A baby blanket so easy to make that a baby could make it herself

Slacker mom alert: I forgot the kids' blankets in Texas. The morning we left, I gathered them up and put them in a bag to take with us, but that bag got left behind in my rush to get the family on the road. Oh, well. At least I remembered the children!

The day we settled into our temporary apartment, I made a trip over to Walmart to get Caroline a baby blanket (it is literally my only shopping option here in this town). My choices were Disney Princess, Hello Kitty, and Dora the Explorer. What? No plain white? No pink polka dots? Since the blankets were all $12 and up, and I didn't want her becoming attached to something I could potentially loathe looking at, I decided to take a gander around Walmart's (surprisingly decent) fabric area instead. Among all the camouflage and Winnie the Pooh fleece, I found a bolt of pony printed fleece and decided to make her a blanket out of that. Plus for $3/ yard, it sure beats dropping $12+ on something with Sleeping Beauty's or Dora's smug little mug emblazoned all over it.
Speaking of smug little mugs...
I made this blanket in about 30 minutes. No sewing required. In fact, it's so easy to make, Caroline probably could have made it herself, and I am hesitant to call it a "craft". Really, I just cut up some fabric. If that sounds like your kind of craft, here you go:

Supplies:

• Two pieces of fleece, one yard each. I used one print and one solid, but you can do whatever you want.

 

• One pair of good fabric scissors (you'll be doing a lot of little cuts).

Instructions:

[music credit: "Blanket" by The Melillo Brothers]

1. Line up the fabric on top of each other. Since we're not sewing anything, make sure the right sides are facing out. 
2. Cut off the selvage and/ or uneven edges. Make sure the two layers are nearly identical in size and layer them on top of each other. 
3. From each corner, through both layers, cut off a square of fabric about three inches. 
4. Cutting through both layers, cut fringe strips around all four sides, the same length as the squares that were cut out. I did mine an inch and a half apart. 
5. Tie the fringe in knots, using one strand from the top layer and one strand from the bottom layer. 
6. Give the blanket to the baby.

Yes. Yes, I did just show y'all how to "make" a blanket without sewing anything at all. Perhaps for my next trick I'll show you how to make an Ikea end table by screwing the legs into the top.

Slacker mom, indeed.

Hose, in different area codes (i.e. Hanes Legwear in the midwest in spring)

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Here I am on my old stomping grounds: southern Indiana. Although I am primarily here to visit with my grandma, I've been able to catch up with some friends from high school as well. This past weekend, I met a group of girl friends up north for an adult prom, benefiting Family Service of Bartholomew County and Columbus Abuse Prevention:

[music: "Back to Indiana" by The Elms]

Since I attended on a whim and packed light, I didn't have a clue what to wear. The night before the party, I hightailed up to the nearest mall (which, incidentally, is 40 miles north), and I was dismayed to find out that in the decade+ that I've been gone, that mall had pretty much died. There was a minuscule dress section of a seedy lingerie shop, but luckily the dress had a sleeve to give me a little warmth and it covered my butt (it was literally the only dress in the shop long enough to cover my buns). Bonus: it's USA made, but alas, it still cost $40 for a cheap polyester dress. I like it well enough, though, and maybe I'll be able to wear it again for a Mrs. Austin thing:

date: 20 April 2013 | occasion: CAP Adult Prom
dress: via Nite Life Boutique | jewelry: Claire's | shoes: Nine West | hosiery: c/o Hanes

I had packed a few pairs of Hanes Legwear since hosiery is always a good transitional item in this funky spring weather. For Adult Prom, the hosiery was truly a necessity, since the temperature hovered right around 40º, and this Texas idiot didn't pack anything wintery at all to bring to the Midwest. I know a lot of women eschew pantyhose altogether, but I prefer my gams in hose when I'm wearing a short dress in spring. The control top Silky Sheer pantyhose helped to (comfortably) squash down my post-baby jiggle and it made my legs look airbrushed, which is great since A) I was too lazy to shave and B) my legs are a little beat up and scarred from childhood bike crashes.
  At $5.97/ pair, it's not a bad idea to have a few packages on hand.   Stag at the prom... more fun than high school! [photos courtesy of Studio Limelight] I had a great night dancing and reconnecting with old friends. I'm here in the Midwest for several more weeks, so stay tuned for more glimpses of my small town style!  I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.