Baby Girl Nursery Ideas

The weeks are starting to fly by and we're beginning to put together the nursery for Baby Girl.

Same as when Dylan was an infant, the nursery and guest room will be combined. We have the space in our new house to split them up, but there were a few times when he was little when I really appreciated having a full size bed in the same room. The guest room is larger than our other remaining bedroom and also quieter & darker.

Having an existing room to build off of gave me the inspiration for the colors. The comforter on the guest bed is navy blue. The dresser is one I found on Craigslist a year ago and painted yellow. I've recently acquired a changing table also from Craigslist and painted it the same yellow. Adding navy and coral elements such as the new fabric for the crib bedding to help tie it all together.

I'll share more photos as we make progress. Hoping to start sewing the bedding and new crib rail teething cover this weekend.

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Forest Friends Infant Car Seat Cover

Friends of ours were expecting their first baby next month (in about 2 weeks). She showed up early on Monday - healthy & perfect. Oops in that I hadn't yet shipped the gift! Luckily I had made it already.

They had a car seat cover listed on their registry so naturally I made one instead. I had fun shopping for fabrics. I was trying to find something feminine but not pink overload. This fun forest friends print jumped right out at me. Surprisingly, Dylan also loved it when I showed up with it asking if it was for "our baby." Aww. At the time we still didn't know whether we were expecting a boy or girl so I assured him I would go back after to buy fabric for our baby. (Note to self: still need to do that  - but we have a few months still.)

For the inside I chose a complimentary light green check patterned flannel. Just dark enough to help block a little extra light during nap time.

I packed it up and got it in the mail yesterday. Thankfully, they are in the same city so it should be delivered today - just in time to welcome the new family of 3 home.

PS - thanks to LM for once again letting me use her infant car seat for photographing!

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Baby Girl

So grateful on Monday to hear that our newest little family member is growing and looking totally healthy! Also fun to learn that Dylan was right all along - he's getting a little sister.

Supplies: DHD January blueprint template; Blossom and Claire kits by Karen Funk; Gidget paper pack by Gennifer Bursett; Spring Menagerie collaboration from Design House Digital.

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Our Next Big Project

It seems we always have a project going on around the house. Our latest one is pretty big (well, getting there!) and I'm not referring to our kitchen project.

We've been sitting on a little secret ...

Yes, that would be our newest, tiniest family member. And we have a very excited little boy who is counting down to his new role as Big Brother!

It's going to be a fun 5 more months. We have a LOT to do between now and then. Trying to get a few more things checked off the list including just enjoying our family of 3 and this special time.

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Pink & Peach Shower

Our playgroup is growing by one more little girl and, naturally, we had a nice moms afternoon out for tea. Our theme this time took a little creative thinking … pink for a girl, peach for Georgia peaches (a tribute to her name, Savannah), and lollipops in honor of her older sister's nickname for her "Lolly." Knowing that tea service fills the table, we kept our decorations to a minimum - pretty peach roses added to the existing floral arrangement, rose petals spread across the table, and homemade Oreo lollipops in little buckets for favors.

Alicia made another one of her gorgeous diaper cakes. This one accented with lollipops and onesies in lollipop shapes.

I made the keepsake invite for the mom.

I wish I had taken a better photo, but this gives the idea. Using a free template, Stacey cut the bracket shape for me on her Silhouette. I then printed the outline and text; and finished it off with a peach flower sticker that matched the Oreo lollipop favors.

We also had small bags of flavored popcorn with labels "ready to pop" and jars of candies provided by the mom's sister.

It was a wonderful afternoon for us to celebrate. We're all looking forward to meeting the newest member of our playgroup!

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Owl Baby Blanket

Over the weekend, we celebrated the upcoming arrival of our newest playgroup member and third little girl. Naturally, I wanted to make her a handmade gift. This sweet owl print flannel caught my eye when I was buying tulle for my Halloween costume and I bought a yard on the spot.

A closer look at the fabrics:

I made the blanket similar to how I made Dylan's Cars blanket almost 3 years ago. It still gets a lot of love and hopefully this one will too.

Looking forward to meeting you soon, Little Miss S!

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Crib Teething Rail Cover for 'Little Miss'

I was honored when I was asked to make the crib rail cover for our playgroup's newest member.

I made a slight change from my previous covers and made bias tape from the fabric to add around the edges. I really like how it looked.

Hopefully 'Little Miss' enjoys it too!

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Pink & Pearls Tea Shower

Expecting the second girl to join our playgroup of 10 little ones soon, we were all pink happy and quickly settled on a shower theme of "pink & pearls."

Afternoon tea at the Washington Duke Inn has become a bit of a tradition. My talented friends decorated the table with a diaper cake and sweet little teapot favors.

I made the invite and failed to get a direct photo (oops!). To finish off our theme, we all wore pink and pearls, of course. It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon and went by entirely too fast! Looking forward to having 'Little Miss' join us on a future tea date.

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grow

One of those bittersweet moments in the past week, we took our final photo in front of the giraffe growth chart. I wasn't good about getting these on a monthly basis as I hoped, but we did take several over the last 3 years. Here are the first and last taken at 1 and 38 months respectively:

Supplies: Rocketman kit by Deena Rutter; Blossom kit by Karen Funk; In Stitches - Bright Basics by Robyn Meierotto; 2peas Island Style and Adobe Caslon Pro fonts. Scraplift of Playing Together by editorialdragon at DHD.

Why the giraffe is staying put and why we won't use vinyl wall decals in our next home here.

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Snowflake Baby Shower

Another baby joined our playgroup last week, so naturally we had another baby shower. This time it was just us 6 mamas so we spent a few hours together on Saturday afternoon at a local spa. We started with treatments (massages, facials, etc) and then got back together for the celebration.

Since the party was in early January, we went with a snowflake theme. Rather ironic considering the weather that day was mid-60s and sunny! Our centerpiece was a diaper cake topped with flowers & a large chipboard snowflake.

Knowing our friend was naming her son Mason, we incorporated Mason jars into our design as vases for white carnations (lesson learned: carnations are not in season in early January!) and for drinking glasses. After spotting an idea on Pinterest, Stacey cleverly made "redneck" wine glasses by gluing glass candlestick holders to the bottom of the jars. They made fun party glasses and favors.

To mark whose glass was whose, we attached tags with blue sheer ribbon. The tags were simple white cardstock with a snowflake punched, name handwritten in silver ink and the bottom torn.

We had lots of yummy things to eat ... fresh fruit, peanut butter celery, a cheese platter and some sweets. Allison made these incredible oreo cupcakes topped with snowflakes, of course!

And, as with the last shower, I made a single invite for the mama to add to the baby book.

Supplies - Invite: Recollections white cardstock; Miss Mint's Winter Sparkle kit (snowflake paper); Juice ITC font; Making Memories edge scraper; Autumn Leaves chipboard snowflake; Studio G silver ink; Bazzill cardstock. Other: ribbons, Michaels; Paper Reflections tags; Marvy snowflake punch; Mason jars & candlesticks, Dollar Tree; snowflake placemat, thrift store; snowflake cupcake toppers, Party City; letter blocks, Pottery Barn Kids.

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Custom Infant Car Seat Cover

After sharing my last infant car seat cover, I had not one but two requests! One was for a Twitter friend who has had me sew a few items for her in the past (actually, I was in the midst of a few more when the request came - thanks, A!). She picked a gorgeous fabric by FreeSpirt for the exterior. It has a teal and gray scallop print.

She let me select the interior fabric. I chose another print in the same line with muted tones.

The imagery is fantastic. It has a lovely fantasy scene with a turtle, girl swinging from a tree, boy sitting under an umbrella in the rain, girl chasing butterflies, etc. Since it doesn't show well in any photos I took, here's a thumbnail from the manufacturer's site:

Supplies: FreeSpirit Prince Charming fabric; thread; velcro.

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Infant Car Seat Cover

Another winter baby expected in our playgroup, meant another car seat cover. This time I went with a fun polka dot fabric:

I used the same soft yellow flannel for the inside:

As with the infant car seat cover I made last fall, I again referred to a couple of online tutorials - Sutton Grace: Infant Seat Canopy Cover and Make it Do: Baby Car Seat Cover Tutorial.

Supplies: 1-1/3 yard of each fabric; thread; velcro.

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Little Fairies Stroller Blanket

One of my projects for this week was sewing a stroller blanket to list in my Etsy shop. I've accumulated quite the stash of fabrics in the last year and need to work through some!

This pink flannel called "Little Fairies" was one of those fabrics. Such a cute print. I paired it with a very soft white minky dot fabric.

The overall blanket size is 28" x 30" - thus the "stroller blanket" name as it's just the right size for use in the stroller, car seat, tummy time or even sleeping. It's close in size to Dylan's Cars blanket (also flannel/minky dot) that he's slept with constantly for the last year.

Supplies: flannel; minky dot; thread; ribbon tag.

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first Christmas

Forever playing catch-up on Dylan's album, I got into the holiday spirit a bit this week creating a layout about his first Christmas.

I used the latest digital kit from Sara Schmutz - Jolly. Sara's entire shop at Design House Digital is on sale this weekend so whether it's Jolly or another gorgeous kit of hers that you've been eying, now's the time to shop! And stop by the DHD blog too for chance to win Jolly.

Supplies: Sara Schmutz's Jolly kit; Simply Tiffany Studios 52 Thursday Template No 9; Script MT Bold font.

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Infant Car Seat Cover

When Dylan was little, I used to cover his infant car seat with a receiving blanket when we were out and about. Since he was a summer baby, the lightweight fabric worked well at protecting him from the bright sun, helping him to nap and just plain keeping out nosey people (it's amazing how strangers think they can just stick their face up in your baby's!). The only real downfall was when it was windy and the blanket would blow off.

Knowing that my friend Allison's son is due to arrive in December and colder weather, I decided an infant car seat cover would make a great gift. I used a cotton print lined with a cozy flannel to help keep the little one warm but not too warm as I imagine he'll still get a nice blanket tucked in with him. :)

And it has a pair of ties to secure it to the seat so it won't blow away.

I based my design on a couple of tutorials I found online - Sutton Grace: Infant Seat Canopy Cover and Make it Do: Baby Car Seat Cover Tutorial.

Supplies: 1-1/3 yard of each fabric, thread, velcro.

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Pumpkin Tea Shower

On Saturday my playgroup moms had a shower for our friend Allison who is expecting her second son in mid-December. We really enjoy tea time (Tea & Trucks Baby Shower and Afternoon Tea) and with a small party of 7, decided that an afternoon tea at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham was the perfect setting. Afternoon tea there is elegant on its own, but this was a party so we added a few little fall details with a pumpkin theme.

The place settings were little pumpkins painted in glittery blue spray paint topped with ribbons (credit to Stacey for this incredible idea and making them reality!). Each also had a small tag attached with a ribbon. The tags initially marked each seat but then were used to mark our tea pots so we could easily tell which tea was which.

The seat of honor was designated with balloons.

Alicia worked her magic again and made a spectacular diaper cake that functioned as the table centerpiece as well as a wonderful gift.

The favors were cookies with little pumpkins on them of course! (Lauren is a whiz in the kitchen!)

Finally, the invite. Ok, confession, I only made one and it was strictly made as a keepsake for the little guy's baby album. We're all very much looking forward to meeting him in just a few short weeks! :)

Supplies- Invite : Recollections white cardstock; Script MT Bold font; Micron pens; watercolors; Die Cuts with a View patterned paper.

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First Pediatrician Appointment

Dylan was only 3 days old when we took him to his first pediatrician's appointment. Love how peaceful he looks napping in his seat and clutching his Soothie (he still loves that!) as we waited to be called back.

My inspiration for the page came from last month's Color Swatch Challenge at Design House Digital. I've had this photo pulled for sometime to scrap. The challenge colors were perfect & just the kick I needed to get the page completed. :)

Supplies: Karla Dudley's Breezy paper collection; Carina Gardner's Baby Mine kit; Jen Allyson's Halloween Freebie; Karen Funk's Genuinely You & Butterfly Kisses elements; Janda Everyday Casual font.

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Nursery Rhymes kit

It's new release day at Design House Digital and Sara Schmutz has a gorgeous new kit available called Nursery Rhymes. Get it today at 30% off. The full kit contains 36 papers, 2 alphabets, and 25 elements. Although you could use it for a number of different page themes beyond baby, I used to as an opportunity to dig back two years into my digital photos and scrap about Dylan's early days. :)

My sweet sleeping baby at 9 days old ...

Supplies - Sweet Dreams: Sara Schmutz's Nursery Rhymes and Summer Picnic (stitching only) kits; Commercial Script and Janda Everyday Casual fonts. Based on sketch by Kelly Purkey - September Super Sketches. The gray border around page is for viewing on web only.

First visits with his paternal great grandparents and how he came to get his middle name of 'Walter' ...

Supplies - W: Sara Schmutz's Nursery Rhymes kit; Century Old Style font.

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Edible Paints

Last week I attempted making edible paints. Anything with "edible" in it is good to me so I don't have to worry about either child putting it into their mouth. And anything with "paint" in it is good to Dylan who gets so very excited when he hears that word.

The paint was made up of water, cornstarch and food coloring. The recipe I used came from The Imagination Tree:

Mix 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of cold water together in a large bowl. Bring 4-1/2 cups of water to a boil. Pour in the boiling water one cup at a time into the cold mixture and stir well. Separate into small containers and add liquid food coloring.

It worked well although it made way too much for us (I tried to keep the leftover to use later but it was a bit gross after a couple of days and resulted in a science experiment - yikes!). So if you're doing it for a smaller group, I highly recommend making only 1/3-1/2 the recipe. That said, we had a great time.

One of the things Dylan loves about painting is using the brushes. This time it was a finger painting project (the paint was too thick in my opinion to mess with brushes). The texture and lack of brushes seemed to throw him off a bit at first.

Lily was quite intrigued by the entire thing. She had a good time squishing it through her fingers and smashing it on the paper.

Since I expected this to be messy and the weather was nice, we did our painting outdoors. Dylan sat at his Little Tikes picnic table wearing his art smock. And I put Lily in her Bapron in Dylan's booster seat behind him in the shade. This gave them each their own space to do their art and still interact. Dylan seemed to have the most fun grabbing more paint and putting it on Lily's paper for her to spread.

The texture began to get to Dylan though - he wanted it off his hands.

I set the camera aside and grabbed a piece of paper to give it a shot myself hoping to encourage him a bit more. It worked for a while. Truthfully, I found the texture kind of fun and might just have to make some to play with during their naps one day. ;)

Our completed masterpieces (top - Dylan, bottom - mine, right - Lily):

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Custom Baby Banner

I love getting custom requests. Making any project is fun, but when you are asked by someone to make something specific - well, you know it's special. That's very true when it's for a new baby's nursery.

After seeing the birthday banner I created last month, a friend requested a banner with her son's name. The nursery has Caribbean colors and she picked 4 gorgeous batik fabrics for me to use.

Simple. Fun. I hope they enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed making it for them. :)

Supplies: batik cotton fabrics from Robert Kaufman and Hoffman Fabrics; white cotton unknown; Coats & Clark thread; Pellon Wonder Under; Sulky Tear-Easy Stabilizer; Wright's bias tape.

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