If you don’t mind taking a second, I would love it you can go to the gallery of Sienna’s Nursery and simply click on the “LIKE” button. (on top of the gallery) There are only a few hours left to vote and fingers crossed we win viewers choice. Thank you!!!

My talented designer friend, Genevieve Ghaleb wanted to participate in making my dream baby girl nursery come true, and well with her great design flare combined with my DIY ideas, I don’t think we could of been a better “design” match. But then came the “crazy ideas” according to my husband. The first one… “We should paint the wood floors!”  This one was a tough one for him to swallow and he literally tried to make me change my mind a good 200 times, but when I told him it was what I wanted and there were no way I’d change my mind (blamed it on the pregnancy hormones)… he just followed along (and boy was I hoping it would look fabulous, otherwise I would have to live it down for the next 25 years!) The floors, as my friend Gen tried to explain to him, was the core to the nursery… I wanted to do something you didn’t really see in nurseries and painted floors was just that. I don’t think they could have been more perfect! The perfect shade of mint with some white and coral stripes…

Seeing the shoes were an important element to the room design, I wanted to make sure to highlight them and what better way then to frame them on the wall. I purchased some small frames at a thrift store, painted them gold and framed the fabric found in the crib and a quote I found to fit perfectly “Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life”

The first thing I purchased (apart from the shoes) was the blush pink waterfall curtain. I absolutely loved the ruffles and wanted that to be in the nursery. At that moment I hadn’t decided on the color scheme, but we made it work (yay!) Seeing it was the only ruffle element I had in the room, I decided to make my own coral ruffle lamp shade. (I will post a tutorial shortly)

You can say that this nursery is all about colours and textures. Ruffles, Bows and Doilies. I had blogged 2 years ago about a great wall feature with cupcake liners. I liked the texture part of it and figured we could probably make something similar with paper doilies. The outcome was better than I could of imagined! I love the white on white and putting the importance on the shapes and textures! I also framed some doilies in a mint colour backed frame to tie in with the feature wall.

I wanted to make my own mobile for baby girl. I’m not a fan of the ones out there and I knew I wanted to add more bows in the room. I had seen on Pinterest great use of embroidery hoops for some table decor and thought it would work really well for a mobile as well! So I painted the hoops gold, added fabric bows and hung it from the ceiling. I think it’s one of my favorite pieces of all in the nursery. So simple, yet so perfect!

I decided to print out fake book jackets that matched the nursery colors to put in the night table beside the glider. Sure they are fake (I mean there’s no way A Very Hungry Catepillar would be 300 pages long) but I think it looks adorable and eventually I will swap them with the real books.

I wanted to have a piece that would grow well with Sienna and I think the mirror is perfect for just that! Even though I’m not a fan of animals in nurseries, the coral elephant bank was just the perfect addition to the vintage dresser we found at a thrift store…. but the best part of all, I was able to put a vintage teacup my stepmother gave me a few years ago (that belonged to her mother) in the room. I think once she sees it, it will make her happy. I love when there’s a little history attached to a room decor.

I think I can go on and on… but you get the point!
So, what do you think? What’s your favorite part of the room?

Thank you Genevieve Ghaleb for following me and my over the top ideas! Working with you is not even work. (hope we get to do it again) Thank you Anne-Emilie Sayegh for taking pictures of Sienna’s nursery!

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Room Details :

For those interested here is the cost break-down of the nursery decor, you should be able to find all the details below. I will be posting tutorials on some of the DIY projects I did for this room shortly.

Furniture & Lighting

• Vintage Crib : $50 // refurbished
• Vintage 5 drawer dresser : $20 // Thrift find Village des Valeur
• Vintage 6 drawer dresser (changing table ) : $75 // refurbished
• Night Table : already owned // Hemnes Ikea
• Upholstered Glider : already owned //  Dutalier
• Chandelier with pink crystals : $70 (got a new one onKijiji for a steal) // Pottery Barn
• Ruffled Table Lamp (DIY) :  already owned //  Base Bouclair,  Shade (Arstid) Ikea
• Pink Glass Knobs : $30 // Look In The Attic
  =======================
  Furniture & Lighting : $245
  

Bedding & Linens

• Crib Bumper (Punch Basics) :  $115 // Serena & Lily 
• Crib Mattress Cover : $36 // Serena & Lily
• Ruffled Crib Skirt : $84 // Carousel Designs
• Pink Waterfall Ruffled Curtain : $64  (had discount code) // Urban Outfitters
• Vintage Knob Curtain Tie Back : $12.50 (had discount code) // Urban Outfitters
• White Throw : $25 // HomeSense
• Coral Pillow : $20 // HomeSense
  =======================
  Bedding & Linens : $358.50

Paint colors :

• Wainscotting & Floors : CIL Cascading Water 30GY 75/105 W/B
• Walls / Ceilings / Stripe (floor) : Plain White
• Coral stripe (floor) : CIL Pink Chablis 30YR 68/127 W/B
  =======================
  Paint & Painting supplies : $325

Seeing we painted our wood floors, we needed to prep, sand, prime, paint and varnish, a big bulk of the nursery costs would have to be the paint. Sure bedding isn’t cheap either(especially for the little time we will be using it) but to compensate we made sure to choose furniture pieces (with the exception of the crib) that would grow well with Sienna. The total nursery cost $1061 a little over budget (I was aiming for $750) but considering everything we’ve done, I have no regrets!

Design & Concept : Me! aka Blushink & Genevieve Ghaleb
Images courtesy of : Anne-Emilie Sayegh

I find that sometimes going back to the basics is what makes it even more special… so why not whip out the scissors and glue (just like when you were in school) and make your mom a great mothers day gift. Even if she says she doesn’t want anything, the appreciation even in the smallest gesture warms her heart. I came across this beautiful DIY Mothers Day Mini Album on the Simple as That blog and thought I would share.

For more pictures and a template to create your own album, visit the Simple as That blog.

I’m due around mothers day… how sweet a gift would that be for my mom (and me)

I was debating whether I should blog about the process before the nursery was done, but I am so damn excited about our floors (and seeing I’ve been instagram-ing the hell out of them) I figured why not. We I decided to paint our wood floors (will a little convincing from my friend Gen) Everyone, including my husband thought I was nuts. Not that they don’t like the idea of painted floors, but just the thought of actually painting over pretty floors (because let’s admit, mine were in EXCELLENT condition) is heartbreaking.

I wanted baby girls nursery to be different then what we see everywhere. I wanted a “wow” factor and let me tell you I am more than happy with how my floors came out. I opted to go mint (even if we had originally thought pink) because I feel it’s a pretty neutral color that can fit with almost anything as she grows up.

I apologize in advance for the crappy photos, but they’ve been instagram-ed and I only have an iPhone camera. Either way, you will get the point and see the progress. Plus, when the nursery will be completely finished I will either ask my friend to come take pictures of I’ll borrow her camera.

Before : (this is how Mavrick’s nursery was originally painted)

Step 1 : Sanding and priming the floors  (thank you to my hubby and FIL)

Step 2 : After passing the vacuum, the floor is ready for it’s first coat of paint. Then the second coat was applied the next day.

Step 3 : Taping of the floors for our “floor piping” (I like to call it)

Step 4 : Painting of the white stripe (2 coats needed)

Step 5 : Remove the frog tape while second coat is still wet.

Step 6 : Time to re-calculate and tape the smaller pipping.

Step 7 : Time to paint, this time in coral (2 coats needed)

Step 8 : Remove the frog tape while second coat is still wet.

Step 9 : Varnish the floors (we have to do this this week) But here is an overview of our floors and wainscoting.

Sure I’m focusing on the floors, but we actually painted the walls as well. Everything except the wainscoting is a white (not 100% pure) but white nonetheless. I painted the wainscoting the same color as the floor (mint) so that it blends in. What I am most happy about is that my husband actually loves the floors. So much that he’s even talking about painting other spaces in my house. ha! (how cute of him!) Sure all the paint for the room wasn’t cheap. It came out to about 325$ (for floor, wall paint and varnish) but seeing that it’s the main focus to the room (and will last years) it was worth the investment in my opinion.

Would you paint wood floors?

Last year, I met Luisa Galuppo at a baby shower and instantly wanted to be her friend. She is so genuine, sweet and beyond adorable so when she showed told me she was the one who made the shower cake… I knew she was my kind of baker. Her attention to detail is spot on and her creations beautiful (as in you don’t even want to eat them) She recently added pictures of her 2012 cakes.

I love everything about her cakes. The flavors, the designs and even the sugar flowers. That peony looks so real! She can create basically anything, whether you have an idea or want to leave it up to the baker artist. I’ll probably call her to make a cake either for Mavrick’s 2nd birthday or baby girls Christening.

Check out more of her cakes via her website or facebook page for details about upcoming events or pictures of her recent creations. Luisa… you rock! (but you know that already!)

[ photos : Luisa Galuppo Cakes & MoniquePhoto ]
[ Cake stands : Principal Planner Rents.com ]

When I came across this underwater maternity shoot, I knew I had to share. I love the magical aspect of underwater pictures and this shoot done in Hawaii by the talented Ruth Powell of Ruth Anne Photography is simply amazing (not to mention how beautiful mom-to-be Corey is!)

Taking underwater pics is extremely difficult. But this shoot is amazing in every way. I love the idea of using props underwater, and the selection of clothing and accessories is fabulous! Personally I would never be able to pull off a underwater shoot (even clothed) but I have a feeling that we will see more underwater shoots after seeing this one.

I have yet to decide if I am doing a maternity shoot. I didn’t with my first but thinking I might do one with my second (but no naked bump pics for me) I get inspired when I see the art behind photography. Don’t you?

You can see more of this session in the full gallery.

[ via : On to Baby & Ruth Anne Photography ]

Well on tuesday… the day finally came. Apart from having a sinus infection I was beyond excited. I knew reviews were mixed. Some liked the show, others didn’t… but figured I would make my own decision. I agree with the critics. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t as great as it could of been. I wasn’t wowed by the Cirque performers and what we saw has been done. I really thought that having MJ themed something would of been spectacular just like he was… but alas, that wasn’t the case.

Was I happy I went, sure! but having seen many Cirque shows (seeing they were started here in MTL in 1984) it wasn’t their best but on the upside I was able to take a snap shot of Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque while I was there.

Did you see the show? Were you disappointed too?

Talk about a cute hostess gift (pins or magnets)

[ via : Eat, Drink Chic & Present and Correct ]

With the arrival of baby girl in May, Mavrick will only be 22 months. Even though he likes being independent, he still loves riding in a stroller so I need a double stroller to carry both kids around. I wanted the sit n’ stand option because I know come summer time, he will like riding standing up (or I assume he will) but I mean boys like that kind of stuff.

The sit n’ stand double strollers are very limited. I’ve been searching online for weeks and ones I’ve found are the Joovy Caboose Ultralight Strollerand the Baby Trend Sit N Stand. At first I kept looking at the Baby Trend models, but unfortunately we have very few here in Canada (and the prices much more expensive than in the US).

Wishlist :

• Sit n Stand Stroller
• Double Sunshields
• Compatible with my Chicco Keyfit Carseat
• Under 300$
• Lightweight
• Storage space (trust me, you’ll need it with 2)

Joovy Caboose Ultralight Stroller, Blueberry

Baby Trend Sit N Stand DX Stroller, Vanguard

I have yet to test drive both stollers, but from the look of it through the reviews and features the Joovy Caboose Ultralight Stroller seems to be winning. It is compatible with my carseat, which the BabyTrend has yet to confirm (I would need to bring it to the store and check there) Even though it seems to only have 1 sun shield, it’s actually wide enough for when Mavrick is sitting (the vanguard available in Canada has 2 separate sun shields), As for weight, the Joovy is only 21 pounds (ultralight) where as the other model is 32.5 pounds.

Now seeing I haven’t test driven any models yet, it’s the next thing on my to-do list. I think it’s important to test it out so that can properly check all the features on site. The only issue is that the Joovy isn’t available everywhere and finding a retailer seemed a little complicated. I finally found a store that holds the stroller but they are selling it at 299$ (versus 279$ for the Vanguard). I was a little bummed about that seeing it was cheaper on Amazon and US sites. Then… don’t ask me how I found this but I found the Joovy for 229$!!! Just for the price point I’m excited. It’s only available in orange or lime but what the heck I’m not paying 75$ more just for a color (that’s without taking into account our 14.5% taxes! brutal I KNOW!)

So as you can see, I’m leaning towards the Joovy Caboose Ultralight Stroller probably in Orange. I can’t believe after all this time… I’m so close to having found THE STROLLER. Now, I guess once I can check that off my list, I can sell my Chicco one.

Do you have a sit n’ stand stroller? What brand/model did you go for?

As of this morning, the Diane Von Furstenberg  exclusive collection is available in all Gap stores (online too) in the US and Canada. I absolutely love all the color prints… and not to mention the use of black! I love black for baby girls (well baby & toddler) and I think having some in the DVF collection will make others realize how awesome it is. Here are a few pieces of the collection.

I absolutely love this dress (below) everything about it is ADORABLE!!! As much as I would like to purchase it, I’m not at that point yet and I have so much to do before baby girl arrives. But if you want some DVF goodness, be sure to get yourself something TODAY, or TOMORROW…. because honestly, it will sell out FAST as in, in a blink of an eye!

The kimonos style dresses are refreshing to see on a little girl. I defintiely this will become a signature piece in the collection. Will you purchase an exclusive DVF piece from Gap? If so, what is your heart set on?

Oh and if you are planning to purchase a piece online, don’t forget to use ebates to get cash back on your order! Friendly reminder.

[ images : Gap ]