Crystal Madrilejos

A lot of the projects that we post on here are either made by myself or by Andrew but this project was a cooperative effort between the two of us: a co-sleeper for the baby.

We decided to go the co-sleeper route for the first few months while I’m on maternity leave. If you’re unfamiliar with what a co-sleeper is, you can learn more here. It is basically a 3-sided bassinet that attaches to the side of the bed. They come in all different types and sizes. Since I will be nursing, we figured it would be easier to have the baby there next to me rather than me getting out of bed every two hours to go into the other room. BUT at the same time, not have the baby IN the bed with us.

Most co-sleepers on the market are big bulky things that involve many parts and can convert into other things like a free standing crib or a playpen. We wanted something really simple made from basic materials. With inspiration from this “Culla Belly” prototype we saw on swissmiss we made our own version.

I’ll let Andrew embellish more on the actual construction since he was responsible for that part. The parts I was responsible for were the wool felted sides, the mattress, and the mattress cover. Remember way back when I posted about making big pieces of felted alpaca wool? Well, this is what those were for. We knew we wanted felt sides but didn’t want to throw down the cash for industrial wool that would hold its shape on its own. So we improvised.

Here are the sides: They are made from are felt sewn around pieces of heavy cardboard and then sewn together.

The mattress: I sewed together remnants from the sides and layered them between two pieces of the alpaca felt.

The mattress cover: I crocheted a wool mattress cover just in case the baby springs a leak. I doubled the yarn while crocheting to make sure it was nice and dense (I used Lion’s Brand Fisherman’s Wool in Nature’s Brown) then felted it in the washing machine. If baby has an accident I can just throw the cover in the wash and not worry about washing the whole mattress.

Currently, I’m working on making little sheets but right now we just used a pillow case that fits surprisingly well. Check back soon for a post from Andrew on the construction.

–c.

The trees in our yard have been bare for a few weeks now but before all the leaves fell I was able to get a few shots of them in their full autumn glory! I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week. Where did the time go?

p.s. The glass circle hanging from the tree is a beautiful bird feeder by Eva Solo that we got for our wedding from our friend Iliana. We used to have it hanging on our porch but the birds loved it so much that they made such a mess all the time!

–c.

Our lives have been on hold for the past few weeks while waiting for our furnace to be replaced. We had to dismantle our craft closet and the contents have been strewn about cluttering up our living room. Also our whole upstairs has been in disarray since they had to put in new duct work that required us to move things from their designated areas.

This week the furnace dudes were finally able to make it out to our house. We now have a lovely new efficient furnace and vents on the second floor, which it was sorely lacking before. We are warm and toasty but our house looks like a war-zone and we now have the task of getting this place back in order. This weekend will be dedicated to this and I’m hoping to have more posts for next week!

Until then, I’ll leave you to be awe-inspired by this blog: Resurrection Fern

[Image via Resurrection Fern on etsy]

–c.

Good lighting always puts me in a good mood.

–c.

I forgot to mention in my last post that a few good friends of ours chipped in and for our wedding got us a substantial gift card so that we could buy the table saw. Andrew’s been wanting one forever.

Also, last year one of our local hardware stores closed down and had a huge sale. Andrew found this.

–c.

I was thinking that this post would be an update, but I was looking back at the archives and realized that I have never posted about our workshop in the barn. The farmhouse that we live in, like most farmhouses, has a barn. Andrew remembers when he was young and horses were in the field and in the barn. They were taken care of by a woman named Marge. The horses and Marge are gone and the barn is pretty much empty except for some hay the Towne’s use for the alpacas and a ton of wood scraps.

When we first moved in almost all the stalls still had old hay in them from when the horses were around. We had to wear masks while cleaning it out because it was an allergy nightmare.

Basically, this is what it looked like before and while we were cleaning it out:

And this is what it looks like now:

Thanks to my brother TJ for all his help getting the barn into shape. In the past year the workshop has produced a dining room table, a bed frame/desk, a toy chest, a stool, a compost bin, a trellis, a kid’s desk, Hungarian shelves, and a storage box for pool supplies (I’m sure I’m forgetting somethings)!

–c.

One of the many great things about living in Ohio is we finally have more room to make things. During the really cold months it’s a little more difficult because the barn is too cold to work in for extended periods of time. We have a basement where it is possible to do work as well, but the ceiling is really low and Andrew has to duck every time he goes down there.

Last summer we found this school desk at a junk shop for $18 and fixed it up for our niece. The whole thing was covered in layers of paint and was all around ugly.

We stripped all the paint off the wood, refinished it, repainted the metal parts and added my nieces last name across the top corner. Voila! Brand new desk.

–c.

The first few months of our move from NYC back to Ohio revolved almost entirely around fixing up the farmhouse. So much time was spent (and still is) on fixing up the house and we’ve barely posted anything about it. The only posts that we do have about the renovation are mainly to bitch and moan about how back breaking the work was. So, finally we have some photos to show for it. I wanted to wait and put the photos side-by-side before I posted them and I’ve finally put them together. There aren’t pictures of the entire house because there are rooms that are still a mess (not because of renovations necessarily, but because we need to clean!).

One day… For now, enjoy these! We definitely are!

The first few months of our move from NYC back to Ohio revolved almost entirely around fixing up the farmhouse. So much time was spent (and still is) on fixing up the house and we’ve barely posted anything about it. The only posts that we do have about the renovation are mainly to bitch and moan about how back breaking the work was. So, finally we have some photos to show for it. I wanted to wait and put the photos side-by-side before I posted them and I’ve finally put them together. There aren’t pictures of the entire house because there are rooms that are still a mess (not because of renovations necessarily, but because we need to clean!).

One day… For now, enjoy these! We definitely are!