Making Memories of Us: Nursery: Owl's Hollow ♥

As the last couple of months have been filled with all my nesting activities...I finally feel like we're ready to welcome our son into the world! :) I am SO happy to say his nursery is complete and I LOVE every bit about the room...it will be our little tranquil sanctuary.

We began the process of remodeling our old guest bedroom into his "Owl Retreat" earlier this Spring and worked through it over the Summer. It is finally complete - everything in it's place, clothes washed and put away, and crib ready to welcome baby!

This has been such a FUN project for me! Although I got antsy along the way and hoped for speedier progress at times...I really have enjoyed working together with Stephen (and our loved ones) to create a peaceful space for our little one to escape.

As many of you know, we decided early on to go with an owl theme. I wasn't finding anything in the stores that really caught my attention or peaked our interest for our nursery, so we decided to go with owls and create our own decor as we went. If you know me at all.. If I have a set idea in mind...I will not settle until it is created with perfection, haha! ;) So every little detail was thought of carefully.

EVERYTHING in his nursery (for our owl-theme) is homemade with love by myself and his grandmothers (our wonderful, amazingly talented mothers). Moms, thank you BOTH for all your dedication and hard work on his nursery items (bedding, curtains, pillows, blankets, etc). It means SO much to us to have your presence in his room and to have him surrounded by soooo much love! We couldn't have created the space we did without your help - love you both so very much. Thank you also to family friends who have contributed handmade blankets and little items for our baby. Every time I walk in the room I feel surrounded by L-O-V-E :)

Entering the nursery...

His crib...surrounded by LOTS of love:

with the handmade quilt/comforter from Grandma Keehr, handmade blanket from one of my student's mothers from last years 1st grade class (on the left), hand painted tree (w/ help from my mom, Grandma Leppich), and handmade mobile by me! He will always be reminded of our unconditional love for him with the saying "We love you to the Moon and back" which I created with my Cricut! :) I purchased the little vinyl owl perched on the tree from WeeDecor.

I googled owl mobile and found some cute & creative DIY mobile ideas - I meshed a few different ideas together and had SO much fun making this mobile our own! I drew the images, traced it on felt & fabric, and cut out each shape. Then I hand stitched and stuffed them to give the a 3-D touch. I purchased a musical box off of Ebay that we attached the mobile to, so it can spin around and play lullaby music for him too.

Night stand w/ monitor, lamp, and picture of us - Mom & Dad (we hadn't put one it at the time of this picture, but we chose one of our maternity photos by Sandie to put in it).

I also wanted to find some wall decor to incorporate the owl theme.... with little touches of boy! Again, couldn't find anything I just loved, so I decided to google DIY ideas and make my own. :)

I found these fabulous 6 inch shadow boxes at Craft Warehouse

and decided to make 3-D images to put inside...

Just like the mobile, I drew, traced, and cut out each shape from felt & fabric that matches the crib bedding, owl pillows & curtains. Then I hand stitched and stuffed them so they have some dimension!

Dresser/Changing table area. The little cart, from Ikea, is stocked with diapers and wipes!! Let the fun begin! :) We plan to hang some newborn pictures of baby boy after his arrival on the wall above the dresser...those pictures are soon to come ;)

Each drawer is lovingly packed with clothes galore! The top drawer is full of little socks and leg warmers (which I purchased from a store called "In Bloom" that conveniently just opened up right down the street from our house), and newborn onesies and sleepers - for easy access during those mid-night changes! ;)

The second drawer is also packed full of 0-3 onesies and pants.

The 3rd drawer is ALL sleepers - size NB to 12 months! We are set on sleepers I would say :)

Willow Tree Angel and sign from my mom. :) So excited to venture into this new journey of Motherhood! Thanks, Mom ~ xoxo

Opposite corner of the room - with bookcase and closet. The amazing valance was made by my Mother-In-Law, Janet (aka Grandma Keehr). :) I found the leave/branch curtain rod at Lowe's to go along with the outdoor/owl theme.

His closet! This is one of my favorite spaces in the room....ok, 2nd to his crib space! :) We decided to take off the existing closet doors and keep this space open to add a little more depth to the room. Stephen did an AMAZING job of building new shelves and putting in a new rod to hang some (key word - some) of his clothes. haha! We bought cloth cube baskets and some wicker baskets from Wal-Mart and Target to store extra clothes from when he gets bigger, along with stuffed animals, and other baby gear! The wonderful bench was a gift from some dear friends at Lewis & Clark Elementary where I taught 1st grade - thank you again ladies!! It adds the perfect touch to the space. :) I made the "Little One" sign from my Cricut to hang above the closet.

These ADORABLE owl pillows were handmade by my mom. Love, love, love them! The represent our little family :)

I have always been obsessed with "little" things and one of my baby shopping addictions has been little teeny, tiny, baby shoes! Oh my, they are SOOOO stinkin' cute! He already has a good little shoe selection going: complete with Robeez (slippers), cowboy boots, DC's tennis shoes, Timberland boots, and beach sandals for next summer! Of course there are a few pairs of newborn shoes which he will probably only be able to wear for a week or so, but they are adorable, too!