home tour {emmy's nursery}.

i've posted on emmy's nursery before, but i have a new camera and changed a few things in her room, so i decided to post another little "tour".  and i wanted to include it on this "home tour" portion of my blog.  so... here;s another little look-sy.

i was a week before my due date--bulging belly and all--when i finished decorating emmy's nursery.  i had a vision in my mind of what i wanted for a while... but it took me months to get the gumption to complete it all. i can still remember standing on her rocking chair in the corner with my huge belly, hanging those blasted tissue poms from the ceiling.  i was really hoping the whole ordeal would put me into labor.  but alas, it did not.

i had so much fun with my sweet pea's room.  i went super girly (as you can see).  lots of pink with pops of turquoise.  ivory lace curtains, white furniture and plush cream bedding.  vintage and elegant.

reading corner

tissue pom cluster

frame wall

wall hangings i made with songs and scripture that are special to us

dresser and vintage sleeping baby print

one of my fav photos of emmy taken by a good (and very talented) friend of mine when she was a few months old

crystal lamp: one of my best target finds

absolutely love this print i bought from my favorite antique store

emmy's letters

crib

i bought this sweet little rose bathmat from anthro to use by her crib

my old baby blanket

love, love, love this handmade pillow accenting her crib.  so special.

a close up of the crib bedding: carter's soft dot bumper in ecru

pink and cream floral circo crib sheet from target

family heirloom table with pretty accents

another one of my favorite photos of my girl in pearls and  tulle

changing table

wall vases i first made for bella's nursery

and the princess herself, happy in her little abode

one of my favorite things about decorating my home is seeing a vision i have come to reality.  i also love (if you haven't noticed) incorporating touches of things that are special to us.  emmy's room is full of family heirlooms and things i loved when i was a little girl.  one of the songs my dad sang just hours before he went to be with the lord was "his eye is on the sparrow".  i have an excerpt of that song on the wall hanging i made especially for emmy's room.  "i sing because i'm happy, i sing because i'm free, his eye is on the sparrow and i know he watches me."  special words for my sweet little girl.

thanks for stopping by :)

this post is linked to these *lovely* blogs:

tatertots & jello

i should be mopping the floor
diy showoff
dimples and pigtales
the shabby nest
one artsy mama

emmy's nursery.

i have *finally* finished emmy's nursery and it feels so good. after months of having ideas swirling around in my head, they've actually been made into reality and i am officially ready for my sweet baby girl to get here. let me just say that being pregnant the second time around is so much harder than the first. i've been exhausted pretty much my entire pregnancy this time, and have been so far behind on everything with no energy to get caught up. it's been driving me crazy. the past week or so, i've been having random bursts of energy here and there and have decided to make the most of them which has really allowed me to accomplish quite a bit. i can survive in a disorganized state for only so long!

emmy's room turned out just the way i envisioned and i'm so happy with it. anyone who knows me well knows that i love having girls because i'm pretty girly myself. i'm not one to shy away from pink... in fact, i fully embrace it as one of my favorite colors. i also love antiques, pretty vintage-y things and shabby chic-ness, so that inspired a lot when it came to emmy's nursery. i have to tone this down around the rest of our house for the sake of my husband, but i got to let it all out when it came to decorating my baby girl's room.

and i thoroughly enjoyed myself :)

the paint color of emmy's room is "sweet baby girl" by glidden. i was looking for a muted pink tone (it shows up waaaay brighter in some of these pictures than it is in reality) and i must admit i half chose this shade because of it's name. we also replaced the old carpet that was in here (when i say we, i mean nick) as well as the rest of the bedrooms in our house. i love the look of this dark wood laminate flooring especially against the contrast of the white and the light pink! this is what you see when you first enter emmy's room; our little "rocking corner" where i can't wait to snuggle with her sleeping on my chest, and see nick reading her bedtime stories. this is my favorite corner of the whole room.

i used this scrapbook paper as inspiration for the nursery. i used it in the letters above her crib, wall hangings i made and in some of these picture frames. these frames i either had on hand or found while thrifting... the 3 oval frame and the bird hanging i scored at the christmastree shop for about 3 dollars for both pieces.

these wall hangings i made from cut plywood, scrapbook paper, rubber stamps, paper doilies and mod podge. they're one of my favorite things about the room because they incorporate special touches from our family.

"i sing because i'm happy, i sing because i'm free his eye is on the sparrow and i know he watches me." one of my favorite hymns and words i remind myself of often. but also the last words dad sang from his hospital bed before he met jesus. i really wanted to incorporate some of him in emmy's room and i love that i'll always be able to tell her how much her bampy loved her from the time he knew she was growing in my belly.

"may the lord bless you and keep you may he make his face shine on you and give you peace." numbers 6:24. nick's mom prayed this over him every day as he was growing up, and we have prayed this over bella every night before we put her to bed, and will emmy too! a special verse for our family.

this pom cluster was the hardest part of the whole room. holy cow. don't even ask me how i hung it because i couldn't begin to tell you. all i know is i used my glue gun and i just hope it all stays put! but it's one of my favorite elements of the nursery and i'm very pleased with how it turned out! i made the tissue poms using martha stewart's tutorial online, and these flower poms you can see how to make here. i also wrapped a small ball with pink ribbon using hot glue, and made a lace pom using a punching ball, glue and paper doilies from the dollar store. it was a huge pain in the behind, so i only made one but i'll post a tutorial soon. the white paper lanterns i also scored from the dollar store. love that place.

emmy's furniture we ordered in a set from walmart.com. since she'll grow out of it soon, we didn't want to spend too much. it works perfectly. here is her dresser with some shabby chic accessories. the lamp is one of my favorite things i own; i bought it at target when i got my first apartment in dallas almost eight years ago. the little pink accent vase belonged to my grandparents; the room that is emmy's nursery used to be my sister and i's bedroom whenever we stayed there, and i remember it being on my grandmother's armoire and always thinking it was so pretty (probably because it was pink). the frame hung above the dresser was attached to an old mirror i found this summer while thrifting. the mirror glass was literally two inches thick! i was afraid it was too heavy to hang (especially in a child's room) so i just detatched the frame and hung that instead. i love the vintage detail.

here's her changing table. above it hangs this antique mirror from my grandparents; i love the etched glass. and i made these wall vases for bella's nursery a couple years back and still love them.

in this little corner of her room sits an old antique table from the oceanside cottage that my family owned for many, many years. we were all blessed to take away a few heirlooms and treasured pieces when we sold it this winter, and this was one that i got. i knew it would be perfect for emmy's room. ontop is a candelabra i found at target a few years ago, an old frame i found while yard sale-ing. the lace curtains hung in her room were there when my sister and i were growing up... which makes my nostalgic-loving heart so happy :)

emmy's crib bedding is super simple. i used these circo brand crib sheets from target, and these carters brand ecru crib bumpers from burlington coat factory. i fell in love with this floral bathmat from anthropologie and bought it for an accent by her crib. so glad i did.

i recreated the old frames i had for bella's name in her nursery to make emmy's above her crib. i love the vintage floral paper and the touch of turquoise. you can read my tutorial here.

these porcelain birds i found at target and knew they'd be just the right touch for the wall above her crib. i love how elegant and simple they look.

and there you have it. our little room for sweet emmy faith! can't wait to meet her... she's due to arrive in just a week! can't wait to meet our little girl.

nursery run-down:

crib, changing table and dresser: walmart.com
rose shaped rug: anthropologie
name frames: thrifted, handmade
porcelain birds: target
pink&cream floral crib sheet: target
ecru crib bumpers: burlington coat factory
lace curtains: family "heirloom"
rocking chair: thrifted and refinished by husband
frames/bird hanging: thrifted, christmastree shop
tissue, lace, flower and ribbon "poms": handmade
white paper lanterns: dollar tree
wall hangings: handmade
white vintage mirror frame: thrifted
crystal chandelier lamp: target
pink accent vase: family "heirloom"
vintage etched glass mirror: family "heirloom"
wall vases: handmade
white antique table: family "heirloom"
shabby chic candelabra: target
pink vintage frame: yard sale

this post is linked to these *lovely* blogs:
tatertots&jello
chef in training
newlyweds on a budget
mod vintage life
one artsy mama
the diy show off
my girlish whims
at the picket fence
southern lovely
classy clutter
diy by design
liz marie

emmy's letters.

so i've been really behind this pregnancy with poor emmy. when i was pregnant with bella, i had everything set about a month before she made her arrival. diapers stocked and put away. room decorated and organized. clothes washed and put into her dresser according to size. i even had my hospital bag packed at 37 weeks. this time around? emmy's cloth diapers are still in their packages, stacked in piles (although i will say according to color. ha.) on one of our couches. her closet is jammed full of things i need to go through and organize. i just finished washing all of her newborn-three months clothes yesterday... half of them are put away, the other half is folded and waiting to be put away. and there is a load that is still in the dryer.

and her room? most of it existed in my head, or in halfway finished projects waiting in our basement.

so yesterday i decided i needed to get with it. i've been telling myself this for weeks, but yesterday i actually had a burst of nesting-ness that gave me the energy to get some stuff accomplished.

and it feels good.

i am happy to say i have one project left for emmy's room and then it will be finished and ready for our sweet baby girl. i feel so much better already. but still, don't look in her closet...

i love having the girls names in their rooms. i just think it's so cute. i wanted to do something different for emmy's letters, but use the old frames i had when i did bella's in her nursery back in our apartment in dallas.

after some scheming in this head of mine, i came up with a plan. i am a huge fan of scrapbook paper. weird, i know. but i love finding a pretty pattern i like and using it to inspire a decorating theme. when nick&i got married, my sister made our wedding invitations with pretty pink and cream vintage-y paper. i used it throughout our wedding decor and it provided a good starting point for me as i planned. so i found this pretty paper online for emmy's room and fell in love with it.

sadly, our craft stores here seriously lack in the scrapbook paper department, so i went ahead and ordered it from an internet source. i'm so glad i did.

here's a little how-to on my letter's for emmy's nursery.

nursery letters

materials:
- old frames (i got mine from goodwill)
- paint
- ribbon
- ruler
- scissors
- scrapbook paper
- paper doilies
- computer/printer
- mod podge
- foam brush
- hot glue gun

* the frames i got from goodwill i had originally spraypainted brown for bella's nursery. so for emmy's, i painted them all a creamy white.
* using your ribbon and some hot glue, attach loops to your frame. if you want bows like i did, make your bows separately and then glue them to the tops of the loops. this way it's easier to make your bows pretty :)
* measure the area inside your frame and cut your scrapbook paper to fit.
* on your computer, create a word document and print off your letters as big as you'd like in a font that suits your fancy. i think mine were 600 in the courier font.
* cut out your letters to create homemade stencils (waaaay cheaper). on coordinating scrapbook paper (i chose a light turquoise), trace your letters and cut them out.
* using a thin layer of mod podge, secure a paper doily in the center of each sheet of scrapbook paper. then, top with a letter. be sure to try to get the wrinkles out as much as possible (which i found to be challenging with the paper doilies).
* after they are dried, secure in the back of the frame with hot glue.
* hang! and you're done :)

i love the combo of pink&turquoise. it's one of my *favorite* things right now. and the vintage feel of the scrapbook paper combined with the antique-y-ness of the doilies are exactly what i was going for in little emmy's room. i'm a happy mama.

we're ready for our sweet baby girl! although she will come exactly when she makes her mind up ;) can't wait to hold her and kiss her little face!

flower "poms".

i have been working for a while on several little decorating projects for the girls new rooms. emmy will have bella's current bedroom and bella is moving into a new "big girl room" once we get her new bed and other furniture all set up. it's very exciting (although i have had a couple crying spells over it. i know, ridiculous... i'm just sad my baby is not a baby anymore!) must be a mama-thing.

emmy's room is painted "sweet baby girl" by glidden, a soft pink shade and will be filled with white furniture. the things i have collected so far are very antique-y and shabby chic and i'm really excited about how it's shaping up already... well, mostly about the ideas i have in my head ;)

i've found it very difficult to focus on things for their rooms. first of all, i'm decorating two rooms and both of them are very different. second of all, i'm pregnant. enough said. third of all, i get excited about a project, start it, and then get excited about something else and start that, leaving the other one completely unfinished. i've been all over the place.

however, this is the first little project that i've been able to finish. yay! probably because it was so darn easy. i want to do a little "pom cluster" for a corner in emmy's room, with tissue poms, flowered balls and some other little goodies. so i've been gathering ideas to make a bunch of pretty lil poms. i found this tutorial on pinterest and knew i had to make it. the supplies were pretty cheap and like i said, it was super duper easy.

flower poms

materials:

* styrofoam balls (i used two... they came together in a package at joanns)
* scrapbook paper
* flower shaped paper punch (i found mine at joanns for about $6 after a coupon)
* pearl corsage pins (in any floral section)

- cut flower shapes out with your paper punch. i loved discovering these little things... they have them in several shapes and i didn't mind spending six bucks on one that i know i'll use for other craft projects at some point!

- stack two shapes so that petals appear full, and secure with a pearl pin. fold petals up a bit to add some texture and dimension.

- stick pin into styrofoam ball. i did this in rows around the ball to make sure it was even; you'll also want to make sure that you stick the pins&flowers close enough together to cover the styrofoam. repeat until entire ball is covered.

- while i haven't completed this step yet, i plan on pinning a ribbon at the top of each ball for hanging in emmy's room. you could also use these to fill a bowl or as decorations for a baby shower or girlie party! be creative. they are oh-so-cute.

i'm excited to make my other "poms" to hang along with these in emmy's room! it's an easy, inexpensive way to create a beautiful pop of color and dimension.

happy crafting!