I’m excited to finally be able to share my daughter Contessa’s nursery with you today!

Her nursery has no theme whatsoever, I just filled it with things I thought she would love, and almost all is second hand. The curtains and her baby bed are the only new things in this nursery. I did try to add a touch of French country style which I love so much.

By far, this Disney Cinderella mobile is Contessa’s favorite thing in her nursery. She will lay for so long just smiling up at the blue birds while they spin.

I wanted to her room to have a romantic feel, so I hung lace curtains all around her crib. I love the wrought iron four post crib, it’s so elegant and perfect for my little Countess.

My husband put up the French style wall moldings and I painted and gilded the accents. The golden French sconces look perfect in here! I added sweet little pink shades to make them a bit more girly.

I chose Simply Shabby Chic bedding by Rachel Ashwell. I’ve had this bedding in storage since 2020. I was expecting a baby that year, but I ended up losing the baby so the bedding was packed away and has waited in storage until now.

The bed skirt is my favorite piece from the set, I love all of the delicate lace.

I knew that I wanted to use an old antique bassinet that I bought from a friend in town, in her room. I wanted a pretty place that she can put her baby dolls in. I used an old tulle skirt and draped it over the bassinet to soften its edges. I think I need to place a little pink bow in front and it would look even more darling!

Then I created a bed crown of sorts with a metal piece that I thrifted and a lace tablecloth. I need to change the ribbon up top and then it will be perfect.

I thrifted the baby doll, her outfit, and the vintage toy dog. They look so cute in their bassinet!

I also thrifted the antique baby rattle. It’s so precious!

I really felt like the room was missing something and I knew I wanted a small table and chairs for her. The styles that I wanted ended up being so expensive!! I decided to shop my house and I found a gold little table and two wrought iron peacock chairs.The chairs were originally black but I repainted them in white.

I found this gorgeous old wool rug on Facebook marketplace. The colors are pink, blue, gold and purple. It really tied the room together.

The room was designed around this large print. I found it on Facebook marketplace when I was undergoing ivf and I knew if I had a daughter, this must be in her room!

I am so glad that I was able to find this picture, it’s definitely the focal point of her room. When I rock her in the rocking chair she loves to look at the lady. She also loves to look at her dollhouse.

I chose a cherub medallion for her chandelier. Contessa also really likes looking at the little baby cherubs playing in the clouds.

Her Dad and I created this Trumeau mirror several years ago. I’m thinking of repairing it a soft pink and maybe adding a different print to the frame. That’s work for another day though, I have too many projects ahead of me as it is.

One being, repainting all of the doors in this room and adding gold to the frames within the doors. I think it will look very French!

I chose a soft blue for the walls. I painted them before I started my ivf journey, and I thought blue would work nicely for a boy or a girl.

I found this little antique doll at a garage sale for $1. I added a pink bow and a brooch which was also $1 at a garage sale. The vase was hand painted by a lady in my town.

I purchased this banner which has her name embroidered on it, for her bassinet at the hospital. She wasn’t able to use it since she was in the nicu, but now it hangs above her crib.

Contessa Belle is 4 months old now, but here are a few photos of her from her 3 month photoshoot.

She is my doll baby. I absolutely adore her and I’m so grateful she’s here.

I hope you enjoyed touring Contessa’s nursery. It’s not as fancy and professional like some I see on Instagram, but I did my best and I did everything with love for my baby.

-Larissa

Surprise! Welcome to a baby shower....my very own! Ive been keeping a secret, and now I can finally share! I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Contessa Belle Jenkins, via emergency c-section on February 11, 2025. Since she came so early we had to reschedule her shower and the best part being that she could also attend! 

My sister sent out these adorable vintage invitations!

For her big day, Contessa had a darling vintage gown to wear along with a bonnet. I adore the smocking details and the dainty blue flowers mixed among it. This outfit was actually her going home from the hospital outfit, but the day she came home was bitterly cold so we had to find something a bit warmer for her to wear.

Of course she a had to have a pair of dainty pink shoes!

Please excuse my photography on this post. I haven't picked up my camera in well over a year now and I do believe I've lost my skills, I don't even think I edited the below photo!

I didn't want a theme for my shower or tons of decorations. All I wanted was fresh roses, a cake, and of course candlelight!

Contessa had to spend over a week in the Nicu, and during that time her nurses created this banner that they hung up in her room at the hospital. That was the sweetest thing! I think the banner looks so pretty hanging from the dining room mantel along with some sparkling stars.

The very best decorations that I displayed were two drawings that my son did when he was about 4 and 5 years old. The first one is of his 'baby sister". This drawing has hung by a sticker on the door frame in our playroom by our son since the day he drew it, he's almost 12 now. I couldn't bear to take it down, it hurt my heart because I've battled secondary infertility my son's whole life, and yet he never gave up hope on his sister.

Now that she's here, I've framed it and will display it in her room, a reminder for her of how much her big brother loves and believed in her.

This second photo he drew of our whole family, as you can see, Dad is carrying baby girl on his shoulder.

I think these are the most precious keepsakes.

When I was pregnant with Delaine, I was searching for a cake topper for his baby shower, at the time I didn't know what gender he was, so I ordered a boy and a girl topper. I redid both of the toppers with lace, pearls and florals...Here is Contessa's version.

I love the little sleeping baby with the cherub watching over her.

I was feeling sentimental so I brought out the serving set from our wedding 18 years ago, to cut her cake with. I think I'm going to use them for all of the parties, because, "why not?"

The fresh roses made me so happy.

The cake turned out very unusual, lol. I told my sister that I wanted an all cream colored heart cake, but when she went to pick it up, it was brown! We had to laugh! It was done nicely, but just not the correct color, but it tasted good! 

So it wasn't a big deal to me.

We had lots of yummy desserts on  my three tierd tray. Brunch was fresh fruit, quiche, egg salad on croissants, tea sandwhiches along with lemonade punch.

I can't believe that I didn't get any photos of Contessa alone in her outfit! I was too busy talking to everyone I guess, so I'll share a photo that I took of her big brother holding her at the shower. One of her Grandma's had already taken off her bonnet.

One of my favorite gifts that Contessa received at her shower was this pretty pearl bracelet from my sister and her family She can wear it now as a baby and when she grows up, its to be clipped to her wedding bouquet. I adore that! I love keepsakes. and I put her bracelet on her right away.

The earrings are a Valentine's Day gift from my husband this year. I decided to wear these the day we brought baby girl home from the hospital, and I wore them again the day of her shower. I hope to pass these along to her when she has a baby of her own, she could even wear them for her baby's shower if she so choses to. The earrings are fresh water pearls and pink sapphires. 

I decided to try my hand at taking photos of the baby with my photography camera on St. Patrick's day.

Babies are much harder to photograph than decor.

She was not having it!

I only had about 10 minutes max because she was not into doing a photo shoot in her bedroom! This is the best I could get. I still think they are sweet photos though!

Thank you for letting me share my baby girl with you today! I will post her birth story soon, so if you are interested in reading that stay tuned! I also want to share her nursery in the next coming months, it's still not all the way finished. Be sure to check my stories on Instagram, I will share more of her on there and probably peeks at her nursery!

-Larissa