Hellobee

The nursery is full of special things we made, Mr. S brought home from his travels overseas and little tokens of love from friends. Come on in and see our labor of love:

Baby Stroller’s cradle was mine when I was a baby, was used for my brother and was home to lots of bears and dolls in my room when I was kid (I rearranged my furniture often and would occasionally request the cradle be brought in from the attic for my dolls). We bought a new eco-friendly mattress and I sewed sheets from navy blue and white elephant fabric. I sewed the drapes from cute navy fabric with white circles, and lined the panels with black-out fabric to make afternoon naps in the south facing room a little more nap-like.

Above the cradle we have navy and white paper lanterns (not actually lit) with navy ribbons hanging, from a few reminiscent of the 400+ white paper lanterns with hot pink ribbons that we had in the tent and throughout my parents’ apple orchard at our wedding.

We have a bumper for the cradle for when baby is a little bigger, but before we transition to a crib. I made elephant fabric quilt binding and covered the satin trim on a plain white breathable bumper to make it a little more personalized to our nursery. And because baby bee’s gender was a surprise, we had a blue and a pink elephant waiting in the cradle; two of the 51 elephants in the nursery we counted.

We created a small gallery wall above our glider to display a few special cards and artwork, like the congratulations card below.

Our white glider is a hand-me-down from S’s aunt and uncle who rocked three babies in it before passing it on to at least two more families. We revived it a bit and had new custom cushions made, one of the only sewing projects I didn’t do myself.

On the chair we have my boppy pillow with the elephant slipcover I sewed, and a hand embroidered elephant pillow cover that Mr. S brought back from Bahrain last summer. Hanging on the arm of the chair is a little blue bag with a black sequin elephant, a gift from my brother and sister-in-law, where I keep the feeding cover I made to match the boppy.

In our small nursery the ottoman takes up a bit too much space to leave in front of the chair, so right now it’s our stand-in side table (I have a small white plant stand/side table from L.L.Bean on my Christmas wish list) and home to our bumbo with its elephant slipcover I sewed.

Over on the other side of the room we have our changing station, complete with a dresser full of cloth diapers. Next to the dresser we have a diaper pail lined with a navy wet bag, of course, and a hutch where we’ve stashed all our cloth wipes supplies and my feeding accessories in fabric covered bins.

The retro fan that used to live in our bedroom before we succumbed to ceiling fans this summer, sits on top of the hutch, which is also where we keep our video monitor pointed at baby’s cradle. On the bottom shelf of the hutch we have a larger basket matching the changing goodies basket, also lined with drape fabric. It’s full of the special baby blankets I’ve made and a couple much recommended swaddle blankets.

We bought an eco-friendly changing pad and I sewed the elephant cover. It’s secured to the back of the dresser with snaps, so the cover has large button holes to let the snaps through. Next to the changing pad we have all our changing lotions, oils and other goodies in a CD basket lined with the same fabric as the drapes. Above the changing table hangs a custom navy and white elephant mobile just in case the toys stashed in the goodies basket don’t keep baby’s interest during diaper changes.

Next to the changing dresser are the built-in shelves that I painted navy blue.

In front of the shelves we have a blue elephant canvas tote  for baby’s toys and a plush elephant rocking horse – one of the first baby purchases we made.

Storage is tight in our little nursery, so we have several shelves dedicated to storage baskets, each labeled with elephant luggage tags.

On the higher shelves we displayed several special things, like this elephant artwork that I made for baby, and the momma and baby elephant Mr. S brought back from a trip to Italy last year.

We have baby bee’s budding book collection:

Baby’s special stainless elephant bank, a gift from Mr. S’s best man (an elephant never forgets…to save for college), and a pair of my first baby shoes. We also have several hand knit elephants that I’ve made over the years. I have one more to add, but “finish elephant” is still on the to-do list.

Hanging from an elephant hook on the back of the tiny closet door is a baby sweater I knit from scrap yarn years ago, and a pair of hand knit baby booties that were my mom’s as a baby.

Behind the nursery door hangs a hand-embroidered alphabet tapestry that Mr. S brought home from the suk in Bahrain. Some of our favorite letters are E for elephant, of course, I for ice cream, M for monkey and Y for yacht.

We’re expecting baby to bypass “boat” all together and go straight to “yacht” when he learns to talk.

We were so excited to rock our baby on the glider, lay our baby in the cradle and welcome home our nursery’s new resident!

Furniture
Cradle: my childhood cradle – (make sure to check the safety of an older crib or cradle)
Glider: A hand-me-down that was originally from Pottery Barn
Dresser: Ikea Hemnes
Hutch: Bought in 2008 from the Christmas Tree Shops
Rug: “Droplets” from Capel Rugs in Matthews, NC (ordered via phone and using a 20% off coupon I found online)
Fan: Target
Lamp: HomeGoods
Ceiling Light: Ikea, adapted for hard-wiring

Bedding & Fabric Goods
Cradle Mattress: Naturepedic from Buy Buy Baby
Elephant Sheet: DIY, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Breathable Cradle-Sized Bumper: Buy Buy Baby, custom edged
Glider & Ottoman Cushions: Custom made with 9oz cotton canvas from fabric.com by CJ’s Cozy Cushions (HIGHLY recommended)
Elephant Pillow Cover: Souvenir from the Suk in Bahrain
Boppy Cover:  DIY, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Bumbo Cover: DIY, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Changing Pad: Naturepedic from Buy Buy Baby
Changing Pad Cover: DIY, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Curtains: DIY, navy & white circle fabric from fabric.com
Basket Liners: DIY, navy & white circle fabric from fabric.com

Decorations & Accessories
Wall of frames, white frames: Ikea
Maine print: Crafts fair in Portland, Maine – I’ll try to find the seller
Cards: Target, Papyrus
Paper Lanterns: Asian Imports
Navy & Pink Elephants in Cradle: from a boutique in Portland, Maine
Gray Elephant in Bumbo: West Elm
Gray Mom & Baby Elephants on Hutch: Ikea
Elephant on Changing Pad: Gap
Elephant Rocker: Zulily, but also available at Buy Buy Baby
Elephant Toy Bin: by Green Sprouts from Diapers.com
Large Stuffed Elephant: Ikea
Elephant Mobile: Sugar & Spice Studios on Etsy
Baskets: Target
Elephant Basket Tags: Luggage tags by Dwell Studios
Blue Elephant Bank: Pottery Barn Kids
Silver Elephant Bank: Reed & Barton from Babies R Us
Elephants on Parade Artwork: DIY
Mom & Baby Ceramic Elephants: Souvenir from Italy
Knit Elephant with Scarf: DIY knit using pattern from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Knit Elephant with Long Arms & Legs: DIY knit using “Safari Friends” pattern from Knitting at Knoon
Elephant Sweater: DIY design and knit
Elephant Hook on Door: Anthropologie
Alphabet Tapestry: From the Suk in Bahrain

Paint
Walls: Glidden Shaded Ice, color matched to a Behr paint
Trim: Benjamin Moore Advanced

Please comment if you have any questions about our nursery!