Flashback Friday {Nursery Tour}

Our baby girl is 7 weeks old now and doing great! I feel like all I'm doing is taking care of her. I'm not sure how I did it all when her brothers were younger. At one point I had a baby, a toddler and a preschooler, plus I was doing home projects and blogging about them!

My favorite project of all time is my third son's nursery. (That's him in the picture with Jocelyn.) The window wall reveal post has gotten over 38,000 hits in the last 4 years! Since I'm still super proud of this room, I thought I'd share the tour with you today. Enjoy!

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Welcome to our nursery!

The first thing you'll notice when you enter the room is this big window framed with blue silk curtains and chippy barnboards. You can read about it here.

In front of the window I added a child-sized rocker with a basket of books. Perfect for entertaining big brothers!

To the right of the window is a tall chest of drawers that was recently featured at Better After! So proud of that!

Here is my post about this dresser's amazing transformation.

I love the look of green plants in every room; not only do they add some fresh green to a room, they're good for the air! Yes, that's my middle son in the frame. I need to print some current pictures!

Next to the dresser is my favorite chair. I've had it forever and it rocks and swivels, so it's perfect for nursing and rocking Baby. I've included a small table for my Bible and water, or my laptop so I can try to catch up with my favorite blogs.

 Above the chair is a gallery wall. You can read more about it here.

Baby's crib is next to my chair. It used to be plain wood, but I painted it and installed the board and batten right before Baby was born... and never blogged about it! I will milk this nursery for as many posts as I can do a before-and-after post soon.

No crib is complete without a mobile! Here is what I created (and here is where you can read more about it).

The door to the hall is at the foot of the crib. Besides painting it white, I've done nothing to it, so there's no picture except the glimpse you get of it next to the closet. Here is a post about the closet.

 I added the sign today and thought I'd skip a tutorial cuz everyone has fancy vinyl machines... Not me! This is my trusty sharpie marker and kindergarten teacher skills!

My older boys (ages 2 and 4) love to play in this little nook.

Of course they prefer the bedspread-turned-curtain down so they can hide!

Next to the closet is this vanity I redid, also featured at Better After and blogged about here. You won't believe the before pictures of it! Now it has been reinvented as a changing table. I bet it never saw that one coming! (Looks like a need a bigger basket for Baby's laundry so it will hide the cords!)

I made this sweet little banner using a receiving blanket.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Thanks for visiting!

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So what do you think? I just love that room. I'm curious how it would have evolved if we had stayed in that house. I know I'm not over board and batten and can't wait to buy our own home again so I can add more!

Have a great weekend!

Flashback Friday: Nursery Before and After

Today's Flashback Friday is less than a year old and my baby's nursery has gotten a lot of attention around here. But he had a birthday this week and I've been thinking a lot of how this nursery came to be. And, well, many of you are my readers because of this nursery. So you won't mind looking at it again, will you?

 

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September 30, 2011

 

I would like to let you know that I loved the 'before' nursery. I really did. Also, the 'before' pictures are unedited. My camera skills have improved, and I've learned to appreciate a good edit! It really was a cozy space that I loved to be in with my middle son. Here is the original post about the before nursery.

After:

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Why am I nostalgic for Classic Pooh all of a sudden?!

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I had so much fun creating both of those nurseries!

 

The Classic Pooh curtains, framed art and crib bedding (not pictured) are for sale if you know someone who's interested!

Hope you enjoyed this flashback!

 

Flashback Friday: Dresser Makeover

In an effort to revive Flashback Friday at Beauty 4 Ashes, I dug up a dresser makeover I blogged about a little under a year ago. I was very, very pregnant and was working on this nursery. (BTW: if you click on that link you can see how the usurping dresser and vanity look in their current home instead of the brown walls they're pictured with below.) Hope you enjoy--whether it's your first time seeing this makeover or if you saw it way back when.

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You know how you always feel prettier in a little black dress? Or pants... Or stretchy maternity pants and a tent-like top, as in my case. :) Something beautiful happens with such a striking color. 

Case in point:

Here's the before:

We got this very well-made dresser from craigslist two years ago for $20. It had a white-washed finish with dull brass knobs on the top four drawers and the same color handles on the bottom. I spent hours sanding this thing to get that wash off! I wasn't a blogger and didn't care about 'before' pictures, and I hadn't been introduced to spray paint and its amazing ability to change ugly hardware into something pretty! I used a light stain and poly'd the dresser and new wooden knobs, then moved it into my second son's room. It worked perfectly as a changing table for almost two years.

Then I met this pair...

So... the other more practical and better made dresser had to go! But not without a makeover.

Love the new black dress(er)!

Flashback Friday: DIY Canvas Art

Welcome to another edition of Flashback Friday, where I re-post some oldies but goodies from my first two years of blogging. Enjoy!

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Re-post from March 17, 2011

Since I always seem to have a back story, here's the picture first.

Now the story: I was looking for inexpensive art for my condo back in the day when I was a Young Urban Professional. Yes, I was a yuppy along with the best of them! I had just spent Christmas in Paris (go here for a fun story about that trip) and the week after in London, so I had tons of great pictures. I noticed some art in a pastor-friend's office and knew right away I'd found my inexpensive art project! (That pastor later did the premarital counseling for my husband and me. He signed papers at our wedding, his little girl was our flower girl... Sadly he was killed instantaneously while riding his bike a year or two later. I have homemade art on my walls that reminds me of him and how fragile life can be. And yet I was grumpy at my kids this morning...)

Back to the art!

I waited for a sale and a coupon at Michael's and bought six large canvasses.

I printed my favorite six shots from my trip on 8 x 10 photo paper.

I had just helped a good friend paint her house, so I knew she had this amazing brown paint from Eddie Bauer (this was 6 or 7 years ago now, so I don't remember what it was!).

I rolled the paint on the canvas then stuck my picture down where I wanted it while the paint was still very wet. I was worried that the photo paper would bubble, but it didn't!

When the brown paint dried, I used black on the edges and around the picture to act as a frame within a frame. (My friend's art in his office was bright yellow with red accents and used pictures from a calendar!)

Last, I used stickers to spell out the name of the place where I took the picture. 

I love my inexpensive, personalized art! It's been on the walls of three homes now. Hope you enjoyed it too!

Flashback Friday: Framed!

I've been wanting to re-post some of my favorite posts from my first two years of blogging. Since my 2nd blogiversary is coming up next month I'm going to start Flashback Fridays at Beauty 4 Ashes. Maybe you'll get to see something you hadn't before!

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 Re-post from November 19, 2010.
 
Do you ever have procrastination-inspired brainstorms that turn out sooooo much better than you could have imagined? 

Let me show you mine:

Now here's the story: 

I needed a birthday present for a grandparent. It had to be low-budget. As in low. I knew I had taken a couple great pictures of my boys this summer, and what do grandparents love more than pictures of their grandkids? Maybe some artwork by them? 

Enter dollar store frames + paint.

No, my little guy isn't wearing a shirt. 

Oh look, neither is big brother!

Yes, J2 tasted it. No, it wasn't toxic. We used washable tempura in 3 different colors. J2 wasn't telling if the red tasted different than the green!

J1 didn't taste it, but had as much fun painting his hand, the paper plate, the newspaper and an extra paper as he did the picture frame!

Here are the masterpieces laid out to dry on plastic wrap. I did fill in a couple spots so the frame wasn't showing, and I painted the inside and outside edges.

J1's frame has more streaks because he actually brushed the paint on.

J2's frame has a sponge effect because he patted the frame with his brush. I added a coat of poly and wrote their names, ages and the date on the back with permanent marker.

Here's the finished product!

Aren't they adorable?! (Yes, I see that I need to center the above picture!)

Here's a cost breakdown:

frames: $1 each

paint: already on hand

poly: previously owned

5X7 pictures: Kodak kiosk at CVS, $2 each (I know, I could have done better for 5X7s, but I love the quality of Kodak pictures and didn't have time to order from their website which is cheaper than the kiosk option.)

subtotal: $3 each

grand total for gift: $6

This will be a project for more family members in the future, you can count on that! I know they will love it. I do!