DIY Burp Cloths, Semi-Crunchy? and a cute baby gift!

I guess you might label me semi-crunchy. I actually came across that label yesterday in a forum and as I was listening to the ladies talk about their "crunchy" status, I realized I fell in the semi-crunchy realm of the eco-friendly lifestyle.

Anyway...from what I've read, this is all about living eco-friendly and I have been striving to do that for a number of years. Let's say since my boys were about 4 & 5.

I never thought of it as a choice of anything except trying to live by what is right...trying to live as a responsible human and not take part in systematically destroying my own habitat (as well as the habitat of other important animals) like so many of us blindly do. I'm not going to formally label myself "semi-crunchy." I hate labels...they are so limiting, but it might give you an idea of where I'm coming from.

So my choosing to cloth diaper and breastfeed just falls into this type of lifestyle. I mean...it's strange to me that people look at breastfeeding the way they do: negatively, although thankfully things have changed even since my boys were babies and society is becoming more open about it. Haha, society has become more open about human mothers feeding their human babies milk from their human bodies, that was naturally formulated for their offspring.

Yet we drink milk from a cow that was naturally formulated for calves and don't blink an eye...

Strange mentality.

So anyway, how did I get on this topic?

Oh yeah, today I'm going to be sewing! Yay! I love sewing and creating, especially sewing and creating useful things.

I'm going to make burp cloths today instead of buying them at the store. Why buy them at the store, when I can make super cute ones with patterns I love right here at home?

I have a friend who is expecting at the beginning of October, another at the end of October and yet another in early September like me. In addition to that, my step-brother & his wife are expecting their first in December AND my step-sister just had twins this month!

Can you say BABY BOOM?! So funny....we've gone YEARS with no babies in our family and now this explosion. It's nuts, but delightful lunacy and Christmas is going to be awesome this year.

So I'm having a baby shower tomorrow, but my friend who is expecting in September will also be there and she says, "I need nothing. I have J's stuff from when he was a baby and my sister is giving us all of her stuff from my niece." Well, I have to get her SOMETHING and you can never have too many burp cloths, so I'm making her a few and also giving her some organic bath essentials as a gift. Something simple, but useful.

I may end up doing this for everyone I know who is having babies this year. Otherwise, I'd be totally broke by Christmas and I can't let that happen! lol Plus, it's super fun to give something you actually put your energy into.

For those who are interested and who may be new to sewing, I've found a link with a great tutorial for burp cloths. They are simple to make, but this site has great photos and it's a good step-by-step tutorial for newbies.

It's called The Hazel Bloom. You can even pin her on Pinterest or follow her on Facebook. She has recipes and all sorts of goodies.

http://www.thehazelbloom.com/2012/02/diy-burp-cloths-from-fabric-scraps/

DIY BURP CLOTHS: 

Here are some pictures of the burp cloths I made. I  made my first two based on the size mentioned in the post above, but I like mine a little bigger, so I made the last two about  9.5 x 14.

The sewing set-up! Random fabrics, 2 receiving blankets (great because they are already nice and soft and flannel is a great burp cloth fabric, plus they have cute designs, scissors, thread, pins, pencil. 

Using sewing machine or you an hand sew...sew right side to right side of each fabric. Be sure to remove your pins as you go so you don't bend/break your sewing needle (if using machine)! 

Turn right side out, being sure to pull out corners. 

(below)

One complete! I love the green plaid with the cool bird print. 

Four complete. I like using fabrics that aren't necessarily "baby." Two of these are your average quilter's cotton and two are from the artist's group in the quilting section. I love them.

BABY SHOWER GIFT USING DIY BURP CLOTHS

So the next step in this gift is to create two Peas in a Pod with washcloths and cute ribbon!

To begin...find cute washcloths. Contrary to what I was thinking when I went shopping today, you don't NEED a green washcloth, but if you find one, that'll be super cute too. :) I saw a pink set and this yellow and white set. Pink isn't my favorite, so I went with this one.

Fold the "pod" cloth as shown above and set aside. 

As shown in the next three photos, roll each of the "pea" washcloths. 

Roll from one end, being sure you roll in the direction where the loose corner was on your first roll. This will secure it. 

Tack with needle and thread.

 Ta-da!

Two perfect peas. ;-) 

Place in folded "pod" washcloth. You may need to adjust the fold of the "pod," so that it fits around the peas securely. 

Tie each end with ribbon and voila! 

Two peas in a pod washcloth set. 

I wrapped ribbon around the burp cloths, with a cute little tag. 

I added a few other goodies...natural bath shampoo and lotion, pacifiers and a rubber ducky that lets mama know if the water is a good temperature for the baby. The washcloth set I bought had a cute froggy with it, so he's tucked in under the burp cloths. 

I couldn't resist this cute box to wrap it all in. 

Now, to make burp cloths for my own baby!