Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Big boy room coming soon!!

One of the fun things we'll be doing soon is converting Nolan's nursery into his big boy room. We'll need his crib this summer and well let's face it he can't stay in there forever! I have grand ideas but finding everything that fits together and getting it done before I get huge is going to be a big task. I've decided on the new theme. We're going to be doing a transportation themed room. Nol is obsessed with trains, planes, cars, boats, and more. Just seeing my Pinterest board for his new room has gotten him excited and running around the house yelling "Cars. Vroom Vroom."


Nolan's new bed is from IKEA (Kura line). It will start out as the first picture shows low to the ground and safe. Then once he is old enough, it converts to a lofted bed with a fun play/read area underneath. I'm in love with this bed. Unfortunately, I am not in love with IKEA's bedding. They have amazing comforters that require duvets. They are big fluffy white comforters that you cover with a sort of pillow case. The issue isn't with the duvets it's with the covers. The only cover that fits our room's theme is mainly white. White fabric and a young boy just don't mix!

I found this great bedding print but unfortunately it doesn't come in just a duvet cover. If I use a twin comforter instead of a duvet it will hang over the sides of the bed and just not fit very well. S before I can begin to think about painting and such I have to tie down the bedding for certain. I can't decide if I go for an ill fitting comforter, a not so perfect but nice fitting duvet and cover, or spend hours more searching for the perfect fabric.

If only I could purchase just the fabric from this comforter and make my own duvet cover! I've got everyone I know searching for large print fabric but have only come across the typical cars and trucks fabric with 1-3" cars on it. Way too tiny for make a statement bedding. So when you find that perfect fabric or perfect duvet cover let me know!!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Quiet Book Finished!!

Our three month long project is finally finished. Nolan has his very first quiet book to play with. I loved the idea from Pinterest and a few of my favorite blogs but felt like buying the parts to make enough fun pages would be expensive since you couldn't buy in bulk. That's where the co-op came in to play. A group of us each focused on one complete page and made enough copies for everyone. You could buy in bulk and got good at your page. Here is the end result.

My front cover. It's thick pellon covered with some 70's polyester in bright red. I'll likely paint the front with "Nolan's Quiet book" but haven't decided yet. This is where I need my embroidery machine!!!

The back cover is more playful! I used binder rings from Staples and grommeted each page for strength. A webbing latch secures the book and it's contents and fastens with snaps. I love my cloth diaper snap pliers!!

Page 1 is a Potato head play page. The pieces slide up the bottom of the potato head and are secured while not in use. 

Page 2 and  3 go together. The refrigerator is on the right side and dinner plate on the left. Inside the fridge are felt bread, cheese, and lunchmeat to build a sandwich on the plate. They are secured with velcro to one another and can be undone and put back together in different combinations.

Page 4 is a fun ice cream truck. Inside the truck are ice cream scoops that stack on the cone. They are in various colors for learning fun. Page 5  is a counting abacus page. The beads correspond to the numbers and are color sorted for more learning opportunities.

Page 6 is a transportation page.  Inside the pocket, which flips up out of the way for play, is a train, boat, airplane, and car attached and secured to ribbon. Page 7 is a shape matching page. Each shape snaps on an can be stored in the pocket.

Page 8 is the itsy bitsy spider play page. The poem is written on the page and parts for acting out the fun are included. Page 9 is a peek a boo page. Under the mittens is a clear pocket where pictures can be stored. 

 Page 10 is a fishing sail boat age. Inside the boat 3 fish are stored and on the tip of the fishing pole is a magnet. The fish can be caught! Page 11 is for practicing tying!

Page 12 is picnic play. Inside the basket are the place settings for a picnic. Under the ladybug fabric is the picnic blanket. the ladybug fabric covers the velcro so it doesn't wear away adjoining pages. Page 13 is monster fun! Inside the pocket are various pieces to make monster faces.

Page 14 is gladiator/knight fun. The dress up man has various cute dress up parts such as a sword and shield.

We're actually missing a few pages that came in late. I have to get a few more grommets for those then will add them to the book and hopefully update this post too!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Blog name change!

Soon I'll need to change my blog name!! No more just nurturing Nolan.





Baby at 9 weeks