I know most people reveal photos of their nursery before their baby arrives… but here we are mere days before Anastasia turns three months old. Oh well, better late than never, right? A few days ago I finalllllllly hung the last part of the gallery wall and called it complete. For now. Until I find some other knickknack that I can convince Domenick also belongs on the wall and most definitely won’t make it look “cluttered” (unfortunately for him, he thinks our whole apartment is cluttered already. I call it “homey”).  Also please note you are only seeing one part of the nursery because the other part is filled with all the crap I took out of the pictured portion to make it look presentable #reallife. Enjoy!

First up for the decor is my pride and joy, this homemade name painting/ floral garland. I dedicated all of my “free time” during week 4 of Anastasia’s life putting this together. The painting was the easy part- acrylic paint on a regular 16×20 canvas from some craft store. The garland was much harder. I bought the silver dollar eucalyptus from Trader Joe’s and dried it out by hanging it upside down from a lamp over night. I bought two clusters of silk peonies (silk being a fancy word for fake- but I like the way it sounds better!) from Joann’s that really hit the nail on the head. Had I not found such great flowers there, there’s no way this would’ve turned out as good as it did! Then to put them all together I used wire, green floral tape (both bought on Amazon) and lots of hot glue. The garland is hot glued to the canvas which is supporting the weight well so far. It was definitely a process but so worth it in the end. Anastasia is named after my great grandmother Anastasia (who went by Stella, a common Eastern European nickname for Anastasia). Domenick and I loved that it means resurrection and it felt so appropriate for many reasons- I found out I was pregnant on Holy Saturday, becoming a mom has been its own sort of death and rebirth for me, and I hope that in her future, Anastasia will also embrace the beauty that comes from enduring pain before being reborn into something even better. Her middle name, Therese, is after both St. Therese and my grandmother, Therese (who went by Terry). St. Therese is my confirmation namesake but also the saint to which Domenick and I have entrusted our marriage. He proposed the weekend of her feast day at a church named after her. She has seen me through many highs and lows and honoring her with the name of our firstborn only felt natural.

Onwards to the middle portion of this gallery wall! The top “A” is hand drawn and cut out by yours truly, because the printer didn’t print A’s large enough (haha!). I bought a sheet of Rifle Paper Co. wrapping paper (because if you know me then you know my obsession) and cut it for the background. The top and right photos are framed Rifle Paper Co. cards that were given to me when Anastasia was born. The “give grace freely” print was a piece of swag from the Creative at Heart conference I attended, crafted by the lovely Bonnie Bakhtiari from the BisforBonnie Etsy shop. The Our Lady of Guadalupe picture was a gift from my mom. Three years ago my mom and I consecrated ourselves to Mary on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (curious about Marian consecration? read this!) on December 12. Ironically or not, Anastasia was born on December 12, 2017. Our Lady was definitely with me through my whole labor and delivery process and I love that my daughter and her now share a day! The rosary around the picture was my mom’s gift to Anastasia on her baptism.

Last but not least, I am IN LOVE with this print from Studio Senn. It’s got a watercolor saint for every letter of the alphabet. She has so many beautiful pieces on her Instagram and her Etsy site- I highly recommend checking it out! The eucharisto painting was something I did a few years ago after being inspired by Ann Voskamp’s 1000 Gifts.

 

And there you have it! The only presentable wall of the nursery! Now off to clean the rest of the house… 🙂