Big Girl Room Redo

So it's finally done. A big girl room for my oldest daughter. For one thing, I can't believe she is old enough for her own room. It seems like just yesterday I was laying her in a crib.

The change in bedrooms at our home was a win for everyone. Everyone got an upgrade!

When I asked my daughter what kind of 'big girl' room she wanted, I was totally surprised when she told me she wanted a horse room. I'm still not sure were that came from. But it was the perfect inspiration for this room. 

 

This bed is one of a kind. My dad built it for me and I slept in it as a young girl. I love that my daughter has it now. I took it to Bergan's Timeless Treasures in Downtown Kennewick and had it painted for me. I got a great price. I still have three littles at home and I was not about to tackle this project. I have learned my limits the hard way.  

The bedding was my daughter's Christmas gift this year with the note that we would give her a "big girl" room. I picked the bedding from Pottery Barn Teen and Land of Nod. Great well-made bedding is worth the price.

I bought two floor-length white sheers and cut them in half to make to four panels for each bedpost. The white panels turn this into a bed for a princess. 

The pink polka-dot curtains were from Walmart. Since I hung the curtain rod five inches above the window, I had to take out the hems to make them floor length.

Those horse shoe above my daughter's bed I picked up at Ranch & Home. I was totally shocked to find a huge selection to choose from.  I didn't know that horses were so particular about their shoes.   I spray painted it and laced it up with some pink ribbon and now it hangs about my daughter's bed. 

I've decided that the definition of determination is how many times you are willing to use a seam ripper. With that said, this horse pillow, though so sweet and the delight of my daughter, was challenging.

I found the throw pillow at Goodwill and then pulled off the cover to use as a pattern. I used my Silhouette to cut out the horse image. Then I appliqued the horse into place. The hardest part was getting the zipper in place (which I had never done) and have the cute pom-poms not get in the way.  I'm just thankful for You Tube!

These matching frames I purchased at Goodwill and then spray painted. The paper I had. I used my Silhouette to cut out the horses.  I'm a beginner Silhouette enthusiast so I haven't done many project yet. This was one of my first and it turned out great.

 

 

I found this side table discounted at Burlington. I spray painted it pink. It's perfect for the space and added a modern vibe. The lamp was a redo from the nursery. I spray painted it silver and picked up a discounted lamp shade from Target. I used hot glue to add a pink ribbon to the top and bottom of the shade. 

 

I purchased the frames from Goodwill and had my hubby help me turn them into shadow box shelves. These are the perfect shelves for my daughter's room since she has a bunch of "stuff" that she wants on display.

 

I am so happy with how these wall baskets turned out. These were flower baskets from Home Depot. I spray painted them white and then made the fabric liners for each basket.

I still have one more addition to this room, a "big girl" desk.  But I'm still on the hunt for the perfect desk. So check back for another post.  

If you've done a "big girl" room redo.  I would love to hear about it.  Share your link in the comments.

Happy Decorating!

Crafting for Fall

Crisp cool air, round pumpkins, hot cider, changing leaves...I love fall! I always look forward to making my home look ready for fall too. Here are a few of the crafts I've been adding to our home.

This small Harvest banner is strung in our dinning room.  I made it of burlap, scrap fabric and twine.  I used fusible interfacing to add the letters.

I love this little pumpkin patch. I clipped branches off our three to make the stems, added floral wire for the vines and felt leaves.  The Pumpkin is simply gathered fabric and filled with Poly-Fill.  Check out this link for an easy tutorial.

Thank you Pinterest for free printable from other creative gals! Click here. I had my hubby cut out a piece of MDF board for me and then I just decoupaged the printable onto the board. Simple and looks great on our mantel.

This was probably my favorite project and it didn't cost anything since I used scrap fabric. After sewing a long rectangular pocket, I painted on these words with black fabric paint.  Then I just stuffed it with Poly-Fill and sewed closed. 

What have you been crafting up this fall? 

Happy crafting!

Seahawk Love!

I don't think I have ever had my hubby thank me for putting up decorations.  That is until now.  Here is what I pulled together to cheer on our Hawks.

 

These pics are of our mantel. To make the sign, I stenciled on 12 and then painted with acrylics. I sanded it down a bit to get that worn look and then applied a light stain to finish it off. Inside the photo frame is just craft paper with a printed logo off the web! The garland is made of felt strips about 2 inches long. I simply sewed them together. 

This pillow cover I pulled together with left over denim fabric and appliqued a 12 on the front with a bright lime green polka-a-dot fabric. This is in our front entryway.

 

The garland I made with one inch strips of felt - lime green, blue, and gray.  The is a bit labor intensive.  It uses a lot of felt for just a small project.   It easy though, just thread all in pieces together in a alternating pattern with embroidery thread. 

Since football season is so long, my hubby thinks these decorations can stay up till January! 

Mission Makeover - Re-purposed, Re-made and Re-used

I love our local mission and I love decorating.   So when the opportunity came to help with decorating the gathering room at our local women's shelter, I was super excited!  I told the volunteer coordinator I was her gal.  I teamed up with a great girlfriend, Ange, and we got to work on gathering ideas via Pintrest.  The goal was for the room to be a relaxing retreat for the women and children that stay at the mission.  The original room was a plain, plain, plain.  A hod-podge of misfit donated items.  A vision formed with a budget of $1,000.  Aside -- this donation was simply placed in the hand of the missions volunteer coordinator on the morning she announced the project to JOY in the morning, our ladies Bible study at church.  Love, love God's timely provision!  Ange and I created three zones for the designs with a clean pallet of tans, gray blues and olive green.

Gathering Zone
This space is used for a Bible study each night.  Any where from 15 to 20 women gathering to study God's word.  Before the space was cluttered with over-sized tables and a large sectional.  This was replaced with two futons and a long free-standing desk.   We covered the futons and pillows in washable fabics and pest-resistant protective covers.  By placeing a large desk on the opposite wall we were really able to open up the space.  Space for kids to play, space for more chair during Bible study, and now even space for ladies to do workout DVD's.  A large new, donated TV was mounted over the desk.   A couple of the ladies from our Bible study did the sewing for the futon covers and pillows.  The desk took some extra time to install but it did get installed.  The picture below is pre-install.

Children's Zone
This was a small 4 ft by 5 ft corner of the room.  A new play kitchen was donated - hello those things are hard to put together.   We chose to put a cubical storage shelf for books and toys.  A small table with stool allows for children to have a space to play and work.  

Working Zone
Many of the ladies are looking for jobs and so need a place to fill out papers.  There is also a recovery program that some of the ladies enroll in which requires homework.  The floating desk and pub table allow for ladies to get work done but the areas don't take up a lot of space.  Wanting to use the space effectively, we had a long desk, 10 ft., costume built for the space.  The top is covered with laminate making it more durable for all the use it receives. This was our most expensive piece for the room but well worth it.  In fact the builder goes to our church and donated his time so we only paid for the materials.  If you have priced custom pieces you know what a huge blessing this was.  Painting an accent wall in the alcove perfectly defines the space.  New floating shelves allow for books and materials to be out of reach from children.  To the left of the picture, we created a message board for the ladies to use. 

Just Some thoughts - 

2 Corinthians 5:17
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 

Many of the decor pieces for this room were re-purposed.  The lamps, side table and chairs where all from Goodwill.  A little paint new, fabrics and TLC and they are beautiful new pieces.  Isn't this the same process that Christ take us through.  Our lives feel discarded and no longer useful and Christ transforms us by His Spirit.  This is the journey that the women at the mission are under-going.  They are women just like you and me but they have come to a place of need.  God is taking them and re-making for His glory. The old is now NEW!

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 

This project took a team of ladies all with different gifts and all with a willing heart to serve.  I loved this.  I did not have the ability or time to do everything, but with each women playing their unique roll the whole project was a success.  Christ has a good work for us to do for we are each His good work to a needy world. 


For me this project is at the heart of decorating.  To decorate actually means to add honor.  We took a space that had no visual honor and made it into a space where each women and child feels honored. 

I talked to a couple of the gals they other day and they shared how wonderful it is to have a relaxing, beautiful space.  They have a space that feels more like home.