Flashback: Preston's Nursery

These past few weeks have been spent sorting, purging, soaking, washing, and building in preparation for the arrival of our baby girl. I'll be posting a series of the multitude of projects that we have been working on for her room and there will be plenty of before and afters. 

I have also been working on Preston's big boy room, and I got to thinking that I never did a post about his nursery. So, today is a little flashback to about this time (pregnancy timeline wise ~28 weeks) when we were expecting Mr. P!

I'll certainly have to dig around to find before photos of this room, but I'll tell you it was sherbet orange and mauve when we moved in. Ew. A couple gallons of paint, some chair rail installation, and a couple Billy Bookcases later this is what we came up with!

This weekend our little man will move into his big boy bed! I can not believe that he will be 2.5 years old on Sunday. It's so true that time flies when you're having fun!

A Valentine

I don't like Valentine's day!

But I love LOVE. I love my children, I love my husband, I love my friends. 

But I love them every day...

Nonetheless, I decided to make a valentine for a sweet friend.

I have been thinking about this concept for awhile and wanted to play with it. It is inspired by mixed media art, which I seem to be crazy about these days.

I have so many ideas & inspirations and so little extra time on my hands these days. So I figured I'd start here:

The back is white fabric with large pink polka dots. 

I adore how it turned out and I am flooded with inspiration for other projects!

These are great scrap bin busters, and they are so very fun to make, especially if you know exactly who you're making it for :)

I hope my dear friend knows I am grateful for her and my love runs deep.

After all, that's what valentines day is supposed to be about.

That's what every day is supposed to be about!

xo

DIY Water color fabric from an old sheet

Hey Friends!

Y'all know I'm no stranger to working with old sheets!

This time I am working on some additional fabric for Baby girl's nursery decor.

If you missed it, here is my inspiration board. 

I wanted something fun and not perfect to go with the main fabric that I'm using (behind the lettering at the top of my inspiration board.) I don't want to spend more money than I need to and I love to get creative during nap time!!

1. I cut off about 18" worth of fabric from the bottom of my off white sheet and ironed it.

2. I used masking tape to make very uneven lines.

3. I mixed turquoise and white fabric paints to get the color I desired (that complimented my other fabric) and mixed some water in so it got runny.

4. I laid my cut sheet out down the hallway with newspaper under it.

5. I sloppily painted between the masking tape. :) Then I smacked my head because I realized that this was a project the kids could have actually helped with, but they were not here/sleeping.

6. Take your painted sheet piece off of the newspaper while it's still wet and hang over the bare shower curtain rod, or the news paper will stick to the back- which is a hug pain.

7. Let it dry, Iron it to heat set according to paint instructions, then pop it in the dryer on HOT. Your paint is now perfectly imperfect water colored fabric to stitch up to your liking! 

8. I'll wash and dry my fabric again before cutting and stitching it up into my project for baby girl's room!

If you give it a shot, let me know. You inspire me too!!

A shirt for our music man

There are a million freezer stencil tutorials out there if you google it, so I will not post a tut for that.

I used the trace function on my Silhouette to get the image, cut it out, and painted it with fabric paint- lesson learned that white paint on dark fabric is tough. Not a perfect image, but since happy hubby has a shirt like this, Mr. P is thrilled to be just like his daddy!

Little tip if you want to do there:

Tshirts at Target are super inexpensive and seem to be the best quality, I've used them for appliqué, stenciling etc. This one was $4.

Lotsa girlie clothes will be posted soon, since we found out we are having a baby girl, I have been working hard on making Mr. P's old clothes a bit more girlie!

What have you been up to? Any cool toddler or baby projects these days?

I'm consumed lol

Thumbprint Christmas Ornaments

Holy-moly! I haven't written a blog in a long time! I have been doing numerous things, getting ready for the holidays, spent time with my mother etc... Time has slipped away, but I have needed the down time that I have taken. Whew!

I am sharing a very fun and simple holiday project that we did as a family, Thumbprint ornaments!

Here is my Ornaments Pinterest Board with the pins that have inspired this project!

We started off with inexpensive wooden circles from the craft store.

We painted a base coat of acrylic paint- in this case it was an off white.

I used a paint brush to put brown acrylic paint on every family members' thumb (one at a time of course) and placed it where I wanted it on the wood with light pressure. 

I then used a fine paint brush to paint the eyes, ears and antlers in black and the noses in red. I wrote in red ink at the bottom, but it doesn't look so crisp, so I'd likely not do that this time. This project was inspired by this pin.

For the snowman, the base color is Christmas red and I used Mr. P's pinky and index fingers and thumb. I simply brushed on the off white paint and put them where I wanted them!

All that is left to do is drill little holes at the top, thread some ribbon through and hang them on the tree!

Happy ornament making!

Sock Monkey Towel Hooks

I realize that I have not yet posted photos of full rooms, only glimpses of our bedroom here and here and our entry/mudroom - which those photos are terribly outdated...

One day, I am making that promise now... Please hold me to it!

I guess the point that I am trying to make is simply that you've never seen Preston's room, but the theme is traditional sock monkeys...

We wanted to run with that theme for the kids' bathroom as well, only make it more fun with more modern sock monkeys in brighter colors.

This was the only room that we hadn't painted and it was a very cold blue that made me feel not so warm and cozy.

Here is the before photo:

The photo actually makes the bathroom look better than it really is :P

I painted the wall straight ahead a color called Exotic Isle and made some hooks for the wall for the kids to hang their towels. Oh I as so tired of towels hanging over the banister, over chairs, balled up in corners and on door knobs.

Remember my birds on a wire coat hooks?

I decided to make something similar only square and with fabric! 

This Sock Monkey fabric is by Moda

In use! 3 kids' and the dog's towels hanging up = one happy mom!

Up close and probably the truest green to the color on the wall:

Washing the towels, the hooks look lonely but still adorable!

Paint

modpodge

fabric cut to size

modpodge on top of fabric

rustoleum enamel in gloss on top 2x

hooks screwed into the blocks and studs or anchors 

And here's what we get!

I'm loving this sock monkey bathroom. It needs a little more TLC and paint :) 

but nothing is ever quite done!

Tell me where you could use some hooks in your life?

Wine bottle to vase! A quick project tutorial

I am going to tell you how to turn a wine bottle into a vase!

Remember this post? 

There was really just a smattering of color in the form of fabric and fake flowers that were inspiring me for A & B's bedroom. Whimsical really.

I could not pass up these huge daisies at Michaels at 50% off a couple of weeks ago, but we needed a vase and I really did not want to buy anything. I already hadn't purchased enough fabric with my coupon stash and had to go back to buy more for a measly 10% off. 

I do not like buying things that are not on sale. I think I inherited that from my father...

Ok, on to the tut.

So simple:

1. Raid your recycling (or someone else's!) and select a bottle.

2. Soak it in hot water to scrape curse peel the label off.

3. To get the excess gunk off from the label you can use goo gone, vegetable oil,

 or rubbing alcohol and some salt is a great little abrasive.

4. Wash the bottle very well with dish soap. 

5. Let your bottle dry all the way. 

I waited a whole day, and I lived to tell about it ;) 

6. Spray primer! 

Cover the whole bottle.

7. After your primer has dried (usually about 20 mins or so), 

spray paint your bottle your chosen color. 

In our case it is white.

8. This is the most important part: 

Put your bottle someplace safe and relatively warm and let the paint cure for at least a week. 

This will keep your paint from chipping, peeling or cracking.

**If you choose to add huge whimsical flowers, set them up in varying heights, as seen in the photo, and trim the stems with burley wire cutters. You may have to twist them slightly to get them into the bottle.

PaPaBAW!! (pom pom balls) toddler activity!

PaPaBAW!! (pom pom balls) Mr. P yells this every time that I get the pom pom balls out. I keep them in a jar and let him stick his hand into the full jar (sensory!) and pull them out. 

Keeping Mr. P in the high chair for this activity helps to contain the balls and maintain his focus. 

I love this activity, because it lasts awhile, it is educational, it's super cheap, and it doesn't have to be directly supervised if you need to buy some chore time!

As you see here, we get out multiple kitchen containers for lil man to practice sorting and use his imagination!

We are teaching him to sort by color in the silicone ice cube tray.

Just look at this concentration caught on camera!

he really loves this activity. It is fun to watch him make up different things to do, sometimes we inspire him and other times we leave him alone to create.

We purchased this pack of primary color pom poms at the Dollar store! We also got a pack of pastels to mix it up. 

Eventually we can start talking about comparisons and what colors combine to create other colors!

And sometimes the measuring cup just becomes a telephone!

**Please note that if you toddler likes to stick things in their mouth this may not be the best activity for them unless highly supervised. Mr P is not big on putting everything in his mouth, but he just had to try it once. We watched very closely as he tested one in his mouth and spit it back out- quickly! It only took one time!

If you think of any other pom pom games/activities, please let me know! These things are so versatile!

DIY Photo canvas for gallery wall

So, I'm hopping on the trendy scene with home decor. The gallery wall... I am working on two at the moment (since we all know that I am self diagnosed D.I.Y- A.D.D), one in my entry way and one in Mr. P's room.

Guess what?!

 Canvases were on sale last week at Joann's- 50% off! I live for this time of year. Honestly, I refuse to purchase a canvas if it is not on sale. I bought a lot of them... 

I just adore how a photo looks on a canvas and I have been known to purchase the Groupon for 60% off said canvas photo mounting. Enter Pinterest to save the day... again!

I found this tutorial (which rocks!) and I decided to do what I do and make it my own.

1. I took baby photos of Mr. P and adhered them to canvas (that I'd painted black brown- top and all 4 sides) with Matte Mod Podge- my fav.

2. I patiently waited for them to dry... about 20 minutes.

3. I covered the top of the photo with smooth horizontal strokes of Mod Podge. The smooth strokes with a paint brush, not sponge are sooo important, in the end you will see the strokes, but they make your photo look like part of the canvas.

4. Again, waiting for it to dry...

5. Fill in the creases between the photo and canvas, around the rim of the photo, you'll end up painting it. Then smooth vertical strokes of Mod Podge across the top (of the horizontal strokes) of the photo.

6. More waiting for it to dry...

7. one last coat of Mod Podge on top of the photo, again smooth horizontal strokes.

8. Waiting for dry....

9. Repaint the edges of the canvas black brown and stipple a bit onto the front rim of the photo- you can see it better on the smaller, lighter photo below.

10. Wait for it to dry.

11. Spray the whole thing with clear flat (unless you like a little shine, then use satin...), acrylic spray paint- I used Krylon!

And, a little side view!

i.n.s.p.i.r.a.t.i.o.n.

My bonus daughters are here for spring break! 

We have been so excited for them to finally be here for longer for a weekend :) This allows us to have some quality time with them. This extended time also helps us prepare for the summer with them, since they are here for 9 weeks straight!

I'm sure y'all have noticed, but I have decorating A.D.D. I just can not focus on one space at a time, and those of you who can truly inspire and amaze me!

We started working on the girls' room last Christmas, they got a red wall, a new bed and a chandelier! We also installed some shelves and a desk. Now I'm back at it...

I am determined to have it finished before they are here full time for the summer!

Here is my inspiration:

I can not wait to get the ball rolling in their room again!

Like the rest of our home, their room is pretty small and we have to maximize as much space as possible for play, slumber and study. Wish me luck!! 

Do you have any tips or tricks for small bedroom storage/organization?

If so please, please inspire me!

xo

Stay-cation fun

We decided that weekends are not long enough. So David took off work on Friday and we have had a stay-cation. We have done a little cleaning, catching up on a few projects, but mostly just enjoying as much time as possible being a family.

Where's Preston?!

There he is!

Oh how I love my happy little man!

It's the simple things that we very often take for granted.

This time is so precious!

Gluten Free Playdough Time & A Winner!!

Mr. P is almost 18 months old! He is now into playing more specific things now, even if only for a few minutes. Happy Hubby is not so into play dough, so we have never really had it around for the girls, plus store bought playdoh is not gluten free!

I searched over the internet to find a recipe for Gluten Free homemade play dough and found a recipe here at the Parents magazine website!

Cut and Paste from here...

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup water 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• Food coloring, if desired

Directions:

Mix ingredients. Cook and stir on low heat for 3 minutes or until it forms a ball. Cool completely before storing in a sealable plastic bag.

Just a warning, it does not take long for the dough to get thick!! It gets very hard to stir, my arm was getting tired and Happy Hubby had to hop into the kitchen to help out! lol

Busy hands squeezing play dough!

Cheesy grin hidden behind play dough :)

Now that is one satisfied, sensory stimulated *almost* 18 month old!

Any other homemade gluten free goops or other sensory stimulating items I should make for Mr. P to play with?

**Congrats to Kristi Marriott who won the My Memories Suite!**

MyMemories Suite Giveaway and Gator's 7th Birthday

Really, y'all, this is sooooo cool!

We had Allie Gator's seventh birthday celebration here in Portland this weekend. It was a wild Saturday! We went to Joann Fabrics and Toys R Us for Miss Gator to spend her birthday money!

The best part is that I was able to snap these photos on Saturday and Miss Gator helped me organize them into these digital scrapbook pages using My Memories Suite! I so love what we came up with!

Every year, Miss Gator gets olives for her birthday! She thinks it's a riot!

Miss Gator with her Gluten Free Lemon Cake and mommy made cake topper:

Here is miss Gator playing legos and blowing out candles!

While I adore the process of cutting and pasting, traditional scrapbook style, I must say that I love the instant gratification that this program gives with the photos! Plus you can share them as JPGs!

This digital software program is user friendly and I love that it comes with tons for free templates and embellishments to work with, but you can also buy more from their website to add to your collection!

So, do you want this $40 value My Memories Suite program absolutely free?!

All you have to do is follow my blog, visit the MMS website, and leave a comment below telling me what you can't wait to do with My Memories Suite!

I'll have my husband draw names out of a hat, very old fashioned style to chose the winner 

next Tuesday (3/6)!

I linked up!

I Heart Organizing