Blake and Rebecca's Baby Shower (02-20-10)

After the race was over my mom and I headed over to my cousin, Blake, and his wife, Rebecca's baby shower. They are expecting a little girl, Caroline Leigh Hardee, on March 25! I am so excited for them and I know they will be wonderful parents. They live in Simpsonville, SC so I do not get to see them as much as I would like. Blake is one year younger than I am and we were extremely close growing up. I was even able to convert him to a Clemson fan which was not an easy feat! Blake is infamous for the "thumbs up" pose in pictures- if he wasn't 26 I would swear he invented it, hince, the significance of the above picture!

Here they are with the proud soon-to-be grandmomma...

My mom and I made petit-fours for the shower. I didn't get a picture of them prior to the shower and then they were gone when I wanted to get one!

The Wednesday before the shower, my friend, Brooke Faulkner, came into town for a seminar and I was able to finagle her into staying with me so that she could teach me a thing or two about this white box that I received for Christmas. To most people, this white box is known as a sewing machine! I have not sewed since I was in the seventh grade and enrolled in Home Economics. I remember making a horribly uneven pair of boxer shorts that was pretty much a waste of fabric.

I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas and I was fortunate enough for Santa to bring one to me. I really wanted to learn to do some of the basic things and Brooke was the perfect one to teach me. She is the best sewer I know and does very advanced projects such as smocking and making crib bedding. She can look at a pattern on a piece of paper and turn it into something beautiful. I just wanted her to teach me to applique so I could make some things for the upcoming babies that were scheduled to come into the world.

Here is Blake and Rebecca opening their handmade gifts...

I completely fell in love with appliqueing. It is totally like sewing for cheaters. I mean you don't actually sew the outfit you just do the fun stuff that makes it personal. You get to draw something on a fabric and see it on a piece of clothing. I am no expert so don't look too closely as I literally learned how to do this three days before.

Here is the bird T-shirt...

Star Bib...

Cupcake burp cloth...

Monogrammed burp cloth...

For the record, I was completely skeptical about decorating a burp cloth. I mean, it is named a burp cloth. Surely something solely dedicated to catching bodily fluids should not be decorated but new moms love them. I have actually warmed up to the idea and I have loved making them- a total change in perspective from a non-mother!