Lucy's Nursery: Before & After

Lucy's nursery is complete except for some very minor details, so I'm going to show off the cutest parts. Before there were even these wood floors, there was some very old knotted carpet that Kelly had to rip up. He sanded the wood floors and and added a light coat of varnish. He painted a fresh coat of paint and completely changed the shelving in the closet. I am so thankful for him, he worked so hard on getting everything ready for me to decorate. I love how everything turned out. The nursery feels calming, there's lots of natural light and we feel it really reflects our style on a budget.

Paint: Turtledove by Behr & Moonlight White by Benjamin Moore

Crib: Hand me down

Bedding: Duvet from Urban Outfitters, transformed into bedding by GreenNeedle

Dresser: Hand me down

Knobs: Anthropologie

Rocking Chair: Ikea

Quilt: Pennington's Quilts

Art: Matte Stephens, Rifle Paper Co. and Becca Stadtlander

Frames: Ikea

Curtains: Urban Outfitters

And my sister just bought this vintage embroidered piece to hang in the nursery, it's sooo cute!

Lucy's Shower!

I've had an amazing three showers for Lucy and cannot believe the generosity of family, friends and friends of family I barely know. I feel the closest to being ready for Lucy's arrival than I've ever felt. I'm still incredibly anxious about the exact day this will all happen but that's a given I think.

Below is an invitation I designed for one of my showers. I literally couldn't help myself from doing it, I know it's suppose to be someone else's job but I wanted to do something to contribute to the showers.

One of the most memorable gifts of the shower is this incredible quilt from Brooke. She only started quilting recently and her quilts appear as though she's been doing this forever. The shot below is from her blog but is pretty much exactly what Lucy's quilt looks like. It will be something we will care for and treasure always! There's no tellings the countless hours Brooke put into making this and Kelly and I are just amazed by her talent and gesture! You should definitely bookmark her Etsy shop Pennington's Quilts, she is always working on something new for her shop!

Coming soon are pictures of our bathroom makeover, and Lucy's nursery (which is so close to being finished!)

mint&honey event postcards

I have slowed down working with mint&honey since entering my third trimester. School has required a bit more of my time and since I've decided to pursue a national board certification next year. I really want to focus on preparing for that before this school year ends.

This spring I have worked on these pretty postcards, I keep incorporating more watercolor into mint&honey and I'm really loving the look. I have a couple of more paper goods to get to before Miss Lucy gets here so I'll be spending the rest of my May working on those.

I hope in the next couple of weeks to get some photos of the nursery and our finished bathroom! Sooo happy we can turn our back on that project and begin enjoying our home that is free of tools lying around and the layer of dust that was constantly there.

Nursery: Stuffed Animals & Pillows

This past week I lifted the burden of completing my baby registry. I have been reading reviews and combing websites since January trying to find items with reasonable prices with the style we're wanting to achieve in the nursery. Along the way I bookmarked a lot of cute things in and out of my price range.

I was never really attached to any of my stuffed animals growing up, though they were a comfort to have around and I loved piling them up then jumping into them. They were not that special to me. A teddy bear looked like every other teddy bear out there, no uniqueness to them. So I became real excited when I came across cute stuffed animals and pillows on Etsy and other sites, I just had to share.

Stripey Pipey ($42) - The Black Rabbit

Double Decker Bus Pillow ($85) - Bliss Living

Orla Kiely Fabric Cats ($24) - Jane Foster Screen Printed Products

Mabel Marigold the Spring Bunny Plush ($26) - Sleepy King

Liam the Woodland Fox ($38) - Sleepy King

Lion Screen Printed Pillow ($26) - Sass & Peril

Little Red Riding Hood Softie Pillow ($23) - Pink Nounou

Bathroom Redo

According to my diligent and hard working husband, our bathroom makeover that has been in progress since the middle of January is down to two weeks until completion. I was very surprised and pleased to hear this. But I'm going to give him a month anyway, because I've learned there are always set backs.

Here is a little of what I've envisioned for the bathroom. And some pictures of some of the accessories I have picked out.

• Gut shower stall, install new bathtub (check)
• New tiling around bathtub (check)
• Replace ceiling tiles with drywall (check)
• Replace paneling with better walls (check)
• Replace floor (almost there)
• Replace sink (bought not yet installed)
• Replace tile for countertop (almost there)
• Fresh coat of paint on everything (in progress)

Above are the two pictures that are our inspiration in color and style of the bathroom.

Floor tile design we have picked out from Lowes.

I would love the find a pendant shade similar to this, but unfortunately this one is out of my budget.

I love this raw wood shelving with iron brackets from Pottery Barn, but yet again it would be a tight fit into the budget.

Untraditional choice for a bathroom rug/mat, but I wanted a splash of pink in there and I got a good deal on Overstock for this one.

Shower curtain from west elm

Nursery Art

The search begins and it needs to begin now because I am incredibly picky and indecisive about picking out things for our house. So I've been creating a wish list on wishpot.com of all the things I've come across online that I am considering for the baby and our nursery. There is not a definite color scheme I have in mind, or maybe I just want it to appear that I don't have a color scheme. Regardless, what hangs on the wall is a defining part of the feel of a room. Here is some cute art prints I've come across that goes with what we envision for the nursery.

1. Canal Street New Orleans by Matte Stephens
2. Dear You, Mister Bear by blackoutwell

3. Uh Oh by Rifle Paper Co.

4. Friends of Violet by Studio Violet

5. Doudou ABC Print by Kayatine

2011 Valentine Cards

I finally got my new Valentine cards in the shop. I know I'm a week or two behind. But that's what you can come to expect from someone doing this on the side for fun. I always do two kinds of cards, one you can give to just about anyone and another that's more for that special someone. I choose to do "XO" this year because it reminds me of my grandmother. No matter what the occasion, in a card or letter, she would always sign off my putting lots of x's and o's. So I've picked up that tradition with the cards I give to my family members. It's a sweet way of remembering her. The XO is made up of floral elements. I love it when designers and artists incorporate illustration with typography, and it inspired me with the design of this card.

My second card is a print and is fairly simple. It kind of came to me on a whim. It states "you are my one and only." I found a nice big chunky number one that I could fit this message into. The words are hand drawn by myself and printed with black ink onto an off white matte card stock. Both of the cards are 5"x7" and come with a craft brown envelope. You can purchase these cards as well as two of my previous cards from last year in my Etsy shop. There is free shipping within the U.S. from now until Valentine's Day.