E.'s closet makeover

I had a little fun in the closet last weekend.  That sounds so weird!  We finished installing the last of the flooring in our daughter's room which completes 970 square feet of flooring for Joe to install himself. More pics to come of that. In the meantime, I spruced up E.claire's closet a bit.   It's now looking like this. 

I took down both of the doors and the hinges, which really opened things up a lot! It feels like we gained 50 extra feet of space!  

The inside of the closet was beige with beige trim, but I painted the inside the same as her wall color to help keep the flow going.  But I added some cute gold sponge painted gold polka dots.  To keep the spacing correct I used a greeting card as my guide.  I pretty much eye-balled it, so it's not perfect. Then I painted the trim white.  The trim by the rod got a coat of paint the same color as her bed side table.  I took out the closet bar and painted that blue.

I found this cute linen lamp shade at Lowes that I was able to use with my cord kit that she had hanging in her room a while ago.  The closet definitely needed lighting, so this was my answer.

Just for fun, here is what the closet looked like when I decided it desperately needed help.

BEFORE

And today it's looking like this.

AFTER

I've since added a curtain rod on the outside of the closet and I plan to make some curtains that will hang so that she can close them if she wants to hide a mess and to give the closet a finished look.  I'm still searching for that perfect fabric to compliment the rest of the bedroom.  We still have a ways to go before her room is finished.  We still have to find or make a bed for her, find a rug, hang her curtains on the window that I made, find a bed side table lamp, and a few other last minute things.  So stay tuned for the whole bedroom makeover soon!

Have a great weekend,

xo

Cathleen

DIY Toddler Duvet

I've been sewing up a few projects for my daughter's room since she's getting new floors and we're redecorating in there a bit.  You can see a sneak preview of her floors in the first pic. I'll be sure to take before and after pics of her whole room soon.  One of the first things I wanted to try was a toddler duvet.  It's a simple DIY project.  The link to the tutorial is below and comes from the website The Sewing Rabbit. 

Her new room colors include Navy and Coral and I couldn't help but fall in love with this white ruffled fabric from Joann's. It's so sweet and charming.  I used that for the top side and I found an adorable Navy and white polka dot fabric for the bottom side.  

Pardon the fact that she doesn't have a bed, just a mattress on the floor for now. We're in the process of brain storming ideas for a DIY toddler bed. Hopefully she'll be up off the floor in no time.  I found the blue and white pillow from Marshalls, but it's from Ralph Lauren. The bottom pillow was sewn by me. Here is a link to the pillow in case you're wondering how to make it.

So I didn't know how to make the button holes, since I've never done that. It was by far the hardest part and took me several tries before figuring it out. I had to resort to watching Youtube videos on making button holes since I couldn't find my sewing machine manual. 

It was fun once I figured it out and an "Ah-ha" moment when I realized I needed to put that button hole arm down on my machine!  Without that I kept bunching up my bobbin and actually broke a sewing needle.  So now I know how to change the needle. Boy, my sewing machine are becoming the best of friends!

I used 5 vintage buttons from a button jar I have in my house from my Grandma's sewing notions. Glad I keep this stuff handy.  Sure beats having to go buy new ones. They give the duvet so much more charm too.

Just an FIY if you're looking for a toddler duvet comforter insert, they sell them at Overstock and also at The Land of Nod.  Or you can simply stuff it with an old comforter, the one you got for your baby that you couldn't use in the crib. :)

For the detailed tutorial click here.  

xo

Cathleen

Blue and Coral girl's room

I'm having fun thinking of new colors for our daughter's room. Right now the walls are painted a sort of aqua blue color. The coordinating colors are pinks and whites.  Since she will be getting the new flooring soon (Dark brown) I thought it would be a nice time to update the colors. I think the easiest way to do that is to the leave the wall color as is (not introducing more chemicals is good) and to introduce dark corals or orangy-pinks. Here are some fabrics that I'm thinking about.

This one from Amy Butler could be really cute for curtains.



And oh, I might have already purchased this one to make a headboard (by Waverly.)



I'm also really loving the next two from Amy Butler, especially this one right here. It really coordinates with the headboard fabric.  Maybe Curtains?



I love the teal blues in the this one and it also has little hints of the coral color.



These two fabrics are by Waverly and could be fun pops of color for pillows.





I'm all over the place right now with design ideas for both the kid's rooms. SO I apologize, but want to get my ideas out here so I can have a clearer picture of where I'm headed. Both room are in progress, and probably won't be done for at least a month. It's hard to get all the projects in with three little ones to watch and we usually save the big projects for the weekends.  Hope you're having a great week!

xo
Cathleen

Easy sew burp cloths

My lovely cousin Dawn just had her first baby so I thought I'd send a hand made baby gift to her in California.  I already had some fabric on hand from my first son, so I thought I'd reuse some of it and purchase some new fabric in shades of green to complement her nursery.   I made her six burp cloths using new white cloth diapers and rectangular pieces of fabric.  The fabric is from Joann's and the cloth diapers were from Baby's R' Us.  Aren't they so cute??

Here was my initial stack of fabrics. You can see that I decided against the bottom fabric and the blue polka dot fabric.  I pre-treated all of my fabric by washing them in cold water with salt. After drying them I ironed all of them.  The next thing I did was measure the inner portion of the cloth diapers to see what size rectangular shape I needed for my fabric, plus a seam allowance.  I used white thread for all of them so that the thread didn't show up on the back of the diaper.

Next I cut a piece of cardboard the exact size as the part of the diaper cover I wanted to cover. This was my "pattern" so to speak that I used for all the fabric. I simply folded the fabric over the cardboard to use as my guide. A cereal box would also be a good choice for a pattern, but my fabric ended up being too long.

Once I folded the fabric over the cardboard I ironed, folded and pinned it.  Then I laid the rectangular pieces directly over the diaper cover and centered it. I top stitched it around all four sides, not lifting my needle as I went.

So simple right?  I stacked them up nicely and tied a big green ribbon on top.

I hope she enjoys these and they should stand the test of time.

Happy sewing!
xo
Cathleen

p.s. things are coming along on our kitchen floor renovation. A plumber came out and said "yep, the dishwasher is broken." Duh.  So now we have a dishwasher repair person coming out to fix it.  The water evaporation machines are still in the kitchen airing it out and on Monday the floor will continue to be ripped up. 

Fleece Toddler Comforter

When I saw this really cute aqua, brown and pink owl knit fabric at Joann's I thought it would make a great blanket for my sweet girl who's turning 2 in a few weeks.  Also, it will make a great gift for her birthday.  It was fairly simple to make as well. I'll tell you how below! 

For a toddler bed, which is the same size as a crib mattress, I used 2 yards of two different types of fabric.  For her blanket, I used an owl print in a soft knit and the white underside is a soft white polyester fabric.  I pre-treated my fabric in cold water using just table salt and no soap.  Of course once your fabric is dry you want to iron it to get any wrinkles out. Then I laid my fabric on the ground, right sides together and then pinned it around all the edges.

Then I made a straight stitch around all the sides with 1/2" hem, but left about a 10" opening on one side so that you can turn your blanket right side out. Once the blanket was turned right side out I hand sewed the opening shut with a needle and thread.

Next I wanted to make a top stitch around the outside edges with a pretty stitch, but lo and behold my blanket was too thick and the "tree stitch" kept jamming up the bobbin. So then I tried a zigzag stitch, same thing happened.  So I decided a simple straight stitch in a contrasting color was the way to go. I used a brown thread and made a top stitch all the way around.

And that was pretty much it! Here is the blanket folded over so you can see the contrast and the diamond print on the white fabric.

Even though my daughter won't get this blanket for another three weeks I wanted to show you what it will look like on her bed.  It goes so well with her owl pillow from Grandma and her Pottery barn owl sheet underneath.

She loves her stuffed animal basket beside her bed and every morning she has all of them in bed with her and is reading a story to them. :)  So precious I know.

I can't wait to see her face when she gets to try out this new blanket. I know it's going to make her cozy and happy.

xo
Cathleen

Sheer pink nursery curtains

I was so inspired by these ruffled curtains by Urbanoutters.com that I wanted to try making some myself for my daughter's bedroom.  Aren't they simply adorable? I love the color.

I found sheer pink fabric from Joann's fabrics and with my 50% off coupon it came to $2 a yard. I ended up buying 8 yards of fabric. $16 for 2 curtain panels was a great savings compared to the $158 price tag at Urban Outfitters.  Sewing the edges is pretty straightforward. For two panels, I cut out 87" allowing 1 1/2" inches on top and bottom for the hem. 

First off, I made a zig zag stitch around all the edges to keep the curtain from fraying. 

Then I got to work making my hem lines. The next step was to make the ruffles. Unfortunately when I began to calculate the amount of fabric I would need, I didn't have enough.  This step seems very time consuming, so for now, I just hung them up and will wait on the ruffles.  I hope I can get to them soon!

I used clips to hang the panels, although when I get the ruffles made, I will probably put the curtain rod through the opening that I created at the top of the panel.

I think they really pop against the blue walls.  Notice I have the crib turned around.  You gotta do what you gotta do when your baby climbs out!  The back is actually higher than the front so this is a temporary solution until we feel she's ready for a toddler bed.  I can't wait to get started on the ruffles, although it's going to be tedious and I think I'll need a rotary cutter and rotary cutting mat to make even strips.

xo
Cathleen

More hand crafted nursery art

I love the feeling of creating something from nothing and instantly having art for a wall.  Kids grow up so fast and will probably start decorating their rooms by themselves and want no input from their Moms.  But until then, I'll fill their rooms with cheap instant art, because I know someday soon it will come down and be filed away with their other baby items.

Here I've created two unique pieces using styrofoam squares from the craft store. These are 2" thick and about a 6" square.  Like I did with my plywood art, I wrapped them in pretty fabric.  Next I found images from the internet. Don't you like the internet? I'm so addicted, I seriously need an intervention. For this swan print, I placed it on top of a circle cut out from scrap paper. It looks a little bit wrinkled in this picture, so that tells me I need to re glue it, or do it over.

For this one, I got a little more creative and cut out a flower from this really bold floral print. Then I used silk gold leaves and placed them over the fabric leaves for a 3-D effect. I glued little gold balls on the center of the flower to give it a similar 3-D effect. I love how these turned out and they were super easy to make.

Hope you have fun crafting your own art for your little one.

xo

Cathleen

Shadow box for baby

My mother made shadow boxes for all of her babies (all 5 of them!) and I still have mine to this day. I love looking at my little bonnet, my baby shoes, my silver spoon etc. It makes me very happy that my Mom saved those things from my childhood in a little keepsake glass shadow box that keeps everything protected. I think my Dad actually made my childhood shadow box and my Mom designed everything inside.

In hopes to replicate my Mom's handiwork, I made this shadow box for my daughter.

I've made shadow boxes for my boys too, but wanted to show you this one to show you how easy it is.  I started with this lovely navy, pink, and green fabric. You can buy a little quarter of cute fabric from any fabric store.  

The shadow box was purchased with a 50% off coupon from Michaels.  To start you'll iron your backing fabric.  I used spray adhesive on the fabric and placed it directly over the back of the frame that pops out from the back. Once the backing fabric is attached, it's up to you to decide what to put in your shadow box. I used my daughter's first bonnet, first shoes, her birth announcement, hospital bracelet and her first piece of jewelry.

For the display of her bracelet, I made this little pillow with a piece of fabric stuffed with polyfill. I tied a cute ribbon around it like a present and made sure the bracelet was looped through the ribbon.

To attach everything inside of the shadow box I used straight pins. Shadow boxes also come with a piece of velcro, if you plan to use the original backing of the frame.  Here's her finished shadow box! I just love how her birth announcement has the same colors as the backing fabric. A very happy accident.

Do you have fun ways to showcase your children's momentos?  I'm so sentimental when it comes to these precious things and I even look back now and think, "were my baby girl's feet really that small?" Makes me very emotional to see them grow up so fast.

xo

Cathleen

Nursery Art

I wanted to share with you how to make some quick and easy art for your child's nursery.  I made these in just a few hours.  Each one is made with square pieces of plywood that I found pre-cut at Michaels. This was pretty convenient.  I wrapped each one in a different fabric and used spray adhesive to apply it. I used a glue stick to apply ribbon, beads, ric rac etc. to decorate them. For the art prints, I just used Google to search for specific words I wanted images of. In this case, owls and trees were my search engine words I came across the three images below. I printed them on regular printer paper and cut them out with scissors. Just plain ol' glue sticks will adhere your images to fabric. To hang them on the wall, I bought metal picture hangers at Lowes and nailed them to the back.

Vintage buttons make this cute flower arrangement. Scout out local yard sales or thrift shops for cute adornments like these. Vintage Brooches would also look very cute.

I layered another piece of fabric under this tree print for some added depth and interest.

Hope this inspires you to create your own art for your baby's nursery. It's so simple to create your own unique art work.

xo
Cathleen

Third time is a charm!

All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray and the sky is gray. Well not really, but all the leaves keep changing though! 

Here is the first tree that all started in MVP's room (our now 2 1/2 year old son.) The leaves were a mixture of greens and blues.

When my daughter was born, the blue leaves came down and I added an assortment of pink leaves.  I also added that little bird house.

Over the weekend I found myself drooling over some pink and gray fabrics at the fabric store. So I decided it was time once again for the leaf revival. I purchased 6 fat quarters of pink and gray. I ironed each piece before beginning the leaf project, take 3.

I used some old scrap book paper as backing and sprayed Aleene's tacky spray on the paper and adhered the fabric.

I used one of the old leafs as a guide to trace new leaves onto the fabric. These don't have to be perfect because once you cut them out, they look fine.

This time around I thought it would be a good idea to use Mod Podge to seal the fabric and edges to the paper, so I wouldn't have fraying or humidity issues.

To apply the leaves to the wall, I used poster putty. This holds really nicely. Here is my daughter's tree all in bloom.

Here's a fun close-up shot so you can see the patterns on the fabric better.

In case you're wondering how I painted the tree, I painted it free-hand with brown craft paint. The birdhouse is from Michaels.

Budget Breakdown:
6 fat quarters of fabric -$1.99 each = $12. Purchased from Joann's.
Glue -Already had, but this runs about $6.99. Purchased from Joann's.
Scrap book paper or poster paper -already had, but usually runs $.50 per piece. Purchased from Michaels.
Brown acrylic paint already owned, but is about -$1.99. Purchased from Michaels.
Bird House -$2. Purchased from Michaels.

Total - $12.99


Makes me excited for Spring to arrive!

xo
Cathleen