Nature-Inspired Christmas

I love to change up my Christmas decorations every year, and usually make most of them myself. This year I've had a lot of fun playing around with my sewing machine, and I made some paper circle garland that I sewed together in greens, whites and painted some paper in metallics. I draped them on my mantel and piano for bright pops of color. I took a walk in a local park to collect the large sticks to make the star that I put above my mantel. I simply wired each connecting point together and I was done. The pine cone door decorations were a Pinspiration. They were incredibly easy to make too. I just used ribbon with drop of hot glue on the end to tie on the pine cones. The green one was made by cutting strips of burlap, gluing and tying in the same way.

Seems like we always get the itch to paint something this time of year, so this year it was the bay window wall. We painted it a dramatic charcoal called "Evening Hush" by Behr. I love how dramatic it looks, especially with light curtains and wall art. I drew the "Mistletoe" sign with chalk on my framed chalkboard on the same wall. This year we cut down a huge tree as tall as our 8 1/2 foot ceilings and placed it in a galvanized tub like last year. Merry Christmas!

DIY POUF

 This spring, I finally bought myself a sewing machine to rekindle those skills I learned long ago from home ec class and from my grandmother. I had been intimidated by the thought of all their is to learn, but after I saw the adorable and affordable IKEA machine, I decided it's now or never. I learned that you don't have sew completely perfect lines for your project to turn out!

My first big project was this pouf idea I had pinned long ago, with the tempting free pattern from Better Homes and Gardens. My feet longed to be propped up in my reading corner slouching in my leather chair, but being big on thrift, I refused to pay the $100 price tags I had seen in stores for foot poufs. I am so proud of my results-the best part is that it only cost me about $15 to make!

Here's how I made my foot pouf: 

I followed this tutorial from BHG

I scored some sturdy cotton upholstery fabric for only $2 in a cream color that I decided to PAINT, yes PAINT with yellow latex paint. I just rolled it on each panel before sewing with a paint roller and let dry. It actually makes the fabric feel more like suede than just cotton, but if I ever did it again, I'd paint the fabric AFTER sewing because it was quite thick to sew through (but still doable).

The project is so affordable because it says to use an old clean bedsheet as the second lining for the panels, and to stuff the pouf with old towels, blankets, etc. It saved me a trip to donating old things to the thrift store! Get this, I actually repurposed some 2 liter plastic bottles in there to fill up space. No one would ever know!

To finish, you just fill in the outermost parts with soft fiberfill for evening out the appearance of the pouf.  The hardest part about this project was the embroidery part-I guess I could have done without it, but it makes it look so tailored that way. You just have to measure between stitches and practice the stitch. Using a curved upholstery needle helped too!

As you can see, the pouf is great for tickling little toddlers on...and propping up the feet! My corner is so much more cozy and bright. So glad I tackled this big project and refreshed my sewing skills!  I am excited to try some of these fun projects from my Pinterest page: Sewing Skills

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Nursery Reveal

 
I am so excited to finally reveal my baby's nursery today! As soon as we knew this baby was going to be a permanent part of our family, I got busy working on the room remodel and some crafty accents to go with it.  I had been creating a Pinterest board of all my ideas and color schemes in the months leading up to the adoption.

I wanted to rip out the cheap tan carpet and paint the floors white. I wanted to paint the boring tan walls a paler color with bright accent colors. I also wanted an eclectic look with a gallery wall full of whimsical and vintage art.

Here are a few shots of what the room looked like before: 

I am a fan of nice hardwood floors, but these floors were in bad shape after 90 years!  The cheaper way to go was to paint the floors. My husband helped with that part and already had some practice from painting the floors for our older Boys' Bedroom Makeover  the summer before.

After painting the walls Whetstone Gray by Martha Stewart, I wanted to add some bright stripes to the entry wall. I used Frog Tape and this technique, since my walls are textured, for perfectly straight lines. 

I love how the bright orange and green stripes add pops of color to the room-I chose stripes because I think it's a look that will blend into big boy decor when he's older.

I painted the doors and table in the room the same green as the stripes-Lily Pad, also by Martha Stewart. I painted chalkboard paint on the crib panel so I can write fun messages on it for him-and in his toddler years I'm sure he'll have fun scribbling with chalk.  The tree art is was made for me by a local artist friend, Dani Herrera, who makes amazing things with reclaimed denim, zippers and more.

I've had this table for a while and this is now the third color it's been. After painting it, I distressed it with a sanding sponge to reveal hints of white and added new knobs for a brand new look. The thrift store magazine rack is where books are held, next to the comfy chair for bedtime stories.

I made this artwork with a printout given to me by a friend. I traced the elephant onto dictionary paper, cut it out and Mod Podged the whole thing to pallet planks. The curtains and fabric shades are both from IKEA. We have been replacing all of the wooden blinds in the house with ones without cords for safety.

I made this mobile by stenciling airplanes and clouds onto cardstock, cutting out, hole punching and attaching twine. I used an embroidery hoop for the top of the mobile.

I moved this IKEA shelving into the baby's room for clothing and the boys' got a bigger dresser to share. The accordian style wall hook fixture was a thrift store find. It also makes a fun display for finger puppets.

Here's the gallery wall-a combination of baby and family photos and some crafty things I made. I loved the idea of hot air balloons combined with Dr. Seuss' "Oh, The Places You'll Go" phrase, so I made this artwork by painting and stenciling a canvas, then cutting out a 3-D hot air balloon out of card stock and gluing to the canvas. I  repurposed an IKEA night light  by cutting out cloud shapes onto navy blue paper and attaching to the light fixture. I Mod Podged an old frame with sheet music, adding a photo of baby's newborn toes.

 It was so much fun redoing this room and I think baby boy loves it too. He squeals with delight when he gets to play there. It was created on a budget and most accessories were either handmade, thrift store finds or things I already had in the house that I repurposed and used for his room. There's so much for him to look at and play with and it was a really great way to celebrate him becoming "finally forever". We love having him be a part of our family!

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Paper Hearts and Burlap Valentine's Wreath

 

Love day is right around the corner...time to pack away Christmas decorations and put up some pretty hearts. You might have seen this same wreath last month when I posted about my  Christmas Burlap and Pom Pom Wreath: I had cut long strips of a burlap coffee bag and followed this tutorial:

I liked the ruffled burlap base of this wreath so much I wanted to keep it up all year, removing and adding embellishments with the different seasons and holidays. So, in the spirit of repurposing, that's just what I did.

Here's how I transformed this Christmas Wreath into a Valentine's Wreath:

First, I removed the yarn and pom poms, and stored them away for another crafty day.

Then, I cut out simple white paper hearts out of watercolor paper, folding down the middle.

I used a hole punch to make a hole at the top of each heart.
Then, I wrapped craft wire through the hole and around the base of the wreath.This will make it easier to remove the hearts when I'm ready to decorate for spring.

My V day wreath was done-simple and pretty white, five hearts for the five people in our family.

The rest of my Valentines decorating is a lot like this wreath-simple, natural, lots of whites and tans. I will be posting a few pictures soon along with more kitchen progress...

 I hope you'll come by again to take a peek!

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A New Year: The Fun We Had and Sneak Peek Kitchen Remodel

 

Happy 2013! I thought it would be fun to share a few pictures from our Christmas and New Year's adventures. It was for the most part a really relaxing and fun holiday season filled with blessings and God's goodness. Above is our short, fat tree with presents packed underneath, ready to get ripped open by three sets of tiny hands.

 

Here they go! My older two sons were so excited on Christmas morning. Their favorite toys were Rescue Bots. I loved how cute they were in their footie p.j's running around the house.

Here's our youngest child-it was baby boy's first Christmas! Back in February, I wrote a post about our Unexpected Gift-this perfectly sweet, little newborn that arrived into our lives and I can't believe is about to turn one! And we are very, very close to adopting him-just another month or two before he's our forever child! I am so thankful that we made room in our home and hearts for this little blessing. He is truly a joy and I'm so glad I'll get to be his forever mom.

On Christmas morning, I made these amazing strawberry and whipped cream filled crepes, with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Of course, they were devoured by all and gave us the energy to go on a nice walk through the woods at our favorite metropark.

Our boys loved exploring the woods and suspension bridge on our walk while baby boy was content on daddy's backpack.

I was really happy we got snow for Christmas! Right up until Christmas, we had warm temperatures and not a hint of snow. Here's our house and yard in the winter wonderland that finally came:

On New Year's Eve, we went to an event at our zoo for kids called "Noon Year's Eve". The ball goes up at noon and everyone cheers and drinks apple juice while the confetti flies everywhere. It was cute to see the excitement on my boys' faces and that they got to have some fun because there was no way I was letting them stay up until midnight. I actually wasn't even able to stay up that late myself...

I don't really do "New Year's Resolutions" but if I did, getting organized would be on there.( I'm proud to say I did work hard on getting rid of some clutter in my crafting space)It seems like e
very January I usually get the itch to do some kind of remodeling or repainting project. No surprise, right?
So, what we're working on now is a very inexpensive project to create open shelving in our kitchen. All I had to buy was a $13 can of special primer that goes on over laminate. I am so glad I discovered this stuff-it is so easy to work with and I was able to paint right over it in the color I wanted.  
I'll go ahead and show you a sneak peak of what we're working on:

First, we removed these plain laminate cupboard doors...

Then, after a light sanding, I primed the edges with the amazing Zinnser BIN primer. The stuff goes on so smooth over the shiny laminate, dries really fast and actually doesn't have as strong of an odor as the can says. Still, I cracked a window and had a fan going so I would still have brain cells left over. In the morning, I painted the primed edges a soft gray I had saved from my living room called Sharkey Gray.

 I'm still not done finding where to put everything so it looks nice and organized, but I love this arrangement so much better. It visually opens up my narrow galley kitchen and shows off pretty colors and baskets and is a lot easier to just grab a plate or cup. I love my organized spice rack that sits conveniently above my stove too. I'm glad we chose this cheaper option instead of paying for all new cupboards.

We do plan on hiring a contractor at some point to open up the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, install concrete countertops and move the sink over so more of a back window can be seen. Until then, we will try doing what we can to transform the rest of the plain laminate into something that blends with the more traditional style of the rest of the house. We shall see what we can come up with on the cheap...

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple! I can't wait to share my adoption pictures with you as well as kitchen progress, my final bathroom redo from last fall and some furniture projects I worked on last summer. I hope you'll come back for more!

 

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