Homemade Moby Wrap

My first kid loved to be held ALL the time!  We (Both baby and I) hated the carrier I had for her and I developed a very painful case of tendinitis from constantly holding her.

Expecting my second I started to look into other carriers/slings/wraps for baby.  That's when I saw the Moby Wrap.

Once again it was the price that I did not like. Then I thought, "I bet I can make that!"

I went online found about a dozen tutorials for homemade ones and sure enough each one was super easy, I'd be kicking myself if I paid $40 for one.

All you need is:

• 5 yards of fabric (My stretchy fabric's edges would not fray so it was a no-sew wrap)
• A pair of scissors
• And someplace long enough to roll out the fabric

After looking at all the tutorials, I went to the local fabric store and began to look around. (On a side note if you are going to need help picking out a fabric avoid going around Halloween when all the crazy crafty people are shopping to make homemade costumes.  It was like Christmas time at a toy store.) Anyway, after fighting crazy lines and looking through hundreds of fabric trying to find the right kind, we bought one that I hoped would work and took it home.

I rolled it out in my hallway and cut the fabric in half the long ways (hot dog style.)

And that was it! Two wraps for less than the price of one store bought.

You can undo that twist in the back and I usually knot it twice for good measure

Two Steps Further

After trying on the wrap- it worked!!!- I want to put a little iron on patch to mark the center. (Way cuter than a Moby Wrap tag).  I also want to tapered off the ends for easier trying.

Now my baby gets held and I have free hands to take care of my toddler.  Love it!

Baby Mobile

I really wanted a black, white and red baby mobile for our newborn since those are the colors they can see best.  The cheapest one was around $30 and that was for the low quality, "I'm going to break on you" kind.  I thought back to what we did with our first kid and I realized I had made her a mobile, why not do it again?

Time to attempt to get crafty.  We borrowed a photo mobile from my brother and printed some designs from the internet.  I pasted them on card stock and there to go.  A virtually free mobile, that's way cuter than the $30 one. And I get to personalize this one by putting black and white family photos in it.

No Sew Tutu

Remember my elementary crafting skills?  Yes, my sewing skills are probably worse.  I can sew on a button and once I made most of a baby quilt, okay pathetic, I will stop there.

Anyway! This project is sewing free and precise measurements are not needed.  It requires one stretchy headband elastic and about five yards of tulu (I had to look up what that was).  Mine was multi color so I use 2 of one and 3 of the other.

Fold the tulu and cut strips that are about 3-4 inches wide. Fold a long strip of tulu in half place it next to the tulu to form a loop at the top.  Pull the rest of it through to secure it onto the elastic.  Don't pull too tight in case you need to adjust the placement of the strips. Surround the entire elastic and when you are finished you have a wild tutu.

Tada!

There are several variations of this on the web, my favorite was on skiptomylou.org
They have pictures for every step.

Christmas Crafts- Wrapping

I got crafty!  Okay, I found the idea on the internet and copied it, thank you all you creative crafty people who share.
Here's the wrapping.  I even made what went inside of it, but I will post those pictures after Christmas since it was a gift.

Take a square paper.  Roll it, tape inside to secure. Tape the outside edge.  Tuck top into cone and secure closed.  I finished it off by tying a cute ribbon around it.  It looked much better than the picture, but hey, you get the idea and I'm sure you can improve the wrapping.

I also wrapped a box.  To make a reusable gift box cut a large piece of wrapping paper, enough for all edges of your box and some overlapping.  Glue wrapping paper to box- stick glue works best.  Cut wrapping paper at an angle for corners.  Make sure you keep the lid separate so you can open and close the box without ruining the wrapping.

Paper Pumpkin

I am not a crafty person. By the end of any craft I have more of a mess than anything to show for it. That being said, I found a craft that even I, lacking all crafty skills, could do.  I found it in a children's magazine and was actually excited to try it.  It's a paper pumpkin.  For some reason pumpkins are the only thing that motivate my artistic side.  (Pumpkin carvings coming this month!)

I made a craft!

My husband had the camera so I don't have the step by step process.  Fortunately, the magazine I got it from is completely free online!  The page (with a pumpkin recipe) can be found here The Friend.

Enjoy the simple craft!