Pinterest Strikes Again - Sweet Nursery Art

A lot of the projects that I take on have been inspired by Pinterest. Today's post was no exception.

My friend's son is turning one next week and she pinned something on Pinterest that I knew I could recreate for her.

I used my Silhouette to cut out the giraffe - I purchased him from the Silhouette store. Then I used the sketch pen to write out the baby's name and birthday. The sketch pens still don't quite work for me, so I ended up using a different white pen and filling in the letters. After popping it into a matted frame, we were good to go.

I think its pretty sweet and might just be my new go-to baby gift. If there was any free wall space in Caroline's room, I would totally make her one!

I love giving handmade gifts, even if I don't always have time to create them. I received several handmade items at my baby showers and they were each so thoughtful.

Do you have a go-to baby gift? After having Caroline, my idea of a great baby gift has changed - practical is best, handmade is a bonus, and I most definitely pay attention to the season when buying clothing in a bigger size. So many things to think about!

Thanks for reading,
Kathleen

Leap Frog & Additional Nursery Updates

We've been pretty busy around here... Caroline is already 9 months old and she is a bundle of energy and fun. We are having a blast watching her grow and explore, but its taken us a while to get back into the swing of completing projects again. We've updated a bunch around the house over the past few months and I'm going to try and write about some of the projects soon. 

Before Caroline was born, her nursery was in pretty good shape. It is by far my favorite room in the house. Since I have spent so much time sitting in the glider feeding her, I am constantly staring at the gallery wall. 

This is what it looked like before she was born. 

I learned pretty quickly that the adorable banner needed to be taken down before Caroline decided to take matters into her own hands. That freed up a bunch of wall space. I did not want to put anything up there she would be able to pull at and potentially hurt herself on, so my mind went to the vinyl wall clings. Then I realized that my Silhouette is my best friend could create the look I wanted for a fraction of the cost. 

I downloaded a frog picture from the Silhouette store and then copied it several times and adjusted the sizes to maximize the number of frogs I could cut from the one 12 x 24 inch sheet of vinyl.

I ended up with 7 frogs. The Silhouette did its job and cut them out and I carefully placed them on the wall. We have affectionately named them uno, dos, tres, quattro, cinco, ces and ciete. (Forgive my spelling, I never took a Spanish class!)

Look at how little Caroline was when I actually did this... she was only 2 months old!

The frogs filled a portion of the wall space, but there was still space to fill. One day I was browsing the aisles of Target and came across these adorable animal hooks. The colors were great and it just so happened that we needed a place to hang the diaper bag. I bought two of them and then Bill secured them to the wall using anchors and screws. We don't want anything falling down once Caroline starts grabbing at things!

The latest update came as a necessity as Caroline started grabbing at anything that is within reach while we change her diaper and get her dressed. This included the sound machine and humidifier. For now, the humidifier has moved to the ground. We're hoping to find a more permanent home, but space is at a premium in the small nursery. The sound machine has found its forever home on the wall. Bill used some velcro command strips and attached it right next to the frogs. It can easily still be plugged in and it is now out of Caroline's reach. Problem solved!

So that's the progress on the nursery for now. I'm sure the room will continue to evolve as Caroline grows and I can't wait to see the changes.

What have you needed to change in your kids' rooms as they've grown? Any heads up would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks for reading,
Kathleen

Locked up!

Caroline has been spending some time in baby jail this week... so Bill and I can finally get some projects completed.

We have learned to utilize her nap time, but certain things have to be done while she's awake due to the noise.

One such project was recovering the ottoman that I made a few years back. We moved the ottoman into our bedroom to go with a rocking chair when Caroline was born. Since our bedroom is gray and white and fairly modern, the fabric just wasn't doing it for me anymore.

Caroline and I ventured to JoAnn's and I found this beautiful HGTV fabric that was on sale for $9.99 a yard. I only needed about a yard and a half for the ottoman, but I bought 3 yards. I've already put it to good use!

Recovering was simple enough... I laid the fabric right side down on the floor. Then I just flipped the ottoman over and unscrewed the legs. I pulled the fabric night and taut and Bill used the staple gun to secure the fabric in place. The whole process took about 10 minutes and we were left with this pretty gal...

I looooooooove her. A lot.

I don't think the pictures do her justice. I've got to work on my photography skills. And maybe not take pictures when its practically dark out.

Its funny to me how I liked the original fabric so much just 2 years ago and now I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. Do your tastes change frequently too? What quick updates have you been able to complete by sticking your baby in jail?

Thanks for reading,
Kathleen

On to Something

Remember in college, when people would hang anything up to cover their windows? Maybe they were onto something.

I've been spending a lot of time in our living room since the baby was born. I kept finding myself staring at the curtains on the sliding glass door wishing for a change. I did not want to spend a bunch of money and since curtains can get pricey, I just continued to live with the old curtains.

The other day I was in Target, shocking I know, and found this beautiful table cloth. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. The nice thing about table cloths is that they are bigger than average curtains, so I only needed two to get full coverage on the sliding glass doors. We already use the clips to hang the curtains, so this was as simple as unclipping the old ones and throwing these ones up. (*Side note: I saved 15% on the table cloths by using the Target Cartwheel app on my phone. If you don't already use it, you need to download it!)

 I'm debating whether we'll need something to line them when the cold weather comes, but we're good for now.

Now I just want a few new throw pillows and to maybe recover the ottoman... we'll see :)

Do you have any other inexpensive curtain options? I used a bed sheet for a shower curtain, and now the table cloths for the windows. I'm open to more suggestions!

Thanks for reading,
Kathleen