Saleena: 2014

Nursery Reveal

Matt and I moved into our home a mere three months before our little princess was due to arrive. Not only did we have a whole house to settle into, but I wanted to create a beautiful nursery to welcome my baby girl home too. Fortunately, I was able to complete the nursery before she came (I definitely had my doubts that this was going to happen), and I am so happy with the way it turned out. I hope you like it, too!

The first thing I did was figure out a color palette. I loved the color combination of coral, mint, and turquoise. I could not find any pre-existing betting with this color palette, so I had to make my own!

I searched high and low, and I found this gorgeous Anthropologie wallpaper that was the definition of perfect. However, with the heavy price tag of $150 per roll, it was definitely out of the budget, even for a princess.

When I finally stumbled across this fabric (Joel Dewberry Fabric -Bungalow - Dahlia in Coral), I knew it would be perfect for the space. It had the perfect colors, and was something that she could grow into.

I ordered 8 yards. 6 yards for the curtains and 2 yards for the fitted sheet. Both were pretty easy to make, as I found great tutorials on Pinterest! I found some complementary fabric at Joannes for the ruffled bedskirt, which is a little more difficult to make, but so so worth it.

Tutorial for ruffled bedskirt

Tutorial for curtains

I wanted to keep the space light and airy, so I found the lightest color of mint green that I could and slapped it on the walls. I wanted to paint the inside of the closet the same coral as in the fabric, and found that Youthful Coral by Behr was a perfect match. This is also the color I painted my garage sale dresser, the frame above her crib, and the hardware on the armoire in the closet.

Before

After

My handyman hubby built the scalloped bookshelves on either side of the window, as well as the shelves on the right side of the closet to put my cute baskets on. He thought I was crazy for wanting to leave the doors of the closet, but look how cute all of her little closer to look at! I'm not crazy, right? Above the closet hangs a fabric garland made from my scrap fabric I has left over from the linens. I did add some lace, too.

Before

After

Above her crib on the right, the ornate mirror I got it a garage sale, I just painted the frame white. I got it wood letter "B" and some fake flowers at a craft store, and made a piece of art. The Frame on the left side above her crib I got at Goodwill. I chose a verse for Brynlee that I prayed over her while I was pregnant, and I wanted to incorporate it into her room somehow. I created the framed verse in Photoshop using various colors and fonts and made it fit into my darling frame. The center piece of art I found a hobby lobby.

So the nursery is complete, and I love it! Perfect for our baby girl <3

Week 40

Week 35

DIY: Tutorial on Tabbed Curtains

Another project finished! Whoohoo! Only 5 short weeks until baby Brynlee Rose makes her entrance into this world--that is, if she is on time. I still have lots to do to prepare for her arrival, but slow progress is still progress and I am hopeful that I will get enough done before she gets here. I found this awesome tutorial at View Along the Way. She does a great job at making this project a walk in the park. I was surprised at how quickly these came together, and they look great!

Materials Needed:

Curtain Fabric
Lining Fabric
Thread
Ribbon

Directions:

Measure the finished length you want your panels to be and cut your curtain fabric. Add 10 inches to your finished panel length: that’s how long you should cut the fabric for each panel. (My finished panels are 90 inches long, so I cut my fabric to 100 inches long.)

Next step, cut the lining fabric. Add 2.5 inches to the length of your finished panels, and that’s how long you should cut your lining. (My panels are 90 inches long, so I cut my lining 92.5 inches long.)

Now, cut the width of your lining to six inches less than the width of your curtain fabric. (For me, this was 38 inches.)

Here is a picture for you. This is from the original tutorial over at View Along The Way, and her dimensions are different than mine, but she makes it super easy to understand, so I thought I'd share.

Next, fold your fabric up four inches from the bottom and iron the fold. Then fold it up another four inches, iron it, and pin it in place. Sew the hem, backstitching at the beginning and end.

Fold the bottom of the lining 2 inches up and iron the fold. Fold another 2 inches up, iron the fold and pin it in place. Sew the hem and backstitch.

Lay your curtain fabric on the floor, right side up. Now lay your lining on top of it, right side down. (The right sides are facing each other.)

The bottom of the lining should be 1.5 inches from the bottom of the curtain fabric, and one of the sides should be lined up.

Now, pin down the side where the two fabrics are lined up and sew.

Now that one side of the lining is sewn to one side of the fabric, lay them back on the floor again, and line up the other side. Because your fabric is wider than the lining, it’ll be bunched up and kind of awkward. Just do the best you can to make the second side lined up, then pin it in place and sew.

Turn your panel inside out. Lay your curtains on the floor, lining side up. Now, kind of maneuver the curtains until you have equal curtain fabric on each side of the lining.

Iron the side edges so it stays in place.

I cut a bunch of 2.5-inch long tabs out of the ribbon. Once you have those cut, fold the top edge down 1 inch and iron the fold. Fold it down 1 inch again and iron it.

Now place your tabs evenly spaced along the back of the panel, tucking them about 1/2 inch underneath the folded top edge you just made. You definitely need a tab at each end of the panel. Then evenly space the rest in between. Pin them in place. I placed them about every 4-5 inches or so.

Now just sew along that fold. You’ll be simultaneously sewing the top edge down AND sewing the tops of the tabs in place.

Once you’ve sewn one straight stitch along the top of the curtains, go back and sew the bottom of each tab in place. I sewed over the bottom, backstitched, sewed over it again, backstitched, a bunch of times to make sure the tabs were on there really good.

And that's it! Super easy! Now you can hang up your beautiful curtains and admire your work!

Sorry for the terrible photo quality. I'll put up a better one soon!

-Saleena

DIY: Ruffled Crib Skirt Tutorial

We just moved into our new house about a month ago, so we have been busy unpacking and getting the house ready. I'm 33 weeks along, which means baby girl is going to be here in less than two months! I've started working on her nursery, and just finished the first project--an adorable ruffled crib skirt. Would it be easier to buy bedding? Why yes, it would be. Not only could I not find bedding in the color scheme I wanted for the room, but custom bedding would be $300-$400! A little outrageous, even for my princess. I found this awesome, step-by-step tutorial at The Ribbon Retreat.

Materials:
1 1/4 yard of each fabric for the ruffles
matching thread
pins
rotary cutter and mat
an old crib skirt or "scrap fabric"

If you are using an old crib skirt, take it apart at the seems. If you are using new (or scrap) fabric, make the main piece out to be 28″ x 52″, which is the standard crib size.

You will need one side (the front) to measure 12″ x 52″ and two sides to measure 12″ x 28″.

I didn’t hem my pieces. I used pinking shears to give them a zig zag cut so they wouldn’t fray. I didn’t want to spend any extra time hemming something that wasn’t going to be seen. Before this project, I had never used pinking shears, and can I just say, I love them? :]

Cut your fabric into strips the length of the fabric and 6″ wide.

Out of these strips of fabric we need to make long strips that are 2 1/2 times as long as each side. That will give the ruffles their super full look! Sew the strips of each fabric together, making 3 super long strips. Use a 1/4″ seam when sewing and press the seams as well.

For the front side, we need a strip that is 130″, and the sides need to be 70″. Do this for each fabric. You will end up with 9 total strips, one in each fabric measuring 130″ and two in each fabric measuring 70″

Now hem by folding 1/4″ twice, pressing, and sewing it down. Do this to the short sides and then the bottom long side. Do this to all 9 pieces.

The next step is ruffling the strips. Sew along the top of the strip using your longest stitch (a basting stitch). Do not back stitch.

Hold the top thread and start pushing the fabric towards the center. Because the strips are so long, I did this on both sides of the strip meeting in the middle. Do this until you have ruffled the strip to the length of the side fabric (either 28″ or 52″).

Now that all the ruffles are finished, we are ready to sew them to the side pieces. Before we do that though, we need to mark where we will sew them.

The top ruffle will be sewn along the top of the side fabric. Mark 4 1/2″ below that and 4 1/2″ again below that.

After the side fabric is marked, pin your bottom ruffle to the bottom line. Once pinned, sew the ruffle to the side fabric. I used a zig zag stitch. Back stitch in the beginning and end. Repeat with the other ruffles.

You're done with the first side piece, yay! Isn't is beautiful?

Pin one short side piece to the short side of your main piece. Again sew just under the stitch line, back stitching at the beginning and end. I used the zig zag stitch here, as well.

Sew your other short side on the main piece using the same directions and then sew the front side piece on.

Now you have a beautiful ruffled crib skirt ready to go on your sweet baby girl’s crib! The next step is to sit and stare at your work and get even more excited for baby to come. I know I am! One project down, lots to go!

-Saleena

Week 32

Week 30

Here is a video of Brynlee moving around :]

Week 28

Week 24

Week 20

Matthew and I gathered with those we love most to share the special moment of finding out if we will be bringing home a little boy or girl in August. I am overwhelmed by His love and goodness. All the glory goes to Him! Now, I can finally start shopping for my little one! ;)

Ahhhhhhh!!!