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Friday, August 19, 2011

"SUSHI" Baby Shower Gift




My cousin is having a baby shower tomorrow and I wanted to make her something original. I love the idea of disguising items as food so I decided on baby clothes as sushi and maki.

Here's what I got at Target for only $17:


She's having a girl so I picked pinks and reds as the color scheme and they also apply well to raw fish colors. I also needed a plate to display it all on and I found this at Target for $2:


I thought it looked kinda oriental and the colors were perfect.

Supplies:
3 pack white onesies $7
3 pack washcloths (2 white, 1 pink) with fish toy $5
2 pair socks (1 red, 1 pink) $2
1 pack of 4 clip on hair bows $3
1 decorative plate or platter $2
1 black plastic table cloth $1
Tools
rubber bands on hand
clear tape on hand
scissors on hand
Optional
greeting card $1
scrapbooking stickers $1
shrink wrap gift bag with bow $1
2 pairs of chopsticks on hand


Sorry for all the crazy photo angles. I was snapping pics with my iPod from all angles.

First, remove all the tags and separate the items.

Take the two white wash clothes with pink trim and fold them in half twice the long way so that when you roll it up, the pink is in the center. Towards the end of the roll, tuck the last bit under so the pink doesn't show. Repeat white the other white wash cloth. Secure with rubber bands. You now have two maki.




Take one onesie, a pair of socks and two hair bows, these will form two maki. Turn the onesie face down on the table and fold both arm sides in. Then fold in half the long way. You should have a long white strip. fold a sock in half (toe to the top of the cuff edge) and lay on the edge of the strip so that the sock cuff edge is flush or just past the edge of the white strip. Top with a hair bow and roll tightly to the center of the strip. Carefully hold that roll in place and turn the whole thing over. Then repeat on the other side, being careful to place the sock cuff edge on the same side as the other, and roll towards the center. You should have a double S shaped roll. Secure the whole thing with a rubber band. Repeat with a second onesie, the other pair of socks and the other two hair bows. You now have 4 more maki.










Place the final onesie face down on the table and fold arm sides to the middle. Fold the pink wash cloth in thirds and place atop the folded onesie. This will give your sushi more thickness. fold the bottom edge of the onesie over the wash cloth and then fold 3 more times forming a rectangular shape. This is your sushi rice. place the fish toy on top and secure with 2 rubber bands.





Here's all your sushi so far:


Now to add the black nori seaweed wrappers. Open the black plastic table cloth and unfold once. cut along the first fold and open that piece up. You should have a long strip of plastic. fold that piece in thirs the long way to give the strip nice clean folded edges. Adjust the width to best suit your sushi. wrap the strip around the sushi's middle and cut to size. Tuck in the end for a clean finish and secure with tape.





Repeat to make strips for the maki. The washcloth ones are easiest. Simply wrap, tuck the end and secure with another rubber band.

The others are more tricky. you need to take off the rubber band and hold the rolls securely. Slightly unroll one end and start wrapping with the plastic strip. When you get to the other edge, make a V fold and tuck it into the place where the first roll touches the second. Then continue wrapping the other roll, trimming the plastic strip to fit, and secure the whole thing with a rubber band. Adjust the plastic wrap to make it look nice if needed and tighten it up by pressing a butter knife or pencil into the V fold area and ends. Repeat with other set of maki.



Place all the elements on a plate. You should now have this:


If you want, you can top the whole thing with a pair of chopsticks or two. I used ones from home that I bought at an asian market in a huge pack. Freebies from LeeAnn Chins would work too.

I then taped the gift receipt inside the card, signed it and slipped it in the envelope. I printed out this label and taped it to the outside of the envelope and decorated it with scrapbooking stickers.



Here's what it said:

INCLUDES:

For Baby

3 short-sleeved bodysuits

2 pairs of socks

4 clip on hair bows

3 baby washcloths

1 bath toy sponge


For Mom & Dad

1 serving platter

2 pairs of chopsticks

Finally, I put the whole thing in the shrink wrap bag with the card underneath. The corners stuck out so I folded then twice and taped them down in back. Then I tied it off and trimmed the excess on top.




Then the fun part! Shrink wrap that thing till the contents don't want to slip around on the plate. do the top and bottom. I love shrink wrap! I live in Minnesota so I always look forward to shrink wrapping the windows in the winter.

When you're satisfied, add the pretty bow and you're done!

A beautiful, unique and practical gift for about $20.

If you make something similar, I'd love to see it!




57 comments:

  1. This is really creative and I love it. I have a baby shower to go to next weekend so I might borrow this idea for the gift. Thank you so much for sharing. I got here from a link at Dollar Store Crafts.

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  2. Amazing! What a nice break from diaper cakes!

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  3. Love love love love this! Thank you for sharing! I have a friend who has been craving sushi through her pregnancy and is having a girl. Perfect! Thank you!!

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  4. Wow! This is super cute! I'm going to make one for a friend.

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  5. Love it. Just wish I'd seen it earlier... just had a shower that needed a fun gift!

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  6. What a fun idea! FYI, I'm also craving Leeann Chin's now, but there aren't any outside of MN. :(

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  7. shrink wrap the windows in winter?

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  8. @T-Byrd: yep, they probably don't do that in TX. But up here we line the window with double stick tape, ad a sheet of shrink plastic and seal the windows air tight to protect the house from winter drafts. Very time consuming but satisfying. ; )

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  9. This is absolutely fantastic! I don't know many people still having babies, but the next person I know having a girl is definitely getting one of these!

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  10. This is awesome!! Can't wait to try this for my next baby shower gift!

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  11. This is SO clever!!! I am going to do this one. I am going shopping for supplies TODAY! Thanks for sharing your informative and clever tutorial

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  12. I'm going tomorrow to make one for my brothers new addition!!! His girlfriend loves sushi and I can't wait to see her face when she sees it! Love love love this idea!

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  13. Thank you all for the kind words. It's very inspiring. I hope I can make more tutorials!

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  14. What colors would you use for a baby boy?

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  15. I would use red like salmon, orange like shrimp, yellow like omelet and green like cucumber and wasabi.

    Try extra socks or a baby ski cap instead of hair bows. You can use a rubber ducky or fish shaped bath thermometer instead of the pink fish toy.

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    Replies
    1. You could also have tan socks like the chicken rolls :)

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  16. Love this! Thanks for the idea. In the process of planning a baby shower this will be perfect.

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  17. that is an awesome idea ..........

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  18. This is amazing!

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  19. Making this tonight. Thank you!

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  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  22. Absolutely adorable! I can't wait to make this! Thanks for sharing your idea. :)

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  23. I made my own version of this as well! It turned out cute. I'm glad you did a step-by-step with pics. I am not very crafty/artsy and I did it. :)

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  24. This is awesome! I wish I had a baby shower to go to so I could make one

    Christine @ Projectsaroundthehouse.blogspot.com

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  25. Great Idea! Saw it on Pinterest so my mum and I decided to make it for a baby shower we are going to this weekend. Turned out great and took pics along the way. Would love to send them to you if you'd like to see? Email??

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  26. My daughter and I made this last night for my best friend's baby shower. I saw it on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for her because she LOVES sushi. We added a bowl of "rice" with some crinkled up extra white socks and topped it with a bath toy crab and a pink Chinese take-out box filled with the extra socks, washcloths, and bows. It came out looking so cute! I know she is just going to love it!!!

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  27. Love this! Just made on for my sushi loving expectant friends. Thank you so much!!

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  28. Readers will be greatly pleased by your creativity. What you did for baby gifts for girls are something new and unique. Two thumbs up for that sushi and maki presents. :)

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  29. My sister-in-law LOVES sushi and I'm making this for her! She's having a boy, so instead of using the bows, I was thinking of the mittens. And instead of using anything pink/purple, I'm using green and yellow. I'm really looking forward to making it and will take pics (after she gets it) and will show you my end results! Thank you for the awesome idea and for the step by step directions too!! LOVE it!!

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  30. I loved this idea so much that I went to buy all the stuff on the same day I saw it. It was easy to make, and so inexpensive (and being unemployed, I really, really appreciated how inexpensive it was). My friend is having her baby shower in a couple of weeks, I'm so excited to give this gift to her! Thank you for such a fabulous idea :)

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  31. I love this idea I've been looking for baby shower gifts in Henderson, NV and I'm definitely going to use this idea!

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  32. That is so cool and is very creative. I actually mistook it as real sushi and it threw me off. My wife when she got all of her baby shower gifts they were not that creative. Really like the page and keep up the great work.

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  33. This is a great idea and your presentation is adorable! Where do you find disposable changing ? I've never heard of them!

    Lollipop Moon

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  34. No sure I know what you mean by "disposable changing"?

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  35. This is such a sweet gift idea! I have a friend who is expecting and this will be the perfect little gift for her.

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  36. So adorable. I'm going supply shopping for this today.

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  37. This is great! couldn't come at a better time! my daughter has been craving sushi ever since she found out she was pregnant! I am gonna give this a shot, hoping and praying mine looks as good as yours and nobody will need to ask " what is it" ! will let you know how it went, again, thanks so much!!!

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  38. Thanks for sharing awesome post.
    I loved your blog.

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  39. Impressive, definitely great material. This blog is absolutely awesome.

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  40. Your tutorial is very simple your collection is best collection this creativity is beautiful . thank for sharing
    Baby gift

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  41. Black trash bags are more cost-effective!
    Great idea thank you so much!

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  42. I have made two of these now for friends!! Thanks for the idea and instructions!!

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  43. After observing thousands of online store which deal with baby gifts i found the best one idea after watching your collection of best baby shower gifts here and the image of packed baby gift is catching attention of every one.

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  44. Thanks for sharing this idea and the step by step instructions! I made one and it turned out adorable. I improvised with black crepe paper (streamers)since I had them on hand. I found a orange fish water squirt gun, which works out nicely since it will be for the baby's big brother. :)

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  45. I made one of these for a baby boy, and it turned out so very cute!(his mom & dad are Sushi lovers too) I got all of my supplies from the dollar store, so it kept the cost down and allowed me to put more towards the gift card!Thank You!

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  46. Very informative and interesting post. It is really a big help. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
    Baby shower gifts

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  47. Thanks for share this info, because it is so useful for me, if you have more time, please visit me back.
    Baby shower gifts

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  48. Ok, I know this is from a long time ago but this gave me the coolest idea! Thank you for sharing. I made these for my coworkers Christmas before last. I lost the photo but I made mine as spa sushi plates with salmon colored and whit (rice colored) candles, green facial scrub pads from the dollar store, and black ribbon. I painted wooden fish and made ornaments and added in individual facial mask packets and chopsticks. They loved them! Thanks again!

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  49. Ok, I know this is from a long time ago but this gave me the coolest idea! Thank you for sharing. I made these for my coworkers Christmas before last. I lost the photo but I made mine as spa sushi plates with salmon colored and whit (rice colored) candles, green facial scrub pads from the dollar store, and black ribbon. I painted wooden fish and made ornaments and added in individual facial mask packets and chopsticks. They loved them! Thanks again!

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