3.30.2010

Details of the Nursery

I’ve had a few questions asked about sources for the nursery, so I thought I’d share:

PAINT

walls: Rhino by Behr {home depot}

bed & shelves: Raging River by Sherwin Williams

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WALLPAPER

Peonies gift wrap by Caskata. I have not seen this line in many stores, but you can look for a retailer in your area here. I used wallpaper paste, rolled it onto the paper {you want to make sure your paper will hold up to the paste} then adhered it to the wall. Super easy and I love the result. Keep in mind that many papers are not a continuous design and do not meet up when you put them next to each other. Mine did not and if you look closely you’ll notice, but it doesn’t bother me.

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BEDDING

bumper: made myself {!} using linen curtains from IKEA and white piping made from IKEA curtains as well.

 

crib sheet: 2 yards of fabric folded over the mattress. This material was my first inspiration for the room. Rarely do I find a fabric that I adore, especially one with a pattern. There is just a tiny hint of blue in there and while it doesn’t really go with anything, I sort of like the eclectic feel it gives. And it helps tie in the gold of the wallpaper.

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crib skirt: Pottery Barn classic stripe twin bed skirt in porcelain.  I cut it apart and remade a crib size skirt. Then I added tulle and grey grosgrain ribbon to the bottom.  I run into this problem often: I have an idea in my head and the product just doesn’t exist {or, if it does, it is far outside of my price range}. Thus, I end up making my own stuff. And very rarely is it made properly or expertly, as evidenced by this crib skirt. But it is the look that I wanted and cost very little.

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coverlet: about 10 years ago I bought two of these on sale from the Martha Stewart line at K-Mart.  Perfect for a little girl’s room {interesting purchase for a 21 year old, but so glad I did!}

pillows: made by me from left-over crib skirt fabric, crib sheet fabric and fabulous velvet given to me by a friend who used to work at the design center and has quite the collection of discontinued fabric samples.

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ruffle pillow is from pier1.

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MOBILE

created by me {here is the tutorial}

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CURTAINS

Again made by yours truly. I bought this satin in the holiday garment section of Joann’s after Christmas last year. It was 70% off and I think I paid $2.50 per yard. They are lined with IKEA white curtains {which makes them thick and dark at night}.  They were originally hanging in our master bedroom, but my vision for our room didn’t really work, so I decided they would be the perfect ‘party dress’ set of curtains for our baby girl. I added the ruffles to the bottom just to make them fancier.

They are hung with shower curtain rings that I find so charming.  They are from the Rachel Ashwell line at Target {sorry, I couldn’t find a link}.

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ARTWORK

The gold frames are old – collected from my mom & mother-in-law. I cut foam core to the size of each frame then fabric glued the same linen IKEA curtain fabric to it. Each little item is just pinned to the foam core.

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Hope that helps!

3.26.2010

shopping

I’m in the market for some new jeans. I love jeans. Wear them everyday. We joke in our family that it is the commodity I most favor {want to buy yourself flight lessons? Sure, but I get a new pair of jeans.}

So I figured I should start searching online to see what is out there.

Good Lord, look what I found:

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I don’t really get the skinny jean thing. Very few people can actually pull it off, and even then, I don’t find it very flattering. Sorry if I offend you.

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And apparently The Gap wanted to bring back the terrible mom jean. Geesh.

So I flipped over to American Eagle. They have lots of inexpensive jeans and are dressing the teens of the world.

Not much better.

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Again, a terrible skinny jean.

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And then a bootcut one that looks like leg-warmers.

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This one is called the boyfriend jean {yes, the boyfriend who wads up his jeans, throws them on the floor, then rolls out of bed in the morning and puts them on – that is exactly who I’d like to base my fashion on}.

No luck on American Eagle. So off I head to Martin & Osa. A brand I like for their casual sophistication.

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Not so much. This is a MODEL and she looks all bumpy. What in heaven’s name would these look like on a girl who just birthed my fourth baby?!

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WHAT???!!!!

Seriously, the are selling slouchy pegged leg jeans. In a light wash. With PLEATS.

I think I need to just stick with my tried and true Seven A pocket.

3.25.2010

today’s thoughts

1. I am ready for a living room facelift.  We have a built-in next to the fireplace that needs to be finished as well as a fresh coat of paint on the walls. But I’m also wanting some new pillows {which I’ll make}and a change in accessories to freshen up the space. I get this way at the onset of every season … the itch to change things around. My poor husband. I’ll take some before and after photos and post them when we’re finished.

2. My mother-in-law is a thrift store shopper. I am definitely not. She always comes out with the best treasures. I just come out feeling like I need some hand sanitizer. But, I benefit greatly from her thrifting trips as she tires of her collections quickly and I get to take what I want. Tonight, I’m headed over to her house to pick through her give-away pile. Hope I come home with some good stuff!

3. My daughter, while precious in every way, has a major spitting up problem. My goodness we go through a lot of outfits and burp cloths each day.

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4. Ryan is at work tonight and I’m planning on watching every show that he can’t stand: project runway, shear genius and america’s next top model. So looking forward to my date with the dvr.

3.20.2010

It’s a sunny day

My mom taught a song to the boys:

“It’s a sunny day, it’s a sunny day, it’s sunny outside so we can go out a play. All the little children say ‘hip-hip-hooray!’ It’s a sunny, sunny day {boom boom}”

Most days when it is unexpectedly sunny {quite frequently, I’m afraid}, we all break out in song. Today was one of those day.

GORGEOUS.

So we headed outdoors.

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I realized that since having Audrey, I really haven’t photographed my first three loves. So I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots of our beautiful day.

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We met up with my mom and her wonderful husband for a lakeside lunch.

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Then ventured to another park to meet up with cousins. {Note: it was only 68, which is really a nice spring day, but certainly not warm enough to be shirtless – unless you are 5 and your name is Grant}.

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My silly six year old found posing for the camera quite entertaining. He had some awesome poses.

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Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. We loved today.

Unfortunately, I think we’ll be singing the “It’s a rainy day” version of the song tomorrow.

3.17.2010

the nursery

My heart is happy every time I walk past Audrey’s nursery. The colors, the patterns, the fact that it is the girliest place in our house.  At first, when Ryan saw the color I was asking him to paint, he questioned me. Why blue? It was my one chance to go pink, and I chose blue.  I guess I’m just not as crazy about pink as I am blue. I’ve realized as I’ve spent time in her room, that if I could decorate my home any way I wished {without considering the four males that reside with me} it would look very much like our sweet Audrey’s room.

So let me welcome you to the nursery {beware, there are many photos!}

First, the before.

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This was previously a boy’s nursery {go figure} and I loved the stripes. I originally wanted to use our guest room as the new nursery and us this room as the guest room so that I wouldn’t have to paint over the stripes, but that didn’t happen. So goodbye stripes.

And here it is now:

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We’re still missing a few key elements {a chandelier - I just haven’t found the right one; a large sheepskin rug; a canvas painted with her scripture verse on it; a few more pillows}, but it is as good as it will get for today. The rest will happen over time. I’m learning to be okay with that …

Some of my favorite things:

:: the wallpaper {actually flat sheets of gift wrap that I have adored for a long time}

:: the ruffles on the curtains

:: the old gold frames {from my grandparents’ collection. They passed before I really knew them, but I think we would have gotten along beautifully. Both were actors and artists – my grandfather did set designs for theater, my grandma taught acting classes to Judy Garland. My mom mentions often that I would have loved her home growing up – glamorous and eclectic at the same time.}

:: the vintage little dresses {I bought one before I was even married and the other was my mom’s}

:: the pink ruffle pillow {I was not planning on putting pink into the room, but I found the pillow and then my mom gave me the crown artwork and it just came together.}

I really love all of the room. I was concerned that I had a vision that I wasn’t going to be able to translate into real life, but I think I got it pretty close.

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