My latest find ...

I'm not entirely sure what women did on maternity leave before Facebook, probably all of the sorts of things I should be doing! Nevertheless, I made a new Facebook discovery a couple of months ago; The Crafty Mouse, and I have been stalking her page ever since. The Crafty Mouse, the talented Emma Chapman, makes beautiful keepsakes from your baby's clothes; turning them into things like Bunny's, Roary the Lion, Polo the Pony, Sparky the Dragon, Deano the Dinosaur and Scraps the Dog, to name but a few ... All of which have been designed by The Crafty Mouse, herself.


So how does this work ... ? Well, The Crafty Mouse is a very hardworking lady, who as well as being a mum and turning people's precious baby clothes into keepsakes, has a full-time job. Therefore there is a waiting list, which you need to get your name on. When your turn comes about you send off your baby clothes, then begins the eager, stalker like, wait for The Crafty Mouse to work her magic; this can take about four weeks (this time-frame has been taken from http://www.thecraftymouse.co.uk/). Prices for keepsakes range from £15-£25 (prices are correct at the time of this post but are due to change in the New Year), though personally I would pay a lot more for something so special and unique. You can also have your keepsake personalised for an extra £3.50. 


I was lucky enough to "jump" the queue as I placed a bid, which was subsequently the winning bid, on a Roary that was kindly donated to a charity auction by The Crafty Mouse.  

Our finished Roary. 

Close up of the personalisation - Riley 17.05.11

All of the items I sent for this keepsake were some of the first clothes Riley wore. Instead of being stuffed into boxes and forgotten about, we now have a beautiful keepsake which I can display and Riley can keep forever. 

These clothes are similar to some of the items I sent to The Crafty Mouse.

I absolutely Love this personalised Roary and I'm still on the waiting list awaiting my "proper" turn. When this comes around, I will be ordering a Sparky the Dragon and Deano the Dinosaur. The quality of these keepsakes is amazing, as are the prices for such a great product. I would definitely recommend getting one!

Santa Claus is going to town

The countdown to Christmas has now officially begun; it is at long last December. I have been looking forward to Christmas 2011 since last Christmas when I was about 4 months pregnant. “This time next year” …  was how most of my sentences began. I LOVE Christmas and this year is extra special as it is Riley’s first and Santa Claus (that’s me) is going to town! 

I began my preparations way back in August, when “normal” people were jetting away on their holidays. I’m not completely crackers though (see what I did there), but, with one full wage, a maternity wage, saving a deposit for a house and raising a baby, this was the only way I could ensure we would be ready for Christmas. 

Firstly, I purchased both James’ and my family’s presents, getting some great deals in the end of summer sales meaning I didn’t need to sacrifice the quality of presents to fit my budget. I have also been buying presents for Riley each month needless to say, the underneath of his cot and our bed are crammed with toys and we still haven’t been out shopping together to buy presents!

Presents aren’t what it’s all about though and although Riley is not old enough to understand what is going on I still want to create a magical first Christmas, what parent doesn’t? I recently ordered a letter from Santa from the NSPCC website, http://christmas.nspcc.org.uk/santa.  I thought it would be lovely so that when he is older, and does understand, he will be able to see that Santa has written to him every year since his first Christmas. I would highly recommend the NSPCC letter from Santa. Of all the letters I looked in to buying, including various sites who specialise in letters from Santa and Toys R Us, the NSPCC letter was the only one that had options for a special, baby’s first Christmas letter and by choosing this one all the funds raised go to a great cause. This letter can be purchased for a suggested donation of £5

 

NSPCC leaflet.

I have also purchased a personalised Santa please stop here sign - £6.99 from Studio Cards, http://www.24studio.co.uk/ss/index.jsp and a lovely Santa sack from sacks ‘n’ stories, http://www.sacks-n-stories.co.uk/santa-sacks-2-w.asp. Jan, who handcrafts these, makes personalised Santa sacks from all kinds of different fabrics and in a variety of different colours etc. The sack I ordered cost £22 (inclusive of postage) and I intend to get a tag to write Riley’s name and address on it … How else would Santa know whose sack is whose in that big ole sleigh? We have also decided that a few presents will be from mummy and daddy. 

Santa Please Stop here sign to go outside.

Riley's personalised Santa sack. Because it's not babyish, 

we can keep this for years to come. 

Riley will be sending out his own personalised Christmas cards. I got these from poundland, £1 for 6.  You simply put a picture inside the frame, ta-dah! Mamas and Papas sell similar cards, which are priced at £4 for 8, http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-christmas-gift-cards/481101904/type-i/.  I do still need to purchase an outfit, take his picture and get them developed though … hmmm maybe I’m not that organised. 

Each pack has two designs. 

What I’m most excited about is that we will be able to start our own little family traditions, things that will be with us in years to come. This is something we have already discussed, and debated; important things like what to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. I like the idea of wrapping up a nice new pair of special pyjamas to open on Christmas Eve, and have seen a multitude of Christmasy pyjamas to suit all budgets.

I did attempt to make us each our own stocking, an attempt that failed miserably when I stitched the top of the first stocking shut! I have since purchased plain ready-made stockings and will just personalise them myself.

Writing this post has actually got me panicking a bit when I think of all the things I have left to do; dig out the decorations for tree choosing and decorating day on Saturday, make my Christmas crackers (I did say I was going a bit OTT this year), get a recipe for eggnog, find a ginger bread house, or two, write my Christmas cards, wrap some more presents (I could have my own branch of Clintons cards with the amount and variety of wrapping paper I have) and finish my shopping off. How prepared are you?

I intend to make these a bit more grown up, so

need to find something to go inside them and maybe not 

colour them with crayons!!

24 days to go …

Sew unique ...

I accidently found a great Facebook page whilst looking for a unique toy box for Riley. I have ordered a few items in the past couple of months and would love to share what I have found.

Riley's custom made toy box.

These toy boxes are made to order. Laura, who created and runs "That's sew Laura", can order in fabrics if you have something specific in mind and you can't find what you are looking for in one of her fabric albums. Riley's toy box was custom made with a fabric I found to coordinate with the theme with have for him. 

The lettering and cushion top are attached with velcro and can therefore easily be removed to wash. The toy boxes themselves have wipe clean panels, brilliant for when little hands start touching!

I love these sew much that I have ordered two sets, (cushion top and lettering) in Aliens and Mini Superhero's with "TOYS" lettering, to go on a couple of toy boxes I have already purchased elsewhere to deal with the mass of Christmas toys we will soon have to find homes for. 

I have also purchased a personalised winter pram blanket, again completely made to order and of excellent quality. 

Riley's Postman Pat blanket.

Close up of the personalisation.

And finally I have also purchased some unique bibs and dribble bibs. These are backed in a fleece material. 

Bibs and dribble bibs.

These items are all sew individual and because everything Laura makes is made to order, you won't see every other child with the exact same thing as yours. I particularly LOVE the little dresses she makes, I just need a baby girl of my own to dress ...