Chronicles of a Big Girl Room: Scrapbook Paper Dress Art



Our almost 3 year old is ready for a big girl room.  A princess big girl room.  I forget that she's growing up and has her own opinions.  I wanted her big girl room to have a dress theme because she loves dresses and it seems a little more unique.  But thanks to Disney (which I'm certain had absolutely nothing to do with us taking her on multiple Disney vacations and watching every princess movie with her...) she wants a princess room.  I'm compromising by creating a "princess dress boutique" theme. 

I love creating my own art whether it's a painting on a canvas or photography or something multimedia.  Once while looking through the Pottery Barn Kids catalog, I spotted these patterned elephants:



Aha!  Scrapbook paper dress art!  Here's what I did:

1. Bought 2 canvases size 22x28 (on sale!) at JoAnn's, and some scrapbook paper
2. Painted the background a mixture of white and cream with tiny pink polka dots (I didn't want a busy background and her walls are very pink!)
3. Sketched dresses on notebook paper and then created stencils for the bodices out of cardstock
4. Cut pieces from scrapbook paper
5. Made little hangers from florist wire I happened to have, and painted them pink
6. Glued everything onto canvas with a combination of Elmers and hot glue- This process was tricky because the Elmer's glue didn't work very well on the canvas.  I don't mind the paper not being completely glued down because it looks a little more fluid, like fabric, but I want everything to stay put!





I love how they turned out and I can't wait to get to work on more projects for her room! 

 

Linking up to...

Color Me Glamorous

Oopsey Daisy

Cherished Bliss

Domestically Speaking

It's Overflowing

Primp

Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Someday Crafts

Blue Cricket Design

The Shabby Creek Cottage

The 36th Avenue

My Repurposed Life

The Shabby Nest

Design Dazzle

Whipperberry

The Grant Life

Serenity Now

Days of Chalk and Chocolate

Crafty Moms Share

Tatertots and Jello

Six Sisters Stuff

I Heart Naptime

Positively Splendid

Lines Across My Face

Barstool Makeover

At one point we had two cats, both with all claws intact.  We also had a pair of faux leather barstools from Target.  You see where this is going?  This is what the stools looked like originally:

Now imagine the cushions with holes and claw marks all over them and the wood scuffed and chipped.  Not very attractive.  When we moved, the stools didn't quite go with the new kitchen, so I knew it was the perfect opportunity to transform them!  Since the kitchen was mainly black and white and our dining set was black, I decided to spray paint the wood frames black.  Originally I had planned to make slipcovers for the cushions out of a colorful fabric because I really needed to be able to wash them easily.  Unfortunately my first attempt at slipcovers failed, but then my mom mentioned that I would need something to help the slipcover grip the vinyl of the cushion to keep it from sliding (especially important with little munchkins constantly climbing on them.)

I started thinking about re-covering them instead and discovered oil cloth, which is wipeable!  Oil cloth comes in the most adorable designs so I was excited to buy some until I saw this:

WARNING: This product may contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.

Yikes.  It's probably not as bad as it sounds, but I was a little leery of putting it on the barstools that we use CONSTANTLY.  That's when I discovered laminated fabric!  I ended up choosing the black and white polka dots and bought a few yards.  Here's how I did it:

1. Unscrewed cushion from base
2. Spray painted bases, first with spray primer, then with black and last with a few coats of Polycrylic
3. Cut circles out of the laminated fabric a few inches larger than the cushions (I think I used less than a yard total)
4. Used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the underneath side of the cushion

I love my "new" stools!  They get used and abused every day and they still look great!  I was a little concerned that the laminated fabric might not hold up, which is why I bought extra, but it still looks as good as new!  Oh, and now we're down to one cat, and so far we've been lucky!

Linking up to...

Craft-o-maniac
Lines Across My Face
Cherished Bliss
Primitive and Proper

Photo Valentine



We wear a lot of tutus in our house.  And by we, I do mean all of us.  Dress-up is quite popular here.  So when I was thinking about what to do for my 2 year olds valentines it was almost a no-brainer.  I LOVE the lollipop in the fist photo Valentine, but I knew there was no way I was going to get my 2 year old to do that in a picture.  I'm lucky if she even looks at the camera!  There's a lot of bribing when I take her picture which may or may not involve a lot of candy...  Anyway, one thing I do not have to bribe her to do is wear a tutu, which is how I came up with this.  Now I can't stop thinking of adorable dress-up valentine ideas.  Have a bee costume lying around?  Bee Mine!  Kiddo was an animal for Halloween?  I'm Wild About You!  Apparently I need to stock up on costumes! 

This card was very easy to make in Photoshop Elements.  I just opened the picture and added the words.  I'll have them printed at Costco, although I could just as easily print them at home.  I took 85 pictures to get this one, by the way.  85!!  Thank goodness for digital photography!

Linking up to...
Tatertots and Jello
Six Sisters Stuff
Serenity Now
Homemaker in Heels
Positively Splendid
I Heart Naptime
Michelle Paige
The Grant Life
Craft-o-maniac
Decor Chick

Goodwill Art Turned Chalkboard

When I started to decorate the dining room, I knew I wanted a big chalkboard.  I suspected however, that finding a big, chunky framed chalkboard in my budget would be pretty difficult.  Enter Goodwill and spray paint!  I found a great piece of art at Goodwill for around $15.  I don't have any before pictures since it was pre-blog, but think dark frame with a sad, faded print.  To transform the frame and glass, I bought white spray paint and chalkboard spray paint.  After I separated the glass from the frame, I spray painted the frame white and the glass with chalkboard paint.  The glass took many, many coats.  I think I went through almost two cans of spray paint!  It was wet for a long time, and since it was outside, I picked out many an unfortunate bug who'd wandered there.  Painting the frame white was much easier!  Once everything was dry, I put it all back together.  The frame is attached to the wall with Museum Putty which is one of my favorite products!  

Sometimes the chalkboard displays our dinner menu but it works just as well for quotes or holiday greetings!

Linking up to...

Domestically Speaking PoPP

Adorable Felt Hearts

I love Valentine's Day!  Actually, I'm not sure if it's the day itself or just the hearts, but I've always loved making hearts!  I also love any sewing project that doesn't require the use of my sewing machine (because it scares me!) so this project is perfect!  The idea for these came from a tutorial for a partridge ornament I made at Christmas. I used a blanket stitch to sew these together, but I am by no means a blanket stitch pro, so there will be no thorough tutorial here.  There are a few vague pictures though, so maybe that will help.  Otherwise, if you are unfamiliar with the blanket stitch you should probably google it. :)

Supplies:

- felt

- fabric

- cardboard heart stencils (I cut mine from a cracker box)

- embroidery floss and needle

- Heat n Bond lite and iron

- scissors

- poly fill

- buttons and/or ribbon for embellishment

This is what I started with:

After cutting out the hearts, I ironed on the fabric so it would stay put while being sewn.

I stitched on the fabric heart, buttons and ribbon before sewing the two hearts together.

Here's what a blanket stitch looks like.

If you have a little helper, you can let them put in the stuffing. 

After stuffing, finish stitching and voila!  Adorable Valentine's decorations!  I added the ribbon in case I wanted to hang them somewhere, but the I kind of like them in the basket. 

Linking up to...

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Homemaker in Heels

Lolly Jane

Six Sisters Stuff

Mama Mia's Heart 2 Heart

I Heart Naptime

Michelle Paige

Decor Chick

Valentine's Day Burlap Banner

I can't get enough of the pennant type banners, or buntings if you prefer. Not to be confused with baby buntings, which is what I thought a bunting was until recently.  Anyway, I made one for Thanksgiving based on this inspiration, so I decided to make a similar one for Valentine's Day.  It's easy, doesn't take long to make, and is so cute!

Here's what I used:

Burlap

Triangle Stencil

Pencil

Scissors

Printed Letters

Red Paint

Paint Brush

Glue Gun

Hemp Rope

Use a stencil to trace the triangles and cut them out of the burlap.  Use the printed letters as a guide to paint the letters onto the burlap.  Once the letters are painted, glue them to the hemp rope.  Easy!

Linking up to ...

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Homemaker in Heels

Positively Splendid

Hoosier Homemade

Uncommonly Yours

I started a blog!

So I started a blog. I think this will be a craft/DIY/decorating/tales of a stay at home mom type blog, but we'll see. My husband said something about my blog needing direction. I don't know about that, but I do know that my mind is constantly pin balling ideas and that a few of those ideas materialize into a pile of supplies hovering in the dark corners of closets (or on my kitchen counter, whatever) and a few of those piles become an actual creative masterpiece. I'm hoping this blog will be a vehicle for accountability (I can't disappoint my loyal followers!), but I'm not sure I'm willing to limit my creativity to one "direction." Plus, a blog sounds like a great New Year's Resolution. 1. Start blog 2. Update blog regularly 3. Attract at least one reader other than my mom... So jump in and enjoy the ride! I think I'll head North, or maybe Northwest...