Nursery Inspiration

I've been trying to decide how I want to decorate my little girl's room once we move. I've searched the Internet for a picture of the perfect nursery that I would want, but I cannot find anything. It's all so themed with flowers and ladybugs and too bright of colors for me. I guess I'm too picky. I know what I want in my mind and so I'll just have to make it myself. I'm on the lookout for the perfect fabric - maybe a damask print in lilac with a coordinating plum print. Throw in some cream colors, off-white, or white. Haven't decided. I did however, find some pictures for the inspiration of Averi Brooke's new nursery. (Yes, Averi is a girl name. Especially when you put a heart instead of a dot over the i )

love the idea/colors of this pillow and would be super easy to make

 cute little table to sit next to the rocking chair. Maybe painted a distressed plum color.

 this nursery is a bit too modern for me, but i like the feeling it gives. it's refreshing.

 white chandelier with white pearls/beads is a must. adds such feminine charm.

 Love the color on the walls- purplish gray. Also love the iron rod crib and all the fabrics.

 Pearls! I have some great ideas for decorating with sweet pearls.

 flowers on the side instead of being the focal point is much more my style



Excited to find the perfect fabrics and get to sewing and creating. Might be a while til it's all finished since I've got a lot going on, but I'll be posting as I go.

Framed Tin Magnet Board

This project cost me under $7- which was just for the sheet of tin (on sale at Home Depot.)

Frame from my mom's garage, already had the ribbon, mod podge, paint,and screws.

If you want to make your own, hit up your mom's garage. or your own. or a thrift store, yard sale, whatev.

 

I'm sure this was nice to someone sometime, but not so much anymore. Outdated to say the least.

(Sorry to whoever painted this. Good things don't last forever, ya know?)

Which is why my mom was excited to get rid of it. Lucky for me.

Paper border? yep.

Most of it peeled right off, but for the stubborn areas, a wet washcloth dipped in fabric softener works miracles. and a butter knife :)

After I got all that fabulous paper off, I painted it white with a foam brush.

(Foam brushes work best if you have to paint over lots of groves.)

While waiting for the paint to dry, cut out strips of ribbon to make a border. You can use fabric, wall paper, scrapbook paper, etc. Using a foam brush, paint a layer of mod podge directly onto the artwork and lay down the ribbon. If your frame came without pretty art (lucky you), cut out a thick piece of cardboard, cork board, or thin plywood. Rub out any wrinkles or air bubbles in your border. Then paint a layer of mod podge right on top to seal it.

 Once it's all painted with mod podge, let it dry. Go back and paint a second coat on your frame, if necessary.

Then make your husband drill a hole in each corner of the tin.

Unless you're one of those cool chics and can do it yourself.

Twist those screws right down into the artwork/cardboard.

Yes, it actually stays. I'm amazed too.

Then have your husband cut off the sharp ends in the back with his Dremmel tool.

Again, unless you're a cool chic.

and make your husband hold it up while you take a picture :)

...and enjoy decorating with these easy and cute magnets you can make yourself.

I'm pretty sure you can also use dry erase markers on tin, but I haven't actually tried it.

You can use for pictures, notes, whatever.

I love how it turned out.

Thanks for your help, babe.

Fabric Bracelets

You can easily make your own bracelets with some fabric and sass.

These plastic bracelets are cute for someone somewhere I'm sure, but I think they look much better when personalized :)
All you need is fabric, fabric glue, and a bracelet for recovering.
Start by cutting out a rectangle piece of fabric. (make sure it is long enough to cover the whole thing. It's better to have it too long than too short -you can always cut off the excess later.)
Paint a layer of fabric glue right on top of the bracelet, then slowly wrap the center of the fabric around making sure it sticks to the glue, pressing out any bubbles in the fabric.

Once it's wrapped around it completely, cut off any excess fabric if necessary.

Paint a layer of glue on the inside of the bracelet and wrap the fabric, one side at a time, underneath it. Dab a little glue over the raw edge on the inside to make sure it doesn't fray later on.
Then decorate as you wish!

I glued some lace around the whole thing, then made 3 fabric flowers and hot glued them over some tulle.

This one I used ribbon and glued a lacey ruffle over it by sewing a gathering stitch. Then used some glitter glue to sass it up a bit.

These were definitely fun [and easy] to make.

Vintage Magnets

Who doesn't need more magnets? Yes, I know they say it's tacky to keep your refrigerator cluttered with papers, lists, and blah blah blah... but I say with cute magnets, who cares? I'll have one disappointed 5 year old if I remove one fridge-worthy paper creation even so much as an inch! And no, I don't plan on using all these magnets strictly for my kitchen kindergarten display board...they make a great little gift.

All you need is some scrapbook paper...
Mod Podge, scissors, round magnets (i bought an 18 pk at walmart for under 3 bucks) , and round accent gems. You know those flattened marble things used for...not really sure what they're used for, but I see them everywhere. ?? You can buy a pound of them at the dollar store. They have all different shapes too.
This scrapbook paper was inspired by vintage nursery rhymes, but it'd also be a good idea to hit up a thrift store and buy an old vintage book with pictures or shakespeare quotes. Same idea.

Place the flat marble over the picture you want to capture, then trace around it. When you cut it out, you'll have to cut smaller than the trace-lines since the edges are rounded and you don't want the paper sticking out the backside.
Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge on the flat side of the marble.

Then place your picture face-down on top of the glue. The flat marbles I used were not perfectly round, so I had to make sure to line up the shape just right.

Make sure there are no bubbles in the paper, then paint another layer of Mod Podge over the backside of the picture. Lay flat and let dry completely.

Once dried, place a good amount of hot glue on the backside...

then place a round magnet right on top. Press down and hold until hot glue is hardened.

That's it!

You can easily create custom magnets to suit your style.

It's like looking at a mini picture blown up or reading a mini poem through a magnified glass. MARVELOUS! :)

To give out as gifts, I cut out small rectangled pieces of fabric and sewed super simple bags.

Fill it with magnets and tie some lace or ribbon around it.
Each one held about 5 magnets.

i enjoy cute ways to give simple gifts :)

2-Way Radio Covers

This tutorial may not seem useful to many, but you can use this basic idea to make a rectangle cover for anything. My husband has some walkie-talkies and whenever we go camping or hiking, he brings them with us just in case we split up. He's VERY careful with his stuff and likes to keep everything in pretty-much-perfect condition. He sometimes thinks it's necessary to remind me not to scratch, drop, or throw things. HA! Last time we were out, I realized these little guys need covers to keep them from being scratched. (or dropped or thrown)

I used camouflage fabric and gray felt for the inner lining.

I just estimated how much fabric I would need by cutting out a square around the bottom

and did the same thing for all other sides.

Then I used the felt cutouts as patterns to cut out the same shapes from the camo fabric. Make sure to cut out two of everything since there are 2 radio's, duh!

Pay no attention to the bad sewing job. It was a bit too big, so I had to adjust it a couple times. (but all those seam lines give it extra security which is good.)

When sewing this, start by sewing the sides together first (inside out, of course), then sew the bottom square to it. It takes some maneuvering around the corners, but just go slow. Then turn it rightside in and see if the radio's fit. If it's too loose, you can turn it inside out again and sew a little closer in. It's easier to adjust if it's too big, rather than too small.

You will do this same concept with Camo fabric. Then simply slide the felt liner into the Camo cubby, fold the edges inward toward each other like in the picture, then pin in place.

I added a strap to lay over the top to keep it secure. I did this by cutting two rectangle piceces of Camo a couple inches long. I also added a layer of felt in the center to make it a little thicker. Sew around the edges, then pin the strap in place before sewing around the edge of the cover.
Sew around the edges and voila!

Oh, then add some velcrow. I added velcrow by hand stitching it on.

There you go. Two covers for 2-way radios.

My husband really likes them and that makes me happy.