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Friday, May 20, 2016

Smitten

Hi friends!  We are soaking in every minute with our fresh little one, Charlotte!  She'll be one month old on Sunday - fastest month ever!! She's just the sweetest baby...calm, quiet, and more importantly a great sleeper!  









You're welcome for baby fever inducing pictures ;) Now on to some things I've been smitten with lately...

One

With the warm weather approaching, teeny bathing suits are one of my favorite things!  How cute are babies and toddlers in tiny bathing suits?! Olivia and her cousin Brynn have been taking full advantage of the sprinkler and had a blast earlier today.  My current favorites are this one, this one, and this one.


Two

Nursing hunger is the real deal... I don't remember feeling this way with Olivia, but let me tell you it's not a joke, I get hangryyyy.  Tonight we're grilling steak and topping it with tomato bruschetta, grilling up some bread rubbed with fresh garlic and olive oil and rounding it out with a fresh cucumber salad.  This recipe is my favorite. Having a newborn in the house means quick and easy dinners are in need and I'm looking forward to trying this and this.

Three

Olivia and I had a tea party yesterday and it was the sweetest thing ever.  My mom gave her a tea set for her birthday so it was super special to use it (with real food!! - her excitement was uncontainable) If you have little girls, I highly recommend taking the time to do this.  Her little face lit up with joy and we both enjoyed ourselves so much.  It's the little things that make memories.  Some of our favorite tea sandwiches are cucumber, cream cheese, and dill, and cranberry chicken salad.  


Four

I'm a huge fan of iced coffee and I love this recipe.  Mornings are brighter with this ;)  I love it with half and half and simple syrup in an iced cold mason tumbler.  This sounds so good, coconut milk sign me up!  There's also a 100% chance this will be my next Starbuck's order...yum!!


Do you have anything that you've been smitten with?  Please share! Coming up... I can't wait to share our newborn favorites very soon! As always, follow along on Instagram to see more @thebirdsnestblog.  XOXO  




Thursday, May 5, 2016

How I Used Spoonflower to Customize My Daughter's Nursery

*Our little bundle, Charlotte Elizabeth, arrived April 24 and is doing wonderfully!  Will be sharing more soon XO* 

Hi friends!  I am SO excited to finally share our baby girl's nursery with you! Putting together her room has been a labor of love all around and I absolutely love it.  I find myself peeking at it throughout the day, just admiring the beautiful wallpaper and everything special in it.  I've partnered with Spoonflower to bring you this post and can't wait to hear what you think! 

To begin, this room was our office since we moved in about three and a half years ago and we hadn't touched it since.  It's the smallest bedroom in our house so I knew I wanted it to have a pop of color and thought an accent wall would be the perfect addition.  Spoonflower provided me with this "Happy Floral" wallpaper and I was smitten as soon as it arrived. I've always tended to steer away from baby type rooms (i.e. pastels, etc) and wanted something that would grow with the baby as she got older.  The colors are so gorgeous and the design is exactly what I pictured for this room.  The walls were painted using the formula for Benjamin Moore's "Gray Owl" paint, which was lightened 50% and mixed in Behr paint.  I had it mixed at my local Home Depot and they have almost all of Benjamin Moore's formulas if you just ask :) 



My dad got to work on the wallpaper, which was water activated, and it was done perfectly. Read: sorry hubby, didn't think you could hang it in a straight line ;)  I had some leftover and decided to make a valance for the window to tie it all together.  To make the valance, I used poster board cut to the exact size of the window frame and attached a curtain rod the to back once the poster board was covered with the wallpaper.  So simple, yet it looks custom made! We also chose to keep the blackout blinds in the nursery because #mommyneedssleep so with that I tried to tie the brown in with the mirror and side table.  











To tie the changing area in with the wallpaper, I chose a sage green changing pad cover along with matching crib sheets.  I'll be alternating between watermelon pink (matching the flowers) and sage green sheets (matching the leaves).  Being organized is so important, especially at 3am when you're changing diapers and feeding.  I found the cutest lazy-susan type organizer at Home Goods, which will be used for diaper cream, paci clips, brushes, a thermometer, etc.  We also love using a wipe warmer, which adds a touch of comfort during those night time changes.  My friends gave me the adorable striped basket filled with diapers, an outfit and a rattle, which I'll be using to hold all of her diapers for easy access.  Again, being organized is key for smooth days and nights!








We are also SO excited to share the baby's name, so without further adieu... 
















I've slipped so many times and almost spilled the beans on her name while completing the nursery progress and I'm so happy to now share it with you.  We both loved the name Charlotte and Olivia loves it too! Little Charlotte will be wrapped up in that gorgeous personalized swaddle blanket from Audrey's Bear for her first hospital pictures and I can't wait to share! Rachel personalized her blanket and matched it with the wallpaper design, which makes it even more special.  


The felt ball garland is from The Strand and Meg custom designed it with the colors of the wallpaper...swoon!! I've always loved how whimsical and fun felt garlands are and she made my vision come to life perfectly.  It adds the perfect pop of color underneath her name!


For the faux zinc letters, I was going for an Anthropologie look - similar to these and chose to DIY them.  I purchased paper mache letters from an online scrapbooking company and my brother spray painted them with hammered metal spray paint.  After they were dried, I used Command picture hanging tabs to hang each one.  One of my favorite parts of her room.  I love, love, love how they turned out!  






How gorgeous are these prints?!  Andrea from Little Kit Design sent these prints, which match with the wallpaper theme and they are perfect for our little one's nursery.  Not only do I love the meanings of each print, but the colors are beautiful.  I chose to use floating frames to really emphasize the prints alone.  I'm thrilled that I was able to find something meaningful and so pretty to use on the opposite wall from the accent wallpaper wall to tie it all together. 







Thank you so much for stopping by to read how I customized our daughter's nursery with Spoonflower.  I couldn't ask for a more gorgeous room to bring our little one home to! XO


Sources:

"Happy Floral" Wallpaper - c/o Spoonflower
Personalized Swaddle Blanket - c/o Audrey's Bear
Nursery Prints - c/o Little Kit Design
Customized Felt Ball Garland - c/o The Strand
Pink Moccs - c/o Freshly Picked
Handmade Pacifier Clips - c/o Loved by Sophia Claire
Rug - Land of Nod
Sunburst Mirror - Target
Hemnes Dresser - Ikea
Side Table - Target
Rocking Chair - Babies 'R Us
Floating Picture Frames - Target
Diaper Pail - Ubbi
Wall Color - "Gray Owl" lightened 50% - Benjamin Moore
Valance - DIY with Spoonflower
Faux Zinc Letters - DIY using Hammered Silver Spray Paint