I finally took some pictures of Finn’s nursery. I think the photos make it seem so much busier than it actually feels IN the room. Isn’t that rug psychedelic??? It’s kind of insanely awesome. Tummy time is going to be trippy. By the way, my official due date is NEXT Monday but our boy might be occupying this room within the week. You never know….

Here’s 3 of 4 owls that I’ve made for the little one. And if he doesn’t like them, then I’ll say I made them for me.

I’m awaiting these in the mail sometime soon. Inexpensive nursery art. Kinda fanfriggintastic.

We saw this cute envelope clutch at Urban Outfitters over the weekend and we (my friends and I) all loved it. After inspecting it, I realized it would be super easy to make. I haven’t had good luck working with vinyl/pleather so I’m not even going to try. But I bet an upholstery weight fabric with reinforcement would work just as well.

Maybe when I’m done with the following projects….

-The sewing of 4 Crib Sheets
-The sewing of the crib skirt
-The sewing of the Stuffed Owl Pillow (or 2)
-The sewing of a Small Blanket/Quilt from leftover fabric
-The sewing of 2 large Floor Pillows
-The sewing of 2 slings (or 3)
-The never ending basket spray-painting project
-About 4 hours worth of sewing/repair work on some closet draperies (bane of my existence at the moment)
-The painting of the hanging nursery mobile
-More general sprucing and completing of the nursery on a whole
-Posting on this blog!
-and more! (See: Grace Leigh Photography)

….I can try making this envelope clutch. Which means I will probably be getting around to this sometime in 2011.

This fabric makes me sad that there’s not a spec of blue in the nursery.

Gray and white owls? No brainer.

Orange and white owls? Yes please.

Alexander Henry fabrics always come through for me.

Can’t go wrong with a little olive and teal combo.

Pink is now officially out of the question for the nursery which means it’s down to teal or orange, or both. Orange is taking the lead by far and I think I’m likin’ it. My initial mockup for a quilt idea included some fabrics that I don’t think are going to work for a little boy. (OH YEAH IT’S A BOY AND I’M SO EXCITED!!) Instead, I like the idea of simplifying the look by using only two different patterned fabrics. I’m not sure how the fabrics look in person but online, I likey. Here are my two choices:

I know I can buy $8 crib sheets at Target, but it’s our first child and I’m a fiend for custom design so I’m all about spending the extra money to buy these fabrics below to make my own sheets. It will still be $10 cheaper than buying comparable designer fabric sheets I’ve seen/liked for $30 a piece. So I guess what I’m saying is, I’m splurging for $20 custom crib sheets dang it. Oh by the way, we’re not doing those silly crib accoutrements like bumpers or pillows. Not necessary. Can’t believe these baby companies try to take you for all you’re worth with these insane $250 crib “bedding sets”. Nonsense.  We just need a crib, mattress (and pad) and fitted crib sheets. So I’m splurgin’ on the sheets.

I’ve got it narrowed down to a couple of extra “wild card” fabrics that I like but don’t necessarily have a use for. Maybe the fabric book slings? Dave isn’t really feeling those and since we both like the original book ledges, I might not end up making them. No biggie. But this olive green “Who’s Hoot” fabric by Michael Miller is too cute not to use somewhere.

I also continue to love this Alexander Henry “Spotted Owl” fabric but is it to frou-frou for a boy? Maybe it can be for something mommy-related like a SLING. Yiieah.

Fitted Crib Sheets
Now that I’ve been convinced that making a fitted crib sheet should be a piece of cake, I’ve been sorting through a bunch of fabric options that I’ve found and liked online. I think I’ve decided on the olive/chartreuse color family and I really like the five patterns below. I don’t think I’m going to purchase pre-made crib sheets at all since it will be at least $10 cheaper to make my own AND I’ll get exactly the fabric/color that I want.

Fabric Window Valances
Here is the fabric that I’m considering for the window valances. The stripes will run horizontally along the width of the window and the image shown represents the approximate height of the valances according to the scale of 12″. I may do more like 14″, we’ll see.

Blanket
I am wanting to make an inexpensive and easy blanket that will be what our baby will use to play on the floor with, cuddle with, and maybe later sleep in his/her crib with.I want the front side to be in some sort of pattern and the back side to be a softy, comfy fabric called “Minky“. Here are a couple of fabric options I like. I think I want to go with the olive-y green option because it will show less dirt. Plus, it matches the crib sheets and green patches in the rug. This should be a super cheap project so I just can’t pass it up.

Homemade Quilt
I have always wanted to make a quilt and figured that I would eventually get around to it once I had my own child. Coincidentally, I am actually going to have quite a few 8 inch squares of fabric leftover from the crib sheet project so it only makes sense to turn those scraps into a quilt project. I don’t know how useful this will actually be since I’m making that soft baby blanket and since neither the blanket nor the quilt will actually be used for sleeping in the crib. It would still be a fun project to tackle. I might be a lunatic for putting this together, but here’s a little mockup of what a quilt might look like made from those 8 inch fabric scraps plus a few more selections of fabric. It’s kind of….wild, but for someone who’s a maniac for patterned fabric, it’s also kind of perfect.

Oh. My. Gosh. I just found another excuse to BUY MORE FABRIC. I do not know how I am only just seeing these Fabric Books Slings now but, yeah, this is so happening in OUR nursery. No doubt. Forget about the picture ledge/book shelves. These could not be any easier to make and I get to indulge in yet more fabric projects, my favorite kind. Plus, this keeps the books more securely in place while still being easily recognizable and accessible for little hands. I will probably do a row of 3 or 4 of these slings and maybe even a deeper shelf just above the top sling like in the picture below. See people?? I don’t come up with this stuff on my own, I see, I replicate. Thank you, internet.

Image from Melanie Bauer via Penny Carnival.

Check out this cute Owl “ABC” Poster from Gingiber’s Etsy Shop.