More Belly Bid-ness

So apparently Mike and I aren't the only ones excited about my growing belly.

Observe:

Haha, Winston decided to use it as a pillow the other night while we were on the couch watching TV :)

I'm also excited to share something I created using my 5-month photo...I turned it into a silhouette :)

    

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I love it!

Then I pulled out a frame from my stash, spray painted it royal blue, and bought a panoramic style white mat...



...and I was going to use it in the nursery's gallery wall of other photos.



But this pic is extra special to me and I wanted it to have a spot of its own.

So, to the left of the window, I hung a small shelf I already had and set it up there along with a cute rubber zebra ($6 with a 40% off coupon at Michael's) and wooden giraffe (which I already had from my years of collecting giraffes):

And speaking of giraffes, I had this guy for quite some time too, but I felt he needed some sprucing up in the form of bold, blue paint:

Remember what he used to look like (below) when you saw his lower half in this post and he was sporting the first blue outfit I bought in this post?

 

Yep, now he's a glossy royal blue and sits under the silhouette (whose frame is spray painted the same color blue):

Ain't he quite the looker? haha. Very striking, indeed, if you ask me :)

So now that side/corner of the nursery looks like this:

And to think, only a few months ago it was looking like this!

Haha, it's hard to believe that is the same room.

I'm soooooo in love with how this room is turning out! And I'm getting more and more excited to bring our little man home to his very own space. It's the last day of January...which means it's February...which means he'll be here in about 4 months - I CAN'T WAIT people!! :)



Wonder Wall

**First off, a major THANK YOU to my peeps who chimed in on my last post (via comments and text messages) with their votes on which variation of book ledges they like for the nursery. Hubs and I have decided what to do and I'm mucho excited to share the results in an upcoming post! :)

Since placing the dresser/changing table along the wall to the left of the nursery's doorway, I've been dreaming of what to hang on the wall above it:

Gallery walls have always been a fav of mine (heck, I've done 2 of them in my house already - one here and one here), plus my inspiration nursery had a photo gallery I liked as well:

I really appreciate the aesthetic of that black and white photo scheme, but to do a photo gallery in my future son's nursery I wanted to use it as an opportunity to pump some color into the room - namely greens, blues, greys, and some white to balance all that color out. In some of the frames, I wanted to use a few animals you might find in the jungle or zoo since that is also a theme I chose for the nursery.

So I set to work finding some art that would compliment my color scheme and some frames to go along with it. It took a period of about 2 weeks of gathering photos and frames (and painting or staining them) here and there when I had time after work and on weekends.

I'm reeeeeally happy with what I ended up with!

Here's the reveal:



Want a closer look? SURE THING!



Aside from making me smile every time I look at it, another good thing about this project was that it was C-H-E-A-P! All the artwork and frames/mats were either free (already had on hand) or bought cheap with a coupon from Michael's.

Here's a break-down for you of what the pics/items are:



 1- An oversized metal safety pin:



I bought this on sale from Ballards a while back when I saw my inspiration nursery had one and loved it. Plus it's a nod to our plan to cloth diaper our little ones. And, although cloth diapers are SO different nowadays, safety pins were an essential part of the cloth diapering days of yore :)

2- A hungry, hungry hippo (I LOVED that game as a kid) with two little blue birdies on his back :)

He looks a little forlorn, but maybe that's because he IS hungry...? haha. I think he's adorable all the same :)

3- Winston, our first baby boy...of the canine kind :)

4- An amiable alligator, or cordial crocodile...I can't tell which he is :)



I found that pic on the interweb :) It had an empty word bubble but I opened the image in Paint and typed in the text you see in a cool, grey font. I had the mat (it was white) and painted it with a 79-cent tube of lime green craft paint from Michael's. I LOVE the punch of color it gives to the wall amidst the rest of the pics in the gallery.

5- The elephant in the room:

It's hard to tell in the photo, but in person you can see that this photo's print has a cloth texture look to it. It's like the elephant was made out of t-shirts or something (the sleeve making up the trunk). I thought it was really neat! I threw it in a silver frame I already owned (flower on the side of it and all) and called it a day :)

6- Rubber Duckie, you're the one!



I took the photo above while its frame was drying (I painted it royal blue), but you can see it up in the reveal picture near the top of the post. I bought this inexpensive print with a coupon (it was $7.99 before the coupon), again from Michael's, and immediately loved all the colors it contained!

7- A printed poem:



The poem starts with "Children are sweet miracles sent from God above..", and describes what blessings they bring to our lives. It was actually already in this frame from my childhood bedroom, but on a different piece of pink and green paper. I re-typed the poem in white on a blue background and kept the old one tucked behind it when I put it back into the same frame. I think it's cool how the art will serve children of 2 generations, and maybe more in the future...? That would awesome - I love traditions like that :)

8- A yet-to-be-filled frame :)

I painted this Pottery Barn frame (bought for .50 at a yard sale) in a robbins egg blue craft paint I already had in my paint stash. I think I'll fill it with a picture of a little monkey to continue the jungle animal theme.

9- A corn husk starburst mirror:



I love, love, love this mirror! I bought it for less than 10 bucks at Christmas Tree Shops about a year ago and it hung in our bedroom. Glancing at it the other day I decided it fit better in the babe's room - it reminds me of a lion's mane, don't you think?- It's one of my favorite items on the wall! :)

10- A blue hippopotamus:

Another hippo, this time blue in color, not in mood :) He fit perfectly in this mini black frame I won at my cousin's bridal shower. I love shower those games, haha!

11- Winston's schnoz:

This is one of my all-time favorite photos of Winston. It's an extreme close-up of his super sniffer :) And hey, he's grey, wearing a blue collar, and it's in a white frame - color scheme check, check, check! haha

12-  A giant giraffe:



Okay, he's not so giant (he's in one of the smallest frames on the wall, haha) but in real life these giants are one of my favorite animals. I've collected anything and everything giraffe since I was in high school. I don't know the reason for my obsession but I just love these ginormous and surprisingly gracelful anomalies God put on this earth. This guy is in another Pottery Barn frame (same yard sale snag for .50!) and this time I painted it in the same green I used on the alligator mat (#4 above).

13- The coolest elephant print I've ever seen:

Rounding out the gallery wall is this awesome elephant print I found online. I love the blue hues and the rough texture the sketch evokes - elephant skin isn't the softest, you know :) In this photo I had it under a home-made mat but it wasn't working (it got ripped in a corner and see that weird thing it's doing pressed against the glass on the right?) So I picked up a wider, 8x10 mat from (you guessed it) Michael's with a coupon and it's much nicer the way that one frames it up.



So that's my latest creation and finished project for the nursery (technically I guess it'll be finished when I fill the blue frame, haha).

I like that our son will have lots of interesting things to gaze at (besides Mommy and Daddy, of course!) to keep him curious and entertained during diaper changes. And those three lowest-hung frames will soon get decked out with child-proof wall adhesives on the tops, sides, and bottoms of the frames - you know, so it won't be dangerous when those curious hands reach out to try and touch his animal friends :)

Oh, and that little lamp to the right of the changing pad (which I mentioned here two weeks ago) was a part of my frame painting spree. I've had this little lamp forever and the old shade used to be a dingy white. So I painted it using the same green craft paint as the alligator mat and giraffe frame...and I still have some left over - what a great return on 79 cents! haha. The base used to be silver and I vamped it up by spray painting it a glossy white.

I'm diggin its fresh, new look :)

So anyone else on the gallery wall bandwagon? What interesting things have you hung above your child's changing station? At one point I thought about making a mobile. Do tell!

Nursery Book Ledges

Hello! I'm back today with some more nursery pics and ideas.

I'd like to have an area of the nursery that can hold the many books I plan to read to our little squirt before bedtime. But the room is on the small side (not tiny, but cozy) so a I think a bookshelf would take up too much valuable floor and visual space, and would make the room feel congested and cluttered.

So, as the title of today's post suggests, I'm envisioning building book ledges on this portion of the wall, to the right of the closet door:



 *Those spots on the wall are reflections from some things I just hung and will show you another time :)

I thought maybe I could get away with using that little stand you see sitting there under the chair rail, and keep books in a crate or basket. But the more I'm living with the stand there, the more cluttered it feels. It's just an awkward spot since it impedes a bit on the opening and closing of the drawers of the dresser it sits near.

In the words of Full House's Uncle Joey, I need to "Cut. It. Out."....of the picture. So I did...using my computer's Paint program :)

So to get some shelving ideas I was purusing Ana White's web site and found this simple, inexpensive, and cute-as-all-get-out solution! 

On the same site, I found the building plans and this AWESOME inspiration photo, with which I instantly fell in love:

Isn't that a GREAT idea for displaying kids books? It's visually appealing (like artwork), while being super functional since it doesn't take up floor space and makes it a snap for kids to easily find and pick out a particular book they're in the mood to read!

So I could simply (and afordably!) do the same treatment to this open wall:



I dabbled with the Paint program some more to help me see it before I complete it. I came up with 4 variations, but am having trouble deciding which I like best...

Variation 1 (a few shelves just above the chair rail): 

Variation 2 (extend the shelves below chair rail):

Variation 3 (shelves just above chair rail but extended right towards the corner):

And Variation 4 (shelves filling entire space above AND below chair rail):



Here's where I call out to you, my fine friends, for a little help...

HELP!

I just don't know which version I should go with. If you could tell me in the comments section below which variation you like best it'll help me finally pull the trigger on buying the lumber and getting to work! :) Thank you in advance for taking time to vote!









And The Award Goes To....

In light of this morning's announcement of this year's Academy Awards nominees, I thought I'd do my spin on some similar categories...Full disclosure, all my nominations are for a certain canine. Surprised? Nope, didn't think so :)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand here we go!

Best Film...on the front storm door:

Best Documentary...of what Winston does all day long:

Best Actor...pretending to look more bad-a$$ than he is:

Best Action:

Best Comedy:

Best Stoic Stare in Into the Abyss:

Best Actor in Playing it Sly:

Best Art Direction, Personal Space:

Best Nail-biter:

Best Visual Effects:

Best Royal Picture ("William and Kate who?"):

Best Drama:

Best Sound Mixing:

Best Suspense:

Best Profile:

 Best Actor in a Horror:

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Best Animation:

Best Costume Design:

Best Smile-Inducing Picture:

Okay, okay...that last category might've been made up :) but whaddya think? Do you agree with my nominations?

I think they're right on cue...pun intended ;)

Happy Tuesday all!