Hello, Blogosphere Friends!
As a follow-up to my post about Baby Muller's completed nursery, I wanted to be sure to give you an up-close look at the DIY projects I (and Prince Charming) completed for the room. When we found out we were expecting our first little one, I knew that I would want to add some personal touches to the nursery and not necessarily purchase everything. Not only did this turn out to be economical, but it really helped me feel like I was helping prepare a personal place for our baby to grow. It also gave me something to do when the nesting urges kicked in that was productive and reached beyond wiping everything down for the millionth time. :)
The first project was the painting of these giraffe canvases under the influence of a print I saw on Pinterest. You can see the original print here. It was truly the first thing I ever saw that inspired the color palette for the nursery and gave me a general idea of what I wanted the nursery to feel like. I also knew, though, that I didn't want to do a giraffe or animal themed nursery. I wanted the overall look of the room to remain more neutral than that. I adjusted the colors of the giraffes to better reflect the colors within the room, and instead of keeping them all together on one canvas the way they are on the print, I broke them up into three separate canvases to center over the crib. Although not identical to the print, I was really happy overall with how they turned out. I would never claim to be an artist, and I did this free-hand. The fact that they looked like giraffes at all made me happy. :) I bought the plain canvases at Michael's. The center one was larger than the two on the sides. I also bought paint colors at Michael's using the fabric swatches I received from Carousel designs to guide my selections. The entire cost of the project was around $20-$25 between the canvases, the paint, and the set of brushes I used. These have truly turned into one of my favorite pieces in the space, and I would encourage any new mom to try their hand at making some art for their baby's nursery walls.
Speaking of art on the walls, the next DIY was something I was really excited about making. If you have read my blog, you know that I am a huge Beatles fan. While browsing Amazon for items to add to my registry, I stumbled across this wall decal featuring lyrics from a great Beatles song, "Golden Slumbers." I was super excietd, but I knew that I didn't want to just stick a decal on the wall. I needed to brainstorm a way to display the words without ruining the wall. When I need to brainstorm, I hit up my Pinterest account. (Clearly...I have over 7,000 pins. Crazy much??) In my browsing, I saw several empty picture frames that people had used to display wall-decals. I thought this was a great solution to my problem, but I didn't just want an empty frame. I wanted to display the words over some sort of print. I had leftover gray and white chevron fabric from a project I did earlier this year, so I decided that would be the backdrop of my lyrics. After receiving the lyrics at my Beatles Baby Shower, Prince Charming and I made a run to the Hobby Lobby on the northshore to find a frame. I knew I didn't want to use a white frame because most of the furniture in the room was white. I wanted something a little more rustic and distressed. This frame was just the ticket, came in a perfect size for the decal, and was 50% off the day we were shopping. Score! When we got home, we assembled this by simply cutting the fabric to size and placing it in the frame. Then, over top of the glass of the frame, Prince Charming followed the decal directions to stick on the words. It turned out really sweet, and I love that whenever we want, we can scrape off the letters and reuse the frame. This project cost us around $25 to make from start to finish, and hung over the changing table, it is one of the focal points of the room.
The last two DIYs of the nursery were sewing projects. I received my first sewing machine last Christmas, and with friends who had babies on the way, the first thing I learned to sew on it was a simple baby blanket. I knew from the get-go this would be something I would make for my little mischka. I ordered a yard each of our nursery's crib bedding fabric and a matching minky. I thought this minky was awesome because it was different than the typical dotted or solid minky I have found at my local fabric store. I generally followed the tutorial from Sew for Home: Stylish Baby Nursery. I stuck with the easiest blanket with just a simple top stitch around the edges. All of the tutorials featured at the site are easy to follow and really cute! If you can sew a straight line, you can definitely make a baby blanket for your little one, too!
The final DIY in the nursery was a cover for the changing pad. This one sort of sprung up out of necessity. While I had remembered to register for a changing pad, I didn't realize I would need to register for a pad cover. (Thank you, pregnant brain!) So, instead of ordering or purchasing one, I decided to look into making one. I had a bit of fabric left over from the blanket project, but there wasn't enough of either one to make a solid cover. I decided to stitch the two pieces of fabric together to make one larger piece of fabric that was half and half. I jumped onto my handy-dandy Pinterest account, and I found this tutorial from A Load of Craft on How to Make a Contoured Changing Pad Cover. I followed her instructions to a T, and the cover turned out really cute. I have found that I will probably need to add more elastic to the bottom than the original pattern called for, but for now, it works! I had a bit more minky than bedding fabric, so I used it to create the pieces for both ends of the changing pad. It was probably the most complicated thing I have sewed to date as it had turns and curves and required some maneuvering around the ends, but I was very happy (and relieved) with how it turned out! I think I could make another one someday, but my belly is currently preventing me from very successfully using my sewing machine. ;)
That's the DIYs of Baby Muller's nursery! I hope that you can find some inspiration or some helpful tutorials here to use in your own little bundle of joy's nursery preparation, and please feel free to leave comments or questions if you would like more information. Have a terrific Tuesday, cyber-friends!
Be a Blessing,
Brittney
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