That one is looooooong goooooooone!

I hope if our beloved old Ernie Harwell was alive, I would like to think he would give his stamp of approval to Jack's finally completed nursery and consider it a homerun. 

 

I of course had imagined it done long before Jack was born but....that didn't work out.  Hey we finished it before he was 2 months old, not too bad right?  Wanted to share the details because it was so fun and maybe can inspire another little Tiger nursery in the making. 

 

 

First up I made this darling little wreath for the door.  I used this tutorial here. Big thanks to my neighbor Casey for the baseballs, pays to live next to a coach! And my Mother in law for the stained glass D! It turned out great!

 

I took an old old dresser we had and gave it new life with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, this was my first time ever using chalk paint and it was a bit stressful but fun.  Thanks Jenny for all the help and advice!  Because our dresser was dark cherry we did have to prime it first. Otherwise I feel like as long as you aren't trying to have furniture that looks new you can't go wrong with chalk paint. I decided to leave the old tarnished bronze hardware because it gave it the authentic antique feel although I am pretty sure back then people didn't paint lovely cherry furniture garish orange! This picture also shows the adorable navy blue caddy that spins lazy susan style for all of Jack's various baby toiletries.  This was a fabulous gift we received and was something I describe as "I never knew I always wanted!" A perfect gift, thanks Lucy and Mick!  

This is the "changing corner"
Besides the dresser which hold several months worth of baby clothes, we have the changing table.  Jack's room is the smallest of our bedrooms which is perfect for the nursery, plus I figure he will be more easygoing as the boy so he won't care too much right? I was worried this corner would be too tight but it works well.  You can grab new clothes out while changing him and you aren't walking away from him. 

 

Also sitting on the dresser is an orange giraffe made by my sister Sue, isn't it adorable!? She is super talented! The baseball piggy bank was found at a garage sale by my friend, I think it was like 50 cents!! I repurposed an ordinary lamp with some orange paint and a red sharpie on the lamp shade...instant baseball lamp! My in laws got Craig the matted and framed photo of Tigers stadium when it went bye-bye years ago, we love Comerica Park but there was nothing like the original.

 

Some other fabulous items we were gifted are featured here as well. This diaper holder and chevron changing table cover are from my Mother in law and were so cute and the perfect colors.  When I look at how everthing turned out it is funny to me that everything was from different places! The changing pad cover is handmade from someone's etsy shop and the diaper holder was on amazon.  Also the maternity and newborn pictures my uber talented Mom took for us then had made into collages and framed look so cute.  I love looking at them and so does Jack, he frequently stares at them when getting his diaper changed!

 

 

The window seat was where I tried my hand at sewing.  I have very limited skills so I am rather proud of how stuff turned out! The baseball plaque and hook on one side I got for $7 from a garage sale (a friend was looking out for me and snagged them!) and the pennant was a gift I got just this weekend which makes the perfect decoration for the other side.  Isn't the hook adorable with the teeny tiny bathrobe on it!?

 

I found a tutorial to make this curtain and it was relatively simple.  I recycled a D from an old Granderson jersey my husband couldn't bear to wear anymore since he left us for the team we don't speak of. I might have been better off attaching the D by hand as it was thick and hard to sew on straight.  So that definitely shows my novice sewing skills.

 

 

The cushion is the only part of the nursery not quite finished.  We had an old pad that we were going to recover and my Mother in law bought this navy chevron material for me and I had seen a tutorial on how to make a crib sheet and figured it would be basically the same idea just different dimensions.  But I forgot to buy elastic so I am thrilled it turned out great, I got the fit perfect but it isn't smooth yet because I still need to add the elastic. 

 

Well a window seat needs a pillow so I scrounged through Craig's old tshirts and sweatshirts and found an old hoodie he doesn't wear much anymore (the man has an endless supply of Tiger's paraphenalia) and I thought, I'm on a roll I'll turn that sweatshirt into a pillow. Cut out two rectangles, sewed it up, flipped it inside out and stuffed it like crazy with batting and sewed it shut. Maybe I am not too bad at this afterall!

 

 

Flanking either side of the window seat are the crown jewel of the room.  Custom built-ins my husband and his dad made!

 

 

They took every suggestion I had and made my vision a reality.  They modeled the style after the builtins in our family room on either side of the fire place.  They add tons of storage that was wasted space which will help since this is the smallest bedroom.  They made them look professionally done.  My husband used his expert painting skills to finish them off even using the orange from the dresser to give a pop of color to the top cubby holes. 

 

Note the bat and glove to keep the baseball theme.  The cubbys are enormous and although I have stocked some toys he will start to play with in a year there really is SO much room.  I decided to get three different colored baskets from Target to give more color variety and staggered them.  Baskets are so expensive I didn't want to put them in all the cubbies.

 

The other side the cubbies are wider but there is only one column.  The window was not centered so we had to vary it but I still think it looks awesome.  The Tigers basket there was a gift and is the perfect tote for all our wooden blocks.  The baseball pillow I saw at Meijers and couldn't resist.  The handmade quilt made with Tigers material and jeans is so soft and was a gift from my friend Kim.  Love it!

 

 

The rocking chair won't be in there forever, just while I have one last baby to rock, that is a hard realization to handle.  Right now it is one of my favorite places.  In fact I am writing this blog from that very chair, I have a good view of the outside from his window when the kids are playing.  It's quiet in here with the white noise of the fan and he is napping beside me in his crib.  It's the only place I can get peace and quiet to type with the excuse of "you can't come in here your brother is sleeping". Plus it's probably the cleanest room in my house haha!

 

 

Another craft I made that I adore and am kind of obsessed with is my first ever string art.  I think I may make these all the time.  From now on, string art and sweatshirt pillows are my new favorite things, I'm thinking Christmas gifts! My friend Lisa taught me string art, it's fun, a great stress reliever (think pounding nails and mindless string wrapping!) and it turns out so cute.  She didn't charge me for the nails and string, the board was a random piece of wood from my garage and the blue paint probably cost me 50 cents so...cheap projects that are super cute are the best!

 

Another cheap project is his name sign.  Note the baseball stitches on the wall we did that first in his room as opposed to painting any colors.  Pretty easy we more or less free handed it! The sign was made out of pallet wood.  My husband is getting to be an expert at making me pallet signs, this is our 4th! I white washed it, added orange stripes, bought the letters of his name and painted them the same blue as the string art sign and the guys glued them down.  They secured it to the wall carefully as pallet signs are very heavy (that is the downside to them!)

  

 

Behind his door I put another baseball hook for his towel.  The same friend  who found me all the stuff at garage sales had that for me.  Thanks Tara!

 

My generous Mother in law also bought this beautiful bedding set for the crib. If I was more skilled at sewing I would have whipped something up like this myself but I am definitely not there yet!

 

All in all I am quite smitten with the room. Hopefully it looks pulled together and not too over the too Tiger crazy. Craig and I were looking around and marveling too at how for a complete room make over the cost was relatively low, but that is due to the extreme generousity of others.  The cost breakdown is:

 

Paint for dresser, sign, stitches, lamp, string board: $30

Lumber and other construction materials for the built-in shelves: $150

Letters for Jack sign: $12

Material and ribbon for curtain, cushion, wreath: $10

Baseball pillow: $10

3 baskets and a trashcan $62

Baseball hook and sign $7

Everything else gifted or salvaged!

Total: $281

 

I love it!

 

 

Most importantly hopefully Jack loves it. He already seems to like all the navy and white contrasts. So happy my boy is here, my family is complete and my vision for his nursery was doable! On to my next project!