DIY Nursery Art - Little But Fierce

I've been searching for some fun art for the nursery and found a few quotes I like (see some more from my nursery inspiration). This one is from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and I love it. I know already that it will be just like our little BK. She's already a spicy little one, kicking me all the time!

My inspiration was this print from Sugar House Ink on Etsy. Since I already had a blank canvas, I thought I could recreate a similar look using this technique. So I thought...

Step One: Put on the stickers where you want them. I drew a line with a pencil to make sure the letters were straight.

Step Two: If I could have done it differently, I would have painted the first coat with white to match the color that would show through (for less bleeding and hopefully a smoother edge when the stickers came off), but I didn't. So next I put on the first coat of aqua paint. All in all I think I painted three coats of paint.

Step Three: After I let it dry for a day or two, I peeled off the stickers. Very carefully! I used an exacto knife to get under the paint and pick off the letters since they didn't come off nicely in one piece. The bad part was that it didn't leave the perfect straight lines I thought it would. See the ridges? Maybe my letter stickers were a little too thick?

 

Step Four: Think of another solution to salvage the project. AKA... Glitter! I bought some gold glitter, dug out my mod podge and got to work. I went letter by letter with my tiniest brush, first with the mod podge, then layering on the glitter. I probably should have used smaller grain glitter, but I think it still looks good. It did take some time and it was hard staying in the lines (my Kindergarden skills did come in handy though!).

Step Five: Clean up glitter... ugh! My least favorite part. Glitter literally gets everywhere, which I'm sure you all remember from Kindergarten. Everywhere! 

The end result is a little tough to read, but I still like it. The glitter is fun and I still love the saying. Plus, put it in a frame and anything looks better!

Total project cost: 

Glitter - $3

Paint - $3

Total - $6!

I probably could have saved myself some time and just ordered that Etsy print for $8, but oh well. Haha. I love being crafty and now Little BK will have some sparkle in her room. :)

I can't wait to meet our fierce little girl! Have you made any nursery art recently (or not so recently)? 

Weekly Bump Photo (Week 29)

29 Week Interview

How far along? 29 weeks... 11 to go!

Baby’s size? Acorn Squash - about 16 inches and 3 pounds!

Days until next doc appointment? Two weeks - glucose test is up next... yuck!

Total weight gain/loss? 13 lbs

Maternity clothes?  My go-to stores are Target and Old Navy. The price is right for the amount of time I'll be wearing them. I have about 5-6 tops, 5-6 dresses, one pair of maternity jeans and that's about it. Hopefully it will get me through the next 11 weeks! I'm refusing to buy any maternity work pants and have been sporting my "uniform" of rotating dresses. They are just more comfortable and look good with flats!

Stretch marks?  None so far. 

Sleep:  Turning over is not an easy task these days. I am getting more tired in general lately. 

Best moment this week:  Two things. First, seeing BK's heartbeat at the ultrasound. An awesome 148 heart rate! Second, my baby shower! It was such a great day and so much fun. I can't wait to share more with you later this week (including pictures)! 

Movement:  She's so active still! Loving every kick and punch.

Food cravings:  Not so much.

Anything make you queasy or sick?  You guessed it... still can't eat eggs... that's it really.

Have you started to show yet?  Getting bigger and bigger. And more uncomfortable.

Missing anything?  Eating cookie dough. Man, I love cookie dough. 

Gender: Sweet baby girl.

Labor signs?  None yet

Belly button: We're at about half innie/half outie status.

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or moody most of the time?  So happy! Can't wait for her to arrive!

Weekly symptoms:  Leg cramping, exhaustion, heartburn, got my first bout with swollen feet this week when it got so hot...

Looking forward to: Watching her grow even more! I'm still kind of amazed to see how big my belly will get!

The Brass Armadillo Antique Mall

Back when we were in Arizona, I stopped by The Brass Armadillo for a little shopping. It's this huge antique mall in Phoenix with row and rows of booths with the coolest vintage and antique finds. I found a ton of stuff that I probably would have bought if this place was back in Seattle. But, since we were on vacay, I had to limit my spending to items that would fit in our suitcase (insert pouty face here). The prices were pretty reasonable too! So, I thought I'd share some of the stuff I found with you today!

My favorite purchase was the vintage Atlantic Ocean map (above). I have it in our bedroom now, but I figure it might be cute in the nursery with the hot air balloons? Plus, the colors are awesome.

I loved this cute little turquoise rocker.

These chalkboard pennants were fun!

This horsey would look super cute in a bright fun color in a nursery.

I loved this hammered brass lamp. I think it was only about $25 - if only I had room in my suitcase!

Such a cool old worn leather ottoman. The cognac color was fantastic.

Also loved these small shell lamps. I can see them as bedside lamps sitting on a pile of vintage books.

I've been looking for a shudder like this forever! It was about $30 I think and I would have bought it if I had room. My friend, Mykell, had a shudder like this and used it to display all her colorful scarves and I have wanted to do the same!

I liked the shape of this upholstered lady. She even has a little tufting. In a bold new fabric, she would be pretty amazing.

Brass bar cart. Do I need to say more?

Loved all these mix and match gold frames. They would look so amazing in a cluster on the wall in a nursery with some vintage prints.

I just love letters as decor. Graphic. Colorful. Awesome.

Loved this turquoise frame! Complete with gold detailing!

These vintage prints would be sweet in the kitchen.

There were quite a few antique strollers too!

I ended up getting these three vintage circus cards. I thought I could frame them together for the nursery to go with the "hot air balloon" theme (kind of a circus theme too?). I think they were $1.25 each.

They had quite a few reasonably priced bird cages that would be fun spray painted in bright colors (without the faux bird of course).

Such a sweet vintage quilt.

This miniature secretary desk and chair would be perfect for Little BK's big girl's room! Especially in a fun color with some new knobs!

Almost bought this "vintage" (I think it was actually from the 80s... is that considered vintage yet?) animal crackers tin for the nursery. I probably would have if I had more of a circus theme, but it didn't feel as girly for me. Maybe for a boy's nursery though?

Vintage glasses! Love!

This velvet chair was fantastic. Would be even better in a velvet-y navy.

This was just a crazy wood chair. And it was huge! Definitely not my style, but amazing craftsmanship.

I almost bought this Lincoln bust, but then I realized it was actually a perfume bottle by Avon. Not exactly vintage... but still looked pretty cool. I just couldn't figure out what kind of perfume would be in a Lincoln head? So I googled it. Apparently not perfume, but after shave! That's more manly at least...

This vintage suitcase would be so cute in a little boy's nursery with a travel/globe theme.

I also almost bought this little mint elephant. Again, would be cute with a more circus theme for the nursery.

Can you tell I like turquoise/aqua?! These frames were so cute, again with the gold detail.

And here's what the place looked like from the upstairs! So huge!

If you are ever in Arizona, definitely check out the Brass Armadillo!

Weekly Bump Photo (Week 28)

Woot! Woot! We're in the 3rd Trimester! Yeah! I have to say I'm pretty excited, but getting extremely nervous too... Only 12 weeks to go?! Seriously? And then I'll be responsible for another human being? Really?!?! So much to do as well... we still need to find a new rental house to move into sometime in July hopefully (fingers crossed). I know we'll find one, the puppies just make it a little more difficult. But the tricky part is finding something that fits the budget... But, I have official Doctor's orders for no lifting boxes during the move, so that's good (anyone free in July to help us move??) ;) 

Since we are closer to the end here, I thought I'd share a collage of my belly bump photos thus far. It's pretty crazy to think how much she's grown in such a short amount of time. I don't even remember what it was like to not have a belly already!

And just for funsies... a little before and after so far... 8 weeks and 28 weeks

28 Week Interview

How far along? 28 weeks - 3rd Trimester (Whhhhhaaaaatttt?!?!?!)

Baby’s size? Eggplant/Small Cabbage

Days until next doc appointment? Monday for an extra ultrasound

Total weight gain/loss? 13 lbs

Maternity clothes?  Uh huh.

Stretch marks?  None so far.

Sleep:  It's not getting any easier/better. Tossing and turning...

Best moment this week:  Pregnancy compliments! It's pretty sweet to get the positive reinforcement at this point, I'm not gonna lie. :) I'm pretty sure I could gain 50 pounds and everyone would still tell me how great I look. Haha. I could get used to this... :) 

Movement:  She's definitely my little ninja in there. Lately, she likes to poke me under my right ribcage... it doesn't hurt, just feels really weird.

Food cravings:  Not so much.

Anything make you queasy or sick?  You guessed it... still can't eat eggs... that's it really.

Have you started to show yet?  Yes, the most asked question last week... "When is your due date again?" which must be code for "man, you are getting big!" :)

Missing anything?  Eating cookie dough. Man, I love cookie dough. 

Gender: Little Lady

Labor signs?  None yet

Belly button: We're at about half innie/half outie status

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy! The second trimester was good to me!

Weekly symptoms:  Ugh, leg cramping. And nesting. Is nesting a symptom? :)

Looking forward to: Ultrasound tomorrow and Baby Shower on Saturday - big week!

Hot Air Balloon Mobile

One of the projects I lined up for the nursery was the Hot Air Balloon Mobile I found over on Jess's blog. She has a great tutorial, so I thought I'd give it a shot! It was so easy to make and I love how it turned out!

I used the same felt that Jess recommended from The Felt Pod (found here) in Salmon, Buttercream and Aquatic Blue. The quality of the felt was amazing (way better than the rectangle sheets that you can buy at Michaels or JoAnn's. But, I did use the rectangle sheets for the white, off-white, and brown pieces. 

I got the embroidery thread in coordinating colors from JoAnn's/Michaels, the wooden pieces used to hang the mobile and the filling from Ben Franklin Crafts, and the screws (that go into the wooden block so you can hang it) from Lowe's.

I didn't really do anything differently because Jess's tutorial was so straightforward and easy to follow. The mobile is currently hanging in our living room on a random hook that the owner left in the ceiling (probably for a plant) and I love it so much I don't even want to take it down until I have to when we move this summer. :)

The colors are perfect for the nursery (although the coral looks a little more red in my pictures than it actually is) and I can't wait to set it all up for Little BK so she can look up and see the colorful balloons floating around. Yay!

Total cost breakdown:
Felt - $21 ($18 with shipping for the colors and $3 for the white, off-white and brown)
Thread - $3
Wooden block and dowels - $3
Filling - $2 (I spent $8 for a big pack but I barely used any of it, so let's say about $2?)
Screws - $1
Total Cost - About $30

I think that's pretty amazing considering that mobiles on Etsy are expensive!

I love love love how it turned out. :) What have you been working on lately? Have you ever attempted a mobile? I was intimidated at first, but surprised at how easy it really was! (Seriously, check out Jess's tutorial if you are thinking about making any kind of mobile!)

Have a great weekend!