Nursery Preview - The Tree

A funny thing happened to me last night. Ammon had a basketball game. I usually go to watch him play. I love to watch him play. But the game was at 8:00pm and since Cormac no longer naps (a constant source of anxiety in my life) I thought it'd be best for him to get to bed. I didn't want to deal with a grumpy Cormac all day today. So while Ammon was gone I started making fabric flowers. Earlier in the day I had completed a mobile for the baby's room. I had also started crocheting another hat after finishing my second afghan since learning to read a pattern.

Ammon came in the house after his game (which they won) and sat watching me a minute. Then he said, "You're crafty." I never thought those words would be used to describe me. Then I started thinking about it. Thanks to various craft blogs that I read and Pinterest I suppose I have become crafty. In fact, I think I've become one of those crafty Mormon mommys. If you'd have asked me 10 years ago I never would have seen myself here, but alas here I am. And I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I'm so very happy and blessed. And yes, maybe a little crafty when I want to be (thanks to the brilliant people who post tutorials all over the web).

So when I started planning the nursery I decided I needed a tree. I wanted to do something like this:

I was especially in love with the second picture. How cool to have pop out flowers on the wall. I loved the feel it gave. So I was lamenting to my neighbor one day about this tree. I didn't have a projector to get the image up on the wall for me to trace. I have no skills to free hand something like that (I guess I'm not so much crafty as resourceful maybe). I had been looking into vinyl trees, but they were expensive. Then she volunteered her husband. I wasn't sure how Brandon would feel about that, but as it turned out he's an artist that doesn't get to use his skill as much as he'd like, and he was rather excited to do it. 

So after the bustle of the holidays we got to work on The Tree. And by "we" I mean Brandon. Eliza would come and visit with me on the couch, the kids ran around wild and made a glorious mess, and Brandon would go straight to work. We did this for a few hours a few days a week. And the results have been amazing. I'm in love (with the tree, although the Elmers are wonderful too).

The first coat up!

And the finished product.

Another view.

And with a few flowers up.

My challenge now is to decide if I want to put up flowers or not. I made these fabric roses to just test it out. Ammon wasn't a fan. He said it was weird because those flowers would never grow on that kind of tree. Fair enough. He also likes the tree as it is. I like the pop of color, but am not sure either. What do you think? Or maybe I should make a different kind of flower. Something more realistic. Apricot blooms or something.

A close up of my favorite of the flowers.

If you'd like to hire my artist let me know. I'll get you his information. I kind of like thinking I have an artist. The tree is perfect. I love the way it looks. Sometimes I go downstairs just to look at it. And the best part is that it is 100% custom and I did nothing to get it there. So awesome. I guess we are nearly ready for this girl to get here. She certainly couldn't have come before the tree was up.

And for your viewing pleasure (no not a picture of Cormac, I'll post some of those soon) a view of the cute mobile I made. I love how it turned out, this picture doesn't do it justice.

Stay tuned for news of the older brother and all his comings and goings. Also, a full look at the beautiful nursery. It has turned out so very cute. You won't want to miss it. Just 3 weeks and 3 days to go!