STONE STEVEN'S NURSERY

It was such a fun challenge to turn my daughters nursery into my sons. It went from full on girl world to a tiny man cave in the best way.

*You will be able to find all the sources and links at the bottom of this post!

For my daughter, I intentionally purchased staple items that would be gender neutral, so we were able to keep most of the big items in her room and used them in his. We repurposed the dresser, nightstand, lamp, mirror, Keekaroo changer pad, rocker, and wicker baskets. Below is her sweet nursery, and the room I would turn into my sons! This is the starting point.

As I was dreaming up his space, the pieces I knew I needed to change were the rug, crib and crib skirt, vase and florals, books, wall paint, chair, and art.

Since this was our first son, there were two pieces of keepsake art that I wanted to have hanging in his room. These would be the anchor pieces for this space!

The first was a picture of his great, great, great grandfather (yes, 3 greats!) with his great, great grandfather. Josh’s mom gifted this photo to all of her kids a few Christmases ago, and I finally got to use it in a meaningful place in our home. Stone Steven is named after his Papa, Steve, and it is so special to see the generations of Craft men that have gone before Stone every time I walk in his room. I antiqued the frame and it is just the perfect anchor piece.

The second piece that I wanted to source was a bronze custom plaque that would hold his name and birth year. We hope to give this to Stone when he leaves our home as a piece he can hang in his own home. I was born and raised in New England, and I am always inspired by the custom plaques they have on the front of their homes telling a small story about who lived in the home and what year it was established. It was so fun to bring my love for New England into this space. I cannot recommend the plaque company enough. They even sent custom screws along with the plaque.


I hope you love this transformation as much as I do. Thank you always to my dear friend, Kelsey Wilson, for capturing these early days with our son in his tiny space. We cherish them!

Stone is named after the passage in the Bible in Joshua 4. “And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.

SOURCES AND LINKS

NURSERY

*All of the frames were antiqued, as well as the bronze car, the airplane, the stool, and the kids chairs. The ‘Hardy Boys’ books are keepsakes from Joshua’s dad.

CLOTHING

HOMEMADE SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

There is nothing sweeter than homemade ornaments on your tree at Christmas. We are team special ornaments all the way!

Every year for my girls first Christmases, I have made handprint and footprint salt dough ornaments. I was really intimated by them at first, but they are surprisingly easy, and so special. This year, we made some fun picture frame salt dough ornaments for Ever to gift to her friends, and she even painted one so we can remember her little artwork by!

Here are the items you will need to make your own:

  • Flour

  • Water

  • Salt (I used Pink Himalayan salt for that touch of blush for the girls!)

  • Something to press into the dough to cut out shapes (I used the lid of an Almond butter jar - you don’t have to be fancy. You can get creative with items in your kitchen)

  • A sturdy straw to press a hole into the ornaments (These ones are similar to what I use)

  • Ribbon (This one is my favorite)

  • Wax Paper

  • Baking Sheet or Pampered Chef Stone

  • Cooling Racks (These are similar to ours)

  • Poly Spray (This is the one we used)

  • Rolling Pin (This is the one we have an love)

  • Hot glue gun (If you want to make the picture frame ones!)

 
 
 
 

HOMEMADE SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

Prep: 5 mins | COOK TIME: 2-2.5 hours

  • 2 cups of flour

  • 1 cup of salt

  • 1 cup warm water

I - Mix all 3 ingredients into a bowl or a kitchen aid mixer bowl. Mix throughly.

II - Take salt dough in hands and knead it until it is soft.

III - Place salt dough on wax paper on a table. Use rolling pin to flatten the salt dough.

IV - Cut out your desired shapes! If you are doing handprints and footprints, grab your little one and have your spouse or friend help you press down. You will want to make the imprint deeper than you think so that it stays after you heat them. *Make sure to use to straw to press a hole into the cut out to make sure you have a way to hang them!

V - Place cut outs on a Pampered Chef Stone or your baking sheet. Cook for 2-2.5 hours @ 225 degrees.

VI - Place cut outs on cooling rack and let sit overnight. From here, you can paint them, add photos, hot glue multiples together, or so much more.

VII - Bring cut outs outside and lay on wax paper. Spray them with the poly spray and let them dry for 45 minutes. Turn them over, and repeat.

VIII - Add your ribbon or string! Then, you are ready to hang them on the tree of gift them!

I hope you enjoy making these as much as we have every year for our girls first Christmases. I have a feeling these will be keepsakes for your tree for a very long time.

Sincerely-

Ash