkie.  He has the temperment of the bichon - calm, friendly and not a yappy barker.  He loves people and gets excited when he sees friends. He is my buddy!