Make Room for Baby

GRANDMAS 'YOU ROCK'!!!

ME AND MY MOM (ADAM'S GRANDMA)

For all the Grandmas..."YOU ROCK". 

When I was pregnant with Adam, my mom seemed to get so much smarter! I had been the mouthy teen, suffering from PMS, I would have told you it stood for Put mom someplace else! I was so bad, Dr. Phil could have done a whole segment on me!  

Had "Focus on the Family" been around, mom could have 'nipped it in the bud".  

I find it interesting that I am having lots of grandmothers calling me with questions as they start on their new grandbabies bumper sets. Which is what made me think about the relationship and the changes that take place when your daughter is about to find out everything mom said was true! 

Whether you have kept up sewing or are dragging out the machine... Your first grandbaby's going to get a very special cribset, made with love, attention to detail, one of a kind design and made in America... (I mean the cribset).

Just put the pedal to the metal, it will seam like yesterday. Sorry, I couldn't resist!

Which brings me to the birth of Make Room for Baby. As The Detailed Home, I found my niche expediting the work between the decorator, their client and the workroom. With a quilting backround, and fashion design, I focused on the details, design and construction. It was a unique relationship with several designers and workrooms. I never charged for my time because I loved what I was doing, and would keep on keeping on until I had it just right. That is also how I ended up doing the baby bumpers.

If my son is reading this,he is rolling his eyes and saying "oh my gosh, I hated those things! For sure I didn't make any money by the time I had to bribe him for his help! He would stand at one end of the room, I at the other end and we would pull the length of batting through, and through, and through. I next had to sew through this monster, breaking needles and getting knocked over while the batting fought me like a boxer. Round TWO! SHE'S OUT!

Skip to Make Room for Baby...no more "knock outs". "No more Labor Pains".... Now, you just sew up the cover, adding the zipper provided, along the bottom edge, just like a rectangle throw pillow. No padding to fight with. Once the cover is sewn....then you sew a straight line through the FABRIC ONLY, to make each "pillow pocket". Unzip the zipper and pop in the 6 Make Room for Baby  bumper pillow inserts. Zip it up! You're done!

Want to wash it..unzip, pull out the 6 pillow inserts, drop it in the machine. Easy to press "empty". Return the pillows into their pockets, fresh, clean, like new. Keep calling, I am happy to answer your questions...

P.S. There are a lot of TWINS happening out there!

SEW SIMPLE, YET SWEET

I Think I Can, I Think I Can... She Hopes I Can!

Sally is my hero tonight. She has the patience and genius for the computer beyond belief. Do you know she can actually read the hieroglyphics too? And did I mention patience? Trying to bring me up to speed in the “tech” world is no easy task.

Sally and I met on a Missions Trip to Romania where we had the blessing of working with children in an orphanage and hospital, and visiting two gypsy villages. It was my first time on a mission trip and I loved every minute of it, and came home changed.

Romania reminded me exactly of South Dakota where I grew up, with cornfields and sunflowers and lots of gardens. It is also where I found I have a passion for wanting to help women and young girls find ways to support their families in creating something with color and beauty. I'm not sure how Make Room for Baby is going to be tied into this, but I'm sure it will.

As we got to know each other in our group, we kept ending up behind each other on the bus rides, very long bus rides! We exchanged our info and hoped to run into each other once the trip was over. Passing each other in church, we could only say "I miss the kids in Romania and I want to go back!" 

Next thing I knew, she was working "very hard" with designing my website and finding out I knew nothing about websites or even computers! "Tech Talk" was even a challenge for me and I nearly drove her crazy!! Not only was I having to learn how to use my new MAC, learn a new  language and how a website worked. Her company is called Olivejooce Design, and I can only say I came very close to  "pressing"  her to the limit!!  But I love my website and Miss Sally Han!

And now we have moved on to Blogging!

I was sure she was going to send me to the book store to buy “Blogging for Dummies” but, she didn’t! Instead, she had the patience of a pre-school teacher and inspired me to keep on keeping on.

So now, I ask you to bear with me too, as I get up to speed with the blogging, camera, computer, etc. I really just wanted to sew and share!

BABE IN TOYLAND

I’ve been paying for storage for many, many years, keeping my son’s toys, antique cradle, FABRIC, and way too many other collectibles that I just wasn’t ready to part with.  Well, the time has come to lighten the load, and drop the payments!  With my son dragging his feet to help me drag some of the boxes out, we ended up having a very  good time going down “memory lane”.  Needless to say, he was reminded that he was THE BABE in Toyland.

“Remember this?”  was a constant comment as we opened boxes to see exactly what was what, and down memory lane we went, together, it was worth every penny for the years of storage that day. 

Not even I remembered sooo many toys.  We traveled alot when he was small. As a former flight attendant, my suggestion to all new mothers is, travel with a NEW toy....the experience and interest will last a little bit longer than the “same old”. We traveled ALOT obviously, with grandparents in Brazil, Spain and Florida.  Playmobile was great since it came in little boxes and took time to put together.  Then we got on the kick of Happy Meal toys, that is the next load of boxes...How many hamburgers did the kid really eat?  Yikes!

“Grandma came to help, and commented “it’s a miracle he didn’t choke on any of these tiny pieces!”

What I had forgotten about were the Halloween costumes I made.  When I pulled them out, I just stared at them in my hands, amazed at the detail and time I had taken.  

This is what I hope for all of you that choose to design and sew for your baby.  The pleasure and pride that comes even 27 years later.  The love that went into it.  I remember my mom sewing doll clothes for me, which is another warm, fuzzy memory.  I also have my grandmother’s old quilt made out of men’s suiting squares....a little scratchy, but each square is outlined in exquisite embroidery.  They become the treasures in life, a tangible proof of the love poured into someones life.  Friends come up to me at Christmas to tell me they were thinking of me as they put up decorations I had made for them many years ago.

So, with the shaky economy, creativity usually kicks in, and with it, many good things.  Dependence on friends and family, drawing together...helping each other.

I envision, pulling together and finding out how to make the most outrageously, unique one of a kind baby’s room at a fraction of the cost.  If you make it out of a solid light color fabric, and use pen & ink, you can embroider on top of it.  Experiment on small pieces of fabric.  Trace a favorite character onto the fabric, sew it on as a patch and stitch around it.  Future blogs will be getting into more ways to adapt different techniques.  But, draw in all of the talented people around you!  They will feel honored.

I have had several of you mention that you are new at sewing, but “sew” excited about getting started with making the bumper. If you are one of those getting help from your mom or grandmother, and would like to share with others how the experience went, I will send the first one I receive, a set of “Baby’s first comb & brush”, compliments of Make Room for Baby.  

CHRISTMAS 2008

Cheeca Lodge & Spa, Islamorada, Florida, in the Keys.

One of my favorite things to do is decorate Christmas trees, and this year was The Best....

two fully decorated trees for the lobby, and the 6 in the courtyard of Cheeca Lodge & Spa, plus centerpieces and garland!  What a treat, and what a feat!  How many decorations are enough...and...how many are too many?

Never too many!

My family spent Christmas here also, and we decided to keep it simple and much more frugal, considering the year we may be entering into.  The plan was to each buy one gift suitable for a man or woman (children were the exception, of course), and we would play the game where we pick a number to choose a gift from the pile, and then have the choice of opening it, or asking to trade with someone.

Well, it turned out to be a hoot!  We have never laughed so hard and shared such fun in opening gifts and being surprised.  

I think 2009 can be a year of finding new riches in family and friends as we reach out to help each other where we have the talents and time to share.  

This is what I hope to bring out in my blog.  I hope MRFB can bring  families together and let each one share and participate in the arrival of a new baby.  Who is good at sewing?  Who can embroider?  Perhaps you might even remember how you used to tie-dye your T-shirts.  Can you adapt this to a baby room?  I think sew!  The same time, saving money and giving each one a chance to add their love to the most wonderful event in life.

Blessings and hope for the New Year.

Shirley

A Great Summer, But Back to Work

I’m back from Jackson Hole, WY., after working on the new Rustic Inn, formerly the Wagon Wheel Cabins, (10 days turned into 2 months), then Los Angeles for my son’s graduation from Loyola Law School , the Bahamas, for a short snorkeling trip, and it is now time to FOCUS on Business!  

A quick note on the Country Living Experience... IT WAS FABULOUS!!  Met  “THE” HEATHER BAILEY , heard lots of successful women talk about starting their companies, even ETSY, and got to Pitch My Product.   Needless to say, we were all nervous, but it was well worth it.  Quite inspiring to meet so many women with so many different talents and products, and a passion for what they enjoy.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE
I realize that blogging was meant to be “frequently” and newsy... I will try this once more.  I am always running in five different directions.  Something we will talk about later, as I remember what I need to be doing right now!

The word “scattered” comes to mind, as in scatter-brain?!  So, come along for the ride, by all means comment, and please provoke me to keep it up.  I have gathered so much to share over all these years, I just need a push to get going.....push me!

SHOW TIME IN NO TIME!
Next show in Springfield, MA.  I hope the leaves are changing, I love the breeze of the palms around me in Florida, but nothing refreshes me like the smell of autumn.