nursery projects {monitor holder}

Before Asher was born some friends with kids recommended that we get a video baby monitor.  It was one of those items that seemed like it could be overkill, but like it could also be pretty darn handy.  Turns out it was a must have for us.  I love, love, love having it!  We've used ours constantly since Asher's birth {even taking it on vacation with us} and can't imagine having a sound-only monitor.

When ladybug made her presence known I assumed we'd simply get a second camera for Asher's system and plug 'er on in.  As if things are ever that easy...

Naturally, the technology has changed by such leaps and bounds over the past 2 years that they no longer make or sell the cameras we would need.  Oh so convenient.

Luckily for us, my parents offered to gift us with a new system as a welcome gift to lady baby.  Yay!  Thanks!

The system we used with Asher was by Summer Infant and, as it turns out, was very basic.  Lights, camera, action - that was it.  Almost all of the monitors now have songs you can play, 2 way communication, Internet/Skype capability, zoom and panning, etc.  Way more than I need or want, but impossible to avoid.

I did a TON of research and finally landed on this system by Motorola.  It has the features we want + more positive reviews than negative {every video system seemed to have a lot of unhappy customers}.  Because every single video system got mixed reviews I wanted to buy it from a local store so returning would be easy if disaster struck.  This one was in stock at Buy Buy Baby and I was able to use coupons - bonus!

Of course I set it up right away to make sure we liked it.  I noticed one major problem right away - oh no.  The camera swivels up and down, right and left - but it didn't "look down" far enough.  When it sat on the dresser all I could see was the very far end of the crib and the rails.  We already have the nursery furniture set up in the ideal configuration so I knew where the camera had to sit.  The only way to make it work was to put it on a really high and obnoxious box - which in my book is the same thing as it not working - ha!

Drew totally came to the rescue with his engineering genius.  He reasoned that if we hung it vertically then it would have more down view - brilliant!

We didn't want to hang it on the wall so he rigged up this little number.  I bought a wooden plaque at Jo-Ann Fabrics for less than $2 and Drew drilled holes for camera cord to run through.  He then cut a piece of wood to use as a brace to hold the plaque upright.

I painted it all navy blue and we used a hinge and twine to secure the set up {I used twine to hang the bow holder too, so it does go with the feel of the room}.

The view is perfect!

This worked really well and looks so much better than a big 'ole box on top of the dresser.

Thanks Drew - you're the best!  Sometimes it's the littlest things - like having a cute, but practical way to keep tabs on our baby.  :-)