sneak peaks.

with all the excitement of opening up shop, i forgot to give a much deserved shout-out! mad props to dana who walked me through getting started on *etsy and gave me some fabulous tips! if you haven't already, be sure to check out dana's blog and her shop -- she is truly an amazing designer and has a keen eye for awesomeness. luckily, the readers of her blog get to benefit from it. a gazillion and one thanks to you, dana!

last week, dana (and also kimberly) very kindly reminded me that i hadn't yet posted any more pictures of the nursery after showing you choi boy's crib.

would you like to see some more? (um, i sure hope so because there is a rather large number of pictures!)

we aren't *quite* done yet; there is special project i'm working on for the place above choi boy's crib and there are a few more little details i need to put in place. but, i love the way it looks so far.

here's the crib with the bedding:

(looking at the bed skirt, you can clearly tell that i love to iron.)

i love this bedding! i knew i wanted something that was neutral and not too cutesy. i saw this one and fell in love. the animals are very sweet but not overly commercial looking, and of course i had to have letters thrown in there somewhere!

the best part is the bumper. on each side is a word:




isn't it sweet? i love it. and what is so special is that it was given to me by former students/now second graders (well, their parents, really) at my surprise school shower thrown by my last year's kindergartners/now first graders -- didja get all that? ;)

oh, and in case you're wondering, i totally plan on having choi boy learn his capital letters through diffusion as he sleeps. :)

this is the top of the book shelf:

that's the hubs' old wisconsin license plate. don't you worry, fellow jersey girls, i plan on finding an old new jersey plate, too! the fire truck is from my shower -- one of my mom's friends is a florist and she sent an arrangment in that little truck. and of course, some familiar friends are hanging out up there, too.

here's one of my favorite details:

the blocks usually spell out choi boy's real name, but i wanted you to see where they'd be. i originally wanted to find some vintage alphabet blocks, but these were on clearance at my favorite store (t*rget!), so i couldn't resist.

look at all of choi boy's books! these are only the books we've gotten as gifts for him (or bought for him). i still have four boxes of books from my classroom, but i haven't decided if i want to put them in the room...i'm fairly certain there some kindergarten germs and definitely some boogers on them.

if you look closely, you can see the book plates i made for choi boy on the second shelf. i'll show you those in some special books another day!

in the corner is this chair:

right now, some jungle friends are warming it up for us. you can also see choi boy's prayer blanket and scary duckling and rabbit blanket on the chair.

the top of the dresser:


some close-ups:

we didn't get too many of the matching items that were offered with the bedding, but i just loved this lamp!


the little frame was found in the great closet clean-up of 2010 and i love that it matches our blog subtitle: life, love, laughter. the p*ttery barn frame was given to us several christmases ago but we never put a picture in it. we thought it was perfect for our first family photo. one of the hubs' favorite sayings is, "small things done with great love will change the world," and this frame says, "small things done with great love." there have been a lot of small things (in the grand scheme of things) that were done in great love to build our family!

here are some wooden sculptures we got when we were in the gambia, africa last summer with our church.

i don't know why, but i just love elephants and hippos. i always have. and i know hippos are vicious in real life, but something about them is just so darn cute! i once saw a pygmy hippo at the london zoo and i wanted to take it home with me. adorable!

this was a part of the decor at my shower:

aren't the pictures of choi boy so sweet? as you can see, we have yet to hang it up, but it will be so fun to track choi boy's growth on this chart! i'd also like to paint part of this wall (up to the light switch) with magnetic and chalkboard paint, so we'll see when that *actually* happens!

can't wait to put some more finishing touches in the room! you know what? the next time you see pictures of the nursery, choi boy will probably be *in* it! :)