mini humans are awesome! baby gifts part 2: boy oh boy (DIY name/dob prints, and a cute frame for brothers)

Last July I was in Philly for a surprise bridal shower I was throwing for my best friend (love you A!). However, I had no idea that I would be getting an amazing surprise that day too. My good friend Mommy Z told me she was expecting again!  

Her son Tommy is just the most awesome kid I know (I mean I don't know many kids, she is the first in our group of friends to start a family, but I still think he's a pretty special baby ). So I knew that this new little bundle of joy would be a special kid as well. However, we would all have to wait till March to find out whether we were welcoming a baby brother or sister for Tommy. Mommy and Daddy Z choose not to find out the gender with Tommy and were doing the same with this baby. 

A piggy bank I made Tommy for his baptism 

SO when I got the text this March that they had welcomed a little boy named Michael I was so happy for them! Tommy has a brother, so fun! The boys will be just under two years apart and I hope they will be best buds and partners in crime, though I worry a little for Mommy Z once both of these little trouble makers are mobile, watch out!

 I wanted to make something to celebrate this new addition to the Z Family as well as something to celebrate the bond that I hope these brothers will share. 

For Mikey :) I saw this on Etsy and thought "I can make that!" ( have this thought ALOT only a fraction of those project turn out as well as this one,  haha)

I found these frames at Target. They are listed for $3.99 but they were on sale that day (I can't find my receipt), so scored them for even less (I remember it being under $6 including CA sales tax).

I had some white 8.5x11 card stock from past projects. I just played around in Word till I got the design to my liking, I used Trebuchet for the font. It's my new favorite font, especially for resumes, more on that in an upcoming post :)

I printed out the finished design, used my paper cutter to trim them down and VOILA!!!

Sorry for the blur on the name, just trying to give some privacy for the baby and family.

This is SUCH an easy DIY and could be customized in MANY ways (change fonts and colors, print on colored card stock, fancy frames, use this technique to transfer design to wood, canvas, etc.)

For the Brothers: Inspiration came from here.

I had a left over white plastic craft frame. I used these to make thank you gifts for my bridesmaids that I gave for Christmas this past year (I will most likely post about that at a later date as well). They were only $.50 each!!! But I think that may have been because they were on clearance, Michael's not longer carries them :(

I used the same transfer technique as my last post. The fonts are Trebuchet (current font crush, for sure) for " There's no" and "Brother" and Pacifico for "Buddy" and "like a". 

This project was also really easy and quick. Again you could easily change it up to be a wood sign or canvas, but I loved the idea of a picture frame so Mommy Z and put a picture of her little boys in it :)

Well that's it! I'm so happy for Mommy Z and I can't wait to meet little Mikey when we will be back in Philly for more wedding this summer.

If you have any questions or comments please don't be shy :)


Live Joyously!

mini humans are awesome! baby gifts part 1: little legacy picture frames

OK let's just get something right out there in the open: I'm LAME! Like super uncool. This is not a being-down-on-myself thing, it's a fact. Why? because I STILL love my sorority nearly 10 years after I joined and more than 5 years after I graduated. What can I say, I'm lame, but I don't care. Sorority gave me my best friends, and a deeper connection to my collegiate experience.

My sorority crafting obsession started very early...
basket full of gifts gave my little C for her initiation way back I'm 2006

So when I found out that two of my friends (my Big Big Big and a friend who pledged different sorority at a different school before transferring) were expecting legacies is this year I got WAY excited. When any of my friends is excepting it's joyous news, but little girls...I just couldn't help myself!(Btw a legacy is a daughter, granddaughter, sister, or niece of a sorority woman).

I should probably mention here that I'm actually a legacy of a sorority, but not the one I'm a sister of. My mom was in a sorority that didn't have a chapter at my college. Even though my mom and I don't share letters, it's always been this special understanding we have, as women who have share similar  experiences. And here's one more thing that make this all so specials: one of those little girls on the way is a legacy in my mom's sorority. It's really special to me that I share something with each of these baby girls: one is a legacy in my sorority and the other is a legacy of the same sorority that I'm a legacy of.

I get it. Some people just won't understand. That's OK. Whether you agree with me or not, whether you like sororities or not, whether you think gendered gifts for babies are stupid, that's fine. I just feel something special. The mothers of these little girls are friends and sisters in my heart and so to me these little girls are, in a way, family. I think everyone can relate to that.


Now as much as I LOVE my sorority, my mom never pressured me to join her sorority, look at schools that had chapters, or even to join greek life at all, and I am thankful for that. So I didn't want to go too far when making something for these babies. I wanted something that would pay homage to their being legacies without being in-your-face and letters and you-must-join-us kind of stuff.

SO What I came up with was this :

A picture frame with the little girls name and the message "dream big, little one". It reflects all the hopes I have for these little girls, that they can grow up to be whatever they dream of. Then I added the subtle hint to their legacy status: their mother's sorority mascot! I also incorporated the colors of the sorority where I could, while still leaving it mostly neutral (I did this more so that it could easily fit with whatever decor the parents choose).

Here is some info on my DIY process for making the frames:

I bought these craft frames at my local Michael's for $4.99 each.

I used some paint pens that I had from some previous projects ( I LOVE paint pens for DIY projects) As you can see I have no loyalty to any one brand (though I feel like the DecoColor last FOREVER).
The one I want to point out is the white DecoColor. I first tried to use a white Sharpie paint pen but the wood frame would absorb the white paint and you couldn't even tell I had put anything on the frame. The staff at Michael's helped me pick this one specially designed for wood and it worked like a charm.

The fonts I used were Pacifico for "dream big" and the names, and Tekton Pro Bold for "little one". I found the unicorn and lyre silhouettes through a simple Google image search. I used this technique to transfer the designs onto the frames.

And more pictures of the finished product:

As much as I love this idea and think it could be used for a sorority legacy, I also think it could be a great baby gift for any expectant/new parent. I think the message "dream big" is something everyone wants for their bundle of joy.

My next post is about more baby gifts (I'm in that phase of life were everyone is having kids, except me, I'm sticking to the auntie club for now) but this time for a little boys (but again with a few changes could be used of either gender).

Live Joyously!