Well, I’d like to pretend that I’m much closer than I really am, but the reality is that I still have a little over three months until baby girl arrives, or 14 weeks, or 98 days…or 2,352 hours—but heck, who’s counting, right?

My oldest, Cade, will be seven this summer, and by proof of this picture, there was nothing stylish or appealing about the hospital gowns available to me. (Apparently there wasn’t any makeup or a hairbrush around either, geesh!) If I’d had the colorful choices that are available today, I guarantee you, I wouldn’t have looked such a mess. I mean, whose color is hospital-greenish-white anyway?

Now, thanks to these wonderful companies (surely created by style-conscious women), we can add a little color to that special day, and hopefully, look a little cuter in our pictures too! So say goodbye to the oversized, revealing one-size-fits-all traditional hospital gowns—these stylish alternatives are hospital approved!

So whether you are delivering your first baby, facing an extended hospital stay or just want to add a little color to your special day, you can do it in comfort and style!

1. BirthDay Suits Delivery Gown 2. Gownies Delivery Gown 3. Doodlebugs Chic Maternity Hospital Gown 4. Baby Be Mine has a variety of Gownies in prints like Molly Pink Dot or 5. Zoe Brown Dot

Judging by the gallery, our readers share our love for a great bash. This month the readers filled the gallery with well-designed events—all put together with love. Narrowing down the projects was not an easy task, but as a team, we selected six parties as our May Party of the Month Finalists. Which one is your favorite? Let us know by casting your vote, and the winner will be awarded a $50 Visa gift card.

Rock a Bye Baby Shower by Jeannette Rivas
Paula, of Frog Prince Paperie, says “This party rocks! It is so well done with a completely darling onesie banner and boldly contrasting color scheme. I love how she gave the houndstooth patterns a rock-and-roll vibe.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

 Gia’s Pink Giraffe First Birthday by Sheyennew
Pam, of Project Nursery, says “Love how she took a classic theme and transformed it into something unique. Great idea to reuse the party decorations as items for the nursery; I’m always a huge fan of a DIY project.”
Click Here for More Photos and Detail

Rainbow Rain Showers Theme by Fanciful Events
Rebekah, of A Blissful Nest, says “The backdrop to the sweets table is spectacular! It has just the right mix of girliness and vintage carnival in this fun palette of colors.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Luke’s First Birthday Circus by Ashlee
Paula, of Frog Prince Paperie, says “The drama that Ashlee created with the top hat in the middle of the room and big balloons is really neat! There are so many great, colorful details and a beautiful collage of her son’s first year.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Baby C Turns One by mosugar
Rebekah, of A Blissful Nest, says “These colors are so beautiful together, and I just love a momma that crafts every detail herself! The twisted crepe paper background is a fabulous touch and really completes the beautiful dessert table.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Little Red Car Birthday Party by greenapplepaperie
Melisa, of Project Nursery, says “Being a mom of two boys I sure can appreciate a great car party. This party is full of creativity and every detail is covered. I LOVE the Vroom Vroom Vanilla Cupcakes.”
Click Here for More Photos and Detail

Now it’s up to you to tell us who your favorite is! Vote below, and comment cause we’d love to hear why your pick got your vote! Voting ends on the 31st of this month at 11:55pm PDT, and winners of best room and party will be revealed on June 1st! Winners will receive a $50 VISA gift card from Project Nursery. Good Luck!

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*Finalist selections are chosen at the discretion of the Project Nursery team with no bias to the experience or training of the project owner. You may only vote once in a 24-hour period.

Interested in participating next month? Finalists are revealed on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. Upload your own projects to our Project Gallery now. Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite Room Project this month!

I am so excited to share the relaunch of the bean’s closet with the entire PN community. This shop is truly a labor of love, and I cannot wait for you all to get the first look. For those of you who have never visited tbc, it’s an online boutique featuring my favorite baby gifts of all time. I have assembled an ensemble collection of the perfect gifts in every price range, and today I want to share with you my favorites in every category. Don’t forget to enter below for a chance to win a $100 shopping spree to the bean’s closet!

In the under $50 category, I have two favorites. First, I love our exclusive wipes cases in either the heart or fish scale pattern. I adore these because they are practical (let’s face it, wipes are a must in every diaper bag) and fashionable. I have a wipes case in every bag I own. The second is the silhouette plate and place mat. This is a personalized gift that all the moms in my store flip for. Simple and classic, it will be useful as well as a keepsake.

In the $50-$100 range, there is a ton to choose from. The first is one of my best-selling gifts of all time. A tbc exclusive, the custom barrette holder is the perfect gift for a little girl, and you can customize the colors to match your decor. The second item I adore in this price range is our chevron blanket in our signature colors.

Our $100 and over price range has some fabulous goodies as well. My very favorite is a signature ensemble—the bean’s bundle. This baby gift set is made up of twelve hand-selected items appropriate for each stage of baby’s first year.

One of our most extravagant items is our hand painted chevron table and chair set. This custom set can be painted to fit any color scheme. Designed by our own artists, this exclusive set is sure to be the hit of any shower.

We relaunched in May because it’s the month of mothers! Not only do we celebrate mother’s day, but Postpartum Support International has named May, National Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. To help support this important cause, 2% of every the bean’s closet sale will always be donated to Postpartum Support International, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote awareness, prevention and treatment of mental health issues related to childbearing in every country worldwide.

I hope you liked all my favorite the bean’s closet selections—we would love to hear which are your favorites!

WIN IT! One Project Nursery reader will win a $100 shopping spree to the bean’s closet!

HOW TO ENTER: Visit the bean’s closet, and let us know your favorite item in a comment below. Contest ends Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 11:59 PDT. Winner chosen by random number generator.

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3. Follow Project Nursery and “pin” the bean’s closet images from this post on Pinterest and add your Pinterest link in a comment below.

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Want to create your dream nursery but need a little advice on how to nail down the details? Today, Tuesday, May 22nd, at 1:00pm PDT/4:00pm EDT, our friends at NoJo are hosting Pam and Melisa once again! They will be live on NoJo’s Facebook Wall answering your design questions. Join us and turn your dream nursery into a reality.

We survived! Big City Moms’ famous New York City “Biggest Baby Shower Ever” event took place earlier this month, and it was an event not to be missed. I think it took our team (okay, maybe just me) an entire week to recover from the excitement and energy it took to be there. And let me tell you, it was worth it. We had the opportunity to partner with some amazing sponsors, bond as a team, meet incredible parents-to-be and do what we do best, share a little nursery design inspiration. So without further ado, here’s a look at our booth space, the official Project Nursery Design Center.

Attendees were welcomed by Team PN NYC upon entering our space, where we shared a bit about our blog and project gallery before giving them the full nursery tours.

Representing Project Nursery (from left to right) was artist Sam Simon, Michelle Freedberg of Bellini, photographer Johanna Lindsay of From The West Village, Me (Melisa Fluhr), principals of My Tiny Nest, Julie Frank and Alessia Corpino, and lastly, my right arm, Kristin Saulsbury.

Once the attendees “bellied up to the bar” so to speak, we showed off the designs of some wildly talented sweets artists. We had our attendees immediately thinking baby shower! Everyone kept asking how the colorful sugar cookies could possibly have been made by hand. Our official response, “The precision of Stephanie Kappel of Hungry Hippotomus is beyond us.”

The glittered vanilla cupcakes, created by the women of Frosted NYC, were divine. Each was topped off by fondant magician, Brenda Walton, of Sugar High, Inc., with her too-pretty-to-eat peony-inspired fondant.

Paula Biggs, of Frog Prince Paperie, inspired the look of our tables with her graphic paper prettiness. Her latest collection, “Palm Beach,” added a retro edge to our classic pink and green PN look.

An event cannot be complete without florals, and our absolute favorite springtime pick is peonies. We arranged these lovelies in small green frosted glass votives that we picked up at C. Wonder in Soho.

We wanted our new visitors to remember us, so we skipped the gumballs this time and loaded 1,000 colorful tape measures into our sea of glass apothecary jars on display.

In addition to passing out handy tape measures, we gave our visitors packets of valuable gift cards from our sponsors and shared our nursery checklist with parents still working on their nurseries. Check out our online nursery checklist available for download.

Now that you’ve passed our table, we look forward to sharing the nursery details next…

images courtesy of johanna lindsay photography

It’s time to reveal which project our readers chose as their new favorite. Drum roll please…congrats to apenrose for becoming this week’s new title holder, and thank you to everyone who voted.

Copeland’s Colorful Nursery by apenrose
Click Here to View More Photos and Details

Want to be one of next week’s Nurseries and Parties We Love? Upload your project to our gallery, and on Friday, the Project Nursery team will select the top projects. Then it’s up to you all to let us know which room or party you “like” best.