A New Lamp

These days its the little things...

Like finally finding a new lamp I LOVE for the nursery.

I love it!!

And of course its the Threshold collection from Target. 

I don't seem to make it into many other stores these days.

This is what it looks like with the rest of the changing area.

One Tiny Ottoman at a Time

I am embarrassed to say it took me well over a year to find just the right fabric for this ottoman!

These two premier print fabrics go together so nicely!!

We love to snuggle up with the babies and read in this corner before naps and bedtime.

Sources:

Chair-ikea

side table-kohls

ottoman-had that thing Forevah!

The fabrics are premier fabrics prints. 

I do not think the stripe is available any longer. 

It was from a collection from 2012 I believe they retired to bring out some new collections.

Nursery for 2 Part 2 (of infinity...)

I feel like we are making headway on the nursery.

With the cleaning out pretty much complete and we have started to make room for baby.

Here is a flashback of the styleboard I shared a few weeks back.

This is what the new baby's side of the room I am planning will look like.

This is what C's side of the room looks like.

Dont Judge it's not totally picked up, I grabbed this really quick before bedtime last time.

This shelf used to be in the kitchen, next to the desk.

It is perfect in here though, to organize, and help little guy easily access the few things he grabs throughout the day. 

I think we need to do a quick facelift on the back of the cabinet.

Would a map look dumb back here?

And this little wall fits the changing area needs.

Here is the view from the door to the bedroom.

And A recap of the new babies side...

Styleboard:

Actual Room:

Right now it is a blank slate and once we get the crib and chair back in here we will start making some headway. 

Whew, halfway thru these next 4 months are going to fly!

Planning for 5 in 1100 square feet...

Whew, ever since we discovered we were expecting my first thought is WHERE will we put everyone.

As the weeks have progressed the idea of being in a little home has grown on me and I am purging with much greater intent now.

After removing all the unnecessary we actually have a decent amount of room for everyone.

The most necessary change has been everyone moving rooms.

Sister moved upstairs, we moved to her room and brother is now in the master.

The master has been my main focus as of late seeing as that is the only room that will not require to be repainted. 

This room has become nursery/playroom/ new baby's nursery.

Here is a "rough draft" of what I have envisioned.

Simple, somewhat rustic, and gender neutral as we are not finding out the sex of the baby.

The changing table, whale, white table and chairs, and rug are all currently in the room. 

Everything else is a sample of the items we hope to create for this new ones room.

The bedding will be purchased this go around and will likely not be monogrammed until after baby's arrival.

Anyone have any suggestions on glider options? we moved our other one into the den and we are LOVING it in there.

Be back with pictures of the actual spaces once I can get everyone's room clean :) happy monday folks!

(ps still updating and backdating a few posts, stay tuned for those as well)

Modern Eclectic Nursery Redesign- client

Let me start off by saying I absolutely ADORE this girl!! 

We had a blast making this room more functional for her precious 11 month old.

A room she can transition from baby into the toddler years very easily!

We used alot of what they already had and just made the room make more sense for the current stage of life they are in. 

adoreable alphabet letters with a collection of poms for baby girl to look at.

I shared a pinterest tutorial with the mommy and she and her husband whipped up this adoreable tent for their daughter to play in.

Did I mention the mom is an artist??

She did this incredible painting and I thought it would be so fun and playful in the space!!

Is this little red chair not the cutest thing in the whole world??

We used two placemats and put them together for the perfect chair size pillow!

I adore this 3sprouts organic line. 

Such cute and functional storage for kids rooms!!

(you can find it really cheap on amazon!)

A Feature

Just wanted to say hello to everyone joining from Remodelaholic!! 

Welcome!!

My husband and I had a blast getting this room ready for our little guy and being able to accumulate pieces throughout my pregnancy.

Here is a link to the post on their site.

Several highlights.

*the whale over the crib was a DIY and freehand drawn then cut out with the jig saw. ($7.00)

*I made the bedding with some designer close out fabric I scored for 14.00 a yard!! The majority of the bumpers are made out of heavy duty white denim.(around $100.00 in fabric)

* The rug and the crib are both from Pottery Barn on sale. (from the PB outlet)

*the zig zag chair was my first ever upholstery project.

*the chest is from my husbands room growing up and the changing table was mine.

Feel free to email me @ jbrodden@gmail.com if you have any more questions!

Hop on over to Remodelaholic and see all the wonderfully inspiring projects they have!

Thanks again for the feature!!

Nursery Diaries: The Nursery

This post is Long overdue.

Our sweet baby boy turned 8 weeks old today!!!

It is just crazy how quickly the weeks have passed.

This room posed quite a few challenges. 

First challenge the room only has two full walls.

It also has no natural light!

Here is what I came up with.

This is what you see at the top of the stairs. 

The print is compliments of Lay Baby Lay.

It's the quote made famous in the 50's "Babies don't keep"

Here is the first view of the room.

(from the top stair)

This bedding was truely a labor of love. 

I might be adding a monogram to the bumper, and in our next home I will add more pattern with drapes.

Here is the view of the wall the crib is on. 

We had a blast making the whale, mobile and adding our own upholstry touches.

I have a small sailboat print still needing to be framed and hung over the chair on the right. 

Will post a picture once that is hung soon.

Love his monogram!!

The prints were purchased on Etsy.

And the seahorse is from ZGallerie!!

Here are the diaper pins from AC's nursery, and this is the toy storage nook next to the closet.

This is the half wall leading up the stairs. 

This was my changing table and we were able to use it for baby girl and now for C.

And one last look.

Thanks for letting me share!

Here are the links to the rest of the Nursery Diary series:

Must have list.

Toy Storage

Stroller Selection

Baby Shower

Bassinet

Nursery Beginnings

Nursery Diaries: Our Bassinet

Right after our daughter was born I found out about this incredibly over the top/lavish catalog company called Posh Tots.

I requested one of their catalogs to "window show"

Well right there in the first pages was the most beautiful bassinet I had ever seen!

I just knew with enough searching I could recreate this lovely bassinet for way way less than $900.00.

We made mine for around $65.00!!

Here is how:

I found my bassinet at a local consignment sale for $35.00.

 (It was natural wood and we spraypainted it a high gloss white)

We bought 4.5 yards of 110" wide Kona cotton at Joann's for the skirt.

The 2 yards of Champagne colored silk dupioni was left over from my wedding.

(if you are adding that into your cost you can find it on ebay, fabric.com or even etsy for about 18.99 a yard)

My mom made the bumpers out of the silk dupioni.

The left over silk was used for the 2" band around the bassinet and the big bow!

I am so glad to have such a precious place to lay my baby boy! Mom did such a great job!

Nursery Diaries: My Must Have Baby List

To be completely honest all you REALLY need is that sweet baby in your arms. 

But, the items I am sharing with each of you are my personal opinions of what helped me with my daughter and I know are sure to help me with our son.

You know... the things that make life a lot easier and help you sleep better at night!

 1.I lived with my baby sling and my Moby wrap with my daughter. I can only hope and pray our little man is going to enjoy being close to mommy like lil bit did.

2.Bla Bla Dolls, or Zubels even. These knit dolls make me weak at the knee's and even though I love them our daughter loved snuggling with them more!! 

3. This is an official "lovie" snuggler. Angel Dear makes this one and it wasn't until about 6 months ago lil bit became super attached. Now it is a bedtime "must-have"

4. Blankets!! Both of my babies will have been born in the winter, I think swaddling and an extra layering blanket are a must with this crazy southern weather we experience. It is like layering your clothing, you can always add and take away!!

5. Hooded towels- What did the world do without these things before they existed??? I have created quite a collection of these things and for me they are a bathtime must from birth through... well as long as I can continue to get them to use them!!

6.The Boon grass drying rack- I did not have this with our daughter but several friends say it is way less cumbersome than the Dr. Brown's one I have. You just stick everything right in and tada... it holds the item. Genius in my book!!

7.The Boon feeding spoon- I got a LOT of unusual looks when I fed our daughter with this 3 years ago. Boon had just released this product and I LOVED IT!! I recently found some at TJ Maxx so we will have 3 for our little guy. The food goes inside the silicone spoon and the stopper on the spoon part holds the food in. No contamination between when you pour it in and they finally finish it. Not done?? pop it in the fridge and feed more at the next meal. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!

8. Adiri Bottles- I only have two of these but they SAVED our lives when I was nursing my daughter. I had to suppliment her one feeding a day due to underproduction. This bottle (although will cause quite a few ppl to ask what it is) has had studies performed to reduce nipple confusion. We had a rough go last time nursing and usually the feedings ended in both me and the baby crying so hoping for a "not so lazy nurser" this go around and a break for at least one feeding so I can create a "supply"

9. The 4Moms Momaroo- Oh this swing is just divine. Its a bouncer,  and a swing in one!! We live in a small home and floorspace is key! This guy takes up little to no room and has tons of features. This will be a first time using this swing but we have "tried it out" on several friends babies and everyone seems to love it!!! Sooooo glad I chose to get this piece of gear!!

10.The Summer Video Monitor- The lady I babysat for in high school got this exact monitor when her twins were born. I HEAVILY relied on this thing when watching her 4 babies. The night vision feature is great and when we found out we were expecting last time I knew this was a must. It is so comforting to be able to peer into their room while they sleep and see them on the screen, nice and warm!! We are still using this for lil bit and going to get a second camera to have in the nursery.

11. The Chicco Carseat- I because a consumer reports FREAK last go around. {I mean come on... I was driving a volvo at the time, we LOVE safety!!} Anywho this seemed to be a really great buy and performed impeccably in all the various crash test ratings! Already have this sucker loaded up in the van waiting on the baby's arrival!!

12.Boogie Wipes- I know i know, you are thinking.. really wipes just for boogs?? Ever had to wrestle a 2 year old kicking and screaming and not wanting the crusties wiped away?? Well not any longer, these wipes are saline based and makes those battles way WAY less severe!!

13. Dreft detergent- I am STILL making my own detergent, but who doesn't love the smell of Dreft?? It is probably one of my most favorite scents to date!!! Yes this is a splurge we won't continue for long but ohhh so worth it when you have a new bundle in your home.

14.Frog Humidifier- My husband and I both have horrible allergies and sinus issues. Almost from the minute lil bit was born she was sniffly. Keeping the dry winter air moist really seemed to help her not be so rattly. I am considering buying one for my room, using lil bit's in her room and buying one for the nursery!!

15.NUK orthodontic pacifiers- Okay this is my "guilt-transfer" if you will item I deem a MUST. I had an obsession with my paci as a child. Heck I even cracked my skull open as a baby diving after a falling paci. These days the paci is designed to keep the roof of the mouth flat and not do as much damage as the paci's I used to use. They "pacify" the child, keep things nice and quiet for mommy, and they aren't harming their dental future!! Sounds like a win, win win in my book.

And for those of you curious about this "space-age" swing {as my dad so endearingly calls it} Here is the official video.

Thanks for letting me share my Top items....

Now to photograph the nursery for yall!!

Poly Mesh Tutorial

Do y'all remember me posting the picture of the polymesh wreath with the skates?

Here she is...

click on the image to go to that post.

I promised I would be back to make another wreath with a step-by-step for you.

Now that pinterest exists I understand there are a million tutorials out there. 

This one uses stuff you have around your home and literally can be completely finished in 15 minutes.

Take your roll of mesh and let it unroll itself. I draped mine over the back of a chair so it would not get tangled.

Then I grabbed a white wire hanger, a pair of scissors and some zip ties.

Honestly white would have worked for the zip ties but it just so happened I had the perfect matching blue!!

Just like in the video below I began working the mesh around my rounded out hanger.

Yes, they have a fancy schmancy ring with small pieces of garland to attach; but honestly the zip ties work to permanently keep the mesh on the "formed" hanger.

I am calling this method the "pinch-attach-zip-then cinch"

See here how you can cinch the mesh together to make it really full?

After your first layer is complete, (just like in the video) you will start a second layer.

My second layer only has about 4 loops because I knew I would be attaching another element to my wreath.

Here is the completed project.

(i think it is time to upgrade the planters by the front door; that will have to wait until this spring though)

 And with the little bit of mesh I had left over I made a bow as well.

You know I Lurve a good bow!!

And while I was out there I decided to show y'all the monogrammed medallion I made for the hospital door.

This was super easy to make. However, the glitter letters were kinda messy. haha

btw... the mesh is now sold at Hobby Lobby. If you purchase the rolls from the gift wrap aisle it is $6.99 (as opposed to the holiday aisle for $7.99) so half off I made a poly-mesh wreath for $4.00.

Free hanger and zip ties and 20 minutes... Super cute way to welcome home our baby boy!!

I am linking up over at Amanda's for Weekend Bloggy Reading

An "All- Boy" Nursery-Client

Recently, a friend from college contacted me about helping her gather some ideas for her nursery.

Her husband has kept all his transformers and what not from his childhood and she wanted to find a way to get the bedding she picked out to go together with some of his "vintage" toys. 

Here is what I was able to come up with.

 

Also wanted to tell yall I am going to be doing some "maintenance" to the blog this week so I apologize in advance for "re-posting" things. Need to go back and re-tag/organize everything from the beginning.