Four Ways to Decorate a Onesie

Recently I posted an easy, yet creative, yet affordable baby shower gift called Peas in a Pod with baby washcloths. Today, I'm keeping with the theme of babies and baby showers. I wanted to show four easy and creative ways to decorate a onesie that will save you a lot of money if you just make it rather than buy a similar one online! Two are gender neutral and two are for boys (though honestly, if I were a baby, I'd want to wear all four).

Onesie #1 and #2 - The Moustache and The Crescent Moon

When I saw this baby gift set, I thought it was adorable until I saw the price tag. The onesie alone could be between $18-$37 for a freakin' moon on it?! No. Way.

For the moustache onesie, I saw this one on Etsy for $13 and again, I thought the price tag was ridiculous.

Here's how to make the exact same onesies. You'll need:

1. A bodysuit/onesie
2. Fabric paint
3. Freezer paper
4. X-acto knife
5. Paintbrush

Print out your moon, moustache, whatever you want on the onesie on the dull side of freezer paper and cut out the inside of the pattern with your x-acto knife. If you choose not to print onto the freezer paper itself, you can print your moon/moustache/etc. on regular paper, put it under freezer paper, and then trace the outline with a marker so as to cut it out.

Here's where I recommend putting a piece of paper or cardboard inside the onesie so paint doesn't seep through. Iron the outline onto your onesie shiny side down for a few minutes. I did it for 3 minutes, just to make sure it was completely stuck. Make sure the edges are ironed flat to the bodysuit, otherwise paint will seep out and it will look unprofessional.

After you've ironed, paint on a layer inside the template and let dry for 2-4 hours. Add another layer of paint if necessary.

Once dry, slowly remove the template, then take a towel or washcloth and place it on top of the onesie. Take your iron and "set" the pattern in for a few minutes. This will guarantee the pattern won't fade away after the first wash.

And you're done! Enjoy the money you saved by making another one!

Onesie #3 - The Home State

This is much like the first two, however the word "home" ups the difficulty level. Note that it's still cheaper than buying it for $28 online (if it looks familiar, it's the same company that Kristin Cavallari wore when she debuted her baby bump... why do I know this?...)

Just like before, find an outline of the state of your choice, print it out on freezer paper, and cut it out with your x-acto knife. I found it was easiest to print out "home" on freezer paper and cut out each letter individually.

Just like before, iron the freezer paper to your onesie and make sure there's a piece of paper or cardboard inside the onesie.

Paint over the word "home" and wait until the paint dries. Try not to paint off the freezer paper (I did a little at the top... whoops!)

Once it dries, add another layer of paint if you wish (I kept with 1 layer since it was a light-colored onesie). Slowly remove the paper and the letters. Hopefully you ironed it down well enough so it didn't bleed too bad!

Original for $28 versus what I made... I didn't keep the period after "home" but other than that, can you tell any difference?

Onesie #4 - The Switch-Out Bow Ties

This is a little different... you're going to be making bow ties that can be switched out with the help of some snaps or, in this case, velcro. An easy way to dress up a onesie and a versitile option too!

Here's what you'll need:

1. A bodysuit/onesie
2. Felt
3. Needle and thread or glue
4. Velcro or snaps
5. Ruler
6. Scissors
7. Pen or marker

First, measure and cut two strips of felt. Strip #1 should be 3/4" x 2 1/2". Strip #2 should be 3/4" x 9 1/2". Fold Strip #2 into thirds - fold one end in about 2/3 of the way, then fold the other side on top.

Pinch in the middle to make the center fold.

Take Strip #1 and tightly wrap it around the center. Either sew or glue the ends together in the back.

Take your velcro and apply one side to the tie and the other to the onesie. Make sure if you're making multiple ties to apply the correct side to the tie every time.

And that's it! I only made two ties but the possibilities of color are endless!

And there you have it! Four onesies for the price of one you would buy online. Go out there and be creative!

TOTAL COSTS: About $25 to make 4 onesies

$1.99 for Disney Bodysuit 4 Pack for on Amazon

$7.99 for freezer paper from Vons  (for 150 sq. ft!)

$5.99 for fabric paint from Michaels

$6 for felt from Fiddlesticks in San Francisco (click here for another baby project with felt)

$2.75 for velcro from Vons

X-acto knife, paint brush, ruler, scissors, needle & thread, and pen on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Depends on project

Depending on the amount of paint you use and the color of the bodysuit, it varies how long it might take for the paint to dry. 

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): Depends on project

The tie is the easiest to make (especially if you don't know how to sew, you can just use glue). I'd rate that a 1 out of 5. 

#1 and #2 are the second easiest, I'd rate them 2 out of 5. 

The home state is the hardest but you just need to go slow and steady when cutting, ironing, and painting. Even still, I'd rate it a 3 out of 5. Not hard at all but not a walk in the park.

State to State Love - A Perfect Engagement/Wedding/Anniversary Gift!

Philly/Kalamazoo Love

A friend of mine posted some photos of her engagement on Facebook and she had decorated her wall with cute sayings, photos, etc. One piece of art that I particularly liked she got from Near and Dear Designs on Etsy. $32 for a very cute piece of art, showing the home states of the bride and groom. I figured, why not try and do it for less?

Of course there weren't any instructions available so I made it up as I went along - feel free to tweak these however you see fit! The original design was all on 1 print so if you have a color printer and Photoshop, you're welcome to print it out there on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet. I, however, wanted to make it pop just a little more:

Step 1 - Pick your states

Since I'm from Michigan and my husband is from Pennsylvania, I figured those would be ideal for this project.

Step 2 - Take outlines of those states and put them onto a Word doc.

I found perfect examples here: http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/(enter initials of state here)_maps.htm. So for Michigan, I put in http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/mi_maps.htm and clicked on "Blank Outline Map". For Pennsylvania, I entered http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/pa_maps.htm and did the same thing. Just click and drag those states onto a Word doc.

After you've dragged them to the Word doc, double-click on them and click on "Layout". Make sure they are "Behind Text". Also, you'll want your document to have .5" margins around the borders.

Step 3 - Decide where you want to place the states and the ampersand sign (&)

This took the longest for me, because I'm so picky. In the original design, the ampersand sign takes up a quarter of the entire page, the states are relatively the same size, they're close together, and not near the borders. For a perfectionist, this proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. Because the states I chose are so awkwardly shaped (damn you Upper Peninsula!), it took a while to figure out where I wanted to place them. After 45 minutes of moving, resizing, and moving them again, I finally got them where I wanted them. My ampersand was Size 450 and Times New Roman.

Step 4 - Print out your states on white cardstock and cut them out

I recommend states like Colorado or Wyoming...

Step 5 - Print out the ampersand only on whichever color paper you like

In the original design, the ampersand is lighter than the color of the paper. I had to go darker because otherwise it wouldn't show up at all. My color printer wouldn't print out white. Who knew?

Step 6 - Tape or glue the cut-out states to the paper with ampersand

Now I used Elmer's glue and I regret that decision. You can see the bumps under the paper where there was too much glue used so the state is not flush with the paper, which is why you might want to use double-sided tape. However, if your state has a bunch of little ins and outs, the tape might not be your friend.

Step 7 - Print out and cut tiny red hearts and tape/glue them to where your hometowns are on the states

Step 8 - Draw on a dotted line between the two hearts. Another mistake I did - doing it freehand, which allowed for my dotted line to look sloppy. If you can follow the curve of a cup or bowl, do that.

Step 9 - Put in frame!


TOTAL COSTS: FREE
I already had these supplies:

1. Colored cardstock
2. White cardstock
3. Glue (though you might want to use tape)
4. A 8x10 Frame
I bought the frame from Target over a year ago in West Hollywood and I think it cost somewhere in the ballpark of $15-$20.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour, 30 minutes
45 minutes trying to figure out the layout of the states
10 minutes with printer issues
The rest of the time used to cut out states and hearts, glue them to paper, draw dotted line, and put in frame

EASY-PEASY SCALE: 3 out of 5
If you're not a tech-savvy person, placing the states and getting them the size you want on the Word doc might be a little more difficult for you, but not impossible. You're just putting them on the Word doc to see how big they should be before printing and cutting them out. If you're familiar with editing photos in a Word doc, this will be a piece of cake.