tea party. no, not the band.

it's funny how every little girl - at least out of my nieces - seems to be inevitably and irresistably drawn to the idea of a tea party.  my kid is no exception.  out of a nesting frenzy, i put together a dresser for her room and somehow ended up moving all the furniture around, washing all her linens, and arranging things in a more play-friendly manner.

of course, the first thing she did was pull out all of the tea party supplies that she owns (thank GOD she is one of the last children and has a plethora of hand-me-down pink plastic teacups and pots) and set up her little "friends" around the table.  and now, two weeks later, we are still playing with the same tea party configuration.  she now loves her room even more. 

funny enough, i now want to make her room even more kid-friendly - pictures, prints, decals, maybe some more tea party chairs.  say goodbye to our budget.

(oh, and i found a blackberry app that gets a similar results as the iPhone instamatic app. make sure you download the add-on package that includes the "memories" filter.  thank you, blackberry gods!)

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tales from the nursery - part two!

when i was expecting the mini, i didn't think that i was the type of girl who'd spend hours and hours fussing over the baby's nursery. when the mini arrived - 10 days early - we had a barely serviceable space in our second bedroom. we didn't even have the crib set up! but after the proverbial dust settled, i realized that i really, really wanted the mini to have a bright, sunshiny space to call her own. over the next few months, my sister and i worked on making this small but sweet space into a little mini-haven!


this fabulous mahogany letter "s" is from smilemoon's woodworking studio. suspended from the curtain rod on a green striped grosgrain ribbon, it's a lovely addition to the room.

a skinny IKEA table lamp with matching shade brings the perfect amount of light on cloudy days.

a sock monkey from my etsy shop sits alongside my snow globe collection, a teddy bear adorned with an oversized gerber daisy clip and mini tutu from thegirlyplace and a lamb from doggiepiggie.

my sister is a genius - not only at designing nurseries, but also at making those fabulous pompoms that are suspended above the crib! i didn't think that they would even come close to entertaining the mini as the store bought mobile we had, but she loves looking at them! aren't they gorgeous????

pink ROXY rainboots, a pink hippo and a "yoshi" lookalike reign supreme on the shelf.

my sister and i worked hard making sure that the stripes were relatively straight. imagine our dismay when we realized that the WALLS are crooked!

i had posted about the wall hanging i had made from jennski's inspiring alphabet flash cards... here it is in action! i added striped grosgrain ribbon around the edge of the canvas and reinforced the spray adhesive with silvery metallic brads. the handmade hot pink throw pillow covers really pop against the pinstriped duvet on the daybed.

as sad as it is to be finished decorating, it was really fun - and i can't believe that i enjoyed it as much as i did! i love the colours that we used, and the addition of handmade goodness really makes it unique. i hope the mini enjoys it as much as i do!

p.s. i've entered the nursery into ohdeedoh's 2009 colour contest. if we make the blog, please show us some love and vote for us - even though we can't win any prizes because we're in canada!

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Tales from the Nursery!

NOTE: you can see the finished nursery here - http://muffintopdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/11/tales-from-nursery-part-two.html

as some of you know, i've been working
with my sister (who is a decorating
WHIZ - she makes me sick because she's so talented and colour-coordinated) to put together the mini's nursery. we've decided on a colour scheme - pinks, greens and whites - and i have all of the major furniture purchased. whoot whoot!

in all honesty, we do a lot over the internet. it is the smartest way for us to do it as busy mommies (i have the mini, she has two and one on the way) - we surf and look for ideas, usually together via the phone, then make our shopping list, then off we go, kids in tow. sometimes, i send her out to get the stuff for me if i'm stuck at home with the baby.

one of the BEST ideas came from tinydecor's blog. a fellow etsian, she and her partner showcase wickedly amazing modern nursery finds - and one of her posts was a tutorial to make an alphabet card display - click on the link for the complete instructions. using Jenn Ski's beautiful alphabet flash cards and a premade stretched canvas, you too can make this amazing wall art for your nursery! i have to admit that i did not follow tinydecor's instructions to the letter because i am so less coordinated than she is - and much more impatient - and i wanted it done NOW!!! i used spray adhesive to adhere the cards to the canvas and it turned out pretty well, if i do say so myself! just a side note - the adhesive i used was very very sticky and somewhat toxic. i did all the spraying outside but still managed to cover my entire left arm and hand with glue. that's partly why my version has such a carefree, quirky (read: not straight) vibe to it - it's hard to place anything straight when you're attached to it!

i can't WAIT to put it up. i can't WAIT for the nursery to be finished - it's been a little bit of a stretch for me to venture into the decorating realm - but i am thoroughly enjoying the process!

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Trying Out A New Look... What Do You Think?

i have a new banner. (look up) i'm trying out new looks for my blog - since i've been on maternity leave i have a lot of time to read other people's blogs and i've been quite impressed at how beautiful some of them are! so, i'm trying to "prettify" my space now too.

i just wish i knew how they get those wonderful layouts! my HTML knowledge is quite limited so i've resigned myself to just fooling around with what blogger offers.

the mini's new crib set
i also went shopping today with the mini muffin and my cousin and her kids in search of the perfect crib set... and i was pleasantly surprised when she found a gorgeously beautiful one hidden in the clearance section of our local Winners store! here are some pics of the mini's nursery - it's made a HUGE difference! i can't wait to add accessories etc. - we've both been browsing etsy like mad for decals. i'll post before and after pictures once we're done. who knew i'd be so excited about decorating an NURSERY??!!? it must be the estrogen. :)

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Rings, Rings, and More Rings!

i've been working on some fantastic custom ring orders... i'm pretty stoked! i love the textures and contrasts!!!

i've also been mulling over ring designs in my head lately (mostly while mindlessly flicking through the channels from the breastfeeding "lounge") and used some of my spare time putting these prototypes together. i'm not sure if i'm 100% sold on them - they are a little too spiky, i think - but i LOVE the textures! any thoughts?

my cousin and i have also been discussing nursery decor - i never did get around to decorating the mini's room the way i wanted to since she arrived 10 days early - and my cousin is due in october. we've been surfing etsy and the web for ideas... d*mn you, target, for not delivering to canada! - and going shopping on tuesday. i've never been the shopping type, but the idea of making the mini's room an even happier place to be is kinda exciting - and making sure the handmade movement is duly represented! i'll post before and after pics when we're done!

p.s. i took the plunge and am now on flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/muffintopdesigns/

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Grabbing the Brass (or Copper) Ring! And Planning the Mini-Muffin's Nursery

yes. it's my first REAL ring! after struggling with the jeweler's saw, i finally accomplished something!!!! i know it doesn't look like much, but who knew that so much goes into making rings out of sheet metal????? the one above is out of copper - hand sawn, hand filed, annealed, pickled, soldered and hammered on a mandrel. quite a rush - probably not in the same way as skydiving or bungee jumping gives you a rush, but i'm pregnant and can't do those things right now. i love the way the metal responds to the open flame and how you can make it do what you want with just a little coaxing (or pounding!) i'm quite proud of myself - given the pathetic-ness of my initial "piece" (see my January 24th post). we're working on a band ring in sterling silver now and it's looking good so far! i'm really, really excited - now if i could just stop napping to design and cut metal! i definitely am not feeling as discouraged as i did a few short weeks ago! i still may one day be a world famous designer!!!!!



speaking of napping - i suppose the napping isn't really my fault - the mini-muffin is now almost 30 weeks along and she feels like she's getting so big! the husband can feel her moving all the time now and it's so miraculous to be able to be sharing this experience with him! i'm getting a little stressed out now worrying about maternity leave, finances, registering for baby items, and getting her nursery put together - but my wonderful cousin, littlepapercuts, is walking me through it. she has done TONS of kids' rooms and i'm pretty lucky to have her help us out!




these pictures are of her son Alex's room, and they were a winner in a HGTV photo contest last November! she has such a wonderful sense of design and style that i couldn't possibly hope to have. we're working with a pale green and buttercream colour scheme (today anyways) and she already has tons of ideas. (which reminds me, i really should be taking photos and measurements to email to her! sorry, jo!)

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