Baby Gift: 12 months of Onesies

Recently I embarked on one of my largest projects yet. (The other one is a Christmas present I can't post since the recipient is a reader...and it is not even close to being done!)

For baby shower decor, I wanted to make 12 months of baby onesies.  Actually, this little gal's mom is a big scrapbooker, and I thought having a special outfit for each month would add to the scrapbook cuteness.  

I should warn you, this project is not for the faint of heart.  It was easy at the end, but I went through a lot of indecision getting to that point.  Mostly because I can't match fabrics and I wasn't sure how fast this little baby would grow (9 month onesie at 11 months? 12 month?).

Finally, I just used bibs (pre-made) to bridge the onesie size gaps. I got mine inexpensively at Ikea although initially I had hoped to make them myself. (2013 project.)

So first I picked out some fabrics relevant to the baby's nursery theme: lady bugs.  Actually - I had already purchased the onesies.  The white onesie's were from Target multi packs. (I later learned you can buy these packages at Jo-Ann's using a coupon! For future reference.) The 0 and 1 month are from a newborn package - I am HOPING this baby still fits a newborn size at one month!!!!  The 12 month is also a more elaborate onesie to celebrate big first birthday. 

 Because the newborn onesies were not from a Gerber white pack, I had to be a little more creative with the numbers (to cover up the designs already printed o the front.)  I agonized over the fabrics matching or not and ultimately decided "cuteness" was the most important thing and really, in the pictures, everyone is going to look at the babe's face! Although I do like the concept of this 1 month look - circle background with the number in the middle.

 The 12 month is my favorite!!!

 Some more months

 All together now:

 Oops, forgot to tell you - these are all ironed on with Wonder-Under.  If this were for long-term wear, I might have added some stitching to reinforce them a bit, but I think they'll be OK for their purpose.

Next time I do this project (if ever) I'm going to streamline my fabrics and do something similar to what I did for month #1. Just to make it easier.  I'm not saying I don't love these - I really love them and I think they turned out really well.  (Ok...that 2 month bib might dwarf the baby, hope she is a drooler and needs it...but you can also strategically use it on her 2nd bday).  Cant' wait to meet this little recipient!!!!

Do you buy a lot of stuff online? Get cash back.

*Sales Pitch*

I wanted to share these 2 links with you in case you are interested.  These are my "referral" links so if you happen to use these (versus signing up on the websites) then I get a small kickback. But, no sense in pimping out your email address (that is totally what I call it) if it isn't stuff (purchases) you really need. 

#1 Ebates --  I check ebates before I make any online purchase. (except amazon and costco.) If you start on their website, and type in the store you know you are going to go make a purchase at (if its on their list) they'll show you a few specials they might have and a % Cash Back value. You click on the store and you get a little message that they are opening a ticket for you. Then whatever you spend at that other store, you get the % cash back (i don't think shipping counts) in a quarterly check. Only once when I forgot my password to snapfish did I not get my credit, at which point I just checked with ebates, found the ticket that should have linked to the purchase (i.e. you MUST "start" on ebates then go to the store from the ebates link aka "ticket") and emailed them my invoice and had my credit the next day.  Sometimes Snapfish is 20% cash back and even 40% cash back and I have gotten 50% cash back at magazines.com for gift subscriptions!  I also use it for just like target.com, vitacost.com (vitamins and health), staples, etc. Below is my referral link. If you join ebates through that link, then after YOUR first qualifying purchase of I think $25 (or multiple purchases combined to $25) both YOU and I get a $5 gift card. (It used to be $10 for you, the new member, but right now it is $5)

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=ub23whUfoQuFztOog9DovQ%3D%3D  (Update: looks like no sign-up bonus right now, but still a good deal for a nominal cash back on purchases! Update again: the referral link still says you qualify for a bonus when you sign up AND make a qualifying purchase...best bonus is a $10 Target gift card!!!!!)

#2 Vitacost.  Simple website for discounts and deals on vitamins and other health stuff. I got the lemon and lavender oils for Beth's shower scrubs from this site and they have a lot of prenatal vitamins and all other stuff.  With my referral link, if you sign up you get a $10 coupon off $10 purchase in your email almost immediately. (I'm pretty sure this can go towards shipping even...just keep in mind if you go through ebates first and pay only with the coupon you aren't spending "cash" so you won't get cash back on that particular purchase.)  I think I also get a $10 coupon as well! Crazy right? Ok anyhow, here is my link.

http://www.vitacost.com/Referee?wlsrc=rsReferral&ReferralCode=90197014

I will say that ebates spam-mails me about 2 times a week and Vitacost about twice that often.  But both of these sites (especially ebates) have put otherwise pricey gifts into a super-reasonable window. (Especially photobooks at snapfish and magazines.com! Macys.com is 6% back...like for wedding gifts, tons, literally tons of possibilities!)

COUPONS!

Ok, this subject line is a bit of a joke. I know my most frequent readers are wondering - where did all the couponing posts go?  For one, I deleted a lot of the old ones.  Two, I am not really actively couponing at this time. (I know! But how many free toothpastes do I need to get?)  Three, I am already Christmas shopping, including being open to sales and coupon opportunities, so I'm not promising I won't post about them in the future. 

However, I still monitor a few of my favorite sites.  The first and primary one is refundcents.com. This is a paid subscription, but very cheap for online-only. Already I have saved probably around $40 at Snapfish in the last 2 months with deals from this site, so that pays for about 5 years or something of online subscriptions. There is a a chat board where wonderful people have answered all my questions about things, and I've traded coupons with folks on there as well.

A second one I will browse from my phone is http://www.hip2save.com/. Collin runs a great site with tons of tips, readers, and information. To be honestly, it is a little overwhelming for me sometimes - the amount of content posted regularly - which is why I scan it for the most recent hottest deals but still use the first link for specific weekly deals at Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid and more. 

A third one I like because I first learned to coupon at Walgreens, is, http://www.wildforwags.com/.  When this site was new, it had great Walgreens deals. Now the woman that runs it posts a lot of other non-Walgreens deals, but I still like her write-ups and shopping scenarios for each week.  I would love if an equivalent site for CVS and Rite Aid existed, but they don't. I've toyed with the idea of starting one, but its easily a full time job to run a full-fledged reputable coupon site.  (Although no doubt moneymaking!)

Last but not least, when I think I'm going to buy something online, I got through ebates first. When I first signed up, I got a $10 bonus gift card when I went over $25 in purchases.  They have anywhere from 3%, sometimes up to 20% money back (paid cash to you, quarterly) on online purchases. Amazon isn't included, but Best Buy, Office stores, tons of stuff, I even saw cricut cartridges linked on there.  If you're going to shop online for Christmas, you might want to consider ebates! (PS Click on my referral link and I get $5 when you sign up/qualify. No pressure, but, that is my coffee money and you KNOW I am cranky without my coffee.)


Anyhow, now you can sort out your own deals!!

Good night!

*Updated*
The story of my life:

Time for bed! I tell myself! 10:00

I just need to finish this email.
I'll check a few blogs before I go to bed.
I'll put away the things I bought couponing yesterday.
Oh no! My bin is full! Time to reorganize.
Oh! I'm visiting Dad this weekend, and I intended to put together a Fathers's Day assortment of coupon freebies. I'll put those things aside.
I'll give some to Tim, too.
Oh! So much more space in my bin for my other freebies!
Whoops! If I'm celebrating Fathers day this weekend, I need to get in gear for my gift/project. I better paint my canvas tonight.
Paint.
I'll paint these other wood anchors I found downstairs too. That'll be great for the Rhode Island party.
I'll wrap dads freebies up cute. After all, they have to transport somehow.
I'll wrap Tim's too. Oh man! He graduates from high school next month! I'll need a gift for that! Yikes!
Oops! Wasn't it bedtime?
11:41 pm

*Updated, 2:10am* Before above mention of 10:00 bedtime, said individual consumed 1 pint of iced tea. It was refreshing and delicious. At 12:15am, still wide awake in bed, said individual got up to continue on her many projects. She got MANY things done for the party decorations. This makes her very glad. She knows she is tired, because when she uploaded files to FedExOffice online (prints much nicer than my skewed inkjet), she had to do it THREE TIMES. THREE TIMES, PEOPLE! (4 separate documents). Ok. 2:12. Updating blog and going to bed. (With a hungry rumbly tummy!)