{"id":1206,"date":"2009-09-07T23:09:34","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T03:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=1206"},"modified":"2014-07-15T21:21:54","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T01:21:54","slug":"grandma-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/07\/grandma-bag\/","title":{"rendered":"Grandma Bag"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"zGrandmabagfbrite\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When an unexpected opportunity to “take the baby”\u00c2\u00a0arises, \u00c2\u00a0I like to be ready.\u00c2\u00a0 So rather than\u00c2\u00a0make the routine diaper bag transfer from Mama to Nana, I keep my own Grandma bag at the ready.<\/p>\n

In my humble opinion, this home made cheerful carryall beats the plain Army green or khaki canvas so popular today.\u00c2\u00a0 Where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the fun in plain olive drab?<\/p>\n

Some\u00c2\u00a0might argue that it is the contents of the bag that are important, not the bag itself.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, hear me now and believe me later, this bag carries all the basics and more.\u00c2\u00a0 But if you are\u00c2\u00a0challenged to amuse a baby for 25 minutes in the doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s waiting room, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll betcha dollars to donuts that this bag will keep that little one quieter longer than the Army bag.<\/p>\n

And my, oh my, the contents!\u00c2\u00a0 There are miracle products that make today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grandmothers green with if-only-I had-had-this-when-you-were-a-baby \u00c2\u00a0envy.\u00c2\u00a0 More on new (to me) amazing baby products later.<\/p>\n

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\"grandma<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Grandma carryall began as a purchased white canvas bag. I planned a simple embroidered front and back, but as usual, the project grew like Topsy.\u00c2\u00a0 In a short time, I realized that my ultimate goal was to make an entertainment bag for Baby.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I knew that it would have been easier to start from scratch, \u00c2\u00a0since I had to disassemble the entire bag to add the embellishments I wanted.<\/p>\n

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\"Grandmabagfclose2brite\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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First the bag was embroidered, front and back, with the darling Camp Grandma collection from Bernina.\u00c2\u00a0 I added \u00c2\u00a0chenille rick rack for color and textural interest.<\/p>\n

I lined\u00c2\u00a0the bag\u00c2\u00a0with lime green \u00c2\u00a0seersucker and added a divider with a few pockets. To give it body and make it washable, I used a sheet of plastic needlepoint grid.\u00c2\u00a0 Yellow gingham ribbon lined the straps and big bright pink polka dot grosgrain ribbons anchored each handle.<\/p>\n

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\"GrandmabagBclose21brite\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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The feature that holds a baby\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest longer than anything is the dingle-dangle border at the top of the bag.\u00c2\u00a0 I carefully selected a variety of charms and buttons from my novelty button collection, choosing\u00c2\u00a0many that had special meaning–a\u00c2\u00a0football, sewing machine, log cabin, a heart, an airplane.\u00c2\u00a0 Others included a frog, ballet slippers, gingerbread man and two\u00c2\u00a0jingle bells for sound.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0All these and more were strung\u00c2\u00a0– with 1\/8\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ribbon then knotted.<\/p>\n

Finally, with the same bright pink gingham ribbon that I used to hold the inside pockets in place, I ruched it up to create a ruffled effect.\u00c2\u00a0 I slipped the ribbon ringed buttons under the ruched pink gingham ribbon and stitched it down along the top edge of the bag.<\/p>\n

Of course, I stitched them VERY securely, aware of the choking hazard.\u00c2\u00a0 But the babies only played with this while sitting on my lap with full time adult supervision.\u00c2\u00a0 The bag has been washed several times and not one of the buttons has come loose.<\/p>\n

When my grandchildren were very small, they enjoy rubbing their fingers over the chenille rick rack and even over the embroidery and ruched ribbon.<\/p>\n

But my, oh my, the products available today!\u00c2\u00a0 My bag is stocked with disposable high chair tray covers!\u00c2\u00a0 Who knew?\u00c2\u00a0 That removes any questions about cleanliness at Joe’s Greasy Spoon.<\/p>\n

Then, when Baby\u00c2\u00a0graduates from the high chair to a booster seat\u00c2\u00a0in a fast food place, I pull out my package of Clorox wipes and give the table top a once over.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve even used it once in the playground area of the fast food place when a snotty nosed little guy wiped the slide as Robert was on his way down.\u00c2\u00a0 I restrained myself from Cloroxing that child’s nose and hands but it was hard.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we left.<\/p>\n

I keep insect repellent wipes for buggy days at the park and\u00c2\u00a0disposable plastic baby spoons\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcan you believe it?–for eating out.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Also, baby sunglasses, sunscreen\u00c2\u00a0and sunhat are packed with the standard diaper bag gear: diapers, a change of clothes, burp cloths, bib, baby wipes, a tube of Boudreaux\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Butt Paste (ever hear of that?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a great diaper rash cream.),\u00c2\u00a0 zip locked baby washcloth and a bottle of water for drinking or for wetting the washcloth, sweater, booties, change pad, a zip lock bag of Cheerios and\/or teething crackers, sippy cup, unopened bottle of apple juice and a plastic bag for soiled diapers.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I throw in whatever else seems appropriate for the moment.<\/p>\n

When I come home, before I do anything else, I restock the bag with anything that has been used up.\u00c2\u00a0 Dirty sweater or baby clothes are replaced first and then the soiled ones laundered.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0All the while, I \u00c2\u00a0chant the Boy Scout motto, Be Prepared.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether it’s babysitting or a playdate, taking\u00c2\u00a0a grandbaby out is such fun.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 With my Grandma bag, I\u00c2\u00a0am\u00c2\u00a0as prepared as grandchild #3 Alastair’s Eagle Scout father.\u00c2\u00a0 Except for the pocket knife and matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When an unexpected opportunity to “take the baby”\u00c2\u00a0arises, \u00c2\u00a0I like to be ready.\u00c2\u00a0 So rather than\u00c2\u00a0make the routine diaper bag transfer from Mama to Nana, I keep my own Grandma bag at the ready. In my humble opinion, this home … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,9,35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1206"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30709,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions\/30709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}