DIY Baby Mobile

About a month or two ago, ok maybe several months ago I found myself drooling over all of these fabulous mobiles that were hand made on Etsy, (seriously look at them! They are adorable!) and after weighing my options I decided that the prices were really out of my price range. The ones I was truly in love with were nearly $100+. I KNEW if I asked Paul for something that costs that much money that was just a decoration, he'd give me the side eye and once I did ask him and he did just that. So, I knew that wasn't going down. I looked and looked on Pinterest and finally found a few different things I liked but also kept in mind what I saw on Etsy that caught my eye and just kinda winged it. Here is a little run down of what I did...



SUPPLIES
- Felt fabric & Chevron fabric (I had leftover from this project)
- Thread, String & Ribbon
- Wooden Craft Ring
- Key Ring
- Poly-Fil
- Sharp scissors
- Buttons, Beads, etc (optional)
- Sewing Machine (& person who sews because I don't! haha)

I first searched Google images for an elephant stencil and found one, then I had it printed and went to work. I cut out all of my little elephants & the ears, then a week or so went by and I headed to my parents house for my mom's help. I seriously couldn't have done this project without my mom, since she's the talent that sews!



Once I had my elephants and ears ready to go, my mom and I hatched a plan and went to work. She sewed all of the elephants together and I stuffed them with the Poly-Fil, then as time went on we decided we'd add a couple more details. Changed up the style for each elephant by adding buttons on the ears and the way she sewed them. They turned out so fantastic!



And a close up shot... (the dark gray ones are my favorite!)



After that it was a days work and I went home and worked on the craft ring, I wrapped yellow ribbon all around it, attaching parts of it with my hot glue gun so it would stay in place, I continued wrapping the ribbon around it until it was completely covered. I also wrapped the key ring for the top layer with gray string. After all of that was done, I headed back to my mom's house to put everything together. Here is the final result...



Didn't it turn out great? I'm so happy with it! My mom and I couldn't stop looking at it when it was all finished. We really just trusted each other when it came to trying things and testing things out that worked for us... or really me, since it's for my little one. I'm so thankful that my mom was willing to take the time and help. Thanks mom! You rule!

I can't wait to hang it up in Baby L's room and add all of the other goodies to her room. We head to IKEA next Wednesday for furniture and goodies! I can't wait!

Progress!

Is there anything better than progress? At the end of my last post I mentioned that we had started on the nursery. Well, I can finally report that the building of the room is completely finished. I have some molding to touch up paint at this point, to be done when Gracie goes in for her nap. But otherwise? Finished! In the next couple of weeks we'll be buying all of the furniture and decor for the room. I also started on the mobile I mentioned I'd be attempting to make and the good news is, so far so good! The next step on that is to sew and stuff the felt elephants and then to hang it. But all in due time! First up, I thought I'd share some of the before pictures of the room as in how it looked when we started the renovations.

As mentioned here, this room was originally supposed to be transformed into a half bathroom/half laundry. But long story short, we got screwed by the guy who was supposed to do it so it sat this way for years. I knew in the back of my head I'd want it to be a nursery if baby came before a bathroom and now that it's finished, it's exactly how I imagined it. My dad & I did such a great job on it! Anywho, here we go...

(right mouse click view image for larger views)

This is the far side of the room. As mentioned here the room is very tiny. The walls were so ugly and dirty and just ugh. Pipes exposed. Not cool, man!

This is the opposite side of the room, of the images you see above. The washer/dryer area. Another ugly eye sore.

This is the window wall. After we started to frame out the wall & then add in the insulation. Because the room is so small it's kinda hard to share exact to scale images.

Same wall, you get the idea. Adding sheet rock. Goodbye yucky walls!

After we got the walls up it was time to spackle the seems and make everything look smooth! And this second image is of the frame (sorta) that we built for the washer/dryer to go into. So you wouldn't see it anymore!

After we added the sheet rock to the frame around the washer/dryer. We didn't get a full shot. Epic fail. And the door that covers it all up! Looks like a closet.

And lastly, this is the floor we put in. I'm so happy with it!

I'm not going to share complete after pictures until I have all of the furniture in and decor on the walls. Only a couple more weeks and I promise as soon as I'm done I'll make a post! Stay turned. Oh and pssst, new layout! :)

Birthday girl!

Hi All. Sorry I've once again gone MIA from blogging. A lot has been going on around here lately, everything from me being sick with a stomach bug to Paul getting the same stomach bug (at the same time, actually), to my parents also getting this same bug, my birthday was last week, we started renovations on Baby L's new nursery to I don't even know what. We've just been a bunch of busy Bee's around here as of late.

I thought I'd first share my birthday in Instagram pictures. I turned 28 on April 2nd. Paul planned a great day for just the two of us. Gracie spent the day with my parents and Jordan stayed with his Granny so I could have a nice quiet day with my amazing husband.

On the evening before my birthday, better known as April Fool's day Paul surprised me with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers, all yellows & whites. The colors of Baby L's nursery. There was also something special about the flowers but it's a secret until she's born. ;) First thing Tuesday morning, on my birthday I had a monthly OBGYN appointment. Everything is going perfectly & I've only gained 4 pounds my entire pregnancy! My doctor is very pleased. :)

After Gracie got out of school, we dropped her off at my parents house & headed to Tampa for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Grillsmith. I order a Grilled chicken sandwich (A tender grilled chicken breast finished with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and honey mustard sauce on a brioche bun // taken from their menu) with a side of fries. It was amazing! I mean, look at that picture! Makes me want one right now! After lunch we headed to the mall to see The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, which was funny but could of been a lot funnier. I adore Steve Carell and Jim Carrey so anything they do is worth it to me no matter what. After the movie, Paul took me to buy more shirts from Old Navy. I'm currently obsessed with these. I have every color now! Mine are all neon colored, for some reason I guess they are sold out online. They have been great while my belly has been growing. They fit perfectly!



After shopping, Paul took me to play some Putt-Putt golf. It's kinda become our thing. We take it waay too seriously sometimes, since he's such a sports guy, whenever he loses he feels he needs to play again to redeem himself. We tend to laugh probably too much while we play. Because we always have so much fun! If we go out of town we always have to find a new putt-putt course to play. I told you, it's our thing! BTW, I lost by two. But don't worry, I'll win the next one! ;) When we finished our game we weren't yet ready for dinner so we headed to the beach to walk on the boardwalk and check out the shops. Paul wound up buying me three new pieces of jewelery, adding to my elephant obsession. I got a bracelet, necklace and anklet. All elephants! I should of probably taken a picture but by then my phone's battery was dying. I'll share pictures next time! We ate dinner at TGI Friday's. I had been craving the Jack Daniels Shrimp for weeks. Paul knows the way to my heart!



Anyway, my birthday was pretty fantastic. I owe all of it to Paul who made sure I had a great day. I don't know what I'd do without that man, he truly goes above and beyond for me no matter what. I love him so much!

In other exciting news, I mentioned at the beginning of this post that we started renovations on the nursery. We did! We are actually almost done with the major parts and I'll get to start painting this weekend! Talk about *squeel*! I also decided against ordering custom made bedding online, ultimately the time frame it takes is way too long. The seller told me it would take around 12 weeks to be made and shipped. I wouldn't even be able to pay till tomorrow and I don't have 12 weeks to wait. So, I googled and googled until I found this set...



The best part, I get almost everything in that picture, 9 pieces for half the price it would of cost me to have it custom and even though I really, really wanted it all custom, what is the point in that? I spend $300 bucks and she uses it for a year or two and then I put it on a shelf? Naaaah. I can think of much cooler ways to spend money. This set is only $189... for NINE pieces! Before with the custom, I'd only be getting 3, a sheet, bumper & crib skirt. So this way I'm really making out much better. I am tho still getting a custom made changing pad cover and a few other things from etsy. I also decided I'd attempt to make my own mobile. I'll of course share how that goes. lol.

SO! My next post will be with before & after (or progress) pictures of Baby L's room. Stay tuned!