a blog about faith, family, food, & more written by a wife and stay at home mom of five
Here are my two most recent nursery projects that I just completed.
First, I painted a wooden birdhouse for the fabric birds to “live” in. It will probably sit on a shelf in the room somewhere.
Secondly, I made a bunting banner (very easy to make). I plan on hanging this on the wall in the nursery. 
Want to see how our nursery is progressing? Check out the fabric birds and the cloth cube I made.
My hubby and I are spending a romantic evening researching baby cribs and stroller systems! We’ve found a few items we like, but we wanted to see what you all found in your research, as well as what you were looking for when you shopped.
For us, we have several things we’re looking for in a crib (not in order):
1) white finish (this is just a preference)
2) non-toxic finish (because babies suck on their cribs!)
3) solid wood (not pressed wood, because the glue can off-gas; also, solid wood will last longer through many, many babies)
4) meets or exceeds all safety standards
5) a style we like (we like clean modern lines, as well as the more classic sleigh style)
6) (added bonus) convertible to something else besides just a crib (toddler bed, day bed, etc.)
7) fits a standard sized mattress
8) non-moving parts (so many drop-side cribs have been recalled lately)
9) free shipping!
We found this Baby Mod Lily 4-in1 that we really like. We’re still looking around and considering other options too!
Looking at stroller systems is for some reason much more overwhelming to me. Maybe because there are so many options… maybe because it is such a huge safety issue. We learned recently that car seats EXPIRE after 6 years, so we definitely want to get a brand new one so we can get our money out of it before it “goes bad”!
Here’s our stroller must-haves list (not in order):
1) meets or exceeds all safety standards
2) gender-neutral color (so that future babies can enjoy it too)
3) 3-in-1 travel system (car seat/baby carrier, stroller, base unit that gets left in car)
4) has good reviews by actual consumers
5) free shipping
We found one we like here (the Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe Travel System). Again, we are still continuing to look and price other strollers. 
Lots to think and pray about! These are exciting times!
I totally love cloth baby toys, and I found this great tutorial over at Make It and Love It for making a cloth baby cube. I just finished making one, and I didn’t think it took very long at all! The next one I make will probably go even faster. I’ll explain what I did here, but for the more complete tutorial, visit Make It and Love It.
Cut 6 squares out of fabric. (I used fabrics from my little bird project.) I made mine exactly 5×5 inches, but you can make whatever size you would like.
Take your first two squares and sew one seam with the right sides together, using a 1/4″ seam allowance. 
Repeat to connect four squares together in a row.
Sew the first square to the fourth square so you have what looks like a box with no top or bottom.
With your remaining two squares, cut 1/4″x1/4″ notches out of the corners. Pin the fifth square to your “box” and sew, making sure your corners are square. (This was the trickiest step. It didn’t make sense to me until I started doing it.)
Repeat on the other end with the final square, leaving a hole for you to turn it. (Sorry for all these carpet shots… I do my best work on the floor.)
Turn your cube right-side-out, poke out the corners, stuff, and sew the hole shut.
Ta-da! Beautiful. Now go make one of your own!
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