my craft nook

I'm very proud of my recent addition to our home. We have a strange little inset in our dining room that we weren't quite sure what to do with. For months it's sat there with no purpose but to collect stuff that hasn't found a home yet.

Over the last few weeks I've slowly moved all of those orphaned things into another room to be dealt with later, and have built shelving, put together Ikea boxes, and transformed this lowly corner into the most delightful Craft Nook I could ever have imagined.

Have you ever known what it was to have organized creativity at your fingertips? Nor I! This is a whole new world for me. And it's proved rather effective. Do you know what you can make when your sewing machine is out and ready for you at a moment's notice? Or what cards can be whipped up when your stamps, ink and paper aren't piled under other boxes?

I think I'd still like to spiff it up a bit - maybe some fabric or paper along the back wall so it's not so white. I may actually label all of those boxes so I remember what's in them. That lovely paper bag that's acting as a trash can may turn into something as attractive as it is utilitarian. And I have one of those accordion room dividers coming so that I can hide it all away when it's not in use.

And it's location is perfect. Because it's adjacent to the dining room, there's a large table that I can sprawl all of my materials on and craft away. I love to pass by it during the day, and imagine what's waiting for me as it beckons from it's corner of new life. I may never do housework again!

nursery inspiration

Well, we got quite the response on the Nursery Theme vote. It seems the monkeys were a hit! They got a whopping 14 votes. The Arcadia prints (my favorite) got a dismal 4 votes, the Leaves only 2. And then my dad suggested submarines since he was in the Navy and all. My nephew was disappointed there were no Spiderman options. And since he's 5 and the closest boy I know to having a nursery and an opinion, I feel I shouldn't discount his preference.

So all of that said, I am closer to making a decision, but can't jump into the monkeys all the way. Sorry folks, my heart just won't let me do it. But maybe I'll incorporate a few monkeys here and there? We'll see. I still have a few months.

In the meantime, I've been surfing the web for inspiration...

I love this nursery from Design Sponge because the color scheme works without being matchy-matchy, or themed. And I LOVE the rug. It's a bunch of carpet tiles by Flor. I would never have put those particular squares together, but it looks like a quilt for your floor. So of course that makes it my favorite.

This nursery from Sew Liberated is so minimalistic, it calls out to me. It's designed in the Montessori philosophy which really isn't me (ie: we'll have a real crib). But look at that wall mural. It's from Wee Gallery and I think it just makes the room.

This isn't the best picture, but if you visit Milo's nursery over at ohdeedoh, you'll see some clever mural ideas and a print that I might just have to get. It's whimsical. I think I could design a nursery around it, in fact.

I've always loved these paper globes and have tried to decide if they would work well in a boy's room. What do you think? (Also from ohdeedoh.)

But then, wouldn't it be fun to design a nursery around this? It wouldn't be boring. Think of all the color you could play with! I found it on Etsy a few days ago and I know you'll be pleased because "M is for monkey".

I could waste hours on the internet looking at nursery pictures. In fact, I just kinda did. If you find anything good, let me know!

nursery ideas

Alright, I need your help. Ladies, channel your inner HGTV and let the deco-juices flow. Gents (there are a few, I know), since we're having a baby boy and you were at one time a baby boy, I consider you subject matter experts.

Picking out a nursery theme can be overwhelming. Especially when I pass by all the nursery-in-a-kit options at Babies 'R' Us and decide rebelliously to sew it all myself. Instead of playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe and having everything done for me (down to the matching lamp), I've chosen to hypnotize myself with walls of fabric at Joann's and the endless possibilities on the internet.

Why am I doing it this way, you ask? Well, because I'm me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So this is what I've come up with so far. Click on each image for a better view. Let me know what you think!*

1) The Monkeys Are Bananas

Now I'm not at all into "themes" when it comes to nursery prints, whether it be Noah's Ark, moonbeams, Disney, etc. But when we were registering, Jim kept being drawn by all things monkey. And when I saw these monkey heads at Joann's I wasn't in love, but I thought it doable. And, a bit cute. So I picked out some coordinating fabrics and, frankly, am still a bit taken by the bananas.

2) Leaves and Color

When I orginally thought about colors, I imagined greens and blues, and always bright, never pastels. So here we have a navy, lime, orange combo that I threw in with some leaf print. And as I find other prints that compliment, I'll probably add them into the mix, too. It'll be a bit scrappy overall, but that's what I'm into.

3) Arcadia

Here we have a different take on the blue/green/orange combo. I found this quilt browsing among the vast number of my go-to inspiration blogs on the handy world wide web. Instantly I was in love and discovered that the entire quilt comes from Moda's Arcadia line of fabric. I would have to take out any pattern with flowers on it (Jim's rule) but looking closely, I don't think that omits too many blocks.

So, what am I going to do with all this fabric? Well, the nursery will need a crib bumper, crib skirt, curtain, quilt, pillow for the rocking chair, and who knows what else. It depends on how creative I decide to get with leftover fabric.

So get your voting buttons ready. And all of you blog-stalkers out there, your vote counts, too. On your mark, get set, go!

*Although I am requesting your assistance and opinions, I reserve the right to change my mind last minute, ignore you all together, or pick that Pooh set at Target afterall.

christmas at our "home"

My dear friend Megan is hosting a merry-go-round of sorts where everyone shares their festively decorated homes. We, however, don't really have a home right now, as we're house-sitting. And therefore we don't have any decorations. And therefore I can't really join in their reindear games.

In fact, the only reason I'm posting at all is to dissuade any of you from thinking that yesterday's picture of us in front of a tree is actually in front of our tree. That lovely piece of Christmas belongs to our dear friends the Ebels who were gracious enough to let us borrow it for a quick snapshot.

So no decorations this year for us. Jim does have a clever idea for stockings, but you'll have to wait until the 25th. Besides, I haven't bought the masking tape yet.

Curious?

my next home

So, as most of you know I'm moving to TX in a few months. El Paso, to be exact. We're still praying though some of the details, but more importantly, I've been praying for my attitude. It think it's working. I'm now seeing this as another Army adventure, and I'm focusing on the little things to look forward to.

Like decorating my next home.

I like to daydream about how to make all of our belongings and furniture look a little bit different and updated. That's one of the pluses of Army life - a new decor every 2 or 3 years.

Lately I've been thinking about paint. And I'm convinced there's nothing more overwhelming than the paint department in Lowe's and their taunting wall o' color. So this time I'm keeping my options simple and sticking with the Pottery Barn paint fan deck. I'm tempted to do this:




Maybe this for the living room. I think the contrast will be great with our dark sage couches.






This is similar to what we had in our last bedroom. I really like it. Warm and cozy.

Jim has said something about an orange office. (I don't think my computer screen does this color justice. Picture it not so much salmon-y, and more pumpkin.)

I'm feeling a little daring when it comes to our dining room. A friend of my at Fort Campbell had this in hers and I've been jonesin' ever since.

Anyone that knows me won't be surprised with this choice. Eventually I will have my red kitchen! Or at least a red front door.

If you know much about painting, or have ever watched Trading Spaces, you'll be concerned that I've picked out all dark colors. That means 2 coats minimum. For that reason we'll call this a wish list and in the meantime, I'll be checking out Pottery Barn's other paints chips for some more reasonable options.

I even recently fell is love with Rita Konig's home on the Domino website (great video here), and most of her walls are white. Hmmm, that sounds a lot easier.