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Monday 17 March 2014

Hello Baby.









 My newborn nephew Stanley

Welcome to the world little baby


I LOVE babies. I am the person with mad hair (and eyes) who will play peek-a-boo with a stranger’s baby for hours on a train. 
My daughters at 20, 18 and 12 are a few years off having children (I hope) but I pity them when they do, as I’ll be elbowing them out of the way to get at their infant and no one else will get a look in. 
In the meantime I get very excited whenever anyone I know has a baby and I like to mark the occasion.
When my firstborn arrived (all 10lbs of her) I received the most delightful card from my friend Veronica saying:
‘Welcome to the world little Edith we hope you will be very happy’. 

I still have the card. It was so touching I’ve used that wording on every a baby card I’ve ever written.

For the baby:
I always send the same card. It’s very easy one to make and I think it’s lovely to get something handmade. 

You Will Need:

White felt or calico
Embroidery thread & needle
Thick cartridge paper 
Glue
Scissors
Pins


  Step 1: Make a paper pants pattern first, folding it in half to get it symmetrical.



Step 2: Cut them out of felt or calico (cut 2 for twins)

Step 3: Do running stitch leaving a big loop at the front which can
be snipped in the middle leaving 2 ends to be tied in a bow. 

Step 4: Tie the thread into a bow and glue onto the card. 




The finished card. 



For the siblings:

With Dorothy, my youngest, I was so enormous and immobile by the end of my pregnancy (she was 11lbs) I spent the last couple of days making many, many little cellophane cones of jelly babies which her older siblings took into school to hand out to their classmates when she was born. 
They were a big hit and looked so charming that since then I make the same cellophane cones to send to siblings of a new baby with a note congratulating them on becoming a big sister or brother. If you want to make the cellophane cone with jelly babies 
You Will Need:
For 1
1 x square of cellophane 35 x 35cm 
2/3 of a packet of jelly babies
45 cm of narrow ribbon 
Obviously you can make these any size, but this is as they're pictured.


* If you can get hold of it, florist's cellophane which comes in big rolls is fantastic and can be used for wrapping flowers, as an extra layer when gift wrapping and also covering books. 





For 5mm ribbon you need 45cm for 15mm ribbon - 50cm


Step 1: With the bottom corner of the cellophane square pointing towards you, roll the left corner towards right side corner and secure with 2 small pieces of clear tape. Aim for a long narrow cone.




Step 2: Fill 2/3 with the jelly babies and tie with ribbon et voila !
For the parents:

I rarely give baby clothes, over the years food has been the most gratefully received present.
If I can deliver it, I make a stew (always in a takeaway box so there’s no pressure to return dishes) or if it's by post I buy a big tin of chocolate biscuits. Chocolate biscuits are pretty much always a good idea but if a breastfeeding mother is involved she will probably want to bury her face in them and if she isn’t breast feeding, so hasn’t developed a dysfunctional relationship with sugar, she can hand them out to the stream of visitors.






Stanley's feet
























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