Saving Your Old Crib

Occasionally I get requests from friends to blog about certain home-related topics.  Usually I don't follow through and blog about them - not because I don't think they are good ideas, but because I am not a very consistent blogger.  When I am blogging regularly, it's usually because we have lots of home projects going on and I want to share Jason's ability to make my crazy ideas come true.  (Remember hacking up a dresser?!)

Anyway, my friend Brittney emailed me a while back . . . okay MONTHS AGO . . . suggesting I blog about how to upcycle an old crib.

It may take me months, but when Brittney asks me to do something, I usually try my hardest to make it happen.

Brittney and I have been friends since the seventh grade.  She is one of the kindest human beings I know.  She's always been there for me . . . even though I managed to get her into trouble a few times when we were younger.  Brittney was always the innocent one.

Me?

Not

so

much.

I remember one time Brittney's parents were going out for the night and my friend Eileen and I decided we would have some boys meet us at Brittney's house.  We ran the plan by Brittney, who was skeptical.

We convinced her anyway . . . there was NO WAY her parents would catch us having boys over - and besides . . . what was the big deal? We were just going to watch movies.

Did I mention Brittney's dad is a big, traditional Italian man?

You know where this story is headed. 

Brittney's parents decided to return home early that night so Eileen and I did what any teenage girls would do - we sent the boys out the back door. 

 Problem solved.

Except. . .

Brittney's dad decided to go around to the back of the house and check on the pool before coming inside   He met our three little friends face to face on their way out. 

Needless to say, Brittney endured a lecture from her parents while Eileen and I sat upstairs figuring out what we would tell our parents if Brittney's parents decided to fill them in on our antics (surprisingly, they didn't!)

Eventually, we did go downstairs and face Vinnie and Sue.  It wasn't pretty.

So anyway  . . . Brittney is amazing . . . and her ideas are too :-)

So she was faced with a dilemma.     Apparently, since older cribs (the ones with drop down sides) no longer meet safety regulations, you cannot donate them to the Salvation Army or sell them. 

There is something a little disheartening about throwing a crib away.  First off, it has sentimental value.  Second, that's a lot of waste in landfills!

So rather than toss an old crib with drop down sides, check out some of the cool ways people have upcycled their cribs.


Make a seating area for your porch:

                         

Source: pinterest.net-pin.info via Stephenie on Pinterest

Make a bench for your house:

Source: consignmentmommies.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

                                                                                              Source: regives.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Create a play table for your baby turned pre-schooler.

                                                                                 Source: dailydoityourself.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Use the pieces to make a twin bed (or two)

Source: blogs.babble.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Use the side rail as a magazine rack

             Source: tocrave.blogspot.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Or a craft station:

Source: theartofthers.blogspot.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

Even the springs can be used in creative ways.  One of my favorites? 

A shoe rack.

Source: curbly.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Or you can use the springs for a memo/memento board

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

You can turn the crib pieces into a cool chalkboard message board

Source: consignmentmommies.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Or a jewelry organizer

Source: infarrantlycreative.net via Stephenie on Pinterest

So there you have the coolest ideas I could find on how to save your old crib.


Be inspired.

Save your crib

Save the Earth


Any other good ideas? Please share!


And thank you to Brittney, who inspired this post!

Reading Bieber Tweets in a Comfy Chair

If you're following my Tweets you know that my chair from Tar-jay arrived and you also know I'm in love with it.

If you're not following my Tweets . . . I'll try not to take it personally. You know I'm ultra sensitive right now, being nine months pregnant and all . . .

You can just click on that little Twitter button in the top right of my page and follow, which would make me happy because I get an email telling me when new people follow my Tweets.  I like to know someone other than my mom gives a hoot about what I'm doing every day.

Anyway, my goal in finding a rocker was to find one that could eventually be moved out of the nursery and become a permanent piece of furniture somewhere else in our house.  So many gliders look like they belong in a nursery and look displaced if you try to put them anywhere besides the nursery..

 

I considered just getting a really beautiful antique rocker, but I wanted something really super comfortable and although I love old rockers, they sometimes hurt my tush if I sit in them for too long.

 

So I found this rocker at Target online but I was nervous it was going to be a big pile of junk when it arrived at my house.

 

I was also nervous about the color of the chair because I wanted a cream color and the Target website listed it as "tan" but it was really more of a soft beige or a dark cream.  It's perfect.

It was $399 but it's worth every penny . . . and NO, I'm not getting paid or reimbursed or receiving anything from Target for posting this.  I just want you all to know you don't have to spend $1500 at Pottery Barn to get a decent, comfy rocker glider.

Most of all, I love how soft the fabric is.  Imani and I have been snuggling up in that big chair and reading every night before she goes to bed.  Breaking it in before little Noah arrives . . .

Sometimes I just sit in there by myself and relax . . . or catch up on my emails or read my favorite Tweets from people on my phone.

If you don't have a Twitter account, I'd highly recommend it, even if you don't want to Tweet. It's fun to read other people's Tweets. I'm a bit addicted, actually (does that surprise you?).  I never thought I'd like it but I'm totally in love with Twitter.

I like it far more than Facebook.You can get the inside scoop on all of your favorite blogger's lives

or politicians

or famous musicians . . .

it's pretty cool.

Oh, and yes, I follow Justin Bieber's Tweets.  I blame Imani because we went to see Never Say Never 3D and she learned all about how much he uses Twitter and how he announces his concerts and appearances on Twitter so she begged me to follow him.

So I did.

And I secretly wanted to because after I saw the movie, there was something I really liked about the boy.  Did you see it?

But now, I might drop him from Twitter.

He always re-tweets what a bunch of his fans post about him and it's kind of annoying.  I'd rather read what he has to say than a bunch of retweets from people saying how much they love him.

But mostly it's annoying because he hasn't retweeted any of my tweets or my sister's tweets or Imani's tweets.

Like when Imani played "Happy Birthday" on the violin for him because she heard he wants to learn how to play the violin.  

How could he NOT retweet that?

So yeah, JB is getting dropped from Twitter now . . . not that he'll notice but still.

Anyway, I'm so glad the chair from Target is a keeper.  I was so nervous I'd have to return it and suck it up and buy the Pottery Barn rocker that I've coveted for so long, even though it would take a big ole bite out of our savings account.  I'm still debating if we should get the ottoman to go with the rocker. I don't want to take up too much space in the nursery, but it would be nice to have something to put my feet up on.

It's $169.99 too.  Uggh. 

I'm gonna go sit in my rocker now and drop JB from Twitter.

What's Hanging & Baby Name Revealed

We've made so much progress around the nursery and it's basically complete! I'm sorry I haven't updated you all in a week . . . I've just been busy wrapping things up at my job before I go out on maternity leave.

I'm due on Thursday of this week and I am trying to work right up until I deliver so that I can take my time off with the baby.  I get 12 weeks, and I'd like all 12 to be at home with him, rather than sitting around the house waiting . . .

I figured I'd share what we've hung on the walls this week in the nursery.  I tried to incorporate things that were meaningful and not just random art work from Target.

So first, I bought a shelf from AC Moore and had Jason prime it and paint it Valspar's "Honeymilk".

Then, he drilled holes and put the same drawer pulls in that we used on the dresser.

My mom dug out my old baby shoes and we placed them on the shelf.

Along with this bear that I knitted for the baby.

And I found this adorable sign at TJ Maxx for only $4.99.

We hung up one of his little sweatshirts on the middle hook.

For my baby shower, my mother in law and her boyfriend purchased our Pottery Barn bassinet for us . . . but since it was on back order, she drew this beautiful picture to let us know it was coming soon.  It was too thoughtful and beautifully illustrated to throw away or stuff in a drawer somewhere, so I framed it as a keepsake.

I also finally took the time to figure out how to use my new Silhouette machine and I made this alphabet art.  I printed the letters from the baby's name in brown  . . . and  no, his name is not "Ahno."  Can you unscramble them to decipher his name?

Well in case you didn't figure it out,  here is his name in vinyl on the wall.  The frame was a junking find from last summer and Jason painted it in Valspar's "Honeymilk" to match the shelf.   You can see it in it's original color here where we used it to decorate for Halloween.

I'm so happy we finally settled on a name!  And that's what we have hanging around on the walls of the nursery.   I might add a couple more pictures if I can get it together before he arrives, but I'm not sure. I don't want to clutter the space either. 

Oh, and Jason's been one busy boy finishing our bedroom wall and painting our downstairs bathroom.  I think "nesting" has hit him too.   Stay tuned!



Nursery Progress: Making a Mobile

I knew when I started planning the nursery that I wanted to have some sort of homemade mobile but I didn't know where to begin.

I googled homemade mobiles and found a lot of mobiles made from branches, which I thought were beautiful, but weren't really the look I was going for in the nursery.

Little Slices of Green

I wanted something a little more delicate and I came across this beautiful butterfly mobile/chandelier at Pottery Barn for $59.

It was nice, but I didn't really want butterflies . . . and I didn't want to spend $59.

Then I came across this beautiful ribbon and flower mobile/chandelier at Pottery Barn.  It was no longer available for purchase (and I'm certain I wouldn't have liked the price tag anyway).



Luckily, I found a great tutorial for a knock-off version of Pottery Barn's Mobile at Living With Lindsay.  Lindsay created a similar version of the PB chandelier but she used birds.  It turned out beautifully.

Image: Living with Lindsay

And as much as I loved Lindsay's mobile, our theme in the nursery is the Pottery Barn Lambs, so I didn't know how to make a million lamb cut outs.  I also knew I wanted our mobile to be smaller.

So I decided to stick with the flowers and incorporate the colors of  cream, blue and beige.

First, I bought three embroidery hoops in small, medium and large.  I took them apart and used the inside of the rings.

I also bought ribbon

And seven bunches of artificial flowers in blue and white.

Finally, I purchased some invisible thread.

I began by taking some low-gauge wire I had at home and making a cross on the inside of the two smallest  hoops.

Next, I connected the hoops using invisible thread.  I put the medium hoop on top, the largest hoop in the middle, and the smallest hoop on the bottom.  This was very tedious and I will warn  you that it was frustrating working with the invisible thread because it's so hard to see.

Once I got the hoops in the order and balance that I liked, I hung the mobile across a yardstick between two chairs so I could begin gluing the ribbon on.

Using a hot glue gun, I started by gluing ribbon to the top hoop, looping it down through the second hoop and then back up to the bottom hoop, where I glued it again.

I intentionally made my ribbons of differing lengths because I wanted the bottom of the chandelier to have different lenghts of ribbon to add dimension.

Next, I cut the flowers off of their stems and glued them randomly on the ribbons.  Imani helped a lot with this part and she had so much fun knowing she was helping to create something for her little brother.

When I was finished gluing all of the flowers on, I had to go through and pick off a lot of excess glue but I was happy with the way the chandelier/mobile turned out.

Jason then had the fun job of hanging it in the nursery using the invisible thread.

I will say that the invisible thread is amazing because it's so hard to see, but it's also a pain to work with.

And there it is . . . my smaller version of the Pottery Barn Chandelier, with colors that match our nursery.

I might cover those wires with ribbon or paint them to blend in more.

It won't be much longer and there will be a little baby looking up to see this.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Linking up to:

Thrify Decor Chick's Before and After Party

Nursery Update: Window Treatments

After I posted the Nursery Mood Board and got so much feedback, I knew I wanted to add splashes of blue to the nursery to add an element of whimsy to the neutral tones.

I just wasn't sure I wanted a "baby" blue.

So I set out to find fabric and I knew when I saw the bolt of polka dotted blue and brown fabric in Hobby Lobby that it would become the nursery curtains.

The challenge was, I didn't want to sew them . . . so after looking around online, I found a great tutorial over at Young House Love that I decided to try.

First, I rolled out the fabric using my 8 ft living room rug as a guide just like Sherry did-- no tape measure needed!

Next, I used some "stitch witchery" iron on adhesive to hem the edges without using a sewing machine!

It was so simple.  I just placed the heat tape along the polka dots to ensure that the seam would be straight, like this:

Folded the fabric over the tape like this:

And then I used my iron to bond the fabric and create a nice, straight edge. 

This is far straighter than I ever would have gotten if I tried to use my sewing machine.

We used those nifty little hanging clips to hang the curtains.  What I like most is that if the baby pulls on the curtains, the curtain will come down, but not the whole rod . . . so it's sort of a little safety element built right in.

Oh, and Jason moved the curtain rods up higher above the window and out further. We felt like idiots that we had hung all of the curtains in our house so low and close together.  I never knew this little secret until I started reading so many home improvement blogs, even though my sister once told me that curtains should be hung up high and wide above the window.

Have I mentioned that she's always right?

Anyway . . I'm loving the splash of blue in the nursery and I'm loving that the fabric matches the drawer pulls so perfectly.

And in case you're wondering, I made four curtains for less than $20 a panel.  I originally looked into buying curtains but I couldn't find a color I liked and they were all far more expensive than $20 a panel -- even at Tar-jay so making these was simple, quick  and cost-effective.

Up next: Homemade Nursery Mobile . . . stay tuned!!

Linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party