Toddler Closet Update

By far the most trafficked and pinned post on my blog is the DIY custom baby closet that we put into Penelope's room. Since we live in an apartment, every square inch of space is a treasure and when we started turning our second bedroom into a nursery, I knew one of the biggest challenges would be creating a closet with tons of space and function. After using the closet for over two years, I'm happy to say that it's still one of my favorite spaces in our entire apartment and though it's been updated in how we use it, the closet has all the space and function that I could hope for.

The closet shelves reach up to the ceiling. On the top shelves, which I cannot possibly reach, we keep items out of season or out of use. Moving down, I still love the double hanging bar for all of her jackets, zip ups and dresses. On the shelf in between we keep some blankets and her big diaper bag.

Her long things, like dresses, usually go on the bottom hanging bar. On the floor, we use the same bins as before, but instead of 3,000 baby wipes, we now also use these to corral extra diapers and wipes, and all of her crib mattress covers and sheets.

The inside of the door is still my favorite feature. These baskets provide so much extra storage, I can't even tell you how much of a difference it has made. We installed this inside door system in under 30 minutes, and though it wasn't cheap (from Container Store), it was worth every single penny. Of course, we've moved on from bibs and burp cloths, but the space is still very valuable. Near the top, I keep extra sunscreens, boogie wipes, her monitor that we don't use anymore, her music class books and really any other random items that I just don't know what to do with. I also have a basket for some of her smaller tote bags and her diaper changing mat.

We use the lower half to wrangle Penelope's many snacks. Our kitchen is overflowing at the moment, and so it's nice to have a space just for her little goodies. There is always a mix of fruit snacks (her absolute favorite, to my chagrin), freeze dried fruit (climbing the ranks to favorite), raisins, applesauce pouches, dry cereal and occasionally yogurt melts or gerber cheese puffs.

So that's how we are using her closet these days. It continues to be a great investment in her bedroom and I'm confident it will grow with Penelope!

I'm always on the hunt for kiddo organizing tips (toys, anyone? Helllp!), so tell me, what are your favorite ways to organize your kid stuff?

PS: the original baby closet/p's final nursery (which also needs an update on here!)/more baby talk

Chip 'n Dip Hostess Gift Basket

On Sunday, we were invited to a little gathering at our new neighbor's home. We were so excited to welcome Megan and Nick to the building and we wanted to bring a little something for them. I love hostess gifts that are for post-gathering enjoyment so that it really is something for the host/hostess to have all to themselves. Perhaps on another evening when they want a treat while catching up on their DVR. Or something like that.

 

Since Sunday was also Cinco de Mayo, I whipped up a little gift basket of Mexican-themed goodies. I stocked the basket with quality, organic tortilla chips. Shaun and I love these because they are so thin and salty and I adore the rustic brown paper packaging, which also looks great in this basket.

 

And who wants chips without dip? I picked up 3 different dips for the chips. 2 types of salsa and a con queso...mild to medium heat does the trick I think.

Lastly, we finished it off with a bottle of white wine...something nice that can be chilled and balance out the medium heat of the salsas. A good tequila would also be nice here. I used pretty green tissue paper, tied it all with a purple paper raffia ribbon and added a little note to our hosts.

So there it is. A stocked gift basket that I wouldn't mind receiving anytime! I am a serious chip 'n dip lover, after all. And I think that using high quality, pretty-looking items really ups the ante for a simple gift like this.  

What are your favorite hostess gifts to give? To receive?

Did you celebrate on Cinco de Mayo?

Baby Talk Tuesday: DIY Diaper Cake

It's Tuesday and we're talking baby things again! This past weekend my mom, Penelope and I attended a baby shower in honor of my cousin Gina, who is due to have her baby girl this June. For the occasion, my mom and I put together a sweet diaper cake. My mom and aunt Vicky had put together a beautiful one for my own baby shower and I only am now dismantling it - it's been on display in Penelope's nursery up until now! The cake that we made contained a ton of little goodies that I have used {and loved} for Penelope...I hope Gina finds these things to be just as great! This was our first foray into diaper cake making but I think it turned out beautifully. Not to mention it was super easy, which is exactly how I get down when it comes to crafting. 

DIY Diaper Cake Tutorial

Here's what you'll need:

Diapers - (we used about 80-100, a mix of size Newborn & size 2)

Cardboard cake platter

Small clear elastic bands

Large rubber bands

Plastic knives (about 10)

Thick ribbon, of your choosing

Fake flowers (about 3-4)

Sewing pins

Double-sided tape

Stuffed animal, for the 'cake topper'

Useful baby goodies to decorate the cake

Start by rolling up the diapers and securing with a tiny elastic band. Place the design facing inward.

Once you have enough to cover the base of the cake platter (I think we used about 50), stand them up and secure with large rubber bands. I started with a core of 5 diapers, added a rubber band, then another larger rubber band. I then filled in the larger rubber band with diapers until the bottom layer went to the edges of the cake platter.

Build the rest of your tiers the same way, making them one less diaper length all the way around than the layer before it. Secure the tiers together by placing plastic knives (serrated side down!) into the diapers and attaching the next tier on top.

Once you have your tiers built, it's time for the fun part! Decorating the cake! We used sewing pins to secure a cute and colorful stuffed puppy dog on top. I just love the colors in this!

We then filled the cake in with all of the other goodies. We included pacifiers, a pacifier pod, hand sanitizer, stain eraser, baby mitts, links, a bottle brush, a stroller hook, baby lotion, a Dreft pen, rolled up onesies and a bib. I love the little toy links and we used these to hang some of these items from the cake. Others, like the bottled items, we simply stuck into the rubber bands. 

 

Finally, we wrapped the thick ribbon tightly around the rubber bands securing the tiers. We actually used some of the free ribbon from Buy Buy Baby because the colors were so pretty and coincidentally matched the stuffed puppy cake topper! Secure the ribbons with double-sided tape. We used blue, yellow and a coral-red color for the ribbons. I heart.

Next, place the flowers around the cake. I love this extra touch to make it look pretty! 

We finished the whole thing with a giant bow in the front, which made the whole thing look polished and giftable. Lastly, we added a small tag/card wishing happiness to the momma-to-be!

We think it turned out so adorably and now I cannot wait for more friends and family to have babies so I can make another one ;) And not too difficult, right? We couldn't believe how easy this was and is really a beautiful showpiece for any shower, not to mention all of the little useful gifts contained around it.

What are you crafting up lately? What are you favorite gifts to give?