Wordless Wednesday: Meeting of the Minds

Nursery: Cost Breakdown

Part of what I love about my third little guy's nursery is that it didn't cost me much to put together. Time, yes. Money, no. Except for the board and batten, I used what I had around the house to make this a beautiful NEW space for Baby.

You could claim this was the third time I've put a nursery together, so of course I had everything on hand. But I didn't! This nursery is completely different from the rooms my other boys had. The only thing that's the same is a sweet little rocking chair (given to us), a small bookshelf (built by my dad when I was five) and the crib (given to us for our firstborn).

Enough gabbing. Here's the illustrated breakdown.

Bless you if you took the time to read all of those scribbles! To summarize, I guestimate that the board and batten cost around $75 and the paint for the crib was about $10 more. I refinished the dresser and vanity last March and would guess that project to cost about $15 for supplies (if you don't count the whole gallon of paint or primer because I didn't use it all). 

So about $100? Not bad!

Just a few more things: I LOVE picnik.com. These pictures were much darker before I edited them. The edits didn't always keep the blue its original hue, however. I would say the true blue hue -ahem- is most accurately represented in the closet picture and the one with the chair. Also, if you look closely at the hardwood floors, you'll see they're in TERRIBLE shape. That's all going to be fixed next week! I'm so excited!

And last but not least, if anyone is still reading (thanks, Mom!), I was contacted today about featuring this nursery online portion of a baby magazine! I'm honored!

Ok, time to tuck my little guy in for a nap in that same nursery!

House of Grace

   

Inspiration Files: Open Shelving

There's something about open shelving that makes my heart jump. It always manages to catch my eye. There are about a million and six examples out there, between blogs and design websites. Here are a few of my favorites.

My Home Ideas (I think!)

Some kitchens rely only on open shelves instead of having upper cabinets.

A Country Farmhouse (blog)

House Beautiful

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman (blog)

 I love the simplicity of Emily's kitchen and the beadboard behind the shelves.

Jones Design Company (blog)

Junkin' Junkie (blog)

Better Homes & Gardens / My Home Ideas

My Home Ideas

Cottage Living

My Home Ideas

Some kitchens have a mix of shelving and cupboards without doors.

Flea Market Trixie (blog)

The Lettered Cottage (blog)

Our Vintage Home Love (blog)

Perfectly Imperfect (blog)

Buckets of Burlap (blog)

I'm not sure what we'll end up with in our kitchen. 

What's in yours? What inspires you?

On a different note, I joined the BIG blogroll. What a great idea! If you're a blogger, head over and check it out.

Have a great week!

Family Art

This kind of family art is all over blogs right now, but I just love the idea and had to copy! I'm so glad I did!

I used a picture frame I already owned, scrapbook paper from J1's baby book, and chipboard letters that I painted blue.

I also painted the mat for both of these frames.

I put together black and white pictures of each of my boys and finally framed that as well.

  

 I'm hoping to put together a gallery wall using black, white and blue. 

In other news, I'm guest posting for Nikki at Thrifty Decorating today! Thanks, Nikki. And my Nursery Tour was featured at Delightful Order! Yay!

Have a great weekend!

How NOT to Make a Pennant Banner

Pennant banners are all the rage. From nurseries to cake toppers, everyone is making one. Here I've put together a post on how NOT to make your very own!

1) Start by finding some fabric. I intended to use each of these receiving blankets but couldn't bring myself to cut them all up. I only sacrificed one.

 I'm not sure why, cuz I don't use receiving blankets. I've had three babies and I'm still not sure what receiving blankets are for! Not for warmth--much too thin. Not for swaddling--not big enough for my huge babies... What ARE they for? 

By the way, this set of adorable blankets was a gift, thereby making this project FREE.

2) Without researching, planning or giving it much thought, cut triangles out of your chosen fabric.

3) Keep cutting, willy-nilly, until you're tired of cutting. I ended up with eight triangles. Remember that. 

4) I opt not to properly trim the edges or to make my pendants double-sided. This is art! For a baby's room! That I'd been working on for four months! Enough already!

5) Grab your eight little flags and head down to the sewing machine. Mine is in our unfinished basement. I had to duke it out with a cricket for the right to use my machine!!!

6) Rummage through the drawers full of your Grandma's sewing supplies and thank your lucky stars that there is some edging material. From the 80s. Seriously. Ribbon would have worked too.

7) Neglect to take a picture of the date on the package so you have no way to prove that you are stash-busting from the 80s!

8) Sew a very sloppy zig-zag stitch to attach the flags to the edging strip.

9) Take a poorly lit picture of your inherited vintage Elna sewing machine. 

10) Decide that the banner is too wrinkly and bust out the Downy Wrinkle Releaser. Why iron when you don't absolutely have to?

11) Grab a chair to hang your banner with thumb tacks. 

12) Realize it's not centered and try again.

13) Count your flags and wonder why there are only six. Didn't you cut out eight?

14) Decide it doesn't matter!

15) Find the missing flags a day later 

16) Debate whether to get the chair, climb up, unpin, take everything to the basement, rip out some of the zig-zags and add the two additional flags is worth it. 

17) Decide you can decide later.

18) Meanwhile, enjoy your pendant banner!

See a full tour of this nursery!

Wordless Wednesday: What Makes My Heart Melt

Photo by Noelle

Tuesday Tip

Want to see something cool?

Nasty junk cooked onto my stove.

(Blurry picture--sorry!)

Baking soda mixed with water to make a paste.

Said paste rubbed into nasty junk on cooktop.

ahhhh...Clean cooktop with no stinky Oven Off spray!

(Can you see my hands and camera?)