Baby's Finished (Budget) Nursery

My husband and I have been working on the finishing touches for the nursery.

Here is the big "reveal" and a little advice on putting together a nursery without spending a bundle!

We have a really small house, so Baby's room is a little compact.

One side of the room is all of the changing supplies.

 Along with the growth chart made by my sister. 

She did such a great job with it! I love that hedgehog on top! 

The changing table was a fun little project to do. It was my dresser when I was a little girl. I will tell you how to repaint laminate furniture soon!

The tiger postcard and elephant painting were found by my mom, and the vintage grocery wire rack was found at a garage sale for $8. Perfect for a little nursery shelf!

In the two top dresser drawers are cloth diapers. The covers and burp clothes on one side,

And the diaper inserts and doublers on the other side! 

The other side of the room is storage, the rocker, and the crib. 

The wall hanging was made by my husband's mother and the quilt on the crib was made by my mom.

It was so fun that ALL of our family members really helped out in making and finding stuff for our baby! What a blessing to have such wonderful people in our lives!!

I love this rocker! My mom found it for $5 at a garage sale and remade the cushions out of a queen-sized Herringbone patterned blanket. She did such a fantastic job!! I can't wait to rock my baby boy in it :)

The last part of the nursery is the bookcase. Which is one of the only things we have for storage. 

* FUN FACT: Our little rental home only has one closet in the whole house. That's right, ONE. So we have to get a little creative with storage sometimes :)

Our bookcase contains 6 of these covered baskets from Target. They are perfect for keeping small things like hats and socks contained and organized! I also added little tags with baker's twine so I know what is where!!

Now the only thing left to do is wait for baby to come!! :)

Budget Breakdown:

- Changing table: Table = Free (Already had it)
             Spray Paint = $24
             Knobs = $35

- Wire Rack = $8 (Found at a Garage Sale)

- Crib = $4 (My mom found this gem at a Garage Sale!)

- Rocker = $5 for the rocker + $60 for the Target blanket

- Bookcase = FREE (My sister was getting rid of it!)

- Wall Art = FREE (for family gifts) + $35 for a matted 5x7 frame for the Tiger and 3 4x6 frames
              + $9 for post cards

- Other accessories were mostly gifts from the baby shower!

My Freezer Meal Weekend!

I have 4 weeks of pregnancy left. Let me tell you, I am definitely able to do less and less at a time before I get worn out!

One thing I CAN still do though, is cook and bake! Which is fantastic, because it is one of my FAVORITE things to do! :)

Because I know I am not going to want to cook anything for a couple of weeks after giving birth, I decided to stock up my freezer with lots of goodies to keep our little family fed and energized while we're getting used to our new life together.

Currently in my freezer:

2 Loafs Banana Bread
4 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies (Frozen in cookie-sized dough form)
1 Pan of Pizza Hotdish
2 Dozen Pancakes
1 Dozen Twice-Baked Potatoes
2 Pizza Doughs

Adding today:

2 Loafs Zucchini Bread
3 Dozen Quinoa Pizza Bites

Still on my list to add:

More Pizza Dough
Tortilla Soup
Chili
Turkey Pot Pie
Biscuits
Cinnamon Rolls
Anything else I am feeling up to making :)


Most of this I have done within the last 3 days.

Here's How:

Friday:
I baked 6 large red potatoes while I was cooking/baking my 2 batches of Pizza Hot Dish (One to eat that night, one to freeze) The potatoes went to cool in the fridge that night and 1 of the casseroles went to the freezer.

{*TIP* When your oven is on, USE IT! This may seem simple, but one of the best tips I have for you is to bake two or three things at a time when your oven is on. Just make sure everything bakes at the same temperature and keep a close eye on it!}

The whole process took an hour and a half because the noodles and meat for the hot dish needed to be cooked first.

Saturday:
I cut baked potatoes in half, scooped out the centered and blended that with a little almond milk, garlic powder and cheese. Scoop this mixture back into the potatoes and press a little extra shredded cheese on top. (You can mix other spices, omit the cheese, add butter, etc. to this recipe, this is just how I made them)

Flash freeze these on a cookie sheet. Meanwhile, mix up your favorite cookie dough!

Remove the potatoes, place them in a freezer bag, and write directions on how to cook them (Bake at 350 for 30-40 min. Defrost first!). Use the cookie sheet to place individual cookie dough balls in the freezer. These you will also place in a freezer bag once they are initially frozen!

I then cooked 1 cup of quinoa (made 3 cooked cups!) while I made 2 batches of my favorite pizza dough to freeze. That way I felt like I was using my time wisely in the kitchen!

{*TIP* Just like the oven, when you are in your KITCHEN, use your time to your advantage! Cook rice, pasta, quinoa, or meat to use at a later day that week! You'll be able to keep a good eye on it and save time another day!}

When the cookies are frozen, place them in the freezer bag with directions on how to bake (Add 1 or 2 minutes and check them often when baking! My recipe needs 4 extra minutes!). Use the cookie sheet to freeze the pizza dough in a ball that will fit your freezer bags (I used quart sized for each of my dough balls).

Place your quinoa in the fridge for another day!

Not sure how long this process took me as I took a few breaks this day :) But I would guess no more than 2 hours, not counting freezing time.

Sunday:
I started with my quinoa at about 10:30 this morning. I made a batch and a half of Quinoa Pizza Bites for our freezer. When these were in the oven, I used the time to wash the dishes and mix up my zucchini bread recipe. These went in the oven right after the quinoa bites and now I am ready to add all of them to the freezer! 3 hours only!

So in only took 7 hours split up over a couple of days. Not bad! Totally doable for those who are on a time crunch and cannot spend a whole day in their kitchen!