Diaper Bag: Part Deux

I've been holding out writing a post about the diaper bag that I finished for my sister-in-law, because I was hoping to do a double post with hers and mine.  Unfortunately, mine currently looks like this:

Nuts.  I managed to cut it out sometime after my gal's birth, but it's been sitting in a pile in my craft room ever since.  Oh well.  

As for the finished product, I sent that out in February, for her shower, filled with goodies...you can't give a bag without putting something in it.  I think it's bad luck.  Or not. 

Once again, I revisited the problematic diaper bag pattern from my old blog:  Butterick B5005.  I had the same problem this time around:  the zip would not install properly.  Ugh.  I ended up taking it out and installing it a different way, resulting in this pucker:

Stinker.  But after I made this and screwed it up for the second time, I found this girl who had installed it properly.  After a little blogger-to-blogger convo, I think I may be able to put it in the right way next time.  She called the zipper a breeze to put in, while I think it's more of a gale.  We'll see.

Otherwise, I modified two things.  First, I installed a magnetic snap instead of the velcro.  I like it better and will be doing the same for my bag.

Next, I changed up the fabric for the inside pockets.  The directions tell you to use the lining fabric for both the lining and the inside pockets.  Since I lined it with black, I wanted to break up that abyss:

As for the contents, I just filled it with some things I'd found for their little baby:  Nintendo Teether from Etsy, Pride and Prejudice board book (purchased locally, of course),  a fun Mr. Potato Head onesie (found at a craft show, but I can't remember the seller -- sorry!), and some Pooh-related items.

I also made some burp cloths and matching bibs:

And my latest discovery is this PUL fabric that is supposed to be waterproof (has not worked well enough with my one homemade diaper, though), but I found some orange PUL and made a matching changing mat:

PS...I wrote this post while nursing and then with a sleeping babe on my chest.  If only all of life's tasks could be accomplished as such.  Baby snuggle time is the best.

Nursery Evolution: Changing Table

For the changing table, we tried to pick something that would grow with our baby gal.  It seemed senseless to buy a changing table with no other purpose, so we picked up Ikea's Expedit shelving, placed it horizontally, added some mirrored doors, and added some legs to bring it up to a good height.  

We wanted storage boxes to go with the unit and we settled on the Drona box, a fabric covered cardboard-like bin for the low price of $4.99.  Looking at their website now, I see that it comes in pink, black, or green, but when we were there it only came in white.  They had pretty colored plastic boxes, but the thought of plastic boxes being dragged around by a toddler on the wood floor made me cringe.  They also had wicker, but I'm not a big wicker fan.

Anyway, after purchasing four of the Drona boxes, all of the white on white was just too much:

At first I wanted to make box covers for them out of fabric from my stash, but that required calculations and thinking and I wasn't up for that.

Then I decided that I should make applique-ish flowers out of scrap fabrics.  I got as far as this flower and called it a day.  I tried to go with the circle-dot theme of the room, but this just didn't look right:

While searching for adequate scrap fabric, I came across the Fredrika remnant from the nursery curtains.  What if I fused some of those flowers to the boxes?  I did one and it looked so much better than my pathetic creation!  I just flipped my circle-dot flower to the back of the shelf and used the other side of the box.  Behold:

So there you have it...my mini Ikea hack.  It's not perfect, but it works.  

In My Mailbox

Yesterday I received a surprise package from one of my oldest and dearest friends!  She sent a lovely handpainted piece of art for Zelda's room!

I immediately added it to the collection.  I know everything is a little off balance right now, but I hope to add another small piece or two to even the scales.

It's lovely!  And it goes so well with the room...from the colors to the circles to the dots.  And I love the little bird!

So sweet!  Plus, I have a few more bird pieces in the room, so this adds to that theme as well.  One of those game boards that I framed has birds on it and, if I ever find the time, I hope to put together the mobile for above the crib, which also has birds.

And not only is my dear friend a very talented artist with her own etsy shop, she is also an amazing paper handler/scrapbooker extraordinaire as evidenced by the enclosed card:

Thank you, Mel!  I love it!  You are amazing!