A Saga Begins

Miss M had thrifted crib bumpers that I recovered in some pink fabric I'd had lying around since our TEEN was little. (I think I bought it for E when she was six or seven to cover her duvet and make some curtains for her room. She finally had to tell me she was "too old for pink." So it got recycled--y'know, five years later.) The bumpers never quite fit the way I wanted them to, so when new baby was still gestating, I found a set of (again, thrifted) navy blue bumpers and a matching crib skirt. I think they were $3.50 on half-price sale at Value Village.

I knew from what other mommies had said to me that shopping for boy babies was "hard," but I had NO IDEA what "hard" really meant--there ain't crap out there for boys that doesn't suck at least a little or else cost a fortune, and the only crib set I found that I didn't loathe and want to set on fire cost over $600. Six HUNDRED dollars. (I do love the stuff at Javis Davis, though, and regret that I am not a lottery winner...) That's a ton of cash, people. So I knew from the outset that we'd be making our own.

I would've been thrilled with stripes or checks or dots, but flat navy was what I found, and so that's our starting point. I've been overwhelmingly inspired by Hilary's design for Oscar's duvet, and knew that down the road I'd want to do some kind of applique comforter for New Baby. I've decided to do some of that work early, and put it on the outermost-facing side of the bumpers. I love the On The Road feeling it gives, and it lends itself to a Theme that's been popping up at our house for some time now.

When my Sweet Husband and I took our honeymoon, we collected vintage postcards from each of the locations we visited: Hawaii, London, Paris, Spain. Then my mother-in-law gave us hundreds--truly!--of postcards her parents had received in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s to choose from. We selected images from Israel, Egypt, Mexico, all over the States (my favorite is from Donner Pass). We'll frame each and arrange them in a frieze at the ceiling of baby's room--we've somehow fallen into a Travel Theme*. So Hilary's idea fits in perfectly, with the Route 66/Wide Open Road feel it imparts. I also like that it's giving me a jump-start on the duvet for later, since I can just cut out the applique work and make that the basis for the new comforter when O moves up to the toddler bed.

This is just the beginning. It's gonna take a while, so hang in there for the final product...

*I have a long-standing and vocal dislike for Decorating Themes. I have been very open about this. When we put together the nursery for M, we framed a series of photos we had taken while she was gestating and we were living in DC, visiting every public, private, and botanical garden within reasonable driving range. The pink fabrics she inherited from her sister had flowers on them, and so somehow it became a "floral theme," although that was never my intention. In this case, we're calling it "travel," when really it's a masculine-flashback-to-the-50s theme. Still, I guess it's a theme and I just need to make my peace with that...