Hand-painted Cradle

I was going to post a tutorial today but it's not finished (or even really started), and since I took like a million photos, I decided to break it up into two posts instead. 

I made some sheets for this cradle we're borrowing from Noah's sister, but since the cradle is so sweet, I took a bunch of photos that show off the cradle more than the sheets!

When she was expecting one of her younger girls, Noah's sister found the cradle at a garage sale. She brought it home, fixed it up, and gave it a fresh coat of paint... 

...then she turned it over to her grandma, who added all the hand-painted little details. (Gigi is a wonderful artist...and she makes the best quilts and Christmas stockings!)

The hearts and flowers are pretty, but of course the sheep are my favorite part!

We didn't use the cradle for Abe because there wasn't room in our bedroom at the time, but we only have two bedrooms, so the new baby will have to share with someone! Since we don't want her waking Abe up every few hours, we rearranged our room to make room for the cradle, and she'll sleep in there until she outgrows it or starts sleeping through the night. It's so sweet, I'm glad we finally get to use it!

Check back tomorrow for a tutorial on how to make fitted sheets for cradles and bassinets. It's easier than you'd think!