Guess how much I love Nate’s nursery

Before I was even pregnant I was looking for a neat nursery theme/idea. When our first son was born we were house sitting for my in-laws so we didn’t really get to go all out and create a baby room.  The second time around I fell in love with the idea of a room based on the book Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and with the lovely artwork by Anita Jeram. I had seen an entire crib set on ebay before but once pregnant I searched and searched, finding nothing, I realized that I should have gotten the gently used one I had seen, even though it had been $150 AND we weren’t pregnant.

I found crib sets listed online but always hit some lame ‘out of stock’ message or notice. I forged ahead thinking I’d just sew the bedding. However, I had terrible luck finding fabric. I debated using solid colours for the bedding and use themed accessories decorating the room instead. On ebay I found custom made knobs for the dresser with the characters on them and a light switch plate. I found wallpapers and murals but they were crazily expensive and shipping to Canada was atrocious! I decided I’d just use my projector and paint my own mural.

Finally, as a last ditch effort, I emailed the publishing company. I told my story and asked if they knew where I could get bedding or fabric if need be. A very nice Rob emailed back, the reason is sketchy in my mind now, but something about the one company that printed the fabric and bankruptcy. It appeared I was out of luck. I kept looking hoping to find something used or hidden away somewhere. Then one day I randomly got an email from Rob again. He said they were going to have some sort of big show and would be cleaning out the warehouse and he thought there might be some stuff tucked away that could help me. He promised to email when the show was over. Sure enough he did and sent pictures of all that he had found, and it was a ton!!!! He had an entire crib set, wall stickers, a blanket, a lamp shade, the 2 little stuffed hares, a diaper holder . . . it was amazing!!! There were even colours to choose from!

My mom made the little embroidered picture  for me when I was little, a little teddy bear goes in the bed.  I snuck in little nutbrown hare.

We didn’t know what flavour our little bundle was but I figured I’d play it safe, and knowing my husbands family I was sure it was going to be a boy. So I took everything he had that was green, gender neutral and the diaper holder which had a blue band at the top but I figured I could remedy that if needed. Since the items were kicking around in the warehouse helpful Rob just had to make up a price he felt was fair. So for the bargain price of $170 USD plus shipping, I was able to decorate the entire nursery!!

There’s the rocking chair cushions, window panel above sheers, and the awesome Pottery Barn book shelf.

There was only one issue. When the box arrived I realised that the ‘crib set’ was really a set for a small cradle! I had to do some creative sewing. Luckily there was enough bumper pads to cover 3 sides of the crib and I just had to sew one extra panel. There was a fitted cradle sheet set I wasn’t going to need to I used that to create the panel, along with cushion covers for the rocking chair and a window treatment. Too bad my son’s too little to appreciate it all!

Diaper holder and crib bedding.

Prom Dress Makeover

I love my mom, but she made me an ugly prom dress. She worked really hard on it, it’s well made but it’s also a hideous colour and fabric. I don’t know if she was trying to save money but I hope that fabric was the last little bit left in the bottom of some crazy sale bin so no one else had to wear something made out of it!

one step in, sequins sewn on

So I’m not sure why I even have it around anymore, I remembered it was stuffed in a box, yes since 1994! My sons and I have some halloween parties to go to so I dragged it out to transform it into a costume. I’m going to be . . . . the tooth fairy!!!

flashy T for toothfairy

Since the dress was here it’s been a pretty cheap project – sequins $1, tule $2.49 (-25% thanks to my fabricland card), magic wand $1.50, wings $8.98, crown $1.50, and bright pink wig $8.99. Defiantly, will need a finished picture posted!

hem with sequins, tulle and felt applique molars

Scarf time!

I’ve made one scarf in my life. I remember it was Thanksgiving weekend and I was at my Nanny’s house for turkey yumminess. I spontaneously decided I wanted to learn to knit, after years of watching her make little slippers, and asked her to show me. With some extra supplies she had lying around I started to work on a scarf. It was really simple, just knit a straight line. Despite the simplicity, I still found myself heading towards a triangle as I somehow added stitches to rows here and there. I remember pulling out an awful lot of that scarf and having to go back and reknit rows! My husband thinks it’s ‘ugly’ but I love that I made it myself and that I was able to learn something from my Grandmother.

So, with that adventure behind me I’ve become inspired to give it a go and make a scarf, this time I’m going to crochet so I know I’ll be able to handle it! I stumbled across this, while reading through my RSS and clicking and clicking around, I found do you mind if i knit with this gorgeous gem of a scarf! I must have one.

So with a sale on at Michael’s my friend and I have invested in, for now, 6 different colours so I can begin madly making squares! My friend is the knitter, she has tried to jog my memory on how to knit but it didn’t seem to work, and she has made my son a cute little sweater (after I bought the pattern thinking I would attempt to make it) so the least I can do is return the favour in crochet form!

While Vanessa seems to have used about 43 colours in her scarf, I’m starting off smaller. Here’s the colours we picked up last night, one is Lionbrand Vanna’s Choice – Terracotta, the rest are from Loops & Threads Impeccible worsted. We grabbed 5 of those ones, Cadet, Fern, Heather, True Taupe, and Rouge. Now with a 3 year old and a 9 month old in the house I may have my head in the clouds thinking I can get not one, but two!, scarves done before June, but I’m going to try!!

In Halloween news, my sons and I are going to 2 parties and I’ve decided to dress as the Tooth Fairy. I’m finally going to put my prom dress that’s been sitting in a box to use!!

Today I’m feeling creative.

I’ve actually been feeling creative for a long time now, however, there are 2 little life forms in my house thatkeep me from getting down to my craft room! So while I’ve been waiting to start my blog for a time when I could sew something, for a post fitting of the name, I’ve decided to go ahead and start with something I’ve crafted from a while back.

my fall wreath

I managed to get down to the basement last night and dig out the Halloween decorations. While I was poking around I found a wreath I made last year that I had totally forgotten about. It was quick, easy and best of all super cheap to make. Then today, while getting lost on the internet, I stumbled upon a tutorial advising you to think outside the box when you buy supplies and take a moment to see the potential in what might appear strange or even ugly at first. That’s exactly how this project came to be!

funky, cute little bird nest with eggs

I was browsing at Michael’s and found the floral decorations in a clearance bin. I think I bought about 5 and they came to less than a dollar each. I pulled them all apart down to just their decorations and wire and then fit them to the wreath and twisted the wires craftily in behind the branches. Et voila! For definitely less than $10 (don’t remember what the wreath cost but I’m sure I used one of those handy 40% off coupons) I have a beautiful fall wreath!

the multicoloured ribbons used to hang the wreath