A place to (eventually) rest her head

Here is my babycakes’ nursery!  We finished it about 3 days before she was born.  Actually it still needs blinds in the windows, so it’s not actually complete.  And I’d like a rug for the floor too.  So never mind.

When we moved in, the walls in this room were already a light green, so I decided to work with the color rather than repaint (since we already were doing so much painting when we first moved in).  I also at first thought I’d be using the blue chair from Little Honey’s room, so I searched for fabric that had blue and green in it, but also had a romantic, feminine feel to it.  I decided on a color scheme of light blue, light green, and pink.

I love how much of this room is handmade.  The bedding fabric is from Amy Butler’s Love collection.  I made a crib skirt, bumper, blanket, slip covers for the chair, recovered the ottoman, basket inserts, and a change pad.  One of my favorite aspects of the room is the light fixture from Ikea.  Every little girl needs a chandelier in her room, right?

This dresser used to be my mom’s back in the day, and wasn’t getting any use at my parents’ house anymore, so they handed it down to us.  We painted it white with a light blue top and replaced the hardware.  This was the last thing we finished in the room and I was so excited to get it finally set up.  The white dress was the gown Little Honey wore for her baptism, and I am hopeful that Babycakes can wear it too.  The “artwork” on the shelf (which is from Ikea) was made by little honey.  It’s simple water color paint on canvas.

This bench, under the window, was made by my dad for LH’s nursery.  The baskets have toys and a changing station (which we really keep downstairs), and have the fabric inserts in them to keep them looking cohesive with the room and less bland and plain.  I recovered the cushions on the bench too.

The glider used to look like this:

It used to be my Grandma’s, and my parents were all set to throw it away when we arrived for a weekend visit.  My dad and hubby fixed it up and took several cans of white spray paint to it, and I recovered the cushions.  Voila!

The ottoman was free at a yard sale from a friend of mine.  I removed the old cover and used a staple gun to attach the new fabric.  I made a pillow for the glider also.

You can see some of the wall “art” in this picture better.  The flowers in the frames over the glider I made myself.  I used a paper punch, card stock, and a glue stick to make them.  Very easy.  Over the crib, I took embroidery hoops, which were just $1.50 each, and added fabric in the room’s colors, and hung those too.  Well, really, I just told Hubby where to hang them.

The last part of the room isn’t totally finished but I will show you what we do have there.

It looks really blah so far.  We found a mirror at a yard sale and painted the frame, and hung it (very securely) at a height where BC will be able to see it once she is more mobile and aware.  I have some frames which I plan to fill with some newborn pictures to hang on the wall above the mirror also.

I’m really happy with how the room turned out!  I will admit, it turned out a little more… flowery… than I think I imagined it in my head.  Maybe because I used flowery fabric?    When it comes time to transition it into a big-girl room I’ll tone down the flowers.  But I also like the idea of a romantic type of feel for a baby girl nursery.

One other thing I am proud of?  This room cost less than $150 to put together.  The crib we already had and was a gift from my grandma when LH was born, the glider, dresser and ottoman were free (from my parents / grandma), the bench was hand-made by my dad, and all the bedding and artwork was hand-made by me.  The only things we bought were the fabric, light fixture, curtains, and shelf (plus the embroidery hoops, and the $3 mirror).  Go us!

And, after all that work to get it ready before she was born, the only thing she has used the room for so far is for some diaper changes.  She still sleeps in our room, which we planned on before she was born, so I’m not sure why I felt such a rush to get everything ready.  Blame the nesting instinct.  At least when she’s ready to move to her crib she’ll be a stylish baby going to bed!

Newborn Style

I found a couple of plain white onesies at a yard sale for 25 cents each, so I got to work.  These are super easy but I think they are really cute!

Every baby needs a monogram.

A corsage onesie!  With…

what every baby girl needs!  ruffles!!

On the go with Baby

For the last 2 months or so, I have been getting my nesting instinct on.  Actually, I don’t think it ever left after my last pregnancy.

One thing I knew I wanted to do, even before I got pregnant, was to make a car seat cover.  I had of course seen the ones done by Dana at Made last year and was inspired!  Of course hers look so nice so I wasn’t sure where to begin.

Well, I did know where to begin.   It was with this ugly car seat we had from when LH was a baby.  I never liked the look of it, even when we got it.  It came with the jogging stroller that I wanted, which was why I chose it.  (LH never liked it either and let us know every time she was strapped in.  haha.)

Ahhh!!  So ugly!!!  it’s seriously like mud brown with orange.  It had to go.

What I did was lay it down on the fabric I had chosen to cover it with, and cut pattern pieces based on the existing car seat color.  I then sewed them together so I had a new cover, and then sewed the new cover directly to the old one using double fold bias tape.  Apparently it is not recommended to completely make your own– something about the thickness of the padding versus the shoulder straps, etc (not recommended to adjust the padding, in other words), so I figured that by simply sewing cotton to the existing cover wouldn’t adjust it too much.  Plus, it ensured a perfect fit.

I did just use plain cotton on this.  I looked at corduroy and flannel and other heavier fabrics, but I didn’t see anything I really liked (especially since this was an experiment, I didn’t want to get anything to fancy).  I figured babies aren’t in these little bucket seats too long anyways so durability wasn’t too big a deal to me.

Anyways, it ended up being not as hard as I was afraid it would be.  I do still need to make the visor, but I figured I would go ahead and post this while I have the pictures.

Baby can ride in style now!

for the coffee table

This was just a quick little project, that I actually did a while ago, but just took a picture recently.

What is it, you may ask?

Why, it is a stylish little coaster!  Can’t you tell?

It was actually a silver picture frame that I spray painted gold (since gold goes better in my living room), and added scrapbook paper to the inside.  I made 2 of them.  I hot glued some felt to the corners to keep them from scratching the table just in case.  Sometimes I go a little crazy and change out the paper (for Christmas, or if I get bored) for a new look.  And, it keeps my coffee tables clean.

Anyways I think they are cute.

Furniture Refashion

I was so inspired by my bedroom set makeover that I wanted to try it for Little Honey.  We had a little white cupboard (actually it was an old kitchen hutch) that we used as a changing table, but were given an old 4 drawer dresser from her Grandma (it used to be her Daddy’s when he was a baby) to use.  So, we got to work.

This (obviously) is the before pics.  Love the drawer pulls!!

Little Honey put on her painting clothes and helped out.

The finished product!!  The colors for her new room are going to be aqua / turquoise, bright pink, with some apple green, so I can’t wait to see it all come together.  First things first: new wall color!!!  We never painted when we moved in and now I wish we had.  It will happen.

The bottom edge is my favorite part of the dresser:

I think it adds the right amount of feminine touch.

I love taking something old and unused (this one had been sitting in the basement for years) and giving it new life with just a coat of paint!  I think it makes such a difference and gives me a sense of accomplishment, not to mention this dresser is now one of a kind.

A different kind of refashion

A couple of months ago, we were snowed in for the weekend.  Again, I know.  Anyways, I had been suffering from first trimester fatigue / last of motivation / laying on the couch all the time, and my bedroom was a complete, overwhelming mess.  I could not even see the top of my dresser.  So, I mustered up some strength and cleaned it up.   It looked okay.

I said it was clean but not immaculate!  We got this bedroom set when we were married 7 1/2 years ago.  The trunk at the foot of the bed came separate (it was a birthday gift from my husband one year).

Not sure why the drawers aren’t shut.

Anyways, we took a look at our bedroom set and realized we really didn’t like it.  Mainly, the stain of the wood really isn’t our style, so, we decided to refashion our bedroom set.  We set up shop in the garage.

Complete with lamps and space heaters (it was February, after all– actually we started on Valentine’s Day!  how romantic).  We sanded and primed and painted 2 coats, and…

Nice, huh?!?  We love how it turned out.

We also got new knobs.  Our old ones were wood, but I wanted something different and found glass (acrylic) knobs for about $1.20 apiece online from a hardware store in Indiana.  They arrived within just a couple of days.

We painted the mirror, but I didn’t really like it, so we found a new one at Kirkland’s Home for only $30!  I love how the paint makes the furniture look somewhat modern, yet the glass knobs and the mirror give it a vintage / antique vibe.

The last thing we did was paint the trunk.  I wanted to paint it a lighter color because I thought otherwise it would be too much dark in a not-very-large space (we have a rather small bedroom).  I decided on a very light blueish gray, and it of course took a couple of tries of different paint colors to get the right shade.  The trunk paint color is called “Abracadabra”, I assume because of the magical transformation it contributed to in our bedroom.  The furniture paint is called “fired earth” and is a very dark brown / black color with a hint of gray.

The bed linens we got at Ikea last summer, so our bedroom has had a total transformation since then!  I switched out a couple of other things (like the eucalyptus on the dresser and the lamp on the nightstand) with things I already had elsewhere in the house.  And, best of all, it was basically a whole new bedroom set for the cost of paint and supplies, plus the mirror and knobs.  There may be a little transformation yet to come as I am trying to decide what would look best above the bed.  I haven’t decided yet.

In honor of the Feather Prince

In honor of the Feather Prince being eliminated from Project Runway the other week (I know!  So sad!!), I made 2 more tops for my fall wardrobe.  (One is for Fall Wardrobe: Vacation edition, which will be an upcoming post.)  Anyways, here’s the first.

When I first tried it on, I thought it was kind of a clown collar meets Sir William Raleigh.  But then the longer I wore it, the more I realized that it was actually AWESOME.  I totally love it.  It’s a little dramatic but just right for a plain white  top.  Also works well under a cardigan.  It was a long sleeved T shirt from Target that I cut into 3/4 sleeves, and then took cotton jersey (an old T shirt of husband’s) to do the ruffle.

And yes, I voted!

Here is the other top, which is part of Fall Wardrobe: Vacation Edition.

Sometimes I don’t love the material I choose for my shirts, but I REALLY like this one.  It’s an organic cotton and is really soft, and I love the color.  You can’t really tell from the way it ended up, but I did a sort of notched neckline (straight across and then into the V towards the middle, if that makes sense), but with the ruffle on it it ended up looking more like a regular V neck.  Unfortunately, the fit on this one isn’t great– I must have cut it small somehow and it ended up being too tight in the hips, so I cut vents into the sides.  It’s a little longer so it fits kind of like a tunic.  Anyways, I really like it.

So no matter what they say on Project Runway, I LIKE ruffles!

My Favorite Shorts

When I am not either a. taking care of the Little Honey b. working at my Day Job c. working on my fall wardrobe / gifts / sewing etc d. watching Project Runway / Glee / HGTV e. cooking and cleaning and etc and oh yeah f. spending time with Husband, I am

Marathon Training.

Oh yes, I am crazy.  But it is really fun.    My race is in 3 weeks.  With the exception of this past week, when I was laid up with some tendonitis type of inflammation in my foot, my training has been going well.  I think for almost all my long runs I’ve worn the same pair of shorts.  The thing with running 15-20 miles is that one needs a number of things with oneself, particularly one’s cell phone and Power Gel / Gu etc.  One little key pocket is not enough.  I had a problem to solve.  Enter… the extra pocket(s).

I know, it was really involved and complicated but I managed to pull it off!

Sweet.  Enough for 20 miles!  too bad it’s getting cold out and I won’t be able to wear these much longer.  I guess I’ll be sewing pockets into my leggings and long pants.

I’m a little late to the party

Okay, I know it is the middle of August… but we’ve had such a mild (relatively speaking) summer here this year that I haven’t felt the need for immediate cool breezy summer tops.  Until last week!  So I quick stitched up this:

It’s Rae’s Ruffle Top! I found the yellow fabric in the “nursery” section at JoAnns and I just thought it was so pretty!  I have basically zero yellow things in my closet.  It’s time to branch out.

I gathered the top instead of pleating it.  I also didn’t do the arm divots, but wish I had.  (I had to fold over the chest band under the arms so it wouldn’t ride up too high.)  I also cut it out according to the directions– I tried VERY hard to follow all the directions– and it ended up too big.  I had to take in the chest band (not sure how that came out too big since it was based on my measurements) and also the shirt itself.  I feel like when shirts are too flowy I get swallowed up in them (I’m not all that tall), so I usually take in the sides a bit.  Anyways, I really like this one.  It wasn’t too hard to put together and I think it’s cute and different from a lot of what is in my closet (i.e. T shirts, and more T shirts).

Speaking of T shirts, I did these 2 refashions a few weeks ago:

Purple Ruffle Top

White corsage top

No sooner had I finished these that Alexis, one of the blogs I read, also got really into doing T shirt refashions too!  Both of these were made from plain long sleeved T shirts from Old Navy and Banana Republic.  I love a shirt that has a little detail on it.

Except: I think I’ve figured out what the problem was, but what gives with sewing with jersey??  I like to finish the hems at the arms and when I sew them, especially on the white top, it got totally stretched out and then I needed to adjust and take in the armpits!!  I think I need to add interfacing or a stay-stitch to the arm holes from now on.  Maybe that is a given that I just didn’t know.

Anyways, right now I’m working on a top from a pattern that my friend gave me.  It’s turning out cute and is my first time sewing in a zipper!  Wish me luck.

Here’s the white corsage top in action, with my Little Honey:

Look at that little baby!!!!  She is the best!

It’s a Refashion Extravaganza!

Here’s a few refashions…

So how did this–

Turn into this?

Exhibit A: Lei Neckline Tanktop.

I “needed” a black tanktop but wanted something a little nicer than a plain neckline, so I found a tutorial for a Lei Neckline by Kate at Curiositys. Cute, right?

And now I have a black tank top!

Exhibit B:

A tanktop and shorts for Little Honey!  I used the same neckline from the original shirt and cut it into a tank.  The shorts are simply an elastic waist and I used the bottom hem of the shirt as the bottom hem of the shorts (so less hemming for me).  It fits her well and is really comfy for her too.  She’s worn it to the beach and for back yard play.  It also works well for yoga.

downward facing dog

And finally, my personal fave, Exhibit C: Big Booty Shorts

Look at my little honey!!!  Look at her face!

LH often wears cloth diapers.  As an interesting side note, she’s going on 15 months old and is just now growing out of her 9 mo clothes– but only when she wears cloth diapers!  To accomodate her occasionally bigger booty, I had to quick stitch her up some new shorts, also out of an old T shirt.  They are also simple knit jersey so really comfy.   They have an elastic waist.  They are a bit big in the leg since I purposely made them bigger in the butt, and they are too big for her to wear with disposables, but look how cute she is!

I added a little pocket on the back, but I don’t think it looks all that cute so I may pull it off and add a little patch or applique or something.  But maybe LH can keep her treasures in that pocket for now.

I still have a few more shirts that will be refashioned!  Stay tuned!