Simple Cribskirt and Baby Gadgets

More baby room projects! Yay.
This one is quick and simple. The crib needed a skirt. This concept is baffling to my husband. It needs a what? Why?
A cribskirt, to hide what's underneath the crib.
What exactly is underneath the crib? Well, nothing currently.
But someday... it will will be a great option for storing all kinds of extras and out of season stuff and more.
Today... I just wanted it to look prettier and more finished.
This is beyond simple. I basically took this tutorial for a no-sew crib skirt... but I used a sewing machine to hem my edges rather than iron on hem tape. My stupid simple hem in 3 easy steps:

1. I serged all edges and then ironed 1/4 inch
2. Folded over and ironed another 1/4 inch, so no serged/raw edges are exposed.
3. Sew a straight line down the side... viola! 1/4 inch hem.

That was the sides, the bottom edge was done in a similar manner, only with a 1 inch hem

Then I added sticky Velcro along the top edge, and here is where I must request you stray from the tutorial mentioned above. It said you might want to throw a few stitches in your fabric to hold your sticky velcro in place during washings...
Do not-- I repeat: DO NOT try to run sticky velcro through your sewing machine. It will gum up your needle and then your thread won't pull through... and then you will change out your needle because it is ruined and discover that you have also gooped up and jammed your feed dogs and bobbin carrier... and you will have to teach yourself to disassemble, clean, and oil your machine-- which overall is not a bad thing to know how to do, but can quickly de-rail what was to be a quick and easy project. So say no to sticky stuff. You have been warned. (Try a hot glue gun to adhere more thoroughly, or if you have some of the non-sticky stuff laying around, you can sew that down with your machine easy peasy.)
Next you stick the other side of your sticky velcro to the bed frame like so:

...And I stepped back to admire my work.

Ah, yes... and there is the hind end of my helper as well. The boys are not allowed in Baby P's room except when invited. So if we are working in there, and we say it's okay, they love to explore the space and all the strange new objects and interesting smells. It's gonna be extra exciting when there's an actual tiny person living in there as well! :)
I decided to keep the crib skirt short. It goes to the bottom of the crib frame, but not to the floor. I tried it both ways... and liked being able to see a little air at the bottom there. I think it made the furniture feel less heavy and overwhelming if... that makes sense to you. Also, when it comes time to shift the bed to the lower crib position, I can keep the skirt in place and it will reach to the floor then... with no hemming or adjusting. Just keeping things nice and easy!
Also before I put the mattress back in place you can peek at our fancy schmancy baby monitor. (See the board and that blue thing in the crib... and the monitor on the shelf to the right?) This monitor was researched and selected by Mr.P. Since I was researching and selecting most other baby gear... he wanted monitor selection power-- I am pretty sure it was the gadget-like baby thing he could think of.

So this is our AngelCare Moniter. That blue pad sits under the mattress and is a motion detector. It is sensitive enough even to pick up the rise and fall of a tiny baby's breathing chest. If it senses no movement for 20 seconds, it alerts you through an alarm on the parent's unit. Handy.
(And it works too. We decided to try it out, and used Charlie as a guinea pig, because he lays very still when he is freaked out-- and he was understandably freaked out when he was forced to lay (On a towel) on top of the mattress to test it out. As long as Charlie was laying there quiet and breathing, no alarm. once he hopped down-- alarm. We used a stuffed animal just as a control, and waited 20 seconds, and sure enough, no breathing-- alarm.)
I know, seasoned parents are shaking their head at how silly and possibly needless this function is... but the way I see it this extra safety feature might just offer us the assurance to panic less and maybe--just maybe-- sleep more. (Try not to laugh at our wishful thinking, parents of small children)
Besides the motion detector feature it's got the standard audio feature so we can hear little one stirring, a night light, and Z really liked that it also had a temperature feature built in. So we should be able to monitor many aspects of baby P's sleep environment without actually disturbing him... and we like that. And... Z mostly likes that it's a gadget. But that's cool too, I guess.
It's worth mentioning that fancy-schmancy does not equal cheap, and that's the only drawback to our monitor. However, we purchased ours through Amazon, (it came new in the box with the same manufacturer's warranty) though we saw it in one of those large chain baby stores for almost twice as much. And the chain stores give you coupons... but they also jack the price way up in anticipation of your coupon use. We... didn't fall for it. I guess what I am saying here, is shop around and don't pay $140 for something you could get elsewhere for $85. Amen.
Sooooo... the sleep space is coming together piece by piece. It's cozy and ready for baby P's arrival... oh so soon!