baby stuff Archives - Popcorn and Pandas

DIY: Decorate Wooden Letters for Nursery

I got this idea from a friend who recently had a baby, and I just loved her nursery letters! I really appreciated her filling me in on how to make these yourself rather than spending tons of money to have them made, so I figured I would pass this idea along to all of you! It’s simple, quick (it helps when you only have four letters to work with), and easily custom made for any name, color, or theme. Take a look and get crafty!

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The Before:

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Materials:

Wooden letters

Scrapbooking Paper

Scissors

Paper Glue

Scrapbook Stickers

Pencil

All of my materials were purchased at Michaels

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How to DIY:

1. Choose a scrapbooking paper print that you like and flip it over so you are looking at the back of the paper. You can choose all the same or a variety of patterns in the similar color palette depending on your preference.

2. Flip over your wooden letter and place that on top of the paper. It’s very important that these are both flipped over for tracing purposes!

3. Trace your wooden letter, and then use the scissors to cut out the letter shape from the scrapbooking paper.

4. Flip over both the scrapbooking paper and the wooden letter so they are now face up.

5. Use the paper glue adhesive to glue the scrapbooking paper to the top of the wooden letter. Press firmly and set aside to let it dry while continuing with your other letters and scrapbook paper patterns.

6. Once they are all dry, jazz up your letters with some fancy stickers or other types of adornments.

All finished and super easy!

Nico’s Nursery

I have been wanting to share these photos for awhile now, but had been holding off because I wanted Nico’s name to be a surprise until his arrival. Zack and I worked tirelessly on this nursery for a few weekends in a row to get those wall decals perfect and to make sure everything came together with the finishing touches. We purchased these dressers when we first moved to NYC, and we saved them and used them in the guest bedroom when we moved to Brooklyn. Rather than buy new dressers for the nursery, we figured these were the perfect color for the panda and monkey themed nursery we were planning. We have already spent many sleepless nights rocking Nico in the glider, and have spent many hours in this room for his diaper and wardrobe changes. He is currently sleeping in the bassinet in our room, but when he is older, we will eventually move him to his crib. We hope Nico will grow to love his nursery as much as we do!

Dressers: Gothic Cabinet Craft / Little Castle Swivel Glider: Target / Little Castle Gliding Ottoman: Target / Window Panels: Sweet JoJo Designs / Book Shelf: Target – similar / Crib: Babyletto / Panda Bank: Urban Outfitters / Panda Wall Decals: Etsy – Decal Lab / Monkey Wall Decals: Etsy – Simple Shapes / Wooden Letters: DIY (post to come soon) materials from Michaels / Panda Rug: Uncommon Goods / Green Rug: Sweet JoJo Deisgns

Today is Zack’s first day back to work, and it’s my first day at home alone with my little man. It’s definitely a lot of work to be on your own, and I applaud all single parents for being strong enough to do this! I should probably be sleeping right now (sleep when the baby sleeps right?), but I wanted to take advantage of his little nap by getting out this blog post today.

We had a great weekend with my sister and her boyfriend in town as well as my in-laws. My sister cooked us up a phenomenal meal, and we spent the two days hanging out, taking a little walk around the neighborhood, and snuggling our little monkey. Nico is a lucky boy to have so much love and family around him, and I couldn’t ask for a better support system.

Hope you all have a great week!

XO,

Gina

Skirt the Issue

Got an ever-growing baby bump, and can’t really wear sweats and a t-shirt to the office? No problem…skirt the issue! Luckily, I can pretty much wear whatever I want to work on a daily basis. However, when I have meetings or lunches with clients or advertising creatives, I do like to look presentable! This particular day, we were having a birthday lunch at the Mandarin Hotel for my boss and I, who both have our birthdays around the same time. The meal was delicious, and the view overlooking Central Park was even better. I scored this outfit at Motherhood Maternity, and both top and skirt are quite comfortable, yet presentable for the workplace.

Photos by: Zack Notes / Edited by: Myself

Skirt: Motherhood Maternity / Top: Motherhood Maternity / Shoes: Sam Edelman via Nordstrom Rack (sold out) – also like these / Sunnies: ModCloth / Bag: Longchamp / Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelets: Henri Bendel, Baublebar, Gorjana / Nails: Essie Rock the Boat / Lip: Lancome Groupie

My husband and I had a BUSY weekend. Unfortunately, we never made it to that Hester Street Fair (don’t worry girls, we will make it before August is through!). However, we made LOADS of progress on our little boy’s nursery. I completed all of my thank you cards, Zack installed the carseat and built the stroller. We figured out how to use all the stroller seats and attachments. We built the bassinet stand, swing, rock and play, and activity gym. We cleaned out the entire living room (so we can now sit on the couch), and found a place for almost everything, set up his dressers and started decorating the room. We decorated his name in wooden letters, adorned an entire wall in monkey and tree decals. We built a crib…loaded up shelves…I think there is actually more we completed if you can believe it, but my brain is too tired to think straight anymore! Not to mention my body. All this while 8 months prego, and a husband running a fever. I have to say, we were pretty proud of ourselves.

After all our hard work, we decided to treat ourselves to a little dinner out last night at a new restaurant in the neighborhood called Wheated. They boast fresh Neapolitan pizza. Let’s just say we will be returning! This whole area on Church Avenue is actually booming with new businesses and restaurants, so we discovered a whole slew of places that we need to try in the near future.

It’s a gorgeous day in NYC. If every day in August is like this for the rest of my pregnancy, I promise to never complain! It’s amazing. Hope you all had an awesome weekend, and wishing you a very wonderful week ahead!

XO,

Gina