The only thing sweeter than chocolate infused with orange and sprinkled liberally with ribbon candy is a newborn baby.

Well, that's what I was thinking anyway when I got happy news of several new arrivals on the planet Parenthood.

I was also thinking: "Oh-My-God-What-Will-I-Get-Them?"

So. ... I put the two ideas together and came up with a classic gift - A taggie blanket.




CHOCOLATE ORANGE RIBBON CANDY LOVIE

WHAT YOU NEED

* Dark brown minky fabric, 11" x 14" (I made the measurement up).
* Orange, non-pilling fleece, 11" x 14" (Just match the measurement you made up for the brown minky fabric).
* A variety of fabric ribbons, at least 4" inches in lenght. My collection is a mixture of purchased just for this project, collected over time as I pass by the dollar bin at Target and saved from boxes of chocolate from chi-chi chocolatiers (That last one is a hint ;).
* Scissors
* Orange thread
* Straight pins
* Sewing machine
* About an hour if you are me or don't have a sewing machine. Twenty minutes if you have the sewing prowess God gave a goat.



WHAT YOU DO
* Cut about 14 four-inch lengths of ribbon.
* Sandwich the minky and fleece materials so that the outside face each other
* Fold ribbon in half and insert between the blanket material so the loose ends of the ribbon protrude about a quarter inch. Pin the ribbons in place. (I put four, evenly-spaced ribbons on the short ends of the blanket and six on one long end. I left the other long end ribbonless.)
* Sew almost all the way around the outer edges. (I tried to make curved edges, which mostly worked but were uneven).
* Trim any excess fabric outside of the seam. (I forgot this step).
* Turn the blanket inside out and fold the unsewn area inward.
* Topstich around the outside edge. (This is where having even seams would have been nice).

You're Done ...



It won't even melt in your hands.


** To provide even more fun, you can attach a baby teether to one of the ribbons before you start sewing or you can sandwich a sheet of crinkly mylar between the fabric layers.