Many of you have asked to see pictures from the event, and pictures of what it looks like when Marla goes crazy and our house turns into “Sewmageddon”.

When I have a friend who manages to get knocked up, I try to come up with something they will need or want, along with making a few objects for baby. Usually the end result is a diaper cake filled with odds and ends, and a custom made quilt and sock monkey.

Interviewing Julie, I knew that her theme was Owls, her colors were orange, green and blue, and that they were thinking about going the cloth diapering route. This probably excited me the most because I know SOMEDAY when we get pregnant, this is the way we want to try, so it was perfect for me because now Tom and Julie are my practice friends who I can see if the diapering system I picked for them works.

I ended up going with a company called GroVia. They appeal to me because the shells you purchase for the cloth diaper are completely adjustable fitting babies anywhere from newborn to 2yrs old. The cloth portion snaps into place. In addition, they also have “bio soakers” which are like the cloth diapers, but are disposable and 100% bio degradable. So, let’s say you are traveling and you don’t want to deal with the cloth diaper, you can take the bio soaker instead. OR, if you have them in daycare, they have a full on diaper that is also bio degradable.

I went a little crazy looking at all my options and ended up with three different packages. There’s the “Gro-To-Go Summer Kit”
https://www.gro-via.com/hybrid/grotogo-summerkit.html
This includes:
-3 hybrid shells (I picked Nature, Owls and Planes)
-50 bio soakers (Which are disposable, fragrance and dye free, plastic and chlorine free, biodegradable and compostable)
- 3 packets of tiny bubbles, which is their special detergent for the diaper shells.

The second package was the “Add On” promo http://www.diaperjunction.com/gro-via-add-on-package.html
This included:
- 1 GroVia Magic Stick Diaper Ointment (which applies like a deodorant stick and apparently lasts forever according to reviews)
- 1 GroVia Cloth Diaper Wet Bag (I chose seaside print)
- 1 roll of GroVia BioLiners
- 2 sets of GroVia Cloth Wipes for a total of twenty-four (24) wipes
- 1 box of GroVia Tiny Bubbles Cloth Diaper Detergent
- 1 GroVia Diaper Pail Liner in vanilla color

The last package was the “Try It” package http://www.diaperjunction.com/grovia-one-size-cloth-diaper-try-it-package.html
This includes:
- 2 GroVia One Size Cloth Diaper Shells (I chose Mandarin and Kiwi)
- 2 GroVia Snap In Soaker Refill Packs (Packages contain 2 ea. refills.) These are the actual cloth diapers.
- 2 Grovia Organic Cotton Booster Pack (Packages contain 2 ea. boosters) This you lay on top of the soaker if your baby is going to have the diaper on for an extended period, like over night.

I also grabbed them a family pack of regular diapers from GroVia. These are the full on diapers for when they are in day care or staying at grandpa’s. The diapers are chlorine and plastic free, fragrance and dye free, and biodegradable and compostable. https://www.gro-via.com/biodiapers/grovia-biodiaper-family-pack.html

Now on so the sewing portion. Knowing that she wanted owls etc, instead of making my typical sock monkey, I found a pattern being sold by an etsy seller to make an owl stuffie.http://www.etsy.com/listing/62684725/oliver-owl-pattern-softie-pdf-epattern?ref=pr_shop
This was mine:

The quilt I spent some time hunting around online for flannel owl fabric and fell in love with the Hooty Hoot Roll Call Owls by Riley Blake. http://flannelqueen.com/category_72/Hooty-Hoot-by-Riley-Blake–SALE.htm

Using material I purchased and some I had extra from the last baby quilt adventures, this is what I came up with:

I’m particularly pleased with this blanket because it’s the first one where I actually figured out how to do the binding correctly, and where all the pieces lined up perfectly. See this white owl fabric? It’s discontinued, I managed to score the last 19×20″ scrap off Etsy.

While I was at it, I also sewed 5 burp cloths and covered a night light with extra fabric I had.
Tutorial: http://thelongestyear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/06/easy-peasy-burp-cloth-tutorial.html
Night light Inspiration:http://www.etsy.com/listing/64475263/hooty-owl-roll-call-riley-blake-fabric

I then also threw together some receiving blankets with the other fabric I had. When you buy blankets from the store, they are a little too small to do a proper swaddling job, the best ones range in size from 36×36″ to 40×40″

Last of all, I had these two squares of owl fabric left from the quilt. So, I found some cheap frames, spray painted them, and put them in there so they had art to hang in the nursery.

Then I proceeded to stuff and package the whole thing together into a diaper cake:

Suffice to say, not everything fit…

Let’s see, what else… OH! I was asked to do flowers for the shower. The ladies really wanted something to reflect nature since the theme was owls. The cousin also fell in love with these owl beanie babies and wanted to put them in the flower arrangements. I suggested getting large buckets covered in birch for the centerpieces, and then doing a large tree with flowers in the base and then putting the owls in the tree. I really racked my brains looking for flower inspiration for these arrangements. I knew she wanted orange, green and blue. Julie also specifically requested “vintage, rustic, unique and scabiosa pods”. I knew I wanted to include pincushions. Finally I came across this wedding:
http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/2011/03/08/vail-summer-destination-wedding/

Here were my end results!

Centerpieces

I also managed to get my hands on some vintage blue mason jars and put some smaller arrangements around the place:

I also sewed some table runners in case they wanted them for the tables. Instead they were used for the cake table and gift table.

I cut some ribbon strips to decorate the guest of honor’s chair

And I found this wonderful blue depression glass owl for Julie also

While I was at it, I also sewed some napkins. Orange after all is herfavorite color.

Over all there, were about 40 people there. A great turn out. Julie looked radiant and Tom was adorable.

Julie and her cousin Sara who coordinated the event.

Our circle of friends…

Writing advice and wishes in the owl book for Starchild.

The Aunts and Sister who also helped plan the shower.

Meg who made the cake and Sasha modeling their stars from the table.

Showing off their new gear. Yay new parents to be!

The beautiful bride who takes center stage, with her handsome groom of course, wanted a “Modern Vintage” feel to her wedding. Cue classic colors and styles, with a modern edge – traditional black bridesmaid dresses, matched with coral bouquets, a gorgeous lace gown, paired brilliantly with a fun floral hair fascinator, silver teapots, center of each table, holding those modern bridesmaid bouquets.

Fujikos Flowers was featured on the amazing site Style Me Pretty! It was such an honor and I always love working with Kristeen LaBrot.

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Here are those, incorporating all the fall like colors and the leaves she wanted to be used: