I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and New Year. I actually took some real time off getting down time with family and doing a lot of eating and hanging out with my kids…it was the closest thing I had to a real maternity leave! Coco (see above) is getting some serious chub on her, and I am in the "thank-goodness-that-first-super-hard-month-is-over" phase of having a newborn.
We received so many thoughtful gifts when Coco was born a couple months ago, but I had to share with you the one gift that made me weep like a baby. My Oh Joy team (Casey, Julia, and Angie), gave me a boxed filled with what looked like some pretty and colorful versions of your usual baby things. At first, I thought, "Oh, they totally know I like patterns, and they picked great colors." And then they went on to tell me that the design on the blanket was actually drawn by Ruby!
With the help of Bob, they asked Ruby to draw the things she wished for her new baby sister. Bob had to help Ruby a little bit, but then they turned her drawings into a pattern and had the pattern printed on fabric. Angie's mother-in-law sewed them into a double-sided blanket and a baby night dress for Coco (complete with built-in hand mitts) and into a beautiful yellow scarf for me to wear.
The "wishes" that Ruby drew for her sister included a cat, a top, and lots of circles and lines. Tears flowed from my eyes as I held the gift in my hands and thought about the level of thought that was put into it, how truly one-of-a-kind it was, and the number people it took to make it come together. And then they all started crying too. It was a sweet moment I'll never forget and a gift I'll treasure forever.
P.S. If you're inspired to make something like this for a loved one, the girls used Spoonflower to print the custom fabric.
{Photos by Oh Joy}
Wow. Incredibly beautiful and thoughtful. I almost cried reading it! Well done, Oh Joy team!
So utterly beautiful! I’m almost in tears, too!
xoxo
I can’t over, firstly, how creative a gift this is, and secondly, how incredibly thoughtful, and heart-warming. Coco looks gorgeous in her dress – Ruby did a wonderful job!
that is so sweet! love that idea.
What an incredible idea! I have been really surprised reading it. So lovely!
That is such a sweet & thoughtful gift! It’s beautiful.
Wow! How amazingly thoughtful. What a great gift idea. 🙂
That’s such a lovely idea. Wow, what a thoughtful gift, your friends sound just wonderful.
Happy New Year!
Totally gorgeous and very thoughtful.
What a super gift.
x x x
aww… so sweet
What a wonderful idea!!! Love.
Oh wow… I wasn’t expecting that… So kind and creative and thoughtful. Brava to the team. You chose some great hearts!
AWWW! Sounds like you’ve got a pretty awesome team, Joy!
Aw. I love this.
Wow! Well done to your friends. I am definitely storing this idea up for later!
Ruby,I am very proud of you.
Casey, Julia and Angie you guys did a wonderful job. I am glad that Joy has a great team.
I’ve always wanted to turn my kids’ art into fabric. Thanks!
this is so special and beautiful, thank you for sharing!
How sweet is this!?!? Best idea ever!
Very Angelina Jolie’s wedding dress! What a thoughtful gift (and great colors!)
Love that you have the ‘kids art + custom fabrics = best gifts ever’ bug, too!! I am a textile designer, but truth be told some of my favorite projects are those that are custom works from kids art
I never got a chance to say congratulations to you, Bob and Ruby for your new addition. Congrats! Coco is beautiful! And this made me tear up too. What a lovely gift.
Happy New Year! And as always, miss you lots!
That is so incredibly sweet, Joy! Coco is so loved by the people around her. Ruby’s already such a great sister to her. I can’t wait to see them grow up together!
What a truly amazing gift full of love. I teared up while reading your post!
The sweetest! Such a thoughtful, loving gift.
That is gorgeous! And it’s something she’ll have forever too – imagine bringing it to her 21st and saying “your sister drew this for you!” So fun!
Wow,so beautiful, something to cherish forever!
So thoughtful and beautiful! Such a special gift.
What a beautiful gift! How thoughtful. 🙂
So unbelievably thoughtful. What a beautiful gift! I almost welled up just reading about it.
Super lovely gift!!! so much love and thoughts. And spoonflower is great…loved using them for all fabric printings. Cheers to 1 month milestone
That’s so wonderful….I understand your tears.
This is an awesome gift and I totally get why you cried! Something to be treasured for sure!
Oh, I love this! So thoughtful. What a beautiful gift that you will cherish forever, no doubt about it.
Really such an awesome gift!
What a touching gift!! Ruby has a future as a licensed artist, yes? This gift came together so beautifully, what a keepsake!
Great job, Ruby! How amazing.
Thanks so much girl! Miss you!
Joy
My eyes went watery too, it really is a very thoughtful gift, you can tell your team loves you too.
that is beyond special! you and your team has such a great relationship!
Ok. I cried.
These are the best presents. They are priceless and you will cherish them forever. My mom made me an apron with the runners from our wedding. I cried like a baby when I got it.
oh oh oh! i LOVE this! so kind and thoughtful AND tasteful! i’m totally stealing this for basically all my friends’ birthday gifts from here on out. and great to know about spoonflower! what a fun site!
What an incredible and thoughtful gift! I love her little scribbles and circles–too precious. This will be something to treasure forever. 🙂
This is a great gift idea. Thank you.
Joy I love this idea so much I want to try it out too! Any idea what type of fabric they ordered from Spoonflower? They have 14 to choose from and I don’t know much about fabrics… Thanks!
how lovely!
That is really an amazing and special gift! You can ask Ruby to draw something every year and see the change in what she wishes!
Amazing and thoughtful gift!
Such a thoughtful and beautiful gift! What a lovely team you have. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this wonderful heartfelt project. I am so inspired!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful blog, such a awesome gift.
find more about newborn baby gift at snug-a-licious.
🙂