Modern Fairytale Posters

Thank you Cup of Jo for posting these wonderful modern fairytale posters.

The artist is Christian Jackson and you can buy them here.

Sunny Boy/Girl Room in Seattle

My friend Tysha recently finished decorating the bedroom her young son and daughter share, and I loved it so much I got her permission to share it with you! It was also just featured on THE interior decorating blog for kids' rooms, OhDeeDoh, (see here) that's how awesome it is! But I don't have to keep telling you ... see for yourself!

Tysha has a great mix of homemade and friend-made and hand-me-down and store bought. She put this room together over a long period of time, so she chose everything very carefully. There is a reason behind every decision which makes the room super special for the little inhabitants. 

She and her husband opted to give the kids the master bedroom so it could easily double as the play room. Smart move! I also love that she chose a pale yellow for the walls to off-set the often gloomy out-of-doors.

Birds done right! Love that mobile! The yellow and grey combo is perfect for a girl/boy setting.

This play kitchen is fantastic, no? As with all the other objects in the room, Tysha put a lot of thought, time and effort into this thing. 

And there are her two cuties! Tysha is a photographer, too, so these pictures are hers.

Cool roadster and some inspiring words!

Seriously, nice job Tysha! Thank you for sharing.


Read more here on her family blog about her process of putting together this room as well as the back stories on several items that are especially meaningful.


*Martha

Industrial Kid Stuff

I'm pretty sure there is not anything I don't love about industrial design. (Are there enough double negatives in that sentence for you?) Well, thanks to Restoration Hardware, we have it for kids! Woohoo!

Are those vintage boxing gloves? Also, the striped baskets! Please. These shelves are just perfect for a little dude's room.

I'm getting giddy just thinking of kids hanging out at these old fashioned chairs and tables.

This is a locker style dresser. Um, hello wagon wheel lamp.

The Baby & Child Restoration Hardware line has oh-so-much more than this! In just about every style, too. Check it out!

*Martha

DIY Mobile Kit

My daughter's bird mobile got all tangled up in the wind after a day of open windows recently and I had to throw it away! Boo! I've been on the lookout for another mobile to make but just don't have a ton of motivation to do the kind of work it took to fold 40 paper cranes like I did last time.


I just came across The Little Tiny Etsy shop and they sell kits to make your own. I love this idea!

This cupcake one is quite adorable. But I need a bird type one...

Still looking ...

*Martha

Sienna & Noah's Nursery

Little Mr. Noah Hullinger Ware came a three days early on May 27! In fact, I was at Target getting one more thing for the nursery when my water broke! His early arrival caught me off guard because my daughter came four days late but since he has been such a good sleeper, I was able to hurry and get pictures of his finished nursery before he really makes me start working. 

Here is Sienna's side. Not much changed here except I painted her crib white to match the one I bought for Noah. Painting that crib was NOT fun. I repeat: NOT fun at all. But now that it's done, I love how it freshens up the room. And, like I said, it matches Noah's crib; it would have royally bugged me if they didn't match even though for a long time I was hoping to buy a natural wood colored crib for Noah to match Sienna's but decided it would be too hard to get the exact right tone of blonde wood. 

Here is their closet. Her side of diapers and blankets, his side of diapers and blankets (except I just realized their diapers are switched in this photo - oops) with wipes in the middle. I like having the metal baskets so I can be well aware when I am running low on supplies. And it looks like I am low on wipes!

The room is small, so in order to keep the big glider in the room we ended up putting the dresser in the closet. I actually really like that we can put everything away at the end of the day or during nap time and close the doors so all distractions are out of view and the kids can just focus on sleeping.

And, yes, that is a shower caddie. I wanted some more shelves at the changing station and liked how this matched the baskets above. The knobs are yellow flowers from World Market, on sale (4 for $7) - a much more sensible option than Anthropologie knobs I always pine for. I added the knobs to that bird tray (in case you can't tell what that is on the right) I got at an antique shop in Oregon awhile ago which turned it into something to hang things from.

I made the changing pad on the top of the dresser by cutting down the mattress that came with my son's portable crib and then making a couple slip covers out of cheap fabric. The other cover is green polka dot.

Here's Noah's side. I bought him a portable crib since he will be transported from room to room for several months for nighttime and naps. Right now he is sleeping next to me on the couch! The sleep situation is always evolving, so I know this portable crib will be put to excellent use.

The reversible pillow is from Target. See? Boy side:

And girl side:

And, finally, my favorite accessory in the room: that $4 red stool from a thrift store. It's perfect as a side table for stacking books for story time.

I hope you enjoyed my little nursery tour! I really enjoyed putting it together. What I love the most about it is that it's not too matchy matchy, not too blue or pink saturated and not too cutesy. It was not easy figuring out how to make sure two genders were represented, but it became a bit easier when I let go of stringent boy/girl color schemes or mainstream nursery styles and instead collected/made little pieces along the way that made me happy. When I go in that room it just makes me happy! And that's the kind of environment I want for my happy little kiddies.

Hot Air Balloon Canvas

I'm almost finished with my boy/girl nursery, and this hot air balloon canvas is one of the final projects. It's been hanging over my head for a long time because I knew what I wanted but couldn't find a way to execute it. I have been searching for some old book with big pictures or drawings of hot air balloons to cut out, but that never panned out. Then I saw a post by Stephmodo; she had done a hot air balloon party for her daughter and used this wrapping paper from Clover, a kids' store near my house. Isn't it adorable? Vintage looking and everything. 

I thought it'd be perfect until I started cutting each balloon out and putting them all over my 24 x 30 inch canvas I had already spray painted blue. The scale wasn't working; the balloons were just too tiny. So, I started doing my own thing. 

I cut templates for three different sized balloons and baskets and used them to cut simple balloons out of my own paper.

I added some frills. Hopefully they are still boyish-enough frills. Are they? I kept having to remind myself that this is for a BOY and not a girl. I don't know - maybe when I meet him, I'll realize the error of my frills and tear it down and try again. But for now, I actually really like it. I incorporated the tiny, vintage balloons from the wrapping paper and the canvas looked like this:

I stared at it for days because something about it was BUGGING me. I tore off the tiny balloons because I feel like they were trying too hard to fit in, plus it felt a little too busy with them there. 

And now it looks like this:

I like it sooooo much better. I realize it's very kitschy, especially those hilarious clouds. But I like it; kitschy works for me, and it'll go better with the hot air balloon mobile, too.

What do you think? Were the tiny, vintage balloons working? Or was I right to rip them off? 

And what about you - have you attempted your own artwork for your children's rooms? Is it something you're proud of and love to see every time you hang out in the nursery? That is my one criteria for things in the nursery: do I love seeing it every time I go in? Or does it just BUG? I will hang this thing up and know soon enough if it bugs ... and if it does, I'll tear it down and start over on something else.

*Martha

Hot Air Balloon Mobile

For my future son (due in two months!) I decided to make a hot air balloon mobile for his side of the nursery from the idea here.

I followed her tutorial for the most part but made a few variations of my own. I started with a template for the balloon. I did mine from card stock. Fold it in half and draw half the hot air balloon (like you'd do for Valentine hearts). No template here, just winging it. I drew it big and fat and basically cut it down 10 times using some Google images of real hot air balloons to get the shape right.

There are 6 sides to one balloon and I had enough paper to cut out 66 flat balloon shapes and piece them into 11 balloons.

I mixed and matched with patterned paper so each balloon looks different depending on which angle you are viewing it from. It'd be just as cute to do each balloon in the same pattern/color, I think. I even fancied the idea of making each balloon with only 4 sides because I was getting tired of cutting. I think that'd work, too. But the more dimensions the balloon has, the more visually interesting it is, and I'm glad I went the extra mile to make them all 6-sided. I glued them together with Elmer's glue.

I used an awl to stab a hole near the top.

STAB!

I was going to use blue yarn but the hole wasn't big enough. So I bought some basic twine-like string. Can't remember what it's called. I still had to force the hole bigger to get that through, but it all worked out. I tied a knot at the top of the balloon and tied it at the top of the embroidery hoop. Still working on what to do about all those fringy knot tops. But here's the mostly done mobile:

And future baby boy's view from the crib: 

I'll post it again when it's in place in the finished nursery. Stay tuned for some wall art inspired by hot air balloons, too. 


*Martha

Nursery Drapes: Finished

Thanks to dear old mom who came to town for a fun weekend, I suddenly have drapes for the nursery! Thanks, mom! Here's the play by play:


We went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought 6 yards of brown and white stripe and 6 yards of brown and white polka dot. The stripe was the intended front part and the polka dot was for lining the back. Each was $5 per yard so it was $60 for all of it.


Mom laid it out on the floor (while Birdie walked all over it).

 She cut each panel in half so each one became 3 yards long.

The next few pictures are of the various hems.

She did a 4 1/2 inch bottom and top hem.

Side hems were about 1 1/2 inches.

For the top hem she did something cool. She made a tunnel for the curtain rod in the middle so the top would bunch up nicely. You'll see what I mean later.

Here's the finished panel, front and back. They're reversible! How awesome is that? She also made some ties which I secured to the wall with Command Strips cut in half (the Velcro kind). I had to use strong glue to get the fabric to stay on its side of the strip.

Here is the bottom hem.

You can see at the top that it has some extra fabric to bunch up like I was saying before.

Right panel.

Left panel.

Bottom part.

Here's the right panel tied back; I love that the polka dot is exposed when it's tied back. And if I ever get sick of the striped side I can turn it over to the polka dot side.

Here are both panels together. 

I have a lot of brown going on in this room! Next up on my to-do list is adding more color and brightness!

*Martha