I just love Emma Bridgewater Pottery. I dont know if it started when i visited England or simply by seeing her things displayed in kitchen photo shoots BUT i love it all..especially this pattern and..oh how i love the polka dots.

and if you have little boys…oh my! this is precious..i’ve always wanted to get this for Drew because of his love for tractors and let’s face it..john deere plastic in my sink is just NOT beautiful living for mommy! I love the way it says “lorries”!;; BUT, Baby Henry just received the Royal Doulton Bunnykins set on Saturday and boy it is precious too.. even little boys need special things, right?! of course!

BUT as much as i love Emma Bridgewater (i have two 8.5″ plates that say bubble and squeak! love that..thanks honey) and a big cake plate..i also have some knockoffs from Marshalls and Cost Plus..i mix it all together and while i love the shape, quality and weight of the the Emma B pottery, it is not WHITE, my other stuff is WHITE..do any of you have her pottery and notice this??? of course it all still mixes great together and with plain white dishes too which is my favorite thing to do.. Also it is not cheap or easy to buy stateside..so if anyone has a good source, please share with us…i just love “dishes”..old and new, fine and utilitarian!

Yesterday, my friends blessed me with a precious baby shower. Cant wait to share pictures..but until then, check out this great pastry chef.. .HALEY GLASCO of the Muffin Top (isnt that a cute name?!) she made BEAUTIFUL cupcakes (think nests, birds, little fondant letters..so cute)and if you look on her site, she does much much more..SOOO if you live near Brenham, Texas, you need to check her out..she is very talented and SWEET! (get it, sweet;;;)…stay tuned, more pictures coming soon! get ready for baby-fest the next few weeks..this is your warning!

today kelly is doing her master bedroom home tour..i have missed most of her rooms but i will try to participate in this one…except, i dont really have a wide shot of my room! I mean i know i do, but i cant find it..so i will give you little closeups and try to post a wide shot later or find my old BHG pictures which are much better…

first off, our bedroom is really long, like a bowling alley, so we have the king size bed at one end and a comfy chair (ektorp from IKEA slipped in white with a garage sale ottoman (big enough to change a baby on) also slipped in white) and a desk and computer. The walls are SW urban putty which i love..the furniture is SAD yall, SAD! seriously i need to take a picture of this place in town where i bought our tv armoire, but it is awesome..it has FAUX chinoserie fretwork on it, a la 1970! looks great painted black, as does my Marcia Brady dresser, and even my broyhill college bookcase (all black) along with the extremely expensive Bombay Company nightstand and Hepplewhite chest of drawers;; Its all about expensive antiqus in this room!.. Seriously, I love this room but it is a hodge podge which is fine. For instance the headboard is my parents OLD jenny lind headboard that my mom had “made” in the 1970s from a full size..YEP she had it PIECED TOGETHER and behind that to give some height i have a SHABBY screen filled with leftover fabric from my bedding.

On to the bedding, Kelly mentioned white in the bedroom. Now we dont have dogs but we have a four year old and he had colic and reflux BAD! and well i love our white matelesse coverlets, sheets and slipcovers. WHy?? becuase they can be bleached and boraxed! I’ve had the Ralph Lauren guinevere floral bedskirt and shams for over 10 years (In fact the bedskirt is a queen that i “retrofitted” or mistreated as the Nester would say to fit our new king”..so for ten years our bed has been the same, i just switch out the white mattelesse every 3-4 years or when i find one for $29 at TJ Maxx, they usually shring from washing before they even get too stained. and i occassionally update the center throw pillow and thats it.. YES it is a tad tired but with another baby on the way and more spit up ineveitable, i think i will wait a few years before i invest in this direction;;

Oh and i used guinevere flat sheets for panels to cover the sliding glass doors at the end of the room..i will try to find a picture! For those of you who love Guinivere (there is probably a fan club on facebook i get so many emails about this fabric) it is discontinued from Ralph BUT you can still get it on ebay..just be careful..some of it is “weird”..they also made this print in an upholstery fabric.

thanks for looking!

here is another “in progress” sneak peak from my own home. With the addition of another child under age 5, we really have had to switch around rooms and beds because I am not ready to put “big brother” upstairs..
our house was built in 1941 and the upstairs is very set apart from the rest of the house..so mom was not ready to have her “big baby” up there..so we moved him in to the dining room, moved the dining room onto the porch, baby into brother’s room and brother’s “toddler” bed (which is twin) upstairs…which meant getting rid of the pretty iron bed in the BHG shabby room..but i was ready to let go of some of that girly stuff

..it has been liberating to de-pink the room and add lots of linen, blacks and white..it is stil in progress, in fact i am working on some burlap cafe curtains as we speak (to cover the window unit behind the bed..yuk) with cute ivory twill ties. Isnt that textile piece on the end of the bed so wonderful?? from a friend’s time in Uzbekistan! so stay tuned for more on this room and more on using empty frames and getting the right mix..enjoy [p.s. in case you are wondering the before shots are up top and i know many of you shabby girls willl like them best, they are after all professional photos by Colleen Duffley but i promise the bottom images will eventually yield a more updated look!;;;;) i hope! ha!

baby girl spencer2 by shabbymama on Polyvore.com

I am working on two rooms via internet right now..which works out great for me since i am rolly polly pregnant and it is getting HOT here in South Texas..so YES i do online consultations (email with any interest) and here is another example..everything on this board will not be used, that is sort of the point, brainstorming and then we will refine..we need to edit the fabrics (the pink houndstooth will be going probably as will the darker minky dot I am sure) but it really helps to see everything pulled together..some things like the clock and tiara are just for “mood” and we may never put in the room..and the christening gown may end up being white smocked Feltmans hanging on a peg board, surely we can find several china plates with pink flowers for a grouping and the silhouettes will probably be pink on white to go on the latte (actually it is Ashen tan from Ben Moore) walls ..so it will not be exactly the same but gets us on the same page to start off and move forward..the pink toile is Cental Park from fabric.com and it is going to be long panel drapes..for sure because mom ordered the fabric;; AND see the fabric “stack” in the top left corner..that is a grouping of yummy fabrics that the mom is making into a quilt.love that!..SO click on the image to go polyvore and see sources for everything else…and yes i know i use a monogram and brown polka dot in every kid/nursery room..i am aware of this problem;; “its my thing” as Little Bill says.. thanks for looking!

hudson’s room by shabbymama on Polyvore.com

Hudson’s mommy and I are just getting started on this (actually she’s been at it a while, SHE painted those stripe walls, arent they fab?!) We are narrowing fabrics..here is a first glimpse mom…let me know what you think..and yall let us know if you run across anything interesting with a dog motif..vintage, labs especially..we want be careful what we choose but Hudson loves his dog and his room is going to be darling!

[sources: click on image to go to polyvore and view sources. all fabrics from Premier except plaid which is from Calico Corners, monogram image is from Leontine and silhoutte is from Patty Cake Press. Basket is from 1stdibs.]

OK, believe it or not i am going to post about something NOT baby-related (except my being interested in cleaning is probably only because i am nesting but dont panic..i wont post a picture of a nest)..instead PLEASE tell me you have seen these MR CLEAN MAGIC ERASER Mops…supposedly they exist..i MUST have one..i have these black and white linoleum floors and they are AWFUL to keep clean..especially the pure white tiles (who cares what ecoli is growing on the black tiles, i just want the white ones CLEAN!)..before i would just get down on my hands and knees and scrub with the magic erasers (not that often but if i wanted it really clean it worked) yesterday i thought “wow, i wonder if i could duct tape the magic eraser to my swiffer wet jet (which really does nothing but get off sticky when it comes to my floors)..then i realized “duh, just google it, this probably exists” and sure enough i found MENTION of the magic eraser mop but no place to buy (not at drugstore.com and amazon.com says unavailable…panic!) i am hoping when i walk in Target tomorrow they will have them in stock..have yall had any luck using or finding this product??! If not, there is always duct tape! (or i can join the Magic eraser fan club message board (yes it exists) and surely they wil know;;

p.s. I did find this on the main Mr Clean site..maybe this is it?? but it does not look like what is pictured to the left (that i found on the amazon website)?????? such a mystery!;

and isnt my cute vintage-y Mr Clean poster cute?? from art.com!

Well i finally got it finished so here is a sneak peek..by the time i “reveal” the nursery it is going to be very anti-climatic because i have shown so much already..oh well. First off, let me say I am not much on vinyl decals (just me, no offense to those who love them), and i would still like to trace and paint this tree BUT for the cost and ease of installation, it really does look great and much better than the big mobile i had there, the mobile was a steal from PBKids but just not the right scale..i got this tree from www.dalidecals.com (in good ol’ Asheville, NC!) and the white vinyl is matte and looks great. The shape of the tree mirrors the botantical (we dont say floral yall) accent fabric so well..I never knew i was going this direction but here it is and i love it! And the really cool thing is I love Isaiah 61:3 and so this tree is sort of a symbol of our prayer for Baby Henry..that he will be a planting of the Lord for God’s glory! In fact, i think i will write the scripture in white paint pen up the tree trunk!;;.

[tree-dali decals, crib fabrics, inside bumper-linen dot from calico corners, exterior of bumper and white linen ties and welting from fabric.com, brown pillow from target, dog pillow is Amy Coe from Babiesrus, monogram pillow from a now closed monogram shop (a lot of monogram shops sell this basic smocked pillow i have noticed), pooh bear from target ca. 2004;),drapery fabric from fabric.com too, the pillow with the brown rick rack trim(hobby lobby trim) is made from a THomas O'brien tea towel from Target and last but not least, the white bella notte bed sheet from Wildflower--i will tell you later what happened to the cribskirt that matched it..still getting over it;;)oh and paint is Laura Ashley Stone 2 from Lowes]

“..that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD,that he may be glorified.” IS 61:3

I am not joking, maybe i should be..but what do you think of this..for a baby girl’s nursery..there must be a fan..smallish room so not a lot of extra corner space for seperate little chandelier to hang and of course the mom and I want her to have a cute little light?? a part of me screams NO!!!!!!!!! another part thinks “well we could cover the shades in a little tan stripe and add a very simple strand of bling, nothing diva-ish” thoughts?? am i losing ALL credibility?? if so, i blame it on pregnancy!;;

35 weeks and growing! This should probably go on my “personal” blog but i am having a hard time keeping up with both so here it is! Can you tell Drew is both tired and hungry (we just got out of church and he is ready for lunch!)