clothes

Cute finds @ Forever21 on 6.20.12

Being almost 33 weeks pregnant, I forget what it's like to wear those cute shorts and perfect fitting jeans.  It seems like Forever21 has the cutest everything out this season.
Here are just a few of my favorite, my feet started to hurt so I had to leave.

 

www.forever21.com

STRIPES AND CHEVRON

We snagged this adorable vintage rocking chair from the same antique store in El Segundo for $24.00.  Cleaned it up, sanded it and re-stained it.

We made a new seat out of wood and foam, bought some chevron fabric from Etsy.com and a few upholstery nails and we had ourselves one cute little rocking chair!  I just love how it turned out!!

TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!

I fell in love with these Industrial Baskets with a liner reading "TOYS" from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child but I didn't fall in love with the price.  At $299 each, it was out of my price range so I knew a project was in the works.
We went to an amazing antique store in El Segundo and picked up this cute galvanized tub, the owner was beyond sweet and ended up gifting it to us as baby's first antique gift.  I got black acrylic paint and a sponge brush from Michael's Arts and Crafts for $2.48 and some 5 inch stencils from Hobby Lobby in the font I wanted for $8.00.  I think it turned out perfect, it is exactly what I envisioned and for only $10.48 you can't beat it.

My inspiration $299:

http://www.rhbabyandchild.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=rhbc_prod241223&categoryId=rhbc_cat102126

My finished project $10.48:

Baby Ross' Room Inspiration

When we found out it was a boy, we had our hearts and mind set on a crib already.  The Ikea Somnat Lime Green crib.  It wasn't even the price that sold me, it was the sleek design, color and size.

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70190228/

(this crib is also available in blue and pink!)

Additionally we fell in love with these black and white flannel sheets, I just wish they had more then 1 available! But I couldn't pass them up, the sheets are so unique, soft and add so much character to the room.

We currently live in a studio, which will be fine once the baby is born for awhile, since the baby would be sleeping and spending most his time in our room anyway it doesn't make a difference to us.

I just wish I could be decorating his room now, but without a room, it's difficult to start buying all the fun decor you come across.  Plus, since we will be moving across the county within the 5 months after I'd rather not haul anything more then we have to.

I love making design boards, this is my most recent inspiration board I've made.  I can't wait to have a room to start putting these ideas into action!  

One of my favorite ideas is the changing table.

This is a 16" x 30" Two Shelf Steel Service Cart by Harbor Freight Tools.

http://www.harborfreight.com/16-inch-x-30-inch-steel-service-cart-5107.html

I'm not a big fan of any of the standard changing tables I have seen so far and the ones I do like I cannot bring myself to spend that much money for something that isn't even really a necessity. This service cart retails for $37.99, buy a changing pad for around $24 and a cool changing pad cover from etsy.com for around $22 and you have yourself a very unique and affordable, custom changing table that it sure to add some serious character to your little ones room.  Plus, the tool cart can be used after your baby has outgrown it!

I love the idea of vintage shipping crates for storage.  You can find a good selection of them on Etsy.com ranging in prices from $20 and up.  I fell in love with these rolling storage crates from http://www.serenaandlily.com 
2 of them retail for $188  I would get years and years of use out of these in any room in my house.  I think they are timeless and love the look.

Most of the artwork and posters I have come across have been on Etsy.com, you cannot beat the uniqueness and cost.  They have a never ending selection of just about anything you could possibly be looking for.

Here are a few of my favorites for his room:

 
My parents own the rocker we will be using and I absolutely love it.
I am so glad they still have it and we will be able to use it in the baby's room.  I think it will be the cherry on top in bringing the room together.
It's identical to this one:

I think once we move, I will start looking for a old dresser that I can refurbish and paint.  Craigslist is a great place for that and if you get lucky and live in the same selling city, you can find some AMAZING pieces on Etsy.com, I'd just rather not pay a arm and leg to have them shipped.  I love the idea of fixing up a old dresser with some new paint or stain and new knobs of my choice (there are so many cool ones out there!)

 Although I know this inspiration board will get bigger and bigger as I surf the web and I know some things may change by the time I am ready to purchase, this is a brief viewing into what I see our little boys room looking like.  Thanks for reading!

Our new bed! Made with LOVE

So I got some GREAT inspiration from other pinterest posts and we decided we would give this a shot.

This is what we used:
 
We got basic 1x4 wood boards from Home Depot, typically used to build a fence (I would have LOVED to be back in Iowa and get some old rustic farm wood from a barn or house)  We used 10 of these for the headboard and stained them with Behr dark walnut stain.  We actually screwed each board directly into the wall but you could also use a 2x3 furring strip and attach them to that first and then hang on the wall.  We opted for the easy way out.

I saw a headboard on pinterest.com that someone wrote "love" and I fell in love with it, so I took that inspiration.  I first wrote out "love" with chalk and then painted over it with a sponge brush in the paint of my choice.  I liked the effect the sponge brush gave on the wood so I only did 1 very light coat. 

 We were going to get a basic metal bed frame, but because my boyfriend is the ultimate handyman and really enjoys building stuff he really wanted to make his own bed frame.
We bought 2 2x10's and we only needed 2 because we put it up against the wall and used the wall for the other 2, some screws and l brackets and we had a bed frame!

 

We love our new bed and get so many compliments on it every time we have guests over.  This bed cost us less then $60 dollars.

Lots of LOVE! 

Jessie

Sweet Dreams

We live in a studio... that is actually quite big for what it is might I add but the sleeping arrangements are not working out any longer which means... WE ARE BUILDING A BED!  Of course we are building it because I have a highly experienced, amazing carpenter boyfriend who can build anything, plus we can save a lot of money. :)  It is almost a finished project and I can't wait to share the photos... stay tuned...

Navajo Love

I have been searching for the perfect Guatemala inspired textile belt for months.  I owned one in in the 90's from the Limited Too and I swear I'm going to find if stashed away somewhere everytime I go back to Iowa but never have any luck.  Who am I kidding, I know my mom threw it out years ago along with my straw sunflower sun hat.  Anyway... I will continue my search for the perfect Navajo/Southwestern/Guatemala inspired textile colorful belt.