Adventures in Nurseryland Part II, The Outer Shell

Yep, it's that time again!

It's time once again to catch everyone up on where the nursery stands at this point.  I know you've all been anticipating this day, waiting with baited breath, and today you can finally sigh with relief that you no longer have to walk around all blue-like from lack of proper oxygen!

So let's get right to it shall we?  Oh, if by chance you never saw the first Adventures in Nurseryland post, go ahead and bounce over there and catch up.  If you have already read it, you may want to give it another glance because unlike a bad teenage novel series, I will not be repeating the back story and covering what has been covered already.

Before I get started, I'm going to interject here.  Actually, I've already written the rest of this entry.  I'm simply coming back to give a warning.  I decided at the end of this post to divide the Nurseryland posts into even smaller bits as this entry was way longer than expected.  So this particular entry will cover what I like to refer to as the nursery's outer shell.  Okay, now onto what I've already completed!

I'll start with the paint job on the nursery.  I am overly pleased with the amazing job my mom and I did on the paint job.  I had never painted anything in my life, unless you count crafts here and there and finger painting back in the day, but nothing as daunting as an entire room.  So I was shocked when we totally rocked the job.  We were very lucky that I was installing new carpet in the room, because that allowed us to be a little less cautious when it came to dripping paint on the floor and stuff of that nature, although we were not all that messy.  But regardless of that little side bit of info, which wasn't really a necessary par of this story (I'm not backtracking now), the job was immaculate.

The color scheme I chose for the room very much reflects my nature and the Alice in Wonderland theme.  Although I'm going more with the vintage Alice theme, I am also incorporating  brighter colors that are somewhat reflective of the Disney version.  For the room's walls, trim, and ceiling I went with all Behr Paints with a satin finish.  The walls were done in Misty Violet, the crown moulding and window trim in Citron, and the base color for the ceiling was done in Mineral Water.

Isn't the moulding the bomb?

Here you get a glimpse of the window trim.

Better shot of the fabulous window.

Oooooh, while we're on the picture above I need to tell you about that window treatment!  The whole deal with this amazing window is that it faces East and the the early morning sun beats the dog crap out of the room.  I didn't want to cook poor Piper like an egg fried on a sidewalk during a hot August afternoon in the deep South, so I had to find a way to filter some of that direct light and subsequent heat.  My mom found these wonderful arched blinds and we began getting samples from various companies.  We ended up going with the Levolor Accordia shade in Petal from Blindsgalore.  The installation was a bit of a bitch, I highly suggest getting the instructions direct from Levolor online because the ones from Blindsgalore were miniature and extremely hard to read, but the result was fantastic.  Isn't the shade gorgeous?  And the color was the perfect shade of soft pink.

Okay, back to the paint job.  As you can see from the photos, I brought a pop of color into the room via the Citron accents.  I absolutely love the color and it really stands out from the soft violet walls.  As for the ceiling, yes those are clouds!  My mom and I bravely decide to paint a cloud ceiling.  We had no prior experience, could not find any decent instructions on the internet, so we kind of just winged it.  As I said before, the base coat for the blue sky is Behr Mineral Water.  I was originally going to go with Serene Sky, but it ended up being too bright of a blue.  It would have been a great sky color for a little boy's room.  Had I done the pirate room I had planned for little Beckett before I found out I was carrying little Piper, I would have opted for the brighter shade.  As for the clouds, they are a mixture of two colors.  The base clouds were done with Behr Frosty Morning and the top/highlighting/blending shade was done with Behr Frosted Juniper.

The pinker shade is the Frosty Morning.

Notice the accidental bunny we painted?

As you can see from the pics, the clouds are pretty damn pimp!  So how'd we do it?  Good question!  The secret two ingredients to this art, besides the paint, are the sea sponges and a 2" dry paint brush.  We purchased two different natural sea sponges that were from one of Martha Stewart's lines..  The great thing about the natural sponges is that since their shapes are so whackadoodle, each side offers up a different shape to paint with, which is great for making clouds.

Totally whackadoodle!

To begin, we dipped the dry sponges into the Frosty Morning paint, wiped off the excess, and gently free-handed the base clouds onto the ceiling.  We used various techniques, but the slight twist of the wrist at the end of each tap gave a nice fluffy cloud-like appearance.  A lot of sites suggest you map out your clouds on paper first so they don't get too symmetrical and/or evenly spaced.  We said screw all that and just went for it.  My mom had a bit more skill at making these, so I let her do most of the base clouds while I handled the secondary clouds.  Here is a pic of a portion of the base clouds (upper portion of photo).  As you can see, they're quite the free-handed job.

Base clouds

For the secondary overlay on the clouds with the Frosted Juniper, both the sea sponge and the 2" brush were used.  My techniques was to once again dip the sponge into the paint, making sure to wipe of any excess paint, and then gently tap the sponge using the wrist twisting motion at the end.  From there I came back with the dry brush for extra fluffing.  This was done with light taps and wrist twists until the two colors were well blended.  By the way, this will completely destroy your paint brush, so depending on the size of the ceiling, you may need more than one.  We used two to complete this ceiling.  I didn't cover the entire base cloud with the overlay, but instead focused on the outer areas and once in awhile also making whispys between cloud formations.  Here is another look at the finished result!

Just so you don't have to scroll back up!

In the end, the clouds came out way better than we anticipated.  I really wish I had filmed our technique, just in case I ever needed to do them again.  Plus, there just weren't any good instructional videos out there that I could find.  I found some that were overly complicated and didn't really show techniques, just the final results.  Maybe one of these days I'll do another such ceiling and film part of the process with that one.  It could happen!

Once everything else was completed, we also decided to go ahead and paint the baseboards and door frames.  We ended up once again using the Frosty Morning.  Since the walls were violet, the slight pink tint to the paint perfectly accented  them.  We tested with three different whites, and that shade was by far the best for our color scheme.  

Not a great pic, but will have to do.

I hope you can see the slight pink tint from the pic, it's the best one I have at this exact moment.

Now that I've covered the walls and ceiling work, I'll get back to the window.  Oh yes, there is more window to discuss!  The arched shade was just the first step.  Once that was in place, next came the decision on sheers, outer curtains, and cornice board.

For the sheers, at first I thought I wanted to go with soft pastels.  Then I got to browsing around and realized just how difficult it was for me to actually find sheers that I liked.  Finally, my mom ran across some we both really liked on Ebay.  By the way, if you have't figured it out yet, my mom is my partner in crime when it comes to dittying up the nursery.  We have very similar tastes so it's extremely easy for me to tell her my ideas, let them jostle around a bit in her skull, and then we're both off and running like to crazed decorating loonies!  We really shouldn't be allowed to shop together as it always leads down the more is more path of life.  Anyway, back to the sheers.

Like I said, my mom ran across some great sheers on Ebay, and wouldn't you know they weren't the pastels I originally imagined.  Oh no!  Once I saw these, pastels just would not do.

Bright or bust!

Instead of the pastels, she discovered these bad ass brighter sheers which really pop!  I instantly knew these were the ones I wanted.  I mean seriously, are they not fabulous?  And what was even better was how they stood out against the black and white harlequin fabric I'm using for the outer curtain and cornice board.  If you look at the top right of the curtains, you will notice the harlequin fabric draped over the sheers.  This is the same fabric that is featured in the fabric panels on the sides of the crib.  My mom is currently in the process of sewing the outer curtains which will be swept boldly to the sides and tied back with adorable little fringe tassel numbers we found at Hobby Lobby.

Adorable pink and lime with a crystal accent.

I don't think the picture of the tassel even remotely does it justice.  Plus, the cording cannot be seen too well and it's really quite stunning with the various intertwined pieces.  I would take an actual picture of mine to show the cording, however, I have not yet taken the packaging off as I don't want to turn them into kitty treats before the curtains are actually hung.

Before I move onto the cornice board, I want to give you a little bit better of an idea regarding the sheers, here is another pic of how they look in the early morning sunlight.

And the angels wept in joyous rapture!

Yeah, thought you all would like that!  They really do capture the light magnificently.  I cannot wait to get the outer curtains finished because they are really going to sing then.  Along with the outer curtains, I am currently having an old family friend build me a cornice board that will cover the bottom portion of the arched shade and the top portion of the sheers...much like a valance but way cooler. I am going with a scallop-edged board that is about 14" in height between it's longest points top to bottom.

Basic design plan.

Once again, not a great pic but an idea of the board style I'm going for.  It will also be covered in the black and white harlequin fabric.  I think the black and white overlaying the bright sheers is really going to look super duper.  Now it's just basically a waiting game until the curtains are sewn and the board is cut, so I can then add the fabric to it.  Adding the fabric should be pretty simple.  First is a layer of quilt batting and then a layer of fabric which is wrapped and stapled down on the back side of the board.  Of course, I will document the process of finishing up the cornice board once I get to that point.  Hopefully it will go as smoothly in reality as it has in my head, but then again you never know.

I have some surprise extra touches I will be adding to the curtains and cornice board once they are complete but I will not go into those right now, hence the surprise part.  It's just some added pizzazz my mom and I have been toying with, so you know it's gonna rock!

Okay, I think I've just about covered the outer edges of the nursery.  Oh wait, the new carpet!  I almost completely forgot about that part.  I decided to go ahead and install all new carpet for the nursery as the previous carpet was an almost white and 14 years old to boot.  I didn't think white was the best idea for a young child, so I went ahead and sprung for the cost and had it replaced.  I wanted to get carpet that would later work with the rest of the house, so I had to pick out something that didn't scream kids room.  Instead,I decided on a light jade color that is reminiscent of grass.  My thought was that it would go perfect with the cloud ceiling and sort of give that outdoorish feeling...much like a mad tea party outside!

Don't ask the price!

Once again, the picture here doesn't do the carpet justice.  This was taken fresh after install and all the markings make it look a bit strange.  It's a wonderful shade that I couldn't be happier with and works very well, believe it or not, with all the crazy colors in the room.  I'd say it grounds the room, hahahaha!  Here is another pic that might give a better idea of how it looks with a bit of furniture thrown on it.

It just gives it all an earthy feel.

One of the things I love about the carpet is that it will work with the rest of the house later.  It's the same shade as the sages in the living room crown moulding.  Like I said, I needed it to mesh with the house as I definitely didn't want to re-carpet the room a few years down the road...it was way too pricey to not get a good many years out of it.  And when you take off your shoes and wiggle your toes around...well let's just say it was worth every penny!

Alright, I've got just one more thing to touch on in regards to the outer shell of the room...the light switch and outlet covers.  Initially I had painted all of these the citron color, same as the moulding and such.  However, I then decided to once again throw an Etsy artist some business which, in turn, would throw a little more uniqueness into the room.

If you are ever in the market for unique light switch or outlet covers, definitely go check out marimakings on  Etsy.  Mari is the artist and she is wonderful to work with and her work is superb! She will work with you on style, color, type of plate, etc.  I have so far purchased, received, and installed both light switch covers for the room.  I was so pleased with her work, that I am now ordering five outlet covers.  She has a whole slew of vintage Alice in Wonderland styled covers, and the hardest part is choosing which ones I want as I do not want any of them to match.  For now, here are the two switch covers I have received.

This one was done especially for me!

The Blue damask pattern is also in Piper's crib bedding!

Aren't they the bomb?  Mari was even so sweet that she sent me a return envelope with my order in case I was unsatisfied with the harlequin design she chose.  I was far from disappointed, however. I was ecstatic!  Like I said, go check out her site, these Alice ones are just the tip of the marimakings iceberg.

Now I think I have finally covered the entire outer shell of the nursery.  Let me recap just to make sure...paint (wall, ceiling, and trim),window treatment, carpet, and switch plate covers.  Yep, that covers everything that encases the innards of the room.  Thank goodness!

I was planning on this entry covering everything I have accomplished since the original Nurseryland post, but I didn't realize I would go over everything in such detail.  What can I say?  Once I get going, I never quite know where I'll wind up.  Since this post was longer than expected, I have decided to break up the rest of the Nurseryland posts into smaller, more bite-sized pieces.  Following this little ditty, I will focus the next entry on the bunny lamp I created.  Oh yes, it's quite fabulous!  I have a few more touches to add to it, but those will be completed tomorrow, so definitely stay tuned!

I hope you enjoyed this little trip through Nurseryland.  It's only the second in what looks to be a much longer series and initially anticipated.  Woohoo!!!  I leave you as always with an invite to follow myself and Piper on Facebook.  Also, feel free to click on the banner below and show me some love on Top Baby Blogs!  At last check I had jumped to number 72.  I'm hoping to one day make the top 50, so help a single momma-to-be out! :)

Happy Holidays and All That Jazz

25 weeks and 5 days!

For this post I'll go ahead and start with the musical number of the day!  Since it's in the title, I figured why not add it to the blog as I love this little ditty.

Bob Fosse is my favorite choreographer, too!

I know, I know, it's been way too long since my last post.  The holidays kept me busy as they always do, but on top of that we also had a major ice/snow storm for these parts and spent from Christmas until yesterday with no electricity!  So I wasn't neglecting the blog, I just had no reasonable access to working internet.  I mean, who wants to try and write a blog from their cell phone?  Not this chica!

I am very happy to announce that I am moving into my third trimester this week, yay!!!  I've been told it is the roughest one due to the whale-like size increase, but I think I'm relatively prepared to deal with all that.  I mean hell, I fell out of my office chair a couple of weeks ago trying to pick up a prenatal vitamin I managed to miss my mouth with twice!  The change in size has already began to take its toll, and I kind of find it all a bit amusing.  While it can be annoying when trying to tie one's shoes, mostly I laugh at myself a lot and enjoy when others do, too. If you can't maintain your sense of humor you are doomed!

I see this is not a new concept!

So what's new with me right now...let's see....

I have absolutely horrible pitting edema in my left foot.  I have a bit of swelling in my right foot too, but nothing as compared to my left.  Basically, pitting edema is swelling that causes pits in the skin to remain after you push on the swollen area.  My pits last for well over a minute, so I've got it pretty bad.  I like to call the left foot the Stretch Armstrong foot.  Remember him?

Now do you remember?

Well whatever goo was inside that awesomest of toys, that is what is now inside my foot!  Well at least that is what it feels like.  It's smooshy and gooshy and pliable and just a wee bit icky, but it provides loads of entertainment when I'm feeling particularly bored.  What can I say, sometimes the day goes too slow!

I almost had an emotional breakdown Christmas Eve because Piper hadn't moved very much in a couple of days.  I actually had to leave my house and run some errands to get my head straight.  In all honesty, I ran to my office to take care of part of an X-mas gift, but I rushed the leaving of the house before my nieces got there.  I was so afraid they would ask about Piper and that I would burst into tears, so I hurried myself out the door before they arrived.  Everything is fine, no worries.  Apparently I am not the only soon-to-be mom who freaks out between 23 to 25 weeks along.  During these few weeks it is not uncommon for the baby's movements to decrease for a bit.  This can be caused by a number of reasons like moving to a different position, such as facing towards your spine and therefore kicks are harder to feel.  Also, the wee one could be sleeping more due to growth spurts.  Whatever the reason, I  found I was not the only pregnant woman on the planet to almost burst into tears from worry at this stage.  Two days after I almost broke down, Piper was back to her usual gymnastics and I am feeling oh so much better!

Over the break, my mom and I completed the painting of the nursery.  What an accomplishment!  I am so absolutely thrilled at what an amazing job we did.  We are practically Michaelangelos of the nursery world!  The cloud ceiling with the misty violet walls and citron crown moulding...it just all works so well together, even better than I expected.  And the fact that we did it all ourselves, that is remarkable in and of itself!  It couldn't have turned out more beautiful if we had paid professionals do it.  So kudos to us!  

Cloud ceiling with accidental bunny!

Misty violet walls with citron trim!

Another shot of it all sort of together!

Plates in citron and plug in violet!

Speaking of break, I had a couple of extra days off due to the ice/snow storm.  We had 10" of snow on top of a pretty good layer of ice Christmas night.  While it was absolutely gorgeous to look at, it made for a disaster the days following.

Lots of pretty!

Winter wonderland for sure!

Living in the deep South, snow is not something we have on a regular basis.  Therefore when we do, the whole city gets shut down.  Usually the whole town will shut down for even just an inch of the white stuff, but when 8-10" falls, it REALLY shuts down!  The layer of ice before the snow took it's toll on all of us.  We had two trees come down over the driveway to the house and another 6 or so in the backyard.  Granted the backyard goes right into the woods, but those were just the trees within the property boundaries.  In other words, it's a mess!

Tree almost took out the 4-wheeler!

Another angle of the largest tree that fell.

Of course, we were not the only household dealing with downed trees.  This occurred throughout the state.  Needless to say, this took out a chunk of the power lines everywhere!  We luckily had a generator purchased after the even worse ice storm of Christmas 2000, so we at least had some form of electricity...no internet, ability to do laundry, nor cook a hot meal, but heat and light and television (once it came back online).  And we did have internet access through our phones, so that was nice.  But in the end it was still an inconvenience to be trapped for a few days and have our creature comforts interrupted.  We finally got power restored yesterday, but there are still some I know who have yet to got their electricity back.  We may be a bit more careful around here when next wishing for a white Christmas...be careful what you wish for, for sure!  

(UPDATE:  just found out the power is back off again, sheesh! May be till midnight tomorrow before it is back on.  Happy New Year!)

Yeah, sure you do! Lie to me some more!

(UPDATE DOS: power is back on again!)

Now that we are back in the world of 21st century (for now), all is shaping up to be a nice ending to a remarkable year.  At the beginning of 2012 I had no idea by four months in I would be trying to have a baby solo.  It was not part of last years New Year's resolutions, it wasn't even on  my mind at that point.  As usual, however, life changes in the blink of an eye.  One mistake or misstep can open up a world of possibilities which turn that mistake/misstep into the greatest thing that could have ever happened to you.  Of course I am referring to my last relationship.  The proverbial straw that broke the camels back relationship.  I had no idea that that disastrous affair would become my turning point in life.  I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason, and I am never disappointed.  From every negative seed that is planted, something fruitful blooms.  It may take time for the positive to emerge, but it always does without fail.  Knowing that the good is just around the corner from the bad is one more reason to look forward instead of to the past.  I know, a bit Confucius says there, but it's 100% true!  I should really go back an thank every bad relationship I was ever in, for each and every one of them brought me to where I am today...they all brought Piper to me, and that is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my life.  

I would like to remind people that not every relationship I had was bad.  Some were just bad timing, but quite good otherwise.  Timing can be everything.  So no I am not Miss Pessimistic when it comes to love.  I still believe in love and maybe now that I am past that push to make something work because my time to create life is running short, well maybe now I'll be more open to letting things take a more natural instead of pressured course.  Plus, I'll have Piper to worry about and that will also give me something else to weigh my decisions against.  No longer will it just be me in the equation, now it will be us.  Making good decisions for us instead of bad decisions for me because the consequences are so much greater, well that may just turn my dating life around somewhere down the line.  I'm not going to hold my breath on it, but we'll see.  I know quite a few single mothers who have found their true loves after the fact.  While none of them went my route with the choosing to be a single mom, the outcome is relatively the same.  They are still single mom's who didn't give up on finding that someone special because of past hurts.  They all got on with their lives, raised their kids to the best of their ability, and kept on trucking!  Cheers to the strong, single mothers of the world!

I do believe some single moms will get this!

Okay, I'm done with the sappy stuff for now!  On to some more baby updates!  As of yesterday, I was measuring at 44 1/2" around my belly, which is 2" up from Christmas Eve.  Wait, just measured again, I am now at 45" around! (see opening blog pic) Yep, expanding like crazy!  I absolutely adore the way I look.  I think I am more beautiful looking now than at my most fit in my 20s!  There is just something wonderfully stunning about the pregnant female body.  I love looking at myself in the mirror, not that I didn't before, but even now with the larger butt and thighs, not to mention the larger boobs, it all just seems breathtaking.  You ever see one of those Venus figurines?  

I'm not that big, but I get it now!

Sure they may be a bit over dramatic with the proportions, but they're pretty damn accurate overall.  I'm sure some women don't gain any extra weight anywhere but their belly, but I'm okay with the extra roundness I have come into.  I know most of it will leave once I give birth, so I'm not all that hung up on thinking my body will never be the same.  I mean it never probably will, but who gives a shit right?  I'm 38 and having a baby, it's not like my 22-year-old body is going to re-emerge afterwards.  I've definitely learned to be happy with my shape, and that's a blessing.  My ka-dunk-a-dunk is off the hook and it was quite fabulous to begin with, hahahaha!  

Oh yes, I still do!

Okay boys and girls, that about catches all things up to the present moment.  I have my next prenatal visit this  Friday, and I think I may be getting the glucose test then.  That'll be something to blog about!  Oh, and the nursery carpet goes in on Thursday.  I, of course, bought the highest grade available like a crazy person, so I can't wait to see it.  Very soon all the nursery furniture should start to trickle in.  The teacup bookcase got a little behind schedule as the artist got backed up, but it should be coming soon.  I'm thinking the dresser and chest should be here by the end of the month or very beginning of February at the latest.  And last but not least, the crib should be here mid to late February.  It was made to order so took about 11 weeks to complete and ship.  I'm anxious to get started on the decorating part as that is going to be a blast!  Also, I decided that instead of a valance for the window, I am going to have a fabric cornice board.

Love this style!

I've been eyeballing the arched one pictured above.  Of course it would be done in the harlequin fabric and I am still pondering what other fabric I would use for the ties in the middle.  Or...

I adore this one, too!

I could go with this simpler one and have just the harlequin fabric with an accent froo-froo dangle piece (artistic technical terms there).  Either way, I'm going with the cornice board!  From there the main harlequin curtains would be tied back on either side with the colored sheers in the middle.  It all works perfectly in my head, you will all just have to trust me on this one.

Well that about completes my entry for today.  It's Monday, I was off four days last week and will be off again tomorrow, so I should probably get back to work.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday it is you may celebrate.  And I hope everyone has a great New Year!  I'm looking forward to having my best year ever so far!  Just think, a little over 3 more months and Piper will be here!  You will all get your next up-close look at her around the 15th of this month, however, when I get my 4-D ultrasound done.  I'm very excited about it and cannot wait to share the videos with the world!  But for now, take care and be happy!

Now time for the repeat...

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Until next time...

The End...get it?