Sunday 29 January 2012

A nice mistake


New parents make mistakes all the time. One of the mistakes that we made was to install a shelf over Alice's changing table. This arrangement worked like a charm until our daughter reached a point when changing her diaper and dressing her up looked like a Cirque du Soleil choreography!

We decided that it was a smart idea to remove the shelf before we accidentally hit her head on it and found ourselves at the ER with a bleeding baby (just thinking about this scenario gives me shivers). So after I patched and repainted the enormous holes made by the (many many many) gyprock screws I looked at the tall (11ft) bare wall and asked myself how I was going to fill such a big space.

After some research, I saw this sweet art print by Sugarboo Designs but the price was not in my limited budget. So for about $15 (the only thing we had to get was the vinyl lettering) I made my own art print. Since I'm not going to sell it (!) I have no shame saying that I totally copied, yet adapted, their Every Day I Love You print. I hope that nobody is offended by my little project.

Actually, at first, I just wanted red letters with a white background but the white paint that I got in our basement looked like thick glue (it adds texture Dan told me) and the letters were a real pain in the butt to remove (it is shabby chic Dan told me). This is when I added water and made a white wash (that I partly applied with my fingers) over the entire thing to hide some of the obvious technical problems and gives a more unified look to the painting.

We decided to make a bilingual painting because we want to make sure that Alice knows how I (French) and Dan (English) love her everyday...no favoritism ;)

Oh, I also made a few wooden shelves but that is for another post.

* * * * *

gimbo: Living in the moment is so so so difficult. You made me laugh a lot with your "I'm married to a hoarder who seems to just create stuff out of thin air"! And you are so right, a crawling baby is very intense...especially when we all have a cold. Let me tell you that I was not living in the moment during that entire week. Take care and have a lovely week. xox

11 comments:

Anne said...

Bravo! It looks great.

Bess Callard said...

I love it! J'adore! It turned out great, love the shabby-chic look :)

Jennifer said...

It's just lovely Claudia! I love that it's bilingual :)

gillian said...

Looks fantastic, Claudia! I'm glad you posted about the shelving no-no. I was actually considering hanging a shelf above Mia's table to house her changing goodies, but after reading this, I will have to come up with a cleverer solution that does not involve possible baby injury (and mommy injury?) I too "borrowed" someone else's artwork idea for a framed print I have yet to hang above her change table. I swear I will get to it at some point! Have they invented a cloning machine yet for new moms?

UK lass in US said...

Aw, it's lovely!

We just used a mat on the floor for changes - my two were such wrigglers that it just seemed easier that way.

ohmmumma said...

I would LOVE to be so clever :)
How wonderful that you princess can see this everyday x

The Franglaise said...

It looks great! Bravo! Tu as toujours idées geniales. Merci de les partager ici avec nous. Bises

kate / tinywarbler said...

hi stranger! finally catching up after a ridiculous january.
-love this! you did a great job.
-trying to live in the moment but it can be hard! i love your list, i need to do those things more too.
-poor snotty baby! don't they break your heart sometimes?
-happy new year to you and your family! xo

bugheart said...

love love love it.
must make one too.
maybe i will
add spanish too.
:)

Jacinthe said...

C'est beau!!!
J'aurais besoin de ton expertise pour faire un All you need is love. Love is all you need à PO...

So cool but 300$!?! Really!?!

Hollister UK said...

love that it's bilingual! I swear I will get to it at some point! Have they invented a cloning machine yet for new moms? looking forward to all the good things your blog shares