Bed Rest Buster: Headband Headquarters

Well guys, it appears that my little lady is determined to make an early entrance, at least earlier than planned. A few weeks ago when I was about 33 weeks I started to go into pre-term labor and the doctor has been trying to hold the baby off from coming ever since. So yep, as you might have guessed given the title of this post, I've been put on bed rest.

Oh the dreaded phrase Bed Rest!! It is certainly not the worst thing in the world, and I am obviously happy to do whatever it takes to keep our little girl safe and healthy. But unfortunately it has arrived at the exact time that my nesting instinct has kicked into high gear. It's all I can do to keep myself firmly planted on the couch when these urgent messages keep popping into my head, "You don't have any pacifiers! You need to sterilize the breast pump! You need to borrow someone's Boppy Pillow!" and on and on it goes.

So what does a typically multi-tasking girl do in those non-napping hours of bed rest-ing, to try to keep her hands busy and mind occupied enough to stop making list after list of things to do?

Yes. Make baby headbands. Lots and lots of headbands.

I have been bookmarking various tutorials that I come across for fabric flowers, knowing that little headbands and hair clips would be in our little girl's future. It turns out that if you must camp out on the couch for hours at a time, this is a great project. Particularly if paired with some sort of all-day marathon of a good brain candy tv show.

You simply need a little headband station with a variety of supplies. Prepare for your husband to make comments like, "It looks like a sweatshop over here!" And prepare to ignore him. Or just ask him for more snacks or ice water.

At your station you'll need sharp scissors, various types of fabric, lace, felt, needle & thread or glue gun, elastic, piece of paper to use as a template, and something round to trace for a template.

I'm not actually sharing a tutorial today, just a collection of tutorials that I've come across and the fruits of my labor. These ladies have already spelled everything out perfectly and you don't want to try to make sense of my crazy pregnant ramblings!!

First up is this lovely fabric flower, tutorial from Simply Vintage Girl here. Love it. Newborn baby photo prop? Definitely.

I made these headbands with a similar technique as the example shown above. I just cut the fabric into circles, burned the edges, and glued them together. Easy and elegant!!

Next I made this felt dahlia flower from KoJo Designs here. I will probably be switching out the pearl on this for a string of beads once I can get to the store to get beads, but I just love the bright red and white! It makes me think of Christmas, Valentines Day or 4th of July. She'll be ready no matter what!

Next up were these no sew flowers from Ruffles and Stuff here. I simply went through my fabric stash and started cutting different fabrics into circles. I tried to mix it up a little by using different colored stretchy bands, and adding a bit of lace as well. These were easy and several have already been used for other baby clothes projects, so I know they'll match perfectly!

I found this lace flower at Aly & Ash Creations here. I was so excited that I actually had the exact lace and brads that she used in her example. Love it. This one will be a hair clip. That is, once I get some hair clips it will be. :)

There are lots of tutorials for rolled fabric flowers, and I found mine at Hello Friend here. Whether these will be a big cluster on a headband or made into little clips is still to be determined. But they are the same color scheme as in her room, so I couldn't resist keeping them together for a picture! :)

I also made up a few other bows that I left un-attached for now. Will they be hair clips, headbands, attached to onesies or some other clothing item? Only time will tell.

I will also be trying out Patrice's Quick and Easy Hair Ribbon tutorial as soon as I can get my hands on some ribbon! I'm still stocking up on my "girly" supplies around here! :)

Well, that's it for now!! It was fun to have one thing I could scratch off of my "to do before baby arrives" list. And my husband is happy to have back the section of the couch that was dedicated to my supplies. :)

Okay, now you have to tell me, have I missed any essential baby hair thing-ys tutorials? If so, please link up in the comments.

And have any of you been on bed rest yourselves?! How did you pass the time without going crazy?! Aside from sleeping, which I promise I do! I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions!!

Have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday!!