homemade baby shower gifts...

This past Saturday I attended a friend's baby shower. She being very creative herself (her blog is {Love:Sparkle:Pretty}, I figured it would be fitting to be creative on her baby shower gifts. For about a full day, I searched and searched online for ideas one what I could make for her and her little man Levi. A few projects I was interested in were burp towels, bibs, and soft block toys with bells inside. I took a trip to the fabric store and was overwhelmed with excitement to find so many cute little boy patterns.

Then it came time to sew everything together. The only setback was....I didn't know how to sew. So with a little crash course from my mommy, I decided to start with the burp towels first since it was just straight line sewing. And here is how they came out. One side is a cute pattern print and the other side is a complimenting color in terry cloth.

Next I worked on the soft block toys. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the blocks completely finished, but here is a picture of one without it being stuffed, and a few scraps of fabric laying around.

Lastly, I put my sewing skills to the test and tried sewing bibs. The first one didn't turn out so well, it was too small, but perfection takes practice. Here are two pics on how they came out:

And instead of purchasing a card, I decided to make the card for her. Here is how it came out with the envelope:

 I "stole" this picture from Kayla's facebook. But thought it would be cute to include the 3 of them.

In addition to the burp cloths, soft block toys, and bibs, my mother made a blanket for the new baby Levi. Again I didn't take a picture of the blanket alone, but it came out wonderful. Instead of putting Levi's gifts in a gift bag Erica and I decided to put it into a basket. A quick trip to the thrift store and we found the perfect basket to fit everything. And here is a layout of everything: (here you can see the blocks and the blanket)

And as much as I hoped, the mommy-to-be enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you Kayla for letting Erica and I be apart of your wonderful baby shower.

progress....

I believe it was a couple of weeks ago I posted about a life-fulfilling experience. Well here is an update on my progress. If you have not read already, I am putting together a fundraiser where proceeds will benefit the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House. Since my family has been bowling for years we figured it would be a fun event to have is be a bowling fundraiser. I contacted multiple bowling centers for pricing and to see if they would be able to accommodate my requests. Luckily, Brunswick Classic Lanes quoted me a reasonable price that includes the bowling, shoes, pizza, and soda. (Next week I will discuss the final details with the event coordinator and put it into the books.)

So the flyers have been created and so has the Facebook page Bowling for Ronald McDonald House. If you click on that page, and look under events there are details about the bowling fundraiser. Next, my family tried to decide how we could also increase revenue for the RMH. We came up with the idea where volunteers will wear custom screen-printed shirts during the event (so people can locate them for assistance) and will also take any orders to purchase the shirts. Also we will be holding a raffle so people can purchase tickets for a variety of prizes.

When dealing with the raffle, it was evident that we needed assistance from our friends and the community to donate anything they can. So far we have received donations of gift certificates to restaurants, hair salons, and 2 skateboards are being donated. I drafted a donation letter last week and mailed them about to about 30 businesses and also emailed a few companies. Hopefully within the next week I will receive a response. I know that I have about 2 months until the fundraiser, but the Capricorn inside of me can't stand to do things in the last minute.

So flyers are done, and donation letters are sent out. Then I began to think about the future. I am hoping to have an annual bowling fundraiser, but wanted to come up with some sort of organization where we can donate to the Make-A-Wish foundation. The Ronald McDonald House and the Make-A-Wish foundation are two things that are dear to my family. Although we were not able to grant my sister's wish due to her passing, my family is grateful for being considered. After deliberating the thought of creating an organization, my family has agreed to come up with "Kanani's Dreamz" (here is the link: Kanani's Dreamz). Our mission is to assist families with ill-children. Although Kanani was not able to fulfill her dreams, we hope to assist other children to fulfill theirs.

Yes all this is very stressful. Especially since I will be starting school again next week. But when I close my eyes to breathe, I remind myself that I'm making progress...

Poetry

Dropped from the face of the earth
Without a warning left to parish.
Why does it feel like I've been here before?
What is this feeling?
It's recognizable but at the same time I'm in denial.
Denial that history doesn't always repeat itself.
I feel warm blood through my veins
But my heart is as cold as ice.
Time stops, the room is silent.
Mind is racing, but I can't move.
I'm afraid to move because
In one instant my heart of ice will break.
So what now? What do I do? How do I survive?
I breathe. Inhale and exhale.
Eventually, one day...
My heart will be warm again.