The Moose's Nursery

Here's a tour of The Moose's nursery. When we were going through the adoption process, we had 8 possible matches before The Moose. Every time our caseworker called and said a birth mother was considering us, I designed a nursery in my head. I would go window shopping or look online. Every time, the design was completely different. Different colors, different crafty projects I would do, different furniture. I think it was just something my mind did to occupy time during the wait.

For the majority of the wait, we were in a different house (we still own that house and have renters in it). His bedroom in that house was quite a bit larger and I had grand plans for that room including a built in art table (Ryan and my dad are very handy). But we moved for work and are renting. So no built ins. No wallpaper. No paint. But I am still very happy with his room!

And an odd note on the colors. I mentioned I picked different colors every time we got a phone call. As soon as I got the phone call for The Moose, I knew it would be orange and blue. After I did the room and sent his birth mother pictures, I found out her favorite color is orange. 

Above: I made the animal artwork out of scrapbook paper. I made the mobile. I made the curtains. My dad made the crib. The blanket on the crib rail my aunt made for me when I was born. My mother-in-law took me on an antique mall shopping spree for the nursery. In the above picture, she got the big white basket in the left corner, the adorable bookcase, and the cute ottoman. The chest of drawers (and the vanity not in this picture) were my grandmothers. I changed the knobs for some blue crystal knobs from Hobby Lobby. I think it was about $30 to change all of them, lots of charm for $30!

 Above: This is the wreath on his door. The Moose loves the yarn texture. He grabs it every time he passes it. I made this. I wrapped a Styrofoam wreath form with yarn (I made marks with a sharpie marker for the sections). I bought the felt flowers off Etsy. At the time, with a baby coming home soon, I didn't have time to make the flowers. I made a tiny matching one for The Moose's birth mother out of a small embroidery hoop, so she has a little piece of his nursery.

 Above: I made the mobile. I used embroidery hoops for the circles and wrapped them in yarn. For the balls, I blew up balloons. Dip the yarn in a water/glue mix and wrap around the balloons. Let dry overnight. Pop the balloons. My balls didn't end up as round as the pictures on Pinterest, but I think the misshapes makes it more sculptural ;-) At least that's how I console myself. I hung the balls from the circles using clear thread. I will say that was a big huge humongous pain getting it to hang where the embroidery hoops were flat. It was very hard getting the weight to be centered. Big pain. But I like the end result.

 Above: Art from scrapbook paper.

 Above: I made the curtains. I love the pom pom fringe detail. I don't have any tricks to share for the curtains. Just hem a big rectangle of fabric and add a curtain liner (the blackout fabric was back ordered from the place I ordered and they sent regular as a substitute. Whatever.) The fabric for the curtains was my big splurge for the room. We did this on an amazingly low budget (it helped that my dad made the crib, the furniture was my grandmother's, and my mother-in-law took me on an antique shopping spree for the odds-n-ends). I found the rocking chair on the side of the road. Not joking. As soon as I saw it I loved it. A big square fabric covered glider just isn't my style. This is my style, plus it was free.

 This suitcase is one of my absolute favorite things in the room. I found it at an antique store for $4 I think. I originally bought it for his cloth diapers. But it didn't fit where the changing table ended up. So the animals live there and I love it.

 Above: That's the bookcase that my mother in law got at an antique mall. The chest of drawers was my grandmother's.

 My aunt made that blanket for me when I was born way back in 1980.

 This is inside the drawer in the crib. My dad made the crib.

 That's a sewing basket I found at an antique store. Perfect for books.

 That hamper is another find my mother-in-law found on our antique shopping spree. 

 If I had the budget, I would have bought every single needle point and embroidery hoop art on Etsy and filled the whole wall. I love needle point and embroidery hoop art. Really love. One day I will have the patience for that kind of craftiness. I bought the orange owl artwork at a thrift store over a decade ago. It has been part of my decor every since. I love those owls and was excited to be able to use it in the nursery. The orange art with the blue mat is an original Van Morrison hand bill (flyer that was passed out on the streets) for a Van Morrison concert. The Moose's name is Morrison, after Van (Ryan & my first dance at our wedding was to Crazy Love by Van). The art on the mirror is by my 3 year old nephew.

 I made the wreath on the door. The wood plaque at the top is something my dad made for me in about 4th grade. In art class at school, I drew those turtles. I brought it home and dad traced my art with his router (I may have my tools mixed up) and etched in that piece of wood. In between the turtles, it said "Ashlee's room". He covered that with a new piece of wood that says "Morrison's Room". The growth chart is a Pinterest craft. Dad made that, too. 

 Spray painted the coat hanger. It was black when I bought it for a couple bucks at Hobby Lobby.

We got one of those changing table add-ons that fits on your existing furniture. We just set it on top of the vanity that was my grandmothers.