Boys Zone

My son is about to turn 6.

Six!

So, we are doing up his bedroom, well because quite frankly he got the raw end of the deal and has put up with some odds and ends and hand-me-downs that his room is feeling a little lack lustre and dis-jointed.  Don't get me wrong...there's nothing wrong with second hand and re-furbished....why when I decided on getting him a new desk...I started searching ebay for a "new" second hand one.  See....

The inspiration is in full swing.  The Pinterest Board is mulled over at length.  I'm loving the use of pops of colour with vintage bits and bobs.  Having some toys and books at easy reach is essential and a little place for him to sit, draw, read and write is important too. The new bed has been ordered so I'm slowly getting some idea's about how to pull together a great boys room.

What aspects of a kids room do you consider essential?
xx

DIY overload

There has been an awful lot of DIYing going on at my house.

It seemed to all come to a head at once.  That, and the fact that we could no longer get into the small back shed, so it was now or never.  Just look at my backyard! 

This photo was taken a few weeks ago, when everthing got pulled out...I donned my work gear, floral scarf wrapped around my head and set to work.  I sanded, and filled, painted and scraped.  I traded visits to Spotlight for Bunnings and I felt like a warrior in the process.  I enjoy this fixer-up-ering journey.  I love watching items that were, perhaps destined for the rubbish heap or no longer wanted, brought to new life.

My kids watched eagerly too - and with a paintbrush in their hand, I quickly set them with a bucket of water to "paint the fence" (genuis dad!).  I hope I am teaching them the value of "make do and mend" and that new is not always necessary. 

Here is the latest finished item.  A salvaged narrow ladder that I collected during hard rubbish.  All she needed was a sand, stain and a little colour.

Do love fixing stuff up?  does it hang around in your shed or garage though? Or are you great at fixing it up as soon as you bring it home....

xx

kids room; re-decorating for the boy!

On my list of things to do these holidays one of them was to tackle my son's room.  With no real plan, other than I knew I wanted to de-clutter, there was some rather impromtu re-decorating going on.

(the before shot!)

My son is now 4.5 years old and really developing his sense of play, interests and favourite themes, toys and even colours.  When he moved from a cot to the bed, we already had a single bed and base, but due to the fact that he loved to sleep right up the top of his cot (often we could hear him banging into it in the night) I knew he needed a soft bedhead, so rather quickly and hastily I made one up from ply-wood rounded at the edges and covered in wadding and then some plain blue drill fabric I had lying around stapled to the back and then the whole thing attached to the bed.

(to get the right fit, I just laid fabric wrong side facing up and pinned it is place at the side seams - removed it and machine stitched it down the sides)

 But it was time for a change, so my son and I headed to spotlight, and he picked out some great looking striped fabric for a new bed head (this time I learnt and made a slip so it is removable and hence washable!)

The little narrow desk actually used to be a hall table that I got hubby to cut a bit of length off the legs so it was at kids height. 

We changed the position of the bed, hung up a bit of homemade bunting (in matching colours and mandatory car theme patterns).

We were also lucky enough that my bestie from when I was a nappy wearing toddler has an older brother whom in his adolescent youth participated in a hobby that involved stealing collecting street signs - so we gladly took a few off his hands and hung them up on the wall! Voila!

Time to give this new room his seal of approval!

A dream tutorial!

Ok, so for a while now I have been wanting to post a tutorial - share the process of how to make something from go to woe.  Although I also feared this with a bit of trepidation as my confidence in feeling that I earned any kind of status enabling me to write a tutorial was somewhat lacking.  I love crafting, sewing and decorating my home but I feel as though I am a jack of all trades (crafting ones, that is) and a master at none!

But having said that, I am taking a huge hop, skip and a jump in the deep end and decided to share a small little project I worked on the other day!

Have you ever noticed how in every single home decorating magazine there is always a wooden letter or word adorning a fireplace or mantle, bookshelf or kitchen bench??? Recently I bought the wooden word "laugh" and spray painted in bright yellow for a feature wall and was delighted with the results but it got me thinking!

My next attempt was the word "dream" but this time covered in decorative paper....

Here is how I did it!

You'll need...

wooden word - you can get these at spotlight
spray adhesive
old newspaper
decorative paper large enough to cover the entire word
pencil
cutting mat
cutting knife
emery board

Step 1.

Trace your wooden letter in mirror image on the wrong side of your decorative paper.
Using the cutting knife, cut around this outline and any middle parts (it might be slightly bigger at this stage by don't worry).

Step 2.

lay your wooden word (right side up) and paper (wrong side up) on the newspaper and give a light spray with adhesive being careful that the paper does not stick to the newspaper.  Carefully place the paper on the word lining up the edges and gaps.

Step 3.

Lay the word upside down on the cutting mat and using your cutting knife tidy up the edges of paper that are overhanging.

Step 4.

Using the emery board file the edges of the timber and paper so that they are smooth - you can file as much or as little.  Filing more away will give it that worn out vintage look!

Now enjoy your own personally crafted artwork!