Baby Bedding

I just found out a great way to change an old dresser into a new change table for your nursery.  It’s easy and affordable.  Take an old dresser you have or try to find an old dresser for sale in your area.  Paint the dresser completely white and then add any accent colours you want that complement your baby bedding decor.  If you are using sage green in the baby’s room then paint the drawers sage green.  Next purchase new hardware and replace the old existing hardware on the dresser.  Now you can take the dresser and turn it into a baby change table by simply placing a change pad on top and placing a basket full of baby toiletries next to the change pad.  After the baby outgrows the change table or you no longer need the change table you can use it as a dresser in the room.  You accent your new dresser/change table with nursery accessories that match your bedding decor.

I could not pass up the opportunity to inform everyone on Cotton Tale Designs big sale on baby bedding.  This sale is only on while inventory lasts.   They are having a sale on four piece sets for the three B’s; Barn Dance, Big Equipment and Boxers or Briefs.  The four piece set includes a crib sheet, comforter, bumper and dust ruffle.  Accessories are also on sale.  Accessories for the nursery include items such as diaper stackers, lamps, musical mobiles, pillows, crib sheets, window valances, wall art and toy bags.  

These are fantastic collections for baby bedding for little boys.  Cotton Tale uses unique materials and designs to create a beautiful nursery.  Baby Bedding can get expensive so why not take the opportunity to get a beautiful four piece set and save some money at the same time.

When it comes to nursery accessories, most of what new moms buy are related to decorating the nursery or helping to organize it better.  I am talking about things like diaper stackers, hampers, and window valances.  There is one accessory that is strickly for your new baby and that is the musical mobile.

The main reason for a musical mobile is to visually stimulate your newborn.  Recent research suggests that babies with many things to look at develop many neural connections in the brain and at a much higher rate.  This type of activity is critical for proper brain development in newborns.   Also, keep in mind that newborn babies focus best at a distance of about 12 inches or so.  Hanging the mobile at this distance will give the baby maximum visual stimulation.

The thing about musical mobiles is that they usually have the cutest things hanging from then.   The baby doesn’t really care what is hanging from them as long as they see the vivid colors in motion.  Usually, most new moms will simply pick the mobile that matches the baby bedding set that they have chosen.  Examples of some items that you will find hanging from mobiles include, teddy bears, sailboats, birds, flowers, sheep, hearts, etc…

So remember….don’t forget the mobile!

Whether its your new nursery or any other aspect of your home or life, being organized is essential to feeling grounded and relaxed.    Living in an organized and clutter free environment just seems to promote a feeling of calmness and peace.   A valuable lesson that I learned from my days working in a manufacturing environment is “…everything in its place and a place for everything…”   This is so true.  There is nothing more frustrating when you are in a rush and you need to get something done fast but the tool you are looking for is not in its designated place because the last time you used it you just left it wherever you may have been instead of in its proper place.

Anyway, Trend lab to the resue!  The have just come up with these adorable storage caddies which are useful as diaper caddies which would hold diapers, wipes and more or as a craft caddy for all your scrapbooking tools.  Many different colors and style are available at OurBabyBedding.com and the one pictured here is from the popular Max baby boy bedding collection.

Well we are back from our family trip to Orlando and the wonderful world of Disney!  We’ve been to Disney World in the past a few times but this is the first time we have driven…and let me say it will probably be the last.   We drove down to Orlando from the Detroit area and so it was 11hrs of driving for two straight days…with two kids.  Once we arrived it was great, I just love Disney World as it really brings out the kid in me.  I am just amazed at the size and detail of each and everyone of the theme parks and resorts at Disney world.  Whenever I talk to people who have never been I can just speak about it forever.  Feel free to respond to this post if you have any thoughts or comments about your trip to Disney, I love hearing the stories.

Anyway, back to work now.  While we were on vacation, we had a great response to our Jessica McClintock sale which will be ending at the end of this week.   It really is a great opportunity to get a premium baby bedding set with all the matching accessories at an unheard of price.  If you order a Jessica McClintock 5 piece crib bedding set before July 30,  you will automatically receive 6 additional nursery room accessories for FREE!  The accessories include a fitted sheet, crib blanket, diaper stacker, musical mobile, valance, and decorative pillow.

Friends of ours were over on the weekend with their adorable little 5 month old Simona.  So daddy walks in to our house with a diaper bag in one hand and a funky looking molded plastic thing in the other.   It turns out that this strange looking device is called a Bumbo seat.   I did some research online later that day and discovered that the Bumbo seat is a revolutionary infant chair that is designed to fit a baby’s posture. Babies can sit upright in a Bumbo Seat as soon as they have head control. More importantly, it helps them develop the trunk control they need to sit up on their own.  It basically allows infants who cannot sit upright on their own to actually sit upright.  It really does look so comfortable and secure and baby Simona was loving sitting in it in the middle of the coffee table.

Our friends love it and use it all the time.    What they like to do sometimes is place the seat on top of the crib bedding in the crib and have Simona sit in there and watch while mom or dad tidy up the nursery.    It is so cute, you can even place it on the table with the baby in it when you are sitting at the table working on your laptop or writing.  Of course, you have to be careful when the baby reaches a certain size and they start to get strong enough to squeeze out of it.   Anyway, you can check out bumboseat.com for some more info.

When you are shopping for nursery bedding and decor,  you will see many photos of beautiful nurseries showing off a particular baby bedding set and the matching accessories.  One thing that you don’t see much of in these photos is the rocking chair or glider for mom or dad to use when feeding or rocking baby to sleep.    This is an important part of the nursery that sometimes can be overlooked in the initial planning stages.  When we set up our nursery, we received an beautiful glider with ottoman from my parents and we really found that it was an absolute necessity.  It was so comfy that there were quite a few nights that my wife or I fell asleep in the chair itself.    Our friends opted to go with the traditional rocking chair and they actually purchased some material that matched the crib bedding to make a matching cushion for the chair.

Make sure that when you place the chair in the nursery that it is not too close to any of the walls.  We learned the hard way and now we have a nice little dent in one of the walls caused by rocking the chair to close to the wall.    Also, remember to be very careful when rocking in the chair if you have small pets that may be crawling around the nursery.  A loud screech from the family cat while the baby is sleeping is not good.

Check out this link for some nice nursery rockers and gliders.

Theses wall flowers are a great idea to keep you within your nursery decorating budget but at the same time getting the art and decor you are looking for at a very affordable price.  We all start out having grand plans for the nursery but sometimes life throws you a curve and you are forced to start looking around for ways to save money.  Luckily there are countless ways to add some style and art to your new nursery at very reasonable prices.    The set comes with 25 polypropylene flowers that have embedded magnets allowing them to mount with a simple tack or magnet.   They are available at one of my favourite online stores - Delight.com.  Keep in mind that these flowers can be painted as well to match any theme that you decide to choose.

I would like to recommend some baby girl crib bedding that I think would look great in a nursery decorated with these cute wall flowers.  The following sets and many others are available at OurBabyBedding.com:

- Beach Cottage by Cottontale Designs

- MiGi Sweet by BananaFish

- Darling Daisy by Trend Lab

This post is in contrast to my post from yesterday.   Yesterday I blogged about movable wall murals by Three Little Ziglets that are simply beautiful but at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to the financial aspects of decorating your nursery.  In other words, they are a much more expensive idea.

Hampers are a very useful and attractive part of any nursery.  As  all new mothers know, babies can accumulate quite a bit of dirty laundry and having a matching hamper nearby can be very convenient.  Many of the baby crib bedding sets available at OurBabyBedding.com come with matching hampers with wood frames and gorgeous,  removable liners.  The hamper liners can be washed very easily after being removed from their wooden frames.

One of my favorite features of a nursery hamper is that when it is ready to be emptied, you can simply grap the hamper by the wooden frame and close it up while carrying it to the laundry room to empty it and return it to the nursery for its next tour of duty.