craftgrrl | First post and some questions (but pictures coming soon, I promise!) (Reply)

Hi everyone! This is my first post so I hope you'll forgive me for just asking questions this time around. I've been reading for a long time and love seeing everyone's creations. I crochet, knit, make stuffies and random other little crafts, and some jewelry here and there... so I will hopefully come back soon and post some of my work.

But my questions for now!

I fell in love with this idea: Polaroid Coasters. I want to replicate because I don't really care to have old fashioned ladydancers on my coasters, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I love the fact that they're magnets too. Could I do this with regular Polaroids somehow or would I have to recreate a printout that looks like a Polaroid? Any ideas on how to make these? I'm thinking a layer of magnet, a layer of cork, and a layer of whatever will get the image on there plus a coating.

My second question is a call for baby blanket patterns (crochet preferred, or really easy knitting) that don't look like they came out of the 70's. My friend did her son's room all in cute little safari print, and I want to make him a baby blanket but I can't find any blanket patterns that aren't 1) really hard or 2) really hideous or 3) really dated. Most of them just have appliques which is fine, but I'd rather do a cute pattern and skip making a bunch of animals to sew on. Pictures of the baby's room below the cut :)

THANKS!