Minty Fresh Nursery Inspiration

Helloooooo blogosphere! I’ve been MIA for ages, I know. I’m back now, for a minute anyway. Not making any promises. Mostly, just excited to share the inspiration mood board I have been working with as we plot, plan, dream, and just wait with unbelievable excitement for the arrival of our baby BOY!

Our nursery is a blank slate at the moment, with the exception of a fresh coat of paint (Moonshine, Benjamin Moore) and a white bookcase already filling up with our collection of children’s books. (I’ve been squirreling away children’s books for years – and naturally we have added quite a few new ones in the past several months – so it was a blast to finally unpack that box onto shelves and imagine reading some of my favorites to le bebe in just a few short months!)

My scheme for the nursery decor is a fresh, relatively gender-neutral (even though we now know we are expecting a little fella), airy space. Our walls are a lovely light grey, and I have gravitated towards white for all of the other big elements, like furniture, curtains, and the area rug. Every time I talk to my mother about the white glider or white rug, I can feel her rolling her eyes about the impracticality of babies + white, but what can I say, I’m a wild one.

The featured color is mint, but I am purposely trying to design a really neutral palette that can be filled with happy baby-colored things for years to come!

Here’s the mood board I compiled to better visualize the space:

PB Kids Comfort Small Swivel Rocker in White Twill // // Fern Leaves Pillow Cover in Seafoam from River Oaks Studio // White Faux Leather Poof from Land of Nod // Vinyl Wall Decals by DecoMod Walls // Be Brave Little One print by Star and Arrow Designs // Shooting Arrows on Mint Fitted Sheet by ModFox // Adventure Pillow from Belles and Ghosts // Anderson Crib in White from Land of Nod // Aqua Herringbone Woven Hamper from Land of Nod // White Shag Rug from Target // Mint Bumbo from Amazon // Elephant Plush Rocker from PB Kids // Natural Tree Stump Side Table from West Elm // Tripod Metal Table Lamp in Aqua from Target

My favorite thing about this mood board is that I already have seven of the fourteen items! (I don’t technically have the furniture yet, but the crib, glider & ottoman are all ordered and on their way!). Once the furniture arrives, I can’t wait to start arranging the room and bringing together all of these different elements. I want to add some pops of navy & orange in the linens, wall art, and other accessories. I also want my father to make that tree stump end table for me. So… we’ll see about that. 🙂

(P.S. if you follow me on Instagram and saw a DIFFERENT glider pictured a few weeks ago… I returned it because it wasn’t white enough. So, that is that).

At six months pregnant, I feel as though this whole thing is going WAY to fast, yet taking forever at the same time. Any preggos out there that can relate to that? Some days I feel like I will never be ready – and other days I just want the little guy to GET HERE!

I think the days of blogging on a regular basis are behind me – for a while anyway. I loved this little space for the past three years, and it served as a very important outlet for me when I needed one. I hope to keep those of you who are still out there & interested updated on the nursery design process, and then we will just see where things go from there. But no matter what, I love you for reading & following, and would love to hear your thoughts on nursery design, my foolish obsession with white, the mystery of the fast but slow pregnancy process, or anything else you feel like talking about!!

Bye for now! ❤

Emma’s Announcement

Well hello there, friends! Sorry for the months of radio silence over here! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen our little announcement last week, which explains the latest ‘project’ I’ve been cooking up for the past several months! This poor dog has no idea what she’s in for…

And let me tell you, this baby making business really wiped me out! Pretty much from the happy moment we found out I was pregnant, I felt all of my energy just sucked away. My normal amounts of excessive pep disappeared, to be replaced by exhaustion. All for a wonderful reason, of course! Starting a family of our own has been a long and difficult road for us, so I am trying to take all of the tiredness, queasiness and weird eating habits (let’s just say I could – and sometimes do – eat a bagel for every meal) that this pregnancy has to offer with a sleepy smile. (Plus, I have an amazingly helpful and kind husband who has taken over all cooking/cleaning/smelly dishwasher duties – seriously, amazing).

Now that we’re a couple of weeks into the second trimester (*sigh of relief*), I’m anxiously waiting for my energy & normal feeling tummy to return to me, which so many mom pals have assured me will happen. But so far, no sign of any changes in those areas yet (though my tummy is certainly starting to change on the outside).

Since I pretty much collapse the minute I get home from work, I haven’t built or crafted a single thing lately – which explains my absence here in the blogosphere. I’ve even found that scrolling through blogs & Instagram on my phone makes my queasiness worse (weird, right??), so I’ve really taken a step back from all things web/social media related. I’ve been dreaming up a billion and one ideas, though, and I am optimistic that I’ll have the energy to tackle a few projects this summer (there is, of course, a nursery to design!) You can likely expect to see some haphazard popping in from time to time, but I am primarily focused on enjoying every minute of this pregnancy (well, except for those moments over the toilet bowl… EW!)  – and every minute of our last child-less summer (minus the standard mojito-in-hand this time around 😉

So, till next time, then! ❤

Happy Monday!

Good morning, friends! It’s been a while! Work & life has been keeping me pretty busy of late, but I am five days away from a nice long spring break – and I couldn’t be more excited and ready for some ME time!

I did take a stab at a few projects this weekend, but most of them are still drying (it was a paint & stain filled Sunday). My most exciting project, however, has been the photography class I am taking from Clickin Moms. I will tell you ALL about it after I wrap up the three week course – but I will tell you that, only one week in, I have already learned SO much about my camera & how to use it to create purposeful images!

My model this week had four legs and a little more fur than most of the kiddos & babies my classmates were shooting, but Emma was more than happy to bask in the sunlight in her favorite spot on top of our loveseat while I shot some images of her using natural light & manual focus.

And all I had to say was “bacon” to get her to look at me. Like mother, like dog-daughter I guess.

I had better luck shooting some stationary tulips – aren’t you just SO happy that it’s finally SPRING!??

Nothing like a cute pup & some cheery flowers to start off the week, right? I hope you have a great Monday!

 

DIY Minimalist Dream Catcher

I’ve lately become intrigued by dream catchers – and have wanted to take a stab at making my own version of the traditional Native American emblem. That said, I had very little confidence in my ability to weave the beautiful, intricate patterns found in a traditional dream catcher. This minimalist, modern take requires very little skill – and while it may not be very effective at catching dreams, it sure is pretty!

Supplies:

12 ” Gold Macrame Ring

White Suede Lace

Jute Twine & White String

Wooden Beads

Feathers (not pictured)

Scissors & Hot Glue Gun

Using a dab of hot glue to secure the suede at your starting point, begin to wrap the suede lace tightly around the ring.

I decided to go about 3/4 of the way around the ring with the suede. I also decided to paint my nails for the first time in approximately eight months, so… yay me.

Next, I stretched some more suede lace into a triangular-ish pattern – again using hot glue to attach the ends.

Before I glued down the end, I strung on some beads, and arranged them in random places around the pattern. A dab of hot glue under the bottom bead keeps them from sliding around too much.

Next, I looped on some jute twine and white string, in alternating order, on the bottom of my ring.

Finally, I attached beads & feathers to the bottoms of the strings.

The whole thing took about thirty minutes to make – and I couldn’t be more pleased with the end result!

Here she is hanging over our headboard – ready to catch a dream or two!

Are you a fan of dream catchers? I’ve never had one before, but I’m definitely enjoying this one!

Luck of the Irish

I’m not Irish – but I sure love Shamrock shakes & a nice cold pint of Guinness. So happy St. Patrick’s day, friends! I’ve got my green on, and I’m ready to eat some Irish soda bread.

And if you happen to need some last minute St. Patty’s day decor – why not cut a lucky four leaf clover out of some gold card stock & stick it in a frame? You’ll get an inexpensive good luck charm to last you through all the parties & corned beef you can handle.

Have a great day!