What you need when...

...you need a super useful and cute and cheap and quick Baby Shower gift. Or something for yourself.

As you may remember from this photo...

...we love our hooded towels around these parts. But this isn't just any hooded towel - this is the one that my friend Jess made for me for my baby shower gift. Do you see how much bigger it is than the typical baby hooded towels?

Those are great and adorable, don't get me wrong. 

But they last for like a month. 

They are so tiny! Didn't they invent bath sheets because grown ups got tired of not being able to be entire wrapped up in towel-y goodness? I think the same thing goes for kiddos.

Sure, you can buy toddler sized ones, but they are also kinda pricey for a hood. In my humble opinion.

So, a few weeks ago, when I realized (through my own faulty scheduling) that I could not attend the baby shower of a friend that I had been planning on attending, but PHEW! she had another one (like the DAY after I realized this) that I could attend - I knew I had to make her one of these guys.

Luckily, I had bought a few towels like a week before to try my hand at making an additional one for Ev, after I pinned this tutorial.

I sat down, followed the instructions, and since my friend Whitney (the momma to be) and I are both gaga for monograms, tried my hand at my own little twist...and voila!

Y'all. It was seriously so easy. (Don't you love my display on the lamp? Ha. I didn't have a hook handy.) I was so hesitant to pull my sewing machine back out again - it hasn't been out since I finished Ev's crib bedding - because I spent so.many.hours at it doing those. But, this was seriously so simple. The plush of the terry cloth also hides most of your stitching so it doesn't have to be picture perfect.

I used a white towel for the letters for the monogram (after printing out patterns from my favorite pattern making tool - Microsoft Power Point), pinned them on and zigzag stitched around them, in case the stitching showed, that way it would look cute. But, low and behold, it didn't! The stitching made the letters almost meld into the green towel, and look so adorable. If I do say so myself.

I packed it all up in a basket (don't you always need storage baskets when you have kiddos? I know I do.) with some nursing pads, bath stuff, and a cute little outfit.

In case you can't read it that says CAPTAIN ADORABLE. How friggin cute it that? And there were little matching plaid shorts. Shut up, I die. I cannot wait to have a little boy. You know, someday.

And that, friends, is an easy way to make a personalized gift in colors of your choice in under two hours. Seriously, it took no time at all. 

Try it.

Evelyn Rae is eight months old

...and she is napping right now, and I am hoping it lasts long enough for my date with Jillian Michaels and 30 Day Shred.

...also, she may have a matching towel in the works.