Transportation Stenciled Kid's Table

What would you do with this table if you found it at a garage sale? 

I wondered the same thing when I found it at my neighbor's sale last summer. It must have been their daughter's nightstand because her name plus a crush's name had been scratched into it, complete with little hearts all over. Still, I knew it had potential to be something amazing. But I needed to wait for my mind to be inspired...

 So, it sat untouched all winter until I was remodeling my boys' bedroom  and I finally figured out what I wanted to do with it. 

I love browsing through expensive catalogs like the Land of Nod for ideas I can copycat on my budget. They had a lot of cute transportation-themed ideas I wanted to try for the boys' room. I could easily do this because I already had these fun Martha Stewart craft stencils of cars and street lines and a whole lot of paint colors. 

I was ready for my table revamp! 

Here's what I did:

First, I painted the table with bright orange latex paint.

Then, I applied my street line stencils with a foam brush. (I used glow-in-the-dark craft paint for fun.)

Finally, I added my cars after the street lines were dry, using navy and aqua blue. 

After a finishing spray of acrylic sealer my table was done! 

It fits perfectly wedged in between the bunk beds with a tiny fan propped up on it and adds lots of color to the room. My two year old loves using the track to push his cars and trains on- it turned out to be the perfect play table.
(Come and see what I did to their entire room! click here for the big reveal!)

The nice thing about experimenting on cheap furniture is that you don't have to worry too much about messing things up-you didn't pay a lot to begin with, and paint is so forgiving.

So, if you haven't painted furniture before-what are you waiting for? What potential treasures do you have waiting to be given new life with a fresh coat of paint?

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Denim and Burlap Name Pennant

Here is a project I worked on as a finishing touch for my Boys' Bedroom Makeover inspired by Land of Nod name pennants I've seen. (But, of course, this thrifty momma is not paying their price for something she can make herself!)

I created my rustic, all-American spin on name pennants using denim, burlap and twine. I was thrilled to repurpose a pair of jeans I was finally too small for and a burlap coffee bag for this easy project.

Here's what you'll need to make your own: 


scissors
burlap
denim
glue gun
twine or rope
colorful Sharpie permanent markers 
letter stencils


Here's how to make them:


1. First cut out triangles out of denim in the same shape.
2. Then, trace and cut out circles with burlap fabric

3. Hot glue your circles onto the center of the denim. 
4. Hot glue your twine to the tops of triangles forming your pennant.
5. Finally, take your letter stencil, hold down onto burlap circle and color in each letter with your Sharpie marker.

Pretty darn cute if I don't say so myself! And it actually cost me nothing since I already had the materials on hand-but if you don't it is still pretty cheap to make. And, the boys love seeing their names hanging in their newly remodeled room. Thanks, Land of Nod for the inspiration!

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple! Can't wait to show off some more how-to's and before and after's from my Boys' Bedroom Makeover with you in the next few weeks!

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Boys' Bedroom Makeover:The Big Reveal!

What a busy month! These past few weeks, we have tackled the big project of creating a fun, colorful bedroom for our boys to share. It was past time for our two year old to be done with his crib so to maximize play space on the floor, we bought bunk beds for them from IKEA. (They have a nice low to the ground set perfect for toddlers and preschoolers that they can grow into). 

These past few weeks we ripped out carpet, painted wood floors, painted walls, assembled bunk beds, put up curtains, painted garage sale furniture and even created a huge chalkboard wall! Then, we passed out...

I added finishing touches with handmade decorations and transportation stencils.The end result was an eclectic blend of modern and vintage, salvage and store-bought and of course, repurposing and I am thrilled with how it turned out. And so excited to share with all of you!

Our whole house was painted with this shiny beige paint that reminded me of liquid makeup-not a huge fan. After a year and a half of slowly getting rid if it in different rooms, I decided to change them in the boys room to a soft gray called "Sharkey Gray" using Glidden paint and toned down the semi-gloss sheen by using eggshell. I also painted the white trim a shade lighter than this in a pale gray.

Then it was time to rip up carpet! I left this job to to the hubby. Why paint wood floors? Well, it was cheaper than refinishing wood floors. And, ours were dinged up and stained from age so it was a good option for us. And, the carpet that came with the house was pretty cheap and ugly.

 So, when I first thought about painting wood floors, it sounded a little intimidating, but after a little research and some easy tutorials, it sounded about as hard as painting a wall. Turned out to be so simple!

Here's how we did it: 


First, we patched up all the dents with wood putty. 
After they were dry, we sanded them smooth primed the floors and allowed to dry, using a brush for the edges and a roller on an extension pole for the rest of the floor. 
After the primer was dry we added two layers of floor paint. We used indoor/outdoor latex paint in a soft white. 

Then, it was time to paint the walls. I chose navy blue and bright orange as accents to paint in the ridged rectangle sections we were lucky enough to have in a few of our rooms. (Anyone know the technical name for them?) Gotta love built in character of an older home!

Wonder how I got those perfect paint lines on my textured walls? Click HERE  to see an easy trick using painter's tape to do just that.

Here I added some cute airplane and cloud stencils in the entrance using the Martha Stewart craft line, and switched out a basic ceiling fan for new lighting and bunk beds from IKEA.

My boys love their new room! The only downside is that my two year old has decided playing in his new room is more fun than sleeping...

A vintage 7-UP box makes a fun place to store their books.

Chalkboard monograms and huge chalkboard wall

my sweetie! 

I told you the chalkboard wall was huge! We painted this section with green chalkboard paint and it really feels like it's time for school. In the corner is a name pennant I made out of old jeans and burlap. I'll share more details in a later post about how I did it.

my other sweetie! 

IKEA has the best wooden toys! They are learning how to count with this abacus.

We created a fun school room look by adding vintage desks found at a consignment shop and an old globe snagged at a garage sale.

Another name pennant made with jeans, burlap and stencils.

A garage sale table transformed with paint, stencils and glow-in-the-dark painted tracks! (Don't worry, I'll show you what it looked like before in a later post).

Having fun coloring on their chalkboard-yes, they love their new room...

Another fun schoolroom accent was adding an old map to the wall framed in pallet planks.

No, I did not pay the $125 that Land of Nod suggests for this toy bin. Below is their version:

Modern Toy Storage design by The Land of Nod

I already had this one found at a garage sale years ago and painted it navy for a great knock off look for cheap!

Ok, another cute kid shot. I can't resist! 

So, there it is! All done on a budget to create a high-end look.  Our labor of love is finally done and I'm really proud of all the hard work it took to transform this space from blah to boy's wonderland.

Looking forward to sharing a few more detailed posts with before and after pics of my garage sale furniture revamps and how I created the room accents.

Hope you enjoyed the room tour and thanks for stopping by!

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