For the birthday girl I went a little wild with the giraffe party theme.
Using my newly minted quilting skills I made her a small quilt featuring some Alexander Henry zoo fabric. I "fussy cut" (a quilting term - it means instead of cutting the blocks to make the best use of the fabric I intentionally cut them to highlight part of the fabric. In this case I wanted each block of the zoo fabric to have a giraffe in the center) the zoo fabric and then pulled colors from that fabric for the other blocks and borders.
Because of the giraffe theme all of the other fabric was polka dot.
The back of the quilt was a yellow polka dot that reminded me of giraffe spots. I chose brown for the border to really highlight the theme from the back (giraffe colors) and I also thought for a little one it would show less dirt.
I found another use for my "KO" labels and made sure to sew one in to the back of the quilt.
I got BDO in to the the act by commissioning him to make a wooden giraffe pull toy. Using a cookie cutter as a pattern not only did he create the pull toy, a rocking toy, but two Christmas tree ornaments as well. He was nice enough to make two ornaments - one for the gift and one for me. He used walnut and just sanded it to a beautiful finish, no paint required.
The pull toy looked amazing. It truly is an heirloom piece. He was smart enough to make the cord untie from the bottom so until baby is old enough it can be removed - no choking hazard.
The little rocking giraffe was for me. It was a total surprise and I just love it. It's on display next to his rubber band racers from Christmas past.
The gifts were opened after the party. As soon as they opened our gift our friends gave us a call. They just loved it all and were so appreciative of the handicrafts. Now they are having a second baby - we'll have to work really hard next year to make sure the next little one has a very special first birthday.
