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How I Made My DIY Pom Pom Baby Mobile For $11.00 – Tutorial And Inspiration

So I was out shopping at the Irvrine Spectrum Center the other day and bumped into this adorable Pom Pom Baby Mobiles by BlaBlah Kids. Ok, so this is definitely one of the cutest things I’ve seen for baby nursery in awhile. But, for $170.00 ($144.00 at some retail stores and online if you’re lucky) it’s WAY out of budget for me. If you could afford this, that’s freaking awesome! But I wasn’t about to buy a mobile for $100+. I have better things to spend money on… like food, toys for my kids and maybe some workout gear that I’ll never get a chance to wear to a real gym.

While taking a closer look I realized that this could totally be made at home

Since a friend of mine is having a baby soon I figured I would take a shot at this. If the end product came out well I could even gift it.

Honestly, there are a lot of tutorials for Pom Pom Baby Mobiles online so I just Googled around for ideas. I spent about 3-4 hours on this project but it’s mostly because I kept having to get up (because mom life for real). If I sat down and stayed focused I could make one of these in 2 hours tops (excluding the time I spent to actually go buy the supplies needed). I had to edit all of my videos with music only because… #1 I was pretty much either yelling at my kids to stop fighting or they were crying… #2 I might have cussed a little too. oops.

Supplies Needed For Your Pom Pom Mobiles

  • 10″ embroidery hoop *$1.77
  • 5″ embroidery hoop *$0.97
  • 4 yarns *$1.50 each = $6.00
  • pack of mini glue for glue gun (I actually only used 1 stick which I thought was amazing) * $0.97
  • ceiling hook * $1.29
  • duck tape
  • toilet paper roll
  • glue gun
  • bobby pin*If the item has a price next to it, it means I purchased it. Everything else I had at home. I spent a total of $11.00 at Walmart for this project. Had I purchased everything on this list I would have still spent less than $20.00.

    I purchased everything in-store at my local Walmart.

    Ok, so this was actually the very first time I made this and I just kind of winged it. I forgot to take photos of a couple steps. I’m sorry in advance for that.

Pom Pom Mobile Instructions

  1. Start by making your pom poms.

    I used this tutorial from YouTube. This person used 2 toilet paper rolls but I only had 1. I cut my toilet paper roll in half (length-wise) and taped them to make 2 skinnier rolls. I wrapped 2 yarns around my toilet paper rolls 120 times. Tied my yarn like the video tutorial below. Just note: Cutting yarn is SUPER messy. I would advise doing this outside if you can as I had little threads and yarn dust ALL over the place and was breathing it all in. My pom poms came out to about 2.5 inches wide after all the trimming and making them even. I made 8 pom poms in total: 3 with beige + beige peach brown mix, 2 with beige and light blue and the last 3 with light blue and navy.

    And here’s my video:

  2. Cut some more yarn into the lengths you want for your mobile. I didn’t measure and just eyeballed it and tied a knot 5 times at the end.

  3. Attaching the yarn to my pom poms was a little tricky. I ended up using a bobby pin to thread my yarn into my pom pom.

  4. After I threaded my yarn through my pom pom I hot glued the knotted end of my yarn and secured it into the middle of the pom pom.

  5. Making the mobile: I wrapped my beige yarn all around the 10″ wooden embroidery hoop hot gluing all the loose ends. I tried to make sure the gluing was all done towards the inside of the hoop.

  6. Next I wrapped my 7″ embroidery hoop in light blue and navy and made a loop at the very top so you can hang the finished product.

  7. Ok, so here’s where I messed up. I attached the strings with pom poms onto the 10 inch mobile before attaching it to the 5 inch hoop. That’s a big no. Attach the 2 hoops together first. Next hang your mobile somewhere and then tie the strings with pom poms on the mobile.

  8. I tied the yarns with pom poms at the end to the 10 inch mobile in various lengths. You can get creative here but I chose to do a waterfall type of shape. I did this step sooner than I should have so you can see my finished product looks a little bit lopsided. Oops!

Conclusion

Does my DIY Pom Pom Baby Mobiles look perfect?

Absolutely not. I’m sure the people who make these type of baby mobiles in a factory are far more skilled than I am. BUT from a distance? Yeah – I guess it’s close enough.

Would I do this again?

Yes! Ok, so this project is really tedious and it makes a hell of a mess but the end result was cute! How do you not love pompoms? On a scale of 1-10 I would rate the difficulty of this project as a 6. It doesn’t take a whole lot of skill… just a LOT of patience.

I love the fact that you can customize the colors and overall design of your mobile to match any nursery theme. Another thing I saw were these animal shaped pompom tutorials…. see where I’m going here? Picture a baby mobile with little poofy animals.

This would be freaking the cutest thing!!!

>> Click here to check out my Pinterest Board for Animal Pom Pom Inspo <<

This was my first tutorial for anything ever so please excuse the fact that a lot of pictures and video is missing. I’ll be sure to do a little more next time! So, what do you think? Do you think you would ever make a pom pom baby mobile? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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Monthly Baby Photoshoot In A Box – Baby Booth Box Unboxing And Review

Let me tell you about Baby Booth Box

So if you know me at all you would’ve noticed I like taking pictures of my kids.

I always wanted to do the whole monthly photo shoot thing with my babies. When my first was born I didn’t even know about keepsake photos. I was just trying to keep myself awake and my child alive.

By the time my second was born I had seen countless internet moms do their own version of monthly keepsake photos and I wanted to do the same. I tried to keep things simple and purchased props and outfits.  At first I got through  without too many issues but when I got to month 4 and 5 I was running out of ideas and the cost of each photo shoot was starting to get expensive. I spent a lot of time planning out themes, looking for places to buy props and outfits and spending a lot of time and energy on the photo shoot itself.

I Just got Baby Booth Box. Every month they send out brand new themed and designed photo shoots for my baby. You get everything you need to set up the photo shoot and a FREE milestone blanket with your first box!!! They also put a gift in there for mom every month. you want to order, you can use my code BABY45 for 25% off. Or if you know someone having a baby, buy them a gift card or a subscription!

Introducing Baby Booth Box

Baby Booth Box is a month to month subscription box that sends you themed photo shoot props for your growing baby.

Say goodbye to wasting time trying to plan baby photo shoots! Purchase everything one by one for your DIY photo shoots? No, Thanks. I’d rather have a simple, no hassle and affordable Baby Booth Box.

This would make such a cute gift for any mom-to-be in your life! I found having photo shoot sessions with my babies to be a great way to bond and play together. Although at moments it can get a little frustrating, I loved having these moments with my little ones.

What I got in my box

This months box included:

  • Shoes
  • Pants (shorts/bloomers)
  • Suspenders
  • Bow Tie
  • Paper decor/props
  • A special gift for mom (cat ear hair band)

If you would like to purchase you can use my exclusive coupon code for 25% off: BABY45

>Click here to learn more about Baby Booth Box!<<

I absolutely loved my box. The props were of good quality and things that I can definitely reuse. It was so much fun opening my Baby Booth Box and finding all the cute goodies inside. The thing I liked most about this was the experience! Being able to set up, get my baby dressed up and taking photos (with the help of my other kids too). We had so much fun together and the final result is something I was cherish forever. Thank You Baby Booth Box!

Disclaimer: Yes, this Baby Booth Box was complimentary but all opinions are my own! Although subscribing myself is a little late (my baby is grown up) I am definitely thinking of purchasing this for a friend or family member who is expecting. 

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Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat: Perfect For Smaller Spaces

A baby swing is definitely an essential . They keep baby relaxed and entertained which gives mom a few moments to tend to one of the other hundreds of things-to-do in the house. The Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat is really valuable for families and their infants. If you live in a smaller space like us, this just might be perfect.

Just like many other baby swings the Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat offers music, vibrations, comforting nature sounds, and a soft baby seat all in one. What makes this baby swing the perfect fit for our family is the fact that it’s a space-saver when in use and fully assembled or when it’s folded up and stored away.

The Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat is a great deal. Currently it’s selling for only $44.00 at Walmart with free 2-day shipping within the U.S. This is much lower than the average baby swing cost. There are tons of good swings out there from diverse producers, but Fisher-price is among the rare trusted manufacturers. In terms of quality and being widely available across many retail stores in the U.S -this is a great product.

Positives of the Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat 

Smart Swing Technology:  Among the distinctive feature of Fisher-Price Deluxe take Along swing is the smart Swing technology. It has six different swinging speeds which ranges from high to low. The speeds senses your baby’s weight and shouldn’t slow down as your baby grows.

Comfortable seat: Although the seating positions are limited, I haven’t had any issues with my 2 month old feeling uncomfortable. Sometimes my baby boy would sit in here and sleep for hours at a time.

Music & Nature Sounds: I honestly haven’t used the music on this swing too often. But, it’s nice to know it’s there. You can control the volume and there are different songs and sounds.

Five-point harness: Safety harness is there which is a big plus. I don’t think companies are allowed to make a baby swing without a 5 point harness anyway but knowing this is a safe item is reassuring.

Negatives of the Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat

Battery Powered: Ok, so this could be a positive if you’re planning on traveling with your swing. But, I’m changing the batteries to this swing every 3 weeks and that’s a little annoying. Maybe this would be a great item to bring along in the RV if we were to go camping this summer.

Conclusion:

Yes, there are hundreds of baby swing options out on the market but very few that takes this little amount of space and none that are at this low of a price for the options that it has. I’ve been reading through reviews of this product online. I want to add that there are a good amount of negative reviews. Most of them state that the Fisher-Price Deluxe Take-Along Swing & Seat stops working even after just a few days or months of use. This has not happened to me and I have a 30 lbs. toddler and a 60 lbs. kid sitting and sometimes even standing on this swing for fun. If that’s not what you call durable, I don’t know what is. Either way, if you purchase at Walmart I’m sure they will accept returns if your swing stops working within the 30 day return policy.

So what do you think? Would you try this product out? Have you used this product? What was your experience? Write in the comments below!

 

 

 

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Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller Review With Photos

Let’s just start off with this: I love my double stroller.

Just like any other mom, I was highly considerate about purchasing a good double stroller for my little ones. In fact, I was stunned to see the large number of strollers available in the market and it was pretty challenging for me to pick the best out of the rest. However, after a little bit of research, was able to list down a couple of products based on their features. Finally, I decided to end up with the best of the lot; Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller.

 

In this post, I wish to share the experience I had with Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller; I believe this information might become handy for moms who wonder what’s the best stroller they should purchase.

 

Positive points of Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller

First, let me emphasize the positive points I noticed about this handy double stroller.

 

  • It is easy to fold and unfold

One of the key positive points I noticed about this product is ease of use. I have seen many moms struggle a bit with the strollers when it comes to folding and unfolding. Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller, on the other hand, works perfectly. I believe its auto lock feature becomes pretty handy in order to facilitate smooth opening and closing process. NOTE: This is in fact a double stroller so it does take up a little more space in your trunk.

 

  • It is very sturdy

A very important feature I expect from my stroller is its sturdiness. No matter what fancy features all those manufactures boast, I’d never want to put my baby in a wobbling and weak stroller. Much to my delight, Baby Jogger Double Stroller comes with an exceptionally strong and sturdy structure. I think the aluminum body makes the difference; I can feel how strong it is.

 

  • Front seat can hold up to 50 pounds

I am impressed with the weight it can handle. The front seat of this Baby Jogger Double Stroller can handle up to 50 pounds and that makes me feel significantly relieved (when I put my 2-year-old in). Well, compared to UPPA Baby Stroller, Baby Jogger’s tolerance is pretty impressive; UPPA can withstand a weight of 35 pounds only.

 

  • It is a spacious stroller

The other feature I love about this product is its spaciousness in terms of storage. Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller offers enough storage space to carry all the essentials of my little one.

 

 

Negative Points

Despite all the impressive stuff, I have noticed a couple of negative points with this product.

 

  • It is expensive

This is a relatively expensive investment, I should say. However, as I believe, you get what you pay for. We spent about $900.00 on this item which includes the stroller itself, 2 toddler seats and adapter for our car seat. We have the Maxi-Cosi Mico AP Infant Car Seat in Bohemian Red which we didn’t spend money on because we kept it from our previous child. But if you need to purchase car a baby seat, you’ll be spending a little more than the price I mentioned above. (Gosh, babies are so darn expensive!)

 

  • It is heavy

Sturdy = Heavy. This product is heavier than most of the competitor products in the market. However, I believe it is heavy because of its sturdy construction. After all, I prefer sturdiness over lightweight if I am to make a choice (it is my personal opinion though). I consider it part of my daily arm toning workout.

 

  • Hard to maneuver

Maneuvering this stroller is slightly harder than I expected. Although this slight obstinacy doesn’t compromise the child’s safety and comfort, I prefer more convenient maneuvering. I’ve developed Carpal Tunnel in my right wrist and if I use this stroller for too long it’ll aggravate my condition, but this is what my husband is for, no? (Just Kidding).

 

 

Bottom-line, despite the downsides I mentioned, I am really happy about the overall performance and features of Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller. I’ve been recommending this to everyone who’s asked and they’ve been happy as well.

Do you have this stroller? Hate it or love it?

If any of the above information was useful and you are interested in purchasing this product please use my Amazon link provided below! By doing this I am able to receive a small commission at absolutely no extra cost to you and I will be able to continue blogging and doing what I love to do! I am not associated to any companies and am reviewing a product that I actually own and love. Thank you in advance and have blessed day!

View the Baby Jogger City Select LUX Double Stroller on Amazon here

View the Maxi Cosi Mico Infant Car Seat In Bohemian Red on Amazon here 

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Things Every First Time Mom Should Be Asking For At Their Baby Shower

If you’re reading this you’re probably expecting a little one soon (or looking for gift ideas for someone you know) so let me start off with CONGRATS! What a blessed time in your life, so exciting, so wonderful and so… so overwhelming.

I had no idea what to expect or prepare for my first child. What I should have been doing is Pinteresting the sh*t out of the subject of childbirth, baby showers, after baby care and so on… but I didn’t feel the need to. I was being gifted left and right with tons and tons of baby products from friends and family. Crib, Blankets, books, Stroller, bassinet, formula, diapers galore.

Being pregnant with my first child at 25 I was still fairly young. None of the girlfriends around me were pregnant or had a child. Well, there were a very few but they either lived really far or I just never spoke with them.  During my pregnancy and early marriage 99% of my girls were single, hot and partying in Vegas every weekend… I would live vicariously through their Facebook photos from my laptop eating my pint of ice cream on each passing weekend. I didn’t have many places to go or people to talk to about my pregnant life and what I should be expecting. The little advice I did get was from my mom… which is great advice and all but let me be real for a minute: She was pregnant back in 1986.

Things every first time mom should be asking for at their baby shower

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of obvious “Baby Shower Gift Idea” lists out there on the internet filled with the best products for your child… but what about you? Don’t forget, NEVER FORGET to take care of yourself first. You are an amazing person giving life to another human! You deserve the splurge, you need just a moment to focus on yourself and enjoy life.

Happy mom = Happy Baby & Family. Period.

The baby essentials such as crib and stroller will be gifted to you or at least pitched in for through your registry but here’s my small list of ways you can spoil yourself (and ask your baby shower attendees to spoil you with) for your baby shower. I wish I had done these!

  1. Get your nails done and a pedicure, opt for gel. You won’t get too many chances to get your nails done often so you’d want something that would last as long as possible.
  2. Get a haircut or trim or something really easy to style. I’ve found long hair to be easier to manage than short just because I could leave the house with a messy bun on a rushed morning.
  3. Ask for gift cards to your favorite retail stores and shop your heart out for half a day after baby. Note: Don’t walk into the store until 4 months or later after baby arrives because you’ll risk trying on those skinny jeans or bikini you’ve had your eyes on and cry when they don’t fit right… Uhm, Not like it’s happened to me, Just saying.
  4. Go on a short vacation ALONE. You don’t need your boyfriend or husband or whoever, save that for the baby moon. Don’t go too far, but get far away enough just for a night or two. Swim at the hotel pool or lay out at the beach with a book but do it alone and enjoy the silence while you can.
  5. Buy a really REALLY good facial regimen set. That pregnancy glow don’t last forever!
  6. Get a gift card for Micro blading or tattooing your brows and go get them done after baby arrives and you’re done breastfeeding. I still haven’t done this, I’ll update as soon as I do.
  7. Get a maternity friendly facial or prenatal massage.
  8. House cleaning service, I promise you will wish you had someone to clean your place within the first year of having a baby. Even if it’s only one visit, having your house cleaned will take a huge load off your stress level.
  9. Ask for lots of Target, Walmart or Amazon gift cards because there are a ton of little things that you will need with a new baby. Not at the exact moment the baby arrives but somewhere down the line. Ex: medicine, lotions, diapers, formula, bottles, detergent, dish soap, toys etc.
  10. This is one that I’ve bumped into on a few Facebook mom groups and it’s one of the best post baby finds for mom: Get a boob massage. You heard me: It’s called a breast engorgement relief massage. So when breast feeding (which I hope you try to do to the best of your ability) you will most likely find yourself with clogged ducts. Suuuuper uncomfortable, painful and one of the most dreaded parts of breast feeding. Try reading more about it on Google when you get the chance. The posts I’ve read stated the price was about $50 plus tip for an hour, but it relieved the breasts and unclogged every clogged duct. Amazing~

So what do you think? Would you consider asking your baby shower attendees to gift you any of these? Are you a second, third or fourth time mom who would have loved any of the above? Let me know! If you have any other suggestions please do add in the comment section below.