Prudent Project Round-Up


Top: Bird and Bicycle made a custom version of our Most Flattering Shirt Dress… How cute is she?? | Stacy at She’s Kinda Crafty made that sweet Mod Podge Step Stool | Jessica made the cozy Simple Snuggly Baby Blanket.

Middle: Amy at Blue Brook Boutique made that bright and beautiful Duvet Cover | Cheryl made a Lazy Days Skirt (“and a baby tutu, 2 toddler duvet covers, and 2 Lazy Day skirts. God help me.” HA) | Claire at The Adventures of A Lactating Girl made the so-cute-i-could-cry DIY Silhouette Garlands in the shape of elephants.

Bottom: Jen made a Snappy Toddler Dress and the cute baby wearing it | The Umbaugh’s Life made a Tutu from our Tutu-torial | and Christina made a DIY Nursing Cover for her sister, aww.

Sorry I flaked on last week’s round up. What can I say. Just in case it happens again, know that you can share your pics and see tons of other folk’s projects in the Prudent Baby Project Pool on Flickr. You can also chat with other awesome Prudent Mamas and upload your pics to our super fun Prudent Baby Facebook Page. And of course you can keep sending them to us through our Prudent Baby Contact Form. Your “As Seen On Prudent Baby” Button is down there on the left. Now go party!

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FRIDAY {SURPRISE} PRIZE


The winner of the gorgeous Kokka fat quarter from from Fabricworm is…

Jessica, who said…
the first sewing project i ever did was a quilt, and it took, like, forever. so, i had to muster up a lot of energy to attempt a second one, that also took forever. then i found this website and learned that sewing projects can be done in a day, sometimes just an hour!
it’s changed my life. i thought all sewing was like quilting, and quilting is hard and long (that’s what she said… teehehe…)
but not all projects are! yay for you and your ideas that help me be creative!

And now you know that we can’t resist a compliment… or a “That’s what she said” joke.

Jessica, use the contact us form to send us your info. Winners have 5 days to contact us with their address before forfeiting their prize to another lucky reader.

And now…

I know, you guys are dying over the cuteness right? Me too. Well I’m so excited to tell you that this guy is this week’s FRIDAY{SURPRISE}PRIZE. A few weeks ago Jocelyn from The Nesting Spot emailed to tell me that she had a gift for Vlad. A sock croc! And proceeded to surprise me with little glove creatures for the girls as well! How lucky are we?!? So of course I asked, how about a little something for a Prudent Mama? And then she let me pick the prize! I hope you like him. So, leave us a comment on any post this week. We will pick a winner next Friday and Jocelyn will send him off. Isn’t it nice not to have to make something yourself every once in a while? Support handmade!

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Link Love


As we have mentioned before, in our nerd-tacular spare time, Jaime and I enjoy brainstorming “themes” (think party or nursery) that could use a makeover. Her eureka moment about “the farm” was the inspiration for Quinn’s first birthday party. This random link from my sister-in-law Elise is a stellar (ugh) theme for a party or nursery! Vintage Future is a little bit Tomorrowland, a little bit Jetsons. The “space” theme done right, I’m kind-of obsessed.

VHMcKenzie is a NYC artist who shares her paintings and stories about life married to a foreigner. She says “it’s amusing and sometimes it’s exposure to painful business.” Read A Reprise – “Who’s Your Daddy?” in honor of Father’s Day… and try not to tear up by the end. And don’t forget to stop by her shop to see her beautiful work.

We are obsessing over this gorgeous new travel & design blog, Design Trippers. FYI, the image above, from a Tuscan farmhouse inn, perfectly represents my home-decorating aesthetic. Modern Tuscan, I thought I was the only one!

And our friends at Merriment Design have been TEARING IT UP with fantastic DIYs. You have to check out this gorgeous ruffle sunhat, these so-smart chalkboard lid jars for storing baby food and kids eats, and the brilliant travel toy blanket featured above. I need some of that Snag Free Velcro!

Also…

Crunch Time shares a recipe for “Granolla” Bars from a recent trip to Africa along with some great photos and a cool placemat idea. These would be a fun snack for school! Also, why is everyone traveling but me?

Every week Spoonflower has a fabric design contest with a specific theme. I’m pretty obsessed. This week was Tractors. Next week is Carousels. So much inspiring talent out there!

Baby Jives has the most beautiful mobiles I’ve ever seen.

And I love this bunny.

la petite magazine has a gorgeous new issue.

In case you haven’t seen it, a Sneak Peek: Best of Play Rooms from Design Sponge.
My poor deprived children.

A pretty Ribbon and Bead Necklace DIY from Buggie & Jellybean.

And as so many of us send our babies off for the first day of school, 20 odd years later, this classic Dave Barry still resonates. tear.

and now to cheer you up, a little Mumford & Sons. Thanks Desiree!


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San Francisco Here We Come!


Happy Anniversary to Me and C! Isn’t he the dreamiest? Four years of wedded, ahem, bliss. To celebrate, we’re packing up the kiddo and taking a road trip! First stop: Meemah and Papa’s house. Next stop: FREEDOM!

Remember I told you about our tradition of Unromantic Valentine’s Day? Well the price C pays for that is a Romantic Anniversary, which he must plan. And from what I can garner he’s done it up right! Three days in San Francisco – where we both lived in college (same school even!) and never met. It’s going to be great fun to head back there together – I can show him the baby gap & clinique counters that put me through school and then we can cross the bay bridge to Berkeley and he can show me the dorm he got kicked out of for setting a girl’s doorknob on fire.

So, with no set plans (other than some fancy eats) I think we’ll be doing some walking, some shopping, and some museums for sure. I might even drag him to alcatraz because i love it so much. So do we have any bay area readers? Any new crafty spots pop up in the last ten years that I shouldn’t miss? Delicious grub that we must consume? Please let me know in the comments. You might even win that awesome fat quarter up there on the left!

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Beginner’s Baby Blanket #3


So we’ve shared with you the Simple Snuggly Baby Blanket Tutorial, which is a great very first blanket to try. Then we told you how to make a Silky Baby Blanket using satin and creating mitered corners with satin binding. We even showed you how to make a Swaddle Blanket. BUT Scarlet has asked me for a new blanket, so here’s another style to try.

Isn’t the impression your kid’s head leaves on the pillow the cutest thing ever? This blanket is silky on one side (because she demands to have silkiness on her belly at every nap). The other side is lovely Cloud9 Organic Flannel Forest Friends G’Nite Owls in Shell that she picked out herself.

So this blanket is really like a quilt without the piecing or the quilting, because it uses a layer of batting. I thought that would be nice for the winter months ahead. It’s very simple. Get the full Beginner’s Baby Blanket Tutorial after the jump…
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Winner: Cook’s Illustrated Subscription


You all made us so hungry with your menus, you are super-stars! The lucky (random) winner of a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated Magazine is…

# 123 – Suzy, who said…
What lovely photos! Tonight we made some fajitas with grilled chicken, red peppers and onions. It was simple, but tasty. I am trying to expand our menu since we get stuck in a rut quite often.

Congrats Suzy! Use the Contact Us option to the left there to send us your name and address and we will pass it along to the nice folks at America’s Test Kitchen. Enjoy! It really is an amazing publication!

And stay tuned everyone, we have another great giveaway planned with ATK next month. It’s a book this time, but I’ve already said too much. : )

PS. Jaime, I love you for figuring out how to number our comments so I didn’t have to count to #123.

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4 Season Crossover Top


This funky little top is so fun. Your little one can wear it over shorts in the summer, or a long sleeve top and jeans in the fall. It’s reversible and slips right over little heads.

I made my mine in a heavier fabric that’s still breathable and I love the way it turned out, but I think it would also be adorable in a double gauze or cotton lawn or voile.

And a little gold bias tape makes it extra snazzy for little princesses.
Get the full 4 Season Crossover Top Tutorial after the jump…
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Double Gauze Dress


So I sewed this dress for Miss S with every intention of sharing with you a detailed tutorial and a free downloadable pattern.  However, as I was sewing it I came across a few hurdles and thought up some fixes to make a better/simpler project. So I’m pondering working on a new pattern and step-by-step DIY that will allow you to make a similar dress.

But in the meantime, I wanted to show you the final product mostly because this fabric is unbelievably gorgeous and I want you all to get some.  It’s a double gauze and so flowy, soft, and cozy.  There are a bunch of beautiful double gauze fabrics also by Kokka still available at Fabricworm, check them out here.

If you’d like me to take another stab at creating a pattern for this dress and sharing a tutorial with you, let me know in the comments.  If you like it, I’ll get to work on it now.
P.S. by “get to work”, I mean scribble a horrible picture and send it to Jacinda to do the actual pattern drafting, HA.

UPDATE: Here’s the (revised) pattern: Prudent Baby Snap Wrap Dress

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