Sunday, April 4, 2010

Nursery Decorating Final Episode Or, Old Stuff Made New Again

For some nursery inspiration I turned again to my Great Aunt Mary's sewing basket. It's full of little odds and ends of tatting, crochet, and embroidery. I fancy these bits are her practice pieces.


On some of the embroidery pieces, she did a lovely little lazy daisy and french knot combo over ric rac. I'm kind of a freak for ric rac, so I decided to use her idea on the crib skirt. These photos are of the pieces from her basket. That pink edging on the bottom of the ric rac is embroidery floss that she crocheted. Yeah. I know.


And here is the crib skirt I did for Lydia. Not as fancy, but still fun to do.



In keeping with my love of old stuff, I collected some pieces of hobnail glassware over the course of my pregnancy. I found the vase and the candy dish at the Goodwill, and the (working!) lamp I bought on eBay for $8.99.


A friend of mine, Tanya, who is amazing at everything, had done some fun projects refinishing old furniture using spray paint. I absolutely wanted to do this for the dresser, so I scoured Craigslist and the Goodwill for weeks on end looking for the perfect piece to refinish. Finally, I found it in Oregon City, an hour away, and it only cost $75.00.

I was going to do a post about the refinishing project and so took pictures of it as it sat in my garage awaiting a new coat of white paint.


But then I looked at the pictures...


and decided it was perfect just the way it was.


So here it sits in the nursery, the old dresser with the old hobnail glass and the books of old children's poetry for my baby with the old fashioned name.

And old is made new again.

11 comments:

Jocelyn Pehrson said...

LOVE IT!!!!!!! So adorable. I admire your taste. SO you...so Lydia..so classic!

Kaylynn said...

Love it! It was beautifully done and beautifully written! Give her a hug for me!

Kimba said...

It's even more beautiful in person. :)

Liv said...

It's so great to find old stuff and give it new love.

Nursery looks lovely.

Martha Lee said...

Abby,
It is so cute. The only problem is all I can think of is this crazy boy that if I put nice stuff like that it would be broken in no time flat. I hope Lydia is like most girls and will just let it be.

Love you so.
PS Joe kept saying Aunt Abby, Aunt Abby on our walk today.

Jessica and Reece said...

Dude, can you come redo my nursery for me? Everything looks fantastic. You are my Martha. Stewart, that is.

L Chang said...

How cute! What a fun nursery to grow up in! I am excited to see what other projects you come up with for little lady Lydia.

Tanya said...

it is perfect! i am so glad you left it just the way it was. i love all your treasures that you arranged on top as well.

Unknown said...

I love all of those! I would love to come by and see it for myself. You are so creative.

Bre said...

You have a true talent. I wish I had an eye for fantastic finds like you. WELL DONE!

Camille and Paul said...

LOVE THIS! I am glad you kept it the same, it is timeless, and in rather good shape might I add!