Made In Indiana

Are you curious what I did with this...

I turned it into a custom onesie.

And here's how.

You'll need the following supplies: A blank outline of your state of choice to use as a pattern, I found mine here. Ultra hold Heat N Bond to attach the state without having to sew. A Faded Glory Onesie from $2 from Walmart. *The embroidered 'Made In State of your choice' on matching material. An iron, pair of scissors and a pencil.

*If you don't have an embroidery machine at your disposal, there are still options. You could hand embroider 'Made in'. Or you could simply embroider a small heart in the spot on the state where the baby was born. If embroidering is not an option for you at all, there is still hope, just find material you like for the state and cut it out without any embellishments.

Using the state pattern, trace the mirrored image out onto Heat N Bond paper. Cut the image out from the Heat N Bond leaving a generous border.

Using an iron, preheated to wool setting, iron the Heat N Bond onto the back of the embroidered material.

When the Heat N Bond has cooled, cut along the outline of the state you traced, removing all excess Heat N Bond and material.

Peel off the paper backing from your Heat N Bond.

With the state, right side up, determine where you want to attach it. When you find the perfect spot, using your iron still heated to wool setting, iron your state onto the onesie.

Allow your transfer to cool completely and then admire your finished product.

Three customized and personalized onesies completed for under $10.

The only thing left to do, send them off to this adorable baby.

Embroidery at the touch of a button

My parents came for a visit this past weekend. It's always nice to see them but it's even nicer to see them when my mom brings along her embroidery machine.

With a house warming party on the horizon, it was a perfect excuse to take advantage of free embroidery. I love saving money!

I found a set of designer hand towels from Home Goods for $5 a piece. Did I mention I love saving money?

These plush white hand towels were clean and crisp BUT with an embroidery machine at my disposal, I couldn't wait to personalize them by adding monograms.

This machine is so easy to use. Once I typed in the couples monogram, I just pressed the start button and magic happened.

No one would guess that this set of white hand towels only cost me $10.50.

In addition to the hand towels, I added a box of Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix. As I have already established, I have not quite mastered the art of baking. I had to laugh when, having made these brownies, the couple raved so much about them they asked for my recipe...the secret is out, Betty Crocker!

The towels were so easy to embellish, I wanted to think of other things to embroider as well.

I am in the process of preparing a welcome to the world package for my friend's baby boy, so I definitely wanted to send something with personalization.

That's my mom, well her hands at least, embroidering a onesie.

Another $2 Faded Glory Onesie looks custom with the addition of a little personalization.

Come back tomorrow and see what I ended up doing with this...

Birth Date Onesie Tutorial

I have been smitten with the idea of a birth date onesie, thanks to Pinterest and Sugar Photography. Not only is the idea of a birth date onesie adorable BUT just imagine the photo options it provides.

Fortunately, I have 2 good friends both expecting their second babies. I knew I wanted to make my own version of this adorable onesie for both of them.

Welcome to the world Jude. Can you guess what day he was born?

I may be biased BUT isn't that one of the cutest baby pictures?

To make your own, sorry adorable baby not included, you'll need:

Transfer Paper, I bought a package of 12 for less than $10 (you are able to get 2 calendar images from 1 sheet of transfer paper)
Onesie, Did you know that Walmart sells Faded Glory organic cotton Onesies for $2?
An Iron
A printer

Either search for an image of the month needed or make your own. I made my own. Ehow has a great tutorial that walks you through the process of creating your own calender using word.

When you have the image you want for the calendar month, place it into a word document. Using word, you will be able to highlight the date the baby was born by inserting a shape, in this case a circle.

Your cursor will turn to a crossbar. Using your mouse, you will be able to draw a circle over the birth date. By Default, your circle will be filled in and outlined.

You'll want to remove the fill from your circle.

This now allows for you to view the number behind it.

If you are interested in changing the outline color of the circle, you have that option as well.

In this case, I selected red.

If needed, you can arrow up, down or right and left to adjust the exact placement of the circle over the date.

You will need to create a mirror image of your calendar, in order for it to be ironed on in the right direction.

Some printers will allow you to print flipped on the horizontal. If your printer does not give you that option, save your calendar as a pdf. Pull your pdf image into either Photoshop or Picnik. Picnik is a free online photo editing website. In Picnik upload your pdf image, go to the edit tab, rotate and select flip < i > to mirror the image. Then save your mirrored image as a jpg. In Photoshop upload your pdf image, select OK, go to image ->rotate ->flip horizontal ->file save as a jpg.

With the calendar now saved as a mirror image, open a new word document. Insert picture, if you click on the image you should be able to resize it. Print a test copy on paper to check the size against the onesie.

When you have the size you want, print it on your transfer paper. Once printed, trim around your image leaving 1/4 of an inch around the sides.

Iron your onesie free of any wrinkles. Place your transfer paper, image side facing down, centered, on the onesie.

Making sure your iron is set on the highest cotton setting and has been heating for approximately 8 minutes, begin to iron on your transfer paper. Apply firm pressure with your iron, working in all directions for 3 minutes.

When the transfer paper has completely cooled off, use a fingernail to gently lift one corner of the paper backing.

Hold down the fabric and continue working the paper backing off of the onesie until it is completely removed.

Then sit back and admire a job well done.

The finished product a personalized, homemade gift for under $3.

You could also make a onesie for a baby shower gift and include a sharpie for the birth date to be filled out when the baby arrives.