Do It Yourself: the easiest ever baby shower gift

My friend Deb is due to have a baby next month. It’s her first; she will be a rookie mom.

Since the gender of the baby is a surprise, shopping was more challenging than I had imagined. I settled on a Bumbo Baby Seat because I think it’s a clever invention, and because I appreciate that it is not hideously decorated with bunnies or neon colored fish.

I also wanted to add a handmade item to the gift because Deb is an exceptionally creative person and she believes that I am, too. I don’t want to let her down.

I have been reading online about freezer paper stenciling for quite sometime, but cutting an ornate pattern with an exacto knife seems daunting. Genius struck at 9 pm the night before the baby shower, however, and I realized that I don’t have to cut things out myself when I have craft punches.

I grabbed a circle punch and punched two, then three, then four circles out of some freezer paper. Placed the freezer paper onto the shirts, ironed, and painted. My design is simple, gender-neutral, and modern. I think Deb liked them and I heard someone in the shower crowd ask if they were from J. Crew. I’ll take that as a compliment.

The circle punch above is from Martha Stewart and is $6 on Amazon. It’s my favorite toy.

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.