I heart homemade

As you must know by now, I like giving homemade gifts whenever possible, but I also love receiving homemade items. It's so wonderful to see the time, thought, and effort people put into making something specifically for you (or, in this case, Biscuit), and you're reminded of that love every time you use the item.

We're lucky to have several crafty friends, so I wanted to highlight the awesome homemade things we've received at Biscuit's baby showers this summer. Thank you, friends!

The first item was also acquired most recently, from our friend Susanne at this weekend's shower. She made an entire set of Tex-Mex (our favorite!) felt food. How amazing is this?

I cannot even imagine how much time she put into making this (and did I mention she and her husband hosted the shower, too??). The details are crazy, and every little piece is perfect. In the picture above (starting on the left), you have flan, a fajita with all the fixins (steak and chicken with grill marks!, red and green bell peppers, onions, and refried beans), churros with chocolate dipping sauce, guacamole, more fajita fixins, nachos, a taco with all the fixins (lettuce, tomatoes, steak, and cheese), a burrito, and chips and salsa.

Look at those fajita fixins! The fajita and burrito tortillas have velcro so you can roll them up and keep them closed. And, of course, they're flour tortillas, because corn tortillas are not Tex-Mex.

To top it off, she "wrapped" it in a styrofoam container. How clever is that? I can't wait until Biscuit's old enough to play with it. Until then, maybe I'll just frame it. ;)

The next gift was a super soft baby blanket from our friend Kelly.

I call this our Texas blanket because the bandanna-like fabric on the left side reminds me of Texas. Kelly (along with her husband Trent and their little ones, Rush and Tate) was one of the fabulous friends we left behind in Houston, and we miss them terribly, so it's so nice to have something to remind us of them.

The quilt's just the right size to take with us anywhere we need it, and it's very padded, so I know Biscuit will love laying all over it.

This set was made by another one of our Houston friends, the wonderful Catherine. The shirt and bib are both made from a thermal material that's going to look so cute on Biscuit. I particularly love the oh-so-clever two-sided bib. I feel quite confident our little boy's going to be a messy one, so this way we can just flip the bib around, and voila! clean bib!

Catherine's sweet mother Arlene got in on the fun, too, with this cutie of a burp cloth. I love that fabric!

Finally, my oldest friend, Rachel (who I've known since 2nd grade), gave us a couple of gifts, starting with these two burp cloths. Look at those monkeys! I love all of their different expressions.

The burp cloth on the left matches the nursing cover she also gave me. I love the colors, and it's nice that it's plenty dark to cover things up, if you know what I mean (and I think you do).

It's also got boning in the top part to keep it open so I can easily see in and keep an eye on things.

Thank you so very much, crafty friends!