Personalized Board Book Review

I have had this pin sitting in my (very small) gifts board for a long time. I love the idea of making personalized books for babies. I know JJ loves "reading" and it is so much fun when kids start "getting" that there is stuff to look at and stories to hear from books. I know I could make the standard snapfish photobook, but these are the tough board books that can withstand a teething baby. This Christmas, I decided to order up a couple of these for my niece and cousin's son.

Board Book from Pint Size Productions

Another bonus - these books from Pint Size Productions are made in America -perfect to help support World News' Made In America program (side note: I am a total ABC news junkie. From local NY news anchors, to GMA, to World News with Diane Sawyer. Shannon gets sucked in as well and we have been known to google some behind the scenes gossip. One day we will venture into Manhattan with JJ in tow so Josh Elliot talks to us). Back on topic: I gathered the pictures I needed from facebook, my own library, and asking for some random shots from my cousin. For both Emma and Sal, I used photos of their parents, their pets, their grandparents, friends/cousins, and of course, them. For the text, I simply described who was in the photo and where it was taken. There are some pics below in case I am not explaining myself well.

I decided to go with the "Simple Photo Book 2" with a photo on the right and text on the left. I only had a handful of pics for each baby so I thought this would be the best choice. Once you click which type you like, you add it to your cart and are brought to spread building site. Here's a screen shot:

It was pretty simple to use once you got the hang of it. Every time you add a new photo or change the text, you have to click "Update Preview" and then select the page at the top in the middle to see it. The good thing is you can save it and come back to it later if you can't finish it all in one sitting. You can also add a photo and message on the back cover. I think it would be helpful if Pint Sized Productions added a little gallery so those of us that are creatively challenged could be inspired by what others have done. The website said all Christmas orders had to be in by December 7th in order to arrive by Christmas. I placed my order for the two books on December 6th. The total was $50 and change for the two books and shipping.

I did get a little nervous about them arriving in time as I got the shipping confirmation email on December 17 and it stated that it could take 5-7 business days to arrive. I emailed customer service asking it was going to arrive on time and never heard back. Luckily, they arrived on the 19th (before I even had a chance to call the customer service phone number).

The results? They came out really cute. They did seem to have a chemically odor but I am not sure if that was the packaging or the books themselves. I knew the quality of some of the photos would be compromised (since I stole some from Facebook), but I thought some of the pics I had taken myself with my DSLR were a bit grainy too. Overall though, I was happy. Although $25 seems a little high for a 7 page book, it was worth it to get a special, personalized book for these special babies that they can keep for a long time.

On to some pics (graciously supplied by my cousin Katie since I forgot to take pics before I wrapped them):

The handsome recipient, Baby Sal

Back Cover

Sample of an inside page

Another inside page

The whole thing



I would definitely recommend using Pint Sized Productions if you are in the market for something similar. Their website has some other designs and some stuffed animals as well. Has anyone else out there made anything similar?



Button and Bow Tie Garland

The Diaper Trike was not the only thing I attempted to make for our cousin Katie's Baby Shower. The overall theme for the shower was "Buttons and Bow ties" - inspired in part from this pin:

From The Hostess with the Mostess Blog. The shower they threw was adorable, and I loved the bow tie garland they made with diapers. Since I had the diapers taken care of with the trike, I tried to replicate with onsies.

It was pretty simple, I just folded over the sleeves to make one long strip, then folded the ends in and secured with a rubber band and covered the rubber band with ribbon:

I thought they came out cute, but thought they needed a "little more". I was brainstorming ways to add buttons to the garland without looking cheesy. My first attempt was using a simple salt dough and cookie cutters to make a couple. I was inspired by this pin for sugar cookies:

And this recipe for salt dough. I mixed all the ingredients and added some blue good coloring:

And kneaded and kneaded and kneaded. After 10 minutes, I rolled it out and used two different sized circular cookie cutters and a straw to make them look like buttons.

Of course, once again, I did not read the directions all the way through and only gave myself an hour to bake them at 200 degrees before I was falling asleep on the couch. "No biggie", I thought to myself. It says you can also let them dry out for 48 hours. I figured I could throw them back in the oven the next day for a couple hours and they would be as good as gold. Unfortunately, even after drying out all night, and being in the oven the next day for 4 hours, and then drying for a week, they never hardened up. In fact, by the end of the week, they were even more "pliable" then they were when I started. I don't know why - maybe I added too much water, maybe it was just too humid out (we don't have central a/c so it can get sticky because we turn the window units off when we aren't around) - who knows. I am super disappointed though because I would like to use salt dough for Christmas ornaments in the future.

So, the Friday night before the shower, I whipped up some faux buttons using some scrap book paper, foam board, and my Creative Memory circle cutters circa 2002. Not my best work, but they did the job.

Here is the garland on the candy bar:

Some tips if I were to attempt this garland again:

• I would get some fatter ribbon for the bow ties. What I had looked a little thin.
• Seek some alternative for the button - painted wooden circles? painted paper plates?
• Find a better way to secure them. We didn't hang it on the wall because the weight of the onsies sort of twisted the ribbon string down and you saw the ugly side. Perhaps this is why the ladies from JL Designs used diapers instead (much lighter).

The mom-to-be seemed to have a great time and was very blessed with all the gifts her friends and family brought - check out this haul!

Baby Salvatore is due October 5th, but we all know he can come whenever he decides - so we are patiently waiting for him!

Hope everyone has a great week!







Diaper Trike

Happy Monday everyone! Shannon and I were actually in the same state this weekend. Our cousin Katie had her baby shower on Saturday so Shannon made the drive down to NJ. It was a lovely day, but I think we are both still exhausted (tons of presents to haul!). For the shower, I decided to try my hand at make a diaper trike instead of the usual diaper cake. I found repinned this image a long time ago and its apparently a link to buy one.

So I did some googling and found some great instructions at Southern Fried Gal

I pretty much followed her instructions word for word. I made the wheels out of rolled up size 1 diapers (15 each for the back wheels, 25 for the front).

Then I wrapped some ribbon around the rubber bands and secured them with a safety pin.

Then I pulled one of the security blankets through the middle of the front wheel, and around the outside of the little wheels and through them. My blanket was a bit short so I had to use safety pins to bridge the gap and connect them.

Short blanket meant more safety pins.

Next it was on to the fun stuff - arranging a couple bibs for the fender and seat, using a bottle as a headlight, and then securing it all with the second security blanket. A couple of socks as handle bars, so ribbon to cover the rubber bands, and its done!

I cut a piece of foam board to put it on and wrapped the whole thing in plastic, but we decided to put it on the table unwrapped as a little more blue on the candy bar. Isn't it cute?

The handle bars sort of slumped sometimes, I think the bottle was a little fat.





Displayed on the candy bar



The Verdict: It was pretty simple to make, and I think it was a hit. As I said, its a nice alternative to the diaper cake. It took me a couple tries to get the wheels the way I wanted, but it only took an hour or so for the whole thing.

Things to Note/Consider: Either I had short blankets, or the size 1 diapers were a little too big. For both the one blanket to secure the wheels and the other to make the handlebars, they were a little too short. I wound up using an extra pair of socks in the handlebar socks to fill them up a little. Other than that, the directions and photos from Southern Fried Gal were easily to follow and worked out great.
I have a couple more things to post about from the shower - hopefully I will be able to get them out soon. Have a great week!

Breaking News

The antipication is finally over - Grace had her baby! It only took 8 extra days past her due date. Grace delivered a healthy 8lb baby boy. Both baby and mom are doing well.

Welcome to the world JJ & congrats Grace & Joe!


I'm sure she'll be busy with the baby so I'll be holding down the fort (this blog) for the next couple weeks.