Mini Makeover- Sneak Peak

A few months ago, in a week long series we did on nurseries, I shared this room with you. It was my daughter's nursery.

Today I am going to give a little sneak preview of my toddler's "big girl" room. We are preparing to move her into a big bed soon, so of course for me that meant it was time for a little makeover. I have to admit, when I look back at pictures, I LOVE the pastel, calming feel of the old nursery. It screamed baby girl to me in a way only lavender could. However, the more my baby girl's personality grew, it no longer screamed "Lola." Therefore, I have set out to make a toddler room that is as colorful as she is!

The first thing to change, which you will be seeing today, was an update in artwork and wall hangings. First up, the feature wall.

I decided to base the colors and fabrics from this room on my daughter's first birthday invitation. It is a whimsical frog-fairy-dancer-skater-princess, of course!

The invite kept the lavender elements in play, but added so many fun and whimsical colors. I quickly found Amy Butler fabric that worked well with it, which I also framed and mounted on the walls in different areas.

Next, I took out some of the baby pictures from the room and added more classic elements. I realized I wanted this to be a room to grow with my child, and since MANY more baby pictures are scattered throughout the house, they just weren't as necessary here. So, I added a little chair silhouette to a covered canvas. I also painted a simple plaque that reads "lullabye," which keeps a touch of the nursery feel, and is also a knickname my husband has for our daughter.

The next thing I changed were the pictures above the bookshelf. I had two vintage Barbie sketches I had done in high school that I was just dying to implement into the room. So, I made space for them, along with a travel print and another framed fabric sample.

The pillows and throw below give you a hint of what the fabric choices in the room are going to be.

The final wall I have to show you is a shelf that is located on the other wall. I tried to keep the use of color going across the room. For this space I simply painted a little yellow canvas, framed one of my favorite magazine covers of all time, and tried to somewhat recreate Jen's (from tatertots and jello) famous rosette topiary.

And that was it! It is certainly not the world's more amazing makeover, and very incomplete, but it is feeling more and more like the little girl who belongs to it every day. I think anyone who has met her would agree, she is certainly the sweetest little spitfire your will ever meet. And every bit as over the top as the room she lays her head to sleep in every night.

I'll be linking to these parties this week, stop by and take a look.

Happy Thursday!

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Clothesline Photo Display

This is one of those projects that I almost feel a little sheepish writing a tutorial for, because it is so very basic, and you can probably guess how I did it by looking at the final picture. But while some projects sit in my mind for a few months of pondering, gathering materials, and working at them a little at a time, other projects come together out of necessity, in a single nap time, with materials scrounged up from around the house and $3.00 at Jo Ann Fabrics. Like this one.

As I stated last week, I have recently moved my craft room into our old office and moved "the office/my husband's stuff" out. However, he kept the bulletin board and pictures that I had in there, so I set out to get myself something similar. So I repossessed a frame from my son's room and got to work.

I'm still trying to make the room a bit more feminine and inspiring, so I got some pretty blue damasque fabric from JoAnn's and go to work. I didn't have any foam board, so I just covered the original art piece that had been in the frame with fabric batting. It was too thin (and sturdy) for staples, so I just hot glued the batting down about every 3 inches, which did the trick.

I cut my fabric about 1 1/2 inches larger than the batting, because I know that I will eventually re-do this board, and wanted to be able to remove the fabric easily while leaving the batting in tact. So I glued down the fabric in a similar fashion, pulling it snugly as I went.

I wanted to be able to change out my photos easily, but I was looking for something slightly different than the typical memo board, so I thought I'd make a little clothesline. I got some cotton twine and hot glued it to the top corners of my frame pulling it pretty tautly. (You may want to try hanging a few pictures from your line and see how low it dips before you glue on the second side. Photos and clips are surprisingly heavy on a little line like this.)

I then popped the fabric-covered board into the frame and tested out a few photos.

I used these tiny little clothespins on my line, which are a little smaller than the pad of your thumb. They are ADORABLE! When I got them I had originally planned on gluing little rosettes or something fun to the top of them for an extra embellishment, but I ended up loving them as is.

Once my photos were up I realized that the pictures that had been printed in "landscape" left enough room on the board for a second row. So I added a second string about halfway down the frame for another row of photos.

I was so happy with how the fabric backing provided a fun "mat" for the photos. It was a great alternative to matting a bunch of the pictures in little frames and grouping them together.

I love it! It was one of those happy projects that is easy, cute, cheap and functional.

I'm linking to these incredible parties here.

Also, I'm sharing my tutorial on Freezer Paper Tote Bags over on Just Another Day in Paradise's Christmas in July party! If you missed it the first time around, click here to see it. Actually, there are tons of great ideas over there, so you should probably visit no matter what, and start thinking about and creating your Christmas gifts now!

See you Wednesday to share my favorite read this summer by far!!

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Cutting Edge Stencils: Allium Twins and a Giveaway!

I'm so excited to tell you more about the incredible products from Cutting Edge Stencils! If you saw my post on Monday, then you know how happy I was when I used one of their stencils to make an art piece for my dining room. But now I'm going to tell you about another project I had with them. Their tagline is "awesome stencils for walls," so I figured them best way to try them out would be on a wall, right?

I have recently had the pleasure of moving out of the mini-room that used to be my craft room, and into the room that was formerly our office. It has been a few months coming and I was thrilled when my husband suggested it, but was looking for a way to spruce it up a little bit without a complete wall color overhaul, so I turned to Cutting Edge Stencils. Most of the walls are covered up with desks and shelves, but I had this one little neglected nook that really needed something, and that something was these Allium Twins.

I was so thrilled to receive this huge and beautiful stencil in the mail! In addition to the stencil, I received one of the most all-inclusive set of instructions that I have ever received. Even if you have used stencils before, which I have, you will definitely learn something new! When I was reading over the instructions, I got the distinct feeling that the company really wanted me to succeed in achieving a beautiful product, and that their work was not done now that they had my money. I was walked step-by-step through my project, including a section on painting with a roller and on painting with brushes, how to stencil in room corners, what to do if you make a mistake or need to take a break in the middle of your project, pros and cons of spray adhesives, cleaning, storage and repairs of the stencils. There were also dozens of tips throughout. Truly, they thought of everything, and as a consumer I felt very taken care of! I couldn't wait to get started!!

The instructions recommend working out your technique on a sample board first, and I'm so glad that I did, because this is how I realized that a rounded edge roller just wasn't going to work for me on this project. I made a few attempts, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. I think I may have just done too much wall painting recently, and I was having a difficult time restraining myself against pushing the roller down just a little too hard to try to squeeze out a bit of extra paint and it was getting under the stencil. So after a few tries, when I realized that I didn't have the patience to apply multiple very light coats, I turned to the old faithful, a stiff stencil brush and stencil paint.

I sprayed the stencil lightly with a tacky adhesive spray, smoothed it over the wall, and attached the top and sides with blue painter's tape. I then started filling in the holes with my stencil brush and stencil paint. I was glad that I opted for the stencil brush, since this stencil had lots of teeny tiny holes that were only a millimeter wide or long and I was able to be really precise with my painting. The stencil was good and thin, and laid completely flat on the wall with no curling, which made it so easy to work on the design!

I couldn't be happier with the allium twins! The little petals and spikes are sharp, clear and fun! They added a nice, bright floral element to the room and are exactly what I was looking for.

So I added a few more.

Aren't they great?!

I was able to get really sharp lines on the edges, which I was extremely happy about. This is on a wall where people will be standing just inches from it, as opposed to behind a piece of furniture or on a feature wall, so sharpness was really important to me.

That said, if you use the oil-based stencil paint that I used here, be prepared for it to take a long time to dry. It said on the label 24-48 hours and I don't know why I doubted them. Or why, when I excitedly showed it to my husband, he couldn't resist reaching his thumb over to touch one of the petals and smudging it. Or why I drug my hand halfway across the bloom the next morning (still not dry then). It just looks so cool, you can hardly resist touching it!

Having used this stencil, and the Spring Songbirds which I showed you on Monday here, I think I might be quickly becoming addicted!

Onto the great news, Cutting Edge Stencils has agreed to give away one of their incredible stencils to a Lemon Tree Creations reader! Simply head on over to their site here, look around, and then come back and leave me a comment telling me your 2 favorite designs for a chance to win. For a second entry, blog about this giveaway, and leave a comment linking back to your blog.

Here are a few of my other other favorites from their website.

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!**

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Barn Wood and Branches Wall Art

I had an incredibly lucky moment a few months ago, when some friends asked me to make a few signs for their house. They wanted to pull apart a beautiful old chest that was in their home and use that wood for the project, and offered me the rest of the wood to use as I wished. They added, "the chest is made from some old barn wood from our farm." I couldn't get my yes out fast enough!! The wood is beautiful, rich, warm and weathered, and I was thrilled.

I knew I had to come up with something special for this wood, no typical sign would do, so I turned to Keri at Cutting Edge Wall Stencils and got this incredible stencil.

I lined up the boards and enlisted a few cute handymen to secure them to one another on the back with metal braces. Then, with a flat base I started on my stencil.

I wanted some depth to the design, so I picked out light, medium and dark shades of acrylic paint to stencil with.

I started off with a shimmery bronze paint that was a very similar shade as the wood. I lightly sprayed the stencil with a tacky stencil adhesive, and placed it a bit off-center on top of the wood. I then grabbed a stiff stencil brush and started to layer on the bronze.

I let the bronze paint dry, repositioned the stencil, and painted a shimmery gold color on the corners of the board, overlapping a bit of the bronze branches.

When this was dry I centered the stencil, and started in on my lightest color, a creamy white. I pulled away the stencil and was done!! I attached wire hanging gear across the back and put it right up on the wall.

One of my favorite things about this piece is how different it looks depending on where you're standing in the room. When the light is hitting it just right, all of the shimmery colors just pop out.

If the light is not directly on the picture, the creamy colored branch stands out the most,

but if you're looking at it face-on, there is a nice blend of the three colors. I wanted this painting to have the sense of depth that you'd have if you were standing under a tree looking up at the branches.

I also was so happy with the contrast between the old and battered wood, and the elegance of the branches in the shimmery tones. I love it!

I practiced the design on two smaller sections of the same wood. I included this sweet little bird, who didn't make it onto the big piece, but I think is a fun element.

I am so pleased with this project! It has really given me a new appreciation for wall stencils, something I had previously shied away from since I am such a commitment phobe with decor. But being able to stencil onto something that could then be moved around is fabulous!!

Also, I'm so excited to say that this project made it into the Top 12 over at the The DIY Club!

and

Erin

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