Tickled Pink

When I saw the result of the first pregnancy test I took (I ended up taking three..) the first thing that went through my mind was Psalm 92:4 "I sing for joy at the works of your hands", the second was 'It's a girl' and the third was 'Oh crap'.

I immediately put the second thought out of my head.  I didn't want to spend the next couple months hoping for a girl and be disappointed if we ended up having another boy.

So when my second thought was confirmed by my midwife, I was over the moon.  I definitely cried.  A lot.  

I was so excited to start dreaming about how to decorate the nursery for our daughter.  I decided this time that I wasn't going to make the crib bedding and change pad covers.  I looked into the cost of getting it made versus the cost and time for me to make it, and opted to have it made.

I searched Etsy and priced out the cost for two crib sheets, a crib skirt and two change pad covers.  I decided to go with the shop RockerByeBaby.  Amber's prices were great in relation to other Etsy shops, but what made my decision really easy was how quick she responded to my questions and how helpful she was.  Before I had even decided to go ahead with my order, we had exchanged thirteen messages.  Her communication was fabulous and she totally delivered on the order!

I knew that Baby Girl's room was going to be grey and pink so Amber showed me a line of fabric that was all grey and pink and I picked what I liked and she made it be.  

This was a really nice way to get crib bedding and change pad covers.  I got exactly what I needed (no unnecessary crib bumpers or quilts that you normally get in set) and in the exact colors and patterns that I wanted.

I also got an extra crib sheet (left) and change pad cover (right):

I was so excited to receive the bedding in the mail and couldn't wait to get Harrison set up in his new room so I could start the nursery.

Since I ended up buying the bedding, I decided that I wanted to make a few things for her room.

I'm really excited to show you what I've done, but you'll just have to wait for another post!

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!

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! 

Gloria's Baby Shower!

Way back on July 10th, I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law Katie and her first baby, Gloria.  I know - that was a long time ago.  Better late than never, right?

As soon as Katie told me she was pregnant, I began mentally planning her shower.  I was so excited to do this for her.  I had the basic framework of the shower planned but couldn't really go all out until Gloria was born and we found out that it was a girl!  

I had big plans for this shower, and most of them came to fruition, but the first trimester of my pregnancy got to me, so I didn't finish everything that I had envisioned but I still think it all turned out great.

I wanted to make/have things for the shower that Katie could take home as a reminder of the shower, and to use in Gloria's nursery.

I enlisted the help of a super talented scrapbooker that I work with, the uber-fantastic Hayley to create this:

It turned out way better than the version that I created in my mind.  It created such a wonderful centrepiece for the room.

And even better is that Katie was able to use this for Gloria's nursery.  Fantastic.

I bought the birth announcement off an Etsy shop called Tilly Claire's.  I absolutely loved it, and was excited that it was another item for Katie to take home after the shower.

Here are some more pictures:

Terrible lighting on this picture, but I wanted to show you that I made a cake! With pink icing! And put it on a table next to three different kinds of Jelly Belly's!  Yum.

And look at three quarters of the room.  I had to try to squeeze around 30 people in a room that was not big enough for 30.  We all made it work though.  Too bad I forgot to take pictures when there were people in the chairs... :( 

That 'G' in the bottom right corner? I did that.  Well, I bought a cardboard letter, and then painted it, and mod-podged fabric scraps on the top.  Another decorative touch that Katie got to take home.

The loot!

The beautiful momma lounging in the midst of all Gloria's new stuff!

And now for my favorite part - the quilt and baby photo!

Little Gloria is such a gift to our family and I was blessed to be able to throw this shower for Katie.  It was such a wonderful day that was spent with family and friends enjoying each others company and good food (a big thanks to my other sister-in-laws Linda & Nicole for helping with the food, along with my mom and mother-in-law).

I love babies.  Good thing that in 4 1/2 months I'll have my own!

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!

Etsy.... Sigh...

If you would have asked me a few months ago if I'd heard of Etsy, I would have said 'Bless you!'

I heard about Etsy through one of my favorite blogs Our Humble A(Bowe)d.  It appears that Amanda has an Etsy addiction.  She has gotten some beautiful stuff from Etsy.

So, when my husband and I were talking about what to do on the big wall in our dining room, my first thought was Etsy. 

We have a pretty big wall to fill, so whatever we were going to do, needed to be on the larger side.  We started with a pretty blank slate.

You can get pretty much anything you can imagine on Etsy, so I had to narrow down my search.  We knew we wanted to have some kind of art.  I started to peruse all of the art, and further narrowed my search to strictly photography.

I found a wonderful photography 'shop' called Slight Clutter.  The artist, Katya Horner, is extremely talented and has some absolutely beautiful photo's.

I ended up buying three 12 x 12 prints from her 'Passionate Earth' series.  I love Fall (or Autumn as some people call it) and these photos reminded me of my favorite season and warmed my heart.

We bought these photo's for only $25 each (we got them on sale!) and decided to use IKEA Versirum frames in white.

Here's a look at the photo's we bought:

'Red'

'Passionate Earth'

'Rose Petals'

I think that these photo's bring a nice pop of color to our room.

View from the Kitchen

View from the front Hallway

View of all three

Also, as an unexpected surprise, Katya also included this beautiful print for free!!:

'Another Day, Another Fairytale'

Not too sure what I'm going to do with this one yet, but it will definitely look beautiful where ever it goes!

I am sooooo happy with the end result.  My dining room finally feels 'finished', and I love it!

I also have a new love... and it's name is Etsy. Sigh....

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane...

In two days, I will be heading somewhere that looks like this:

I'm going to Cuba for two weeks!  My Dad is taking the family (which includes, myself and my husband, my sister and her husband and my little brother) to an All-Inclusive resort.  Its going to be a great time of relaxation, fun and family time.

But... while I'm gone, I have some things that you can look forward to when I get back. 

Since getting our 'Old is New' dining room set that I showed you here, it has become glaringly obvious that we need to add a little something to the big blank slate that is the wall.

I found some things that I am IN LOVE with, and they may or may not have something to do with:

Pop on over to Etsy here

I'm excited to show you what I came up with!

Also, Jen over at I Heart Organizing has a challenge going on right now called '30 Items in 30 Days' and she started with the Front Hallway which includes shoes.  While I am terrible with sticking with things, I can totally participate in the 'Shoe' portion of this challenge.  

Yes, these are my shoes, and I love them to bits!

Since moving into our house, I have struggled to find a storage solution for my shoes that doesn't include them being filled with Jasper's fur.

I will show you the solution I came up with when I come back!

I hope you all don't forget about me while I'm gone.  I'll have a Pina Colada for ya!