Monthly Onesies

The Baby Shower wasn't all food, although there are a few more food posts still in the works. We also did a few activities, including baby play-doh-ing and a lovely baby quiz. The main activity, however, was for each person to decorate a onesie for the little guy. I thought it would be nice to do a set of the monthly ones. Each one has a number 1 to 12 on it and then you put the "1" shirt on the baby on their one-month birthday. At the end of the year, you have a clear shot of the baby at each month marker.

The main problem was that only nine people were going to come to the party. This meant that I'd have to come up with three designs before the party, plus one for my shirt during the party.

I decided I'd do months 3, 6 and 11 (for no real reason) prior to the party. One of our good friends, who is hysterical and unfortunately moved back to the UK about a year ago, helped me come up with games and general ideas for the party. As she helped out quite a bit, and is one of B's best friends, I asked her for a shirt suggestion. She came back with, "a sparkly motorbike." Uhhhh, thanks?!? It took me a while to work out how I would pull this off, but then it came to me! As a note, the dad-to-be rides a motorcycle and the mom-to-be is quite glam - a sparkly motorbike is clearly a wonderful intersection.

I found a motorcycle iron-on patch and bought some red sequins. I glued a few sequins on to the metal bits on top of the wheels.

Then I used the sequins to make a number 11. I love how this turned out. So did our British friend, as well as the mom- and dad-to be.

The next one I had an idea for was the 3. Ages ago I decorated a shirt for one of Kan's friends. Her name is Niina, the kanji for which means "rainbow comes," as she was born during rainy season. For her shirt, I used embroidery floss to make an "n" into a rainbow. For this shirt, I did the same idea, using the floss to make a "3."

I actually did this one on a Shinkansen on our way out to a small town, Hida Takayama. Luckily it was a long ride.

The final shirt I made before the party is my favorite. In August, the baby will be 6 months old. In August it is ridiculously hot here. I went with that theme and made a bowl of mint-chocolate chip ice-cream with a cherry on top.

Eeeek! I think it's adorable.

My final challenge was to make a shirt during the party. I figured I'd let B pick her month first; then the others picked. I ended up with month 1 and was stoked! In January, the year of the snake began. So in March when this little guy turns one-month old, he'll be sporting a little snake shirt. (For some reason, I didn't get this photo in focus and didn't even notice.)

As part of the party decor, I had my brother string up a piece of yarn and hang the shirts from it. In the beginning, it looked pretty bland, but once they were all decorated, it was adorable.

Once all the shirts were hung up, I gave a blank paper and envelope to each guest. Each of us wrote a letter to the baby to be opened up on the corresponding month's birthday (my letter will be opened on his 1-month birthday). I also had the British friend, another friend, and the dad-to-be write letters to make up for the extra three months.

Everyone seemed to enjoy making the shirts. Some were super creative, and others were really simple.

 

Regardless, each one is made with love by someone who is awaiting this little boy's arrival. I, for one, cannot wait!!