The Nursery

It's hard to believe Evalyse has been here for three months already & her nursery is finally finished!  Soon she'll be staying in there full time, so I'm glad it's completed.

This is what the room looks like from the doorway.  My mom made the curtains for me & I transformed the chandelier by painting it & adding some bling.

I found the furniture on Craigslist & gave it new life with a few coats of paint.

The Humpty Dumpty lamp was in my nursery.  My mom painted it & covered the shade in toile when Zeke was born.  I accessorized the dresser with some picture frames from Wal-Mart, a bird from Hobby Lobby, & a paper mache hat box I decorated.

The chair was a $5 find from the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  My mom recovered it for my son's nursery.  My mother-in-law made the blanket on the chair & I made some of the pillows.  The kids made the teddy bear as a gift for Evalyse.  I found the basket at Garden Ridge & recently made the floor pillow following this tutorial.

You can read about this tiny gallery wall here.

I hung some DIY art above this small chest.

 I made some pom poms to hang near the crib & framed some Vintage Printables above it.

My mom made the toile comforter & bed skirt.  I made the pillows with some leftover fabric.  These are just for decoration & are NOT in the crib when the baby is in it!  It is not safe for babies to sleep with pillows, blankets, or even stuffed animals.

Here is a reminder of what the room looked like a few months ago:

 

It's come a long way since then!  

When I was choosing a theme for my oldest child's nursery, I picked a gender neutral theme & colors so I could use it for his future brothers or sisters.  This worked well for us & saved us a good chunk of change.  You can read about how his nursery evolved into Elie's nursery in this post.

Although I think the room turned out great, this is definitely my favorite accessory in the room:

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Birth Announcements

After nearly three months, I finally made & sent Evalyse's birth announcements.  At this point, I'm pretty sure all my friends & family know she's here, but at least they now have a cute picture!  Anyway, I thought it turned out well, so I'm sharing it with you!

The picture was taken by my EXTREMELY talented friend Lisa Hezlep.  I used PicMonkey to create the border & add the text.  

Hope you enjoyed!  Have a wonderful week!

Rub & Buff Curtain Rod

My mom made some pink satin curtains for the nursery shortly after Evalyse was born.  I had already purchased a black curtain rod from Ikea with some glass finials (I couldn't find the finials online).  When we finally hung them, I decided I didn't like the black rod in the room.

{Before}

After a quick coat of Silver Leaf Rub n' Buff, here is what they now look like:

{After}

These curtains were made with tabs in the back, which sometimes cause the curtains to slide & lose the "bunched" look that I like.  I decided to fix the problem by tying the tabs together, so they will stay scrunched together.  

It's not noticeable at all unless you are standing between the curtains & the wall (which would probably only happen during a mean game of hide & seek).  Oh, & you caught me red handed...I didn't bother adding Rub n' Buff to the brackets.  They also aren't noticeable from the front.

The room is finally coming together!

{After}

Sharing at some of these great blogs:

Remodelaholic, At the Picket Fence, Be Different, Act Normal, Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Cricket Design, Crayon Freckles, DIY by Design, Evolution of Style, Miss Mustard Seed, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Simple Home Life, The DIY Showoff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots & Jello, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Todays Creative Blog, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue

Filling Up More Wall Space

Here's a small "gallery" I created to fill up some wall space in the nursery.

{Nursery Prints}

The framed picture on the left is intended to be signed on the mat.  We had all the family write messages on the photo mats for our other two children, but I forgot to have anyone sign it when they were visiting Evalyse.  I'm not sure if I'll have family write on it or if I will fill it up with my own letter to Evy!

I saw an Etsy print of James 1:17 on Pinterest (which was much cuter than this one) & made my own very simple version of it, which I framed & added to the wall.

My mom bought the "Baby's First Picture" mat for me when I was expecting my son.  The colors go really well with the nursery.  I think she found it a Christian bookstore, but I'm not sure.

Here's a bigger picture of the wall:

{Nursery Art}

So, what's filling your nursery walls?

A Work of Heart

As I was scouring Pinterest one day in search of ideas for the nursery, I came across some framed hearts, which of course, I didn't pin... (So now, I don't know the original source, & I don't even remember what it looked like!)  Anyway, I decided to try to create my own "work of heart" to fill up some wall space in the nursery!

I started out with an empty picture frame, burlap, & a string of beads (which I had purchased for a different project that I scratched!).  These were all things I had lying around, which makes this project even better!  To complete this project you will also need an iron, scissors, pen, heart cut out, glue sticks, & a glue gun.

{Supplies}

To begin, I ironed my slightly wrinkled piece of burlap & cut it a little bigger than my picture frame opening.  Then, I used a heart, which I had cut from paper, to trace the shape onto the center of the burlap.  Next, I added glue to a small area, & began tracing the shape of the heart with glue & beads (a little at a time).  I started at the bottom of the heart, worked my way to the top, back to the bottom, & then inside the heart.  When I was finally finished, I framed it & hung it on the wall.

Here's the finished product:

{After}

And here it is in her room:

{After}

I hope you like it!  Have you ever created art from a strand of beads?

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Nursery Lighting

I was lucky enough to win a credit to Arcadian Lighting a while back.  At the time I wasn't sure what I would do with the credit, since we had pretty much all our lighting needs covered.  Then, I realized we needed a light for the nursery & I could use the credit to purchase one!  Being very budget conscious, I chose the cheapest chandelier I could find, & decided to spruce it up to better suit the room.

You can see the original light fixture in this picture:

{Before}

Here's the light I purchased for the room:

{Light Before}

Originally, I decided to paint the light white, but it looked too plain, so I added some pink to it.  Then, I strung some beads onto wire & attached them to the candle sticks.  Here's the finished product:

{After}

{After}

Ribbon Pillow

Recently, I made a couple of new pillows for the nursery rocking chair.

{Pillows for Nursery}

The pink pillow is just a simple square made from pink bubble fleece from Hobby Lobby.

The white rectangular pillow was also very simple to make.  Here are some quick instructions to make one for yourself:

1. Fold your fabric over & cut it to the size you want the pillow to be (allowing for the hem).  I like to fold it over & then measure & cut so I have at least one side I don't have to sew!

2. Find the center of your pillow, where you want the ribbon, & pin a piece of ribbon on each side of the front (right sides) of your pillow.

3. Fold your pillow over, right sides together & sew up the sides, making sure not to sew any of the excess ribbon & leaving an opening to add the stuffing.

4. Stuff your pillow, pin it closed, & sew the opening back together.  You may also want to singe the ends of the ribbon with a flame (I use a candle.) or add some Fray Check to the ends.

5. Tie the ribbon & find the perfect spot for your new pillow!

My mom found this rocking chair at the Restore for $5 before my son was born.  She recovered it in this green & white striped fabric.  She also made the toile pillow with some extra fabric from the bedding.  My mother-in-law made the beautiful blanket hanging over the chair.

Now this spot is the perfect place for a photo opp...

Provincial with Potential

The first purchase I made for the nursery was furniture.  I decided I wanted a french provincial dresser for the space.  Luckily, I found a whole bedroom set (dresser, chest, bed frame, & mirror) on Craigslist for $100.  It wasn't in the best of shape:

{Dresser Before}

{Notice all the nicks & the bad "airbrushing" job!}

{Chest Before}

I forgot to take a picture of the side of the dresser, which was falling apart, the drawers that didn't have guides, & it was impossible to capture how wobbly they were!

To transform these pieces, I had my husband use his nail gun to fix the dilapidated sides & drawer guides.  Then, I filled in the nicks & gauges with wood filler before sanding down & cleaning every nook & cranny.  I also removed the handles & spray painted them white.

Finally, it was time to paint.  I brushed on several coats of Olympic One's Pigtail Pink in a satin finish (from Lowes) and wiped on a couple of coats of satin poly to complete the look.

Here are their beauty shots:

{Chest After}

{Dresser After}

I think they are looking pretty cute in the nursery!

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Nursery Inspiration

On Friday, I showed you what the nursery looked like for my two older children.  Since we live in a new house now, I will be starting over on the nursery.  It will have the same bed, bedding, & rocking chair, but other than that, I am going to be changing things up a bit.  To find inspiration, I scoured the internet for ideas, & here are some images I liked:

Source: sophiasdecor.blogspot.com via Wendy on Pinterest

The pink dresser & vintage dresses are adorable in the nursery above!

Source: miraclemama.blogspot.com via Wendy on Pinterest

I love the large letters above the crib in this nursery.

Source: gdanfamily.blogspot.com via Wendy on Pinterest

I love the pink & green in this nursery & the pink silk pleated curtains.

Source: serenaandlily.com via Wendy on Pinterest

Another adorable pink & green nursery.

Hopefully it won't be long before this room is finished!

The Evolving Nursery

When I was pregnant with my son, I decided to decorate his bedroom in a neutral theme, so the bedding & decor could be reused for his future brothers or sisters.  I chose to use this sage green toile with a green & white striped accent fabric. 



{Central Park Toile}

Luckily, my mom made the bedding, bed skirt, curtains, & recovered a chair for the nursery.  Here is what the nursery looked like shortly after being finished:

{Zeke's Nursery}

{Zeke's Nursery}

When Elie was born, the bedrooms were on different levels of the house, so we decided to have the kids share a room so they could be on the same floor as the master bedroom.  I added in some pink accents to make the room feel a little more feminine.  Here is the room shortly before we moved:

{Shared Nursery}

{Shared Nursery}

Since we live in a new house now, Evie's nursery will be slightly different.  It will still have the same bedding, rocking chair, & a few accessories, but we will be changing out the furniture (except the crib) & adding new curtains.  I can't wait to get her room finished so I can show you the final result!

 

Sharing here:
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