Custom Couture Paci-Clip

Here is a fun project to do at home. You don't even need a sewing machine!

Today we are making Custom Couture Pacifier Clips. This would make a great gift for the New Mom or baby in your life.

Here is what you'll need:

Letter Beads

Key Ring

Ribbon

Suspender Clip

Thread

Needle

Snaps or Velcro

1 - 1 1/2 inch Covered Button Kit

Fabric Scraps

For MAM pacifiers and ones with a button rather than a handle: O-Ring, size #17, 7/8" internal diameter - found in the plumbing section of your local hardware store.

Choose a phrase or wording for your Paci-Clip and thread the letters onto the key ring.

Then thread the ribbon through the key ring and suspender clip.

Fold over the ribbon end and sew it to the back of the ribbon.

Sew velcro or snaps to the opposite end of the ribbon.

For a "button" pacifier, add your rubber o-ring, and secure by closing snaps or velcro.

Attach Pacifier to end, either with the o-ring or by securing the velcro/ snap edge around the pacifier handle. (The O-ring will snap right on and remain secure!)

Create your covered button by following the directions on the back of its packaging.

Sew your covered button to the ribbon top, covering over your previous stitches.

TA-DA! How cute is that?

Enjoy!

Readers, I will be giving away this "Frog Dude" Paci-Clip plus a girly pink Paci-Clip to one of my blog readers! Simply comment either at this blog or at my Facebook page for your chance to win! The winners will be selected using a random number generator on Monday morning.

Jack's World

Last Wednesday, April 7, 2010, Jack (aged 3 1/2 years old) was visiting his grandmother, Cici. After a morning of play, Cici noticed several band-aids on Jack's leg including one that was barely hanging on, so she reached down and pulled it off.

"That is not nice Cici."

"I'm sorry Jack. Did Dr. Daddy put that band-aid on your leg?"

"No, Charlotte put it on there."

"Oh? What happened? How did your leg get scraped?"

"I fell down in the branches and Charlotte came and gave me a hug. And she cleaned my scratches and put that band-aid on me."

"Oh, that was nice of her."

"Yes, and that is why Charlotte is my Super Hero."

"Charlotte is your Super Hero?"

"Yes, Charlotte is my Super Hero."

"Boy, I wish I had a super hero like that."

"Well, my daddy can be your Super Hero."

"Okay, or PeaPaw."

"Yes."

Raising Boys vs. Girls

When I was pregnant with my son, people would tell me (though it seemed more a wide eyed warning) “Boys are different than girls! You just wait - you’ll see.” Then they would give me an ominous shake of the head and walk away.

Whatever! I would tell myself. I had a daughter already, how different could they be - really?

The difference, it turns out, should have been obvious from the first trimester. With my daughter’s pregnancy I never actually threw up but I remained in a constant state of nausea for 5 long months. With my son... nothing!

While carrying my daughter, as the months wore on, I was swollen all over. My toes looked like vienna sausages, my feet were chicken kiev, and my shoe size ballooned from a 10 to a 12! During my son’s internment my hands swelled just enough for my rings not to fit. Everything else stayed relatively the same.

Their births were drastically different - though that has little to do with them, and more to do with my health care providers. My daughter’s birth was a medically managed nightmare (an entry for another day), and my son was born completely drug free in a birth center.

However upon their entrance to the big wide world, their physical differences, apart from the obvious, were immediate. My little girl was soft and pink and beautiful. My son had the face of an angel and... deltoids.

DELTOIDS? REALLY? Suzy, be reasonable - newborn babies do not have distinct, well muscled deltoids.

Well, I’m here to tell you yes they do! And, might I add he was freakishly strong too! Life has never been the same.

The Boy is fearless. He is very much an “act first - think later” kid, while his sister tends to over think before taking action. Both my children are generous, happy people. They laugh and tumble and fight and play. But there is a definite distinction between the two and I can’t help but believe it is based on their respective genders.

My theory will shortly be tested, for as I write this, I am 9+ months pregnant with another girl.

I knew it was a girl because before I even took the test I was constantly nauseous. Thankfully the degree and length of the morning sickness was nowhere near that of my older daughter; but this has not been as happy-go-lucky, footloose and fancy free a pregnancy for me when I carried my son.

These last few weeks have really thrown me for a loop - causing me to wonder if I’ll actually ever be normal again. This 3rd baby is so active, bordering on violent, that’s earned her the nickname of Xena (the warrior princess).

Will Xena shatter my anecdotal belief that boys are different than girls? Of will she turn out to defy all odds and combine the brut force of my son with the analytical sensitivity of my daughter?

How has your experience from being around boys and girls shaped your beliefs of their similarities and differences, if any?