DIY Project: Plush Animal Art

I saw this project on Project Nursery:

Photo of inspiration:
Lombard St. Nursery by Steamed Artichoke Studio

I thought that it fit in exactly with our theme and decided to try it out. I went to Ikea to grab the shadowboxes and checked out their selection of tiny soft toys:

They didn't have the panda, they had a mouse which didn't fit the theme, and the crocodile's legs just looked a little bizarre from the side view. I actually grabbed a bunch of the very three in the inspiration picture. My good friend who was with me at Ikea, upon seeing the 50 cent tiny plushies, mentioned that we could just get some fishing line and make ourselves a mobile. I had checked the pet store for some alternate choices, and my husband had mentioned we could just buy a second mobile and cut the animals off of it to frame. That seemed an awful waste of a mobile, but if I see a cheap secondhand mobile, I might do just that. For now, though, we have the Ikea elephant, lion, and hippo framed up, and I have to say, it's super cute.

I used chocolate paper for the background so the animals would pop more, and I may add some aqua ribbon hangers to it later. Here is the completed project (unhung because the walls aren't painted yet) are in all its glory:

Baby's Progression in Ultrasounds...

I've had more ultrasounds than most, including a 5 week one that is not pictured below. At my doctor's office, it's better safe than sorry, so they like to check things out whenever there's a whisper of a concern. It's pretty cool to see how our baby is progressing, and so long as everything remains normal, it's going to be a long wait until our next ultrasound at 32 weeks. I thought I would share my baby's progression in ultrasounds!

Ultrasound, 6 weeks (10/3/2008)

Heartbeat: 113bpm. The pregnancy looks good, but not yet deemed viable by the doctor's office.

Ultrasound, 7 weeks (10/10/2008)

Heartbeat: 136bpm; head-to-rump: 0.945cm. The big circular thing on top is the yolk sac, the bean looking thing below that is the baby. At this point, it is deemed a viable pregnancy.

Ultrasound, 12 weeks (11/14/2008)

Heartbeat: 161bpm; head-to-rump: 6cm. Nuchal translucency testing looks great, ultrasound technician thinks she seems signs as to the sex of the baby, but the baby quickly crosses its ankles and refuses to let her confirm her suspicions.

Ultrasound, 16.5 weeks (12/15/2008)

Suspicions confirmed: it's a boy!

Ultrasound, 20 weeks (1/7/2009)

Heartbeat: 150bpm. Everything looks good with baby, who seemed annoyed at the intrusion during his anatomy scan! Estimated weight: 13oz, almost a pound!