Playroom in Progress...

The playroom is a never-ending-story at my place.  As is most of the rooms in my house, but the playroom is exceptionally so.  I'm constantly trying to find the best solution for organizing this space, as it is also shared with my office.  Yeah, the office/playroom.  If that doesn't spell chaos for you, I don't know what does.  Today I'll be sharing the playroom half... who am I kidding, the whole room minus one tiny corner is kid territory, but I'm still going to claim that tiny corner as mine (and Mr. B's)  ;)  Anywho...

Lets start with the largest feature of the room, shall we?  You might have already guessed, Mr. B built the entertainment center for me.  For some reason whatever idea that pops into my head doesn't ever exist, at least within my budget anyway, so Mr. B always comes to my rescue.  I wanted the TV on the ground.  Growing up with my mom doing Day Care my entire life, I've heard story after story of children getting seriously injured, even killed, from pulling TV's/ furniture on top of them. (these weren't her personal stories, but rather warnings from the news/ classes she was required to take for her license)  She certainly struck that fear into me, and we bolt every piece of furniture we can to the walls, because lets face it, no matter how diligently you watch, children LOVE to climb.

 

 I'll admit, the bins holding the toys aren't my favorite.  I debated doing the wrap-a-cardbaord-diaper-box-with-fabric/burlap that we've all seen all over Pinterest, but somehow that just didn't seem like it would hold up very well.  My kids are always pulling these things in and out, in and out, trying to sit in them, stand on them... you get the picture.  I needed something more sturdy than decorated cardboard.  These plastic bins were the cheapest I could find that actually fit in the cubbies.  They are from Ikea.  I also recently brought up all of our children's books that were being stored in my oldest's closet.  (You know, to keep them out of harms way from the children who find tearing out pages to be a delightful past-time)  ;)  I had to get them out of her closet eventually though; we'll be needing the extra space as she will be soon sharing a bedroom with one of her siblings!  (We're expecting baby #3 this June)  :)  Now I'm just on extra guard duty, assuring these books are not harmed.  ;)

     Next to the entertainment center is the doll house/dress-up corner.  Yup, STILL need to finish the dress-up trunk...

 The rest is basically a nice open space for the kids to "run free."  I dream of one day having a large child-height round table like my mother's in here, for fun crafts and teaching moments.  But I'll just have to dream for now.  :)

 My gallery wall is one of those never-ending projects.  All of these pictures were made by Yours Truly, minus the Rapunzel tower, which I purchased from THIS Etsy shop.  It is truly a stunning little piece of watercolor art.  I love it!  I am far from being any sort of artist myself, but I still really enjoy creating pictures, and coloring when I have any spare time.  I'd love to eventually fill this long wall end to end with pictures, but seeing how my spare time is next to nothing, it's going to take a while.  It's taken me over 4 years to get this far!  LOL.

 For those of you who follow along my personal family blog... I FINALLY got around to painting the book shelf!!  Yes, you should be so proud!  :)

 Here is what it looked like before:

 This shelf houses the books that are toddler-proof.  ;)

I made the 5x7 Alphabet flashcards in Photoshop using digital picture tiles "alphabet soup for boys" purchased HERE.  I also bought the girl version, and just combined my favorites from both sets to make my cards.  :)  They are strung up simply on some twine using mini clothes pins and clear command hooks .

Next time I'll have to share the other half of the room.  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

Pillow Slip Cover Tutorial...

Before I begin, I'd like to make something aware to anyone reading this: Sewing is not one of my talents.  Yes, I can sew a strait line, however, I couldn't tell you what to do to adjust your tension, or change stitches on your machine; I have never been able to follow a pattern without the help of my mother or sister, and anything that requires a ton of detail work, forget about it.  My knowledge of sewing is as basic as it gets.  I know how to refill my bobbin.  {Yay!}  And as for patterns, I generally see something and think "I can make that" and then I make things up as I go.  This particular slip cover isn't some brilliant thought-up idea, this is how all of the shams I've ever bought work, so I figured I could recreate my own slip covers.  So that should give you a good idea of how simple a slip cover truly is to make.  It's an honest statement when I say: "If I can make this, you can too!"  I'm not very good at explaining things either, so I took lots of pictures so that hopefully I don't confuse you too much.  It really is simple, promise.  So lets begin...

First you'll want to start out by measuring your pillow form, from seam to seam.  You can use this simple slip cover tutorial for any square or rectangle pillow you've got.  Start with a square shape if this is your first go... anyway, after you've measured your pillow, it's time to cut out your fabric:

My particular pillow measured 17x17 inches from seam edge to seam edge, so I cut out an 18x18 inch square (adding an extra inch for seam allowance.)  The two back pieces are easy too, I knew I wanted the two pieces to overlap each other so there was no gap exposing the pillow once it was stuffed into the cover, so I took my 18" measurement, cut it in half (9"), then added two inches (making it 11") to allow room for seam allowance and some 'overlap'... I cut two of these measurements.  Still with me?  That's the hardest part, so if you have your cuts ready, the rest is a breeze and you'll be done in no time!

Take your front square piece and embellish as desired, ruffles, buttons, whatever your heart fancies, or if you already have a gorgeous fabric, leave it as is!  :)   I simply painted the word "love" on mine with some acrylic paint...

Now lets go back to your two back pieces... take one of your longer edges, and fold it in. about a half an inch or so, and then fold it in again and press it flat with a hot iron (this makes it easier to sew it up)

 After you have it pressed, run it through your sewing machine along the inner edge...

 Now you have a nice edge that won't fray (the other three edges will be sewn up into the pillow, so don't worry about those)  Repeat with your second back piece.

 Now, take your two hemmed back pieces and place them over your front piece (right sides together, because you'll be turning this right-side-out.)  Make sure your hem is towards the middle of the pillow and not along an outer edge...

 The two pieces should overlap in the center, but line up with all four outer edges...

 Pin that all together, and run it through your sewing machine, making sure all sides are closed.  After sewing, I like to trim off the corners (making sure to avoid cutting off the new stitching) so that the corners are more crisp when you flip it inside out...

 You're finished!  Now just turn that bad boy inside out, and stuff your pillow in...

 TADAAA!  I love making slipcovers this way, because it makes it easier to switch out my pillows when the seasons change, or I simply start getting bored with them.  And storing a slip cover is a lot easier than storing lots of pillows too.  :)

 For the "be mine" I just printed the words off on my computer, taped it up on my window and traced it onto the fabric, then filled it in with paint.  :)

 And if you're interested, here are the paints I used:

Thanks for stopping by!  Hopefully I made sense to everyone, but if you do have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!  :)

A Little Valentine Decor...

I don't go all out with my Valentine decor, it's usually just my mantle and a couple of random shelves on my entertainment center that get a few V-Day decorations.

I have a terrible case of spring fever this year... well every year, but this year seems to be exceptionally bad... I had only had my Valentine things out for a few days before I started itching to take it all down and get my spring/Easter stuff up!  I know, crazy.  But in my little part of the world, winter seems to last 6 months of the year, you can always count on at least one more snow storm in April before it finally starts to warm up, and then you get about 2 weeks of perfect weather, then the heat wave comes before the next big snow storm, which usually comes early October.  Ugh, why do I live here again?  LOL.  Anyway, I'm staying strong, thus far, and my Valentine things still remain out on display.  :)

 The framed embroidered "subway art," "love" banner, and tulle banner were all made by yours truly, the rest of the little nicknacks were found most likely at Rod Works or Tai Pan from years ago.

 A couple of my entertainment center shelves:

 I love all my old black and white photos of my ancestors!

 And randomly, my pantry door:  :)

I have a few projects to accomplish for my sister's V-Day decor, and she talked me into making some for myself; so this won't be the last Valentine's post from me!  Hope to see you back.  :)