some of you know that i (laurie) am expecting a set of boy/girl twins this month. indeed, as i write, i am 11 (!) days out from my scheduled c-section. seeing as the ground is frozen with slippery ice, it's 4 degrees and i can barely fit behind the steering wheel of my car, it seemed like a great time to post a little bit about some of the fun projects that went into the making of this room.
i had a blast designing this. it started with the paint color (benjamin moore 'sweatshirt gray.') many suggested that it would be too dark, but i insisted that i had 'a vision.' and, i really did. i knew i'd be getting one white crib as a hand-me-down and i used that was a jumping off point. i figured that with white furniture, the walls would be a great pop. as the room came together with an almost identical crib from craigslist, a free (!) white wood dresser from the guy who sold me the crib, the amazing vintage rocker that mom picked up from NH craigslist ($40!), and the cheap but gorgeous white curtains from ikea, i knew that it was totally going to work! i also love how the o'keefe poppy print looks with the blue. i've had that print for years in a bunch of different places that i've lived. it was a gift from a dear friend and i think it is right at home in the kids' room.
some crafting!
i added some personal touches with some simple but really fun crafting projects:
note also the vintage flashcard. i bought a bunch of these at the fremont flea market in seattle 5 years ago. i adored them then and now. indeed now, i see them around more, even in a recent pottery barn catalog. of course i like to think i was ahead of the curve on that one!
drawer pulls: to add a little color and some whimsy to the white dresser, i decoupaged the drawer pulls with some great paper and covered them with poly to withstand the wear and tear.
bird mobile: this was fun and totally me. 4+ years past my wedding, i am still using up many of the accessories that i used to decorate with at the reception. there are just lots of twigs and sparkly beads laying around the house. so, i took some of those and fashioned a little perch for this great wool felted bird (christmas ornament that i already had) to sit on. i love how it catches the light and adds a little color up in the corner.
paper mobile: this was great. jen, who was a key organizer of my baby party last month, wanted to do a craft project at the party and we both loved the idea of it being something useful and beautiful for the babies. we strolled around michael's one night until the idea came together. each of these paper mobile oieces was made by a friend or family member at the party. we bought these simple wood animal templates, a book of great paper, some tracing paper and a glue stick. folks grabbed some yummy food and sidled up to the crafting table to trace, cut and glue. the real beauty of the project was how accessible and easy it was for folks who consider themselves non-crafty and how satisfying it was to see how fabulous the finished pieces look. jen picked up the metal mobile frame at a local store. it is "meant" to hold pictures, but it is absolutely perfect for this. i expect that when i finally move the twins into a crib that they will be sharing one, and i will definitely have them beneath this mobile. when it is time to separate them, i have already bought another mobile frame and will definitely complete some more pieces so that they both get the joy of laying beneath such great art! reclaimed crafts would love to help you organize a crafty baby shower too. just contact us!
crib skirt: so, with the exception of reclaimed crafts workshops, i have not been working during most of this pregnancy. that leaves plenty of time to obsess about things that are of no consequence or import--like crib skirts! call it hormones or call me crazy, but back in december i just wasn't going to be happy unless i got skirts on these cribs. of course, this was going to make things complicated because not only am i too cheap to buy two skirts, i could never find just the right thing. that's where an old sheet, scissors, an iron, velcro and a friend who sews comes in. i jimmy rigged these skirts by cutting an old sheet in 6 parts -- 2 front panels for each crib and 4 side panels, 2 for each crib. i hemmed them using my trusty iron-on hem tape. my friend jess, a whiz with a sewing machine, offered to make decorative strips to attach to each panel. the fabric, that i fell in love with at ikea, was only available in pillow covers, so she cut, pieced and sewed these strips from a pillow cover right onto the old sheet. i then used velcro strips to attach them all to the crib frame. when i lower the mattresses as the kids grow, i'll just adjust the length by adjusting where i put the velcro. easy peasy and, i think, they look pretty darn good.
reclaimed mirror and picture frame: being pregnant with twins means that my sleep cycle is all kinds of screwed up. over the course of a few late nights, i went a little nutty with decoupaging and made these fun projects. the mirror, a project we have done in our workshops before, i simply covered with some great paper. well, maybe not so simply--given the angles, there was some math involved. let's just say it got slightly ugly at times.
this frame had a former life holding a photo that used to hang in my law office. in a true symbol of change, here it is decked out in twin glory in the baby nursery. last fall at a yard sale i picked up a copy of that great old book "gnomes." flipping thru i found this adorable picture of boy/girl gnome twins and just knew it had a place in the babes' room.
i have also been doing a bunch of baby hat knitting. when the munchkins get here, i'll be sure to post some pics of them in their various hats. i can already hear them saying, "aww, mom, really?"
given the size of my belly, those pictures will be coming very soon! stay tuned!
