Box of Life Lessons for Girls: A Baby Gift

Every once in awhile, old Meghan sneaks up on me. The Meghan who spent 12 hours watching Felicity re-runs with Jess scrapbooking. The Meghan who spent my hard-earned camp counselor money at AC Moore picking out paper that was juuust right. The Meghan who whipped up some bridal invitations for Sarah's shower. Current Meghan is a) very busy b) spends money on shoes and my house and c) forgot how much amazing craft items I own until my friend Rachel recently requested my help.

She called me a creative genius and offered to buy me dinner if I came to her rescue. Hello, Rach, you know me all too well. Rachel has a baby shower coming up, and she wanted a more creative gift than the usual off the registry. When J's sister was pregnant this fall, I created her a tower of gift boxes, each with a special meaning. My personal favorite was this onesie I had created on etsy:

In case you can't read it, it says "A Nino & Emily Production: Version 2.0" since Hazel was to be baby #2. I think at some point I must have told Rachel about this or she just remembered how talented I am... so when she asked for my help, I decided to create a box of life lessons for a girl.

I ordered some items from Etsy and went to work. I made a card for each gift and wrapped it up with a title, so that they all together made up a whole bunch of life lessons.

This cute glitzy pacifier is of course an etsy purchase. So darn cute. And baby-safe. Sure, it will more likely be used as decoration than the calming vice for the new kiddo, but it's pretty. I like pretty. And here it is all wrapped up and ready to be placed into the box:

Next we have books. Seeing as I went to school through the 22nd grade as I like to tell my patients, I am a big fan of books. A big fan of kids learning to read. And I also am a strong believer that men actually like smart women. So I decided this new baby should be let in on the secret.

And here it is all wrapped up with some ribbon:

Next up we have a necessary picture frame. I know it's not as creative as the others, but I think lives should be photographed and put on the internet displayed for all to see kept for keepsakes over the years.

Behind the frame you can see the box that this will all go in at the end of the project... I sort of want to keep it for myself, but I digress.

Then.. dun dun dun... we have the predictable items on the Meghan creativity list. Shoes and clothes. Hehe. I think I gave little Hazel shoes when she was born with the same message too...

"Too many shoes" does not exist. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. True story. Sometimes J tries to tell me, "You have to many pairs of shoes". I say "I can't hear you. What? I think you are speaking another language," because let's be honest, those words are not real. You can't have too many pairs of shoes!

Which brings me to my next point, you also need some cute outfits to go with the cute shoes. So, my secret is this: Marshall's sells designer baby clothes. Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, one time on a good day, I even found a pair of toddler true religions.

Who wishes they had that little yellow dress in adult sizes? SO CUTE. So here is the packaging to go with this one:

After I wrapped all the presents up, I arranged them into this box that I bought that I loooove.

 

 

 And while this box looks so cute standing open like this, that's not realistic for transporting. So I decided to make the top look just as inviting as the rest of the gifts. This is what I came up with.

The ribbon on the top looks totally craaaazytown here, but it's cute, I promise.

So there you have it, my baby-to-be gift that I created for Rachel (well really Rach's prego friend). Tomorrow night, Rachel and I are rendezvousing so I can collect on my payment of a free dinner. This seems like a pretty good deal to me. If you want to know where I snagged any of the other items, give me a shout. Until then, Happy Baby shopping! Maybe I should start a new career? Hmmm xo