DIY Crib Railing Cover

Many of my friends with children had warned me about their sweet little ones destroying their beautiful solid wood convertible crib that was supposed to last until they went to college by chewing it to slivers the second their first two teeth escaped their gums.  We were lucky enough to be given a crib in perfect condition from a friend we trusted, and painted it white to suit our nursery.  What I didn't consider was that when my darling offspring started to gnaw on it, the paint would peel off, leaving it looking rather, uh, not cute. 

So I've been meaning for a while to make something to cover the rails of Norah's crib, because all those little rodent teeth have made the painted surface look like this: 

I know there are plastic covers you can buy, but those only fit over the front rail, and by this point the paint is so chipped that I didn't want to be able to see it through a clear plastic cover.  And, that would not solve the problem with the side rails, which she seems to prefer to scrape those little teeth on over the front rail anyway. 

I had leftover fabric from her nursery projects, and decided to make a cover using those.  I don't have step by step photos of the process (late night sewing without anyone else in the house awake to take photos) but the project was really simple for anyone with basic sewing skills.  

First, I measured the length of the long side of the crib to get my desired finished length for the cover.  I added 1/2" seam allowances for each section of fabric.  For the underside, I just used one long piece of microfleece I had lying around in my stash. 

I decided on a pattern I wanted and cut the fabric sections, allowing for 1/2" seams.  I stitched the top pieces together one section at a time, and then repeated for the back side, so I had two strips of fabric.  I joined them with one long seam across the top, so that when it was folded in half the patterns would be facing the right direction on either side.  

Next, I cut about 10" lengths of ribbon for each tie, finished the raw ends by running a lighter over them quickly to seal the ribbon, and pinned them onto right side of the fabric, pointing inwards towards the middle (looks backwards from how you want them to end up facing at this point).  On top of that, I pinned the fleece with the right side facing in, so the ribbons were sandwiched in between, and stitched around the entire thing, leaving a small opening to turn it right side out.  Carefully, since there were still pins inside, I turned it out, removed the pins and then I finished the opening with a small hidden stitch, and that is that! 

You might notice the teeth marks remaining on the end rails...yeah, still need to make two shorter covers for those! 

Progress! Now I just need to hang the curtains, photo collage, and hooks back up and her "new" room will be complete following the move.  It was finally looking so great at my mom's, and then we had to go and move everything into total disarray...it's only been 2 months since we moved, so it's not like I'm totally delinquent with setting her room up again, right?

37 Weeks + 3 days

We have officially hit the "Full Term" marker - baby can safely be born any time now with little likelihood of long term health issues! It's a relief to have made it to this point, and also to know that one way or another she will be here in a matter of weeks!

What's going on with me this week?  Previous post pretty much sums it up: discomfort.  My belly is stretched to the max, and my skin is not happy about it.  Stretch marks alone have given way to stretch marks underneath a layer of hives off and on throughout the day/night.  I went to the Natural View Market in Brighton today to look for some homeopathic remedies to try, and got some calendula gel to put on which seems to help at least temporarily relieve the itchies.  So far the hives are isolated pretty much to within the stretch marks themselves, which is odd, but at least they haven't spread to other parts of my skin (*fingers crossed!).  Baby is still growing every day, but I'm not so much uncomfortable from her size alone unless she decides to stretch her legs all the way out! I think she's dropped some, because it's a tad easier to breathe now than it had been - hooray for that!  Otherwise, I don't really have any changes or intuition that she's planning to make her debut in the next few days.  I think she's comfy in there for another few weeks.  I'm thinking it may be sometime within the week up to her due date, perhaps around the 16th-17th if I had to venture a guess.  Of course, those dates will probably pass without a hint of change, and she'll be a 42 weeker, but I don't wanna talk about it right now :)

Here's the belly this week:

I have a major to-do list to tackle, but somehow the urgency hasn't set in yet and there's really still a lot to get done around here! Most importantly, we haven't started packing a hospital bag yet.  I know when labor starts we'll likely have plenty of time to gather things up if it isn't done, but it would definitely make Matt feel better to have that at least started!  That's my goal for tomorrow :) Perhaps if I make the list public I'll be more likely to cross things off (I like to include some things I've already accomplished, too, just to feel better):

- Pack hospital bag

- Write out birth plan somewhere other than in my journal (although if that doesn't happen, I can always bring the journal, I guess)

- Clean living room and put away laundry that has been sitting in baskets for weeks

- Finish re-arranging our bedroom so that I can actually get in and out of bed with the co-sleeper on my side (that's made midnight bathroom trips interesting lately!)

- Vacuum pet hair tumbleweeds from all corners of the house...repeat

- Attach safety straps for co-sleeper under our mattress so that it can be safely used when we bring her home

- Call pediatrician's office to make sure they are accepting new patients - they are :) 

- Install car seat base and put seat in car - better to have it sit there than on the living room floor, right?

- Hang last few decorative items on nursery walls

- Cook/prepare meals that can be frozen for the first few weeks at home

- Finish sewing binding on blanket I started

- Find out we need to replace all 4 tires on the car unexpectedly after having a flat on Friday

- Finish our childbirth education class  

- Wrap up at work this week - last day is Friday April 8!

I know there's more, but that's what comes to mind at the moment.  Baby prep is pretty much done though - diapers are washed and ready for when our disposable stash runs out, clothes are washed and ready for her cute little self to fill, items like the swing and bouncer are assembled. The room is essentially complete, save for a few things to go up on the walls.  See?

Wall collage - not sure if I posted this already on here

Crib skirt done, fabric bunting done (don't worry, it won't stay hanging on her crib as a strangulation hazard - it will be hung on the wall before she sleeps there!)

View from the doorway (changing table no longer has random boxes and tools sitting on it either)

DIY Crib skirt, bunting off crib

Fabric bunting hung on the wall 

Anyway, things are pretty much a go over here - so baby girl can get her groove on any time she feels like it! I'm ready to meet her, I know that much! 

34 Weeks (and 3 days...yes I'm counting)

Wwell, we're getting down to the final month of this business...hopefully! This week will mark 35 and 35 - 35 weeks down and 35 days to go.  I think I've reached the point that whenever the end comes it will be welcomed.  Of course I want to make sure she's developed enough and don't want her to have any complications with growth or lung development...but if I could deliver in 3 weeks I'd be most pleased to be honest with you!  I know my body can and will accommodate more growth, but geez it feels like I'm close to max capacity now! And, discouragingly, I noticed two small purple-y stretch marks forming on the underside of the belly today...which means I'm sure there are more to come :( I was hoping to make it through without any, but doesn't look like that is going to happen. I know 50% of pregnant women get at least some, and it's a badge of motherhood and all that, but I could have done without them nonetheless. At least our professional maternity photos are this Thursday at 35 weeks on the dot, and hopefully I won't get any more before then, so the belly will still look good in pics! (Oh vanity, how I love thee).   Here she is covered up for the week: 

34 weeks + 3 days

I think we are more or less getting down to the last vital things we need to have and do before she arrives.  The nursery is coming together, and I'll give it its very own post for the big reveal once all the components are in place soon.  Our chair should be scheduled to arrive in the next 2 weeks or so, and the wall projects are just about complete.  The crib skirt is the last big sewing project, and I just didn't have the gusto to do it by myself this weekend.  I did work on these, though:

The collage of frames will go on the wall above the crib.  So springy and bright, and yet sophisticated, charming and still clean lines! 

I also finished the DIY altered lampshade project using the Cricut: 

I made the ruffle trim using 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and pleating it by hand, fixing each pleat with hot glue in between.  Then just hot glued it around the top and bottom of the shade, overlapping the seam at the back.   For the inside, I used the Cricut cartridges "A Child's Year" and "Give a Hoot" and cut out silhouettes of children at play and a whimsical butterfly border.  Then, using spray adhesive on one side of each cut-out, I fixed them to the inside of the shade! You see them mostly when the lamp is on, and when it's off you just pretty much see the ribbon ruffle :) So cute, if I do say so myself! 

And, apparently the animals approve of this space...as long as it is all for them! It is just for them, right?

Winnie has since been banished from claiming the co-sleeper, because that's really a habit I do not want to encourage.  In fact, it kind of freaks me out and I'm not sure what to do to keep her out of the baby's sleeping spaces.  Cat owners, any suggestions?  Right now I just have it loaded with some bags of hand-me-downs, but that's obviously a temporary solution.  The co-sleeper will be moved into our room beside the bed, but the bedroom needs major cleaning and reorganizing first...see below. 

I think the "Nesting" is kicking up a notch from just nursery prep and taking up 100% brain space occupied to thinking/list making about what needs to get purchased/done to actual housekeeping tasks that have been put off too long.  This is not news, but I'm a pretty terrible housekeeper.  I love clean, fresh spaces, but honestly I just prefer if someone else does it for me, and if not, then I don't mind living in various states of squalor that much (evidently). Gross. Well, those little things that I usually put off for months (the grody dust built up on the cold air return vent over our bed? yeah...all I had to do was wipe that with a damp cloth. 6 months ago) are finally irritating me enough to get themselves done.  Today I scrubbed the shower and tub (like even got the orange rust stains off), cleaned the grout around the base of the toilet, and washed the shower curtain liner.  Tasks which a normal person might do once a week, or perhaps twice a month, sure...but these are typically Mt. Everest proportion tasks that I feel quite accomplished about today, especially seeing as how they had me work up a sweat and become short of breath! (Let's be honest, getting out of a chair does about the same, but we'll just skim over that part).  Anyway, hopefully this house will still be spring clean by the time little girl arrives - particularly if she listens to the first paragraph and comes in 3 weeks - the shower might still be clean in 3 weeks, right?

33 Weeks - Can we call it the Home Stretch yet? At least the 7th Inning Stretch?

33 weeks, 7 to go until the little lady is scheduled to arrive.  Holy crap that's less than two full months! We are slowly but surely getting things checked off our to-do lists, both major and minor.  I typed out a tentative birth plan last night, and once Matt and I have the chance to go over it together, I'll discuss my feelings on the matter in more detail here.  We have started talking about a pediatrician, but we haven't yet made a decision on that.  Our childbirth prep class is scheduled, and hopefully little one does not decide to come early or we won't have the chance to attend as I'll be 36 and 37 weeks for those classes!  The nursery is starting to take shape, as we now have the crib mattress in place, one curtain panel done and curtain rod hung, furniture mostly painted, and plans for wall decor and a few other touches taking place in my already crowded little head as I type.  Our chair hasn't been delivered, but it should arrive by the end of this month.  I have some projects to work on this weekend with my mom's help - at least finish the other curtain, and possibly start/finish(?) the crib skirt.  Here are some sneak peek pics of the current state of things:

 Closet in stages of organization

 Dresser/Changer and one curtain panel (cupboard door is actually on as of today)

Close of up curtain

We are also checking things off the "must-haves" list of baby prep items.  Getting the cloth diaper stash ready and pre-washed soon, and filling in the back up supply of disposables a little at a time.  I am definitely starting to feel like things will all be ready by the time she's here and ready to come home, and that's a big relief! I mean, basically, she needs a few onesies, blankets, diapers and mah boobs for the first little while, and those are all things we can safely say we have covered! My sweet friend from work is bringing over a load of baby gear this weekend including the co-sleeper for our room, and back ups of many items to have at Mark's for when she has Grandpa time over there.  I think we'll be in pretty good shape with gear very soon! The wonderful Smith family hosted another BEAUTIFUL shower today (pics to come in another post), and my lovely Peds and Transplant Social Work friends are both throwing work showers next week! Needless to say we are overwhelmed with love and support for this little one, and I seriously mean it when I say we could not be as prepared as we are without all of you.   SO much love, it melts my heart!  

We had our 33 week appt with the midwife on Thursday, and everything seems to be going well from her point of view right now, too.  The fundal height is right on track, which means more or less baby is growing on track (which we knew from the u/s last week).  Her heartbeat is steady and strong, and her movements have been out of this world in the past week! You can now see my entire belly moving when she readjusts her little legs and feet!

My weight gain is stable - I haven't gained any in the past 3 weeks and so far I'm up approximately 14 lbs.   In the past week, I've gotten probably the best compliment any pregnant lady wants to hear, not once or twice, but three times - "You can't even tell you're pregnant from the back!"  :) As unwieldy and off-kilter as I feel sometimes at this point, it is nice to know that others don't seem to experience my profile the same way I do! We have scheduled a maternity photo session and I will be 35 weeks at that point - so some real ripe belly pics are coming your way soon! Here's our at home shot for this week:

33 wks 2 days

Overall, I'm feeling that even though there is still a lot to complete, we have good plans and will make a little progress every week, and before we know it she will be here! I'm hoping every day for continued stability with the GD and no insulin, but overall just for a healthy and safe delivery whenever she decides to arrive.  I'm also hoping to find some time for Matt and I to spend as just a couple in these last few weeks, before our lives are changed forever. We have a few movies we'd like to see at the Michigan Theater, and hopefully the weather cooperates and we can go on some walks outside together too.  It's very exciting from here out...I'm sure the next few weeks are going to be a blur!   

DIY Butterfly Mobile

I spent some time yesterday finishing the mobile I had planned for the nursery.  I was inspired by Pottery Barn Kids' one, but couldn't really justify the $59 price tag.  

While I liked the look of the all white butterflies, but I really wanted to add more color since the walls will be tan, so I found mostly 2-sided scrapbooking paper or cardstock that coordinates with the fabrics I will be using in the room.  I spent about $8 on paper for this project, plus used some that I already had in my stash.  I busted out my brand new Cricut machine (a little Black Friday steal that was a total gift to myself!) and got to work cutting out approximately 100 little butterflies! They ranged from 1.5"-3" on the Cricut dial, and I used the Give a Hoot and Picturesque cartridges to get the different butterflies I liked.   I'm sure you could find die cuts already made at Joann's or Michael's, or you could go to a scrapbooking store and borrow/rent their Cricut machine for a few hours to cut out what you want.  

I didn't really take step-by-step photos after this, because stringing the butterflies and attaching them to the hoops kept both of my hands busy! But, the basics steps are that I used clear fishing line type wire and I cut 8 21" lengths of wire, and 6 18" lengths.  Then I used a needle to poke 2 little holes in the center of each butterfly, then threaded 4-6 butterflies on per strand (4 on the 18" lengths of wire, 6 on the 21" lengths), going from the bottom butterfly to the top.  I used a little hot glue to fix the bottom one on each strand so it didn't slide off, but the rest of the butterflies didn't really slide on the wire since the needle holes were small enough.   For the base of the mobile, I deconstructed a pre-fab wreath base from Michaels (about $1.79) that had 4 hoops connected by wires (like this):

At first I was going to paint it whole with all 4 hoops, but it ended up looking pretty sketchy and just home-made, so I took it apart with some pliers and wrapped 2 of the hoops in satin ribbon, fixing the ends with hot glue to make sure it won't unravel.  Using coordinating thread, I tied the 2 hoops back together at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions to form the 2-hoop base, similar to how the wires were holding it together to begin with.  

Then, using the hot glue gun, I put a little dab of glue at evenly spaced points around the hoops (one at a time, of course, or it wouldn't have been so hot), and attached the 6 18" strands around the outer hoop, and the 8 21" strands around the inner hoop. I cut 4 lengths of ribbon to hang the mobile from, and glued those in equal spacing around the outer hoop.   

Close view

Hanging over the changing table

Whole room perspective

27 Weeks - Hello Third Trimester!

Today is the start of the third trimester, and literally as if on cue, it feels as if the "glow" and comfort and energy of the second trimester that everyone talks about (which I was lame enough not to even really notice let alone appreciate while experiencing them...) seem to be fading quickly into the past.  While riding home last night after work, I thought to myself that I feel as tired as I did around 6 weeks, and that's saying a lot! By the end of the work day, I'm pretty much spent. My mental to-do list is piling up at a frightening rate, and then I get home and change clothes and eat dinner and it's all I can do to convince myself that 8 PM is not a dignified bedtime for an adult on a nightly basis.  As I've continued to talk about on here, the SPD doesn't help, but more than that I'm just generally wearing out more quickly now.  I guess that's why they call it the "home stretch" - there is still quite literally LOTS of stretching to be done, but at least we are counting down the weeks now instead of counting up.


Little girl is working on her lungs now - her nostrils are open and she's "breathing" amniotic fluid and practicing inhaling and exhaling for her big debut when she'll have to do it on her own.  She's about the size of an eggplant and weighs over 2 lbs! Maybe we'll get an even more accurate estimate of her size at the ultrasound on Monday.  One thing I am definitely noticing (and Matt has too!) are specific body parts when she moves around.  Not that I can identify what is an elbow or knee or butt, but I can definitely tell that lump protruding slightly on the left side of my belly is distinctly part of someone and not just a transient blob of blobbiness knocking about in there! So far none of the movement has been uncomfortable or feeling like getting swiftly kicked in the ribs or anything, but I am guessing those days are just around the corner!


Here we are at 27 Weeks - my belly button seems to be popping slightly, but I think that is also because I just ate dinner right before we took this :-) Up just under 10 lbs today at the midwife appointment, so I guess I'm on track.  She said the "fundal height" is also just where it should be, so no worries about development from a growth perspective, I guess.  

Our nursery fabrics have been ordered, and I've already received all but one of them! I hope to have the other one arrive by the end of the week and then I can think about getting projects started.  I decided to go with these:

 

The aqua trellis pattern will be the main part of the crib skirt with the raspberry dandelion print as the trim along the bottom.  The multi-colored botanical print fabric is called "Teja" and will be the curtains, and aqua paisley is a super plush minky fabric that I'm planning on doing a changing pad cover with.  Then I should have enough of each to do some other small accents in the room.  I know I perseverated and spent WAY too much time making this decision but I'm happy with the choices and can't wait to see them come together! I think they look perfect for a spring baby girl and I am so excited to see all the other little things I'm hoping to have ready all in one space.  We are deciding on a chair, and have one pretty much picked out. I think we're going to go with the upholstered glider/rocker from PB Kids with the white twill and stone piping slipcover (shown here in just white and slipcover below).   The walls will be a light tan/sand color, still to be picked out.  

Still looking for a small side table for beside the chair (I mean small...there's not a ton of room in there, and with a larger chair there will be even less!).  Like, enough room for a little lamp, a coaster, and the sound machine.  If anyone has a small table they want to get rid of or you see in your travels that could be repainted white, give me a shout! Ideally, I think I'd like it to have one drawer, like this (but this one is $97 from Target - their South Hampton Night Stand, and I don't really feel we need to spend that much): 

First up however, we must get finished emptying the room (almost there!) and then tape and paint it, and then we can do the rest, which is the fun part! Can't wait to share our progress as we go!

26 Weeks, and some nursery decisions!

Today marks the start of the final week of the second trimester...2/3 of the way done with this first pregnancy of mine and it blows my mind how the weeks are starting to melt away now.  The first trimester went painfully slowly (at times at least), and every day that I successfully made it through felt like a triumph.  Now, I find that week by week suddenly it's time to take another belly shot and mark the passing of another week closer to baby day.  Basically, if I go as long overdue as they will let me, at most it will be 16 weeks from now until I meet our little baby!  Depending on how things go with the placenta previa and/or just delivering before my due date, it could be sooner than that.   HOLY CRAP. and EEEEE!

I have a midwife visit in a week, and will be discussing my plans to drop my hours a little bit at work over the next few weeks.  The SPD has started to be much more of a problem, and it's very clear when I've overdone it and my body simply won't go anymore.  I have had to call in to work a few times because I couldn't stand long enough to get in the shower in the morning :( I never imagined I would be one of those pregnant ladies who just couldn't do daily things like lift a laundry basket or get out of the car without help, but alas, here I am.  It's not even because the belly is so big and cumbersome yet, but the pelvic pain is just enough to be downright incapacitating at times.  I feel guilty to even consider dropping my work hours, but the people around me here have been more than supportive and have reminded me that I'm growing a person for goodness sake and should just do what my body says.  Then, on 1/24 we have our ultrasound to re-check the previa, so we will know a little better what things look like and what to possibly plan for in terms of delivery (c-section versus attempting a normal delivery).  I will certainly keep this updated regarding what we find out.

Baby should be about 1 2/3 lbs and 14" head to heel this week.  She is able to "breathe" amniotic fluid now (even if the thought of her breathing essentially her own pee is kind of weird).  Her inner ear nerves are pretty well developed, too, and she can now not only distinguish my voice but that of someone else I'm having a conversation with!  Her eyelids are open and she blinks now, too!  Go baby, go!

I decided on the fabric for the nursery - at least I know for sure about the blue trellis fabric, and it's ordered and on its way! I haven't ordered the complimenting fabrics yet, but am pretty sure we'll do the raspberry dandelion and still deciding on the second.  Can't wait to see it all come together!  The room that will be the nursery is mostly cleaned out and ready to paint! Looking forward to seeing some progress in there over the next few weeks, and I'm sure it will ease my anxiety about not having anything for baby (like, I keep having dreams that we don't have anywhere to put her to sleep, or she doesn't have any clothes...which is the current situation but of course we will by April!).

So that's the scoop this week :) I'll update this post with a belly pic when I get home tonight!

Nursery Inspirations

Post Holidays, and a few days into the purging/organizing of the space at my Mom's that will be our little girl's first room, I'm starting to brainstorm decor ideas for the nursery.  I don't want to have a really specific theme (i.e Ladybugs! or Butterflies!), or have a migraine inducing throbbing pink explosion, but I want to have a space that feels relaxed, sophisticated, and put together.  After a reasonable amount of time weekend spent entirely searching for fabrics online, I thought I was totally settled on my choices, but then the bug bit a second time and I'm rethinking what I want.  I will be making the crib skirt and curtains at the very least, and most likely a few throw pillows and smaller accessories like possibly a diaper stacker (even though I want to use cloth diapers, I think it could come in handy for those or something else).  I'm planning to use this sewing pattern for the basics minus the bumper pad, which we aren't using for safety reasons:

For curtains, I don't think I'm going to need a pattern but I'm planning to do floor length panels (84") with a primary fabric and a contrasting band of fabric along the bottom for an accent.  I also plan to add a band of the contrast fabric along the bottom of the crib skirt to coordinate the two. 

Here are some of the fabrics I like at the moment:

For the main fabric in the crib skirt:

For the trim panel on the skirt and curtains:

 

 

 

For the main part of the curtains:

 

I'm also thinking of doing a very thin stripe of a pale lime between the primary and contrasting fabrics to tie them together, possibly something like this:

 

 

The walls will be painted in some shade of tan/sand/taupe/oyster/beige and the trim will be white.  I'm planning to paint the furniture white as well.  I really like Sherwin Williams Oyster bar for the walls:

 

 

 

So that is my current inspiration board :) I want to incorporate touches of "natural" elements like baby birdies/owls, a wall collage of vintage styled and modern prints (Matt got us some REALLY cute papers from Hollanders to play with), and a DIY fluttery mobile project similar to this:

Organizationally, we need a small bookshelf for all the books we already have (!) for this little girl, and something for the closet, and I'm thinking about one of these with color coordinating fabric bins:

Thoughts?