Playroom Update {Pt. 2}

Hi friends and HAPPY FRIDAY!!

What are you up to this weekend?  Any big plans for the Super Bowl?  We usually have a BIG party at our house each year for the Super Bowl, but I just really did not feel up to it this year.  We usually go all out and I make tons of appetizers and desserts and we have food catered in and there’s usually about 40-45 people here.  I just didn’t want to deal with it this year so we’re not having the party.  Which, I guess is a good thing since the Giants are playing.  That’s Scott’s team so he’ll be glad he gets to actually watch the game!

Anyway….on to the reason for today’s post!

As you know, most of the rooms in our house are a constant work in progress (isn’t that how it is for everybody?!?).  I made a tiny little update to the playroom.  The last time I showed you guys the playroom, I had just painted it and we installed rain gutter bookshelves and set up a little desk/art area for Emily. 

The wall above Emily’s little desk (which also used to be mine when I was a baby) was blank and needed something.  I thought since the space was right above her art area, it would be a perfect place to display some of her scribble scrabble art.

A while back I was browsing in a thrift store that is right down the street and I found this HUGE gold mirror.  It actually used to be the front of a fancy medicine cabinet.  It was super heavy but there was no way to hang it up, since it was just the “face” to the medicine cabinet.  Weird.  Anyway….I snagged it for $10 and brought it home simply because I loved the frame.

And here is where I’m kicking myself……

I cannot find my before pictures of this mirror!!!  ARGH!  They must’ve somehow gotten deleted off my camera.  Just picture a huge, gold framed mirror.  Got it?

I had to unscrew about 25 screws from the back of the frame in order to get the mirror out.  But I popped it out and was left with just the frame.  I cleaned it up and went to town on it with some white spray paint.  It took a ton of coats (about 4) to get the coverage I needed.

I needed something for the middle.  Hhhhmm…..styrofoam!!  Yes!  I had a huge sheet out in the garage so I simply cut out an oval to fit inside the frame.

I then used some spray adhesive and fabric I already had on hand to cover the piece of styrofoam.

Then I just hot glued the styrofoam to the inside of the frame.

{See the back of the frame in all it’s gold glory?  And all those dadgum screw holes??}

I was stumped as to how to hang it up for a few minutes.  Then the lightbulb went off and I simply took a piece of sisal rope and tied it to 2 of the screws that I had taken out and then just screwed the screws right back into the frame.

And here she is all hung up in the playroom:

 

There’s no art on it yet, but we’ll get there!  It really makes a big statement in the playroom and I love that the fabric matches some of the fabric in the bunting on the wall to the left!

Now I need to make some cutesy, bling-y pins so I can pin Em’s artwork to the board.

So what do you think?  How do you display your kids’ artwork?  I’d love to hear ideas as I’m sure this isn’t going to be a permanent solution.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous, Polly Want A Crafter T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework, A Bowl Full Of Lemons W: Uncommon, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark , Not Just A Housewife Th: 36th Avenue, Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, Every Creative Endeavor F: Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,  Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic, Homemaker On A Dime

DIY Mini Pallet Valentines Art

Hey, hey, hey!!  Happy Monday!!
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  Our weekend was great!  We just hung out a lot as a family, grilled steaks, tried new recipes, played at the park and on the golf course, and just enjoyed time together as a family.  That’s what it’s all about, right?!? 
I also made this super easy and super cute Valentines Day art!  I don’t really get all crazy with my Valentines decorations.  I hang a wreath and a flag on our porch and I put one or two things on the mantel.  But definitely nothing extravagant.  I love how this sign is so simple and subtle and that it doesn’t look too “Valentine-y”!




I love, love, love the look of pallets in the home.  Pinterest is full of yummy ideas for using pallets in your home from restructuring them to be coffee tables, to beautiful art!  My recent favorite is Jen’s Valentines Pallet Art!  So pretty!
Although I love the look of pallet art, let’s face it…..I don’t have the time or patience to hunt down a pallet, clean it, sand it, paint it, blah…blah….blah!  If you’re new here (hi! and welcome!! and thank you so, so, so much for following along!!), you’ll soon come to realize that I love projects that are 3 things: quick, easy, and cheap!  Oh and it’s gotta be pretty!  Ok, so 4 things!
So while browsing in Hobby Lobby one day, I found these pretty little packages of wood pieces.  They were just wood strips and there were 4 in a package for $2.  I bought 3 packages, came home, and got to work!
Here are the supplies:

• packages of wood strips from craft store
• white paint & foam brush
• vinyl
• wood glue

I was a little impatient and didn’t get a picture of the wood strips in the actual package, but you can at least see what the package looks like. 
So I just laid out all my wood strips to get the size “pallet” that I wanted.  I saved 2 of the wood strips for the back.


Then I just used the wood glue to glue all the horizontal strips to the 2 vertical strips.  Can you see the “mini pallet” coming together?!
Once they were all glued on, I let it dry for about an hour while I did other things.  I came back and got busy painting with some plain white acrylic paint.
It took a few coats to get the coverage I wanted.

I don’t have pictures of this step, but I created my saying in Silhouette Studio and cut it out with vinyl on my Silhouette.  Nothing better than a little Jason Mraz lyrics for V-day!

I used transfer paper to transfer my vinyl onto the “mini pallet”.  And here’s the end result:









I love how it looks on my console table and is just the perfect touch of Valentine’s!
What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by!

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous, Polly Want A Crafter T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework, A Bowl Full Of Lemons W: Uncommon, Oopsey Daisy, Uncommon, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark , Not Just A Housewife Th: 36th Avenue, Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, Every Creative Endeavor F: My Repurposed Life, Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Fingerprints On The Fridge, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading S:  Positively Splendid, I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal  Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic, Homemaker On A Dime

Thanks for reading! 

Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook & Twitter!

A Valentine’s Shirt For My Valentine

Ok, well I guess she’s my 2nd Valentine since I think Scott has to technically be my first Valentine! 
It’s FRIDAAAAAYYY!!!!  I wanted to share with you a cute (and easy) shirt I made for Emily for Valentine’s Day! 

Here’s how I did it!
Supplies:

• Craft cutter (I used my Silhouette)
• Heat ‘N Bond (or other fabric interfacing)
• Fabric of choice
• Iron
• Shirt (I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $3)
• Scrap paper (optional)

I started by ironing some plain pink fabric to some Heat ‘N Bond (man, I love that stuff!!!).


Then in Silhouette Studio I created my design.  It looked a little something like this:

I cut out the L, V, and E on the pink fabric using my Silhouette!  I cut the heart separately on some pink polka dot fabric, using the same method.

I still use the cutting mat just for extra “security” even when I’m cutting vinyl and fabric even though I don’t think you have to.
Wait…..let me back up!  Of course, before I ever even cut the fabric I did a test cut with some scrap paper and placed it on my shirt to make sure I liked the size, spacing, etc.


Looks good to me!  Ok, now back to the fabric…..
So after I cut the fabric, I peeled the paper backing from the Heat ‘N Bond off the back of the fabric letters and ironed them down to my shirt.  I tilted the heart a little bit.  I kinda like it that way!


Now, Heat ‘N Bond is great and I love it dearly.  However, it has been known to peel up on projects I’ve done in the past (hhmmm….could be user error??  Naaahhh…we’ll blame it on the Heat N Bond).  So, I stitched along the outsides of the letters with some light pink thread just to make sure they stuck!


And here’s my little model sportin’ her new duds…..
 



Love it!  I can’t wait for her to wear it on Valentine’s Day!
Have you been creating any goodies for Valentine’s Day?  I must admit, I don’t really decorate my home for Valentine’s Day (just a flag and wreath for the porch), but I like doing little projects like this for these types of Holidays!
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a GREAT day!

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous, Polly Want A Crafter T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework, A Bowl Full Of Lemons W: Uncommon, Oopsey Daisy, Uncommon, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark , Not Just A Housewife Th: 36th Avenue, Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, Every Creative Endeavor F: My Repurposed Life, Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Fingerprints On The Fridge, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading S:  Positively Splendid, I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal  Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic, Homemaker On A Dime

 

Thanks for reading! 

Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook & Twitter!

 

Teal & Chevron Kitchen Towels {DIY}

So I was in Target a couple weeks ago and saw some cute black and white chevron kitchen towels.  I snagged 2 of them up!  If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or  Twitter then you got a glimpse at the new towels!
So I ran home all excited about my new goodies!  I barely got my foot through the door before I was tearing into the Target bag and pulling out the pretty, new towels to hang them on my stove handle.  I stood back and looked at them and I didn’t love them.  {Enter sad face here}.  Boo!  So they hung there for a week or so kinda plain and boring. 
Then, a couple days ago I ran to Dollar Tree to pick up something real quick.  I was walking to the checkout register when I saw these fun, bright colored terry kitchen towels!  They had a bright green, yellow, orange (I think), and teal.  They were so fun!  So I snagged 3 teal ones.  I knew immediately what I was going to do!

Yup!  The chevron towels took one look at the teal towels and they immediately fell in love.  They got married.  Mr. Brother married them in a very quaint ceremony.  Ok…..enough with the dorky wedding talk!  How do you guys even stick around here??
So my initial thought was to just sew a piece of one of the chevron towels to the teal towel and sew some ribbon on (you know I’ve gotta tie it to the oven so Lil Mama won’t constantly yank them down). 
So I cut the chevron towel in a wide strip to go at the bottom of the teal towel.

I sewed about a 1/4 inch seam at the top so it would look finished.

Then I sewed it to the teal towel and sewed the ribbon on.


Yay!  I loved it.  But I thought this little towel looked a little lonely.  I decided my kitchen needs something more than just teal and chevron.  How about ruffles, teal, and chevron!!  Oh yes ma’am!

Much better!! 
I basically just cut the 2nd chevron towel into 3.5 inch strips.  I set my sewing machine to the longest stitch length and set the tension to the tightest setting.  Another little trick I use when sewing ruffles is to hold the top thread between my pointer finger and thumb as I sew.  This adds a little extra tension and causes it to ruffle a little more.
It took 3 ruffle strips to go across the teal towel and I did two rows.

Love, love, love!  It was just the pop of color I needed in my kitchen.  And I love that they are the same, but not matchy matchy!
What do you think?  These fun, bright towels kind of have me itching for Spring (even though we’ve been having Spring-like weather here in Florida).
Thanks for stopping by!

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous, Polly Want A Crafter T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework W: Passionately Artistic, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Not Just A Housewife Th: 36th Avenue, Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, Every Creative Endeavor F: Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,  Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic, Homemaker On A Dime

DIY Quatrefoil Wood Tray

Hi friends! 
Happy Hump Day!
Yesterday I shared with you my organized family command center!  I’m proud to report it still looks like that!  Haha.  That’s saying something for us! 
You might have noticed the cute little tray that is holding the pen cup and “mail box”.
 

It’s a super cute little addition to our newly organized space!

It started out as a plain little $3 wooden tray from Hobby Lobby.


I gave it a few light coats of Krylon’s Pebble spray paint.  Then, I opened up my Silhouette software and used the “geometric background (lg)” pattern to cut my white vinyl.

I weeded my vinyl (the absolute WORST part of vinyl projects) and used the negative space of the vinyl so it would look like my tray was stenciled.  I used transfer paper to transfer my vinyl to my tray.  Note: vinyl doesn’t like to stick to spray paint that well.  Boo!  Try acrylic next time.

Here’s what I ended up with:

Yay!  I love it!  Super simple (I’m not a fan of complicated).  Super quick (seriously….nap time only lasts so long).  And super cheap (well….because I’m just a cheap-o).
So there ya have it!  Now…..go forth and make a cutesy tray!

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous, Polly Want A Crafter T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework W: Passionately Artistic, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Not Just A Housewife Th: 36th Avenue, Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, Every Creative Endeavor F: Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,  Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic, Homemaker On A Dime