Making a Corner for Baby

Baby is due to make an appearance any day now.  

I have 2 weeks left, but am oh so hopeful that it will be sooner than that.

We actually thought last Friday night was the night, but, alas, baby was just playing tricks.  (see here)

Being that I didn't have baby Friday night and throwing a birthday tea party for my almost 3 year old on Saturday did not put me into labor, I had time on Sunday to put a few finishing touches on the baby's corner.

What do you think?

Our first was the only one who got his own nursery.
The next, William, shared with his big brother right away, and then Lilly was with us for about 6 moths.
This one will be with us for a while before he or she joins the rest of the crew in the "big kids' room".


Our room is pretty small.  We have all the kids in the master.
It made more sense that way.  There are more of them and they have more stuff.
So in our room, the baby was just getting a corner.
This is what baby started with.:

How boring and depressing.

I'd get a little bummed out each time I saw those empty walls and crib.

Something had to be done.

Remember, we don't know yet if our baby will wear pink or blue.  We like to bug everyone and be surprised.  It's pretty fun that way.

Almost every time I  tell people we are waiting to be surprised, they say, "but how can you get ready?"

Easy.

Don't decorate with just pink or blue.

I used the napkins mentioned in this post and the colors already in our room to inform my color palette,

I photocopied the napkins and used the paper, along with others I already had on hand, to start the decorating with a flag garland to hang over the crib.

Turquoise, red and yellow are the dominant colors.

This is a no sew garland.  I simply cut the paper into triangles, hole punched them and strung them on some turquoise raffia I already had.  

It cost me less than $5 to make the garland.  The price of the napkins and the photocopies.

It is so cheap and easy that if I want to take it down when baby moves in with the big kids, I won't feel badly about it.  

After the garland was hung over the crib I had a sense of other things I wanted to do.

This shelf was next.

This was a white, rusty and very beat up, vintage metal shelf scored from my in law's garage.
I think they used to hang in people's bathrooms.
I have been on the lookout for these because I had a vision.
It involved spray paint.
With a coat of primer and a few coats of our favorite blue spray paint from Lowe's, this little shelf came back to life.
I knew it would be perfect to hold some treasures for baby,
As I like to do, I shopped my house and found my tin cuckoo clock, some favorite vintage children's books, that vintage embroidered bird napkin and some baby animals with parents.  
The deer and baby is made of paper and can be found here (thanks Lindsey!) and the birds are actually ceramic salt and pepper shakers from Anthropologie.  I added the baby (a tiny Christmas ornament from Target) to make it 3.
I didn't spend a cent on this arrangement.  It was all stuff we had.  Even the spray paint.
(just so you know, when you're expecting baby #4, decorating on the cheap is a good thing!)  


I really wanted a small dresser to use as a changing table and to hold baby's clothes and things.
But it had to be quite small, given our space, and it had to be cheap.
Enter another Malm dresser from IKEA.
It was free actually.  My friend was selling it at a garage sale, and I scooped it up.
She gave it to me because she is so nice.
Keep in mind, it was ugly and, because of those wonderful cardboard drawers, falling apart on the inside..
My very dear husband repaired the drawers and gave it a coat of white paint.
He painted the drawer fronts with my favorite yellow and it looked like a new piece.

It will hold the changing pad on top when I figure out where in the garage we stored our old one.
If not, we'll have to spring for a new one.  
That's not so bad since this dresser cost us nothing to redo.  We already had the paint.
And that little red chair is actually Lilly's, but she is letting the baby borrow it until I can get the little chair my mom bought for baby painted.  
Isn't that nice of her?

The last thing I wanted to do was hang some art over the crib.
My friend Lindsey introduced me to this artist and shared some postcards with me.
The colors and sweet animals were perfect for the corner. 
I thought about how I would use them and set to work.

Aaron hates anything heavy or framed over the crib.  
If the big one hits, he doesn't want anything falling on the baby.
Being respectful of his cautious nature, I knew I had to make something lightweight, but I still wanted to frame the postcards since they are not big.
Then I remembered these embroidery hoops I picked up at a thrift store for less than a dollar.
I mounted the postcards on heavy card stock, hot glued the card stock to the back of the hoops, cut around the hoops with an exacto knife and voila!  
I could not be happier with the results.


I wasn't sure how I'd hang them, but then decided to use more hot glue and some of that raffia to fashion "hooks" of a sort.
Combined with my favorite tacks, it worked out better than I could have imagined.

If you look closely at my handiwork, you'll see some glue drips and places where the cutting is not perfect.
This is one are of my life where I do not struggle with perfectionism.
I'd rather get it done than get it perfect.
And, when you can get custom wall art for less than a buck, you really don't need to be picky.
(to see more of Junzo's stuff, go here.  I am a big fan!)


There are still a few things to do.
I am working on a collage to hang over the end of the crib.
I always wait to get bedding until the baby is born and then buy fabric for a bumper and quilt that is just for them.
It is my one splurge in the baby decorating.
Each of them has their own bumper and quilt and I love them all.
I'm excited to see what kind of fabric I'll be using for this baby.  Red flowers, or turquoise polka dots?  
But even without those things, this baby's corner is so much more cheerful and welcoming now.

Now I am even more ready to bring our baby home!

If I am around this week, I have some great tea party birthday tips and another nursery to show you.

I had to show you mine first because this one will blow you away with it's sheer cuteness.

So check back to see where I am.  

At this point, you never know....

Love from,

Greta