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!
On May 2, 2010 I headed over to Kristen Stanley Wicker's baby shower. She is a wonderful family friend and is expecting a son, Cullen.
T-shirt
Burp Cloth
Close up of the trim on the burp cloth
Everyone is really looking forward to Mr. Cullen's arrival!
Adam's sister, Hope, is expecting her first baby on March 21, a son named Charlie. Everyone in the family is so excited to have another child to put in the mix. Grace has been such a blessing and has brought so much joy to the Parrish clan that I know it is only going to get better as the family grows. A large group of family and friends threw Hope a baby shower. She had about 40 guest so it was quite a large crowd. Hope was beautiful and she is more than stocked with all of the essentials.
I made the centerpiece for the shower. They wanted to have cupcakes at the shower so they asked me to make a "fake cake" that could be used as a centerpiece. I was pretty proud of this one as it was the biggest cake I have made!
Another view...
Beautiful Brooke...
Cutie Pie Marilyn Grace...
Here I am with these lovely ladies...
I previously wrote about the sewing lesson that my friend Brooke gave me the Wednesday before the shower. After learning, I quickly turned into a sewing fool every waking minute. Between working, sewing, make petit fours, attending Blake and Rebecca's shower, implementing a 5K race, sushi-making class with Adam, decorating the centerpiece, and helping with Hope's shower, I was absolutely exhausted. I knew that I wanted to give handmade gifts at the shower and I had a quick deadline. Everything seemed to work out but I have a feeling I will look back on that weekend and think "I could never do all of that again!"
"C" Initial Burp Cloth
Elephant Burp Cloth
Bowtie Bib
Whale Onesie
Tie T-shirt
Fish Onesie
The shower turned out fantastic and everyone had such a nice time celebrating this special time with Hope!
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!
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!
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. 
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!
