Nursery progress

Dear Elliot,
Well what do you know, it's time for another crafty post!

Call me obsessed, but getting the chance to use my artsy side again has been amazing. I was telling someone the other day, it's become almost like therapy for me during this stressful pregnancy. It's a few hours each day where I can turn off my mind and focus on simply creating. I was always really artistic as a kid, and in high school, I was that girl who ate her lunch in the art room most days. But I kind of lost that part of myself once college and then "real life" began. Anyway, I'm really happy to be rediscovering something that makes me feel so good.

My goal is to hand-make as much as I possibly can for your nursery. I figure handmade is a) cheaper and b) more special, so since I have the time, why not use it. So this week I finished the canvases for above your crib:

The best part about it is the 'leaves' are attached with velcro so we can change them out during the different seasons! I wish I could take credit for that brilliant idea, but it was actually your Grandma's (my mom's). Does it surprise anyone she was a preschool teacher for many years?? So I started out with fallish colors to match some of the other things I've made for your room, but I am also going to be making blue and white circles for winter (snowballs!), little buds for spring, and lots of green for summer. I really hope once you're older we can have all sorts of fun changing out the circles together :)

At first I was just going to paint the whole mural, and actually got as far as painting a blue background on the canvases before deciding I didn't like that look at all. So I went to Goodwill and bought a couple $0.99 old books (some sort of catholic saints book, and one titled "Dealing with Difficult People." I kind of felt like a weirdo when it was time to check out!) I covered the front and sides of the canvases with the torn book pages, and used Modge Podge to seal it, giving the background a cool antique-y look. Again, I didn't think of this little fact myself, but my dad pointed out that books come from trees, so I'll just pretend that was my reasoning all along, ha.

After the background was done, I drew a simple outline of a tree, then painted it (using acrylics):

For the circle leaves, I used scrapbook cardstock, cut out circles in a variety of sizes, and attached them to the canvases using stick-on velcro dots:

I am super happy with how this project turned out. I absolutely love it, and I hope you will too. A little whisper of Stevie, above you while you sleep.

Just so you can see how things are coming together, here are the nursery projects I've completed so far:

Things still on the list include deciding on a paint color for the walls, making curtains, and finding crib bedding I actually like. I really just want something very simple and plain (like a solid brown/beige, or maybe a quilted look?), and am having a hard time finding anything that doesn't have animals, or cars, or sports crap all over it! I also still have a few more tree-related projects to get done, too. This is seriously so much fun.

Well, happy 21 weeks, Baby E! I am getting so anxious to meet you.

Love always,

Mom

PS. Thank you so much for all the amazingly supportive comments on my last post. You all made me feel about a million times better (and less crazy!). I love you guys.