99 Problems and the Nursery was One

We had initially planned for Cece's nursery to have this adorable cupcake theme since Pete nicknamed her Cupcake Butt at about 3 months into the pregnancy. We ordered all of our nursery bedding and accessories online... the pattern I had picked was apparently in high demand because the order ended up being canceled since it was out of stock. *sad face*

I lovededed you cupcakes.

Not being one to be deturred, I ordered the set again from a different retailer... which got canceled. Repeat this step 3 more times. That's right! I tried to get the same bedding from FIVE different retailers to no avail. I actually ended up cancelling the 5th one myself... the set was listed "in stock" and would supposedly be sent in 2-3 days. I didn't receive or hear anything for weeks. I tried contacting their customer service by phone and email several times trying to find out where my goods were. When someone FINALLY responded to a very angrily worded email that I'm not proud of, they told me it would be September or October before it would be available and they would send it then. Um, what?! My baby is due August 1st and this was way back in April! No way I was going to wait that long so I gave up on the cupcakes and demanded my money back.

I was so upset at first (I even pregnant lady ugly cried over it) but it actually ended up working out for the best. I stopped in at Babies R Us one afternoon just to look around and stretch my legs a little when I came across the most adorable bedding set by Carter's. I knew it was the one the second I saw it! To make it even better, it was on sale! I immediately added everything they had in stock to my baby registry and took advantage of my "15% off registry completion" coupon. It was kismet!

How stinking cute is this stuff? My little camera phone pictures really don't do it justice... the colors are so vibrant and cheery. I just like to sit in the nursery and enjoy the view while reading a book or nodding off in the rocking chair. It's wonderful but I felt the room was missing something... it needed some art!

I wanted some wall decals to decorate with and I wasn't really finding anything that I felt would match my underwater wonderland aside from the matching Carter's decals. I liked them but they're small and I had no idea where to put them to make the room balanced and not chintzy. Then it hit me... I can make my own wall art using the decals.

I spent two afternoons scrapbooking my little heart out to make these themed pictures. I used the Carter's decals and since they were slightly transparent, I stuck them to white cardstock first and then cut them out so the patterned paper wouldn't show through.

Sorry about the angles... there was so much glare on the glass!

 For the backgrounds, I made waves from 3 different patterns mimicking the design in the comforter. The little seaweeds were made from an old EK Success punch, the letter stickers are from the Dollar Tree, and the frames are all from Michael's. The octopus is 11x14 and the rest are all 8x11. I've hung them up around the room and they look great! (Don't worry... there's nothing above the crib.)

I'm really happy with how everything turned out and I think the experience was just the reminder I needed about being in control and making plans as I venture into motherhood. As my friend who is a life coach says "Sometimes the universe just has different plans than you... it doesn't mean they're necessarily bad. They're just different than what you expected and that's okay. Sometimes we need a little surprise every now and then to freshen things up and keep us on our toes." Wise words from a wise woman!

- Kim