Baby nursery

During my pregnancy, I was obsessed preparing the nursery – and to make it more challenging- on a tiny budget. Score! I achieved my budget thanks to generous family and lots of hours at op shops and Ebay.

Originally, the nursery was a “junk” room. I know everyone has one – ours is just a little (very) messy. It took me roughly a couple of hours to clear the room on a 30degree day and being five months pregnant.

I wanted a black and white theme, clean and not too “cute”. Does that make sense? I mean I didn’t want the nursery to be too “baby”, I wanted something different.

Here is a list of the items, approximate cost and where it was purchased from:

Curtains - Spotlight $70

A simple black iron rod with approximately 4 metres of sheer white curtain and the first item that went up in Project Nursery.

Hanging pom poms – Made out of tissue paper $6

I found the tutorial in the Martha Stewart website. Gorgeous little trimmings for the room.

Rocking chair – Ebay $22

One of my first finds. Needed a good sanding and varnish. I was considering painting this white but loved the timber so decided to varnish instead.

Throw blanket – IKEA $8

Cot – Hand me down from my uncle and auntie $0.

This needed some t.l.c. as it had been stored in their garage for around 9 years. A lot of scratches and bite marks but came out using the electric sander. Mattress is from Toys r Us as a gift from my brother and his fiancé.

Mosquito net – Op shop $12

I found this on one of my op shop trips. It was practically new, no holes and the stand came with it. A wash and the stand wiped down with disinfectant and I’m over the moon!

Hanging tea light candle holder – Dusk $15

Desperately searched for a bird cage and couldn’t find one that was 1) small enough 2) in my price range 3)chic. Stumbled across this one on the sale rack at Dusk and loved it.

Toy box – Ebay $20 IKEA Material $8

I did a post on this previously here. Again sanded and painted the box white and fixtures black. Ripped off the foam on top and recovered with IKEA material. What a difference!

Chest of drawers – Ebay $45

This was originally unvarnished pine when I bought it. Did the usual, sanded and repainted white. I also covered the knobs with fabric (see post here)to give the drawers some character.

Lamp – Op shop $3 IKEA material leftover

Had wanted to redo a lamp for some time and had the opportunity to do so when I found this lamp. See full post here.

Kitsch print – Op shop $4.50

See previous post here – how cute!

Stereo –already owned.

Monitor – Hand me down from uncle and auntie $0

Laundry Hamper – Op Shop $13

See previous post here.

Change Table – Op Shop $23

I found the change table the same time I bought the mosquito net at the same op shop. So imagine my excitement that day! The change table is IKEA and untreated pine. Again sanded and repainted to match the furniture.

Cane book shelf – Op shop $10

See previous post here.

Rug – Lincraft $17 Non –slip mat $8
I originally wanted a white shaggy rug but was not prepared to pay hundreds of dollars so needed to improvise. Browed my local Lincraft store and found a piece of remnant throw rug which was – in my opinion – too coarse to use as a throw rug. And then a light bulb went on in my head and I realised this would be great on the nursery floor. I had to buy non slip mats to place underneath to avoid any accidents.

Not bad right? All you need is some disinfectant, an electric sander, paint, varnish and elbow grease! It’s so rewarding seeing the final result and I can’t wait to do it again!

Baby Shower

A few weeks ago my sister S and a couple of my closest friends KT & HT organized a beautiful baby shower for me!

We played a few pregnancy/ baby games and ate and ate and ate some more. The boys (Hubby K ,RE and CC) stayed for the party and were in the background preparing the food or taking pictures.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped that day in preparing, attending and cleaning. I am blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family and kind friends!

Another big shout out and thanks to HT, S and KT - what an amazing day!

Last chance to enter my giveaway here.

The countdown begins…

Hi all! I hope you’re all having a great week so far.

I’m so excited to announce that I am in my last 9 weeks until I’m due to give birth! Wow I can’t believe how time has flown – where has the last seven months gone? And what has happened to my body?!

I haven't really blogged about pregnancy so I'm going to try and do it all in the one post. Here is what I’ve experienced so far:

Increased appetite – The first clue that I was pregnant was when I had dinner at my in laws and had three servings. Then got home and was still hungry, so naturally ate again. Since becoming pregnant I eat and eat and eat. Sometimes I just can’t seem to satisfy my hunger. My appetite slowed down around 4-6 months but has now returned with a vengeance. However, I do get full quicker as there isn’t much room in there at the moment. I haven’t had too many funky cravings. Really the only foods I have craved are pasta with creamy mushroom sauce, sausage sizzle and ice-cream.

Fatigue – In the first three months, I was dead tired. Being at work wasn’t too bad and kept myself busy and awake. It was as soon as I stepped in the house that it hit me. I would nap as soon as I got home, get up to eat and sleep until the morning. I could have slept through a night club– that’s how tired you get! Luckily, a new burst of energy came out of nowhere in the second trimester and I’m still feeling great.

Nesting – The nesting instinct kicked in around 5 months and it hit me hard. Luckily it was around Christmas holidays so I had a bit of time to do this. I was like a crazy woman needing to finish the nursery immediately! I did a lot of cleaning, refurbishing furniture and decorating. I’ve never had such a strong urge to do anything as I did nesting. I think I’m back to “normal” or I just can’t seem to find the time to do anything due to social engagements and I am moving at a much s…l…o…w…e…r pace.

Bathroom runs – I had a weak bladder before which doesn’t help my situation. I used to get annoyed (understatement) having to get up at least four times a night to go to the bathroom. Now I think I’ve adapted and it doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is when I can’t even make a train journey home and having to use public toilets at train stations *all together now eeeeeeeeeeewwww!*

Body changes – Ok let’s state the obvious, your stomach gets big. I hadn’t really noticed my stomach growing as it’s been a gradual process. But the last week I have noticed that my belly has just popped out! And just tonight I found stretch marks. I didn’t notice them because they were on my underbelly but needless to say I am D.E.V.A.S.T.A.T.E.D. I’ve also put on weight, initially all over. But now I feel it’s slowly moving to my stomach area, and sometimes I feel like I’m going to topple over because I’m so disproportioned.
Other minor changes include hair growing at a faster rate and glowing skin.

Symptoms – Earlier in the pregnancy my mood swings were out of control! Made PMS look kind. Other pregnancy symptoms that I’ve experienced include easily becoming breathless and leg cramps during the night. These have occurred recently and I’ve been told this is normal.

So far, I’ve been pretty lucky with my pregnancy. No morning sickness, cleared for gestational diabetes and more importantly bub is active in there and growing at a healthy rate!

I guarantee the next 9 weeks will quickly pass and before you know it, I’ll be introducing little bub to you all!

@ 2 months

@ 5 months

@ 7 months (current)

And it will only get bigger!

Question: Is there any Australian bloggers out there? I am following mainly international blogs but would love to find some home grown talent…I just can’t seem to find you all.

Camberwell Market

If you’re ever down in Melbourne, make sure you have Camberwell Market on your itinerary. If you live locally and have never been – make sure you go this weekend! It’s a market full of clothing, shoes, vintage items and bric-a-brac items. H & my Sunday mornings used to consist of Camberwell Market – Coffee – more browsing around the market and yum cha on the way home. What more can you ask for?!

Yesterday we were at the market once again as sellers. My sister and I in one stall and H & her sister in the one next door. It was a very early start – 5am early – but the market closes at midday so it was really only a half day event. We sold a variety of things predominantly clothing, shoes and home wares. It was very enjoyable & you meet so many great people. I would definitely prefer to do this over my day job (if my boss is reading this- errr I’m joking haha)!

Word of advice- if you decide to run a market stall try not to do this when you’re seven months pregnant!

Baby talk – disposable or cloth nappies?

The last few months, I’ve been trying to decide whether to use disposable or cloth nappies once bub is born. After doing some research, talking to mothers who have used cloth or disposable and looking at my own circumstance, I have decided to go with cloth! Why why why you ask? Well first and foremost it would be for environmental reasons. Disposable nappies take years to decompose and clog landfills. Pro disposable users argue that cloth nappies have similar environmental impact. That is, using more water and energy for washing and drying cloth diapers. I disagree.

This is my tiny contribution with helping the environment and I will not be swayed! K and mums I’ve spoken to think I’m crazy and it would just be so much more convenient to use disposables, but I’m willing to give it a go. I admit we will still need and use disposable nappies on the odd occasion (e.g. if we are out). To offset the occasional use of disposables and to further reduce energy consumption I pledge to:

• Make sure full washing loads.
• Reduce water temperature when washing.
• Air dry instead of using the dryer.
• No ironing of nappies (didn’t even consider this but there is people out there who do!)

Using cloth nappies are more economical. This is secondary for me, but could be useful to families who are on a budget and the savings would definitely be a major benefit.

Have I prepared for the cloth nappy domination? YES! I bought 3 dozen nappies from Big W – currently on sale (woo hoo).

Anyway – this is just one of the few baby decisions that I have been contemplating with of late. I am not trying to write an argumentative essay or trying to persuade you to do anything. I would, however, love to hear your thoughts/experiences on this. EEEkkkk have I set myself up for 2-3 years of full time laundry?

 

Nesting.

Today is my second last day of holidays then back to work. Oh how time flies when you’re having fun!

I’ve heard that “nesting” instincts in women start to kick in around five months and mine was right on time. These holidays I have cleaned out the nursery, house and almost finished the back yard (with the help of K naturally). Also, I’ve been on the hunt for nursery furniture. Christmas is always a bad time financially so I don’t really have the funds to purchase any new furniture. Hence, I’ve needed to think of alternative ways to furnish the baby room on the thrift. K doesn’t believe me when I say I can do up the nursery on a budget. So – here is my challenge.

Absolute must items are as follows:

1. Cot

2. Change Table

3. Chest of drawers

4. Rocking Chair

5. Toy Chest

6. Bookshelf

7. Rug (preferably a thick white shaggy one)

Can you believe I have the first four! Ok so they are not in the best condition but with a bit of elbow grease and new paint they will be good as new. By the way, on top of my “nesting” instincts on hard drive, my DIY impulse has also taken over.

Here are pictures of the items I have been successful in purchasing. These are “before” shots and I will definitely show you “after” shots once the nursery is complete.

Cot – hand me down thanks to Aunt D & Uncle R

Needs to be stripped, repainted and of course, assembled.

Change Table – Salvo’s

Needs to be sanded lightly and repainted.

Chest of drawers – Ebay

Needs to be sanded and painted.

Rocking Chair – Ebay (see previous post)

To be sanded and varnished.

I got these items at absolute bargain prices, except for the cot which was free!

I am considering painting the furniture white except for the rocking chair. Haven’t really decided on the décor yet, but I have another 3+ months to think about that.

Dad said he will help us out. I swear Dad and Uncle D don’t stop when it comes to handyman things. Here’s a picture of them today downsizing a vanity unit for another Uncle who is renovating his entire house!

Maternity Fashion (?)

Coming up to 20 weeks, I am getting wider, bigger and let’s just say all over curvier. And my clothes are  quickly shrinking! Unless you have been pregnant before, you may not fully understand the frustration of finding fashionable maternity clothing.

I have scoured every avenue for maternity wear from maternity stores to department stores and online. BUT everything is so floral, baggy and very pricey. I don’t have the funds to buy a whole new wardrobe to last only to the end of my pregnancy, so I have resorted to a few maxi dresses (does wonders) and about 30 pairs of back leggings.

Anywho – I will randomly post shots of my outfits. Hopefully, this will give you pregnant readers a few ideas!

Cardi - Cotton On
Dress- CKM
Tights - Big W
Shoes - Primark
 
P.S. Currently watching The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of The Desert....hilarious!