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You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Decorate Your Home » Page 88

Our Serene Nursery

by Lindsay Ballard on June 14, 2010 1,956 Comments

Miss Emma is going to be one lucky girl.  She has a big brother who cannot wait to share his life with her, a daddy who would hang the moon and stars for her, and a mama who cannot wait to welcome her into our family.  As I’m sure every mother would attest, words can simply not describe the way I already love our 2nd (and last) child.

After 3 months of planning, work, and stringing you along, I’m finally ready to reveal her serene nursery to you.  It was truly a labor of love – and we honestly saw blood (Tom’s), sweat (Tom’s), and tears (mine) throughout the process.  The room has turned out so perfectly, though, that we wouldn’t have had it any other way.  Be warned that this post is very picture heavy, but I knew that’s what you’d want. 😉

You may remember the inspiration photo that triggered my entire vision.  I still don’t know who is responsible for this photo, but I’d like to kiss their ring!

I absolutely fell in love with the beige and whites in this photo.  Since I was having my one and only girl, though, I wanted to add a touch of pink into the room.  I found this sweet, powder pink Angel Toile fabric, and the vision of my room was set into motion.  I sketched out my plan for the room months ago, and I’m overjoyed to say that the final room turned out so much like my original vision!

I’ve never claimed to be an artist, but at least it got me headed in the right direction!

Introducing, Emma’s nursery:

The view when you walk into her bedroom.

The Piece de Resistance – a bed crown made from an antique fireplace mantle.

I found this mantle at a local antique shop.  It was already painted this shade of cream, which is a perfect match to the rest of the room.

Another view of the crib.  Tom, who lovingly over-engineers everything, did a fantastic job securing the crown to the wall.  He said she could do gymnastics on it and it wouldn’t come down.  I’m going to put together a tutorial on how to turn a vintage wood piece into a bed crown.  It’s a lot easier than it looks!

Have no fear, the curtains are tied back to the walls, so Emma won’t be able to pull them into the crib.

The three tiered, ruffled cribskirt was made from vintage bed linens.  It was really easy to put together.  I’ll do a tutorial for this, too.

Close-up of the crib skirt.

The changing table, with my chalkboard fabric labels, sits on the wall to the left of the crib.

I framed some family heirlooms, and they hang above the changing table.  From left to right, my old Easter bonnet, my mother’s baby dress and newborn shoes, my old toddler shoes, and Tom’s baby bib.

My Easter dress, from when I was 5 years old, adorns my child-sized dress form.

Continuing to the left, you’ll find my slipcovered rocking chair.  Won’t this be a lovely place to rock a new baby?

You can also see part of the angled wall/ceiling we were dealing with when putting up the crown molding.  It was a difficult task, but Tom mastered it and it came out beautifully.   He did such a great job!

On the next wall is an Ikea cabinet that used to be in my sewing/craft room.

The shelves are filled with a mix of old and new – some of my stuffed animals, some of Zack’s stuffed animals, my favorite baby picture of Zack, my first Pointe shoes.

On the wall between the bedroom door and closet, I hung this shelf I picked up at Goodwill.  On the top, you’ll see an antique oval frame (which will soon be filled with something very special), my sister’s toddler shoes, and a photo of Tom’s grandmother (who we recently lost) and his father as a baby.  On the hooks, the white dresses were my mother’s baby dresses.  The pink dress will be what Emma will wear home from the hospital, and will then she’ll be able to pass it on to her own daughter.

I couldn’t forget to picture this little doggie.  We let Zack pick out the first thing we ever bought for Emma, and he picked this dog the day he found out he was having a sister.  The little dog’s tag says, “Best Friends.”  I hope that they are.

Thank you so much for joining me in this little nursery tour.  It’s been so hard keeping this all a secret from my readers for so many months, but I wanted to reveal it all at one time, instead of in little, unfinished pieces.  I hope you think it was worth the wait.  I do!

Okay, let’s look at it one more time.

Yay!  Just 10 more weeks and the room will have it’s finishing touch – it’s very own princess.

Favorite Online Fabric Sources

by Lindsay Ballard on May 10, 2010 1,981 Comments

As I was working in my fabric shipping mini-sweatshop today, I had some time to let my mind wander.  When you are looking at this many envelopes stuffed (and I mean STUFFED!) with yummy fabrics, the mind tends to do that.

While I was stuffing and printing and taping and sticking, I started thinking about real online fabric stores.  My fabric stash giveaway was a huge success and has required lots of organization to keep my act together, so I can’t imagine what a real store must go through.  I bet cutting yardage for orders alone is a nightmare!

That being said, I do still love to order fabric online.  Even though I live in a large city, we don’t have a ton of resources for great fabric outside of your typical craft stores.  It’s a shame, really, as creative as Austin is, that we don’t have more choices.

I turn to online fabric shopping when I am looking for something particular that I know I can’t find in town.  I have a few favorite online fabric sources, so I thought I would pass them along to you if you are ever in need of something you can’t find locally.

——————–

Warehouse Fabrics, Inc. – I picked out a piece of must-have fabric for the nursery, but everywhere online it was about $18/yard.  Because I needed 8 yards of it, that was just not going to work.  I searched and searched and finally ran across Warehouse Fabrics.  They had the exact fabric I needed for a little over $9/yard…and it wasn’t even on sale.

I was a bit concerned that I would maybe be receiving knock-off fabric at that price, but I decided to order it anyway after reading their return policy.  When I received the fabric, I was delighted to find that it was the exact same fabric that I had ordered the swatch from the $18/yard place.  Amazing!

I highly recommend checking out Warehouse Fabrics if you are looking for any type of fabric – home decor, crafting, quilting, trims, etc.  I just can’t get over their prices.  I am annoyingly gushy about them.

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The Fab Store – One of my local friends, Becky, has a really great Etsy shop where she sells tons of designer cotton fabrics and trims.  She has really beautiful modern fabrics, and I always love to check out her shop to see what’s new.  I kind of judge my knowledge of popular fabrics by what Becky has in her store.

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The Fabric Fairy – Back when I had a little custom children’s clothing business, I bought a lot of my interesting knit fabrics from The Fabric Fairy.  She has a really nice selection of hard-to-find knits, and even the popular European and Japanese import fabrics.  I’ve just noticed that she is now carrying cloth diaper making supplies, so that’s exciting, too!

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Buy the Bolt – Another friend of mine, Lori, sells delicious fabrics on Ebay under the name Buy the Bolt.  Lori not only carries interesting fabrics at great prices, but she has a nice collection of European sewing patterns.  When sewing for children, I love using the Euro patterns so that they aren’t dressed just like every other kid you run into.

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Do you have a favorite online fabric store? Let me know in the comments!  Now that I’ve given away most of my stash, I’m itching to stock up again!

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About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.


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