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From the first moment the stick turns colors or two lines appear, most of us moms start thinking about buying tiny, cute baby clothes, chic maternity items and decorating the nursery.

Quickly, we realize it is all to easy to spend thousands of dollars on the essentials and accessories. Save that money for diapers girl, you’re going to need it!

Here are five easy ways to save on the nursery:

• Borrow. The sad thing is parents often spend days searching for the perfect bassinet or perfect bouncy chair and the kid hates it or only uses it for three months.

• Check your local parent groups, parenting magazine and churches for baby sales. Growing in popularity, baby sales allow parents to unload the ever growing collection of kidstuff and new parents reap the rewards of barely used, very cheap items. My favorite? Moms of Multiples sales!

• Buy bedding separates. I know, the bedding collection is always so cute and always full of things you don’t need and that you can buy separately and pay less. Because of SIDS, parents are advised not to put large, soft blankets in the beds with babies and not to use bumpers. That’s two key items down.

All that is left is the dust ruffle and fitted sheet. Buy the dust ruffle in a color that will coordinate with just about anything add three fitted sheets in fun colors and you’re set. As for the diaper stacker, random pillows - does anyone really use the diaper stacker?

Use wicker baskets - toss in a liner or receiving blanket and stack your diapers there, plus when the kids are older you then have a nice little bin for toys.

• Paint carefully. Don’t get roped into the traditional colors. Be sure to give yourself a backdrop that can change as the child grows older.

• Get creative. Instead of Wallies or other expensive wall stencils, hit the local discount store for foam shapes or foam paper and cut out your own large shape and place them on the wall.

I transformed our girls’ room with foam flowers. They came precut in a tub and I added them to the crib, my older daughter’s bed, their closet and around the room. It was a simple, easy theme and sticking them on with a glue stick preserves the walls for years to come.

Decorating the nursery is the fun part of the pregnancy. Enjoy it, but remember a few things:

Leave the painting or refinishing of a piece to a friend or partner - fumes + baby are a no-no.

If you’re borrowing a crib or using an older one, check to make sure it’s not on a recall list and that the slats are no further than 2 3/8″ apart.

And if your last DIY project ended with you gluing yourself to a lamp - get a creative friend to help!

Tags: Baby, nursery, saving money, tips