high contrast.

...cora learning about jellyfish from dad...umm adorable, this melts my heart...

You may know that infants love high contrast cards, books, and toys. In the beginning they can really only differentiate between black, white, and red, which helps to develop their vision. I don't really like black and white, and definitely not red, so in my pre-baby nursery planning...I chose to ignore this developmental step. Bad idea.... Cora loves black and white. Her nursery is rather soothing in a soft grey and white trim... with her white crib- she loves her spud room. This maybe because she doesn't actually sleep in her room...but regardless, it's her favorite room. But her walls were a little lacking.

I noticed in the first few weeks that she loved being read stories, but would loose interest (of course, she's brand new how long can her attention span be?!) Until, I ran out to barnes and noble and scoured the shelves for anything black and white. Surprisingly there wasn't much to choose from, but I found a few books that would do (like- Kitten's First Full Moon and this soft fun book-Where's My Bone). I then went online and ordered these-wee gallery art cards. I hung them up on the wall....and voila.... instant gratification...literally 10-15 minutes of pure amusement. Our little cora is so enthralled by these cards, it's amazing. She was very ready for some high contrast cards.... forget this green and turquoise room I put together for her- she wanted black and white only. Thankfully we have a few more sets of these rather spendy flash cards from her aunt... so we rotate the cards up on the wall so she learns about all sorts of animals.

I will be also making her a simple black and white book of her very own on shutterfly. I get coupons for free 8x8 books in the mail...well why not make a high contrast book?! Super fun. Somehow I have to find time to do that now, before she leaves this developmental stage.

co-sleeping options

I found a new project for my dad... however he does not know it yet (hi dad!).

I really want to sleep in the same bed as my babe. The idea of feeding through the night every 2 hours, the risk of SIDS, the heart-wrenching thought of being a whole room away from our precious babe.... its really a no-brainer for me. Matt and I are quite big people as it is in a queen sized bed though. We have about a 2' radius of free space around our bed in our room, so that leaves very little space for a co-sleeper.  I have been looking at co-sleeping options, tons of them actually. And all of it consists of plastic stuff. I don't care for the plastics, so in searching I found this beauty....

[here]

How fantastic is this co-sleeper? Its beautiful, a real work of art. (It also happens to be $300). In our house though, I can't imagine anything better.

I love the way our coffee table looks in our house that matt built- (can you spot our monster-emma-dog?!, its her favorite place to nap)

And I love the wine rack my dad built out of wood-

I just have a special place in my heart for wood things...they are so beautiful and special....and I happen to know two guys that are exceptionally good woodworkers. Matt doesn't have the appropriate tools to make it right now, but my dad does!! My dad has been making my sister and I wood-projects our whole lives.... a 4 story dollhouse that my mom and dad built, little tea-table and chairs, a dresser (that I still use), a full size bed frame for when I moved off to college, a rack to hold my surfboard in my first apartment, a wine rack in our living room, and now....perhaps a co-sleeper for our brand new baby?! It really only seems fitting. Now I have to see if he would be so inspired. Plus we could use it for all of our spuds...however many we decide to have.

wedding project done!

Yep, I just now finished a wedding DIY project of mine... only a year and a half late. But it's sooo cute. And it would have really been adorable at the wedding, somewhere. Oh well. Now it's in my office! Little string o' poms! Wouldn't they be cute over a crib?!

The funny thing is I cut out all of the circles in fleece and amy butler fabric at the airport on my bachelorette weekend, assembled them on the 2 hour plane ride. And all I had to do was just string them up. Back then, it seemed like too much work to complete it. Ha. Well I suppose that was an overwhelming time of way too many DIY projects, and no one even knew it was missing except for me.Now it makes me happy just looking at in my office above my etsy-workshop-space.

 ...oh july 2011... how time does fly...

nursery decor...

wee gallery

Adorable!! Go check them out!! [ http://www.weegallery.com/artcards.html ] The wall decals are a great idea for rental apartments/ homes...a fun way to add color to the babe's room. So simple and beautiful. Or maybe this little girl is just irresistibly adorable?!

wee gallery

I also LOVE the poms. I had great intentions to hang poms at our wedding, over our dance floor grass but it never happened with the hundreds of other projects. So perhaps this is my time now. How do I attach them to the ceiling though?! We have a bright yellow room that will be our nursery so I am actually trying to add a lack of color to the room... maybe some white and neutral poms? Are poms okay for a boy's room too? I doubt Matt would go for it. More before and after pictures to come of the office-to-nursery transformation takes place...



covet garden



oh dee doh