Super Thrifty Girlie Butterfly Nursery

My friend asked for only three things in her nursery.

Pink. Brown. Lots of Butterflies.

I was happy to step in and share my love of thrifting and decorating on the cheap to help her pull this nursery together for her first baby girl.




A friend gave her the crib and the changing table/dresser, and everything else we scrounged, were given, bought on clearance, from thrift shops or garage sales, or made on a budget of $150. Seriously, $150!




She doesn't use lots of crib bedding, so just a cute pink sheet and this strippy, scrappy, frayed edge crib quilt I made from scraps and 1/4 yd pieces was all it took to get the crib ready.




The crib quilt features a green satin ruffle and an appliqued butterfly whirling around with a nuclear green trail showing where she's been :) {please excuse the horrible photo quality- my camera battery died so I resorted to my phone.} The green is actually a cute lime.



The inspiration for the window treatment came from this photo that I repinned from the Nester's board/stream/pinnage (still learning pinterest, but oh my me it's awesome).

Source: None via Morgan on Pinterest

I used a thrifted sheet to line the window treatment and then devoted an evening to ripping a trillion strips of fabric (from my nearly boundless fabric stash) and mummifying myself in the random, persistent strings left behind from the fracas. This was nearly "no sew", but definitely time consuming. I really, really like the result, though.



Lots of strippy, frayed, knotted goodness. The rod was $2 at the thrift shop and the brackets were .50 each at a garage sale.







We also tissue paper puff/pom/pompom/flower 'ed ourselves silly for lots of drama.





Doesn't the green one look like Tinkerbell's skirt?





Anywho- if you're looking for a cheap way to add some visual impact, these pom poms really do the trick. I love them!





We added in some pink paper lanterns from the Martha Stewart line at Joann Fabrics(clearanced to $8), some butterfly cutouts (cut by hand from scrapbook paper with the use of a stencil), and a mobil crafted from a hula hoop and fabric strips made by another friend.



We sanded the original natural colored finish of this pine dresser down and had originally planned to stain it to match the crib but:

1. couldn't afford to buy stain to match and didn't have any on hand.
2. realized that the grain/quality of the wood wasn't able to be preserved due to our strict time limits.

So, we gave it two creamy coats of paint, then dry brushed it with aqua and spray painted the knobs and bun feet with ORB spray paint. The top of the /changing table folds open to create a flat surface to change diapers, so we left that cream (satin finished) for easy clean up and contrast.





The very top of the dresser detaches while you're using it as a changing table and then later you can add it back on for a dresser/bookshelf set up. We used the shelving over here to create a reading nook/play area. I layered mats (super clearance price at Joann, I think like $4 each) for color and softness.





We glazed the focal wall with pearly metallic and went nuts adding butterfly cutouts adhered with teacher's tack.





Now, all she needs is the perfect, vintage rocking chair that we are scouring Craigslist for...and her whimsical girlie nursery will be ready for the new arrival.





I'm hoping to snag this one from CL for $25.


Congrats, sweet friend! Thank you for letting me "live" at your house for three days while we worked on this project together. I'm looking forward to seeing that sweet baby girl!





Linking up to:

Sewing for Anika

Hi Friends! Several of you have mentioned getting together to sew, or taking sewing lessons in a group. What if we got together to do that, and at the same time...each gave $20 towards bringing an angel home to her family?

Precious Anika is 2 1/2, and waiting for her family to bring her home. Why hasn't someone already scooped this angel baby up? Probably due to the expense of adoption and/or the fear of HIV. Go here to get the facts on living with HIV.

God is moving through my friend Lovelyn and her dedication to the least of these, He's working a miracle- and I believe that He can and will provide $30,000 in the month of May through 1500 people like us giving just $20 each!

Will you come to my sewing-lesson-party-fundraiser? We'll get together on May 12 at 6:30 pm. Reply either on Facebook or here in the comments if you will! Oh, and bring a friend!

Also- consider hosting a fundraiser party of your own if you can't come to this one. Let's be a part of something amazing!

RagaMuffin Lampshades

I picked these lamps up (no before pic) from a sale for less than $1 each about 6 months ago. They were naked; white scratched ceramic and shadeless. They sat unloved in my garage until I found drum shades at Ross a few months later for $3 each. Then they got an ORB paint job and looked like this for a bit:




I couldn't take the plain white shades for very long and have been collecting thoughts, looking for ways to improve them...

Inspiration struck while reading Nester's blog! She recently posted this "Ragamuffin Bag" tutorial and I swooned at first sight.



I ran to my fabric stash and gathered up the first four or five fabrics I could get my hands on, with no cares about matching too closely. I was so excited to get started...I wanted an eclectic, bohemian look anyway- so it was all good.



Each shade took an average of an hour and a half to do...after layering and hot gluing the fabric strips to my liking...



I embellished the shades with feathers, jewels, trim, beads, pompoms, ribbon, yarn...pretty much a little bit of everything! I wanted them really full, shaggy and and fun...and I am SO happy with how they turned out...




Each lamp cost me less than $4 each since I used free glue-sticks (garage sale gimme) and fabric and embellishments I already had in my stash. The thick fringe trim around the top even came off of an ottoman I picked up while curb surfing one day...I knew I'd find a purpose for it :)


I'm linking up to these parties and sites:

Homestead Giveaways DVD Set Giveaway

Check this one out too!

Franklin Springs "Homestead Blessings" giveaway at Raising Homemakers.

Launch of Raising Homemakers Site

For anyone else who is raising daughters to be "keepers at home", this new website, Raising Homemakers, is a must read! They are promoting the launch of the site with some wonderful giveaways...taking entries until Friday, June 4th! Go check it out :)

Dreamin' and Boxes and Such

So- those "bigger things" I mentioned awhile back? I was referring to dreams. Big, huge, dreams..."as huger as a google" to use Belle's (my middle child) current favorite phrase.


Dreams that require me to open the box, take off the lid, and let God out.


Scary.

Exciting.

Scary.


So, I'm dreaming...and pondering how these big dreams will be funded. Thinking of opening an Etsy shop, selling the likes of these:




Would you buy one if you knew if would help fund a dream? Would you buy one if you knew it would change lives?


How 'bout if you knew it would encourage a type A, worrywort mama to take the lid off the box?

Huh, huh, so would ya?

Yeah...me too.

Here I Am Again

Once again, I'm sticking a timid toe back into the pool of blogging.

But...very carefully, and hopefully wisely, this time.

Last time I kept a blog, I found out that I don't swim {read: juggle lots of interests} very well.

I don't want to drown again :)

But, I have a great reason for showing up to the pool again. I'm not even worried about my bright white legs and little bit of baby belly pooch I got going on here. I've got bigger things on my mind this time.

Can't wait to share with new and old friends the things that are happening here at our Castle in the Kingdom.