DIY Onesie Cupcakes

I recently went to a baby shower for a sweet friend and decided to make onesie cupcakes. This is a super simple and fun DIY project that always gets oohh’s and aahh’s (which we all know is secretly our goal at baby showers:)
diy_onesie9These are actually some others I did for another friend last fall. Aren’t they just so cute you could squish their little faces and eat them?!

Supply Breakdown:

  • 4 onesies
  • 4 receiving blankets
  • 4 rubber bands
  • 4 coffee filters
  • scissors
  • ribbon
  • baker’s twine
  • a cupcake bakery box (you can get them at Michael’s or Joann’s)

diy_onesie1Fold the receiving blankets until they are 3″ wide.
diy_onesie2Lay a onesie over your fist and make an indent in the center.
diy_onesie3Take the inside of the onesie and tuck it into the center.
diy_onesie4Then lay the onesie at the end of one of the blankets and roll it up.
diy_onesie5Secure it with a rubber band, place in a coffee filter and tie with ribbon.
diy_onesie6Do a little dance that you finished one, rinse and repeat 3x’s.
diy_onesie7Place the cupcakes in the bakery box and tie it with baker’s twine.
diy_onesie8What a simple way to add the “wow” factor to some onesies and blankets!

Who can’t wait to go to their next baby shower to make these? Anyone else have a fun DIY baby shower present? Do you do happy dances during DIY projects? We’re hoping to finish up all the big nursery projects this weekend!

Living Room Updates

I about gave Ben a heart attack last week by making several big purchases including a BOB jogging stroller, maternity pics, a loveseat and a dresser! The Craigslist gods were smiling down upon me, what can I say?! Let’s begin by taking a look back at what our living room looked like before…
living_room_oldI’ve never felt like we had adequate seating in our living room. This was confirmed when we had some friends over and I watched a movie sitting in our chair. Most. Uncomfortable. Chair. Ever. We’re about to have a lot of company in the next few months when our little girl is born so I was on a mission!
pottery_barn_loveseat1Enter Mr. luscious microfiber Pottery Barn loveseat. This guy was sitting outside the PB Outlet last week begging for me to take him home! I kind of love that he only has 1 arm because it opens up the room. We decided that the other arm would have raised his price about $800 in the PB world, so we’re content:)
pottery_barn_loveseat2We just moved the couch down several feet and I sold the chair from Hades slipper chair on CL – good riddance! Ben has deemed it “his loveseat” since he can watch TV on it without turning his head to the side like on the couch.
craigslist_dresser1I’ve also been on the hunt for the perfect dresser to go under our TV for 6 months! I wanted it to be between 60-70″, have lots of storage, legs (instead of being flush with the floor) and to be dirt cheap. Every single time I found the “perfect” one on CL someone would snatch it up out from under me.
craigslist_dresser2This one was listed for $50 and after sending 3 emails without hearing anything back I decided to try something different. I offered the seller $20 more for it, they magically called and we picked it up that afternoon – whew! I’m thinking it would look great with a chalk paint makeover, but right now I’m loving it as is.
dvds1Confession: every CD and DVD we own has been in stacks on our guest bed for about 3 months now – the horror! These used to be stored in the dresser that we’re using in the nursery and it’s been driving me absolutely crazy!
dvd_storageThe BEST part about this dresser is the storage – 9 beautiful drawers! I plan on emptying our filing cabinet which is still in the nursery into a few of them and keep the bottom ones empty for toys. Also, no cords show behind this piece!
pottery_barn_console_table1Wonder where our cute PB console table went? We moved it to the dining room even though it’s a little squished in there. I plan on using this piece behind either the couch or loveseat in our next home which HAS to be bigger. Right now we’ll pretend that it’s a fancy buffet. I do love the blue under the frame montage.

I still have a couple of small projects in mind for the living room. What do you think about the updates? Anyone else hit a Craigslist wall trying to get a particular item? Am I in full-fledged nesting mode or what?!

DIY Closet Dividers

While doing our baby registries, I came across some closet dividers that were super cute. I just couldn’t bring myself (or allow anyone else) to pay $20 + shipping for them so I found this tutorial and made my own!
DIY_closet_dividers6I love how they turned out and, even though I don’t think of myself as a “crafty” person, these were really easy! Mostly it was just a lot of fun making something for our little girl myself since I’m not a knitter:)
DIY_closet_dividers1I grabbed 6 wooden letter “O’s” and Spa Blue Americana acrylic paint at Hobby Lobby and the rest of the supplies (Mod Podge, scrapbook paper, stickers, brushes) at Michaels. I spent about $14 on this project, but many of you “crafties” would already have a lot of these supplies at home.
DIY_closet_dividers2First, I simply painted one side of the O’s – make sure to get the inside AND outside edges because they will show! Note: your fingers will get dirty.
DIY_closet_dividers3Then I traced around the O’s onto the scrapbook paper with a pencil and cut them out. It was suggested to use an exacto knife, but good scissors worked just fine for me. I cut an X to get to the middles easier like in elementary school.
DIY_closet_dividers4Now it was time to glue the scrapbook paper onto the O’s and paint a thin layer of Mod Podge on top. I didn’t bother with the other side and I waited to add the stickers until everything had completely dried.
DIY_closet_dividers5Here’s the final result – so cute if I do say so myself! Before starting this project, you will want to make sure that your closet bar is the kind that can lift out. If not, you’ll need to alter this project so that there’s a way to get the O’s on.
DIY_closet_dividers6Now all we need are some huggable baby hangers and a closet full of adorable clothes! These currently only go through 18 months, but since I didn’t Mod Podge the stickers I can easily switch them out as she grows.

Anyone else a big fan of easy craft projects that make you feel like superwoman? What DIY projects have you been up to lately? Am I the only new momma that felt like my head was going to explode when registering?

DIY Floor Pouf

Hello, incredibly patient readers! I’ve been busy soaking up quality time with Ben and Cali while we’re still a family of 3:) A few weekends ago we went to MO to help my sweet grandma celebrate her birthday. While there, my mom helped me (she did most of the work) make a floor pouf and a crib skirt for the nursery.chevron__floor_poufThis was my inspiration from Etsy. $109 + $35 shipping = $144. A similar one on West Elm is $249 + shipping. Instead, I grabbed $20 of fabric from a local fabric store and $30 of bean bag stuffing from Bed Bath & Beyond/Kmart = $50.
diy_floor_pouf8Here’s a sneak peak of final product. I love the fun pop this gives the room!
diy_floor_pouf2How did we tackle this project? We used the basic instructions from this blog post. Then I spent what seemed like hours measuring, cutting and ironing the fabric while mom sewed a simple 3-sided crib skirt together.
diy_floor_pouf1I was having trouble getting the fabric straight to measure, so mom showed me a trick. You make a small cut and pull a string from the fabric all the way down one side and then simply cut along the visible line to get a perfectly straight line. Have I mentioned that my mom is a genius? So smart!
diy_floor_pouf3We started by sewing together the sides into one big circle. After each piece was sewn, mom would hand it to me to iron the seams out flat so that it would lay better after it was all put together – great tip!
diy_floor_pouf4The hardest part was attaching the top and bottom pieces which took a little trial and error. We would pin one side at a time, mom would sew, I’d iron the seam. Rinse and repeat 7x’s leaving a gap big enough for the stuffing.
diy_floor_pouf5Then came the stuffing. Um, how cute are my parents concentrating so hard?! A lot of people use cotton batting/stuffing, but I opted for bean bag stuffing because I didn’t want it to always look “lumpy”. Then mom hand sewed the hole.
diy_floor_pouf7Here she is in all her black and white chevron yummy boldness! I like to think of this as a statement piece in the nursery as well as a practical place to put my tootsies during late night feedings. I couldn’t have done this without my mom’s mad sewing skills – she’s pretty amazing!
diy_crib_skirt1I also mentioned a crib skirt. It was simply 3 pieces of fabric I picked up at Jo-Anns that mom hemmed on all sides. We measured it to the length of the crib when it’s in the lowest position for a newborn. I used giant safety pins to attach it so that when we move the crib up we can readjust the length – easy peasy!
diy_crib_skirt2It has one pleat on both the front and the sides which mom whipped up like a champ. I’ve been very intentional about making the nursery gender-neutral, but I couldn’t resist this feminine, flowy fabric – so sweet for our little girl:)
blue_baby_shoesTomorrow I will be 28 weeks and my baby bump is growing – only 3 months left!

What do you think about our DIY floor pouf? Anyone else have a Martha Stewart supermom? Who’s ready for the big nursery reveal already?

Floor pouf image found here.

Nursery Progress: Curtains and Pillows

Happy Hump Day! I figured it was time to do another nursery update. This weekend we worked on one of my favorite parts of a room – the curtains!
nursery2Remember our nursery mood board that shows white curtains trimmed with green ribbon? Well, I scoured the internet looking for white, blackout, 95″, reasonably priced curtains. They don’t exist. Instead, I decided to use curtain clips to secure blackout material behind regular curtains like in this post.
custom_nusery_curtains3I found 95″ white curtains at Target for $35. The only problem was that they had grommets at the top which I simply cut off at the hem. Before any curtains were harmed, I clipped the grommets back and made sure the length was good.
blackout_nursery_curtainsI spy a baby bump in this pic! Ben took these pics so I would have proof that I do a few things around here:) I used a 60% off coupon at Jo-Ann’s to get 5.5 yards of blackout material for $15 and cut it to the exact size of the curtains.
curtain_hangingNext up was the painful process of curtain rod hanging. Even though we reused the rod, the old curtains were 84″ and I wanted to hang these to ceiling length. We also hung them 10″ outside of the windows. This is a little trick to make your windows appear taller, wider and to let more natural light in.
white_nursery_curtains2Ben had the brilliant idea of flipping the curtains around and hanging them by their “butts” so that the hem would look all pretty on top. You can’t even tell that the blackout material is hanging behind, but it makes a huge difference!
custom_nusery_curtains1My vision was finally starting to come together. It’s amazing how much curtains can add to a room, but there was still a little something missing…
custom_nursery_curtains4It was time to trim out those plain curtains with some ribbon. I grabbed Heat N’ Bond iron on hem tape from Michael’s, 1 1/2″ ribbon from Jo-Ann’s and scissors. I ended up just using the hemline as a guide instead of the leveler.
curtain_trimI used this pic for inspiration on how far over to place the ribbon.
custom_nusery_curtains5Have I mentioned how easy this stuff is to use? First I ironed the tape onto the ribbon, pulled off the paper and then ironed it onto the curtains. I use my iPhone stopwatch rather than the “Mississippi” method to count my seconds:)
custom_nursery_curtains2In no time I was done and couldn’t wait to get those babies rehung! We also plan on adding bamboo blinds behind the curtains for more darkening. We like to sleep like vampires, so we wouldn’t want anything less for our baby girl!
white_nusery_curtains1Oh what a difference a little emerald green accent ribbon can make! As you can see, it helps tie in those custom-made pillows perfectly.
custom_nursery_pillowsMy friend Lauren made these and she did a fantastic job! She used the same green ribbon as piping for two pillows and as accent ribbon for the other.
nursery_rocker_lampThere’s also a matching lumbar pillow for the rocker. The accent colors for the nursery are coral and emerald green so these are perfect! I also picked up this cute floral accent lamp at Target. It’s the first “girly” item I’ve bought, but I absolutely love how it pulls all the nursery colors together!

So what do y’all think of our progress? Anyone else try trimming out curtains with ribbon? Speaking of vampires, will I be the only one standing in line to buy Breaking Dawn 2 on DVD next week?

Curtain image found here.

How To Make Your Ceilings Appear Taller

Due to Project Nursery, we’ve been moving things around quite a bit which is actually one of my favorite things to do in our home to get a free, fresh look. I wanted to highlight some of those changes that I think make a big difference!
big_mirrorDon’t look now, but it’s a rare photo of our master bedroom! This mirror used to sit on top of the dresser we’re using for the nursery. The space above the dresser always needed something more and I love how the mirror makes the room appear taller. I also added a few decorative items I had laying around.
behind_tv_frame_collage1Remember my first attempt at camouflaging our TV? The mossy T mirror needed a new home after we replaced the living room dresser with a bookcase, so he replaced the too-small orange subway art that used to be there.
behind_tv_frame_collage3I also found a different close-up puppy pic of Cali and added an Antique filter in iPhoto for a smooth look. It makes me want to reprint all of the framed photos in our house. I smile every time I see this pic hanging above our TV:)
behind_tv_frame_collage2I replaced the PB photo frame with my thrift store art, but still wanted this photo displayed. My talented sis-in-law took this in their backyard on a freezing cold Oklahoma morning. It’s a beautiful reminder of our adventure to come!
vertical_framesLast but not least, I took the plunge and convinced Ben to hang my thrift store art vertically. Love. it. It makes our 8-ft ceilings look way taller! I haven’t 100% decided on painting the frames, but I’m thinking white with gold Rub n Buff like in this post. Sounds like a fun weekend project to me!

Well y’all, I’m off to see Safe Haven with a friend. What do you think about the moving and shaking I did around our home? How do you make your ceilings appear taller? What’s your favorite photo filter?

Nursery Sneak Peek

Alright, who’s dying to see what we’ve done on the nursery since we painted it? As soon as Ben gave me a budget, I hit the ground running (a.k.a. we’re now on a first name basis with the FedEx guy:) This is just a peek!
nursery_sneakpeak5First I ordered this trellis wool rug. It’s so soft and will be perfect for playing with our baby girl on. You can also see my neutral Craigslist rocker. This is seriously the most comfortable chair we’ve ever owned and I paid $75 vs $800+ for it! The Bali tripod end table help adds texture and warmth to the space.
nursery_sneakpeak6Ben spent Sat morning putting the crib together in like 20 minutes. Walmart ended up having the best price with their site-to-store free shipping. I had no idea how much I would love this non-traditional black crib!
nursery_sneakpeak2I got the fence post tops which are waiting to be added to our repurposed dresser so it will be tall enough for a changing table. Linen white curtains and a few pillows will be trimmed in this emerald green ribbon. The artwork came too!
nursery_sneakpeak4I got another fantastic Craigslist deal on this barely used organic cotton mattress for $70 (it retails for $249)! A non-organic mattress would have cost $100+. It really pays to do your research and keep a hawk eye on CL.
nursery_sneakpeak3Since the crib assembly was easy-peasy, Ben decided to go ahead and sand the dresser on Sat. I’ll be doing a full blog post on this project once it’s complete.
nursery_sneakpeak1Last but not least, I have a friend making me some nursery pillows that these inserts are waiting to fill. $3 travel pillows from Walmart are the perfect size for a lumbar pillow and the back 18×18 square one was $10 at PB Outlet.

My mom is going to help me make a floor pouf and there are about 20 more projects I have in mind! What’s your favorite part of the nursery so far? Anyone think I’m cray cray for going with a black crib? Who else is addicted to CL?