Nesting for Baby | Play Mat | Whitney Beth Photography
 

If I wasn't nesting before - it's reached full force now! With less than 10 weeks until little man gets here I've been cranking out projects on top of a full photo schedule left and right! I like to try and "match" the enthusiasm and things I make for each kid. One of my bigger fears of having a big family is having the first get allll the things; baby books, quilts, mobiles, etc and having the other kids get nothing. So far, I've done a good job at completing everything on my list (except for the quilt - which is the last thing to do!) and simultaneously, silently, cursing pregnant-with-Jones Whitney for being overly ambitious. Ha! But if you know me - you know that taking on projects left and right is nothing new, and if I didn't have a "list" of things to do, I'd make one anyways. For whatever (insane) reason, I thrive with long to-do lists and get that high from productivity and checking things off the list.

I thought this play mat up in my head awhile ago while perusing Instagram and pinning things for my business on Pinterest. It was a combo of seeing someone add pom pom trim to a pillow and stumbling across a leaf shaped play mat. I merged the two in my head and thought it shouldn't be to hard to make and added it to my list. I liked the idea of having a place for the boys to hang out and do tummy time together, as well as a spot to track home boy's monthly progress growth pictures. 

I got two yards of a cotton/linen blend, two spools worth of pom pom trim, a crib sized pack of batting and some matching thread. I got these all from Hobby Lobby since Joann's didn't have the color of material I wanted. The entire project cost about $15 thanks to the sales they were having. The first thing I did was fold my fabric in half, and then into fourths. This was so I could measure a perfect circle and only have to cut 1/4th of it at a time. I did the same thing with my batting - but thanks to some helpers I got distracted and didn't cut on the fold. It still worked out the same - just added more steps as I know had to piece together and overlap the batting inside the fabric. I sewed up half the circles together - right side in, flipped it right side out and inserted the batting. Then I completed the circle. Once that was done I found the center and drew out the outer circles using a pin, thread and white crayon. I sewed along these lines on the inside to give it the quilted look and to hold the batting in place. Finally, I sewed the trim around the entire boarder and called it done! If I hadn't had so many helpers and had to stop to be mom, It probably would've taken about an hour - to two. But all things considering, it was still a quick little project that really helps pull the room together and bring in the warm tones of the wood and baskets that I have around.

*While I was at Hobby Lobby, I also got a yard of some ribbed, jersey knit material and surged the seams to turn it into a swaddle. Pictured below.