Spring fever? It's time to make baby gifts!

The tallest "hill" is Harney Peak. It's the highest point between the Rockies
and the Pyrenees with an elevation of 7244 feet. Every time I look at it I think of the
day my dear husband and I climbed to the top.

I love going to Walmart.

No, I don't love the crowds, spending money, or fighting with my shopping cart in a snowy parking lot.

It's this view. If I remember to lift up my eyes, this is what I see from the front door of Walmart.

(I have to confess. I cheated a bit and drove to another part of town for this picture. I wanted you to see it the way I do...ignoring the parking lot full of cars and the houses that are between the store and the Hills.)

With a view like this awaiting me everywhere I turn (you should see the hill out my window right now!), how can I ever concentrate on mundane things like cooking? Eating? Sleeping?

(Man, oh, man, you should see the sky at night! Stars upon stars upon stars.....)

You can tell Thatcher loves the view, too. (Actually, he's watching Wynter - they're out for their weekly run in a nearby park.)

But Spring Fever is knocking at my door. You can see how much snow we have here at the edge of the prairie...up in the Hills it's much deeper. It will still be a few months before we can hit the trails.

A handsome coyote we found while driving through Badlands National
Park on Sunday. Isn't he beautiful? I think he enjoyed
posing for his pictures.

But meanwhile, we're just bursting with babies around here!

No, not in my family, but in our little church. We've added four babies to our church family in the last year, and over the weekend we had a shower for the next little one - due in March.

So many babies means a lot of showers and baby gifts.

And don't we all just love shopping for baby gifts? Little tiny onesies, itty bitty booties, soft fleecy blankets.... {{{sigh}}}

I still like homemade gifts, though. I've tried to keep up with knitting baby sweaters, but these babies are coming too fast!  

So while the sweater is still growing on my needles (shh...don't tell the baby's mom...it's a surprise!), I decided to make my favorite alternate gift.

Someone gave me one of these hooded bath towels for a shower gift for our oldest, and I made additional ones for our other three children. They're too big for a newborn, but perfect once the baby outgrows those sweet hooded towels you buy in the store.

And once toddler-hood is reached, these towels become everything from tents to Superman capes. They're perfect for the beach or pool, too!

To make two of these, you need two bath towels and a matching hand towel.

Cut the hand towel in two pieces. Each half will be a hood for one of the towels.

This is the only cutting involved, and you have just that one edge that's unfinished. So now it's time to get out your sewing machine (or borrow a friend's.)

Say "hey" to Wynter. She thinks she's found an out-of-the-way spot.

Fold each part of the hand towel in half so that the right sides are together, and sew it up along the raw edge. You'll want to finish the seam so it doesn't unravel over the years. You can use a zig-zag stitch, a serger (if you have one), or you can make a French seam. The main thing is that this seam needs to be strong and durable.

As you can see, this hood is WAY too long...unless you're sewing for Jawas.

So fold the front edge back about three inches.

Now it's time to sew the hood to the towel. Pin the bottom edge of the hood to the long edge of one bath towel, centered and right sides together. Double check to make sure the hood will be attached the way you want it to be, and then sew the two pieces together. I always sew a double seam here.

Did I tell you my children used their towels until they were at least seven or eight years old? Durability is key!

Repeat with the other half of the hand towel and the other bath towel.

Now you have two shower gifts ready to go!

Or, in this case, one towel for the baby, and one for the big brother.

What is your favorite gift to take to a baby shower?