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:

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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:

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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....  

Butterflies & Tutu's

Since I made all of Harrison's crib bedding, I decided that I wanted to 'splurge' and buy a mobile for above the change table.  This time, since I bought the bedding, I decided I was going to make a mobile.

I took to Pinterest for inspiration and knew I wanted something that looked like these:

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(Couldn't find the source on Pinterest)

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With those pictures as my inspiration, I set out to figure out how to bring my vision to life.  Thankfully I know someone fabulous that has a Cricut machine.  This project would not have been possible with her help!

Unfortunately, since I wasn't in blog-mode when doing any of my nursery projects, I have no 'in process' photos.  Sorry...

Anyways, I went to Michaels and picked out two shades of pink paper and grey paper and spent one of Harrison's naps over at her house cutting out butterflies (in three different sizes) on the Cricut.  No specific reason I chose butterflies, I just think they are pretty.

Once I had all my butterflies cut out, it was time to start stringing them up using fishing line.  To add sparkle (because every little girl needs sparkle) and a little weight, I used plastic beads before and after each butterfly and on the bottom of every line.

It was a time consuming and tedious part of the job, but I was just so excited to be making something for my little girl that I didn't care!

After I had all my butterflies strung, It was time to hang them on the frame.  I ended up using a wooden embroidery hoop, because I couldn't think of anything else to use.  I knew I wanted there to be two layers of butterflies, so I strung some fishing line across the hoop so I could attach some butterflies to the 'inside' of the mobile.

Once they were all strung, it was time to do something about the ugly wooden frame. I made it look like a tutu, because, just like sparkle, every little girl needs a tutu.

And here is the finished product:

It is very rare that a something I attempt to make turns out to be just as good, if not better, than I envisioned.  This is one of those times.  Just sayin'.

I absolutely LOVE this mobile, and am pretty proud of myself for making it!  I can't wait to see her look up at the mobile and be in awe of what her mother can do. (Just kidding!)

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.

Closet Clothing Dividers

Pinterest is good for so many things.  Aside from wasting time, it gave me the idea to make dividers for the closet in the nursery.

It is such an easy way to know what you've got for your little one so that you make sure they wear it all before they outgrow it!

I started taking pictures a little late in the process, and was doing this at night, so the pictures are kind of crappy... anyways.

Start with some cardboard, I used cereal boxes.

I grabbed something circular out of the kitchen and traced in onto the cardboard, connected the two circles with lines, and made sure to create a slot so it would fit on the closet rod.

After all that, this was what I was left with:

I then traced used that one as a template to make duplicates.

I made a stop at Michaels and picked up some scrap book paper in the colors that I will be using in the nursery.  The paper cost me about $1.59.  A steal!

I lucked out and was able to use one sheet of paper per divider.  I cut the paper in half and used spray adhesive to make it all come together.

After a little more cutting, I was left with these:

I think they are pretty adorable, and practical, which makes me love them even more!

They look pretty fantastic in the closet (the closet has since been painted blue) and is already dividing up some of his cute little clothes!

And in case you were wondering, those are two Halloween costumes filed under 9 - 12 months there.  Don't ask me why I've got costumes already - they were a good deal and I couldn't resist.

So here is project #1 in the (hopefully) many I will be doing for the nursery.

Only 14 weeks to go til he arrives!

Partnered Up!

I told you earlier this week that I was participating in Craftaholics Anonymous's Handmade Gift Exchange  and yesterday I received an email from Linda with my partner.

My partner is Liz Noonan all the way from Massachusetts.  I've never known or met anyone from there, and even had to google it to find out where it is.  Its below New Hampshire, and above Connecticut on the East Coast of the States, by the way.

Liz has a blog of her own, that you can check out here.  I like what I've seen so far, great crafts and beautiful stuff to look at!  She also has an Etsy shop.  Me likey!

We 'met' for the first time last night, and I think I rather like her!  I'm going to have to really put my thinking cap on to figure out what to make such a crafty and artsy lady.  It makes me nervous that she said she already knows what she's going to make me ! 

Oh my.

Well, here we go.  I've got less than thirty days to make something great for Liz.

Wish me luck!  

And don't forget to check out Liz's blog!