on his way

I was worried I wouldn't get Jack's room or other projects done in time, but I was able to accomplish the things I wanted to do after all!  now we're just waiting...

I finished up my basketweave blanket - something I really wanted to have in the hospital.  I love the color and texture.  it's a nice and simple pattern and I would definitely crochet another one.

we all got sick right after Christmas so I had time to work on it while laying around for days - what an awful time to be so sick :(  worst. holidays. ever.  at least I was kinda productive while I wasn't able to do anything?

I updated the old nursery walls with some contact paper stripes and jackalope cut outs, as well as some new frames for the wall above the crib with antler letters in them.

I cut wood grain contact paper down to 2' sections to make it easier to put up, and did dovetails to join them together with the grain going in opposite directions for contrast.  I really like that detail :)

I didn't sew any bedding this time and just bought new sheets, bumper, and blanket from Target.  I used the same crib skirt, and found the stuffed jackalope online.

I put up a floating shelf for when Jack's big enough to get into things and we need to keep stuff out of reach.  we got the shelf unit when it was Leo's room, but he regularly emptied the shelves and we lost a lot of books (or rather, pages of books) because of it.  it'll hold things like stuffed animals, blankets and burp cloths until he doesn't need it, then maybe I'll take it for myself  O:)

I really like the lamp I found (maybe I can have this too when Jack's done with it!) and added a "hidden" jackalope crest inside the shade.

I got a little pop gun to put on the wall above the changing table.  I think that was one of the hardest things to find!  World Market - who would have thought??

we're all so excited to meet Jack and I can't wait to bring him home to his new room!

big boy room

I decided since we're having another boy I didn't need to do much to the nursery and we could just put Leo in a new big boy room, so I've been working on a robot themed room for a while now and we did the big reveal at his party.  since we mostly got him clothes (with the exception of a tricycle from Matt) his room was his big gift.

 

I made a silver velvet robot with doll joint arms, legs, and head.  I added buttons, safety eyes, and did some embroidery.  I wasn't too confident how it'd come out when I was making the pattern, but I was happy with it in the end.

I found a loft bed that's not quite as high as a bunk bed, so we felt good about him being able to sleep in it, especially since he's recently become really good at climbing the ladders to the big slides at the park that are about twice as tall.  I worried most of the first night he was going to try to climb down the ladder in the middle of the night and fall, but he did good.  he did get himself down the next morning and I found him playing with his toys, so I guess he made it down okay!

I used the flat sheets that I didn't use on his bed to make curtains with velcro tabs to put around the bottom of the bed to make a tent that hides his new toy box (craigslist - $35!) and bean bag arm chair.

I put his old curtains (two flat twin sheets with clip on rings) in his new windows, and I found a gear rug at Home Depot for $7 for the floor.

I hung a drip pan from his wall to use with the gear magnets he got at his last birthday and I put a Magna Doodle on the wall with command velcro strips.

 

I put about 300 glow in the dark stars all over his ceiling and walls. when the room is dark it's really cool, but right now it kinda scares him to be in the dark so we keep a nightlight on.  maybe one day he'll enjoy them!

we hung floating shelves, a collection of water guns I painted, a Red Ranger Ray Gun, and I added some wall decals of planets to fill in blank spots on the walls around the stars.  I also put a frisbee around the smoke detector to "dress it up".  the plastic had yellowed and looked crummy, but with the ring of green around it it's not as noticeably different in color from the ceiling.

I made a quilt from some robot fabric and a fuzzy blanket with batting in the middle.  I did a stair step design around the blocks to give it a patchwork look without having to outline each square.  I like how the back came out :)  I dropped my feed dogs for the first time and did the lines "free motion" - it was easier than shifting and turning the whole quilt every 4 inches, which is what I did for the first few rows and realized it wasn't going to work the more bulk I got into.

 

I searched all over for a pet net, but I guess they don't make them anymore :( so I made one from a mesh laundry bag I got from the Dollar Tree and leftover robot fabric that I made into bias tape.  I cut 2 triangles (I thought double the fabric would be sturdier) to fit in my corner and finished the edges with the bias tape, added some eyelets and screwed it into the wall.

I think I like the paint most of all - it's a metallic silver from Martha Stewart.  it was awful to put on, but came out looking really cool.  Matt said we won't use it again (he's the one who painted) so if I decide to go metallic anywhere else in the house I'm on my own!  I think it'll be a color that will grow with Leo, and the room's not too totally robotted out so if he needs a change later on we don't have to re-do everything.

 

all-in-all I'm happy with it and maybe one day when he starts verbalizing his opinions we'll find out what he thinks of it! ;)

doily baby rug

I picked up some thick yarn to make a baby blanket with thinking it'd go real quick, and it actually did!

the pattern said to use super bulky yarn, and a size 9mm hook. the pattern's suggested hook size was bigger than the bulky yarn package suggested to use, but I thought the 9 was still too small so I did a 10.

I liked how it was coming together, but it just seemed too thick to be a blanket.

I kept going thinking as it got bigger maybe it'd make more sense, but after it was finished I was leaning more towards it being a rug instead.