A Special Space for My Little Boy

I couldn't wait to move Amélie into her big girl room so that I could put out all the things that I'd been working on for Bean-dos. This past weekend we successfully moved Amélie into her big girl bed, which, ended up needing some little repairs that I'll talk about in a post about her room. So far, so good! She LOVES climbing up the little step stool and just laying in her bed. We've had no problems with her not sleeping. Woo. I'll share more about her room soon.

After getting her to bed on Saturday, I quickly got to work changing the crib back to the regular set-up since we'd converted it into the toddler bed. I wanted to make sure that Amélie knew that wasn't her bed anymore and sure enough, the next day she went in there and was a little surprised and climbed on the side to peek in. She wasn't disappointed and even said, "Baby?" Maybe it actually makes sense to her?!

It took me a few days to get everything I made and bought (mostly thrifted) up and organized, although I'm sure there are little things I'll change before he gets here.  It's all the same furniture that was in Amélie's nursery that I shared when we lived in San Francisco. I basically set it up almost exactly once we moved to San Jose.

Oh, and because I made something I want to share that has his name on it and we're really not keeping it a secret, I'm spilling the bean's name; Sebastian. We're definitely decided on that name. It was really one of three boys names we liked and I think we're going with Gabriel (one of our top three and my brother's name) as his middle name. Yup, he's going to have a long name. My other choice was Julian, but Eric vetoed it because he said he didn't like the way it sounded with Johnson. We love his name and think it goes really well with Amélie's name and sounds great in Spanish, which, is an important factor for me. Oh, and people always ask what his nickname will be. Well, I'm not a fan of nicknames. So I'm not planning on him having one.

Here's Sebastian's nursery!

eric was so proud to have found that little collection of The Hardy Boys at a garage sale and is so excited about one of our kids reading them one day. it's so sweet.

sebastian got a new lamp. the giraffe had an unfortunate painting accident. representing SF, of course. we've joked about driving up there just to have me and the kids born in the same city.

the changing cover I sewed, little wooden bears that are engraved on the back with "Yellowstone 1969," that we found at an estate sale, a fox I painted, and a picture I enlarged from a Golden Book I found at an antique store.

same chair, different pillow, some thrifted art, new store-bought art, and curtains I made.

the larger piece is a needle point.

it's the elephant again

moses basket with bedding I made and the large ruler I stained and painted.

amélie decided her cow should sleep there for now. we've already marked how tall amélie is on the ruler. I hung it up so it's accurate.

the shelf above his dresser with random goodies

do you see gumby?! I loved him.

the bedding I made. you can't tell here, but the pleat in the middle has the houndstooth fabric I used on the curtains. a fun rug i picked up at IKEA and the vintage thrifted afghan that inspired the color scheme.

a boppy cover I sewed with the same fabric I used for the moses basket, same bumpers from amélie's room, some swaddling blankets I dyed and sewed, and the fox I made.

enlarged images from the Golden Book I found at an antique store.

eric even commented on how he got a more "manly" clock. he also said it's a good thing it has large numbers on it that I'll be able to read in the middle of the night. thanks, honey.

i kept that elephant watercolor in here from amélie's nursery because it's perfect in that spot. 

There are still a few of Amélie's belongings that haven't moved over to her room yet, but I still have time. I'm looking forward to taking my time putting all of his little clothes in the dresser, just like I did for Amélie. He has quite a wardrobe that I purchased from the huge baby resale event I went to and sold some things at two months ago. I'm so excited to dress up a little boy. =) I would say we're ready for him, but I can wait. We have lots of things going on until he gets here! Although, my back would say it's ready for him.right.now! pain!

The Nursery: Revealed

After lots and lots of hours spent sewing, painting, a bit of woodworking, and rearranging; I think the nursery is as close to finished as it's going to get. There are still a few more things I'd like to get done and others that I have to purchase. The lighting was almost perfect for taking pictures on Sunday morning, so I couldn't help but take them for the reveal. I hope you like it.

Resource List: Just in case you're wondering...

Glider: craigslist find and slipcover made by me 

Gliding Ottoman: curb and slipcover made by me

Elephant side table: Goodwill

Reading Lamp: Target

Curtains: made by me using fabric from Jo-anns

White frames: purchased at Michael's

Wooden bird on ledge: West Elm

Alphabet Letters: Martha Stewart for Michael's

Linens/Bedding/Pillows: all sewn by me with fabrics from Calico Corners

Bird pillow in crib: Pottery Barn

Dresser and Crib: Ikea

Elephant watercolor: Goodwill find

Frame for elephant: Pottery Barn

Giraffe lamp: Home Goods

Rug: Home Goods

Wooden plaques with knobs: plaques from Michaels and knobs from Anthropologie

Wagon: garage sale find

Zoology book: Anthropologie

Bunny on shelf: Anthropologie

Letter A: Ben Franklin's

Decal-Branches: by Blik found at a store going-out-of-business in town

Birdhouses: Michael's and Jo-ann's

Bunny painting: by me

Hearts in shadow box: by me

Maurice Sendak art: enlarged by me from personal copy of book

Wooden frames above crib: Pottery Barn

Paper garland: made by me

Mirror: found at Ross

White shelves: Ikea

Paint-by-number plate: Anthropologie

Numbered containers: Anthropologie

Wire chair on shelf: Pottery Barn

Clothes on hangers: Baby Gap

Can you tell I love Anthropologie?!

Just for fun, this is what it really looks like. We're getting our car seat installed in two weeks and it's been in the crib for months! The bassinet is waiting for it's stand to arrive and will then be placed in our room. The stroller is just hanging out. 

Hang your Heart Here

How cute are these? Just a sweet little accent for your babe's room.








Get your very own personalized hanger at lila frances on etsy.

Isn't etsy great?!

The Bean Curtains

In a previous post I mentioned I was considering purchasing these (picture below) curtains for the bean's nursery. 

Well...it should be no surprise I couldn't commit. Not because I didn't love them, I do. But, they were just not long enough and they are just a too expensive for me. I was trying to figure out what kind of sewing magic I would have to do in order to make them long enough for our tall windows and ceilings and this just really drove me nuts. I basically came to the conclusion that they were just not going to work. I was out looking for fabric to make alternative window treatments when I came upon the most perfect fabric- a striped yellow/white seersucker. I fell in love and it was decided. I came home, started sewing (I added a layer of crisp white muslin for the back part to add some oomph and block out light), and then realized they needed something else. I used this ruffle tutorial to add those ruffles I loved about the Urban Outfitter curtains. 

The results: 

{5 layers of ruffles at the top!}

{bad lighting, but you get the idea}

{i also made a little curtain for the balcony door with one ruffle}

I love them. One more thing done and another step closer to finishing the nursery!

Alphabet Soup

After a very busy week at work I really wanted to spend the weekend finishing up some nursery sewing projects and just being lazy. I was happy to find out that the hubby felt the same way. No car shopping this weekend, thank goodness. Car shopping is not fun.

While I sewed and crafted, he played games on his ipad and lounged in the glider. That's pretty much all we did yesterday except for lunch with a friend and a movie in the evening. Today was devoted to de-furing (Enzo sheds like it's going out of style) the house/cleaning, a bit of laundry, sewing some more, and finishing up the alphabet!

With the help of the hubby on the ladder, we finished putting up the rest of the letters above the molding on two walls in the nursery. Here's the finished product.

{wall above the door to the balcony}

{wall above the dresser and shelves}

Originally, I thought about hanging them on a ribbon across that same area, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked that idea. First off, I didn't find ribbon I liked. Second, they wouldn't be lined up perfectly across because the tension on the ribbon wouldn't be strong enough to keep them above the molding. So, I decided on a slightly more complicated way of hanging them up. 

Step One:

Cut a piece of Velcro to stick on one side of a clothes pin.

Step Two:

Cut the other piece of Velcro and attach it to a push pin. The push pins are easier to get in the wall, the hole is small, and the head has more area for the sticky Velcro to attach.

Step Three:

Use the clothes pin to hang the alphabet card. Easy as pie. 

Putting them on Velcro also makes it easier to adjust and remove. 

ps. here's a few more pictures of the other projects I finished this weekend. I completed more than these, but I want to save something for later. =) 

The finished glider. It was definitely a lot of work, but it was completely worth it. I'm very pleased with the end result. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for me. I also saved myself a boat-load of money by making them. 

{front view}

{side view}

{back view}

I sewed some blankets using the organic fabrics I'd purchased while under the influence of pregnancy brain. 

{zigzag stitch for the edges on this one}

{funny "H" pattern stitch for the edges of this one}

pps. We picked the bean's first name!! It's a secret. We haven't mentioned this name to anyone. So, it will really be a surprise. Maybe I'll give some clues for guesses.