Thrifty Baby Nursery

When I found out I was expecting I made a list of everything we would need for a baby.  I sifted through baby books, magazines and advice from others on what would be needed.  My list included everything from diapers to a stroller, a total of about 40 items.  I quickly discovered that this baby venture would be quite pricey! 

So, I hit up Craigslist and garage sales big time!  Kate was born in the fall.  I attended about 20 yard sales throughout the spring and summer prior to her being born.  I am now a firm believer in buying baby gear used.  Most of these items were in great condition when I bought them.  Some needed a little work.  I sewed new cushions for the glider and painted the dresser and changing table.  The only thing we opted to buy new was the car seat/travel system (which we actually received as a gift, thanks Mom!).  The whole expiration date on car seats was a good reason to start new, considering we may want more babies.  And, strollers tend to get some wear and tear and starting new seemed smart with future kids in mind. In the end, everything (with the exception of the travel system) was used! 

Here are some examples of some of my best finds:

Sony baby monitors with two receivers: New: $52 Found used for $5

Changing Table: Free!  Someone put this out on the end of their driveway with a free price tag!

Fisher Price Cradle Swing: New: $126 Found Used: $50

Jumperoo: New: $73 Used: $30

Diamond Quilt

The second quilt I ever made was a diamond quilt using Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I love the rich, bright colors in all of the fabrics. It is quilted with veriegated rainbow thread.  I found the pattern online here.

  I fussy-cut  the center of every diamond so that each diamond would have a flower in the center. 

Fussy Cut Centers

I layed out each diamond block on our living room floor before I sewed them all together.  I spent about two days tweaking the blocks so that the colors looked balanced.  

In pieces

This is one of my favorite quilts I have made yet!

Headband Curls

I am always interested in finding new ways to curl my hair without heat.  I wish my hair fell into perfect curls straight out the shower, but it does not. However, with the help of Pinterest, I have found a really fun way to achieve a natural looking head of curls.  Check out this tutorial.

The first time I tried this, it worked!  The curls were beautiful.  However, I do have a couple of tips.  Don’t wrap your hair too tightly around the headband.  The curls will be too tight and it will remind you of a bad perm from the eighties.  Also, use gel to help the curls hold better.  Go try this now!

The night before...all wrapped up.

The next morning!

Beatiful Curls!

Better After Feature

My weekend case was featured on Better After today!

Chocolate Cake

I made my husband a cake for Valentine’s Day.

I glazed the cake with ganache. I didn’t know what ganache was until today. Oh my heavens, it is amazing. Ganache consists of three ingrediants: Heavy whipping cream, a bar of chocolate and a pinch of salt. Enough said.

I found the recipe here. However, instead of Ghiradelli chocolate I used Pralus cocoa powder  and a Valrhona Manjari 64% chocolate bar.

The cake turned out delicious!

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Lucy's Shoe Sock Review

I am in love with baby shoe socks (socks that look like shoes).  Kate has many shoe socks and she looks so darling in all of them.  She has a set of shoe socks called “Lucy’s” by Trumpette.  She received them this last Christmas (thanks Mom!).  Not only are these socks adorable, but they are tactile!  Kate loves to grab at the bows with her hands.  Anything that can entertain this little girl is AMAZING.  I give this product 4/5 stars.  I couldn’t give it a full five star rating because they are a tad on the expensive side.

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Duvet Cover Thoughts

I have wanted to revamp my bedding for some time now.  Here are a few covers I found that I like:

Here, here and here (this last link is my favorite!).

However, bedding is expensive!  I was inspired to make my own duvet cover out of two flat sheets by this tutorial.

If I found some flat sheets on sale I could make a beautiful duvet cover, embellished with ruffles, for significantly less money than buying one. 

This may be a bigger undertaking than I realize, but I am excited.  I have found a couple other inspiring tutorials here, here, and here.