Pretty's Girly Room

One of the fun things about buying a home was getting to create a boy room and a girl room. While there is still decorating to do in both, the two kid rooms were a priority for me to paint before we moved in. And they are still the only rooms I've painted so far.

Hero was old enough to pick his own wall color, but since Pretty was only 19 months when we moved, I decided the colors for her. My favorite colors are blue and yellow. They don't scream "girl", but it turned out just the way I wanted. I decided that when Pretty is about 12 years old, I'll let her pick her own colors if she wants...

Here's my sister, Audrey, helping me make stripes (she also helped me with Hero's green stripes).

Pretty's room has a funny angled corner, so instead of only doing one wall, we did more that half the room with these light and dark yellow stripes.

Here's the finished product, taken just this morning. You can see the blue reflecting in the mirror. So pretty!

Since I picked two not-so-very-girly colors for the walls, I knew I wanted to add flowers and pink into the decor. I carried around the paint chip cards with me everywhere and one day, while randomly deciding to walk through the fabric section at WalMart, I found this beautiful pink roses with a blue background fabric! I was ecstatic that it matched well with the paint! I found a yellow to match, because I knew the design I wanted to create. It's girly, while still staying with the colors of the room.

The problem I created for myself was not having measured the window when I found the perfect fabric. I then guessed at the amount I would need. Never a very good idea... While I had enough to make it work, I was hoping to have the curtains hang past the bottom edge of the window by about 6 inches. Instead, it brushes the window sill... and that's with adding the yellow  piece at the top I wasn't planning on. Oh well, they are still beautiful!

 I have a lot more ideas for making Pretty's room girly (check out my Pinterest board on it). My vision includes a lot more of the dark pink, butterflies and flowers.

It may be blue and yellow, but it is definitely a girly room!

Check this one off the list! I hope to check off more soon!

Hero's New Room

When we moved to our new home, I asked Hero what color he wanted his room and he didn't even hesitate to say, "Green. Dark green." After some persuading I got him to get excited to about these stripes. We both won with him getting dark green, and me getting to do stripes!

The other 3 walls are a light grey.

I also just finished these curtains for the room. I decided that I wanted to introduce more colors into the room, and this orange is great!

I like the way they look with the sun shinning through.

I did three rows of stitching on the top and bottom of the orange cuff.

 I love the way the room is coming together. I've got more coming with getting ready for the new baby. I can't wait to show you!

More to come!

Book Wreath (or hat...)

It's been a long time coming, since the shower was about a month ago, but here's the final decoration. Sorry it took so long to upload! I followed this tutorial to make it, with a few of my own twists.

I'll be honest, when I first saw these wreaths popping up about a year ago, I didn't like them. The only reason I decided to make one is because of the library theme... but I love it!!

The tutorial only calls for one book, but I picked three. Why three?

Because I found three different colored edges and thought it would be super cute to have all of them mixed in one wreath. I had considered painting my edges yellow, but then found the pre-painted books and scooped them up for $0.25 a piece at the thrift store. Much easier than painting my own!

I didn't take any pictures in process, but I found myself squishing them together from the back to front as I glued them on, so there wasn't any need to go back through later to fill in the spaces. There were no spaces to fill! I preferred the basic twist because I liked the points it creates sticking out. The "wave" types I used to keep it full.

I also always used two pages together as I rolled, twisted, and glued. I hoped this would make the colored edges stand out a bit more.

The other little change I made was to finish the inside with an open page. I didn't like the look of all the pages vertical, randomly overlapped edges.  This is a much cleaner look.

I'm so glad I made this wreath and think it is beautiful. I still have enough of the 3 books to make another one, and my SIL hinted that she would like one... maybe for her birthday coming up?

Here is another use suggestion, just in case you still weren't sold on making your own. It doubles as a hat. That just pushed you over into the "definitely-doing-it" category, right?

Have an awesome weekend!!

A Good Book Quote Art Tutorial

Part two of the Mod Podge book pages fun was the "A Good Book" quote art. 

A few years ago, when I made some nursery art for my SIL, the canvases were on sale at 2 for 1! So I bought a few extras, of course! And when I had a lot of ripped book pages left, I decided to make the art piece for the shower. This tutorial is a little light on specific pictures, so if there is any confusion, email me!

What you need is an 8 x 8 canvas, an old book, Mod Podge, a foam brush, black craft paint, small paint brush, a small amount of black lace, a button and hot glue.

I started with covering the canvas in book pages the same way I did the serving tray. It's pretty simple; rip pages, then use Mod Podge to stick them on. I searched online and found this quote, "A good book has no ending." by R.D. Cumming. I like the suggestion that a book you love with live on by becoming a part of you.

Now, some day, I might actually own some sort of cutting machine (my dream is a Silhouette!). But for this, I just used black craft paint and a little brush. 

 I like how bold the letters are, and also how there is a little drag from the brush around the edges.

Once the paint is dry, brush on a layer of Mod Podge over the entire surface of the canvas.

To create the flower in the center, I cut out 4 circles from the same book I was using. They can be any size you want, and they don't need to be perfectly round. I free handed mine and they were roughly 3 1/4 in in diameter.

Crumple them up to add some texture.

Smooth them out enough to fold them in half.

Then weave the four folded circles in to one circle.

Use hot glue to secure them together where one folded circle overlaps another.

To help set off the book pages flower from the book pages background, cut two circles from some black lace. The larger circle should be about 5 1/2 inches in diameter, and the smaller circle about 3 1/4 inches in diameter. I know that makes the smaller circle of lace the same size as the paper flower, but we are going to melt it, and that makes it shrink up a bit.

I didn't take any pictures of this next part because I was using both hands to burn stuff, so fire safety took priority over pictures! It's pretty simple, though. Use a lighter or a candle to melt the edges of both lace circles. I also burned the edges of my paper flower. Be VERY CAREFUL during this part. The pages DO CATCH ON FIRE and you need to blow it out so the whole thing doesn't burn away. Again. please be careful!

Now we are to the final assembly! Use hot glue to secure the flower to the center of the canvas. Remember that lace has holes, so put down the glue, then place both the larger lace and the paper flower down over that glob of glue. (Don't try to push down the lace on it's own, like I did... oops.)

Then lay the smaller lace down, add the glue and push the button in the center. And you are done!

I love how this piece turned out! A constant reminder that reading is important,

and the things we read stay with us.

And that's just awesome.

Book Pages Tray Tutorial

I'm sure I'm not the first person to Mod Podge old book pages to stuff, but this was a really fun and small way to bring even more themed decor to the Library baby shower. Today I'll share how I made the tray.

The supplies are pretty simple. You will need a tray to cover. I found this plastic "Merry Christmas" one at a thrift store for $0.50! You also need an old book. Try to find one that has yellowed edges from age if you can, it just adds more dimension. You need Mod Podge, a foam brush, and (not pictured) black craft paint, little paint brush, and sealer.

Rip pages out of the book at the spine, then rip the pages at random places.

Use a sponge brush to apply Mod Podge to one side of the page.

(if you follow me on FB, this is why my daughter got the stuff in her hair)

Then stick the page glue side down on the tray at random. I did try to make sure the pages were going at different angles and the text at different directions from the ones immediate to it. Also, don't go from one side the tray to the other, because then all the pages will be on top of each other on the same sides. (does that even make sense?)

I covered over the handle openings completely, then waited for it to mostly dry. Cut a line in the paper covering the hole.

Then use more Mod Podge to wrap the cut pages around the opening.

This is how it will look when you've covered the whole top side. I stopped here, but I think it would be a good idea to cover the sides as well.

The next step is to add an image. This draws attention away from what could be awkward page placement, and just adds a bit of fun.

I used this bird image from picnik.com, printed it out in a 4x6 size, and cut out the bird.

I traced around the bird on to the paper tray with a pencil.

Fill in the outline with black craft paint (or any color you wish).

The last two steps are to finish it off. First, after letting the bird image dry, use your sponge brush to apply Mod Podge over the entire surface of the book pages. This is harden it and add a great finish. Don't do it too thick that the pages wrinkle. Allow it to dry.

 The final step is to apply a sealer. Even after it has dried, Mod Podge can be tacky and if you leave things resting on the surface for very long, they can stick. Sealer will prevent that from happening. And since it is a serving tray, you most likely will have things resting on it!

 And there you have it, an awesome Book Pages Tray.

Then you can add stuff, like these party favors:

And that's just awesome!