Giant script name

I had a clean slate after I finished painting Eleanor's room. It was great. I had taken down everything and I planned on nothing going back up for a little while, until I could think about things. I knew I wanted her name up on the wall somewhere, but I didn't really want to go with anything that was out there already. Then, one day, inspiration hit. I realized I wanted to cut out her name in some kind of script font in one big piece and hang bunting behind it. I really don't even know what made me think of it, but I went for it.

First, I had to think about how to get a template. I ruled out free-handing it almost immediately since I wanted it to be script and I just don't have the skills to do that, especially since there were 2 of the same letter (I figured being consistent would be a big problem). I thought about using an overhead projector and asked on facebook if anyone knew where I could get one. There were some ideas, but then a friend offered to print it on a large format printer, so that was taken care of. If that's not an option for you, I'm betting there's a way to print something that big in pieces using Photoshop or Illustrator or their free counterparts, Gimp and Inkscape.

The total size of the template was about four feet across and eighteen inches high (give or take). I taped it up in place to see how it looked and I loved it. 

Once I confirmed that the template was the right size, I took it down and taped it to my 3/8" thick mdf and traced it, then removed it. Handy tip: use a yardstick or other straight edge to correct any tracing mistakes made on a straight line.

 Then I jigsawed it out. The employee who helped me at Home Depot gave me another really great tip- he recommended laying my board on top of a thick sheet of styrofoam laying on the floor and cutting through both. I'm so glad I bought that styrofoam. Trying to maneuver this big sheet around on sawhorses and supporting the parts I had cut out would have been a real pain. Plus, now I have this styrofoam for all my jigsawing needs.

Another tip: make sure you get a jigsaw blade for cutting curves. They're daintier than ones that are for mostly straight lines and it really makes a difference with how sharply you can turn.

After it was cut, I used my Dremel with a coarse sanding drum to smooth out any rough spots around the edges, then sanded it lightly by hand. Finally it was just priming and painting and I was done!

Except for hanging it. I used these: 

and a laser level to make sure it was hung nice and straight.

And then...

Ta-da! I love it a lot.

Eleanor's room- in progress. Plus, my favorite flea market!

It's been awhile. We've been busy over here, with summer playing and family coming into town and working on the yard- good stuff. As of late I've been getting back on the DIY wagon and it's kind of like, "oh yeah, I love doing this stuff!"

Eleanor turns two on Sunday and I thought as a birthday gift for her I'd paint her room. Also, I wanted to paint her room. I had this mood board (it's the last one in the post) for her and I was finally not sick of painting anymore (after doing the basement by myself, I wasn't really chomping at the bit these last months), so I picked a color and went for it. I used this room by Emily Henderson as some inspiration, too, because she is just the bee's knees. Thanks to pictures of that room, I went a lot brighter/happier with the wall color than I had planned and I do not regret it.

So here's Eleanor's room, post paint but pre everything else:

It's been hard for me to get an accurate picture of the paint color. It's called Teal Ice and is by Behr (when I sent Mike to get another gallon, he told me the paint mixing guy said, "Now that sounds like a Pinterest color!"). It's a bit brighter and a touch greener in real life. I totally love it.  And I'm so excited about the other stuff I'm planning for this room. EXCITED.

Now, about my favorite flea market. It's called fleaology and their blog is HERE- I may have mentioned them before, like here and here. Anyway, I'm going again at the end of the month- I'm even delaying leaving on a camping trip because I refuse to miss it (I missed the last one because Mike was out of town and life was crazy). I'm so excited- I'm going to be scouting out textiles, jewelery, and all the awesome home stuff. Huzzah!

My new favorite art

I love having something a little different in picture frames, instead of all family photos all the time. I have my fair share of those, of course (I do love looking at my family's faces, after all), but it's always kind of a fun surprise having something different in a frame. Prints are great, but they add up, so finding cheap and large art that's not a photo can be tricky sometimes.

Without further ado, here's my new favorite art:

It's a book jacket! I hate book jackets (especially on kid's books) but I also hate throwing them away. This was totally a light bulb kind of moment and I still kind of feel like a genius. My daughter LOVES Fancy Nancy (it's been a Fancy Nancy for her bedtime book for months now) and this is, of course, in her room. She thought it was a pretty great idea, too.

Here's the 'tails (if you don't know what I mean by 'tails, you need to watch more Parks and Rec) :
 *I didn't cut the back of the book jacket off, I just creased it flat.
*Since the book had that cute little border on it, I attached it to the front of the mat instead of behind it.

My daughter's favorite things about her new room

Mim absconded with my phone the other day and took some pictures of her favorite things in her new room. (That's what she told me she had done after I got my phone back from her)

The light is my favorite thing, too. 

There's just a few more finishing touches that need to happen and then I guess I'll do a full room reveal. (I feel pretentious saying that, since it doesn't really feel that grand.) Stay tuned.

MOAR MOOD BOARDS!

{Polyvore link with source list HERE}

 What's happening in the family room is different that I originally planned, but I'm loving it. Instead of doing a built in entertainment center, we ended up with a dresser in the little nook that's there. It's one I had in our garage from a yard sale last year.

It's not in the best shape, but it really grew on me and I'm just going to go with it.

{Link HERE}

 We needed a new comforter and we still don't have any rugs at all in our bedroom, so I decided to try and take that on this year, instead of finishing anything that's already in the works. (Seriously, what's my problem?) Anyway, I have pretty strong feelings (possibly inappropriate) for the exact quilt in the picture and was heartbroken when I saw Anthropologie didn't have that color in stock anymore. I had a brainwave earlier this week- ebay! I got a great deal and it'll be here soon, I hope.

{Link HERE}

The living room was left pretty blank after we got the lovesac downstairs (hallelujah) and sold our old entertainment center that was too big for the nook downstairs. I want that exact chaise lounge and those curtains, but I hope to find a buffet/dresser on Craig's List and possibly diy a display coffee table like that one.

Pinspired on wheels (a double whammy)

I realized that without context, my title sounds pretty much like gibberish. So here's your context, then.

Double whammy:
This pinspiring was brought to you by THIS PIN and THIS PIN.


I thought those clutter crates were totally a good idea and was totally (maybe?) going to get around to making some. And then, more recently, I saw the BHG drawers on wheels. And that's when the pinspriation hit. I totally had an old drawer in the basement that I had saved when we were demolishing stuff down there. I could get my clutter crate and not even have to build it!

So here's the drawer:

It's pretty big. There was some wallpaper in the bottom that just pulled up. I decided I wanted to put it back after everything got a good scrubbing, so I kind of washed the off the sticky side (which had a bunch of gritty dirt and cat hair on it) and then reattached it with a thin layer of mod podge on the bottom of the drawer.

 I also added blocks to the corners because the kind of casters I used had a post on them. I used liquid nails and it got a little bit messy, but I didn't really care.

After the blocks were secure, I drilled holes and attached the casters as per the instructions on the package. And....DONE! Super easy.

Here it is, all filled up and on wheels. Now my big girl can drag her blocks wherever she wants to.

{It's hard to see the wheels because they're sunk into the carpet a bit, but they're there.}

I'm so glad her blocks have a permanent place to go. I had them in an under-the-bed tupperware, but there were too many and it could be tricky to get them all in and still have it fit under her bed (especially for a 3 year old). No under the bed problem with this, because I don't want it under the bed. It's too cute/handy to be hidden away.

See how I made the blocks HERE.
My last Pinspired post HERE.

New bedroom wall art

I decided, after I put up the closet door, that it was time for the master bedroom at my house to get a little redo.  I've wanted to change my above the bed wall art since almost immediately after I hung it.  The fabric I used was another fabric store panic.  Remember fabrianxiety?  Is that how I spelled it last time?  Well, it was happening a year ago when I bought this fabric:

I had wanted a brown and white or brown and cream damask, so don't even ask me how this happened.  I think what got me is that the gray flowers (that you can't see very well in the picture) were the exactly same color as the walls, which I thought was great.  But even though I don't have anything against the fabric itself, it really lacked the contrast I wanted.  It looks meh.
Anyway, for the past year, I've been thinking about what I really want there, and although I'm not quite there, I made some major steps in the last few days.  So here you go:

{Yeah, we got married that day after Valentine's Day.  It's kind of a joke that we have.  Also, after I painted in the date I totally had a tiny panic attack that I had written it down wrong.  I didn't...phew.}

Much brighter, much more contrast- that's what I'm talking about.  I wanted vinyl lettering, originally, because I knew it would be so much neater, but my craft allowance is gone until next payday (seriously, I had to start giving myself an allowance for it because I was just going crazy) and I just wanted to go for it.  Some weird stuff happened with the names, but it's kind of growing on me.
What I did:
I already had the stretching frames, they were 5$ each from IKEA (bless its heart).
The fabric was an old sheet.
And I used acrylic paint because I know nothing about painting.  I'm sure there was a much better medium, but I was working with what I had.
I traced a rough outline of everything and just went for it.  I cut leaf shapes out of some foam and again, I just went for it.
I'm pleased, but I'm not sure I'm done.  Have you all seen this at Decor Chick?  (Love her, by the way.)  What if I did that, over the whole background or maybe just in parts?  I also entertained the idea of tea staining, but I think that would dull the brightness and contrast that I love so much, like I maybe mentioned.  Maybe adding some branches in something metallic?  Like this, that I love so much.   Hmmm.  Well, more on the bedroom later, after I have craft allowance (I blew the last one on fat quarters that I don't even have a project for) again.

Closet door

Mike and I (really just Mike) removed the closet door when we moved into our house because he was refinishing the bedroom floor.  It's been two years, and we haven't put it back on.  For the first year, it was mostly just laziness, but this last year it's been a conscious decision.  Here's why:

{Funny story- You know that laundry basket you can see in the reflection?  It had been next to the closet, I thought I had moved it out of the picture.  Ha!}

The door with the mirror on it goes out into the hall.  You couldn't have the closet open and the door open.  The doors kept banging into each other, it just bugged me, more reasons...etc... I didn't like it.
The inspiration for the new closet door struck awhile ago. It was this post on Ruffles and Stuff.  (By the way, I sure will miss Disney's posts.  What a talented crafter/sewer/blogger/photographer.)
I saw that shower curtain and realized that the same thing would work for my (teensy tiny) closet.  And so...

I used an old king sheet.  Cut it up, used as many of the existing hems as I could, and hung it up on a 2$ tension rod from WalMart.  I'll probably add some trim across the top ruffle, like Disney did, to hide the unfinished edge there, but first I have to figure out what trim.  I like it.  And my husband's one concern, closet accessibility, has been resolved:

It squishes down most satisfactorily. 
More pictures!  I took it outside today for an official photo shoot- I'm not going to lie, I wanted to copy Disney's pictures of her shower curtain.  Mine are not as good.

{Don't you think the bottom looks like the train on a wedding dress?  Don't you think I'm crazy for waxing poetic about an ex-sheet?}

{It's turned out to be excellent for peek a boo.}