The Stars at Night, Are Big and Bright....

I'm finally getting around to posting the tutorial on the nursery star. I'm afraid blogging and projects are going to be a little slow going around here until we get a handle on this two under two thing...

This project started with an old copper star I had gotten years ago. I bought it for $3 back when we lived in New York and I was dying for something Texas-y in our apartment. It's been sitting in Elijah's room all lonely and forgotten, so I decided to spruce it up. I had some leftover scrapbook pieces from making the letters above Elijah's crib, so in true DIY fashion, I decided to use what I had.
First I got some scrap plywood (I feel like I say that in every blog post. One day we WILL run out of scrap plywood).  I placed the star on it and traced around it, making the plywood star a little bigger. 

I would have used a ruler, but I believe the toddler got a hold of it - which means it's probably stuffed in a dresser drawer or bookshelf somewhere. Anyway, I got resourceful and used the DVD case from one of my husbands college courses.

Then I grabbed the jigsaw (out of our newly organized mini garage!) and cut out the star.

Then I grabbed my materials...the star, the scrap paper pieces, a small paintbrush and some decoupage glue (off brand Mod Podge).

The husband wasn't coming home that night, the boy was in bed, and I felt some catching up in Teen Mom was much needed. Here is what my evening looked like...

(Try not to be jealous of my sweet internet-less, camera-less, text-less phone - you know you miss the simplicity!)

The  process was really simple, I just coated the back of a paper piece in decoupage glue, put it on the star, and wrapped it around the back. I didn't worry about the center - the copper star is going to cover that up. The hardest part was folding the points juuuust right so that they didn't look all jacked up.

It may have been a simple process, but it still took awhile - four Teen Mom episodes to be exact.

I coated the whole thing in decoupage glue to finish it off then just put a nail in it and hung the star!

Here is the final product, I really like the way it turned out.

Here it is on the ever changing shelf (I just now noticed those loose screws, this is Domestic Imperfection, though... )

And some close up shots....

Next up will be the decoupaged name letters above the crib (now that I know what name to use!) and the collection of little stars...

And then we leave the nursery (finally!) and get back to work on the kitchen!

Linked to:

Making The World Cuter, Be Colorful, The Girl Creative, Mad In Crafts, The DIY Home Sweet Home, Between Naps On The Porch, Keeping It Simple, Homemaker on a Dime, Dittle Dattle, Lines Across My Face, At Home With K, Homework, Me and My Boys, Oops I Craft My Pants, Not Just A Housewife, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Topsy Turvy,  Confessions, Sugar Bee Crafts, Bella Before & After, Sassy Sites, Cherished Bliss, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nothing But Country, Sweet Little Gals, Creations by Kara, Southern Lovely, Someday Crafts, Women Who Do It All, Handy Man Crafty Woman, Lil Luna, The Thrifty Home, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Girlish Whims, Ginger Snap Crafts, Eisy Morgan, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Homemaker on a Dime, The Stuff of Success, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond the Picket Fence, Yesterday on Tuesday,  Saved by Love, Fireflies and Jellybeans, House of Hepworths, Lolly Jane, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots & Jello, I Heart Nap Time, Whipperberry, Chic on a Shoestring, The Shabby Nest, 504 Main, Fun to Craft, Blissful and Domestic, Designer Garden, French Country Cottage, Happy Hour Projects, 30 Days, While He Was Napping, Fingerprints on the Fridge, delicateCONSTRUCTION

My Readers Are Awesome - A Crib Solution

In yesterdays post I left you to choose between these two awkward crib set-ups...

Admittedly, neither one worked and the whole room felt weird.

But then, you awesome people swooped in with your genius suggestions and saved the day! I don't know why I hadn't though of these, I blame it on pregnancy brain ;) 

In my head the reading chair was stuck where it was at. There is a weird, small, angled wall in one corner, and the chair fit so well that in my head it had to stay. 

I took all your suggestions to heart, and this morning Elijah and I grabbed our measuring tapes and got to work. There were only two suggestions that actually fit into the space - the first was moving the dresser to the window wall and putting a crib on each of the other walls. I tried that first because I liked the idea of having the cribs on different sides of the room.

(Sorry about the terrible pictures..it's impossible to get good lighting in this room.)

This was definitely an improvement, but it felt kinda cramped - mostly because the crib stuck out  into the doorway by a lot.

 The other suggestion was the clear winner, thank you Katie from Craptastic!

Would it work if you put the chair in the corner, then a crib on each wall on each side of the chair? Does that make sense? Not sure if there is enough room to do that. It's looks good though!

Why yes Katie, it DOES work...

I love it....I feel so much better about this room than I did yesterday. It was such a simple solution but made a world of difference! Thank you everyone for your suggestions, I really appreciate it! 

Of course, this does mean I have to move those dang name letters again...

The Never Ending Nursery Project...

It's been awhile since I've updated y'all on the nursery progress. I don't know why this project is taking me so long, I'm just never in the mood to work on it. Actually I know exactly why...and no, it's not cause I'm 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant - though that would be a good excuse. It's because it's not my favorite room. Not that I'm hating it, it's just that it's a cramped dark room (with to many cribs) that I'm doing the best I can with a bunch of free stuff. I'm just saying, don't judge my decorating abilities too harshly based on this nursery.  Give me a blank slate, a little bit of a budget, and a baby that I know the gender of and I'd knock you socks off, I know it. 

Anyway, blah, blah, blah...Here are some pictures :)

Last time I updated I had just ordered the second crib. Now it's here and all set up...and totally a portable mini crib. Poor second kid. There's just not enough room in here for two full size cribs, plus this one was way cheap. 

Looks fine right?

 (Besides the fact that it really needs a crib skirt and a name above it.)

Well, here is a different view...

AWK-WARD...

I could also turn it this way....

I think they look a little less awkward parallel, like that's just the sleeping corner. Thing is, with the white crib sticking out the room gets really small. 

Here are both positions again so y'all can help me decide.

I don't know...either way looks like a mini daycare, lol. 

On the book sling wall I made and hung a shelf...I like the placement but think it needs chunkier supports. These are just the uber cheap ones and I think they look unsubstantial and, well, wimpy.

I also made a big star which I totally love. It has it's own blog post coming up so I'm not going to tell you anymore... except that it took me four episodes of  Teen Mom to make :)

We also removed the closet door to replace it with a curtain. I bought it off of Amazon because it was so cheap that I couldn't justify making one. Much to my surprise I opened up the package to find a sheer. Oops! I decided to hang it up just to see how it looked - I was sure I was going to hate it. Actually, it works great...you can see through it just enough to make the room feel bigger without totally revealing the contents of the closet.

 Getting things in and out of the closet is a breeze now too. Before the door opened about halfway before hitting the chair, which wasn't quuuuite enough for me to squeeze my pregnant body through. 

I think another reason the rooms feels a little weird is that chair. I really like the chair, but I feel like the fabric doesn't go. It's too busy...I think a solid aqua/teal would have been a better choice. I feel bad even saying that because my mom helped me make it...sorry Mom, I still appreciate your help and think you did a great job!

And so, I officially get to cross a few more things off the list!

• Sand and paint chair and ottoman
• Reupholster chair and ottoman
• Make and hang book slings
• Make and hang shelf
• Move Elijah's crib and name letters
• Buy and assemble new crib
• Make star decor
• Make new baby name letters
• Paint closet
• Sort and organize baby clothes
• Remove closet door
• Buy/make and hang closet curtain
• Make growth charts
• Buy another dresser for closet
• Organize closet
• New cloth diaper set-up
• ADDED: Make crib skirts

 The growth charts are going to have to wait...I decided I like this one I found on Etsy. It's made out of beadboard, so I'll wait until we do our kitchen backsplashes and use scraps from that. 

Obviously the name letters have to wait until I know what name to make. I also want to make a few more little stars out of decoupaged scrapbook paper and hang them like so...

And that's where I'm at. I'll finish it eventually...it's certainly ready enough for me to have a baby any day, and that's what really matters!

Update: We have a crib solution...click here to see what it is!

Linked to:

Playful Decor

Not Every Project Can Be Exciting...

Great title to make you really want to read this post, huh? Well its true, most of the stuff on my nursery list isn't as thrilling as book slings. First up, diaper organization. To organize Elijah's diapers I had used these drawer dividers that I found at The Container Store...

They work really well, and this time I even found them at HEB (local grocery store) for less. Not surprising, since everything at The Container Store is really expensive (and totally awesome). 

Anyway, here is my diaper dresser all ready for two babies in cloth diapers. (If you want to know more about cloth diapers you can find the post I wrote about them here.) 

All I know is that I'm gonna be a butt wiping, poo spraying, diaper washing fool for awhile! 

So we have Elijah's diapers (same as before)...

Newborn prefolds and covers...

...and bigger prefolds, extra wipes and disposable diapers (for when we travel or I just forget to do diaper laundry - which happens more than I care to admit). 

Next up was moving Elijah's crib and name letters over to make room for the second crib. It went form here...

 to here.

Did you notice the squished baby in that picture? He has been practicing jumping for the last month or so, and about two seconds before I snapped this pic he was practicing jumping on the ottoman. I knew how it was going to turn out, but I let him do it anyway. I'll take my awesome mom points now. 

He quickly found a piggy bank to destroy and forgot about his jumping mishap. 

 I really like the crib on this wall, it opens up the room a lot. Of course as soon as I add the second crib the rooms going to feel tiny again. The new crib should be here tomorrow, so as soon as I set it up I'll let you know how two cribs in one small room looks (probably a lot like a daycare!)

Moving those letters was not an easy task. Not at all. I'm not even going to tell you how many holes I put in the wall trying to get them right. No, it's way to embarrassing. Okay, its 27.  Don't judge me, they look good now an that's all that matters!

So there we have it...and now I get to cross a few more things off the list!

• Sand and paint chair and ottoman
• Reupholster chair and ottoman
• Make and hang book slings
• Make and hang shelf (for above book slings)
• Move Elijah's crib and name letters
• Paint closet
• Sort and organize baby clothes
• Remove closet door
• Buy/make and hang closet curtain
• Buy and assemble new crib
• Make star decor
• Buy/make growth charts
• Buy another dresser for closet
• Organize closet
• New diaper set up

I know I said that painting the closet was next, but I'm procrastinating because I really really (really!) don't want to do it.  It will happen soon though, I've already emptied the closet in preparation!

My Big Fat Nursery Chair

My nursery list is dwindling! Good thing, cause so is my time to complete it. Here is a picture of my nursery chair as of last week. It was given to me by my mom, who got it from a garage sale a looong time ago. (Update: After posting this my mom called to let me know that she actually didn't get this at a garage sale, but rather found it on the side of the road while on a walk. Just the chair - the ottoman she made. Looks like trash chairs are a recurring theme around here!) She recovered and painted it, so my before picture is her after picture....except for the big fat mystery stain on the seat. I forgot to take a closer picture for y'all...bummer, I know.

It's not the most refined chair, it's really just made out of a bunch of 2 x 4's. It's heavy and huge...we had to take off the bedroom door to get it in there. It's perfect because you can't hurt it. Well, I say that, but the second Elijah realized that the ottoman opened, he broke it. Thing wasn't designed with toddlers in mind. I ended up putting larger screws in the hinge and adding a chain to catch the lid before it opens to far.

I sanded everything down and glued and puttied where needed. I wanted to paint it white... even though it was already white. Turns out I wasn't wasting my time!

Next I recovered the ottoman lid, bringing the fabric all the way to the underside and nailing into place. I didn't want to mess with trim and I like how this turned out. Clean and simple.

For the actual recovering of the seat we packed up and went to my Mom's. I've never recovered anything like that before and she made the old cover, so I figured I'd enlist her help! I even managed to put a shirt on my normally naked boy for our trip to Grandma's...I'm not quite sure how we never got to the pants part.

To make the pattern we (carefully) ripped apart the old cushion covers and laid them out on our fabric. We pinned them into place and cut to make our new shapes.

There's even a zipper on the whole thing...I know we're going to end up with more big fat mystery stains, so being able to wash it is a plus!

....aaaaand that's the end of my how to pictures.  I had to go (dinner waits for no one) and Mom generously offered to finish it up for me.  Aren't moms great?

 I know that's DIY blog cheating. But there was no way I was going to turn her down. To finish from here basically all you do is pin the pieces together inside out, sew, and flip.

Anyway, here it is all finished!

And here it is next to the new book slings! 

(They actually match better than it looks like in this picture)

Next up is the closet. It's still that horrible salmon pink color from when we first moved in, so a fresh coat of white (and perhaps a stencil?) is on order. Oh, and a lot of organizing. There's a reason that door is shut!

Linked To:

Between Naps on the Porch, Keeping It Simple, Running with Glitter, Homemaker on a Dime, Dittle Dattle, The Tattered Tag, The DIY Showoff, Home Savvy, Be Colorful, The DIY Home Sweet Home, Mad In Crafts, The Girl Creative, Polly Want A Crafter, Sumos Sweet Stuff,Making The World Cuter, Lines Across My Face, Coastal Charm, Playful Decor, Confessions, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Cherished Bliss, Tip Junkie, Creative Itch, Topsy Turvy, Sassy Sites!, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Me and My Boys, Sugar Bee Crafts, Bella Before & After, Not Just A Housewife, Homework, Sweet Little Gals, Primitive & Proper, Passionately Artistic, Blue Cricket Design, Domestically Speaking, Sew Much Ado, Eisy Morgan, My Girlish Whims, Savvy Southern Style, Someday Crafts, Women Who Do It All, Handy Man Crafty Woman, The Thrifty Home, Lil Luna, Saved By Love Creations, Fireflies & Jellybeans, Remodelaholic, Serenity Now, lolly Jane, delicateCONSTRUCTION, Chic On A Shoestring, Design Dazzle, Perfectly Imperfect, French Country Cottage, Happy Hour Projects, Designer Garden, 504 Main, Freckled Laundry, Fingerprints On The Fridge, Fun To Craft, Miss Mustard Seed, The Shabby Nest, Addicted 2 Decorating, Young and Crafty, Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Nifty Thrifty Things, I Heart Nap Time,  

Triple Book Slings

Do y'all remember the list I posted about all the things I wanted to finish in the nursery before the baby comes?  Well, I've completed my first task...book slings! I first came across the idea on Pinterest and then found a tutorial here.  It's a really simple project...if you just make one. I of course had to jazz it up a bit and make three. Still a simple project, just a little more time consuming. 

Here is a picture of what the wall looked like a few weeks ago. Cinder block shelves, a radio that is too far from a plug to work, and a random star (which I have plans for!) 

Classy.

The colors in the nursery are tan, aqua, and green. I never planned on those being the colors, it just sort of slowly happened. I like it though. It totally works because the gender of our babies is always a surprise, so everything has to be gender neutral. Plus I'm plan on stuffing both rugrats into this room...even if they turn out to be different genders. Should be interesting. If any of you moms out in blogland have advice on having two under two share a room, please, do share!

I'm getting off subject - back to the book slings. I wanted to make three of them (we have a lot of books) and I wanted them to all be different sizes. Books come in all different sizes, why shouldn't book slings? I didn't want the giant books always looking like they are going to fall out, or the tiny ones to get buried.

After crunching some numbers (and measuring a lot of books) I came up with my three sizes. (All are 39" wide.)

Large:  42", which would make for a 8.5" deep final product

Medium: 36", 7" deep final

Small: 30", 5.5" deep final

Here they are all cut out. (Sorry the pics are dark, I did this at night while watching Band Of Brothers.)

Next, I folded them in half (pattern sides together) and sewed along one short side, the long side, and 3/4 of the other short side. The opening is left because the next step is turning then inside out (right side out?). 

Once you have them pattern side out and looking pretty, stitch closed the opening. Next I laid out my sling and dowel to make the rod pocket. I gave mine a little more room then I thought I needed and made them 2 inches. Good thing too, because I later returned these dowels and got thicker ones.

Here are the double curtain brackets I bought from Amazon (you can buy them here). They're beautiful and super sturdy, but when I opened the box I instantly thought "crap, I have to return them!" Why? They're HUGE. Like way bigger than I thought they would be. They stick off the wall at least six inches. When I got back on Amazon to try and find something that would hug the wall a little more, I found that they are all that huge. Who knew? I was actually kinda relieved, I wanted this project to be done, and not be waiting on snail mail returns. I've got a deadline to meet!

Hanging these beasts turned out be quite a task. Sometimes (okay, most the time) something so simple turns out to be a huge PITA. I knew I wanted them in studs - they are going into a little boys room, they WILL get hung on. 

As usual, here is the little man helping me with my crafts. If you are a frequent reader of my blog you may be starting to wonder if my kid ever wears clothes...

No, he doesn't... not unless we leave the house. Why make more laundry?

Once they were all hung up, I noticed a few things that were funky about it.

 The top one was way too shallow (and crooked) and the dowels were already starting to bow. 

I had a little leftover fabric, so I went to measure it. I was hoping it would be bigger than 30 inches.

It was 33 inches, barely enough to make a difference. I decided to make another anyway. Here is the new little sling next to the old little sling...

Since I hadn't cut the dowels yet I decided to return them and get something thicker. I'm not sure what size they were but I can tell you that they had yellow ends. I moved up to the purple ended ones, I think they are just a little less than an inch thick. 

Good thing not many men read my blog, they would be rolling their eyes at my dowel description. It's like when men give directions, they say "take so-and-so street west, then turn south onto whatever....". Women say, "take so-and so street till you get to the bridge, then turn right at the house with the ugly yellow trim...."

Anyway, here is the final product! I really like how it turned out, it's very sturdy and can hold a lot of books.

Elijah (clothes-less, as usual) approves as well!

And now I get to cross something off my nursery list. Crossing something off a list feels oh so good. 

(also, I've finished the ottoman, so I'm going to cross that off to. I'll post about that when I finish the chair.)

• Sand and paint chair and ottoman
• Reupholster chair and ottoman
• Make and hang book slings
• Make and hang shelf
• Move Elijah's crib and name letters
• Buy and assemble new crib
• Make star decor
• Make new baby name letters
• Paint closet
• Sort and organize baby clothes
• Remove closet door
• Buy/make and hang closet curtain
• Make growth charts
• Buy another dresser for closet
• Organize closet
• New cloth diaper set up    

Linked to:

Mad In Crafts, Keeping It Simple, The Girl Creative, Dittle Dattle, Home Savvy, Running With Glitter, CraftOManiac, Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Home Sweet Home, Sew Chatty, Be Colorful, Making The World Cuter, Lines Across My Face, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Polly Want A Crafter, Life Made Lovely, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Confessions, Bella Before & After, All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sassy Sites!, Me and My Boys, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Creative Itch, Not Just A Housewife, Oops I Craft My Pants, Homework, Nothing But Country, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Tip Junkie, Sweet Little Gals, Cherished Bliss, My Girlish Whims, Savvy Southern Style, DIY By Design, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely, Women Who Do It All, Handy Man Crafty Woman, The Thrifty Home, Lil Luna, Passionately Artistic, Raising 4 Princesses, Eisy Morgan, Creations By Kara, Saved By Love, Yesterday on Tuesday, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond the Picket Fence, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Happy Hour Projects, French Country Cottage, Design it Chic, 30 Days, delicateCONSTRUCTION, Shabby Nest, Freckled Laundry, Chic on a Shoestring, Design Dazzle, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Fun to Craft, Finding Fabulous, A Little Knick Knack, Designer Garden, 504 Main, Serenity Now, Remodelaholic, Let Birdz Fly, Addicted 2 Decorating, Tatertots & Jello, Lolly Jane, Be Different Act Normal, Nifty Thrifty, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Nap Time, While He Was Napping, Playful Decor, Ginger Snap Crafts, Young House Love, Bower Power, House of Earne