The Hospital Survival Kit for new mothers (with printables)

Major life events tend to come in waves sometimes. After graduating from college, it seemed like everyone was getting hitched. I spent that summer working to afford the wedding gifts I needed to buy for the 7 weddings I attended and the 2 bridesmaid dresses I needed to buy for the ones I was in. (I have to say though, all that wedding food was delish. I think the treadmill and I spent a good deal of time together that summer working off all the wedding cake). And yes, it was totally worth it.

After the weddings, a little time went by, I got married myself, then those friends whose weddings I went to started having babies And within a month of getting married, I was pregnant myself. When I packed my baby bag, I tried to be as prepared as I could be since I was new at this whole baby thing. I had that bag packed like I was going out of town for a month. But there were a few things I wish I had brought with me.

After having 2 children at different hospitals, and spending a month and a half on hospital bed rest with my last (you can read more about that lovely experience HERE and HERE), I know there are a few things that new mothers don't necessarily think about packing for their stay. Since a good friend of mine is due with her first any day, I decided to put together a bag of some of these things for her. This is more of a supplement to the actual hospital bag, since I assume most mothers-to-be know to pack the essentials like a toothbrush and toothpaste, clothes for the baby, etc.

The Hospital Survival Kit - a bag full of those extra things that help make a new mother's stay at the hospital a little more tolerable. And I'm sharing the printables with you so you can make one for a friend too!

Just print out the "Hospital Survival Kit" label provided below on card stock, cut out, and use craft glue to glue to attach it to the front of a paper gift bag (don't overdo it with the glue or your label will wrinkle).

For the circular tag, cut out the provided tag and use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top, then attach to one of the gift bag handles with coordinating ribbon.

Then fill 'er up!

Here are some ideas for things to include in the survival kit:

1. Headband and hair ties: When you're focusing on riding out those painful contractions everything gets on your nerves, including stray hair in your face. Plus after being in a hospital bed for 10 hours, your hair tends to look like a troll doll's. When a hoard of family and friends show up to visit you and your little bundle, you're gonna want to tie that mess up.

2. A healthy snack: Many times, babies don't plan their arrival at a convenient hour. My first was polite enough to be born in the evening right before American Idol began, so no problem there. My son, however, was born at 12:37am. By that time there was no available food service for this hungry mama, so I ended up eating a handful of graham crackers and a packet of peanut butter. Unless you prefer to eat like you're in daycare again, snacks are a must. They're also a nice substitute for the hospital food if it turns out to be nasty.

3. A not-so-healthy snack: Chocolate. Because you just gave birth to a person. I'd say you deserve some chocolate, wouldn't you?

4. Face cleansing wipes: Facial wipes to remove makeup and dirt are so helpful to a mother who just had a baby because most of the time you can't get out of bed. Plus, something as simple as washing your face or brushing your teeth make you feel human again after having a baby.

5. Chap stick and other personal care items: How torturous is it that you're not allowed to drink anything when you're in labor? Forget the stinkin' ice chips, somebody breathe on my ice chips and melt them into water!! So of course since you're denied water, your lips tend to become dry and chapped. Take it from me, chap stick is a life saver. And it's even better when it's Burt's Bees pomegranate chap stick, because it's the best chap stick. Ever.

6. Breath mints: After hours of labor and ice chips, it's so refreshing to have a breath mint to suck on. Also, Who wants to waste time brushing your teeth when you have an adorable little bundle to snugglet?

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Click HERE to download and print labels to make your own Hospital Survival Kit. I included labels in pink for a baby girl, blue for a baby boy, and a neutral green as well.

(The labels are approximately 7 1/2" x 3")

How fun would it be to do a separate kit with essentials for the father-to-be? I know my husband would have loved some gift cards to his favorite fast food restaurant so he wasn't forced to eat the hospital food.

What would you add to your Hospital Survival Kit if you made one?

Linking up!

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Button Down Rehab series sneak peek

So, I didn't plan on posting this today, but since I'm a total klutz and accidentally hit "publish", I guess you're getting to hear the news a little earlier than I planned! 

I wanted to tell you about a little something that's going to be going on around here in a couple weeks that I'm really excited about.

It all started when my husband was going through his clothes and getting rid of a bunch of button down shirts that didn't fit him anymore. I always love when that happens because hey, more free fabric for me right? (I'm secretly a fabric hoarder. Ok, it's not really a secret, but I'm pretty sure it's a disease shared by many other sewists).

If you follow my Pinterest, you've seen my love for all the many uses of button down shirts out there. And I couldn't just let all that wonderful free fabric go to waste, could I?

So I made some stuff. And, I brought some friends with me.

Between June 20-July 1, I'll be hosting a series called "Button Down Rehab" here on My Own Road. I've gathered a handful of other fantastic bloggers, and we dug through our closets to recreate some new things with some old shirts.

You'll be hearing from Krista of Thar She Sews!, Gwen of Gwenny Penny, Shannon of Details of a Love, and Rebecca of Searching Out Simple. And of course, I'll be posting some of my tutorials in between. Get ready for some really great projects from these talented ladies.

And guess what? I'll actually be posting some boy-themed projects for once. Poor Connor was feeling left out :)

I hope you'll join us for some great refashions, upcycles, and everything in between using button down shirts. So head to your closet (or your nearest thrift store) and bring your old button down shirts to Button Down Rehab. It's gonna be awesome.

And there might even be a giveaway at the end... :)

<a href="http://jensownroad.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="My Own Road Button Down Rehab" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/5790608569_d61a4d423c_m.jpg"/></a>

I've given in

to Pinterest.

And really, it was only a matter of time. I heard about Pinterest weeks ago, but I've been resisting because I knew I would like it....too much. And I don't need more things to get myself involved in. But then I discovered how much I love (and possibly even NEED) this site.

Have you heard about Pinterest?? I'm sure you already have an account. I think I'm the last one to jump on the Pinterest boat. Pinterest is a site where you can create "boards" to pin different interests to so everything is neatly categorized.

All you need to do is copy and paste a web address you're interested in - whether that be fashion, food, crafts, or anything your little heart desires - and Pinterest creates a link with thumbnail image on your board for you to share with others.

I love it because I constantly find projects that I want to do so I email them to myself and file them away in a folder. The problem with that was that I had a folder full of over 200 emails with text links in them and subjects like "embellished top" or "cool skirt". Not very helpful when trying to decide what project I wanted to do next and also a little inconvenient to have to copy and paste each link to get to the project. Also I was starting to feel a little clostrophobic with all of the emails cluttering up my inbox.

Since signing up for Pinterest this past weekend, I completely cleaned out my folder and instead pinned all the projects I want to do, things I love, and resources and inspiration on my different boards. Now, everything in conveniently and neatly located in one place with pictures and descriptions for each item so all I have to do is click on the picture and I'll be taken to the project I want to do.

And you can follow each others' Pinterest if you like to get some great ideas and see what inspires them (hint hint).

So come follow me and check out my to-do list, along with some great inspiration and other cool stuff out there in the blogosphere. And let me know if you have an account - I'd love to see what inspires you too!

Pinterest is invite only for now, so let me know if you would like an invite and I'd be happy to send one your way!

Oh, and if you're already a pro, maybe you can give me some tips since I'm still figuring out how to do things. Like when people comment on one of your pins, do you comment back? And if so, do they see your reply?

You can find me here:  
(I also included the Pinterest widget in my lefthand column)

See you there!

Printable family subway art

I hope you're all enjoying your Memorial Day weekend!
I'm back from vacation and spending (lots) of time unpacking today, but I wanted to share a quick and easy printable with you in the meantime.

I'm sure you've noticed how popular subway art is. I've seen tons of really cute projects people have done using wood and vinyl to make decorative subway art for their homes.

Like this oversized subway art from Tatertots and Jello

Or this resolution plaque from Little Blue Boo

Or this vintage-style typography art from Lee La La

But what about those of us who are without a Silhouette cutter (which I'm excitedly waiting to be delivered!) or want something a bit smaller? The next best thing is printable subway art!

I wanted to make a printable subway art piece for my hallway where I'm currently attempting to put together a gallery. I am so blessed to have a wonderful family, and I thought "family" would be a perfect theme. I sat down and made a list of words that represented family to me. Then using Picnik, I then put together this simple family-themed subway art printable.

If you want to print one for yourself, just right click and save to your computer then print off the size you want! This one was made for an 8 1/2 x 11 frame.

Linking up!

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Ice cream!

The weather is getting warmer around here, and that means one thing.......

ICE CREAM!

I used to be a Dairy Queen addict but since marrying my hubby, he's converted me to Baskin Robbins....which he calls "Baskin and Robbins" for some reason. I've tried to tell him that Mr. Robbins probably doesn't appreciate his name being split in two like that, but it's no use.

Of course, Haley wanted a bowl of the brightest, most-staining flavor. It's some kind of mix of green apple/blueberry/grape/stainyourcouch sherbet.

Bibs were definitely involved.

I stuck with their flavor of the month, Gold Rush, which was a delicious mix of lemon and golden Oreos. I love anything lemon! Patrick does not, however. Which means any lemon flavored junk food is untouched. More for me!

Connor may have had a bite or two...

I love the ice cream goatee. Definitely a good look for him.

I love this warm weather! I'm just not looking for the burn-your-skin-off-hot summers that I know are only a few weeks away.

Maybe that means even more visits to Baskin Robbins? I'm ok with that. And so is a certain someone else I know.