Nursery Debut!

We fiiiiiiiiiinally have enough done where I felt comfortable arranging the nursery to show off our hard work! So a picture heavy post of our craftsmanship awaits you below!


Before we ever knew the sex, I was really drawn to rooms that didn't look "babyish". I wanted something our child could grow with, emphasis on bright colors and design. 

I loved the gray color because it was perfect to offset all the colors we intended to incorporate. 

With no real "theme" we basically just wanted to use alot of chevron and a hodge podge of art, both purchased from stores like Pier 1 and Hobby Lobby - and some of our own framed family photos. 

Hobby Lobby animal masks (left), Pier 1 bird print (right)

We also were gifted some goodies from Grandma

My mom had this painted for us at a craft show in West Virginia

$4.00 Lamp from the Christmas Tree Shoppe in West Virginia

One of the first "big" purchases was a changing table we got off of Craigslist $75.00. It was brand new, and just the factory-stock boring brown. I was dead-set on painting it a pretty blue (for either girl or boy) and it was one of the first exciting projects we got underway for the nursery. 

Glenn deglossed it, sanded it and painted it this pretty blue all in one weekend - super love it!

The knobs were on sale at Pier 1 (I think $2.00 each?) which is a pretty good price considering I was thinking about getting some from Anthropologie that went for $8.00

Close up of knobs - purtttyyyy

I got these tie backs from Pier 1 also for $2.00 each, but they haven't been affixed to the wall (requires nails and a hammer and things I don't have patience for currently)

This mirror is one of my favorite parts of the room - we got it at a flea market in West Virginia for a mere $25.00. We hemmed and hawed at whether or not it was a decent price for the mirror...obviously very glad we got it!


My mom sanded and painted it white (to stand out against the gray in the room) but originally it looked like this:

Ahh, to be summertime and have skinny legs again!


Other than chevron, I knew I really wanted to have an artsy wall filled with different photos of family, some framed artwork from children's books, and whatever other random art I could find via Etsy or Ebay. I scored some sweet prints that were vintage, and got a book at Goodwill that had flashcards with baby sign language cards that were perfect for the frames. 

The majority of the frames came from Hobby Lobby (always 1/2 off!), although some were picked up at Marshalls or were old frames I had laying around the house. The gold frames on the bottom we used as table numbers at our wedding. I really loved adding some family photos (baby Leah and baby Glenn) as well as a bitching photo of my dad on his Harley, and my mom standing in front of a 1970 Dodge Challenger. 

Kiddo has 2 large skylights in his room, so everything is super bright -- hopefully he will be able to take some neep naps in here comfortably!


Glenn found the netting at Ikea and affixed it to the ceiling with a super secure hook..right now it is just for looks but as soon as this ginormo baby is big enough to yank at things we will take it down. 

My mom (the craft genius she is) made not only the baby's mobile, but also these pennants. Seriously we are thinking of starting our own Etsy shop!

I should also mention she made the Chevron quilt....her talents know no ends! 

We had a blast picking out fabrics from Joannes, and the mobile was pretty easy to put together (devised from ideas gleaned off of pinterest)

The pennants were a big hit at our baby shower!

Staying true to form, my grandmother (baby's great grandmother) made us an afghan (in chevron). She started before we knew the sex, so while it is gender-neutral it is pretty feminine...perfect for my mama/nursing chair!

Also with a pillow from Pier 1 and a lovey gift from a friend!

The glider and ottoman we got on Craigslist for $80.00, in perfect condition! I can't wait til little big man is here to sit and feed him!


My family has had a cradle that was made before my brother was born, my mom painted the family name on the side -- it currently holds another awesome quilt she made and some chevron pillows we can use for tummy time later on

Alot of people have asked where we got the chevron rug from -- Urban Outfitters for (I think?) $75.00. It also comes in a heather gray/blue color that would look awesome in a nursery!


The final piece de resistance is the cornice -- I got a crib sheet from Ikea that did NOT fit a standard mattress so we used that for the cover...the curtains are also from Ikea. Glenn made the wooden portion and my mom padded and sewed the rest. Tada!

Before prepping his room, I got rid of about 7 big bags of clothes/shoes/random stuff we had in "storage" in his room. I do miss using this closet for my clothes, but seeing his in there is so much cuter!

Hopefully he gets to fit into some of his gear before he outgrows it!

One final adorable bit : this giraffe lightswitch from Etsy I pinned forever ago!

Really, I am blessed with such a talented grandma and husband who put such great work into making his room come to fruition! Now we just need him to arrive and enjoy it!

Fab deals and quilt steals!

Ok so no one stole any quilts, but for the cheap cheap price of free, (minus the backing) my mom threw together quilt number 1 (of 5....thousand).


Didn't she do a fab job!? This one shall stay in WV. I call it, "An Essence of Watercolor". Or something. I call it amazing! Bravo, Niter!

Stellar work! I can't wait to see how the others turn out!

We also did some Craigslisting and got a good deal on a changing table. 

It is Storckcraft and retails for about $230-250.00

We got it for $75 bucks, ballin!! It's actually pretty large, See photo of Jerome modeling size

We intend to sand to it down and paint it minty/seafoamy/blueish a'la this

Stay tuned whilst we get our craft on!

Quilting Craziness

The nesting era has begun! I have been sleuthing different nursery oriented crafts via pinterest and Niter has been great enough to get us started on some quilts. She has a veritable treasure trove of fabrics gleaned from a sale of samples (likely from an upholstery store going out of business). While most of the fabrics are circa 1985, some of them were winners! 

We also hit up Hobby Lobby and Joanne's for some other goodies. My original color scheme (in my head) was as follows:

We'd like to do chair rail, in white...on the lower part of the room. Chair rail and up will be the gray color. All other colors will be accents (namely the yellow, coral and blue). I am not a hgue fan of the brown tone of this yellow, and intend on using more of my favorite mustardy yellow.  I also have haphazardly picked up a number of green pieces as well. So it is one big hodge podge, which I like. I am going for a colorful eccentric look and am not that pressed about things being all "matchy matchy".

I found a few fabrics at Joanne's that incorporated the coral and blue and we went from there. Currently Mom has...*ahem* 4 quilts planned. 2 of which will stay at her house in West Virginia, and the other 2 shall reside here. 

I'd like to disclaimer everyone and let them know I am aware of the SIDs risk with having blankets in the crib, and let you know, dear reader, that the baby won't be covered. The quilts can be on the side of the crib early on as decor, used as blankets for tummy time in the future, and will perhaps be that favorite blankie in the toddler age. Rest assured we practice safety up in here!

In any event, we had a fab weekend picking out fabrics and arranging them in orders we liked. 

swatches and swatches for days!

bright and dotty for at Grandma's house

a groovy ass tribal fabric I found in clearance in Joanne's

Quilt 1 : the coral with blue flowers and the large abstract florals are my favorites

The fabrics above will be cut into thin strips and will be put together to look somewhat like this:

simple, easy and bright! (well less babyish than this)

Quilt number two will have these colors"

again, the coral fabric with the blue flowers is my go-to favorite

I don't have an example of what this one will look like (yet) , since the pattern came out of a quilting book, but it is decidedly more complex than the jellyroll. 

Update: It is a "quick trip" quilt made in the diamond pattern (idea below)

 I like these colors for a boy or a girl...well more so a boy since that is what my intuition is telling me. If it is a girl, then we will throw some ruffles on it and call it a day! Or we can have Niter make quilt number 62 in purple and pink! I am excited to see how they will all turn out, and thankful for such a crafty mother!