cute impractical things

College seems so long ago. A time when all my friends and I lived within walking distance of each other. I didn't realize how good I had it. Now, I have friends in Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut...? As we get older our lives get more busy and hectic.

This year, I am going to try my best to see them and reconnect.

This weekend, I am so happy, no- I am so EXCITED to see some faraway friends. Even though we have been separated by hundreds of miles and our lives have led us down different paths, we can still pick up where we left off.

I have been looking forward to this weekend and in preparation, I have been making some gifts. The reason we are coming together is to celebrate new life- a baby girl.

As practical as I am, for some reason when it comes to baby showers, I seem to make impractical things... but they're cute impractical things.

My friend and the Mama-to-be, Rachel, has a nursery theme: gray with some pinks and Tortoro. Yes, I didn't know who that was either until I looked him up. He is a character from a Japanese movie called My Neighbor Tortoro. I saw that Rachel and her husband Kyle had registered for a Tortoro stuffed animal. "Pssh," I thought, "I am totally going to make her one." I found a pattern on ravelry.com and got going. Mine turned out a little bigger than the indicated 9" tall. It will be bigger than the baby! I think it turned out really cute. (I even made a little leaf for its head.)

I wanted to make something else, so I went on pinterest and found some Tortoro art. I took a design and used some watercolor pencils to draw it out. For the frame, I bought it at the thrift store, sanded it a little and then painted it gray.

I bought some fun books from the thrift store, too and made a bag for everything to go in. That has been my thing as of late- making the gift bag. It is something that (hopefully) won't get thrown away and can be reused or regifted. This pink fleur de lis fabric I bought a long time ago, as in seven years ago. When my sister, Alice, was pregnant I made her first born a baby quilt. It had a similar fabric, but in yellow. I bought this pink at the same time. C'mon, it was on red tag clearance at Joann's and I thought that Alice would probably have a girl and then I could make her a baby quilt. Well, she has had two girls since and no baby quilt from me. I sound like a slacker aunt, but I have made other cute things for my nieces to make up for it, I think. I have to say I wasn't going to use this fabric at first. I had picked out a bold plaid with orange, green and purple. It totally looked like Rachel, but then I thought about it. I want this to look more girl-y, so I went for the pink fleur de lis. I constructed it with French seams, so the bag can be reversible.

 

Rachel and Kyle, may God bless your little growing family.

<3