Baby Nursery Reveal

We bought an old house in need of updating over the summer and with a baby on the way the nursery was the first project that we wanted to take on.  

Before pictures: 

Note the scary closet built-in with the rusty nails sticking out... also it had a funny smell.  We weren't crazy about the existing paint condition, the yucky radiator, or the drapes:

 My husband demolished the closet first, and then we sent the radiator off to be professionally sandblasted (it likely had lead paint).  Paint prep took the longest.. we have some fun demolition pictures:

 It was fun to check out the layers of wallpaper over the years behind the closet.  The house was built in 1915 and the bottom layer of wall paper had cartoon men in top hats.

The project started on weekends in late July and carried on through September. 






Here is Chris my wonderful husband in action:

After pictures: 

We put in new moldings around the ceiling, windows, baseboards, and door frame.  A new paint job, new light fixtures, and some decorating completed the room.

Paint color: flat home decorators collection in Cotton Grey
Baseboards and moldings: Home Depot
Radiator: Metal Man
Light Fixtures: George Kovacs at Lampsplus.com
Drapes: idreamofdrapery.com custom drapes in white silk
Faux wood blinds: Home Depot

Crib: Pottery Barn
Glider: Giggle
Vinyl wall decals: Etsy (NurseryWallArt)
Dresser: Nancy Collins Bespoke Decor refinished vintage dresser - her stuff is fabulous and she is so much fun!
Rug: Pottery Barn porcelain blue
Chevron changing pad cover, crib skirt, Boppy cover: Etsy DesignsbyChristyS
Lamps: Home Goods
Picture frames & mats: Michaels
Cross stitch ABC's, quilt and pillow: made by my wonderful mother in law

 I threw in a couple of night shots as well because it looks really cozy in the light.

 

Like most projects we still have a few things to finish up - the new door needs to be hung in the door frame and at some point we will refinish the floors.  And I've been filling in the picture frames above the dresser with pictures of the baby, his first footprints, and some finishing touches in the room like the safari mobile. 

Back to Blogging! - Safari Baby Mobile

After a long break from blogging, I am back in the hunt! I needed to focus on some other things - such as incubating a beautiful new baby for nine months. Now with my maternity leave ahead of me  I thought it would be fun to post about all of the baby-related projects I've been working on.

Our nursery has a modern safari theme, and I wanted to add in a felt baby mobile with jungle animals.  I saw a ton of really great ones on Etsy when I was getting ready to decorate but I couldn't quite bring myself to pay ~$80 for one.  It didn't seem too difficult to tackle myself.

Supplies:

wool felt squares (ordered the nice stuff off of Etsy / 100% wool vs. the acrylic plasticy kind in 8x10 sheets that are ~2.75 ea.)
embroidery thread ($0 / existing supply)
thin quilt batting ($0 / existing supply)
little wood findings from Michael's and a wood star ($3)
fabric scraps ($0)
orange ribbon ($2)
mounting hardware (Amazon $15)


This project can be a little time consuming but it really gives you an instant feeling of accomplishment because you can work on one animal at a time.. .unlike the baby's Christmas stocking (that project has been dragging on since I was in my second trimester). Felt is the way to go on this, because it doesn't unravel.  Just sew it up with a little embroidery thread and with a little batting in the middle of each shape. I made an elephant, crocodile, lion, giraffe, and a bird.

I finished this when I was 39 weeks pregnant, and had the baby at 40+ 5.
Now for the pictures... I hope our baby will get lots of entertainment out of this!

I am thinking about blogging our pictures from some home improvement work we are doing, but I have to check with my hubby if he wants his work spread around the far corners of the internet first.

More to come! Would love to hear from anyone else out there that loves getting inspiration from Etsy baby projects.

Oh Baby! Quilt is Done

here it is, being put to good use:

Breakfast in Bed Tray

make this tray and inspire someone special to cook you breakfast in bed.  :)

ingredients:
*one plain unfinished wood tray from the art store, with a sanding pad if its not already sanded

-your blank canvas-

*one tube of soy-based non VOC wood paint - i went with bubblegum pink - my recommendation is that you pick the color that will offend your partner's aesthetic sense the most... take this project to over-the-top cuteness.
*sealing solution - like liquitex 

*paper scraps.  little scraps from wedding cards are perfect.  for my project i cut out the pieces for "love" from handmade wrapping paper that covered a gift at our wedding, and roses from wedding cards
*high quality permanent marker, i recommend a blue grey prismacolor
*at least 8 oz. of resin mix from the craft store - mix. to manufacturer's specifications... this is very important, after learning this the hard way i recommend using a digital scale to weigh the proportion of resin to resin hardener.  at one point i had to scrape a bad batch of resin out of my tray because it wouldn't cure properly.

directions:

1.  sand your tray.  get a sanding pad and go with the grain of the wood... you don't want splinters and this will make the finished project look better.  finish by wiping the sawdust off with a soft rag.

2.  put two layers of your paint on the tray, letting each layer dry in between. for my tray, i did a scalloped border along each side and around the handles.  be creative.



3.  if you want writing in the background, then use your prismacolor pen to write out whatever you want.  keep in mind that it will look slightly faded in the finished product if you do not use a sealing spray or if your marker isn't permanent.  i transcribed a section of our wedding vows on the back of the tray.

 4.  place paper objects on top of your tray.  spray these with sealing spray if you do not want them to be watermarked by the resin. (I actually think sometimes it looks cool when they are watermarked... this is an aesthetic choice you should make depending on whether you are willing to experiment)...  the next part of your project needs to be done outdoors.  i recommend that you put down a big plastic bag to catch any drips of resin and that you elevate the tray above the plastic by setting it on top of a mason jar so that it doesn't get stuck to your plastic bag.

5.  mix the resin and the hardener that came in the resin package - make sure it mixes together well (usually you need to stir together with a stick for at least two minutes) or it won't cure properly and you will have to redo the entire project.  use a digital scale.

6.  slowly pour the mixed resin into the bottom of the tray, so that it covers your paper objects and seals them in plastic.  now let your project cure for up to three days.

-a little extra time curing with plastic-

Blooming Garden Dining Room

The garden dining room is blooming in January!

Etsy Find of the Month

Vintage Hobnail Milkglass Candlesticks

Inspiration for a Fabulous Baby Shower!

My sister is expecting! I threw her a baby shower over the holidays to celebrate with family and friends.  And there were lots of crafty ideas generated during the process. My inspiration started back in November when I first saw these fabulous letterpress shower invitations by Sweetharvey up on Etsy:

(http://www.etsy.com/people/sweetharvey?ref=ls_profile)

Then my crafty Aunt Meghan and Mom offered to put together a diaper cake centerpiece! If you are are unfamiliar with the diaper-cake concept, rest assured they are not edible.  A diaper-cake is made by rolling up bunches of diapers and tying them together in layers.  Then just stick in little baby accessories to spruce it up! Hopefully we will have a guest post by my crafty Auntie on this soon, but here is a preview:

Diaper Cake

I think the Diaper-Cake sets the tone for an event like this and makes it feel really fun. You can see the accessories they picked - including bath toys, cute headbands, onesies, pacifiers, little toys, and receiving blankets. Also the pink poinsettias were a fun touch for the table where we laid out the appetizers. 









The final party ingredient was the REAL Cake - by cake designer Greg Marsh located in Boise, Idaho (find him here: http://www.marshcakes.com/)


My mom tracked this one down.  Greg is really talented and did the wedding cakes for me and my sisters' weddings.

Real Cake by Greg Marsh: http://www.marshcakes.com/)

I put together two gifts that will be featured in future posts: (1) the final Oh Baby! Quilt and (2) the framed nursery wishes picture.

More to come soon...

Christmas Wonderland

Last year around this time, I got a little homesick.  My husband and I had our first Christmas here in New York, away from our families back in our hometown.  We had a great time and made the best of it, but the thing that I missed most was my Mom's house.  Every year she goes over the top with decorations and it always looks amazing and really makes you feel like the holidays are here. 

This year we are in a new apartment, and are trying to fill it with decorations for the season.  I think some of the best traditions are crafts.  Last year, I started doing cross-stitch family stockings for us.  That was a tradition that my mother started.  

I thought I would take pictures of them to inspire other people to start their own holiday crafting!

Yes, I did attempt to stitch jingle bells. 

End to the Adventure Quilt

I officially declare that the Adventure Quilt is done.  Whew!

oh baby! quilt

i am working on a new project - i am so excited that one of my family members is having a baby.

this is the oh baby! quilt.  the concept is going to be flanking 6" squares of cotton voile with long strips of baby flannel that will result in one large square with 6" squares of yellow flannel showing through where i can embroider designs.

here is the fabric - ordered this from quilthome.com, the "little ones" and "folksy flannels" AMH fabric of course!

The yellow background flannel is basic from fabric.com. 

This lamp needs you!

Hello friends,

I've lost my inspiration.  Its been a couple of weeks since my last blog entry.  I've been feeling a bit beat down by work and the stress of life.  my artistic side is suffering.

perfect example - this clear glass lamp. its sitting on top of an amplifier.  it would love to be a display for treasures. arts, crafts, terrarium... but nothings coming to me.

would love any ideas you have.  more on the quilt progress tomorrow.

love you all.

Purse Attack!

made this purse with leftover fabric from the adventure quilt. 

About Vase

ingredients: 


*plain round cylinder glass vase - don't go crazy here, you should be able to find a cheap one, just make sure it is tall enough
*24 high quality fake flowers
*16 oz. package of liquid illusion or similar type floral setting resin
*clean river rocks, pebbles, or some other type of filler for the bottom of the vase
*wire cutters


this project can be very affordable if you can source high quality fake flowers etc. somewhere reasonable.  i used save-on-crafts for all of my ingredients and did this project for less than $50 bucks. 


for the flowers - keep in mind that you should not just order 24 of the exact same flower.  this will look fake - remember in real life flowers are in slightly different stages.  i recommend that you try to find some that are in full bloom and others that are at a bud stage to mix it up. 


next tip: make sure the rocks that will go in the bottom of your vase are CLEAN.  otherwise, your resin will mix with dirt and make a gigantic mess. 


1. clean everything.  the vase, the pebbles, make sure the flowers are completely free of dust.  


2.  lay the pebbles or river rocks carefully at the bottom of the vase. 


3. pull out your resin packages and follow the directions to mix the resin.  use a funnel to carefully pour the resin on top of the river rocks.  remember that any splashes will result in plastic drops ending up stuck to the sides of your vase. 


4. start putting the flowers into the vase counterclockwise, creating a spiral with the stems by putting each flower at an angle in a circle.  tuck the stems of the flowers into the rocks to hide the bottoms (especially if you had to cut the flower stems with your wire cutters).  the cool thing is that by putting the flowers into the resin, it creates tiny oxygen bubbles that will help make the vase look like it has water in it. 

5. when you are happy with the arrangement, leave it alone for 24 - 48 hours to set. 


voila!

Makeover for your Crappy Starter Furniture

yeah, we all have that left-over crappy starter furniture (most of mine is from ikea and still serves its purpose)...  if you aren't ready to kick it to the curb yet.  i have one word for you :  ANTHROPOLOGIE.

it does wonders for anything involving a drawer pull.

sound-absorbing pictures

this was an old project from last year that i keep finding myself using over and over.  my husband is a sound engineer.  he needed to have sound-absorbing panels to change the acoustics of the room he was recording in.  we went shopping for some studio-foam panels and wedges.. but they were REALLY ugly.  so... with my leftover AMH fabric we made our own sound absorbing panels, that i thought were better suited to the apartment.

ingredients:

*soundproofing / sound absorbing foam material. (note - this is the most important consideration in the project, after much debate we went with the 80% recycled echo absorber sound absorbing baffles:  http://www.soundprooffoam.com/echo-absorber-baffles.html   that being said - there are a lot of neat products on the site that i think have potential such as the quiet door absorber and other wedges / ceiling tiles.

*very thin plywood squares cut to the desired dimensions or you can use sturdy cardboard. consider finding some cardboard in nice condition and just re-use it.

*cute fabric

*tons of pins

*hot glue gun

*copper wire

Step 1: create a plywood / cardboard template that has the desired dimensions that you want (mine are 2 ft x 2 ft) and use it to cut the other backing material to the desired dimensions.  use same template as a guide to cut the sound absorbing baffles with a SHARP razor blade / X-acto knife.  if you want to remove a step but pay more money - then just pick out the pre-made sound absorbing tiles in your preferred dimensions.

Step 2: assembly:  lay the fabric out over the backing material and baffling to cover.  this is where the advantage of cardboard really counts because you can stick pins in place right through the fabric onto the cardboard.

Step 4: use hot glue to glue the fabric in place over the cardboard / backing.  remove the pins after it cools.

Step 5: cut little pieces of wire and curl both ends in a spiral with a peak in the middle - use this to hang the panels on the wall with very small nails.  alternatively - you can try to use velcro to attach to the walls, however, i had mixed success with that method.



ideas:

sound-absorbing panels have multiple uses.  obviously the primary reason for these is that my husband moves them around the room where he records music to change the acoustics, but i absolutely love them too.  we recently moved to a larger apartment with wood floors that had a horrible echo.  the echo is gone now that the panels are in place.  but keep in mind that if you have wood floors you really need a few carpets around to help with the echo as well.

you can also move these panels around for easy decorating options. if you have a bunch of them you can also create a giant mural on the wall.