Meaningful Baby Gifts

I finally got to meet the son of my dearest childhood friend. He was in and out of the hospital for a little bit, and then I was sick, so I didn't get to meet him until he was 3 weeks old! Here is what I made for him:

I bought a 3-pack of sleepers from Walmart, and used freezer paper to make stencils.  I printed the words from the computer, and used Nick's foot print to make that stencil.  It is from when he was 3 months old.

I love how the "Laughter" turned out.  I used a sponge brush and painted turquoise over the letters until they were completely covered, then I lightly brushed navy sorta-mixed with the turquoise over top.

On the blue sleeper, I also added some orange-ish cross-stitching in random places.  "Laughter", and "this is joy" are the meanings of the tiny little guy's first and middle names.  I knew the meanings were important to the parents, so I wanted to use them.

I also made him a rag quilt.  I did it a little differently from the one with skulls, so it turned out a lot closer to the one I saw in my doctor's office.  This time instead of 1/2 inch seam allowances, I used 3/4 inch.  And when clipping, I cut every 1/4 inch or so, instead of every 1/2 inch.  I also clipped each row before sewing it to the next, which made it a lot less tedius.  I'm still pleased with the other one, but I love this one too.  I embroidered the baby's name and birth date in one corner.