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A little Boy's Dream Room~
Creating the perfect bedroom for your little guy or gal is very important. I know that when I was a kid I would have L-O-V-E-D a fun room! My husband and I were on a mission to have a fun room for our toddler when it was time to switch him to a "big-boy" bed because we needed the crib for our soon-to-arrive little girl.
With Jackson loving Cars we wanted to give him a Cars' themed room. We searched high and low and wide for a car bed and found something that would work just right for him on Craigslist.

It all adds up~
We found the blue Little Tykes car bed on Craigslist for $80.00. The woman who was selling included the mattress and the support board, then we bought Cars' bedding for $34.99 from Amazon to give his bed the Cars feeling with out actually purchasing a $300.00 Lightning McQueen bed.
Next step was to search on Pinterest to find some more inspiration for his room and saw some pretty cool painted hubcaps. I then thought about how I could accomplish this, so I searched on Amazon for some rims and found a set of four for $26.00. Then when I received the hubcaps I spray painted each with the colors of a stop light. The next little details were the mini street signs. The Yield sign was purchased at a flea market for five bucks, and the Stop and Route 66 signs were found on Amazon for a little over $16.00. So we are up to 161.99. We also have a Cars toy box that I found on a mom's selling site on Facebook for $10.00. And lastly was the car rug which every little boy should have, my husband got for Jackson for one of his Christmas gifts, so therefore we don't count that as a cost for redecorating his room. All in all his little room make over was $171.99! Not bad considering I could have spent a lot more had I not been thrifty and crafty!!

No additional bucks~
There are other little details in the room that helped the whole look come together. First was his name sign that is above his bed. I actually made this before he was born for his nursery and that is some canvases, jean fabric, ribbon, wood letters that were painted, a staple gun, a hot glue gun and a couple nails! The room was already blue, so check that off the list! The Car's Lightning McQueen pillow pet was a Christmas gift, And lastly the smaller picture frames were also done before Jackson was here. Those were cheap frames from Walmart that I just spray painted blue and chalk painted the glass. Cheap and easy! A girlfriend and myself made the curtains for his room which I wouldn't do again... This is the only thing that I've ever DIY-ed that was truly not cost effective.

Book It~
I do have to admit that I have a shelf project to get going for his room. The boy has so many books that we need to get them organized on a nice big shelf. But that's another weekend and another trip to Homedepot!

Strike a pose~

Spring is in the air~

Happy First Day of Spring!
Here is a very easy DIY tutorial on a new spring wreath. This project is cheaper than purchasing a wreath that is custom and takes maybe an hour or two to complete. I know some of my followers will have seen the final product from this post because it is a wreath that I have had for a bit.

Necessary tools and supplies
For this project you'll need tools like a wire cutter to cut down the floral stems, a hot glue gun, small paint brush, and a plastic paint pallet or a paper plate. The supplies that you will need for this project are a grapevine wreath, wooden letter, flowers, and paint. I choose to shop most frequently at Joann's for all my supplies usually because they have such a vast selection of all necessary supplies for all types of DIY projects.

I've got a coupon for that~

Whenever I buy supplies for a DIY project I make sure that I have coupons at hand. If you DIY and don't receive coupons via email or snail mail from places like Joann's, Michaels, or Hancock, I highly suggest getting on their mailing list. The grapevine wreath was $4.99. The 9.5" wooden letter was $2.99. The paint I already had, I just mixed some red and blue to make my purple. And lastly, for four hydrangea spray's I paid about $24.00, however, prices do vary widely. When it comes to flowers at Joann's, they usually have sales on their flowers so prices are changing regularly. I can't say what my actual total was at the register because like I said, I always have coupons or I buy when things are on sale! I do know that I paid less than $32.00.




First things first~

For starters I laid out some newspaper on our dining room table to catch all the little leaves and twigs that can fall off of the wreath while working with it. (The wreath doesn't shed while hanging, only when being handled.) I used my wire cutters to cut down the stems to approximately a 2-3 inch length to intertwine in the wreath. Then I painted the wooden letter with my made up purple paint. Just one coat is plenty as long as you are covering every inch on the front and sides. Before glueing every piece in its place you should do a trial placement to make sure there is balance in the wreath, to make sure that it looks nice, not lopsided. So last thing is to heat up your gun and glue away! Gluing down the letter was the trickiest because of the amount of surface area that the solid surfaced letter touches versus the rather lumpy wreath.

Variations~
You can customize your wreath in so many different ways from color themes, seasonal themes, holidays, and different flowers/accents. But not only that, you can also do your house numbers versus your last name initial. The possibilities are endless. My inspiration was of course on Pinterest

Tada!
Here is the finished product! Keep in mind that for the amount of time and money it takes you to accomplish this you're saving greatly compared to buying one off of etsy.com (Prices vary from $45 to over $100). For my next wreath I am going to step it up a notch with adding some burlap and different colors, and maybe making it specific for a holiday!

  

Typography Birth Signs

It's all in the Details~
I designed these signs in Illustrator CS6. The blue frame for Jackson's sign was repurposed and the white frame for Savannah's birth sign was found at Gordmans for $19.99 (with the mat!)!  So virtually, these two signs cost only $19.99 plus tax.

Inspiration~
This was a fun lil' project that I did for both my children and I got my inspiration from Pinterest. I pretty much mimicked the Pinterest layout to a T with two differences, I omitted the zodiac sign, and the colors. Then with a little rearranging of that lower portion, I just put in Jackson's birth information. And a few short years later I did the same with Savannah's birth information. The beauty of having a degree in graphic design is having gained knowledge in Adobe Illustrator with years of experience using it is that I feel free with my designs. I can manipulate the designs and layouts just about any way that I want. Plus, I love typography and having fun with fonts, so it was a fun project for me!

Minor problems~
There were two issues I ran into. The first was that I put the wrong length in for Jackson's sign. For some reason couldn't get it out of my head that he was 19.5" long when in reality he was only 19". Another issue I had was being anxious to get Savannah's done before she was even here! When my husband and I finally decided on her name we were a third of the way there! Then there was the matter of deciding her middle name! Ok-decided... 2/3rds there! Now we just needed a baby!
After Savannah's arrival it took a few weeks for the printing to commence but we had it completed and up on her wall by Christmas.
I was able to make a birth sign for a good friend as well and I think she really loved it! (I won't be posting a photo of theirs to respect their privacy)

Here is my inspiration:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/156262219/digital-custom-birth-stats-pdf-only-8x10?ref=sr_gallery_10&ga_ref=unav_listing&ga_filters=art+-supplies+nursery&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

And the final projects!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Grab a beer, this may take a while~
Alright folks, Here is a feature post that really uses those power tools, a dash of creativity, and skill that I have developed over my DIY career! This post is about the... you guessed it, bar! My husband and I recently finished our basement to add a family loungy room, bedroom, bathroom, and a bar! I could envision in my mind what I wanted the bar to look like but then I needed hard numbers and an actual design. So the next step was to design the layout in Adobe Illustrator. I just scaled up the page to 1/4" = 1' and designed away! The next step in the design was to figure out a bar front-the end look. And that inspiration came as an off-shoot of my friend April's bar in their finished basement.

The very beginning before anything was started~

Walls are framed~

Where to start...
The original bar design in my head was a half circle for a unique look and for functional conversations. However wonderful that idea was, it was impractical for a first time bar builder to take on such a project. I had to bring it down a couple notches, so that's how I end up with an "L" shaped bar, which is still as beautiful with the special finishing touches. I started by framing the bar like you would frame a wall, 2x4 stud across the top and bottom with 2 x 4's running vertical every 16 inches on center. I built this part with a rather large but thankfully lightweight nail gun. I looked into how high different bar stools sat and how high bar tops were in comparison to different stool height to find my wall height. Once the "L" shape had been built I made sure it was in the appropriate position by squaring it with the adjacent wall. After the wall was squared I nailed it in to our cement floor with a wonderful tool called a Ramset ($25.98 at Homedepot). This tool uses pins (nails) and .22 caliber single shot powder loads (think of a bullet). Once that was all nailed down I proceeded to build a frame for the foot rest. This was done in a similar fashion, 2 x 4's nailed together to form an "L" shape and I then used the nail gun to attach it to my framed wall bar.

So now the bones of the bar are in place and the next step was to have the inside drywalled and plywood attached to the front side. We hired a company to drywall and plaster the entire basement, so I had them drywall the inside portion of the framed bar wall. I then painted the drywalled side because this part of the bar would still be visible after cabinets and counter tops were installed. To make things easy on myself I cut down two pieces of plywood and nailed it to the front sides of the bar. With plywood on the front I wouldn't have to find studs every time I was attaching something to it.

Cabinetry and such~
My husband and I took turns laying the tile floor and then had some time away from the bar area to let it all cure. We purchased our cabinetry brought it home and installed it. So we placed the cabinets roughly in their final home. The next part was simply leveling, marking where the studs were on the adjacent wall and the bar wall, screwing in the cabinets, and hanging the wall cabinets.

Bar all ready for front design elements~

AND BREATH... 
So now I nailed down the vertical strips of wood to the front of the bar. I had 1" x 3"'s on the outer most part of both sides and then nailed down 1" x 5" pieces in the centers. These were purchased in their current width but cut down on a miter saw for the correct height, then stained and attached. The next part was fairly simple. I found some PVC decorative tiles on Amazon.com that were about $8 and change each. These were fairly easy to attach because they could be cut with a scissors and adhered with liquid nails.

Rest your feet~
So the next part of the build was covering the foot rest. I bought the same kind of wood that I stained for the front of the bar, just wider pieces that would match up and could be nailed down right to the mini "L" shape studs. I was able to use the tops at their store bought width, but had to have the fronts ripped down by an inch to fit under the tops perfectly. My father-in-law, Kevin, helped me with ripping the wood since he has a table saw, and quite a few of the other wonderful tools that we utilized for our basement finish. If I would have thought this through a little better I would have build the studs of the foot rest to be the perfect height and depth for pre-cut wood. It would have just been easier in the long run.

Bar after front design pieces were added~

Top me off~
So I'm not going to lie, figuring out the counter tops was a little trickier than one would think. Thank goodness for the ladies in the kitchen department at Homedepot who have such wonderful software for DIY'ers like myself. The counter tops were all pretty easy except when it came to the bar top portion. There was a funky notch next to the door (see photo) and then figuring out if we had overhang on the other end cap... and overhang on the inside part! Enough to pull your hair out, regroup, and go back. So now that the counter tops were ordered there was no going back. If they didn't fit it would be on us since we didn't have someone come out and measure. Luckily all the measurements were spot on and the counter tops fit like a gem! To install the counter tops we had to screw down some boards that were approximately 5/8" thick to the top of the bar and cabinets. This gave enough of a raise that all cabinet doors could open. The final step in the counter top installation was to screw them in place. I just made sure that I bought screws that were short enough not to pierce the counter tops.

Counter tops are on!

The tiny details that are still missing...
We are still trying to figure out exactly how to do the door trim for that storage space, and we are working on our packer shelf that is going to be in between the upper cabinetry. but that will come with a little more time and finding just the right pieces. One more little thing that I really want to do in the space is put a back splash. I want to put it on the six inch portion of the inside of the bar, and do a matching strip on the back counter as well just up to the bottom of the outlet and pendant light switch. But that will be in my (near) future!

Finished!
So here is a picture of the final product. The last step that I just completed this weekend was tacking on the kick boards under the cabinets and hanging the wine and beer photos. I found some great photos on google, and since they were for personal use I simply downloaded and printed. Overall cost of this project... I couldn't tell ya!

Beer sign: Gordmans $19.99 • Black frames: Walmart $13.00 • Photo prints: $4.00

Wine sign: Gordmans $19.99 • Black frames: Walmart $13.00 • Photo prints: $4.00

I think this bar turned out so spectacular and I'm pretty impressed with myself that it did on the first go round! The key to this project was taking my time and really utilizing the carpenters old adage: "Measure twice, cut once".

Up On a Pedestal

This is a little DIY project that requires some fabric, some ribbon, some oatmeal, and a hot glue gun!
Our daughter was starting to get so many headbands that they were just filling her sock drawer. I needed a solution and I found my inspiration on Pinterest.

Uninformed~
The tutorial on Pinterest showed an oatmeal canister as the base for this project. However, it didn't really show the size, and frankly I didn't read the copy, so I deduced that one would use the smaller of the canisters, as to not stretch out the headbands. You need the larger... (my fabric ended up being thick enough that it does hold the headbands on it.)

Prep Work
I went to Joann Fabrics in town in search of the fabric and ribbon and then when I stopped in Michaels I found the pedestal to put the finished product on. I believe it is supposed to be a mini cake holder. I found some cute decorated burlap which goes well in Savannah's room. My total at the register (with a coupon) at Joann's was just about $10, and the pedestal at Michaels was five and change. Not a bad for a really cute DIY project. As a side note, I do have enough of the decorated burlap left over and the regular pink ribbon to do another headband holder with the larger oatmeal canister. The beauty of a project like this is the customization one can do. You can buy virtually any fabric and accessories to coordinate with the space.

The Build
First thing, I emptied the can of oatmeal into our larger, and half empty one so I didn't waste it just for the purpose of a DIY project. I then cut a rectangle of fabric that would fit around the can having about an inch slack to overlap, and about two inches taller to have an inch top and bottom to fold over. I then put a couple of dabs of hot glue; top, middle and bottom and pressed the burlap to it. Next step was just putting a couple dabs here and there around the canister and wrap the fabric. I folded over the edge to make a clean line and glued that down as well. Then I cut two circles to cover the lid and the bottom of the can with the same fabric. I then glued a solid hot pink ribbon around the bottom and top of the can. The finishing touch was to glue on the decorative ribbon around the base and put a dollop of it on the lid. The only tricky part was that the burlap is not a solid fabric so it was a little hard holding down the fabric and not burning my fingers with the glue seeping through the fibers.

I will most likely make a second one because I want to space out the headbands more so you can see the burlap, plus I'm sure our daughter will get more headbands and I'll need more room anyway.
So here is the final product~ super cute, easy and inexpensive!

Without Pretties~

With Pretties~

Mobile Height Chart

Happy Monday All~
Here is my latest DIY project, a Mobile Height Chart. The thing I love about this project is the fact that it is mobile. People move all the time and this is easier to take with you than the wall, that for years, you've hash marked up with your children's yearly growth spurts. The project can be as inexpensive as you want or you can add more to it that will raise the overall cost. I chose to add some dimension to mine by putting house numbers on it which were $3.98 each. This added to the overall cost of the project but in my opinion is really priceless when you figure the sentiment that will last forever!

It's all in the details~
The tools needed for this project are; the board, stain, black sharpie, ruler, measuring tape, drill, drill bit, Phillips bit, and house numbers. The overall cost for this project was $30.20 and took me about 2 hours time overall. about 30 minutes to stain and an hour and a half to draw all the lines and attach numbers. I stained the board one weekend and finished the following. The board was $6.32 and the house numbers were $23.88. I used stain that I had left over from previous projects. All the tools necessary to complete this project can be found at your local hardware store. I purchased mine at Homedepot. This project could cost you as little as $6.32 plus tax, which is a far cry from $40.00 (which is the cost of one at Kirklands).

This is a great stain because it seals and the color is such a rich and beautiful brown!

When staining make sure that you are doing it in the appropriate temperatures. It is too cold in Wisconsin at this time of the year to stain in the garage or outside so I had to take it to the basement. I worked in our utility room for the staining to keep the odor out of the rest of our house. This worked out perfectly!

4" House Numbers. Purchased at Homedepot.

Get it Straight!

Here you can see I had two measuring tools in order to make sure that my lines were level and straight. To start I simply had the measuring tape extended along the left side of the board and made a small dash every inch. I then laid the measuring tape along the right side without making marks, and proceeded to draw my lines. Having the measuring tape extended on the right helped to keep the line straight but and then by using a ruler to draw my straight lines I could ensure all the hash marks were the same length. Then I went on to draw the individual inch marks, making the lines some what like an actual ruler. For instance, the 6" mark I drew it a bit longer than the three inch and nine inch marks, and about twice the length as the one and two inch marks. You'll be able to see the difference on the big picture. For this project it is very important to get your lines straight for aesthetics. Please see photo.

How I made my straight lines

Final touches~
Now that all my lines have been drawn it is time to attach my house numbers. This part of the project I moved the board to the floor so I could get a good birds eye view over the entire board and eyed up the numbers in their place. Also, I just drilled the top hole of each number and hand screwed it down so to keep it loose and then I could stand it up and level out the number. I then proceeded to pre-drill the bottom holes and screw them down. Pre-drilling the holes was important because I didn't want the drill to get away from me and cause a dent or scratch on the nicely stained board. I used my father-in-laws super duty Stanley drill! This sucker can go!

Voila!
Here is the finished product! I can now write my children's heights on it and take it where ever need be! The love the mobility aspect of this project is two-fold, if I redecorate I can easily reposition it in the house where ever it coordinates best. Not only does this have function but it has a decorative element as well!  I hope I've inspired you to make your own Mobile Height Chart!

Final product