My sweet pea niece Lydia warm and cozy in the wee hour sunshine as she snuggles with her
crocheted traditional granny square baby afghan handmade by my darling mother-in-law Beverly. You can view this granny square baby afghan and other crocheted creations by Beverly her in her delightful Etsy shop:
"Maddie's Trinkets and Bobbles".
On April 4th we welcomed my precious little niece Lydia into this world, she is our blessed little angel baby filled with love, warmth, and cute little baby noises! I absolutely adore her and I treasure our long afternoon cuddles and playtime with her big (almost 3 year old) brother Bobby. My twin sister, and Lydia's mother, Andrea of
Storybook Artifact has put together the most beautiful, feminine baby nursery room for Lydia with a cozy, heirloom family quilt covered queen size bed for mama and baby to bond during their precious nursing and co-sleeping time.
Thus a proper lady's bed shall express this beautiful, feminine moment in a mother and child's lives; and paying homage to this dearest season, Andrea has fittingly placed two twin retro pin up pillows handmade by our talented Aunt Mary Lynn and capturing the colors of the nursery room. These handcrafted bed pillows depict ladies with full bosoms like a nursing mother carries for nurturing her little one the natural way. You can view more one-of-a-kind handmade retro pin up pillows here in our Aunt Mary Lynn's Etsy Shop:
"LaOohLaLa Boutique".
Decorated with antique china dolls from our beloved late great-grandmother Catherine's closet and painted with a fresh coat of mama's favorite color since childhood "purple", baby Lydia's room is elegantly embellished with nostalgic nursery decor and timeless Victorian era charm.
As alluded to previously, Andrea and I both treasure handmade treasures, they are unique and often one-of-a-kind, and by purchasing them from handmade online marketplaces like
Etsy.com, you are supporting cottage industries and many of them are owned by mothers, who thanks to their at-home businesses can spend more precious time with their children...and this is something that I am passionate about supporting!
Andrea and I are looking forward to the day when
Etsy will open up a baby registry, similar to their wedding registry, yet Andrea creatively found a way to create a baby registry Etsy treasury, a collection of desired Etsy items for Lydia's baby nursery. Among those items, Andrea featured these cute, classic,
handmade ABC flashcards with
vintage children's illustrations from an alphabet book from 1939. Andrea has adhered these cards to adjacent bookshelves in the nursery. These darling handmade ABC vintage flashcards are found in the charming Etsy shop "Pretty Little Studio".
On one of the nursery shelves pictured above, you will find this
delightful handmade retro floral pig, which is one of the many
vintage children's toys found in Andrea's Etsy shop
"Storybook Artifact".
Another gift that Andrea received at her shower was an adorable pair of lavender crocheted Mary Jane style baby booties for our darling little Lydia. Naturally, I purchased the organic cotton yarn on
Etsy from an eclectic shop filled with gorgeous hand-dyed yarns called
"Yarn Hollow". I then gave the yarn to my creative mother-in-law Beverly, Etsy shop owner of
Maddie's Trinkets and Bobbles, and she hand-crocheted these precious Mary Jane style baby booties (pictured above on Lydia's feet)! I also gave Beverly four vintage faux pearl baby buttons that I found in my great-grandmother Catherine's old sewing supplies that she could use for Lydia's crocheted slippers. Thereupon Beverly made two sets of these booties with the
Yarn Hollow yarn, one smaller pair are a newborn size and the other pair are for Lydia's feet to grow into.
In closing, I'd like to share another picture of our little angel baby Lydia (see her dimpled baby hands!) whom we love ever so dearly! She is pictured here in a vintage crocheted granny square outfit and bonnet that was found in our great-grandmother Catherine's (aka: "Nana Cate") things which belonged to our Aunt Mary Lynn and her daughters when they were babies long ago. Lydia is once again nestled with a
hand-crocheted granny square baby afghan in a lovely seafoam green which can be found in Beverly's baby boutique
"Maddie's Trinkets and Bobbles". I am one happy and proud auntie! This little lady has many dress-ups and tea parties on her horizon!
