Nursery Update [the great bumper debacle]

I'm sure everyone knows by now that bumpers in cribs are terrible. Terrible things. A baby can get caught up in the bumper and the experts say to not put them on a crib at all. Yet, all the crib bedding sets are still sold with quilt (which you aren't supposed to use with a baby), a bumper (not supposed to use that either), and a bed skirt. And these crib sets are super expensive.

($190 from Target)

You can see from the picture above that I listened to recommendations and did not use a crib bumper, or a crib quilt. And I used a curtain draped over the bottom of the crib as a "skirt."

The generic jungle-esque sheet is from Target for $12. Everything was working great until my not-so-little baby with his chubby thighs became mobile and started inserting his legs between the crib rails.

It doesn't take too many naps interrupted by crib-rail-tourniquet syndrome before I was on the lookout for a crib bumper. The thing is, cute jungle-y crib bumpers are not sold outside of the illusive "sets." You can find breathable mesh "rail protectors", but the reviews are not great for those. You can also find solid color bumpers for about $30-$40 sold separately.

When I came across a free bumper at our MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) swap, I quickly snatched it up.

And then shuddered after putting it on the crib. I have nothing against sports themed baby boy rooms, but the combination of sports and safari was more than my Martha-wanna-be mind could handle.

I had some extra jungle-giraffe fabric and a curtain panel (the other one is being used as the crib skirt).

I took measurements and sewed one really, really long sleeve for the bumper, giraffe on one side, plain taupe on the other and I used the curtain's tab tops for the ties.

I left both ends open so I could slide the bumper into the sleeve.

Then, I sewed straight seams down from the ties to keep the original bumper in place and I also finished off the ends.

The bumper now coordinates with the room (both Rem and I can sleep easier now). And no more legs through the rails. The bumper solved the problem completely.

Another change to the room since Rem's arrival is the woven grass rug we got in Africa in '06. I originally had it on the floor and it looked great, but was a major hassle because it was alway sliding around and puckering under the furniture.

I hung it on the wall under a cool elephant picture made out of bamboo -- a gift from a friend (from Kenya I think). The whole rug on the wall thing will work okay until Rem is pulling himself up. For now, it adds something to the wall and I still get to enjoy it.

Jeff said, "Wow, you put a rug on the wall."

I always enjoy his reactions to my decorating madness.