Adelaide's Room: Finished!

I'm finally done with the little girl's room! I put finishing touches on it this morning, and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that whenever she decides to come, I don't have to worry about working on this room anymore! I am absolutely in love with every bit of it, and now I just wish that all our rooms looked this good! :)

[Entering the room. Rug from IKEA.]

[Bookshelves made from a vinyl gutter. New vibrating seat was a $5 Goodwill find!]

[Bamboo blinds from Lowe's. Curtains from IKEA. Wooden bike from Goodwill.]

[Shelves I've had for years.]

[Dresser from IKEA, with new knobs and changing pad on top. Cloth diapers, covers, handmade wipes, etc. are in the top drawer, while clothes are in the other two drawers. Wet pail to the left of the dresser. Tall mirror hung low so Adelaide can use it when she gets older. Dandelion decals from Target.]

[Mobile I made, inspired by the one found here.]

[This will be Adelaide's view when she's getting her diaper changed.]

[Closet doors, and door into room.]

[Martha Stewart alphabet cards. I love the vintage feel.]

[Knobs on closet doors, found at Hobby Lobby.]

[Gulliver crib from IKEA. $0.99 sheet from Goodwill.]

[Crochet blanket was a gift from a friend. I made the owl years ago, and the kitty is IKEA.]

[I made this bunting that hangs over the crib. If you flip it over, the other side says "I love you".]

[Closeup of the bunting. Both of these fabrics are being used in the quilt I'm making her.]

[Crib/bookcase corner.]

[Frame collage over bookcase. I made the paper collages in the five gray frames using scrapbook paper.]

[Hubby and I made this bookcase out of birch plywood. We put it together using dowel rods and no screws! We are very proud of it. It's very sturdy and stable, and will last years.]

[$5 piggy bank from Target, no longer sold.]

I can't wait to put little Adelaide in her room! I think it's made well enough so that it will grow with her. The crib converts into a toddler bed and will most likely stay where it is. The bookcase of course can hold so much more than it is now (we just don't have many toys yet). Books can be switched out in the gutter bookshelves. The changing pad can be removed and little girly things can be placed on top. And the closet is still practically empty and can hold tons.

I'm so happy with the way this room turned out! Total cost was around $500, but that includes all the big furniture, the wood to make the bookcases, and the tons we spent in paint samples! Not bad for a room that started off beige all over and completely different!

Quilt for Adelaide, part #1

I've set out to make a quilt for my baby girl.  I've never made a quilt before, but I saw this and decided I had to make one.  I think there's something endearing about a mother taking the time to make something for her child (at least, that's what I hope Adelaide will think!).  I'm sure there will be some snags in the road, but so far it's looking good. :)

I spent any free time I had at school/work cutting out the pieces.  In total there are 288 bits, but there are more that need to be cut (I'm thinking I need to add some rectangular pieces to finish out the edging, but I can share all that later!).

[Here are all the pieces stacked together.  It doesn't look like much, does it?]

[And fanned out so you can get an idea of the colors.  The lighting isn't the best in this photograph as it was taken with Kevin's cellphone, but you get the idea.  The really light piece on the right is actually a light turquoise.]

[I laid it all out (all 288 pieces) to figure out color placement.  I'm glad I did that because there ended up being a lot of switching things around until I was happy with what I had.  Again, the lighting isn't the best, but you get the idea!]

[And a close-up of the layout.  I love all these fabrics.  Some of them I've had forever (like the dark blue and the dark teal ones) but some of them are newer purchases from Hancock Fabrics... nothing special but it will match Adelaide's room very well!]

More updates on the quilt coming soon!

Excited about October!

Friday was October 1st, and I'm already excited. It's the first month in quite a few months that has something to look forward to.

October finally really means Autumn. The beautiful leaves, the crisp air. Being able to open my windows to let the breeze in. Being able to take a walk without sweating buckets. I love autumn. It's my favorite season.

[Me on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville a few years ago.]

Halloween. I love it. I love the fun it stirs up, the decorations, the crafts. I haven't been that crafty with this holiday the past couple of years, but something about this month, this time, makes me want to CREATE. There's so many tutorials out there for fun Halloween crafts. I'm hoping that our house will be a little less chaotic towards the middle of October, so I can feel okay about decorating and not adding to the madness. (With building the shed, rearranging furniture and reassigning room functions, my house right now is in a state of disaster. Arg.)

[In 2008, carving pumpkins.]

[The end result! "B" for our last name.]

And this year, I want to go out and DO something for Halloween. It's been a while since I've done that, too. The last time I really dressed up in a costume, I was an Oompa Loompa. And a pretty awesome one, too. In fact, when Kevin's sister, Kevin, and I walked into a club that night, a guy actually applauded my costume. It probably worked to my advantage that I'm a full foot shorter than both Kevin and his sister!

[See what I mean? This was in 2006, btw.]

That much closer to meeting Adelaide. Can you believe how close I am? Only 10 weeks to go!

So do you love October? What do you love about it? Please share!