Map of the World

I've decided I'd like to (tastefully) decorate Jack's room with maps. You know, to be all educational n'stuff.

While searching Etsy, I stumbled across this map and fell in love!! Does anyone else adore this as much as I do?!

Buy it here. For a steal at just $30, friends. I might just get one and save it?? (And Mom - wouldn't this be neat in your loft?)

Crafty, Crafty

Tomorrow is Jack's due date. I can't believe it's so soon, but then again it doesn't really mean much. He could come at any time. I'm just worried about going too far overdue because I do not want to be induced. Tyler is just happy we successfully dodged Halloween. Our families have been teasing us relentlessly that if he was born on Halloween, kids would make fun of him and call him "Jack-o-Lantern". I really didn't want him to be born on Halloween anyway. (Halloween is my Mom's birthday, and she always said it never really got celebrated correctly. It was always eat dinner, blow out the candles on the cake, and rush into costumes to go trick-or-treating. Sad, huh? Luckily I think my dad spoils her now to make up for it.)

Today I have "kept busy". I am currently watching Down Home with the Neelys on FoodNetwork (they are the cutest couple!) and I just finished this:

My older sister told me to keep busy, but since Tyler took our car today, I am stuck at home. I decided to make one last craft for his room, one to go on his door. I used the same set of paper that I used for his JACK bunting and his pinwheel mobile.

I think it really completes everything. I'm ready, baby....come out soon!

Nightlight

I've really been wanting a nightlight in our hallway so I can make it safely to the baby's room in the middle of the night. 

(I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it's really dark in the hallway and I mentally don't wake up very fast. And embarrassingly enough, I'm still a teensy bit afraid of the dark. Don't judge me.) 

The only problem is that we don't have ANY source of plug in the hallway. We might have to thread and extension cord from our bedroom and put a low-light lamp there or something. 

But if I did have a plug in the hallway, I'd buy one of these. It'd be perfect and would work anywhere in our home because the decor could change so easily!

My DIY Mobile

Here is Jack's finished mobile! It was so easy and less than $2 to make! Go me. :)

I made pinwheels by cutting out squares from double-sided scrapbook paper. Then I folded the pinwheel in half (to make a triangle), and then the other way. I then cut about 2/3 of the way into the center on each fold. I used my itty-bitty holepunch to punch holes in one corner of each flap, and pulled them into the center and secured it all with a brad. Hope that makes sense. It wasn't hard. :)

Next I took three thin dowels, each about a foot long, and tied them together crisscrossed with brown, earthy hemp. I then tied on each pinwheel (I made them various sizes and lengths) and secured it with hot glue, which surprisingly works very well with wooden dowels! Then I screwed a U hook into the ceiling and tied it all on!

His nursery is finally complete, down to the diaper station and dirty clothes hamper (thanks Shannon!). (Tyler would like to interject here and say the nursery is indeed not complete because the only trash can in it doesn't have a lid. I was going to see how long that lasted with smelly diapers...which I don't think will be very long!) Now all we need is a baby to put in it! (Tomorrow I am 36 weeks which means 4 weeks from his due date!)

XYZ Blocks

I am LOVING these alphabet blocks! They are clever and anything but ordinary. I could look at these for hours. Love the "AFRO" one.

No-Sew Fabric Wall Decal

 

I came across this DIY months and months ago, and planned on using it for Jack's room (obviously didn't happen). However, I think it would look fantastic in any room, given you didn't do giraffes and elephants!

This easy DIY teaches you how to make fabric wall decals that peel right off and don't damage the wall.

Curtains

My mom and dad brought Jack's dresser that we painted over the summer to our apartment this past weekend. I also made teal curtains for his room to cover the window, so it's a little more private (there aren't miniblinds on the window).

(It's not the best photo - we still would like to organize my art stuff so it's not in the way.)

I think one of the best jobs in the world would be decorating nurseries. Sometimes I wish our budget was limitless!

(Sorry I can't give credit for where all of these images came from.)

Nonetheless, I'm so excited to keep sharing with you guys all of the small things I do to make our nursery special. Even though baby Jack will have to share his room with a bunch of my art stuff, I don't think he'll mind one bit. :) 

On another note, check out this maternity book that I found on the ohdeedoh blog.  Neato, right? I wish I would have thought of something clever like this for myself!

Such fun things I found this week!

Nursery Art

I'll admit I've been pretty bored these past two weeks while Tyler is full-time at work. I always thought I'd get to see him more when he was working full-time (compared to both of us going to school full-time) but I actually see him less. Weekends are nice though because he gets off around 3pm on Fridays, and then the weekend seems longer. :)

So to quench my boredom, I've been looking at art prints for Jack's nursery. Because we will be in an apartment, we are limited on what we can do (I don't even know if we can put shelves up or anything). I think his walls are a pale yellow color - fun for a baby room! I started designing yesterday and here is what I came up with. Let me know what you think!

I am thinking they will be 5"x7" prints on a nice white paper, and then with a black frame (shown in the picture). Tyler doesn't like the monkey, but after experimenting I thought it was best to stick with a theme (in this case, a jungle theme). 

However, I have been corrected by Tyler: only monkeys live in the jungle - giraffes and elephants live on the savannas. He suggested putting a lion instead, but I told him I like the uniqueness of the shape of the monkey. I told him all three belong together just fine - like the Lion King. He corrected me and said very matter-of-factly, "Simba only went to the jungle because he was a reject! Look how he turned out! He didn't even think he was a lion!" Oh Tyler, I love you. :)

[ On a side note, Jack is kicking and wiggling around like crazy now! It's so neat to feel him wiggling all the time! Sometimes it tickles. :) Also, we just found out my older sister is having a boy too, so Jack will have a play buddy! ]