My DIY Photo Shoot!




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Remember to vote for "Walt's Tropical Oasis"

 

I kept trying to do this when he was a lot "newer", but these were taken at 5 weeks 5 days old.  I prepared the crib with his blue blanket from his MawMaw, and dressed him in a comfy white sleeper before I nursed him to a deep deep sleep!  I placed him in his crib after he fell asleep, and crossed his feet and placed his hand under his head.  That's about all I could do without waking him, so I just started shooting.  I have an old 2003 Olympus 5 megapixel with wide angle.  Nothing special.  The key for all you DIYers is lots of natural light and a steady hand.  I have lost my tripod, but I just steadied my shot with the crib rail.  I set my camera to "no flash", and this was the best results for the time of day and the abundance of natural light my nursery gets.  I love him and I love these pictures.  I think I will do a weekly photo session :o)  The hat is from etsy: BostonAveBabies

Slipcover Bad, Reupholster Good

Hated the slipcover from Overstock, and it is going back!  It is way too big for my chair and it's not white.  See how it clashes with the rug?  I was stuck at a dead end with not much time, and I really wanted this awesome chair to be a focal point in the nursery.  I had decided on a cute green for the side table with a turquoise glass base lamp, so this muted peony pattern is just not cutting it at all!

While at my little sister's gorgeous baby shower last Saturday, I told our cousin and professional designer, Laura, about my predicament.  She said, "Why aren't you reupholstering it yourself?"  The truth is I thought that was a project completely out of my range of skill!  Of course, at 36 weeks pregnant I ran right out to Joann's last Sunday and promptly found an awesome fabric at 60% off!  Ding ding ding ding!!!!  I felt like I had won the lottery.  It is by Baringer and it is called "Peacock".  I love it! 



We've already carefully removed all the old fabric, and I have cut each section of fabric using the old pieces as a pattern.  I've also begun to staple the bottom kick piece, and it looks very professional if I do say so myself.  Joann's only had 4 & 7/8ths yards of this left and none in the warehouse.  I had just enough fabric,  the perfect amount with not much at all left over, so I guess it was meant to be. 

Here is a good look at my CL chair before & after:

 

Before

 

After



Please VOTE now for Walt's nursery on Project Nursery!







I get by with a little help from my DOG

This is Caya Coyote Bowman.  Lately, Caya has been joining me in Walter's nursery to keep me company and show her support!  I almost stepped on her once due to my 35 week pregnant belly and her amazing camouflage.  She's right there with me as I am putting on the final touches daily.  She was looking at my belly with complete wonder last night!  I'm not sure if she has any idea of what is coming our way or not.

My First Nursery Circa 1999

Nursery 1999

Chest of drawers:  IKEA

Tiny lamp:  IKEA, I painted a little giraffe on it.

Stuffed Toys:  Big Beanie Babies

Mural:  Wendy's Walls Custom Murals

Bedding:  Babies-R-Us

Blocks & Cart:  IKEA

Plush Blocks:  Warner Brothers Store

Glider:  Dutailer

Ahh!  My Dutailer glides again, and I love this chair!  :o) 

It was a gift from my mom when I had Bradley 12 years ago.

Painting the Nursery Mural

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Here I go again!  I'm moving sooo slowly at 35 weeks. Today, I changed the hue of the sea kelp just a bit.  I thought it was too green, so I added a light blue glaze to each and every leaf.  I like it much better now.  Dale has been out sanding the little round side table, and I think I have decided on a light bright green.  We need to get the paint and primer for that project.  It has been a wonderful weekend with my husband just kicking back and working on some of our projects together.  Now that all the big stuff is done, I know Dale is enjoying nesting with me a lot more.  He's so excited to see his son!

Mural Progress and Other Brainstorms

I am now 35 weeks pregnant according to my smartphone!  I was about 4 days early with Bradley 12 years ago, so that gives me roughly 31 days max to paint the mural, sand & paint the new vintage side table, find an awesome white slipcover for my CL upholstered rocking chair, and create my own mommy made mobile.  I have an idea for either jellyfish or octopus for the mobile. 

Dale and I went to Puerto Rico during the summers of 2008 and 2009, and we discovered a restaurant called Aguaviva.  In the restaurant are these unbelievable hand blown glass lighting artwork. 

I can't call them fixtures, because they are masterpieces.  I would love to have one in the room for ambient lighting,  BUT they are $2500 a pop.  So, I want to make something similar out of felt and beads and such.  It would be cool if I could find a way to actually light them up, but I guess I will use sparkle glaze and blingy materials to do the trick when it reflects off the natural light or halogen spotlights.  You get the idea.  I want to hang one of my crafty sculptures from the high ceiling on each side of my fan.  These will serve the purpose of the traditional baby mobile in the room.  I will hang them from invisible beading elastic so they have some bounce and movement when the fan is on.  They will be lower than the fan, like about 9 feet from the floor.  This is my plan, although I'm not sure if there will be time. 

 

No Sew Valance

No Sew Curtain Tutorial on PN!

I am so flattered to have been invited on as a guest blogger for Project Nursery, my fave nursery design website ever!  Check out this great tutorial for your no sew curtains or valance project.  ENJOY!

Here's the new fabric on the long window.  I used heatbond to create this simple valance for a west facing window.  This window is above the changing table, and in the evenings the sun really heated up the room.  As soon as we hung the valance there was a noticable temperature drop.  I love how clean this looks!  I'll be working on the large window panels throughout the next week along with starting on the wall murals!  My DH needs to sand and paint the crib now that we have decided on pale aqua as the color.  It will be much lighter than the walls, almost white.