Some DIY Party Prep

I know I haven't been updating like I used to, and I promise I will one of these days. There have been so many changes and our lives are so different since we moved. I'm having trouble putting it into words, but I am here today to share a few of the decorations I've made for Averie's upcoming 1st birthday. Seriously... where did the time go? I feel like I was just counting down the days until she was here... Note to self: finish her birth story before her 1st birthday!

Anyway, I've been playing around with more DIY projects since moving (as you can see in my last post) but with a strapped budget and a guest list of 90 (yes 90) people for her birthday I'm trying to do as many things myself as I can. Pinch those pennies girl!

Update: Here she is in the finished projects! Just in time for those birthday invites. These photos were taken at Picture People.

Here's the first one: A head piece for a princess

I went to the craft store and found a couple pieces of lace that I thought might make a pretty crown. The top one is a thicker almost crochet-like material and the 2nd one is straight cotton. I wasn't sure which would work better so I decided to try both. (I got about 3 yards of both because I wanted to make extra ones for the party) I cut them into 8" pieces and laid them flat.

 

Then I used my fingers to layer thin, even coats of the fabric stiffener onto the lace. It took about an hour and half for each coat to dry before I could do the next one. I did it on parchment paper and would move them every 45 minutes so they weren't soaking in the stiffener. It helped them dry faster.

 

I used Stiffy brand fabric stiffener... you could use Modge Podge too but this was a bit cheaper. For the paint, I used Martha Stewart craft paint- they had a 2 for 1 deal so I got silver and a silver sparkle.

 

When they were dry I just painted them with the silver paint. It was pretty quick, because of the stiffener the lace didn't soak up much color. I only painted the front of the lace too, they were thin enough that they looked silver from the back.

 

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I waited until the paint was dry and then played with them both and decided the top crochet-like material was the best crown. They bended easily without cracking. Then I just hot glued it into a circle.

 



 

I debated on how to attach it to my daughters head. I even bought a stretchy headband material but ultimately decided that a headband would hold the circular shape the best. I hot glued it to the headband with no problems.

 

And here you have it, a crown fit for a princess.. or an almost one year old.

 

 

Now, every princes needs a sparkly birthday tutu to go along with her crown right? They're pretty expensive so I searched Pinterest for a way to make one myself. I'm not much of a sewer so I found a few tutuorials (see what i did there haha) and figured out the best way to make it with as little work possible. Really... it's easier than you think.

 

At the same craft store I picked up 3 yards of a plain, silver tulle. 2 yards of a sparkly tulle and 2 yards of a lavender ribbon.

 

 

I didn't do a whole lot of measuring. I just folded the tulle in half and cut it.

 

 

Then I folded it in half again and cut it.

 

Folded it in half again and... you guessed it... I cut it.

 

And one last time gave me the desired width I was looking for, so with one more cut I was good to go. If you went to Kindergarten then you know that there are 2 folds- a hamburger and a hot dog fold. The hot dog is longer in length- and I just folded my tulle in hot dogs only to get this shape.

 

 

For the plain silver I did the exact same thing. The reason it looks bigger is because I started with 3 yards of the plain tulle. The reasoning behind it? It was cheaper so I got more of it, I figured the sparkly one would be more of an accent. The plain was 1.99/yard and the sparkles? I whopping 7.99 a yard. Yowza!

 

 

Then I just tied the ribbon around my leg to keep it steady and pulled the tulle through itself in a loop stitch. Forgive me, but both my hands were busy and I couldn't take a picture of this step. Basically you fold the piece of tulle in half, hold the bent part over the ribbon and feed the open side through the loop. I just alternated sparkly and plain tulle pieces- it took about 30 minutes to fill about 18" of the ribbon.

 

Here you have the finished no-sew product. It is way more sparkly in person, and I really like that this is something that can grow with her with the adjustable string and a little spacing of the tulle. None of it is secured permanently, so I didn't feel bad spending as much as I did on tulle.

 

 

Annndddd... one more gratuitous shot of the finished pair.

 

 

I have one more project that I made for a centerpiece on one of the tables at her party. It's basically a hybrid of two projects I saw over on my other favorite blog: Young House Love. I made a custom "A" for Averie using their Painted Cardboard Letters and their Fabric Covered Monogram. I wanted to pick a fabric that would work in her room, because I knew I wanted to keep it after the part to display in her room. So I followed their tutorials and I'm pretty happy with the results. Just in case you don't feel like going through the links above, here's how I did it. (but seriously- you should read their blog on the reg... it's amazing)

 

This project has a lot of steps- but they are all super quick and easy, promise!

 

 

This is an extra large cardboard A from the craft store.. it was 1.99

 

 

I used an exactoknife to cut off the top of the letter.

 

Then I used some fine grit sandpaper to get off all rough edges.

 

Since silver is one of the primary colors at her party I decided to use the Martha Stewart paid from earlier on the edges of the A.

 

Normally when you are going to cover a letter, you want to flip it over backwards.. but since mine was an A I just left it right side up. I did turn the fabric face down to trace it, I just thought it would be easier to see it.

 

I used a blue highlighter to trace the A, it's what I had on hand that wouldn't bleed through the fabric. It worked great actually. It'll be my go-to in all my future fabric tracing projects ;)

 

When I cut it out, I purposely cut inside the lines, I didn't want the fabric to go up the sides of the A, I wanted it to lay flush inside it.

 

I used the same Stiffy fabric stiffener because I had it on hand, but again you can use Modge Podge... they work the same in this case. I used an old paint brush that I didn't care about, just in case the glue was hard to clean off (spoiler: it wasn't)

 

I layered a thin coat of Stiffy on the bottom of the letter.

 

Then I carefully laid the fabric into the letter. If you work quickly, it's pretty easy to manipulate.

 

Then I just dripped the Stiffy directly onto the top of the fabric, working the brush and glue over to coat it completely.

The corners were tricky to get with the brush. It kept pulling it up, so I just used my fingers to smooth the glue into the corners.

 



 

Here's my finished A! I'm kinda obsessed with it.

 

So there ya have it, a few easy and quick projects that saved me money, and they were fun to make. The best part is we can enjoy them after the party too! Happy crafting!

 

 

 

 



Then and Now: Averie's Room Edition

We have been super busy at our house trying to get everything guest ready for Thanksgiving and I am happy to report that a TON of work has been completed! All the big stuff at least, which makes the place livable, which makes me pretty excited. The smaller stuff on our to-do lists can wait until we've got a little more cash to throw around. I am probably the most proud of Averie's room... let's check it out!



 

Here's her closet BEFORE

 

 

Here is her closet in PROGRESS. We still have to add a bi-fold door, and I have a little basket next to her closet to put all the extra hangers in... I'm thinking we may need to add a 3rd shelf... This girl has a TON of clothes.

 

 

Here is her main wall BEFORE

 

 

 

And her main wall AFTER! I am so proud of my bright stripe! I love that it ties in with her original bedding from her first room, and I love how her crib pops out against the grey walls! This is my favorite view of her room.

 

Here is the corner of windows BEFORE

 

The corner wall in PROGRESS! I still need to make custom curtains for her room and add some more artwork around her name. Her monthy picture bear loves all the space to chill.

 

Here is the only uninterrupted wall in her room...

 

 

 Here it is AFTER! I only classify this as after because the things on these shelves are forever moving.

 

Here's a close up of her nook:

She's got all her hair accessories (organized into hats and bows of course!), Dr Seuss books (my fave) a piggy bank bear/swear jar I made her, more blankets from loved ones, hygiene items, a muffin I made her so Mason can be a part of her room, and a gorgeous lamp that went with her original bedding. Of course we have Harbor the cat modeling how well the changing table works.

 

 The window wall from another angle BEFORE

 

The window AFTER! These things will also change out as time goes on, but I love all her little nooks. These are mostly gifts from Averie's loved ones...

 

Here's a close up of her nook shelf:

 

A picture frame, princess books, a customized piggy bank, Minnie ears, a lemur, tiny uggs, blankets from some special ladies, and TONS of hand me down books from her daddy's childhood. So much love and history on one shelf!

 

I'm pretty much obsessed, and I never thought I could embrace pink! Her room is so fun, I can be found in there re-arranging and playing around at any given time. I wish I could just design kids rooms for a living, that would be the best!

 

Stripes, Stripes, Stripes and.... More Stripes

Most of these projects have been done since before we actually moved in, but the last 2 were completed this week, one of them just a few hours ago. I could have posted the finished ones, but I thought it would be more fun to lump them all together, since they're all in the same family. Let's get right to it: I'm absolutely obsessed with stripes! My husband wasn't too sure about it when I initially let him in on my decorating plans, and it took lots of looks at my Pinterest boards to get him on board (pun intended) but he decided to trust me in the end, and it was a good move- because we both love the results. Let's do it in chronological order of completion...

Here is the inspiration for Averie's room: (Please forgive my phone screen shots- I have no idea how to use Photoshop)

 



We don't have vaulted ceilings, but I knew we planned to do dark hardwood and wanted something to brighten up the baby's room. I am also not a fan of orange (many years working at Home Depot will do that to you). You can tell these were done before we moved in because they still have the horrible brown carpet. (More on that later) Painting stripes is a lot easier than you would think...

 

 Basically, you measure the height of your wall and then divide by the # of stripes you want. I knew I needed an accent stripe to be surrounded by regular stripes so I made sure to pick an odd number. I marked the ones I intended to paint with tape, and added an extra piece to the one I wanted to be the accent stripe.

 

This photo shows why I decided to go a little bolder on the accent stripe. The 2nd one down is a lavender, but its too similar to the grey. So, I went back to the store and got inspired by an out of character color for me, and ended up with this:

 

I'm kinda obsessed with it! Normally I wouldn't pick pink willingly- but a lot of her bedding has a fuchsia-y purple to it, and it works out great with the grey. I liked it so much I decided to do this:

 



This is the wall directly opposite the striped wall. I know it's a little bold, but with all her chunky white furniture and some strategically picked art, I think it'll all balance out. Besides, kids rooms are supposed to be super fun and a little crazy right? I have big plans for curtains in this room...

I was going to post pics of our dining room- but it looks like my computer ate them... I'll have to re-take them and post them in the future... but guys... it's awesome! (Promise!!!!)

I bought a chevron stencil to use in the guest room. My original plan was to paint all the walls purple but do a grey, pink, purple variating chevron on the accent wall. The thing I failed to realize was how hard it would be to use a stencil on a textured wall. We think the guest room used to be a sun room that they converted into an extra bedroom. I didn't want to give up my dreams of a chevron striped accent wall so after a few weeks of living in our house I decided the best (and non-textured) spot would be our living room where we have French doors. It's such a focal point in that room, I thought it would make it extra special. So, on Sunday I handed the baby to my husband and got to work.

Just for the full effect on how cool this room is... here's the before:



 Yes, this room is painted the same grey that is in the baby's room. I am really into this color, I like that in some lights it looks a little purple, but I really like that it's a neutral and it goes with everything. Ignore the unfinished wall to the left... that's a whole other blog! Do you like how my ladder in is every before shot?

And here is the fabulous after:

I poured some white paint into the leftover grey that was already on the wall. I could have just used the white for the stripes, but I wanted it to be a little softer and subtler. I am so happy with the outcome, I can be found at any given time just standing and staring at this wall.

I will be 100% honest and say that despite my absolute love for this wall, I will never attempt a chevron stripe again. It. Was. SO. Hard!!!! That's why I don't have any during pics, or any good tips on doing it. It was so hard! Even on a smooth wall, with lots of tape and a level it was impossible to get them perfectly straight. I had to go back and hand paint the edges to fix all the places it didn't line up perfectly. The stencil I used (from Etsy) wasn't very good- it didn't account for the stripe above it, and it would smudge the point above it. Ugh... it took way longer than normal stencils would. But... I LOVE IT!

Lastly, we have our small silly little staircase. 3 steps is all i had to work with, and it's such a funny space in our house I wanted to do something to make it special. When I saw this photo, I knew it was what I was looking for:

 

 Here is what it looked like when we pulled the carpeting off the stairs...

 

 AND... here it is now! I played around with only doing the top and bottom (to make it look like the inspiration pic) but I ended up deciding to just go for it and do it on all 3. If the landing looks like it's a different color than the rest, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. After we tile the kitchen we will carry the hardwood onto the landing. I am still deciding what color to paint the hallways... maybe my trusty grey... but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. And so is the hubby... which is always a good thing with interior decorating!

I know what you're thinking. My house must look like a fun house as you walk through with all these different stripes (and i even have more ideas for accents in other rooms) but because the layout of our house is pretty spaced out, and not super open they don't all smack you in the face as you walk around. In fact, you can't see one while looking at the other... so it doesn't feel crazy as a whole. It feels more like little surprises that make each space special as you go through the house. We are pretty stoked about it, and we can't wait to share more!