Summer Math....

Not to worry......no actual math was performed in the writing of this post.

After a little bit of a blogging break, I afforded myself some time to get a few mundane projects completed that have been hanging over my head.

Once I completeled those projects, I felt like I had the freedom to do some of the creative things that I've been postponing until the important stuff was done.

What I learned was that I really need to be plugged in to my creativity. It energizes me, inspires me and gives me the umph I need to take care of the mundane crummy things I need to do. I guess it's just all about balance.
So, here are some of the more fun tasks that I've been able to complete lately in the form of a few simple math equations:

Equation #1:
Grandmother's victorian-style pitcher that doesn't really go with my decor...

PLUS
Craft Paper & Mod Podge I already had

EQUALS:

Nice little watering pitcher for my sunroom.

Equation #2:

Receiving blankets that have great use with newborns for the first 2 weeks of their lives...

PLUS
a pair of scissors or pinking shears....

EQUALS:
Tons of awesome, soft little everyday clothes to wipe messy mouths at the table, use when baby has diaper rash so as not to add chemicals to their soar bottoms, throw in your diaper bag for messes on the go, or to stash in your car for invariable messes. What I love is that you can just throw them away if you don't want to have to deal with the super-yucky messes and not feel guilty about wasting money.
I keep mine in a fancy shmancy crystal napkin holder that I rarely use.

Equation #3:

A pair of scissors or pinking shearsPLUS

four yards of tulle (I used pink and white)

EQUALS:

A TuTu for my sweet little ballerina.

Here's the Tu Tu Tutorial I used that I found on You Tube.

And just in case you missed my TuTu post and want to see 48 pictures of my sweet baby girl in her TuTu....HERE'S THE LINK.

Equation #4

Silver 'Plated' Tea set that started chipping and I got tired of polishing:

PLUS

Craft Paper & Mod Podge (one of my favorite combinations lately!)

EQUALS:

Cutesy new little shabby chic tea set - whose purpose I've yet to discover.

Equation #5:

Old faded sand box that I've had for years.

PLUS

A can of special FUSION spray paint for plastic (less than $5 at Wal-mart)

Equals:

Brand spankin' new (looking) sand box

Equation #6:

Cheap little wooden frame from Michael's (on sale)Plus craft paint and ribbon I already had:
Equals:

sweet little frame for almost nothing

Equation #7:

A few bags of balls you can get at most superstores. (I used 3 bags for $8 each.)

Plus:

An old play pen I had in the attic. Equals:

A ball pit for my very busy little munchkin as well as a sanity preserver for her mommy.

Original Ball Pit post is HERE:

Equation #8 (a little more on the practical side):
The following ingredients (less than $10 for the whole lot)

PLUS:

A big ol' pot and water & a five gallon bucket.

Equals:

Laundry soap that will last for MONTHS and only took 30 minutes to make (it comes out to about a penny a load).

There are tons of tutorials in blogland. I used THIS ONE. ***

*** I have to say I was a little bit tentative about trying this, but I am delightfully surprised by the results. It doesn't suds up like regular detergent and once you've mixed it, it has a gelatnous consistency (which my husband and I think is pretty cool.) They suggest you add essential oils to scent it, but I gagged in the health food store smelling them all. I didn't add anything and it smells super-clean. I also have $1 containers of the Oxyclean knock-off brand from Dollar Tree to add to loads with a little extra mess.

Now, this is the kind of math that I don't get tired of!

Our Nursery

As a perspective adoptive mother, I didn’t have the same experience as moms who carried their babies in their own bodies. In so many ways, I didn’t have a “normal” waiting experience. I craved that. I needed to nest. I needed to prepare and make this all seem real – even though I didn’t know what was going to happen – much less when.

(This is the BEFORE picture when it was just a play room for my friend's kids.)

I knew I didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a nursery – and actually I spent VERY little on that room. Welcome the very cheap frugal nursery of our family.
Colors we chose: 2 tones of a sky blue, “margarita green”, and white. I found a sweet little Carter’s chenille blanket with the same colors.

We figured it would work perfectly for a boy and you know how “pink crazy” people get when you have a girl -- so I knew it would be pretty easy to “girlify.”
I decided on stripes – horizontal stripes. Am I nuts or what? I got my engineer husband to help me figure out measurements and pencil lines around the room with a level. (God love him.) I already had the paint. I am so cheap thrifty that, on many paint projects, I mix colors that I already have. (Pitiful, I know – but I usually get exactly the color I want and it’s super-cost effective and no one is the wiser.)
Oh – and I painted the ceiling too. AND…I painted clouds….I know…..nuts….and a very literal ‘pain in the neck.’ But the clouds are subtle and were worth the effort. Oh and I painted trim that didn’t exist. It was an afterthought and adding trim would have screwed up my measurements. * I have a friend with quadruplets and the baby bed came from them. I was thrilled. FREE!* I found designer bedding that was discontinued at a local baby store that was originally $450 – I got it for more than 75% off. CHEAP! (It matches the nursery very well – but I probably wouldn’t make the same choice again.) * The letters above the bed (DREAM) were a little over a buck each from Michael's. I painted them and added simple ribbon. The words underneath look like they’re painted but they are peel and stick from the DOLLAR TREE. $1. CHEAP!* Another friend was giving away his daughter’s dresser w/mirror. I took it, repainted it, decoupaged the drawers with gingham craft paper I already had and put a changing pad on top. FREE!

*One of my friends owns a catering business and they had an extra little boat from an event they were getting rid of. I painted it and use it as a library. (We are CRAZY about books.) FREE!* We took the closet doors off and I hung curtain panels which I tied back using extra fabric and the lace from old pillow cases. Those bi-fold doors are nasty little finger-pinches for wee ones!· I found canvas baskets (above) with my same color scheme at Lowe’s and scooped those up just a few bucks each and have gotten GREAT use out of them.

* This frame was one I had that didn’t match anything. I spray painted it white used scrapbook paper I already had to mat the pictures which I made black and white and printed them at home. FREE! * My friend was selling this picture at a garage sale for $1. She gave it to and when I took it out to re-frame it I discovered it was a signed and numbered print. FREE! · I had some very elementary looking artwork I did in an art class when I was younger. (I wish I could say I was a kid, but it was a college Art Ed. Class.) I framed it and it works. CHEAP and PERSONAL! · I re-used wedding frames that didn’t match my home décor (some I embellished, some I left as is.) FREE!

Above: Photos of my husband and I as babies.* We found beautifully made tiny wooden chair in Mexico which sell here for about $50 each. I got them for $10 bucks and stained them to match the crib. CHEAP! * You know those cheap little shelves you can buy at Wal-mart? I already had a few in a closet....FREE! (Lamp cost $10 at Tuesday Mornings.....it was themed with ducks, so I just tied a ribbon around it and pinned a flower on it.)* I put them alongside a tiny little side table that I painted (FREE).· My parents saved my childhood rocking chair and I painted it dark brown to match the crib. FREE! I’m proud of myself for not feeling the need to display EVERY gift I received for Gianna. I put out some of the things that were baby-related or matched well and boxed up the rest for later. I’ll pull them out as we transform her room into a toddler room in a couple of years.
Unseen treasure: blackout curtain backers. I got simple curtain panels for $10 each at Wal-Mart and backed them with blackout panels. The BEST investment ($25 and I cut them in 2) and definitely one of the reasons she takes such good naps during the day. It darkens the room so beautifully and saves money on your energy bill. I have them in all my bedrooms.
Biggest regret: the rocker. I found a glider rocker with an ottoman for a great deal online. It’s perfectly adequate, but if I were to do it over again, I’d make that my splurge piece and get a large cushy chair that rocks that we could use for years. Oh well. I reminded myself of several things when I was making choices for the nursery:

· The nursery really isn’t for the baby – it’s for the Mommy (and maybe a little for the Dad). I figured whatever felt calming, peaceful and pretty to me – was going to work.· It doesn’t matter that my room doesn’t have the “latest” indulgences or look like everyone else’s. If it is created in love – it’s gonna work.· It’s important to not rely on the opinions and judgments of others. The nursery is for your family….not theirs.· It’s not important to be a great decorator…but it IS important to be a great mother. Focus on the important stuff.

I have to admit, the nursery we ended up with was nothing like the nursery I had imagined. I had either a Pottery Barn vision or some creative whimsical design in my head from the get-go. But I am SO glad I have a one-of-a-kind room that works for us and is so peaceful, functional, cost-effective and…well….special. Instead of thousands of dollars, it did not even cost hundreds of dollars.

It boils down to this: when the nursery was complete and I marveled at all our hard work and I peered into the empty crib, I knew that the ONLY thing that makes a perfect nursery is a baby. I’m pretty sure Gianna loves her room – but I’m just as sure that she loves it because her mom is calm, peaceful and VERY thankful for the long awaited miracle that now occupies it.

Gianna, by far, is the very best accessory in our nursery. :)

For a fun tour of other nurseries and kid rooms...check out Kelly's Korner.