Owl Nursery

I waited several years to have our first child with hopes and dreams being dashed month after month along the way.  Beyond the obvious desire to have my own baby to snuggle, love and raise, I also had the desire to design and make a beautiful nursery to put that little bundle of joy in.  Finally, after approximately three years of not-so-patiently waiting, my dream became a reality and I began to design a nursery for our little addition.

With so much time to think about what I wanted the nursery to look like, I knew that I wanted the color scheme to coordinate with our bedroom (which is teal, white and brown with contemporary furniture).  I also wanted the room to not be babyish so that we could use it for ourselves someday when our kid(s) moves downstairs...possibly as our office.  Our bedroom has very little privacy to the rest of the upstairs, so we would like it to continue to be a Master Suite once the baby is old enough to have a room on the 1st floor.  That said, here are some of the things that gave me the inspiration to get the nursery where it is today:

A while ago, I saw a nursery with a tree painted on the wall, and really liked the idea.  I swore that someday I would paint a tree in my nursery.  Then, I later saw this image and loved the trees & the silhouettes.

I knew that I wanted the nursery to have trees, but I wasn't really sure what type of theme should go with the trees.  When I saw this lamp from West Elm, I was sold on owls.

When I was sold on owls, I found this quilt on Etsy and fell totally in love.  This gave me my color scheme.

Once I had my ideas in order, the next step was to get them out of my head and onto paper (or in my case the computer).  Since I am an almost-architect I probably went a bit above and beyond a normal parent, creating a 3D model of the nursery and some elevations...I just couldn't help myself!

The elevations of the Nursery.

When I had my thoughts together and out of my head, and I was able to commit to a paint color (I was a bit nervous about painting the walls dark brown), we were ready to go.

First a few before shots:

We committed to the brown and went for it.  It was big change, but we both really liked the color when we were finished.

After the walls were painted, the next step was to figure out how to get the trees on the wall.  We ended up borrowing a projector from my husband's firm and projecting the trees (which I had traced from an image I found online in Adobe Illustrator) up on the walls.  It was a bit tricky since we couldn't get the projector far away enough from the wall to do the whole height at once, so I had to piece it together.  At first I was afraid it wasn't going to work, but once I got into a groove it went quickly.

The finished stenciling of the trees (chalk on paint).

When I was finished stenciling, the next step was to paint in the trees.  This was by far the most challenging and tedious.  It took me a few weeks, but I finally got it done!

When the trees were finished, the next step was to make the birds.  I cut them out of cardboard, and then wrapped them in orange and yellow fabrics.  Then, I just had to paint the inside of the closet and the inside of the dresser/bookcase and my painting was complete.  However, there was still a good amount of work to be done.  I put my husband to work fixing the existing built-in dresser and building shelving for the closet.  The original built-in dresser had six drawers.  We removed three of them and fixed the other three (they didn't slide very well).  Then, my husband built a shelf to cover the top drawer and create an open cubby with another smaller shelf inside.  For the closet, I had taken off the existing doors because I wanted to have an open closet with baskets and shelving and a small hanging area.

My projects for the finishing touches included a good deal of sewing.  First, my mother-in-law made some pillows for me and then after shopping at JoAnn Fabrics, I found some owl fabric that wasn't girly and decided to make covers for a couple more pillows that we already had at home.  I also made some little storage bags to hang above the changing area, that I had seen on Pinterest.  Even though my sewing skills are quite limited, the bags were quite easy to make and I was very happy with how they turned out.

Another sewing project that I did was making a mobile to hang above the crib.  I had found a mobile on etsy that I liked and set out to make my own.

My final sewing projects were curtains, a bench cover and a crib skirt, most of which I simplified once I got into them. For the curtains I looked several times for fabric that I liked to make them out of, but I couldn't find any that I liked.  Then, one day I was at Target when I saw a shower curtain that I liked.  I cut the curtain in half and used a curtain rod and curtain clips to hang it.  Thus the only sewing I did was on the edges that I cut so that it would not fray.  For the crib skirt, I had found directions to sew one on Pinterest.  I bought the fabric to do it, and then it dawned on me that it was a waste of fabric to make something that would go around the entire crib and cover the mattress support.  Instead, I dug out some double sided tape and stuck it on the top of the edges of the crib mattress support.  Then I cut a 10" strip of fabric and stuck it to the tape.  The entire project took about half an hour and no one can tell the difference.  Finally, for the bench cover, I used some 2" foam that I had at home and covered it with the remaining crib skirt and storage bag fabrics that I had.  I really didn't have a plan for sewing the cover, and if you look closely at it, you can tell.  However from a distance, it looks pretty good and I doubt anyone will ever look too closely at it.

For the room's furniture (other than the crib and chair), we went to IKEA.  I had wanted a long dresser to use as a counter/changing station.  However, I could not find one that I liked.  Instead, I found two regular size dressers that were on clearance and bought those.  We also got a shelf to use on edge as a bench (hence the need for a bench cover), some wall-hung shelves and some picture frames.  We used the wall-hung shelves to display some toys and a few of the bird houses that my mother-in-law had painted for my baby shower.  In the picture frames, I displayed three of the owl invitations that my mom had made for the baby shower she threw me on top of fabric that matched the nursery.  Finally, we placed the owl lamp from West Elm on the dresser counter.  When it was all together, the nursery was complete!  It was such a fun project to work on, and I am thrilled with how it turned out. 

Here are the final pictures.  Enjoy!

The best touch in the entire room: Our Baby Boy!

The Maine Event 2nd Birthday Party

Our our little guy's 2nd birthday, we held the "Maine Event" of the summer.

The Theme

I thought for months about a theme for the party, but was determined to keep it at least a little simpler than his First Birthday Party.  Eventually, I settled on a Maine/Nautical theme for the party.  Why?  Well, with baby #2 coming in just a couple of months, we are working on setting up a "big boy room" for our guy to move in to.  Again for the room, it took me a while to settle on a theme, but after seeing a blanket that I loved with a nautical theme and buoys, I immediately thought of Maine and the love that the our family has for it.  I thought it would be a perfect theme for the room, which would allow me a lot of options and wouldn't be too babyish.  Anyway, because I had decided on this for his bedroom, I decided to make that the theme of his birthday as well.  That way, we could celebrate our big boy AND use decorations that I intend to use in his room for the party as well.

Now, on to the party...

The Decorations

As I said, I tried to keep everything simple for the party, but as those who know me know "simple" for me is probably not the same as most people.  As my husband has told me several times in the past, I tend to get a little "crazy" about these types of things.  So, I continued with the Maine/Nautical (but mostly nautical) theme in a red, white and blue color scheme (which is what I had wanted and what also matched the blanket that I found) and since the party was in the summer, finding decorations in those colors was quite easy.

For the dining room table, I used some decorations that I already had (Larry the Lobster (a souvenir from my time in Bar Harbor, Maine), a white tablecloth, blue placemats (which I made into a runner) and a rope/anchor frame).  Then, I added a fish net, some buoys I purchased for the room, some colored plates and napkins, lobster bibs (which was my hubby's awesome idea and were free from Red Lobster), and some containers of red and white treats: (mini powdered donuts-aka "Life Preservers", Swedish Fish-aka "The Catch of the Day", red/white/blue candy corn, and some M&M's-a party requirement for this family).

This "2" I made from a cardbox box (Pinterest style) and then wrapped it with crepe paper.  The life preserver is a pillow that I purchased for the Big Boy bedroom.

The Guests

For our guests, I invited all of our little friends from church and their parents, in addition to family.  Several people could unfortunately not make it due to previous plans, but we had a great time nonetheless fellowshipping with those that could (which is why we love having these parties.  Not only do we get to celebrate our little guy, but we get to know out local friends a little better!)

The Birthday Boy picking on Daddy

Friends talking in the back yard.  The "buoys" hanging from the tree were another Pinterest idea I found.  They are white paper lanterns that we spray painted the bottoms red.  Again, I hope to use them in Asher's room.

The Food

Since I knew I wasn't going to have the help of my amazingly talented hostess/mother for the party and I would have to make everything on my own, I tried to keep things simple.  Thus, the menu included the following: "Sloppy Fisherman Sandwiches" (aka sloppy joes), "Boat-tie Pasta Salad", "Red/White/Blue Fruit Salad", "Crabby Chicken Salad Sandwiches" (this was supposed to be chicken salad on croissants made to look like crabs-via Pinterest but I ran out of time/ambition), a veggie tray, Oyster Crackers, "Fish 'n Chips" (aka Goldfish & chips) and "Ocean Jello (aka blue jello with Swedish fish).

Eating necessities: Per Pinterest "research" I tied the napkins up with twin and Life Savers.

The Sloppy Fisherman Sandwiches, Crabby Chicken Salad, Fruit Salad and Boat-Tie Pasta Salad.

The Veggie Tray, Ocean Jello, Fish 'n Chips & Oyster Crackers.

For drinks, we had Ocean Water and Red, White, & Blue Spritzer

The Birthday Boy enjoying his dinner.

The "Beach"

For entertainment, all we really had was a shady backyard, some ladder toss & the sandbox.  With all of our little guests under the age on 10, and most under the age of four, the sandbox was all that was needed.  It was a crowded place to be for most of the party!

The Dessert/Birthday Cake

What would be a birthday party without dessert?  I wouldn't know, because it is a must in our household!  To gratefy the sweet tooth of our guests we had "Fisherman's Rope" (aka licorice), Life Savers candies, "Lobster Stew" (aka a pot of the lobster cookies I made that didn't hold up until the party...I couldn't just throw them all away!), Strawberry poke-cake cupcakes with Lobster chocolates (which I made using a candy mold from Amazon), and a chocolate Life Preserver birthday cake that I made using a bundt cake pan, white frosting, and red sugar.

The Dessert Table

Birthday Cake

A close-up of the Lobster Stew.

A quick shot with our birthday boy.

When it was time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candle, we got by our little guy ready to help him out.  We had practiced blowing out candles a couple of weeks prior for my husband's birthday, but I wasn't sure if our birthday boy would be able to do it on his own.  Although it barely looked like he was moving his mouth, he surprised us by blowing out the flame with no help!

He really enjoyed his cake and I found out that when he asked grandma for "more", she obliged, so the birthday boy got to have TWO pieces of cake that day!!!....I guess one piece for each year of his life!?  ;)

The Gifts

Although a birthday party at our house cannot happen without dessert, it could happen without presents...but doesn't.  Since our little guy already has way more than he needs and we want our guests to be able to enjoy fellowship with us and the others without feeling obligated to bring a gift, we asked that they don't.  There are always a few that just won't listen though, and we don't even give the request to Grandma and Grandpa, because we know they wouldn't.  Thus, after the guests had gone, Asher got to enjoy a small gift-opening.

Not sure what this was about.  He threw himself face-first into the presents with his mouth wide open.

A new Truck from Grandma & Grandpa!  As you can see below, it was a pretty big hit with the Birthday Boy

The Thank You

Finally, we had a small gift for our guests to take home as a thank you for coming to our Maine Event.  It included bags full of Lobster shaped sugar cookies (which I made using a Lobster cookie cutter off Amazon) and tied closed with red, white and blue bubbles and curly straws for the kids.

So that was it, our Maine Event/Nautical themed party for the Maine (little) man in our lives.  Everything went perfectly and I am quite pleased with how it all turned out.  That night though, as my husband and I lay in bed exhausted from the day's events, he looked at me and said, "let's not have a party next year" (I'm sure fully knowing that wasn't an option).  I looked back at him smiling and said, "OK.  We will not have a party next year.  Instead we'll have  two parties!"  ;) ...but after baby #2's first birthday, the two might have to share the fun during one large combined party!