Cuties for a cutie

Quick post about a few of the small projects I've been wrapping up for the little one lately. I have so many things on my to-do list (what's new?) that it's been nice to knock a few off.

 

First up, one I've been planning to do forever. B outgrew his baby hooded towels months ago, and I felt bad every time we wrapped him up and his little feet and calves were hanging out the bottom, especially now that it's winter and there's always a bit of a chill in the house.

At one of our baby showers, some friends of Matt's parents got B this super cute towel from Land's End, but it was an adult size, so I'd set it aside for him to use down the road. It finally occurred to me that it would be perfect for converting to a big boy hooded towel.

I used this tutorial from Not Just a Housewife, slightly modified, and it worked great. I didn't add any of the embellishments because the main towel already had the applique work, and it's for a boy, after all, so ribbons and what-not seemed unnecessary. So at the end, instead of flipping the edge of the hood to the outside and covering it with fabric, I just flipped it to the inside instead, and I think it looks fine. The first time we wrapped B up in the towel, he just cuddled right into it with a contented sigh. I'd say that's two thumbs up from the B man.

The other little project was a new and improved place mat for B. The first mat, as it turns out, was filled with flaws. I used regular cotton for the top, which was silly, of course, since a baby place mat is going to be covered in juicy, saucy, messy foods, which always soaked through or just made it a total mess. My attempt to make the back "sticky" by using shelf liner was also a total fail. It didn't hurt anything, but it definitely didn't work as I'd intended and also made it so the place mat couldn't go in the dryer. Oh, and the fabric was so "busy" that it actually made it hard for B to see his food sometimes.

His new mat solves all of those problems. It's made from slicker fabric (I was so excited to find these Ann Kelle monkeys in the slicker fabric at my LQS) on both sides, so it can easily be wiped down and flipped over.

 

You can't machine wash or dry it, but since it wipes down so easily, that shouldn't be a problem. I used a hair tie again so it can be rolled up and secured, then thrown in the diaper bag so it's always on hand.

I think it's time for a dinner out...