Ella got a new bed....well she will think so!

My baby girl is going on 5 years old, how did that happen? Now granted she will not have another birthday for 10 more months but Kindergarten enrollment is just a few weeks away. So with that I thought it was time to move her out of her "crib" and into a big girl bed. So, I just did, well sort off. She has one of those generation cribs as her brother did only in a different color, these cribs goe from a crib to a toddler bed to a full size bed headboard and footboard. Now when Carson was 18 months old he went from the crib to the toddler bed and then at 28 months we bought him a twin bed, he of course has the "bigger" room. Well, at over 4 years now Ella is still in the "toddler bed" meaning the crib mattress was dropped and one side of the crib removed. However due to space issues and money issues we just cannot get her a twin bed at this time. Carson, being the first born I was so eager to get him a real bed and move onto the next step, as we know with our babies we want them to stay little as long as we can. Santa is bringing Ella a very LARGE dollhouse and her room has no room for one! LOL

So, I looked on Freecycle for something with no luck, looked on Craigs list with no luck so I went into her room and to my surprise discovered her crib can also be used for this alternative (see pictures). By using just the shorter sides, and it even has sideboards to make it sturdy. I took Carson's crib mattress out of his trundle bed (where it was being stored) and stacked it on top of Ella's using it like a "boxspring" and look how stinking cute!!! And it did not cost a dime. It looks like a "big girl bed" or a mini version of a twin bed , which it really is. It takes up less room than a twin bed and YEA we now have room for the dollhouse!

However.....the crib appearance is gone, very sad for mommy.....

She is going to be soooooo excited when she comes home from visiting with Grammy and Papa's on Christmas Eve to see her big girl bed (now maybe she will actually sleep in her own room and not in my bed!). She is going to think Mommy went out and got her a new bed.....shhhh...........it's our secret I did not.

Now off to sew.....her bed now needs a top sheet. Lucky I have some of that flannel left over I made her pillow with so I am going to make a flannel top sheet for her "new bed", the kind with the elastic on the bottom so it won't slip off. She will not be the wiser that she is actually sleeping on a crib matress...will she???