Moroccan Inspired Blessingway

What is a "Blessingway," you might be asking? A blessingway is kind of like a baby shower for the new mama.  In our culture there's a lot of importance and pomp and circumstance given to a new baby.  Which is fair enough, a new human is exciting and should be celebrated!  But in all the hullaballoo about the baby, the fact that this other new creature is also being birthed-- the mother-- is forgotten and ignored.  We just expect women to shift into this new, completely life-altering role, as if it was like changing a pair of underwear.  

But it's not.  It IS life altering.  It IS important and deserving of creating a sacred celebration for.  Mothers deserve honoring, just as much as a new baby.  And that's what a blessingway is-- a celebration and honoring of the woman making the huge transformation from regular human to mother human.  I was given a blessingway by my best friends when I was 36 weeks pregnant and it was so lovely, so I wanted to do the same for them, now that they are both in their final month of pregnancy!

I'll pop the sources for everything I can link to down at the bottom of this post if you're wanting to throw a similarly styled party!  A lot of the stuff is either DIY or craigslist/thrifted, so some things I won't be able to link, but hopefully you can find something similar!

So what does one do at a blessingway?  Want to throw one for your pregnant mama friend? Here are some ideas for blessingway activities!  I'm not into the hokey activities that often accompany a baby shower, and thankfully blessingway activities are much more beautiful and simple.  Obviously you can come up with your own way to celebrate the new mother, but if you're looking for somewhere to start, here are some great things to incorporate:

Labor Bracelets
Get a long piece of string/twine.  Long enough to go around everyone's wrists in a circle.  Have everyone stand in a circle, and then pass the string around to everyone, wrapping the string around each wrist once or twice.  With everyone connected, have each person give the mother an affirmation or blessing, then cut the string between each person and have them tie it into a bracelet.  The bracelet stays on until the new mama goes into labor and then you cut it off!

Mother affirmation bead necklace
You can either have each person bring a bead to the blessingway, or have some beads ready if you don't want to make people procure a single bead.  Each person adds a bead to the new mama's empty necklace string/cord and as she adds it, gives an affirmation for labor or motherhood.  The mama can wear this or bring it to her labor so she can remember the affirmations as she's laboring.

Foot soak
Get a little tub big enough for the mama to put her feet in, put hot water in and some epsom salt and/or essential oils (make sure they are safe for a pregnant woman).  You can also get some oil and rub her feet after she's done soaking

Belly Henna
I had this done at my blessingway and it was so fun!  If you're decent at henna, you can get some henna and do a henna belly mandala design yourself, or find a local henna artist and have her do a gorgeous belly henna!

Flower crowns
This one is just for fun, but I love flower crowns.  At my blessingway they just got a bunch of flowers and the stuff to make flower crowns and we all made one.  For the blessingway I just threw I decided to just make two custom flower crowns for the two new mamas so they felt special and like mother goddesses. I've got a faux flower crown tutorial you can use, it works the exact same for real flowers.

Labor affirmation prayer flags
This is something I tried to do at my own baby shower actually, but it just didn't quite pan out. You can create some square blank prayer flags using just fabric, rope, and hem tape (you can use my bunting tutorial, this is exactly how I made the flags for the blessingway I just threw-- it's no sew!).  I just created white, blank flags, and we all went around writing labor affirmations on them, so they can hang the flags in their labor/birthing space and look at it while laboring. Labor affirmation examples are: Your body was made for this, Your body knows how to do this, Breathe, I am choosing love not fear, each wave has a purpose, open open open, my body opens easily and naturally, my breath surrounds my baby and opens the way out, I trust my intuition.

Oh, and make tasty snacks because everyone loves tasty food.  And hopefully your pregnant buddy has enough room in her torso still to eat lots of tasty things.

Macrame Table Runner : World Market | Colorful plates + cups : Michaels | White plates : Crate + Barrel | Poufs : D+K Renewal | Wooden Flatware : Amazon | Gold Sequin Backdrop (similar) : Drop it Modern | Table : DIY | Peacock Chair (similar) : Facebook Marketplace | Dip Dye Ombre Napkins  (similar, similar) : DIY | Rugs : Craigslist
 

Outfits: 
Kristina's Dress: Free People
Amy's Top: Free People
My dress : Thrifted | my shoes : c/o Modcloth | My hat (similar) : Forever 21

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Jack's Gender Neutral Nursery

I've been doing some rearranging of Jack's room, and I'm finally liking how his little space has come together.  It can be challenging to place furniture with the angled ceilings, and so one thing I moved out of this room into the adjacent space (which is where our closet is) is his changing table.  Having that out of this space made it a little easier to work with furniture.

The rug, cube shelf (Ikea), rattan shelf, and crib (Babyletto) were all Craigslist finds!  And his little dresser was a cheap Target dresser which I fancied up with some Pretty Pegs legs to give it a little mid-mod flair.

This room is a converted attic space, so the stairs to get up here are very small. Any furniture has to be less than 25 inches wide to fit up there, or able to be built in the space like most Ikea furniture.  Luckily I found that round chartreuse chair at World Market and because of it's weird shape and removable legs, I was able to fit it upstairs!  It's the perfect little chair for bedtime stories.

The floors are actually just the subfloor.  There used to be ugly brown carpet up here and we ripped it out and I liked the wood floors.  But we never put trim back on, so if you're wondering why we have no floor trim in here, that's why!  We're probably going to eventually put *real* flooring in whenever we end up putting this house on the market.

I love having a space that feels uncluttered and natural.  I'm not a fan of bright plastic toys, so I prefer classic wood toys that look nice and are also more eco friendly.  I've found a lot of cool wooden toys on etsy and at thrift stores!

*for those wondering about the plants, Jack is never alone in this room because we're unable to fence off the stairs, so I'm always with him when he's playing in here.  Peace Lilies are toxic to humans and pets, and Snake plants are mildly toxic, so make sure you watch your kids and pets around those plants!*

Kilim rug, rattan shelf, hamper : thrifted/Craigslisted | Cube shelf : Ikea via Craigslist |  Yellow Chair : World Market | Crib : Babyletto via Craigslist | Dresser : Target | Dresser legs : Pretty pegs | Kind + Brave banner : handmade | World is your Oyster Print : Rifle Paper Co. via Moorea Seal |  Floor Pillows : Target via Goodwill

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DIY Triangle Hanging Shelves

I knew I wanted more plants in my bedroom, but with not a lot of floor space, I'd have to get creative with how I was going to incorporate them.  I already had a board that I'd bought months ago to make a different shelf that I never got around to making so all I had to do was buy some cord and whip these up!  They probably only took 10- 15 minutes to put together, so they're a quick and easy way to add some great shelving to any room!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

1x8 common board
Rope or Cord
Screw with anchor (anchor optional)
Saw
Drill

/ STEP 01

Take your 1x8 board and chop it into the lengths you want your shelves to be.  I made mine 26 inches.  I used a skillsaw to cut mine but if powertools freak you out or you don't have access you can have them cut the board for you at most hardware stores!  Or just use a regular saw!

/ STEP 02

Use a drill to make 4 holes at the corners where your rope/cord will go through.  How big your holes are will depend on how thick your rope is, but I used a 1/4in bit for mine. Make sure you don't make the holes bigger than your knot will be, otherwise it will slip through when weight is put on the shelf. 

/ STEP 03

Take your first rope (cut to 57 inches long) and push the ends through the front two holes.  If the rope is frayed you may have to singe the rope ends to make it easier to push through the holes. Tie a knot at the ends of the ropes after you've pushed them through.

/ STEP 04

Once you've done the front rope, repeat the same process with the back rope. Cut the back rope to 55 inches (the back rope is slightly shorter because it's flush to the wall, whereas the front one has to angle back to the wall).

/ STEP 05

Screw a hole in your wall where you want to hang your shelf!  I used an anchor to help secure my shelf because I knew I'd be putting plants on in and didn't want the weight to be an issue.  If you aren't putting anything heavy you might be able to get away with a nail, but I'd recommend a screw. Voila, you're done!

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Bohemian Bathroom Details

I've been tweaking our bathroom a bit here and there and I've been loving the little details.  I took out our ugly old medicine cabinet mirror and replaced it with this circular mirror.  It doesn't quite cover the hole from the original medicine cabinet so I need to do some patching (as you can see in the last photo), but I love how much bigger and more open it makes the space feel. I also have had the little moon hook and dip dye macrame plant holder for years and have never found the right spot for them, and this little corner in the bathroom feels like the perfect nook!

A Peek at Jack's Room

I still have some things to do to finish up Jack's new attic room, but here's a little sneak peek!