All Together Now!

You've seen bits and pieces of Baby Girls room, so who would like to see the whole thing?

That's what I thought.

Here we go!

I love walking down the hallway and seeing this view.  All the different pinks against the beautiful grey.  I want to spend all my time in there!  The frame above the rocking chair will eventually have Psalm 92:4 ("I sing for joy at the works of your hands") in it.  There is another frame on the closet wall that will eventually have one of her newborn pictures in it.

The glider is the same one that was in here for Harrison, except I recovered it in pink minky, instead of the brown minky I had for Harrison.  I'm so glad that I 'recovered' the glider with safety pins the first time!  I knew I would eventually be changing the fabric.

Before Harrison was born, I made him a quilt which hung over the back of the crib (until he started pulling it off) and used in his monthly pictures.  I knew this time I wouldn't really have the energy or the time (mostly energy) to make Baby Girl a quilt, so I decided to crochet her a blanket.  I've expanded my crocheting abilities as it is easier to crochet, than to quilt (don't need to lug my sewing machine, cutting matt and fabric upstairs every time I want to create something).  Crocheting fit the bill for ease of nap time craftiness.

That's it hanging over the back of the glider.

And here is a view of the other side of the room:

Not much new and exciting over here,  I've already shown you the mobile and the hair bow holder.  The shelves are the same ones that were in here for Harrison, just with some pink on them this time.  I'm sure the shelves will eventually look a little nicer, but for now - this is it!

I got the pink metal pails from Target a while ago not knowing what I was going to do with them.  They now hold headband overflow, soothers and newborn hats.

The rug (that you can kind of see in both pictures) is from Costco in the States.  For some reason, they don't have the solid grey color in Canada.

Oh, and the drapes!  I made them.  Only because I couldn't find any blackout drapes in the color that I wanted.  They probably ended up costing me more than if I had just bought a set of blackout drapes, but this way I got exactly what I wanted.  That makes it worth it to me!

And a peek inside the closet:

Unfortunately (very unfortunately) I couldn't convince Bobby to repaint the closet.  Apparently it would have been too much hassle to completely disassemble the Expedit, repaint, and then reassemble the Expedit back inside the closet.  I guess I should have thought of that the first time and just had him paint it white.  Oh well, it's hard to see the blue through all the adorable dresses!

I also recovered the clothing dividers that I made for Harrison - because the closet needed some pink!  I absolutely LOVE opening the closet and seeing all the girly things that I get to dress her up in.

I'm loving the way my vision for a pink and grey nursery turned out.  Even better than I pictured it in my head.

Now all it's missing is our baby girl!

She Has The Key To My Heart

I had so many big idea's about what to do above the crib in the nursery (Thanks Pinterest!)  Here are a few things that I pinned that looked good to me:

(No source found through Pinterest)

(Source)

(Source)

I really liked the gallery wall idea, but realized that it would most likely cost me a pretty penny to accumulate items that I thought were worth hanging up above the crib.  So, I scrapped that idea.  

I really liked the look of the tissue paper pom poms, and had already started sourcing quality tissue paper in the colors that I wanted when Bobby decided he would like to have a say about what goes in the nursery.

Perfect timing.

Turns out he really didn't like the look of the pom poms, thought they were too overdone (no idea where he has seen an overabundance of tissue paper pom poms, but whatever).  So, to keep him happy, and to avoid more input on the room, I kiboshed the pom pom idea.

A few weeks later, it hit me.  We had gone to Winners a couple of months ago, and I picked up a set of 'antique' skeleton keys with no idea what to do with them.

I knew what to do with them now!

I painted the keys in two different shades of pink, and hung them randomly above the crib.

Why is there that open space in the middle of the keys?  The first letter of her name will go there, but I'm not going to spill the beans on that until she's born, so just use your imagination.

I really like how it turned out.  It's different, and unique (well, I think it is anyway!)

I LOVE the pinks against the grey wall.  So pretty....

Hair Bows & Headbands

After perusing Pinterest one day, I came across this:

(Source)

I knew that my baby girl would be wearing bows and headbands, and I thought this was the perfect way to store them.  Hair bows and headbands are pretty - so why not use them for decoration!  Its the perfect combination of function and pretty-ness.

I picked up a cheap frame from Winners (it ended up being plastic, should have been more thoughtful about it and gotten a wood frame) and had Bobby paint it for me.

I also picked up some ribbon from Michaels, and used that to string on the inside of the frame.  Then I got some small hooks and just screwed them into the bottom of the frame (for this part it was nice the frame was plastic!)

After all was said and done, the last thing to do was to attach my hair bows and headbands.

This is another project that turned out just how I pictured it in my head.  Unreal!  I'm two for two here people!

I put the frame beside the change table so that it was easily accessible when I was dressing her.

Oh, and if you're eyeing the prettiest bows in the frame, my best friend, Amanda, sells them in her Etsy shop.  She makes them all by hand, and they are fabulous.  She also makes tutu's!  

I may have bought one for Baby Girls newborn photos....  

Harrison's Big Boy Room

When we found out I was pregnant, we knew that Harrison's time in the nursery was going to be fairly short lived.  We decided to keep the nursery as the nursery and turn the office into Harrison's new room.  We also decided that we didn't want to buy another crib.  That meant that Harrison would be in a toddler bed by the time the new baby arrived.

I wasn't too concerned about the transition to the toddler bed as my mom did the same thing with me before my sister arrived when I was fourteen months old.  I'm just sticking to tradition here people.

I didn't want to have to buy anything more than a toddler bed for his new room, so we used furniture that we already had.  

The Expedit was used when this room was the office.  You may notice that the bottom two rows of this Expedit are empty.  Before Harrison had his first nap, and slept his first night in this room, I had put stuff in every cubby.  I put the books that he could 'read' without supervision in a couple of the cubbys on the bottom, and a couple baskets with his toys as well.  I was then able to put some of his keepsake items, books that required supervision, and breakable items in the top two rows.

I think it took me two naps to realize that if there was anything on the bottom two rows, it will be played with during the times sleep should be happening.  Eventually I'll try putting a few things within his reach and see how he does, but for now - they shall remain empty!  It doesn't make for the prettiest looking area's, but when it comes to Harrison's sleep - practicality rules (Mama needs her breaks!)

Due to some rearranging in our room (a post is coming!) we had a dresser from our bedroom set that just so happened to match the Expedit.  So, we threw the dresser in Harrison's room!  It fantastic as it's drawers are deep and wide, and it's deep enough to be able to use the top as a change table.

Even when Harrison was in the nursery, his drawers were organized by clothing size.  I've done the same thing in his new room.  I know that as his clothes get bigger and bigger, the likely-hood of it all fitting in one drawer is slim, but for now, it works!

The shelf above the dresser (high enough that it is safely out of his reach when he is on the change pad) is a very recent install and has a few of those items that I can't keep in the Expedit yet.

I'm also using one of the drawers for diapers and all the necessary junk that goes along with it.  I just bought some newborn sized diapers and can not believe how small they are!  And how huge Harrison's are in comparison!

And now, for what I think is the cutest part of the room:

Is that not the cutest, tiniest bed you've ever seen?  We got it from Sears.  Surprisingly, it was cheaper and nicer than any of the beds I saw at Ikea.  It still uses a crib sized mattress so I'm able to keep using the bedding that I made for him!

I originally bought that body pillow when I was pregnant with Harrison but ended up not using it.  It is now used as a soft place for him to land should he roll out of bed in the middle of the night.  I'm sure it doesn't need to be there anymore, but it makes me feel better.

I really like his new room, and it's exciting to think that (unless we move) he will grow up in this room. I still have to hang the pictures that used to be above his crib somewhere in here (right now they are leaning against the wall on top of the Expedit), but I can't decide if I want them on the wall that his bed is up against (I'm worried that the frames would look dwarfed on the big wall) or on the wall above the Expedit.  What to do, what to do....

Suggestions?

As far as Harrison's transition from his crib to the toddler bed, I decided to take a 'Go Big or Go Home' approach.  I wasn't going to flip flop between his bed and the crib because we had a deadline and I wanted him to be fully settled well before Baby Girl arrived.

That being said, when we got back from our holidays Harrison had two nights in his crib while we got everything moved over.  Once everything was ready - we made the switch starting with his morning nap.  

Not going to lie, I was really nervous.  Like heart racing, glued to the video monitor nervous.  Thankfully he didn't hurl himself off the side of his bed (not during the first nap anyways).  It did take a day or two for him to properly get off his bed, as opposed to leaning himself off the bed.  He chose to continue with the option that doesn't involve crying.  After a couple days of constantly going in and out of his room to put him back on his bed, I decided 'NO MORE!' It was exhausting for me, and I needed my rest as much as he needed his naps!

If he decided to get off his bed, he could sleep on the floor.  It wasn't going to kill him.  And so far, it hasn't.  Although sometimes he wakes up with a pretty wicked pattern on the side of his head from the rug.  It seems that he prefers sleeping on the floor to sleeping on his bed.  Oh well, as long as he sleeps.

Don't worry though - if he falls asleep on the floor at night, Bobby goes in and puts him back on his bed when we turn in for the night.

He has been in his new room, in his new bed for about six weeks now, and I'm so glad that I moved him over so early.  So that he could be settled before the baby arrived, and so that I could get my hands on the nursery!!

The Nursery's Final Touch!

It's finally here! Yay!

I'm so excited that the mobile I ordered off Etsy finally arrived.

I ordered this mobile from a shop called 'lovelyfriend'.

The shop was FANTASTIC to deal with and I was able to customize the colours to coordinate with the nursery.

This shop has so many options, and what sealed the deal for me was that the owls were on an angle so that the baby could actually see what is hanging above him.

I looked at a TON of mobiles on Etsy, and this was the only shop that I saw that angled the animals for the baby's viewing pleasure.  

And really, that's who the mobile is for right?

So, instead of staring at the underside of the animals, this is what my little guy will see while getting his diaper changed:

I think that it's pretty awesome.  It  looks great from every angle!

The only thing this nursery is missing now, is the baby!

Laundry Hamper & A Surprise!

This is our change table.  I think it's pretty cute! (It's also fully stocked and ready for baby!)

Notice how it is on an angle?  You can't see in this picture, but there is dead wasted space behind it.

I hate wasted space!

(There is also dead air space above the change table, but don't worry, I'm waiting for a little something to arrive in the mail from Etsy.)

'What a perfect spot for a laundry basket!'  I exclaimed in my head.

I took some leftover fabric that I originally bought to make a crib sheet out with (but it was not wide enough) and decided to turned it into a laundry basket.

I measured the height that it needed to be, and then just kind of winged it from there!

After sewing two edges, and taking care of the raw edges, this is what I was left with (clearly it's inside out).

And this is the completed hamper:

I decided to use Command hooks to hold up my flimsy laundry hamper.

After 'measuring' where they needed to go, I ended up with this:

After some strategic cuts in the hamper, I had this:

It serves its purpose and looks pretty cute!

I can toss dirty clothes in there and then just grab and go! (to the laundry room)

Success.

After completing this little project I was left with this:

Well, there was more than this, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I decided I wanted to make a pillow cover. Shazaam!

After a quick 'google', I found this tutorial and got started.

It took about 30 minutes and then I had this:

My very first ever pillow cover!

Double success for the night! Woot woot!

The tutorial was super easy to follow - thank goodness!

I see many more pillow covers in my future.

Gallery Wall

Wow, I just noticed that I originally started this post in May.  MAY!  Thats how on top of this whole situation I am.

Anyways....

I chose one of the walls in our hallway to host our gallery wall, our house is pretty small so this was really the only spot for one to go.  I wish I took a before photo, but I did take a picture of the opposite wall so you get a better idea.

So hard to get a good picture of these walls.

I originally started with only a few frames, and chose to put up a few of our wedding pictures, and then a wedding picture from the rest of our family - and of course, one of our sweet fur-baby Jasper.  After hanging those pictures up, I bought about six more IKEA frames with the very good intention of expanding it.  I even bought a print off Etsy to be the centre of the gallery - on April 8th! Geez louise... where did the time go!

And then I received my Secret Santa gift at work and was given this:

(Those people are not us, just the stock frame fillers.  We'll eventually get nice pics to put in there!)

This is THE BEST SECRET SANTA GIFT EVER! And my Santa was not so secret. Thanks Lindsay!

I got home that night, and it's like I couldn't sit down without doing something with that frame!  I originally wanted to put it in the nursery, but with the frame being black, it didn't fit.

Then the hubby suggested it go on the gallery wall.  Well, that just got me going.  Nesting in full force!

I got right down to business.  I grabbed the previously purchased IKEA frames from the basement, along with the Etsy print and got to work.  It took a bit of shuffling around and a few misplaced nail holes, but I LOVE the way it looks now!

Again, so hard to get a nice picture of this wall!

I bought this print from an Etsy shop called Frilly Chilly Designs.  They were so awesome to deal with and it was exactly like I pictured it.

I think it is the perfect centrepiece for this gallery wall.

I also made (and by made, I mean painted and mod-podged) this letter 'C' for our last name.

I know there are lots of methods of creating a gallery wall out there in the blogosphere, but I just flew by the seat of my pants.  No method, just madness.  And I think it looks great.

I smile a little every time I walk by it, which is very often as the bathroom is at the end of the hallway!

Now, I just have to get some pictures in the new frames! 

Nursery 'Art'

I must be getting into the 'nesting' phase of this pregnancy because I can't stop making things for the nursery.

After many hours spent perusing Pinterest, I was feeling inspired to be artsy.  I am not a particularly artsy person, I don't even draw stick people well, so I had to keep my art inspiration realistic.

I wanted to put a bible verse up in the nursery somehow, and decided this would be the perfect way.

I chose 1 Samuel 1:27:

'I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of him'

This verse couldn't be more true for me and the hubby.  We have been praying for this baby for nearly three years, and God answered our prayers - in his time.  And for that I am thankful (what an understatement).

I started with a canvas from Michaels.  It was a two pack for $12.99.

And alphabet letters.  I bought three packs for on sale for $2.99 each.

First, I put one coat of white paint one the canvas to get a nice base for the lettering.

While the paint was drying, I cut out the letter stickers so I would be able to test out spacing before sticking them on the canvas.  It was a good thing I bought three packs of the letters as I had to go into all three!

Then I drew pencil lines on the canvas so everything would be straight and threw everything down (in an extremely methodical way).

I borrowed one of the hubby's paint brushes and put two coats on the canvas.

To help the drying process along (because I am impatient), I brought out my hairdryer.  It's multi-functional that way.

After peeling off the letters, here is the finished result:

There was a little bit of bleeding on some of the letters, and the edges aren't as crisp as I was expecting, but I kind of like how its not perfect.

I think it looks great in the nursery.  I'm pretty sure that its home will be above the change table, but we'll have to see!

Fit For A Prince

Who knew fitted crib sheets would so easy!  Not me.  I was intimidated at the thought of them, but thankfully I found a ridiculously simple tutorial that was simple to follow and fool proof.

Dana over at MADE could not have made it simpler.

Here's the fabric I started with:

One note I want to make (because this didn't even occur to me when I  was buying my fabric) is to make sure that your fabric is at least 45 inches wide.  The two outside fabrics were only 44 inches wide, and the middle was only 41 inches.

I decided to give it a shot with the 44 inch wide fabric - and it turned out great! But I wouldn't try it with fabric that was less than that.

Each sheet took me about an hour with the most time consuming part of the process being ironing the casing down, and then threading the elastic through the casing.  But, both of those processes are wonderful when paired with a good TV show.

Here is the result of my first attempt:

I was probably a little too proud of myself after finishing this, but come on!  It's a fitted sheet!  Made by me!  All by myself!

I think it looks pretty fantastic.

Since making this one, I have made one more out of the striped fabric.  I will probably do one or two more once I get some more fabric.

Now the crib is ready for a baby!

Consider The Crib Skirted.

Despite how it appears on my blog, I have been busy!

In the last couple of weeks, I have made the crib skirt and two fitted crib sheets.  I wasn't originally planning on making my own crib bedding, but decided to give it a shot.  I'm so glad I did!

I had scoured the Internet for crib skirt tutorials, and honestly, they all looked like so much work. And why would you ever want to do more work that was absolutely necessary?  Never.

I forgot to take pictures of the process, but all I did was take the measurements of the three sides of the metal mattress spring thing, add a 1/2 inch seam allowance, made my cuts, hemmed each piece, added velcro to the top of each piece, and stuck velcro to the crib spring.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

This is what I ended up with:

View fron the front

View from the side.

I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

The hardest part for me was the measuring and cutting the fabric, but it all worked out in the end.

Making it myself, I got exactly what I wanted for a lot cheaper than what I would have paid if I bought it in store.