Saturday, March 6, 2010

Nursery Bits

The hubby helped out with something for the nursery today! While we were out running BORING errands, I mentioned that I really wanted to go by the thrift store to find some kind of stool or ottoman -like piece of furniture because I thought it be really nice to have along with the glider I found on Craigslist months ago (that I have yet to slipcover. oops. I've got time, right?!) Anyhoo, on our way back from all those super dull errands, the hubby spotted a glider and ottoman hanging out on the corner close to our place just waiting to be picked up for free! If you think this is unusual, it's definitely not in the city. People put things out on corners all the time and they always get picked up. He quickly asked me if I was interested and we whipped around the block to pick it up. 

Before:
{the right price gliding ottoman}

This piece is in perfect condition. We were wondering why anyone would put a perfectly working glider and matching ottoman out on the corner, but as we approached it we realized the arm on the glider was completely broken off. The ottoman had a slightly dirty top, but is in fabulous gliding condition. I didn't care what it looked like and as soon as we got home, I set to work on the cover for it. 

After: Ta-da!
{newly slipcovered ottoman!}

Man, it looks wrinkly even though I ironed that fabric about 5 times before finally putting in on. I made a slipcover in a tan twill and white denim piping. It's the same combo of fabrics I'll be using to make the slipcover for the chair you see the hubby sitting in. It's the pink chair we thought was white until we saw it in the light of our house. Either way, fabric changes I can easily deal with. The chair is super comfy and we love it!

If you look at the hubby closely, you can see Rosco sitting in his lap sleeping. Eric and I have been reading children stories to the beanette and I just bought a small collection of books in Spanish. The hubby has been enjoying trying to read the Spanish versions on his childhood favorites and I really love listening to him attempt it. =)

When I mentioned some of the art that's going up on another wall, Maggie was wondering where I got the art and frames. Just thought I'd answer that question and show you something I worked on tonight as well. 


{other collection of art}

Elephant watercolor painting in the back: I bought the painting at a thrift store in San Rafael. It's an original piece in a small collection. I'm not sure who the artist is although I have all that info as well as background on the collection on two slips of paper I inserted into the frame. It's a pain to open that frame, so that's really all the info I have for now. I bought it months ago just because I thought it was beautiful.  The frame I recently purchased from PB. It was their floor model and thus was able to purchase it for $30. I believe they still carry that particular frame, but it's $100. It's fairly large and heavy. 

Birdie La La La print, Girl with Wheat Hair, and Girl with Scarf Print: One of my favorite websites for baby nursery decor inspiration, Spearmint Baby recently mentioned a fabulous source for downloading free art. Feed Your Soul is an art project where artists contribute downloadable prints of their work just to make people smile. Each month a new set of artists donate their art and all you have to do is visit their website, select an image, click to download, and print. I love that site! Well, those three prints I found via Feed Your Soul. The frames are all from Michael's. I've had the white ones for a while, but I just bought the small distressed grey wooden one last week. Oh, and I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the girl with the scarf print. I like it, but it's not working for me right now and it also doesn't fit in that mat.

Bunny painting: This one I just painted tonight on a canvas about the size of a sheet of paper. I bought canvas as a set of two for $5.99 at Michael's. I wasn't sure what I was going to paint on them, but I've been in love with a bunny print from kiki and polly for a while and just felt I had to have it in our baby girl's room. I would have bought their print, but I want a mix of canvas, framed prints, and 3-D materials for the collage of art on the wall. I feel like I've already got a lot of framed art and so I basically just tried my hand at painting their image onto the canvas.  I used acrylic paint and some fabric for the yellow parts of the ears. I am absolutely in love with the way it turned out! Isn't it considered flattery to copy an artist? 

{my version of the fabric eared bunny}

I think I'm going to paint something colorful on the other canvas just to balance out all the color of the bunny painting on the wall. I'm not sure what, but perhaps something geometic. I also want to get a big wooden letter to hang up in the mix. What letter? The baby's first initial; once we pick a name. I'm feeling like I have my top three contenders for the beanette's name. I just hope the hubby concurs. 

2 comments:

estefanick said...

You are AMAZING!!! Wow... I LOVE to ottoman cover and the bunny painting is adorable!!! Great job!! :)

Maggie said...

You truly are amazing. Everything looks so awesome! Thanks for the tip on where to find the downloadable art. I already picked out a cute tree print that I want to hang. Now I just need to buy a frame for it. I'm excited!