Tiny Prints

One of the many reasons I love blogging is that it is my own very public, but very permanent journal.  A few weeks ago, I was looking back over some of my earliest posts and came across this one about the things I did/didn't do to document Colton's precious newborn days.  Luckily, I read it when I did because one of the things I regretted not capturing with Colton were his tiny hand and foot prints, and I was already in danger of repeating the same mistake with Levi.
But have no fear...immediately upon reading my own former post, I took to the Internet to come up with a fun way to document Levi's little prints for eternity.  I didn't really want to do a standard "print," but was instead drawn to the idea of framing a fabric version of the prints.  At first I figured I would just do it myself, but then I found Anna's Etsy shop (Something Sewn if you're interested) and knew she could do a much better job than I ever could...
So, I traced Levi's hand and foot, sent them to her, and a few weeks later she sent me this (well, minus the frame...I spray painted that myself):

How cute (and tiny!!!) is that?  Wanna see it in his room?

Anna was sooo nice to work with, so if you have any sewing needs, contact her!  

NURSERY REVEAL!!!

Guess who has a completed nursery?!? This girl!!!  Well more appropriately Baby X does (who actually has a name as you will probably discover if you even glance through these pictures)!  After months of planning, I am happy to report that all pieces are in place, pretty much just as I had anticipated (certainly shows how worthwhile it is to plan these things out in advance...and to have Pinterest available for inspiration!).  Ready for the pics?

As usual, a lot of elements in the room were DIYed in some way, gifts, or recycled from use in Colton's nursery, so we really spent very little on the room.  Here is a source list, though, in case you're curious where certain things came from.

• Bookcase: IKEA Expedit
• Piggy Bank: Toys R' Us
• Hand print art: DIY
• Clothespins: Ballard Designs (spray painted by yours truly)
• Crib: Colton's Nursery (originally Babies R' Us)
• Bedding: Carousel Designs (all gifted)
• Mobile: Carousel Designs (gifted again!)
• name/frame: DIY, letters from craftcuts.com
• Rug: Colton's nursery, originally from Target
• Curtains: Colton's nursery, embellished with yellow pom-pom trim by moi
• Table: purchased at Target a couple years ago (for $15!!! still one of my best finds ever!), painted white
• glider: Colton's nursery
• pillow: recycled from old guest room, Target originally
• throw blanket: recycled from old guest room, CB2 originally
• canvases: DIY
• lamps: Target, painted and shades recovered
• dresser: Colton's nursery (originally IKEA)
• Changing Table top: Colton's nursery (originally Land of Nod)
• Changing Pad Cover: Little Owl's Nest Etsy shop
• Mirror: DIY of yore
• Lanterns: Luna Bazaar

Pilgrimmage

Tomorrow, I will be embarking on a mega trip of sorts.  True, the distance is only about 2.5 hours away, but this will be my first official visit to the mega blue/yellow box known fondly as IKEA!  For the past few years, my sister was kind enough to fetch me my IKEA necessities on her way home for weekends, but since she has relocated to the beach herself, I guess it is time I put my big girl pants on and make the voyage myself (well, with one of my friends truthfully, but still).
I am honestly a little nervous about this...many people have told me the place is completely overwhelming and confusing.  As usual, though, I have already mapped out certain must-purchases to keep me focused hopefully.
The main purpose of my trip is to come home with 2 of these, one in the dark wood shown for Colton's big boy room and one in white for the baby's room:

I also need to pick up one of these (can you tell I'm a fan of IKEA's Expedit series?) to use as a bench in our "mudroom"....turned on its side of course!

Aside from that, I have scoped out the website and am hoping to come home with a ton of these $2 frames (I have high hopes for a new gallery wall in our living room and needed some cheapo frames to get it going, so fingers crossed):

And I may choose to take some of this fabric home with me as well to possibly use to make some curtains for our living room windows, but I'm going to have to see it in person first:

But I am really hoping that once we arrive at the Sweedish fantasy-land, I will score some of the major finds that I have heard others talk/blog about for years.  Fingers crossed, huh?

Anybody out there have some words of advice for me?  Any conquer-IKEA strategies I should know about?

Nursery Progress

If everything goes according to plan, my newest little man should be here in about 3 months.  I don't know what our problem has been, but we have not made nearly as much progress in his room (or Colton's new room for that matter) as I remember having made in Colton's at this point...and the really scary thing is we didn't even live in our current house until 1 month before Colton was actually born.  I guess it was the excitement of the first child, but I was busy pretty much from day one buying and creating nursery decor.

But this week, I seem to have finally gotten my arse in gear and have made some very small progress.  For one, I picked out some bedding

ignore the blanket...I didn't design one because we bought one with Colton and have never used it!

I actually designed the bedding from this site.  For awhile, I had debated trying to learn to sew and DIY my own bedding, but then I fell in love with the fabrics available there (and a little obsessed with designing different options for a bit) and figured why mess with a good thing.  It's a little pricier than Josh we wanted to spend, but we really don't need much for this child, so I figure why not splurge on something, right?  Plus, I've had a few relatives asking what they could get us, and I really couldn't think of much, so maybe the bedding will strike someone's fancy!

In other nursery news, I also scored some major deals on some lamps for the nursery.  I had envisioned 2 lamps for the nursery in the same shape, but one slightly larger for the reading corner and a smaller one for the changing table/dresser.  In my head, I was going for some sort of tear drop shape.  Well, guess what I found at Target this weekend:

They were on clearance for $7 for the small one and $20 for the big one.  Obviously, the red and black will not work in our nursery, but that's nothing a can of spray paint can't fix.  Yay!

So, it may not be much, but at least we're starting, right?  What do you guys think of the bedding?  Good for a little boy's room?