Since I really know the value of a dollar but love a custom look, I basically had no option but to DIY almost everything! I started building my "nesting fund" with some Christmas and birthday money I received, along with some ebay and Craigslist sales. Shortly after I found out I was expecting (October 2012), I fell in love with the "Treetop Friends" theme from Skip Hop and went from there. Spending nearly $200 for the crib set would have wiped out my entire nesting fund and then some, though--never mind that it would have been no fun at all!
I totally lucked out just after Christmas in finding a similar 4-piece crib set (it included a window valance instead of a blanket, but who need another blanket, anyway?!) at our "Once Upon a Child" for $20. Although we didn't know for sure that our Little Girl would help balance out the testosterone overload around here, I wishfully bought this tea set by a tried-and-true toy company there, too--kinda reminds me of Fiestaware dishes, huh? (You can see part of it on the 2 corner shelves to the left; they're mounted between the window wall and the wall adjacent to the closet wall.)
I pinned a lot of ideas to this board and started collecting supplies . . .
Then there were the walls. . . . As a girl, I would have loved this room, with its slanted ceilings, but as a decorator . . . not so much. I absolutely adored the large tree vinyl clings I saw listed, but any with good reviews were oh-so-pricey! And I'm not good with detail painting. The walls were already painted a neutral tan color, but I wanted to do one accent wall. Maybe green?
My hubby suggested the sliding closet doors instead, since they were white but had goopy stuff all over them and needed to be repainted anyway. He also thought he could remove them and put them up on saw horses for me. He couldn't, but the choice had already been made. "Asparagas Green" it was, and I had those handy 8-ounce sample cans in tow. I figured I'd need 3, but that glossy white I'd sanded didn't let the primer-plus-paint (by Behr at Home Depot) tick too well. I might have been better off buying a quart, but hey.
I'd already painted matching dressers (from Craigslist in 2 different states, believe it or not!) for the boys and primed a wall in the bathroom before I got to it. I was a little nervous about how it would turn out.
I'd decided on these vintage girl silhouettes, but I couldn't spring for the ready-made vinyl clings I saw on Etsy or Ebay. So I followed the trail and purchased the graphics (and some branch and treetop ones) from another Etsy shop owned by the same gal who runs this site, printed them, used the overhead projector at church to enlarge them, and traced them onto brown vinyl I purchased on Amazon and at Hobby lobby (They were about an even deal, when you use the HL 40% off coupon, but I liked the Amazon roll better, partially because its liner had grid lines on it like typical Contact paper).
Cutting out the designs was a bit putsy, and I had to learn the hard way to peel and stick part of the design before peeling off the backing of the whole thing, but we made it!
The kneeling girls and words were an afterthought (2 images from iStock Photo and one from the Etsy shop where I found the others), but my hubby likes them the best. What do you think? (My fave is the girl on the swing, above. I feel like I should have extended the branch on the right side, but alas, I've decided to just be done.)
You can also see my childhood rocking chair in the above pic. My hubby refinished it, and it looks amazing! Who says daddies don't nest?!
I found the papasan for $5 on Craigslist, and I told the boys it was our "nest chair." They're so cute when they say "tweet, tweet, let's go read in the nest chair, Mom!" :)
I purchased wool felt from an Etsy shop (it's now MIA) because the cheaper stuff at Jo-Ann and Hobby Lobby didn't come in my colors, and if you know me, you know I'm kinda OCD about matching! :) After making felt mobile stuffies for my sister Tiffany's strawberry-themed nursery, I was "rockin' the blanket stitch," so away I went with the free owl and birdie templates I pinned!
I loved the idea--for the budget and the au naturale of it all--of using real branches in the design, but I didn't want too rustic of a look, with the bold colors and more modern crisp design elements I was using. So I spray painted the branches holding the mobile, as well as the one that will hold her name made from branches tied together with string (Wouldn't you like to know?! It's a secret until she's born--but I've been hinting, if you're perceptive enough!). I got a little addicted and did the same with our stumps-turned shelves. The idea of making corner ones was my hubby's brain child--good one, huh?
The bird houses were $1 each at Jo-Ann, and my mom bought that painteg for me when I told her it reminded me of Hobby Lobby, who appeared more than once during my childhood. A friend from church made the owl papercraft, another made a blanket to match my colors, and many contributed to "feathering the nest" with more blankets and clothes and cash for other things we needed . . . ahem, "needed."
We also replaced a 70s light fixture and plastic blinds and used the same crib and dresser that Little Girl's big brothers used. The crib will probably finally get a chance to transition to a toddler bed and full-size bed in this cozy little nest.
Now, like the mama birdie who made a hnome for her little ggs outside our front door, I just need to wait for my Little Girl to "hatch"!
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