DIY Towel / Hat Hanger

Another project from the early baby days. I wanted a cute towel and hat hanger for baby E's room, but couldn't find one that either (a) matched his room or (b) didn't cost more than the towels / hats themselves. So I thought I'd make one.

I found a white wood piece on sale at Michael's. My initial thought was to paint it to match his bedding and other room decor... but, decided on using good ol' Mod Podge and scrapbook paper instead.

I measured out the pieces of paper, cut, and started Mod Podgin'. It took a LOT of coats to get the corners to stay down and seal the cracks. If I do it again, I'll probably use tissue-style paper.

I then screwed in three silver hooks (Target), and had the hubs hang it in baby's bathroom ~ perfect size for baby's towels! It also doubles nicely as a hat hanger for now -- a real one is my next project!

Baby Room Wall Art

I can NOT believe that I never got around to posting the cute wall art I hung in baby E's room! He's only, like, 14 months now. Think I need to do a post on finding balance here soon...

Anyway, my dear friend Brit made the cutest wall art for her son's room using her Cricut. I just HAD to have some for E's room, so I picked a cow, hippo, fox and frog to match some of the things we already had for his room.

She did such an amazing job!!

I knew I wanted white frames, so I found some chunky ones on sale at Michael's, along with four corresponding pieces of scrapbook paper.

I simply used sticky tabs on the animals (incase I ever wanted to use them elsewhere) and framed them without the glass.

I had the hubs hang them in baby's room -- one on each side of the window, and one on each side of the door.

Now E's old enough to recognize the animals, so it's become a morning ritual to say hello to each one. Love 'em!

Baby Room Letters

Finally getting around to a project post!!! These letters have driven me insane for awhile. Simply because I wanted them finished before baby E was born in July... and it's now February... better late than never, right?

So I had the idea of making letters for E's room, thinking it would be a quick project. But I got caught up in work, baby and everything else and these got put on the back burner for awhile. Now that I have work off my plate, I finally got them finished. Did they turn out exactly as I pictured? Not quite. Am I super excited they're done? Definitely!

I started with plain white letters I got on sale at a craft store (can't remember if it was Hobby Lobby or Michaels).

I thought they might look small on the wall, so I wanted to attach each to a canvas.

Using baby's bedding as inspiration...

...I drew out an idea of how I wanted to paint each canvas.

And then I started painting...

And then I took a few months hiatus, where they sat in this spot on a table up until a few weeks ago. After finishing the canvases, I painted the edges of the letters before attaching them with non-toxic craft glue. I also used a few adhesive stickies on the backs just to make sure they didn't fall off.

I am soo glad to see them done and finally up on the wall!

I think they look small in the picture, but it does take up a nice chunk of wall space. And I think the colors turned out great -- for some reason, the A is my favorite.

I think for the next kid, we're going with a vinyl wall decal ;).

Linking up to this fabulous party:

Baby Update!

Well, baby is officially due tomorrow, though it seems he's being quite the procrastinator. We're being induced Sunday night if he doesn't come before then, so do a baby dance for us! I would think he's got to be ready, he's done some growing in the last couple of weeks...

Hurriedly trying to finish some last minute baby room projects, including his letters for above the crib...

One of these days I'll finish sharing all of the projects, including some no-sew pillows and hand-made animal art. Stay tuned! :)

Baby Room: Before & After

Guess I missed WIWW again... oops! Maybe next week? :)

Super excited to get new bedroom carpet installed today, even if it means our house is now littered with bedroom furniture and crap. Over the last few months, we've finally gotten around to fixing up our room, so I'll show it off after the carpet's in... and every thing's back in order... maybe a week or two? :)

In the mean time, the baby room is really starting to come together. Which is a good thing considering we only have 4 weeks to go, if that!

So incase you missed the "true" before, you can see it here. But here are a few of the clean befores:

And the afters:

You can read more about hanging the moulding here and the not-so-great paint experience here. It was hard to find curtains in the right length without having to special order, but we finally found these brown ones on sale at Pier 1. Will be perfect for blocking out the afternoon sun!

LOVE this curtain rod from Lowe's. J thought it was a little girlie at first, but he likes it now that it's up.

J also hung the new ceiling fan (Lowe's again... I think we're paying their electric bill...) in place of the crappy gold flushmount.

And also hung a new light fixture over the sink. Guess where we got it?

Still need to paint the bathroom (probably just a brighter shade of white), but it's starting to look cute. And most of the accessories for the bathroom? Baby shower gifts from Target!

So the Potterybarn towels I ordered don't exactly match, but I still like them. Maybe I'll just stick them back for when baby's older...

Still loving the crib my parents bought us and the Target bedding (geez, maybe we're paying their electric bill, too!).

Added the little sheep rug...

And the vinyl tree from Babies r' Us.

We flanked each side of the crib with storage cubes from IKEA and storage boxes from various places for books and toys.

Still need to get the dresser upstairs, which we'll also use as the changing table, and I need to finish his letters and pillows. Also have some other adorable baby shower goodies to put out, too. Overall, I think it's pretty darn cute, and it's fun to finally see it come together!

Linking up to these fabulous parties:

Creative Bloggers Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Remodelabolic's Anonymous @ Remodelaholic

Friday Favs Party @ Nap Time Crafters

DIY Project Parade @ DIY Show Off