A Friend's Nursery - ooh la la!

Oooh - pretty baby stuff. Who can resist?! Here is my latest sewing project. I know many of the blogs I read and a lot of what I've been doing right now focuses home decor and thrifty decorating and reusing of old items. However - one of my loves is sewing! Last year I spent a lot of time sewing and selling on Etsy... but it began to feel like a chore and let's face it - the dollar per hour is not too alluring in the sewing business. So, now I have been enjoying projects that present themselves with no stress or payment involved.

The latest project is one I mentioned here. This delightful fabric choice by my friend is for her upcoming (soon!) arrival's nursery. I made the bed skirt, bumper, basket liners and valences for her. It was a lot of fun and turned out super cute! So - the finished project... ta da!

Here are the little baskets packed with her goodies for the shower.

I couldn't resist this picture - check out the homemade cupcakes...they were scrumptious if I do say so myself and coordinated with the bedding!

Chocolate with mint buttercream icing and pumpkin with cinnamon cream cheese icing were both topped with little mod-podged owls from her fabric on sticks trimmed with coordinating ribbon. Fun stuff!

This is her finished crib - lovely! I love the colors with the dark wood - I think she did an awesome job picking out the fabric!

The making of a beautiful nursery!

Phew - long time no post. I think that is the first time that's happened to that extent since I started blogging here. I was out of town for work and have also been undertaking some big things around my home. First, I have been asked by a good friend to sew some of her decor for her nursery for her upcoming baby! She has chosen a very cute owl print and coordinating patterns. I'm very excited about seeing it all come together and getting to be a part of the project. So - that is where the artistic piece of my brain is going to be for a bit. I hope to get some before and after pictures of the nursery and will share soon!

Here are the fabric choices:

Purdy, huh?!

In other BIG undertakings... I'm toying with the idea of putting our house on the market and renting a house closer to our kids school. I say "I" because my husband seems luke warm to the idea as he is ear-deep in dissertation writing. However, the move would also benefit him (we'd be very close to campus) - once we actually completed it. The tricky part is the selling of the house and moving of the stuff. The part that makes this decision difficult is that we will, undoubtedly, be moving at some point in the next 2 years. If we knew we had 2 years left here - I'd jump in and move in a second... but what if we only have 9 months left? That's a lot of work for 9 months. Our location has become increasingly inconvenient since our son started kindergarten on the other side of town and I'm just looking for some relief. Plus, the idea of not having to sell a house when we do get ready to leave town is very appealing.

I'm blogging about this here because I know some of my readers have experience with moving AND with making rental spaces look lovely... both of which I'm going to solicit ideas on when the time comes. Perhaps even a give-away involved. Stay tuned!

A Handmade Baby Gift

My husband's cousin and his wife are having a baby. They registered for a very cute bedding collection Crib Set - which they have received. We don't live near them but will be seeing them this week. After looking through the options online... I was thinking of getting this lamp, which goes with the collection. I love the color combo of this collection. However - that just seemed too easy. You know, to buy something. Or to use their registry. ;)

So, I took this unstained, window pane style mirror and fancied it up to match their Migi Splash collection!

I ended up painting inside the frame on the glass a little to give the white trim a thicker appearance. Then, I used cutout contact paper as stencils for the fish. These were the hardest part - at one point an entire fish pealed off when I went to remove my stencil. Definitely remove tape while the paint is still wet.

The little fishing pole is actually a chopstick painted white with some craft rope as the line. The hook is real. I'll warn the cuz's not to let baby play with this. ;) The rest of the decorating was done with small sponge brushes.

We don't know the sex of the baby yet - but once we find out... I feel a fish-themed onesie of some sort coming on. I'm waiting though - because if it's a girl - she's going to need some pink and a matching bow.

I'm linking up to DIY at Kimba's Blog: A Soft Place to Land. Click the button before this post... or just go here and check out tons of cool projects.

Ooh - A Diaper Clutch

It started with an idea and the right materials on hand... and ended up just as I envisioned (which is great because anyone who sews or does any crafts knows that this isn't always the case).

The finished product is a Diaper Clutch. I am notorious for leaving the house without diapers or wipes. Even though I have been a mother for over 5 years now. I think it's because I've never enjoyed the bulk of a diaper bag. So - now I have a quick convenient clutch with a couple diapers and a handful of wipes - that can even serve as a changing pad. Check out the Etsy Listing to see it in action.












Two things I will note: 1) This is not the first time I've used a thick cotton cloth diaper as the start of a project. I love those things! 2) Snaps and the required snap tools that come with them, are kind of a PITA. But, they are convenient and nifty once done. ;)