Happy Valentine’s Day baby photo and club feet update

Happy Valentine’s Day! One thing this new grandma can’t get enough of is this cute little love bug and a chance to whip out the camera for some photography practice. I’m not a professional photographer but I do enjoy pretending to be one. As a home/DIY blogger, I’m used to taking photos of before/after spaces and tutorial steps. A moving model is a lot more challenging but a lot of fun! I call this one “Cupid’s Aaro” and of course he’s covered in grandma kisses. Valentine's Day baby photo 2015 @diyshowoff #clubfeet

DIY cast covers: The casts had gotten a little worn and dirty looking. He does have some cute leg warmers but for this photo, I just snipped off the toes of festive dollar store socks (adult sized) and tucked in the raw edge. Perfect fit.

Update: He is now two months old and doing well! He loves to ‘talk’ and is always smiling. Thanks for the prayers! The plaster casts from his surgery were finally removed after three weeks earlier this week. He wasn’t phased one bit by the extra heavy weight from top of thighs to little tiny toes but he was temporarily horribly traumatized by the saw.  Measurements were taken and he’s now wearing temporary shoes and bar until his custom ones arrive. He’ll wear them for 23 hours a day. 

club feet shoes & braces @diyshowoff

His feet are a little peel-y from being in casts for months so my daughter is applying a V6/lavender essential oil blend with success. And he’s able to finally bend his knees for the first time since he was born, lots of kicking and fascination with feet during that one hour a day without shoes. 

Happy Valentine's Day 2015 from @diyshowoff

And…I just want you to know that you are loved. Your comments, your support, your encouragement, your kindness, every time we interact, I’m smiling. I hope your Valentine’s Day is filled with lots of love, kisses and good health. 

Striped DIY “Love You More” Sign

I like to incorporate a little Valentine’s vibe into my decor this time of year but I prefer to have decorative accents that can withstand longer time frame. Creating a “love” themed vignette works year round and this striped scrap wood sign is the perfect focal point. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com 

Materials I used:

  • scrap wood for canvas
  • paint
  • FrogTape® Multi-Surface
  • vinyl decals

What I did:

Sand edges and clean scrap wood canvas. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

Paint base color and let dry. I did two coats. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

Use FrogTape to create stripes. I started with a center stripe and worked my way out. Just eyeball it. Use a small piece of FrogTape for spacing. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

Burnish the edges of the FrogTape using a thumbnail or credit card. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

Paint stripes. I did two coats. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

While second coat of paint is still wet, remove FrogTape. Let paint dry. 

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

I added DIY vinyl decals. Other options include a print/rub technique (print out wording, rub pencil on the back of the paper then place paper on wood sign and trace lettering) and paint or marker or stickers…get creative!

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

Now I have a “love” themed vignette perfect for Valentine’s day and a wood canvas sign that I can display all year round (cute for the nursery too)!

striped Valentine LOVE sign @diyshowoff.com

FrogTape Blog Squad

Disclaimer: I received compensation to complete this project for using FrogTape® products. All opinions, projects and ideas are based on my own experience.

Personalized Baby Gift Set

I love being creative when it comes to baby gifts and personalizing a baby layette set with iron-on vinyl decals is just so easy to do!

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Supplies:

What I did:

Using my Silhouette studio designer edition software, I created a few fun decals. 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

For iron-ons, text (and some images) will need to be mirrored/flipped horizontally. Simply right click and choose “flip horizontally”. 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Load the vinyl into the machine shiny side down (the shiny side is the transparency side). 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Adjust settings for cutting heat transfer material and send to cut. Unload vinyl from the machine. (Note: I do not use a cutting mat as shown below.)

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Cut off the excess vinyl/material and weed (remove) the unwanted part of the the vinyl leaving just the decals. 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoffDIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Set iron according to heat instructions provided with vinyl iron on. 

Place iron on decal, shiny side facing you (iron on isn’t sticky but the clear transparency is…sticker side down to help hold iron on in place). 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Cover with a cotton diaper cloth, burp cloth or towel and heat iron on according to instructions. 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Carefully peel away transparency (if iron on pulls up too, re-place and iron some more). 

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

Create an entire personalized baby layette gift set…

DIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoffDIY personalized baby layette gift set @diyshowoff

*This post is sponsored by Happy Crafters. Tutorial, experience and opinion is my own.  Check out all the supplies at Happy Crafters for inspiration for your next project. 

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