Melted Crayon Art (Like Every Other Crafty Blogger Out There!)

I decided to try my hand at this melted crayon art after seeing a blog posting on my friend's blog http://www.oliveandlove.com/.
We ended up with three different styles between my two daughters and my own art.  My younger daughter decided to try the hair dryer approach on the crayons with a rainbow assortment of colors.

My older daughter, also with rainbow colors, used the hair dryer approach but a lot more assertively and this resulted in a lot more mixing and filling the canvas.

  I took a different approach and put my canvases in the oven instead at 250 degrees for around 5 minutes or when I decided I thought they looked good. I did two for the baby nursery in orange, gray, and black (one shown)..

And one with rainbow colors and an attempted framing with frog tape but it bled through a bit.

 I like how all the different approaches have resulted in very different art.  I am excited to experiment some more with this and figure out some cool designs!  Such fun!  Please let me know in the comments if you have done anything different that turned out really neat.

Mini Bookshelves of My Dreams

I have a bit of an obsession with book display units.  I hate to admit that I have probably spent over 24 hours researching different types of book units on the web.  I am particularly drawn to wall mounted structures that save floor space for play or other endeavors.  For a long time and still today, I have fantasized about the rain gutter book shelves.
http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/ohdeedoh/071409playroom_shelves.jpg

About a week ago though, I stumbled upon a new-to-me blog called "The Sweet Survival" and finally found what I considered to be the holy grail of cool wall mounted book shelves.  Feast your eyes on these lovelies..
http://thesweetsurvival.blogspot.com/2011/04/mini-bookshelves-for-sawyers-room.html

I then spent another two days trying to find someone on the web that made them and sold them since I am not exactly a carpenter.  No such luck but dang it would be a great idea for those etsy-minded folk out there!  I finally decided that I wanted that look enough that I was willing to throw my dice on the table and headed to the closest home improvement warehouse.
 
I thought I would run into trouble since I don't own a table saw.  However, a super helpful lumber man went ahead and cut nearly all my pieces for me at the store.  All I had to end up cutting were the little stick pieces on the sides of each shelf.  I ended up changing the dimensions a bit of my mini bookshelves, primarily to save the before mentioned helpful lumber man from cutting wood all day.  I would say though that if I could do one thing over again with the project, I would have chosen a nicer wood.  Mine is some type of particle board which gave me occasional issues when small particles wriggled loose and fell out of my boards!  Good thing I had wood filler.

Anyway, all I really had to do was sand the pieces, nail the three main sides together, saw and add the stick pieces.  From there, I painted it and then used a satin varnish to add more protection to the unit.  Lastly, I secured it to the studs in the wall and added the vinyl numbers.  Thanks so much to "The Sweet Survival" for the great idea and DIY directions.  For the steps and awesome other inspiring stuff on that blog, please go to http://thesweetsurvival.blogspot.com

While mine doesn't seem as perfect as the one on The Sweet Survival, I am content that I got the look I was going for.  What do you think?

Chair Makeover

I found this old glider-style chair yesterday for $18.00 at Goodwill.  It was covered with dust and quite a few cobwebs underneath, but had potential.  After buying a small container of paint from Lowes, I got to work painting (and of course cleaning).  I also threw out the old pillows after fretting about bedbugs and researching how expensive it would be to have them recovered.  I bought a large fluffy pillow at Pier 1 on sale for $39.99 for the seat cushion.  Now it will be showcased in my third child's nursery when he or she arrives in January!  Thoughts or ideas anyone?

An Art Project for Sisters

After painting my daughter Noelle's room, I decided that it was missing a focal point on the wall.  We went to Michaels and bought a blank canvas, some vinyl letters, and some paint.  After sticking Noelle's name on the canvas, the girls went to town with the paint.  About a half hour later,  we pulled off the vinyl stickers and we had our masterpiece.  I hope it will provide a nice memory of the girls working together toward a goal.

My Playroom

Here are photos taken of the playroom which I also finished recently.  The paint is Geyser and bought at Lowes.  The vinyl origami wall decals are from Byrdie Graphics on etsy and were really easy to put up. The red couches were free from a neighbor on our block that had them on their curb with a "free" sign.  The book unit was a craigslist find and the play kitchen was a find from a church rummage sale for a steal. The book case was from Wal-mart, as well as the television and the rug.  Most of the toys were found second hand at garage sales and thrift stores.  Let me know if you have any questions about any thing.  Comments? Ideas?

The Tree Room

Just finally received and installed my tree wall decal from Surface Inspired through Etsy.  I had to attach each leaf individually but I really love the final look!  With the exception of possibly a daybed and a new bedspread, I think this room is just the way I envisioned it.  The paint color is "By the Sea" but I cannot remember the brand right now.  The black frames were picked up at a yard sale and hold drawings done by my daughter.  The white frames hold posters bought at a local thrift store.  The bureaus are IKEA with unfinished knobs bought at Home Depot that I painted green and then sealed with polyurethane.  The table and chairs (there is a bench under as well) were a find on craigslist but originally were from Pottery Barn Kids.  Other pieces are primarily second hand toys and items found at garage sales and thrift stores.  Any comments or ideas?

Adding the Vanity for the Final Touches

There have been a few things just not right in my two year old's room.  I have been working on this room for quite some time.  I finally decided that I would really like to have a vanity in her room.  The hunt began on craigslist and I quickly found just what I was looking for.  Of course it was way into the Tennessee countryside but well worth the drive.  I got this vanity for $15 and got to work making it match the other furniture.  The coolest part was sawing the legs short which was something I never did before.  It was so easy and I did it right the first time so I didn't have to go back and re-measure to get all the legs the same length.  After placing the vanity in the room, I realized that the furniture looked better when placed differently.

You will see the final product below.  I love this room so much that I go in there just to relax and look around!  The thrift stores have blessed me with lots of vintage Fisher Price toys and Irmi lamps to finish the look.  My little girl seems to really like the vintage Fisher Price the best and they are a hit when friends come to play!  Please feel free to let me know what you think by leaving a comment if you have the time.  You can always sign in anonymously and then put your name on the bottom (this way you don't have to sign in with a password).  Thanks!