To quote our toddler, “Wow! Wow! Wow!” My very dear friends Nicola and Victor just welcomed their first baby, and I was thrilled to meet her. I didn’t have a lot of time to pull together a gift, but I wanted something special, so I made this “bouquet ” out of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. I also brought some fruit and pastries from Whole Foods – goodness knows anyone eating hospital food will appreciate something fresh.

I know, I know, I had just sworn off appliqued onesies, but I had to give in just one more time, since I finally learned that the baby is a girl!  I had a few blank shirts left over from the DIY onesie party, so I quickly made some with a little girl in mind.  “Quickly” is the key word here, and our toddler was “helping,” so I apologize for the cupcake, which looks a tad squashed.  Hopefully, baby won’t mind.  Everyone will be too busy looking at her sweet face, anyway.

Sweet heart applique onesie.

Simple flower applique onesie for a baby girl. The center is fleece from another project I’ll post soon!

Cupcake applique onesie. A bit lopsided, oops!

Looking for beautiful onesies for your own bouquet? I have seen the most beautiful prints with big discounts on Zulily:

Materials for the “bouquet”

• onesies (above)
• bibs
• receiving blankets
• popsicle sticks
• elastic bands
• ribbon

The technique for rolling the “flowers” is similar for the bibs, onesies, and blankets.

• Start by folding the bib or onesie in half.  For the receiving blankets, fold into a small rectangle. (top picture below)
• For the bibs and onesies, I placed a popsicle stick in the center to make a “stem,” so the flower could be held in a bouquet.  The blanket made a a big enough roll  on its own.  (middle picture below)
• Make a tight roll, with the center sticking out slightly more than the edges.  For the bib, it’s easiest to start with the strap, and for the onesies, it’s easiest to start with the neck, so that the center is not too bulky. (bottom picture below)
• Put an elastic band around each flower, to hold it tight.

Rolling bibs, onesies, and receiving blankets to make flowers for a bouquet.

To wrap the bouquet

• Fold two receiving blankets into triangles, and laid them out with the edge of the top one slightly higher than the other.  (top picture below)
• Make a pocket with the top blanket and lay the flowers inside.  (bottom picture below)
• Roll the blankets around the flowers, and tie with a ribbon.

Wrapping bibs, onesies, and receiving blankets into a bouquet.

Here are some pictures of the finished bouquet.  I think I could have fussed with it to make it a little neater, but I’m pretty happy with the overall result.

DIY bouquet of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets.

DIY bouquet of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. It looks good next to this random bush outside the hospital. I’ll add some leaves next time.

And most beautiful of all, here’s the tiny recipient of this big bouquet!

Welcome, little one!  I look forward to watching you grow and sharing many “mommy moments” with Nicola.

“Jewels”