Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails

You’ve probably heard (read? seen? you get the idea) me say I’m not a crafty-type person. I stand by that, but this week/weekend, I had a pretty good moment, I think.

Saturday was a baby shower for a friend of mine. This baby was much prayed for and is already so loved and cherished – oh, and did I mention this baby is a girl arriving in a house of boys? Clearly no ordinary gift would do. So, since I’ve dabbled with sewing some baby blankets, as soon as I knew of the little princess’s pending arrival, I found some adorable fabric and binding and had great plans to make a blanket way in advance.

Well, you know about best-laid plans…

So, of course, I didn’t get it made WAY in advance. On Friday (yes, the day before the shower), I pulled out my fancy new-to-me sewing machine, and proceeded to make two of the UGLIEST baby blankets in the history of, well, ever. Don’t worry, I had planned for this contingency – sort of. I was “practicing” on two blankets for Sam (sorry, son). After ruining the first one, and breaking the machine on the second one, I gave up. I pulled out my trusty avocado green Kenmore sewing machine that’s older than I am. I finished up the second ugly blanket for Sam (to reacquaint myself with the machine). Then I made a perfectly lovely girly blanket for Miss Shelby. I really was quite proud of how it turned out. (Of course, being the ever-prepared person I am, I completely forgot to take pictures of it. Maybe if Makala reads this, she can send me a pic of the blanket and I’ll add it here. :))

Since I’d already done one blanket for Miss Shelby, I decided the other part of the shower gift would focus on Shelby’s Mommy, who I happen to know will be joining the ranks of working mommies after her maternity leave. So, I put together a Working Mommy’s Survival Kit (full disclosure: I came up with the idea, but needed help from Cris Waters and Ashley Bearden to flesh it out).

Just so you have an idea, the contents of the kit are to be kept at Mommy’s office (or desk, or car, whatever is appropriate) and includes:

• Desk picture frame and Mommy brag book (for purse or portfolio) – to show off those adorable baby pictures
• Coffee Go-cup – because there’s no such thing as a leisurely morning anymore
• Desk-sized toiletry bag with toothbrush, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, deodorant, lotion, wet wipes – because there WILL be mornings that you forget to brush your teeth or put on deodorant (not that I know any of this from experience, of course).
• Tide to Go and Target gift card – for, ahem, late breaking changes. Tide to Go takes care of little “oopses.” Target card is for buying a simple wear-with-anything top to keep in the car or office for bigger spitups, leaky diapers, or “other sharing” that your little angel blesses you with when you have NO time to go home and change.

So, I’ll repeat that I’m not a crafty person overall, but I think this gift was a pretty crafty idea. (Bryan is convinced there’s a “Working Mommy Survival Kit” market out there…what do you think?)