Project: Hospital Door Hanger

In the South, when you have a baby, you had better have something cute to hang on your hospital door.

I take this as seriously as any soon-to-be Mississippi mom and scoured the internet for inspiration.

When I saw this on Etsy, I immediately thought a dual-purpose project was in order.

Hospital Door Hanger + Future Hair-Bow Hanger 

(the bows attach to the ribbons streaming down the dress skirt)

(Source: BronwynHanahanArt on Etsy)

I LOVED IT. Time was limited though and I was unsure that the Etsy seller's production time was

worth the wait when I could potentially make my own. The hardest part would be getting the wooden piece cut for the bodice and deciding how to attach it.

Fortunately for me, my dad is bad-a** and all it took was a phone call. 

Next on the agenda was planning for and gathering supplies:

1.  Martha Stewart High Gloss Craft Paint in white and colors of choice

2. Sponge Stipplers for making perfectly round polka dots

3. Graphite paper for tracing the name in the font of choice

4. Free font download from FontsforPeas

5. Floral Stem Wire for securing the big bow

6. The EZ Bow Maker purchased at Michael's

(Not pictured)

7. Black paint pen for the name

8. Tulle in the color of choice

9.  Ribbons for the bow hanger in accent colors/pattern of choice

10. Hot glue gun

11. Wired ribbon in color of choice

I painted the background in the Martha Stewart High Gloss White and used two shades of purple paint for the polka dots.  Next, I printed my font out in a gigantic size and used the graphite paper to transfer a pencil outline on the wood to trace with the black paint pen. 

The tulle was attached in folded sections with the hot glue gun. I also used the hot glue to glue on

strips of ribbon and rolled tulle tightly to make the band and hot-glue it in place at the waist line. 

Trimmed off the bottom while my mother created the large bow on top using the EZ Bow Maker, floral wire, and wired ribbon

Project: FOR ME!

Ok so this was not a project I was directly involved in, but I LOVED every detail of this project so I had to post about it!!

MY BABY SHOWER!!!

My amazing Aunt Kayla and my sister Caiti plus two of my VERY BEST friends, Ashley and Kristen  had been working behind the scenes for weeks to put together the most awesome baby shower ever! My cousin JenniLeigh was also a hostess but couldn't make it to the shower. 

They came to my house at 8 am Saturday morning with car loads of stuff and shooed me out of the house.  When I came back 2.5 hours later.... they had everything put together perfectly and all the guests were there. I loved all the the cute food arrangements and vignettes.

The theme they chose was books and the invitations asked guests to bring

a children's book in lieu of a card.  How perfect! 

Those tea sandwiches were the best!

My cake was so cute!

They really put so much thought into every aspect of the shower. 

Each guest completed a coloring page for one letter of the alphabet that

will be assembled into a book for baby Catherine to learn her ABCs 

Some colored more than one page since there were less than 26 guests. I loved all of them!

Guests also wrote funny messages and "new mom encouragement" on diapers to be stored in that pink box for late night diaper changes. I'm told that I'm not allowed to peek until I actually begin using them.

Everyone signed the book "Baby Shower" and got to take home a bookmark favor that matched

the invitation.  

I couldn't have imagined a better celebration! Love my hostesses!!

Project: Living Room Layouts

Our living room is an ongoing project.

This is where we started.

I remember when I moved the TV in front of that cabinet and took the table

and put it behind the couch. I was so proud!

But that satisfied me for.... maybe a weekend.

Fresh paint and a new home for the TV was the first of many changes.

Then came pine floors.... you can still see the nails in these photos (pre-sanding/staining)

After sanding and staining...

When new furniture came, this was our knee jerk reaction.

When MORE new furniture came, we got some comfortable movie watching seating for us

and switched the couch around for lounging.

Project: Baby Nursery

It's official! Baby girl Catherine is coming this summer! When it came time to start getting her nursery ready, we had two bedrooms to choose from. Kyle's office/computer workshop won the bid. I had so much fun with this project!

This was taken just as we were getting new wood floors throughout the house.
Once this was finished, we painted the walls the  neutral Benjamin Moore "Revere Pewter"

My dad built this book wall for me, which is probably my favorite thing in the room. I had seen different versions of a book wall on Pinterest and came up with my own measurements to fit what I knew would become quite and extensive library!

My sister, sewing extraordinaire, made the reading pouf using this tutorial and one yard of fabric!

The dresser / diaper changing table was a flea market find (already painted white! = score!).
I knew I wanted most of the furniture in the room to be white since the book wall would bring so much vibrancy and color!

 The curtains were hung above the height of the window, and I found the perfect mirror to go

above to create the illusion of a transom window.

As shower gifts began coming in, it's was so fun to organize all her little accessories in her changing table/dresser. I got some Real Simple brand drawer organizers from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and went to town!

My dad also built the cute little shelf with hooks to hang her outfits of the day for dressing routines.
I had seen a shelf similar to this one day when I was browsing Home Goods. It wasn't white though and it was $50. I knew my dad could build a better one. All I had to buy were the hooks, which I found at Hobby Lobby.

And here it is in place:

I love the chair we found: the Nava swivel rocker from Best Chairs. It's big enough for us to sit in to rock her but still a small enough size to stay in her room as a reading chair as she grows.

The white "Liberty" crib was ordered from a local vendor. The rug came next (Target) followed by cute purple crib sheets (also, Target).  The slatted bumper pads came from Oliver B

 

I knew I wanted an accent wall behind her crib. So I decided to use a stencil instead of wallpaper or a solid wall of contrasting paint. I found the Sarai Paisley stencil at Cutting Edge Stencils

The 22" wooden monogram came from SisterBug

My mom and I painted it purple with a bottle of acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby and those sponge brushes.