A Little Project

Kathleen, like most first children, had a picture-perfect nursery waiting for her when she arrived home from the hospital.  Even though we'd only live there for six weeks before we'd move, we had things as settled as if we were staying for years.

When Madeline was born, her nursery wasn't remotely ready.  In fact, since we'd moved only weeks before her birth, Madeline's room served as storage for everything we weren't quite sure what to do with...   We didn't have a crib for Madeline, either.  Kathleen was still sleeping in it.  We consoled ourselves with the fact that our sweet second child wouldn't use a nursery anyway, since she'd sleep in with us for the first few months.  And that's what happened.

Eventually, though, we got our acts together and cleaned out the storage room.  We got a toddler bed for Kathleen and moved the crib into Madeline's room.  I sewed some curtains, we hung some pictures, and -- voila! -- Madeline had a room.

When we moved here, though, we downsized from four bedrooms to three and combined Madeline's room and the guest room.  We managed to fit the double bed, a nightstand, the crib, and changing table into the one room.  We hung some curtains, a picture from the old guest room, and a few things from Madeline's room.  But somehow, it wasn't Madeline's room yet.

I wanted a way to personalize Madeline's room, but it had to be low cost and, well, temporary, since Madeline will move into Kathleen's room in a few months, making way for the next little member of our family.   It needed to be fun, but not too "baby."  

I was inspired by this post on Ohdeedoh over the summer -- some fabric, some starch, and instant personalization.  ( I remembered, too, that Paula had used the technique very effectively in Emma's nursery in Germany.)  After lots of thinking, I set to work this week.  I started small and simple, posting Madeline's name over the changing table:

Pleased with my success with letters, I attempted something a bit bigger.  

I wanted something gender-neutral (so we could leave it no matter who comes next!), and a tree sort of seemed to work with the art already hanging in the room.  I drew out a pattern, cut it out of paper, and then cut it out of fabric.  All told, I spent about ten dollars.  If you're looking for a little project, I highly recommend this one -- it's inexpensive, easy, and fast!

Plus, Madeline finally has a room she can call her own . . . at least for the next few months!