One of My Ikea Finds

Who knew babies needed so much stuff?  I didn't until I was putting away the first batch of shower presents.  One of the things I didn't anticipate needing for the nursery was storage.  I found myself sitting in the floor with all this great stuff around me, but I had no where to put it.  Thank goodness for Ikea.  The unit was about 50 something dollars.  It's not one of the greatest deals, but it's pretty sturdy and should be with us for quite a while.  The blue hamper next to it was $3.  Perfect for tucking away in a closet and holding stinky, dirty baby clothes.  Speaking of clothes...I think my unborn child has more than I do.  There's a dresser full in addition to what's in the closet.

Did It Myself: Cornice Board

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I'm hoping my lack of posts doesn't become a trend, but I have been so busy over the past two weeks.  Last night Raleigh got snow and I'm trapped in my house for the next couple of days.  The timing couldn't be more perfect.  I have so many things to do to my house to get ready for this baby boy to be here.  I'm 37 weeks and I'm in full nesting mode.  My house is going to be spotless and everything is going to be in it's place by tomorrow evening (maybe).

I took this afternoon to finish a project I'd started Monday.  I was going back and forth between making a box valance or a cornice board for the nursery.  I'm usually not a fan of cornice boards, but for the nursery it seemed to fit and the best part is that I had to do absolutely no sewing.  I also didn't need any power tools.  I literally stepped back from the window when I was finished and thought, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe that worked."  It could very likely be on the floor in a couple of hours, but for right now I'm going to enjoy my success.  Here's the finished product:

I had all of the materials except the batting and fabric which cost about $8 total.  The board I used was that old foam board from my memo board.

I'm a little hesitant to show you how I did it, because it's pretty embarrassing.  I'm not a perfectionist, so to me, whatever can't be seen just isn't there.  Some people would be driven crazy by knowing that there is a mess behind that cornice board.

Here's what it looked like before the fabric was on it:

 

Not bad, but here's what the back looks like:

Yes, that is tape holding the batting on.  I was afraid I was going to run out of glue sticks, and I still had to put the fabric on.  I doubled the foam board and it's held together by hot glue.  The board was roughly cut with a box opener.  Luckily, the batting covers any less than perfect lines.  I hung a valance rod and attached the board with floral wire.  Like I said, it could be on the floor in a couple hours, but for right now it's up, and the only person who knows how awful the craftsmanship is is me...and you.

I can't wait to have the whole window finished with a faux Roman shade made out of this:

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Currently Looking For: Inexpensive Lamps

Why are lamps so expensive?  I'd like to replace the lamps in my living room so I can move them up to my bedroom, but I just don't want to spend the money.  I haven't done much looking, so there might be some super secret cheap lamp store I haven't seen, but so far I haven't run across it.  I'm thinkin' I'd like something like this:

Really simple, but not $150.

I'd also need a table top lamp.  This little tripod lamp is $39.99 at Target:

This little tripod table lamp is $329 at Target.

Cheap Faux Fruit Vase Filler

I've heard that faux flowers are a big interior design no-no.  Is faux fruit?  I'm not sure, but I like how it looks in a glass cake stand in my kitchen.  I also like how it looks in a natural wooden bowl...

....or a simple glass cylinder

The apples and the lemons are from Pottery Barn and they're $14.00 for 6.  Wal-Mart sells faux fruit for $1.00 per piece.  That's where I got my pears.  Here's a close up:

They look pretty real, huh?

 

Ikea Fabric!

I completely forgot that Ikea sells fabric by the yard, and I was pleasantly surprised to find exactly what I was looking for Monday. 

Green and white stripe for $7.99/yard!

Other cute Ikea fabric:

I love those trees!

 

Takin' a Trip Down Interstate 85

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My husband and I are spending our day off driving to Ikea in Concord, North Carolina and working our way back home to Raleigh, hitting every fabric outlet, discount furniture place and Hobby Lobby along the way.  If I can't find what I'm looking for today...it doesn't exist...at least not in my price range.  Wish me luck!

One more thing....I'd like to acknowledge my husband for being a very willing partner in this excursion.  I'm sure that not one time during the day will I feel like I'm dragging anyone along with me.  That's probably not a very common quality among husbands and I'm pretty thankful for it.

I just thought this Ikea bedroom was cute.  Y'all have a good day!

Quite Possibly the Cheapest DIY Memo Board Ever

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I actually did this little project when I was in college.  It looked great in my dorm and apartment, but it's been sitting in a closet since I've been married.  It hasn't quite matched my decor for quite some time now.  The only reason I've been hanging onto it is because I thought I could use it if we were having a little girl.  Well, we are havin' a little boy and it's just taking up space now so I thought I'd share it before I repurposed the materials or trashed them altogether. 

I dug this out of the nursery closet and set it up against the crib to take pictures, so they're not that great.  Forgive me.

Here's why this memo board was so cheap.  Instead of messing with a piece of plywood or something pretty solid I used a foam board.  They're about $2.00.  You'd think that it would be flimsy, but the board has held up for about six years and three or four moves.  The fabric I used was about $3.00/yard...I think I got half a yard...and it was from Wal-Mart.  Yup, Wal-Mart.  I had a chat with one of the employees in the craft section a while ago and discovered that Wal-Mart gets their fabric in remnants from high-end fabric stores.  I've seen the same stuff in Wal-Mart that I've seen in stores like Printer's Alley, and I've rarely seen fabric for more than $6.00/yard there.  Unfortunately, Wal-Mart doesn't sell fabric in their newer stores and finding good stuff is pretty hit or miss.  I used some quilt batting and just glued the fabric on with fabric glue.  The ribbons were also glued on and I sewed on the buttons.  The needle went right through the board.  Here's why I don't mind tearing this thing apart.  Take a look at this fine craftsmanship:

 

Yikes.  I used tape to keep the fabric down and keep the thread in place for the buttons then hung it with mounting tape...so classy.

 

The back is so sad, but it looked great from the front and did the job.

Back to Finding Fabulous. 

Back to Funky Junk.

New Nursery

This will be the last nursery post for quite a while.  I'm starting over at square one with the new DwellStudio for Target spaceship bedding.  Well, not square one exactly...luckily the blue in the new bedding matches the blue I just painted on the walls.  That would have been a deal breaker.  Even I would not have painted those walls a third time.  I love the colors in the new bedding and according to my husband (the one who spotted it)  it's definitely made for a boy.  

However, I have no fabric and the accessories I started making are getting scrapped.  I'm also checking target.com multiple times a day to see if they've put the bedding collection online.  I've come to terms with the fact that the nursery is not likely to be absolutely finished when the baby gets here and I'm OK with that....really...it's worth it to have crib bedding I really, really like (and it was $5 cheaper!).  Instead of making Roman shades or pillows I'm going to be cleaning and organizing like a madwoman...not as much fun, but it still needs to get done.  So once again I have nothing to show off.  Hopefully I'll make it to Ikea and Hobby Lobby on my day off on Monday.  For now I've got some cleaning to do.....

Oh My Gosh, Y'all!

Dwell Studio for Target just came out with some new crib bedding that I love!  It's not online yet and they're only selling a 3 piece set and receiving blankets right now, but I think the Dot Fun is going back.  Here's a little picture:

A Couple Links and a Little Bragging

I'll start with the bragging.  Jane over at Finding Fabulous featured my throw pillows as a favorite among her Frugalicious Friday links!



This is my first time being featured on another blog so I'm pretty thrilled.  I've also gained some new followers today, five to be exact, the most I've gained in any one day...so once again...I'm pretty thrilled.  Welcome, y'all!

Now for the links...I've been back at work for a little over a week so most of my projects are moving pretty slowly.  Some of my weekend time is being taken up with lesson planning instead of being able to focus solely on decorating projects or whatever else I want.  (Does anyone else think it's weird/funny that I spent my entire day talking about Civil War weapons and the Battle of Shiloh only to come home and be excited about making a window treatment for my nursery? Oh, the life of a teacher...)


Once again I don't have anything new of my own to share, but I do have a great project that was done by one of my friends who's about to have twin girls.  She's got the cutest nursery and did her own version of some Pottery Barn Kids wall art.  Check it out here and here.

A project I hope to get finished tonight is a faux Roman shade for the nursery.  I'm planning on turning the drape that matches my bedding into the shade, so I'm going to be doing some light sewing.  I have not sown in a quite a while so it might take me longer than I expect.  I'm going to be using a similar method that was done by the Thrifty Decor Chick.  I spent an hour Sunday night trying to find a tutorial only to wake up Monday morning to see that she had re-posted hers that same night.  Very helpful.

  Hopefully I'll have something to show off tomorrow or Thursday!

The Nursery So Far

I received my February issue of Real Simple in the mail yesterday and it just hit me that my due date is getting close!  I still have a lot to do in the nursery.  The walls are painted, the crib is put together, the changing table is out of the box and in the room, and I have the crib bedding in my possession.  There's not much to show in the actual room, so I put together a collage of the stuff I'm using or projects I'm ripping off that need to be finished.

1.  Dwell Studio for Target Dot Fun 3 pc. set.
2.  Vinyl Wall Decal from Etsy 
3.  Benjamin Moore Blue Bayou Paint
4.  Tori Crib and Changing Tower in espresso from JC Penney
5.  red and white striped fabric and Dot Fun fabric for a valance and various other fabric projects
6.  Glenna Jean pillow I will copy with my own fabric and felt circles for way less than $61
7.  Pottery Barn Teen mobile I will copy with my own felt circles and felt woodland creatures for way less     than $55 (it was $69)
8.  Pennant Streamer I will copy with my own fabric and felt.  I haven't actually seen any of these for sale; I've just seen them used in nurseries...but I'm sure mine will be way cheaper than what you'd pay in a store.

I'm still looking for some kind of chair, a set of shelves, and a kids sized table or something...hmmm...I need to get searching.

New Old Things

Putting away all of my accessories to make room for Christmas decorations and then having to put them back out really made me re-think some of the things I had on display.  I did some purging and was able to find places for some things that I already had, but hadn't been able to make room for because there was stuff that I'd just gotten used to taking up space.  One of the things I was able to make room for was an old typewriter that's been sitting in a closet for a year and half.  I love it and it's way cooler than what I had in it's place before.  Even just rearranging some of my accessories made my living room feel a bit fresher.  I put my mister in a new place and kept out one of my birch candles to take the place of an old accessory that I got rid of.  The best part is that I spent zero dollars, but I still have the feeling that I've changed and improved the decor in my living room.  I'd love to hear some of the free or low cost things that y'all do to keep your spaces fresh without running out and buying all new stuff.

Speaking of accessories...The Nester did a cute post about "accessories on parade."  I'm so guilty.

Back to The Inspired Room

Maternity Pictures!

I'm just so excited about how our maternity pictures turned out that I had to share.  Click on the pic to go to our buddy Kyle's photography blog to see a few more.

On a decorating note, the rest of my crib bedding got here today and I've decided to paint the nursery blue.  I'm off to go make more felt creatures for my mobile!

New Year's Resolution: Never Pick a Paint Color By Myself Again

I feel like I'm the only person in blogworld that hasn't done a 2009 re-cap or some kind of New Year's post.  It would be kind of ridiculous to do a 2009 recap considering that I began blogging in the middle of November ("hey remember that time I made a wreath?") and I'm not usually one to make resolutions, but here goes....I will never pick a paint color by myself again.  I chose a paint color for my nursery, painted two coats, and now I don't like it.  Choosing paint is pretty petty and usually wouldn't merit a resolution, but this is the second time I've done this.  Last December I picked a paint color for our first floor, painted, then changed my mind.  Why is choosing paint so hard?  My nursery looks like I smeared Wrigley's Doublemint all over the walls.  I would post a picture, but none that I've taken can do the color justice so I'll leave you with this: 

Nursery Sneak Peak...Getting Crafty

I am not usually a crafty person.  I'll paint or stain a piece of furniture, sew a pillow here an there, but I typically don't try to take on making something from scratch.  One thing I've noticed about a lot of accessories that are made for children's rooms is that they look like they can be easily made...and of course I'm going to attempt to make something myself rather than pay $$$$ for it.  There are two projects I've started in the past couple of days: a mobile, and some canvas art.  I've seen little canvases in baby stores that literally just have stripes or dots painted on them for over $30.  Most mobiles I've seen are $50 and up (way up), but might not have the colors I'm looking for.  Here are the beginnings of my projects:

Both of these projects have come to a pause until I can figure out what color to paint my nursery, so it might be a while 'til I have the end results.  So far I have spent about $12 on the materials for the mobile and $6 on each of the canvases.