My DIY Stuffed Elephant Project

Zoey's room is absolutely adorable & I can't wait to show you pictures!! BUT, not yet. Womp, womp..sorry, I just want everything to be perfect and her bedding is on back order until May or June! (laaaame...) I might show you pictures before then because that's kind of far off, but in the mean time I will continue to show you bits and pieces of what is going in her room. 
Earlier this week I decided to make a cute stuffed elephant for her room..as decor for now and a toy later on. It is so stinking cute and I can't even take credit for it! I originally found the tutorial here. I don't want Zoey's room to become an overwhelming theme of elephants but I definitely wanted one or two in her room. Her walls are a light gray and her bedding is baby pink and turquoise, so the colors in her room play off of that. Here is her little elephant friend.

 This is another one I made for a friend who is also having a girl and her nursery theme involves elephants (it just so happens that turquoise is one of her nursery colors)

Aren't they so freakin cute?!! If you're not the crafty type and would like one, I am now selling them on my Etsy page and I can make them to match any nursery/kids room. Just go here and see for yourself! 

DIY Hair Bow Holder

I am finally getting things done around here! With less than two weeks until our second little one makes her appearance, I have been DIY-ing like crazy! First with the initial for her room, then the lamp makeovers, and now this hair bow holder. I still have some more things to make, but I'll post about those when they are finished :) I wanted a hair bow holder that I could hang headbands on too. Our daughter Addison has a super cute bow holder but all of her headbands were put into a basket and some of them have gotten a little smushed. I saw an idea on Pinterest (I wish I could take credit just ONCE for these crafts) and I knew I wanted one for Zoey's room. I didn't take pictures of any of the steps I did until after the hooks were drilled into the frame and everything was spray painted. But here is the frame after the painting and then a close-up picture of the hooks (I think we my husband drilled in 22 of them)

And here is a shot of the frame after I added some pretty ribbon with my handy staple gun

And after I added some of her clips and headbands..

I love how it turned out so much! All of those gorgeous little headbands are from this Etsy shop. I love everything she makes and now I get to display them instead of shoving them into a little basket!

Cleaning Product Deals

I haven't shared any of my couponing deals lately, mostly because there haven't been any I was interested in, but in the last two weeks, I've found some great deals here and there. Here is everything I've accumulated lately:

Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner-on sale 2 for $5 (I got 4 total)
-Used (2) $3/2 Scrubbing Bubbles Coupons
Total: $4 for 4!! 


Green Works Bleach-$2.99 (Got 2)
-Used (2) $2 off Target and (2) $1 off manufacturer
Total: $0.99 each/$1.98


Glade Air Freshener-$0.99
-Used $1 off Glade Air Freshener
Total: FREE!


Clorox 2 Stain-fighter Spray-on sale for $1.75 (I got 4)
-Used (4) $1.00 off Clorox 2 product
Total: $0.75 each/$3.00 


GE 4-pack light bulbs-$2.39
Used $2 off GE lightbulbs
Total: $0.39


Retail Price: $26.36
What I Paid: $9.37


AND I've gotten some pretty awesome samples in the mail lately

Lamp Makeover

I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and spotted this gorgeous lamp I wanted for Addison and Zoey's rooms.

 Problem? It was $60 and I wanted two. I'm sorry, but I was not about to spend $120 on two lamps. So I decided I'd make them. I searched on Craigslist and within 5 minutes I found these hideous lamps for $15 total!

We picked them up and I got to work! I cleaned them up a bit and removed the trim around the lampshade.

I don't have pictures of all of the steps, but first I took the base of the lamp outside and spray painted it white. I did two coats and then used Rustoleum clear finish spray to prevent the paint from chipping. Then I went to the store and bought a yard of basic white fabric and cut it to the size I needed to wrap it around the lampshade. I hot glued it closed and wrapped the extra fabric around the shade where the trim had been to leave a clean finished look. I bought 5 yards of this pretty flower lace trim and cut out 6 strips. I pinned them to the shade to see where I wanted to place them and then hot glued one strip at a time. This is the lamp base before and after the spray paint.

Major difference already! Okay, one more shot of the whole lamp before:

And the after:

Isn't that crazy?! I can't believe I got this pretty lamp from what it was. I love being thrifty & crafty. I am going to make the other one for Addison's room, but hers will have a light pink lampshade. To makeover both lamps, the total cost comes to $45. It's not as cheap as I would have liked, BUT compared to the $120 I could have spent, I think it's a pretty good savings!

**UPDATE**

Here is the pink one I finished a couple days later for our first daughter's room. I love the pink, it is so girly!!

Z is for Zoey

This project took me just a few minutes and it's super easy, but for those of you who wouldn't know how to do this or you would prefer a tutorial, I'll give step by step instructions. 

Supplies you'll need:

Letter(s)

pen

scrapbook paper

mod podge

scissors

embellishments (optional)

 Step 1: Lay your paper down with the wrong side up and lay your letter down wrong side up and backwards. Trace along the letter. 

Step 2: When you finish tracing, carefully cut out your letter. 

Step 3: Apply Mod Podge to your letter and carefully lay your paper over the letter, making sure it aligns just right. Press all over to remove any air bubbles from under your paper. Let it dry for a minute or two and then apply a layer of Mod Podge over the paper. It goes on white, but I promise when it dries, you won't see it! 

And you're done!! I went a step further and lightly sanded the edges of my letter to make the edges have a cleaner finish and it even made it look a little vintage-y. 

Easy, right?! You can do anything with letters: decorate them with buttons instead of paper or add bows or flowers. So many possibilities!

And the Progress Continues...

Zoey's room is still a work in progress and with 3 (!!!) weeks left until her due date, we are working as fast as possible on getting her room finished. All of the painting on the walls is complete, but with us being out of town on vacation, I am just now posting the pictures. I really need to get better at keeping up with this blog. This is a glimpse of the room after the first coat of primer:

And this is the room after two coats of Benjamin Moore's "Stonington Gray" (which I only previewed online and I love!)

New door needing some paint

Our To-Do List:


Put bead-board up on ceiling
Prime & paint the new door
Add trim around the top and bottom of the walls
Put windowsill back up
Install new closet shelving
Add outlet covers


THEN we have to prime and paint the dresser/changing table and then we can set the room up! 
In the meantime, I've been working on some projects to put in Zoey's room. Can't wait to share them all with you!