9.29.2011

First Day of School / Nap Mat Tutorial



E started Preschool last month, so I wanted to take the 'first day of school' pictures in front of our house like my mom always took of us. And J cried and cried and cried until I took some of him too, even though he stays home with me. Poor thing, he felt SO left out. I DREADED those pictures every year, but now I TOTALLY see the joy on the other side of it. I HAD to document this monumental day! And who would have known that I would be so sentimental after having kids?!?

The school that E attends had a list of items we had to buy. One of which was a nap mat. I looked them up online because, honestly, we are new to this whole needing a nap mat thing and I wasn't even sure what I was looking for.

I thought E may have a hard time going to sleep on a mat that was solely that, a mat. So, I began looking into covers and came across some really cute ones on Etsy. But one look at the price and I quickly decided that I could make something similar for a fraction of the cost.

And who do I turn to when I need inspiration, tutorials, and beautiful pictures? Pinterest, of course. I saw this:

Pinned Image

The tutorial can be found HERE. This one has an attached blanket and pillow, and I could just picture E all snuggled up at nap time. I was going to do it.

The tutorial looked easy enough. So, I gave it a try. I did make one adjustment because it ended up being a little cheaper. Instead of making the attached blanket double sided, I just used fleece and then blanket stitched the edge.

This project helped me learn how to make a buttonhole with my sewing machine as well as blanket stitch (which I WILL say, was not an easy task through the thick fleece). All in all, it was a fun project and now I will know what I am doing when I need to make J one next year.



My cuties posing for the camera with E's nap mat.



And, lo and behold, E has slept every day at school despite my worries. And I just KNOW it is all because he is sleeping soundly on the nap mat I made for him. Ha!

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