As a relatively new parent several years ago, I was shocked to learn that not only would the birthday kid bring cupcakes or a treat or whatever to school, but they would also bring party favors for the class. Presents for the other kids? And we’re not even hosting a party to get presents in return?

Our little one had a birthday later in the year, so we had several months of bringing home goodie bags of candy and small plastic toys; like we needed any more of those things… I wanted to do better. Up the ante. Go overboard.

We had recently purchased a new-to-us sewing machine with embroidery attachment, and I thought this was a great opportunity to go overboard with gifts for her classmates. Instead of junk, how about something personalized and useful? Every kid needs baths, and washcloths would be easy to embroider on since they are sturdy (I think I used a wash-away stabilizer just to be sure).

I came up with a design using an outline of a duck, and a font that was built into the digitizing software I had. It would embroider quickly since it had a relatively low stitch count.

Was it worth it? Meh…

Despite getting the washcloths for cheap at Costco, it still took a ton of time. But I’m sure they got more use than a plastic lizard, bouncy ball, or tiny rainbow Slinky, so at least there’s that!