Crib Skirt DIY

I recently took a trip back to Franklin for my brother and sister-in-law's gender reveal, and I can't wait to share on the blog what they'll be having.  I'm still waiting until social media alerts are made by the parents.  But while I was there, I always try to take advantage of my Mom's sewing talents and have her help me with some aspect of the nursery.  We've sewn curtains and now a crib skirt, and my mom quilted her blanket that you can see on her crib.  I love the quilt, and the inside is a super soft material that Hannah will love.

I love how it all turned out.  I chose the fabric and researched tutorials on how to make straight panels for a crib before I came home.  We decided to sew square fabric panels and attach them to the crib using velcro strips.  As I lower the crib, we can adjust the panels so that the fabric isn't dragging on the ground.  We ended up making all four panels because we had enough fabric for it.  We were originally just going to do the three that showed, but now if we change the layout or move, we're covered on all sides.  No pun intended. :)

Mom sewed the bottom hem and the side seams to each panel, and we left to the edge raw that won't be seen under the mattress.  The fabric I chose unravels really easily so Mom suggested I seal the raw edge with some heat and bond tape when I got home.  I also decided to add a lace detail to the bottom of the panels.  I also used heat and bond tape to attach the lace.  I just used a lightweight tape that came in narrow strips.  The heat and bond is activated with a warm iron, and it is even machine washable.

I attached the velcro strips around the frame every foot or so to hang each panel.  I made sure to put the hook side of the velcro on the crib frame, so when I need to wash the panels the hooks won't snag the fabric and lace.

Here it is with all four panels attached.

And one last detail shot.  Thanks Mom for all your help!

Beebumpin' Along

This is my last week of my second trimester, and it's time for another post of baby bump pictures.  Things are going well, I think, if the amount of kicks I'm feeling is any indication.  It's been a little over 4 weeks since I last saw my doctor, but I go in Monday for a check up and the infamous glucose test.

These weekly progression of photos are definitely capturing changes between a week's time.

I'm not quite sure how Hannah went from an eggplant to a cauliflower.  Sounds like a regression in produce size if you ask Weston and I.  According to the books, she's a little over 2 pounds and 14 inches long!

I can't wait to start my third trimester!  I hope it treats me as well as the first two have!  Only 3 months left!!

Cousins and a Nursery Update

Well I think I can officially broadcast that Hannah will have a new cousin arriving late July!    My brother, Joe, and his wife, Lindsey, are expecting!  Hannah and Baby Griffey will be about two months apart.  We will be finding out the gender in a few weeks for their baby, and I can't wait.

Weston and I came to Franklin for the weekend to celebrate my Mom's birthday.  This was the first visit we've had together with two visible baby bumps.  Lindsey is at 17 weeks, and I'm at 26 weeks.

It was so much fun swapping stories and ideas for the babies and nursery rooms.  While I was in town, I had my mom help me sew the curtains for the nursery.  I don't have them hung yet.  I'm still deciding on the curtain rod, but Hannah's room has made some progress.

We have a crib!  We chose a white Jenny Lind crib, and Weston's parent's were so generous to give this to us as a baby gift. 

We ordered two of these vintage looking floral crib sheets from the Shabby Chenille collection at Carousel Designs.  We also ordered enough fabric to sew curtains and a blanket.  We still need to get the fabric for the crib skirt too.

  

And I found this little shabby chic table at World Market.  We plan on using it as a little table next to my glider.

Well that is it for nursery updates.  We have several things ordered that haven't come in just yet.  I'll be sure to share once they do!

Nursery Changing Table Redo

Hi!  I was finally able to snap some pictures of the dresser we redid for Hannah's changing table/dresser.  We snagged this piece off of craigslist for $90.  I scoured the listings on craigslist and local antique stores for a couple weeks, and I was having a hard time finding a french provincial dresser high enough for a changing table.  But lo and behold, I found the perfect dresser on CL.  The only problem was the dresser was in Georgia about 1.5 hours away, but I talked Weston into making the trip to pick it up.  For one, we were saving so much money finding a piece that I could refinish rather than buying one that someone else refinished or buying a brand new dresser.  The time and gas to get there seemed worth it as long as it was what I hoped it would be in person.  Talk about pressure!  Luckily it was what I had hoped, and the 3 hour roundtrip drive with Weston turned out pretty nice.  And I think she turned out beautiful, and I am loving all the storage!  And this is the paint color for the nursery.  It's Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.

 
Here it is before with the before green paint in the nursery.  It's a little blurry from the iphone, but you can see why I loved the dimensions and lines to it.

So I set out on a 3 day project of sanding, priming, 2 coats of painting, and 3 coats of Minwax polycrylic gloss finish.  Here are the drawers drying in our living room.  I also wiped the insides of the drawers with a vinegar soaked washcloth.  It was definitely stinky at first, but 8 hours later the vinegar smell dissipated and took the musty smell with it!

I got creative with the hardware painting and used old styrofoam with disposable kabob sticks to help.  I should mention we used Behr's Sweet Nothing as the paint color for the dresser.  It is such a pretty soft pink that almost looked white when it was in our living room.

 

I also changed out the knobs for the center drawers with these glass knobs that I got at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off.

I also added these wood appliques to the bottom of the dresser.  You can find these at any craft store, and I attached them with paintable caulking and a clamp until they dried.

And to finish off the dresser, I lined the drawers with wrapping paper I found at Michaels.  It's their shabby chic collection which just so happens to be the style I am going for in her nursery.  How cute are these booties in the drawer?  It only took 1.5 rolls to do the 9 drawers, and I used double sided tape rather than mod podge so it wasn't so permanent.  I'll let you know how it holds up, but from what I can tell, it's going to work great!

And one last sneak peak for baby girl's nursery are these adorable prints.  The scripture print I found off of etsy, and the other is from Sarah+Abraham that I purchased 50% off.  Both frames I already had, but I found matting so the 8x10 prints would fit in the frame.  I probably spent $30 total for both framed pieces.

That's all for now.  Can't wait to share more with you as we get her nursery together!

Baby Girl has a Name!

Hi again!  Yes, it's been four weeks since my last baby bump pictures.  So it's time for some updating.  It's amazing how much baby girl and I both are growing in these last four weeks.

We are feeling her kick more and more each week.  I love laying in bed at night and just feeling her move.

And her name is....

Miss Hannah Hart Hobgood!  She'll go by "Hannah".  There is just no other name more perfect for our little girl.  I tried to come up with others because I was concerned about all the H's.  I mean a southern girl has to think about the monogram, but I love her name and even the HHH monogram.  And Weston has loved her name from day one.  So we have a winner!  We chose Hannah after Hannah in the bible who prayed to God for a baby that she would raise as a child of God, and He blessed her with Samuel.  Hannah means "grace", and it was definitely through God's grace to have our daughter.

Hart is a family name.  It was my maternal grandma's maiden name.  She is no longer living, but she continues to be a huge influence on my life.  She was so kind and loving.  She never judged nor said a harsh word about anyone.  She was just so classy and beautiful.  My first name "Mary" was named after her as well.  So it is so special to have such a wonderful woman I can tell my daughter she was named after.

Well we're now all caught up on the bump pictures.  Can't wait to post on our new guest room and the dresser off craigslist that we converted into a dresser/changing table for Hannah.

Christmas 2012

January is a month that seems to drag on, but this year it has flown by!  It probably has something to do with finding out we're having a little girl which then spurred starting our baby registry and getting the nursery and guest rooms ready.  I can't wait to share pictures from all we've been doing on the rooms, but before it's February, I thought I'd share some Christmas pictures.

 

 

This little girl just loved to unwrap the presents.  It didn't matter who the gift was to or what was inside, but tearing that wrapping paper was so much fun.

 

 

Santa sure was good to these kids this year.  Katie's favorite was a baby doll who sucks her pacifier.

 

Poor Weston missed most of the Christmas celebrations with being so sick at his parent's house, but he was well enough to open presents later with his little helper.

 

Katie is barely holding on to the lower end of the charts in weight, and her pants tend to sag on her which cracks me up.  I think she's just going to be on the thin side like her daddy was as a kid.  And that's ok because she still has these adorable cheeks to kiss.

I really didn't get any pictures besides the kids.  With Weston not well, I didn't break out the camera for a family picture on either side of the family.  But we did snap this one before my birthday dinner awhile back.

Merry Christmas in January y'all!

It's A .....

GIRL!!!

We are over the moon to find out we're having a baby girl.  Weston and I have thought it was a girl from the moment we found out we were expecting.  Even though I thought it might be a girl, I can't believe she actually is a girl!!  I'm from a family of boys.  When I say family of boys, I was the 8th grandchild on my Dad's side of the family and the first granddaughter.  The odds aren't much better on my Mom's side with 7 boys and 3 girls.  So to know I'm going to have a little girl makes me so excited!  I still have trouble falling asleep at night I'm so excited.

After our appointment last Thursday, we skyped and shared the news with the grands, aunts, and uncles.  We kept it a secret from everyone else and threw a gender reveal party on Saturday with our friends here in Birmingham.

We decorated up the house for the reveal.

Pink and blue punch to sip with pink and blue straws.

Our cake with pink or blue icing in the center to reveal the gender.

The voting ballot chalkboard that was split pretty evenly.

Our best friends, Jenny and Jakob, drove down to celebrate with us.

  

Weston got some snuggles in with a sleepy Liam.  He is going to be such a great daddy!!

Our Team Blue!

 Our Team Pink!!

Once everyone got there we went ahead and cut the cake.  I'm going to try and attach a quick video Jenny took on her phone of us cutting the cake.  We can't stop laughing at it.  As soon as everyone saw pink, I just let go and started jumping up and down leaving Weston to fumble the cake on the plate.  It's a good thing I wasn't the one with the knife!

Asher with his slice of pink cake and pink punch.

Jenny's mom crochets these beautiful baby blankets.  She had made a pink and a blue one that Jenny brought down to give to us after our reveal.  I love the beautiful pink blanket!

Thank you friends for celebrating with us.  Thank you family for all your love and excitement for our baby girl.  Thank you long distance friends who celebrated with us from afar.  This sweet baby is so loved, and I am so honored to be her Mommy.