Nursery on a Budget

We put quite a bit of planning into this little boy's room. We knew we wanted it to be a room that he could grow up with and one we wouldn't have to change every couple years. We're both so happy with how it turned out.

Here are some of the things we did ourselves or found for a great price:

My husband, a photographer, has several old film cameras and decided to take three and spray paint them to fit in the nursery. They turned out awesome and look great in his room.

 

These leaves above the crib were a steal from Urban Outfitters.  We only needed two boxes to make the design. We thought they would be a dark grey color, but it turns out they were way too brown.  So we grabbed our trusty spray paint and painted them all!






I got up the courage to make the crib skirt. I thought it would be a lot harder then it was and was so so happy it wasn't!  I measured the crib on the long side and one short side (no need for a skirt in the back or on the side against the wall!) and measured the fabric from there. The grey fabric I found at JoAnn's on sale and the leaf border fabric I bought about 4 years ago at Ikea. The fabric has velcro on it that attaches to the spring underneath the mattress. This way it can be moved up as the mattress gets moved down.



We found these super cool ornaments at a Crate and Barrel Outlet in Chicago. They were $3 and $4 a piece!



These super cute prints were a great Etsy find!  Check out his store, he has so many fun ones.  The little clothespins holding up the prints we found at Paper Source and of course, spray painted them!





The hot air balloon print can be found here.



The US and Canada prints can be found here.



And the scrabble letter here.

The window seat and pillows were easy to make. I just recovered the window seat that was already there with fabric we got at Ikea. The white fabric used are old curtains we had laying around!





My friend Kristi and I made these prints on her Cricut. They were easy, fun, and oh so cute!



This changing table I actually haggled for a great deal - $40! It's in perfect condition and the right color.  All I did was mod podge scrapbook paper on both shelves and we were good to go. The grey baskets were a STEAL at a Land of Nod outlet for $4 a piece!!





And last but not least, another window seat!  I bought four foam cushions at Hobby Lobby ($5 each) and covered them with the fabric I originally bought at JoAnn's to make curtains. (We decided to go with black out ones instead.)



We can't wait to get this little boy in his room!

Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer - Nursery Love

The nursery is finally complete! We spent all summer - in between re-watching episodes of Gilmore Girls - finishing up the nursery. (This kid is going to know Lorelai and Rory's voice as much as he'll know mine.) So much needed to be done and we really needed these past few months to do it.

There are several DIY projects we did in the nursery that I will post separately, but for now, here is our favorite room in the house:

Knock You Naked Brownies

I just had to share these brownies with you. They are amazing. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love them. I didn't take any of my own photos (I was in quite the hurry to get these in the oven and fridge so we could eat them!) so you'll have to mosey on over to The Pioneer Woman's blog and check out the wonderful step-by-step instructions for this recipe.

Baby Mobile

I would really like to make baby's mobile and have started researching some ideas. Here are a few I have found so far -

Some of these are slightly feminine but any one can be made to suite a little boy.

This one can be found at Gather and Nest. I love it because you don't need to start completely from scratch.





I found this mobile over at Bugs and Fishes. The butterflies can easily be changed to owls, foxes, or other furry little creatures.





I really like how simple (and cheap!) this one is from the Artful Abode.





Spool might just have my favorite mobile yet:

Etsy Love

I love Etsy. There are so many things I want to order before the baby comes!

I love this Diaper Clutch from BarnofColors -

We decided to use cloth diapers, and this wet bag from playfulpeanut would be a perfect addition to a diaper bag!

This diaper bag accessory set by LoveyBabyBoutique is so cool (who knew anything to do with diapers would be cool?!) -

I'm sad I haven't found that perfect diaper bag yet...any mom's out there have one they love? I want one that can be turned into a library bag, grocery bag, etc. when our little boy is potty trained. Neutral colors (grey!) prefered!

Happy 4th of July!

{Lemon cupcakes with a lemon and almond buttercream frosting.}

A Baby Shower

I had my very first baby shower Saturday night and I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that it was going to be in Claire's backyard, planned by her and our good friend Mikaela. The beauty of Claire's transformed yard was amazing. The photos really don't do it justice, but here is a glimpse at our baby boy's beautiful shower -



















Thank you so much Claire and Mikaela, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful shower. You girls are amazing!