A Place for Baby to Sleep.

In about 12 years, girls everywhere will be swooning over Prince George, the way my generation swooned over Prince William. Sure his hair line has receded quite a bit, but he's still a rather hansom chap if you ask me. Prince Harry of course has become the better looking one over time, but I remember my days of dreaming to be in the place where Kate is now. I bet their nursery looks beautiful with pieces picked out from all kinds of exotic places.
Though picking out nursery furniture has been described to me as being stressful. And I don't doubt it, I mean all those things are expensive and can really add up. I searched through some stores to see how much it would cost to set up a nursery and here I have provided one example of a lesser expensive store (Ikea) and a more average to expensive store (Sears)
If I go to Ikea and pick out average priced items, plus a can of paint, the average cost of a nursery would be roughly $800-$900.
If I went to Sears and picked out the same average priced items it would cost around $1500
Of course I'm not saying that everyone spends this amount of money on a nursery, but if you were to purchase all your basics brand new, these are roughly the costs.
 This includes the following items:

• crib
• mattress
• sheets
• bumper pad
• change table
• mobile
• curtains
• glider/chair
• dresser
• change pad
• diaper pail
• rug
• some decor items such as pictures

I think we can agree that these items are the basics a parent would put in a nursery. I have put all those items in my nursery but I have thrifted/refurbished as much as I can ( though there were a one or two items that I bought brand new):

• crib- free
• mattress - $70
• sheets- $10
• bumper pad- $10- second hand
• change table- $50 and mine doubles as a dresser
• mobile-not there yet, plan to make one out of an embroidery hoop and some left over fabrics.
• curtains- $6
• glider/chair- $50 on reupholstering 
• dresser...included in change table cost
• can of paint- $18
• change pad- $5
• rug- $25
• diaper pail- $8
• decor- $7

Total: $261

And here is what I ended up with:

Let me tell you a bit about what is in each picture starting with the top left (yes I did just look at my hands to contemplate my lefts and rights)
Top Left:
The crib was free. A friend at work no longer required it, and gave it to me. Often you can find free cribs on Kijiji also. The bedding was a gift too, a very beautiful gift. I originally made my own bedding. The chevron quilt which hangs on the back of the crib and the dust ruffle which is now a ruffle on the bottom of my glider stool. The feeding pillow was purchased second hand and I sewed a new cover for it.
Top Right:
Curtains: I bought the fabric for these curtains at the Fabricland on Upper Ottawa st in Hamilton. The top floor is full of discount fabric, and I always tell people to get their fabrics there. I paid $3 per metre for that fabric and the hoops I had laying around the house ( they were a Value Village purchase from a while ago...I knew they would come in handy!)
The glider: This chair was left in my house when we purchased it just over a year ago. I thought it was an ugly chair. However, I made use of it by reupholstering it with a bright fabric to add a bright pop of colour to my nursery. The fabric once again, from Fabricland on Upper Ottawa, and cushioning which was the more expensive part, from the same street, different store. I feel like I could have done it cheaper with different cushioning, and so this project cost me $50 plus $6 for the stool, after reupholstering cost,  which still isn't terrible considering a new glider and stool would cost around $200
Bottom left:
The dresser/change table: This is by far my favourite nursery transformation. I purchased the dresser for $40 at Value Village, more than I would normally pay for a furniture item, but I saw great potential in it and I knew it wouldn't be a toss out item after the baby grows. It used to be bright white with a honey stained top and ( I don't know if you can see it) a decorative strip of wood between the top and middle drawers also stained in a golden honey colour.  While purchasing this item, another customer also interested in the item suggested that I should leave the honey coloured as is, and then paint the rest black with an antiquing /whitish crackle...Of course I smiled and said that I would consider it, but seriously... that would look terrible, it's a good thing I purchased the item and not him, I just saved it from time travel to 1995!
I ended up painting the entire thing to an antique white and got rid of that horrid honey colour, and then added some grey stripes and a touch of colour to the knobs. I wouldn't have done it this way if it wasn't going in a nursery, But personally I think this is more nursery appropriate than honey and black.

Bottom right:
The basket on top of the dresser, which holds my diapering stash, is a diaper basket that has been passed down and used by multiple generations in my family. 

As for the diapers: ( I think I already covered a lot of this in a previous post, but here is a quick summary)

The average cost  (according to this blog)to start up is about $450. (not including laundry costs). 

How I did it:

7 flip style covers: (some were on sale)  $80

2 king sized 100% cotton bed sheets from my local thrift store cut up and sewn into 44 inserts -$10 

5 6-pack stay dry liners, I sewed mine directly onto the inserts  $30

total: $120

add on the costs for my home made newborn diaper covers (I made 7): ~ $50

new total $170

I know it probably doesn't compare to Little Prince Georges new room, but I absolutely LOVE my nursery. I think that if I had bought the big pieces brand new, it wouldn't feel the same, and wouldn't match anything in my house or my lifestyle. If I could change anything about it, I would paint the glider and the crib both antique white to match the dresser, but I simply don't feel like it, not at 9  months pregnant.


Edit/addition:

I got around to making the mobiles! Hoorah! I used a cardboard loop for one, and an embroidery  hoop for the other, some ribbon I had laying around, scrap fabric and buttons. I hung one mobile over the crib and the other over the change table.

Rockabye baby

This week has been an rather uncomfortable week. Physically that is. I am now just over 30 weeks, and some basic tasks have become rather challenging. For instance, my husband and I were parked in the grocery store parking lot, and before I got out of the car, I realized that my shoe was untied. ( I'm sure you know where this is going) without thinking I leaned forward to tie it up, only to realize that I no longer have the ability to lean forward or tie my shoes while they are on my feet. As Fritz finished tying my laces for me, I motioned to get out of the car ( a challenge on it's own) and I noticed a van full of middle-older aged ladies having a giggle at my situation. This being my first pregnancy, I am learning that many things will be challenging, such a breathing, walking and NOT peeing at the same time. 

This week as a nesting project, I did a small 30 minute project to fancy up my bassinet. I have an old wooden rocking bassinet, a road-side find, that required a bit of tlc. Not so much in terms of sanding, painting or repairs of any kind, in fact it's in perfect condition. It just looked really bare and cold. 

All it really needed, was some fabric and lace for a bumper pad and some bows. I kept it simple, because in reality Hansie will only sleep in it for perhaps 3 months until he moves to his crib in his nursery. 

No I have not yet blogged about the nursery, that will come soon enough though once everything is set up. It's almost done, but I just don't want you to see an unfinished project. There are several  projects in and of themselves in the nursery which I could have blogged about, but I really want to just share the entire room as one thing. 

Back to the bassinet. All I did was cut a strip of quilt insulation, over which I made a sleeve of brown plaid, over which I sewed a sleeve of lace. I sewed some lace ribbon to the ends to tie them together and some at the centres of the long sides to secure it to the bassinet. I weaved the finished product through the corners of the bassinet an then added some large lace bows to the ends of the bassinet and voila! the little rocking crib looks less bare. A simple fix to a naked bassinet. 

$10. Enough Said.

Our new basement is our recreational area. It's where we watch TV  play games, do our office work, and a pub/cafe corner for when we have friends over. It's basically our lounging room. But most important, it's where I do my crafting/sewing. the old basement had a very dungeony craft corner/work bench. Really it had a dungeony everything. Being an avid Pinterest-er, I have seen a plethora of fancy crafting stations, and I wanted one of my own, where all  my things were at hand rather than spread out in different areas of the house, or packed in cardboard boxes. I didn't want to have to take out and put away my sewing machine after every use. With no luck of finding anything I really liked on Kijiji  or elsewhere (at an reasonable price), I put a craft table on my "honey-do" list. 

Side story (sort of...since it's still in relation to the current topic):  

We jokingly wanted to call our pub "the drunken counselor" so I decided that  my crafting corner should be called "The Hookery-Nook".

This past Saturday, the plan was to go to the baby expo in London after my husbands kettle-bell class,(but I don't think going there would have been of much use to me, other than being bombarded with samples I could probably not make any use of...though I'm sure it would have been fun) and then since we decided that we really need to get on this whole "finish a bunch of projects" thing that we have been trying to complete for weeks, we decided that we should go to Home Depot, pick up some lumber and start building this craft table so that I can organize all my crafting crap. 

Instead, my husband woke me up around 8:30 am that morning, and said the sweetest thing: " I'm not going to Kettle-Bell, let's go garage sale-ing instead." Music to my ears! So we went garage sale-ing.

Lo and behold, I found this beauty, an old bureau, which requires no extra work. No sanding, no painting, no gluing. I might change the knobs at some point. 

The hefty price tag that came with it? $10. (I would have been willing to pay $30 for it at least and wouldn't be surprised if someone else sold this item for even more than that!)) I added a little lace curtain underneath to conceal the sewing machine and notions box. The sewing machine I can just lift onto the table, no need to unplug it. I never have to cram it back into it's box and stuff it in a room. It's there and ready to use.  Look at all the drawers! 5 small drawers on top,  3 larger ones at the bottom. 

I hung up a coat hook, a thrift find from a while ago, and attached some small mason jars which hold some sewing/crafting notions such as glue gun sticks, sharpies, and thread spools. 

I placed my giant button jar in one corner and my pin cushion jar in the other along with a fantastic book I got from a friend.

Atop a sheep skin rug that's been in the family for a couple decades, sits a thrifted stool, which once  was a bar stool, but I cut the legs off to make it the right height for crafting. 

Lastly I hung a cork board with a hand stitched bird picture, onto which I can pin ideas, an drafts and what have you. 

Had I gone to the expo, or had my husband gone to his usual Saturday morning kettle-bell class, or had we gone to Ikea the night before to look for a desk as planned, I would never have stumbled upon this cheap beauty. another good deal? I think so. The Hookery-Nook is complete!

hacking a thrift

In the winter time I have a lot less energy and very little motivation. I'm sure many of you are the same. I think this is because the cold weather makes my blood freeze and thus causes me to just want to crawl under a duvet to keep warm. Today the temperature was -27 C. 

The cold weather also affects my desire to do craft work because I like doing my work outside, where I can be messy and in the warm sunshine. My brain is always ready to work on DIY projects, but my ice cold body says "naaah maybe when it warms up." However this week, I felt slightly motivated to work on a project.

I guess it also doesn't help that what will be my crafting space is currently still under construction, and sitting at the coffee table with my sewing machine is not as handy. 

I found this great piece in Value Village for a mere $8. It's missing two drawers, but when placed properly, who cares right?

Here's what I did: 

1. I did nothing here. I just wanted you to see the before. 

2. Removed the drawers. They actually held Cd's so I peeled those out with a butter knife. 

3. I printed out some old looking images that I liked, and cut them to the same size as the front of the drawers.

4. I lined up my drawers on my kitchen counter

5. I made a paper mache mix (flour, water,salt) and coated the drawer fronts with a layer to give a slight texture

6. I paper mached the images with 3 coats of the mix allowing it to dry between coats. 

(Olive helped...not)

7. I placed the drawers back in the the stand and Voila!

I still need to touch up the chipped corners, maybe with a bit of brown paint just to disguise it a bit. I plan on removing the legs and placing just the drawer section on top of my crafting table as I will be using it for my crafting notions.

Bad family photos and barking in the rain.

Okay so I missed a greater number of weeks than I would normally between posts. It's been a busy couple of weeks though, with Christmas, New Years, family outings, winter illnesses, basement renos and what not. All of these are poor reasons for not blogging though, I must confess that. They're not even really reasons...more just excuses.  so here's a bit of an update on most of what I have been busy with.

1. Creating another awful Christmas card. Last year we decided to start a tradition of sending out horribly distasteful Christmas cards. This year's is pretty bad: 

2. The Christmas tree went up. The Christmas tree came back down.

3. Working on our basement. I'm not going to post any pictures of that in this post though. I will blog about that when it's complete, but so far we have a great storage room, and the new laundry/bathroom facility down there. 

4. I found this great drawer unit for $8. I plan on covering each drawer with either printed book pages, or vintage floral paper. Then I will use it in my near future crafting corner which will be in our new basement. I will post the finished results probably not too long from now. 

5. I redid the front entrance way to our house by building in a built-in coat/boot/seat area: 

6. I made Olive a raincoat. I made it out of part of a shower curtain. Our new shower stall in our new bathroom, is only half as wide as the curtain, so I cut the curtain and reused the other half to make this new coat for Olive. I tried to find some patterns online but I didn't really like any of them, so I started measuring my dog and ended up creating my own pattern. 

Olive hated having to be measured every 5 minutes. As soon as she saw me with the partially completed coat, she'd make a dash to the basement or under a chair. But eventually it was completed.. Here is the final result: