Broome Breviary: New Year’s Non-Resolutions

Happy 2011! Another year to celebrate and be thankful for. When I approach the new year, I always wonder what God has in store for it. The controlling part of me wants to know every detail so I can try to plan for it, but the Lord knows better and knows I need to rely on Him, so there is another part of me that is thankful that it is all in His trustworthy hands. Amen!

I don’t really do the whole new year resolution thing, but we are so excited to be welcoming our first little one in 2011, and we certainly have a checklist of things to do before she makes her debut, kind of like resolutions, I suppose. Maybe my resolution should be to be more organized to get it all done.

The biggest things right now, at least in my mind, to check off are our bathroom remodel and the nursery. Our master bathroom has never been used since we moved in our house and it’s now completely gutted. I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to do this renovation, and hoping things go pretty smoothly and quickly. Construction – smooth and quick? Do those words even belong in the same sentence? LOL.

Here are some pictures of the progress...

Wallpaper that was uncovered, probably from the 1920s or so

As far as the nursery, there is a lot to do, yet not a lot to do, if that makes any sense. Because we have plaster, textured walls, we can’t do any type of additional molding, or stripes/patterns or sticky decals on the walls (bummer!), so our only option is really to paint. That’s not too much work. However, as my gift to our little one, I decided even before I was pregnant that I would love to put my (limited) sewing skills to use and make the nursery set. Exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

I took about 10 sewing classes this time last year, and was a complete novice who didn’t even own a sewing machine. I would still put myself in the novice category, as there is so much to know and learn about sewing. I would love to take more classes and become a stronger sewer.

Anyway, I have been planning and re-planning for the nursery set for months. It’s wonderful to have so many choices about design when you can pick your own fabric and patterns, but again overwhelming. There are so many looks that I love and considered, such as a black and white nursery with some hints of pink, a pink and brown nursery, lilac and green, toile, etc. I have looked at fabric over and over again. It was so hard to decide! Plus, I really wanted J to like the fabric. I also didn’t really want a babyish looking or themed nursery, but one that was more elegant that she could grow into.

I finally decided to use a pinkish/floral/paisley-ish print for the bedskirt and curtains, and two green/white prints for the bumpers (one print on each side). Though I could choose a fourth fabric for the sheet, I chose not to and just buy off the rack. To be honest, it would be more time consuming than it’s worth to make a sheet, requiring at least two yards of fabric and a sewn elastic. Plus, I would need more than one sheet, so those costs would quickly add up.

Main Fabric

Speaking of costs, a lot of people think when you make things you save money. Not true. Sometimes true, but not always. Quality fabric is usually pricey. This is truly a gift from me to my daughter because I am certainly not saving any money and I am dedicating a lot of time. But, it’s something that I wanted to do. She won’t care, at least not until she is older. It will merely be something for her to spit up on and do whatever else to, but it’s a handmade token of much love from me to her, and I feel so blessed to do it, so thankful I took sewing classes, thankful for birthday money to put toward the costs of all the fabric and supplies, and super thankful for the support and appreciation from my husband and others.

It has been quite a journey with many trips to Joanns, Hobby Lobby and Paula’s and I am not yet done, but I have a good dent in it. I am learning a lot, stressing a little, and having fun. I also have a few friends, one in particular, who has been super supportive and also made a few trips with me for ideas. (Thanks, K!)

After I finish the nursery set (which consists of a bedskirt, bumpers, curtains, quilt and hopefully pillow for the rocker), my next project is to make the mobile using swatches of fabric from the set. We really don’t have a theme for the nursery, so since one of the fabric prints I am using has a few birds on it, I have decided to make the mobile with hanging owls and birds, and I am going to be incorporating some funkier fabrics that are in the same color scheme into the concept.