ohbrooke

The Baby Room Reveal

He may not have a name yet, and he may not actually be spending any time in this room for months, but, well, it’s all ready!

So much of this room was a collaboration of friends and family, and over 90% of it is used or handmade. I don’t know if there has ever been a smaller bedroom recorded to date, but this would give it a run for its money.

wall stencil – HANDMADE – by me, tutorial here
changing table - USED – from Craigslist
chalkboard – VINTAGE – from the Alameda Flea Market
elephant – NEW – Ross $8

hamper – VINTAGE – from the Alameda Flea Market
hamper liner – HOMEMADE – by me, tutorial here
giraffe print rug – NEW  – from Tuesday Morning $12

diaper basket - VINTAGE – from the Alameda Flea Market
diaper basket liner – HOMEMADE – with scrap pillowcase fabric by me, tutorial here
lamp – NEW – from Urban Outfitters Clearance $5
lampshade – USED – had around the house

metal awning – HANDMADE – by artist and friend Linda Raynsford
curtains – HANDMADE – by me, post here
rice paper lanterns – USED – by me for April’s shower

crib – USED – purchased from craigslist and painted by my husband
bumpers – HANDMADE – by my talented and ever-generous mother, post here
crib quilt – HANDMADE – by me, post here
burlap pillow – HANDMADE – by me, and used in our previous guest bedroom

wool rocking horse – HANDMADE – by my brother, post here {on the top shelf next to my mom’s brass baby booties}

shelves – USED – hand-me-downs from my sister
puzzle – HANDMADE – by my in-laws
wire basket - VINTAGE – from the Alameda Flea Marke
fabric baskets - HANDMADE – from Nestings Home Storage on etsy, gift from Susan

word posters - HANDMADE – by me, download here
air balloon poster – HANDMADE – by Sea Saw Designs on etsy, gift from Jessica
metal clip board – VINTAGE – from the Alameda Flea Market

rocking chair - VINTAGE – recovered by my mom, post here
high chair – VINTAGE – had around the house, post here
amy butler pillow - HANDMADE – by my mom, post here

umbrella image – HANDMADE – free download here

Here’s a little video tour:

Baby Room from Brooke Hall on Vimeo.

And in case you forgot, this was the before:

Crib Bumpers Done!

We’re knocking them off the list one by one… while I was finishing up the quilt, my mom was sewing the bumpers for me. That proved to be trickier than I would have imagined, but thanks to my mom, they are perfect! The fabric is Medallion in Teal {part of the French Riviera collection by Patricia Bravo}. My mom made the piping in a brown polka dot, and ribbon ties. Last step is the rocking chair reno project, and then this baby is ready to join us in style!

Crib Quilt Done!

My holiday break was not without projects…

Here is the finished crib quilt for the little boy… so cozy! I used scrap fabric from the bumpers {coming soon}, 7 different fat quarters, and Moda’s sock monkey flannel for the backing.

‘Nother Surprise Package

Thank you SUSAN! I love that you took the time to match the nursery… these look ADORABLE. {more pics to come}.

For those of you who don’t know Susan, lemme tell you a little bit about her:

• She leaves the sweetest comments on my blog, always a joy to read
• Look at this gift – even though we’ve never met, she’s captured my style perfectly.
• She is genuine and supportive. She supports handmade, and if I ran a marathon, I’d bring her along to keep me going.
• Check out her blog, Whatsoever Things are Beautiful to learn more about the beautiful Susan!

{fabric boxes from Nestings}

Scrap Fabric Basket Liners

We got some new sheets {Yay!} and I always have to cut and sew the enormous king size pillowcases to make them standard size. This leaves you with two pieces of fabric this size:

I used one to make a little basket liner for the nursery, with non-matching ribbon scraps to tie it on. In a perfect world I wanted to make little white terrycloth liners, but when free fabric and ribbon is just sitting around, I’d rather use it. {You can get crazy holding on to scraps of fabric. I usually try to think of a use for the fabric before keeping it, or holding on to it for a month or two so I don’t become a clutterbug. – my husband is going to laugh at that comment}

Sweater Recycling

This. Blows. My. Mind.

It started with a facebook message from my brother:

And then I got this in the mail:

Can you believe this was made from these? My brother told me that he googled an image of a horse, printed it out and created his own pattern. Inside the horse is a bell… and it’s our little secret that it’s in the shape of a ghost. He finished this project in one day. It sure looked like it was a cozy sweater, but it makes an even cozier stuffed horse!

Thank you LANE! You are a genius! I LOOOOOVE this… by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten. If we lived closer to each other, we could make some cool stuff! You could recover my furniture and paint murals on my walls, and I could… eat all your food! Miss you…

{ohbaby} Shower

Because she lives in Chicago, we haven’t actually “met”, but Jessica and I have talked on the phone and emailed frequently. She is the mastermind behind many of my favorite pieces of jewelry, JessLC.com, and we all love her Make Under My Life blog.

Thank you Jess for the ohbaby shower!

Many of you have left comments that have been encouraging, thoughtful, and outright funny. I have loved every one of them, and am delighted as I get these little gems in my email throughout the day.

Here is what I received at the ohbaby shower:

From Jess, an adorable letterpress print {from See Saw Designs} that matches the nursery perfectly. I love this!

Whitney, maker of all things paper-crafts and colored bakers twine, sent me this note of “practical advice” {it’s perfect!}:

The eloquent and beautiful Julieta sent over this cute note… probably the first time I realized that I’ll be having a BOY! {a real teach-him-how-to-pee-standing-up BOY!} Oh, and if you haven’t read how her blog got its name, read here, and you’ll love her as much as I do!

And Natalie, whose talent never ceases to amaze me, made a print with her advice. And she should know… she has three girls, two of which are TWINS!

Quilts

Unfortunately with this blog, you are often at the whim of my google image searches. Today: Quilts. I ran back and got that fabric and am headed to another fabric store tomorrow to find more. These are the quilts I’m thinking about:

{the pattern on this one calls for 21 fabrics! I Looooove it, but I could spend HOURS picking that many fabrics!}

I’m a sucker for chevron. This is in my top two…

Perfect Day for Sewing

TORRENTIAL downpour in my hood today, but couldn’t help swim by my local quilt store.

THIS had me salivating. Doesn’t it have new-baby-boy-crib-bedding written all over it? Oh, you should see my mind spinning right now.

… and I can’t help but want to put the crib on top of some super-soft and fluffy rug. Yes, I know it’s white, but my baby’s not gonna spit or poop. Where can I get one for cheap, cheap, cheap? Does Ikea have this kind of rug?