it "felt" so good!

Remember my teaser from yesterday:

Well, I finally finished the pillow for G's room and I'm so in love!!!

I can't take any creative credit, I only did the cutting and sewing. I was inspired by this pillow from dede etsy shop:

I am super-de-duper proud of myself for finishing this and tried to do my own spin on its lovelyness using coordinating colors for my girl's room. Its been a looooong time coming. Here's the lowdown on how I got my sew on (I don't pull of gangsta very well, do I?).

These are my supplies. I didn't use fancy felt, just the cheap pages from the kids craft section. The lighter colors (green and pink) were a little harder to work with because they're thinner. I got 1/2 yard of a white sale fabric ($1.50...boo ya!) and a pillow insert. I like that better than stuffing the case myself. I'm not patient enough to get the lumpies out.

I attempted to cut the circles using this 2 inch punch but it just didn't work. So instead I used this:

I had it from another project and it really helps for appliques or steadying any fabric. You just iron it on then peel/tear it away after sewing. I used geometry to make PERFECT circles...

Or I traced a Gatorade lid then cut them out with my VERY unsteady hand and a pair of scissors. Same diff. After A LOT of tracing and cutting I ended up with these cuties:

I just played around with spacing and design then pinned two circles together and down to my pillow fabric. I sewed down the middle (approximately) alternating a horizontal and vertical stitch for some interest.

Then, after tearing away the stabilizing paper I creased the felt to help it stand up a little.

I sewed the pillow together (right sides together, stitched 3 1/2 sides on the machine, leaving a little for pillow stuffing, sewed the rest by hand) and VOILA!!!

Ain't she cute?!?

The felt isn't the only "old-school" crafting material I've been using lately. Wait until you see what Miss G and I did with fuzzy pom poms!!!

I'm linking up at:

Home Stories A to Z
Tatertots and Jello
I Heart Naptime
CraftOManiac

You gotta know it! It's electric! Boogie, woogie, woogie!

That's right. It IS electric. What, you ask? The blue paint in my sweet G's room...

Shot from the doorway (excuse the baby bum in the photo. Or enjoy its total stinkin' cuteness. Your choice.).

And a view of the wall with the bed.

Here are the Before shots as a reminder...

I actually really like the color (Valspar Betsy Ross Room/Sea Serenade). I've noticed that G has a headband, some sandals, barrettes, and a couple of shirts this shade. So we've got a trend going I guess. Its strange that even though the color is a bit dark, the room seems so much more light and cheery than it did before. I think you can even see that in the Before and After shots. I know that some artwork, the white shelf/hooks I plan to hang, and some white curtains will really tame it. Plus, the chandelier I have to hang provides a much more pure, white light than this icky stand-in builder fixture. I'm still a little nervous about our bold choice, though. It doesn't help that the hallway outside her door GLOWS blue when her door is open.

But she seems to like it so that's all that matters. I think.

And I'd like to apologize in advance if you are stuck singing this tune all day. I just wanted someone else to be tortured by this horrible (why-is-it-always-played-at-wedding-dances?) song as I have been since Sunday afternoon when we finished the walls.

I've got to mo-oooooove...

I'm going on a party ride!

You may be right! I may be crazy!!!

I often hear Billy Joel playing on repeat in my head. You could say its my theme song. Here are the two new paint samples up on the wall in G's room.

The far left is my first attempt, Behr's Blue Cascade. And, while I decided this was an awesome color, its just too dark for our tiny 10-ish by 10-ish foot space. The middle sample is Valspar Tidal Wave and the one on the right is Valspar Sea Serenade/Betsy Ross House. You can check out the virtual interpretation of them in G's room here. I've decided to go with good ol' Betsy. It is REALLY blue and I think I might be losing my mind but hey, its just paint, right? Right??? (chirp, chirp, cricket, cricket)

Sorry for the 800 posts on this one tiny aspect of her room but I'm really struggling with this. I was thinking about abandoning the Kilim Beige that runs throughout our house in the toy room and going with an light olive-y green but now, not so sure. I don't think picking paint color is a talent that I possess.

On a more exciting note, I've been working on an Ikea shopping list for this weekend. That's right, I'm heading Cali to visit the in-laws (oh, and squeeze in a little NASCAR...what? yeah. I heart NASCAR. Don't hold it against me, ok? I just can't resist. Some of you dvr Real Housewives, others find it therapeutic to scrapbook, me, I just wanna watch cars go in a circle...really fast.). Top priorities for the trip to mini-Scandanavia: curtains for living room, bedding for The G. And, who knows how much other crap-ola many other goodies I'll bring home.

New paint samples for G's room

I showed you the painted sample of Behr's Blue Cascade on G's wall last week. The sample that I thought was much too dark and moody for a sweet, vibrant 3 year-old (although I love the color and highly recommend it if you're going for that sort of thing). And, to do my due diligence I decided a little more ground work was in order before buying another sample. Enter: Lowe's virtual room painter...

Valspar Tropical Mist

Valspar Sea Serenade/Betsy Ross House

You can see the old color samples on the wall which annoyed me at first and I thought about editing them out but then realized that because I felt the color was too dark, this was a good way to ensure that I didn't make that same mistake.

I also put the new Garden Party pillow cases on and removed the dark blue bedspread that had previously been on the bed. This gave me a little more true idea of how the room will look once I find my white matelasse cover. I ended up getting samples of the 2 colors above. What do you think? I'm excited to try them. They're more teal-ish than I had originally planned but I felt that all the more gray-blue colors looked murky which didn't scream 3 year-old either. And, for some reason, the Betsy Ross/Sea Serenade color has 2 names. One online and on the label of the paint can, the other on the store paint chip. Weird. The Lowe's guy didn't understand either. He also thought my almost 7 month-old was GIANORMOUS (he actually used that word). Its all good though because we delight in her pleasant plumpness. He also noted that his (much smaller) 6 month old wasn't nearly as chatty or responsive and active so I took that to mean "Ma'am (yes, I'm embracing it now that I'm well into my 30th year), your supa' fat baby is a genius."

Want a moody, lounge-y blue? I've got one for you!

Taken at night with overhead light fixture

Daytime shot

Well. I'm not sure what I think of the paint. I'm thinking that its too dark. I really like the way in looks in the daylight BUT the shot was taken during the only hour or two that this room gets a lot of sunlight. Mostly, its pretty dreary in here. I don't want sweet girl's room to look moody. She's only 3. I'm sure I'll get plenty of moody when she's 13. Honestly, I love the color, but don't think its right for this space. Bah. Back to the drawing board. Oh, and can you tell that a certain little one helped out with the painting?

Oh, the shame!

Well. Here it is. Horrible, I know. My poor little girl has been living in this room for almost 5 months now. It even bums me out to go in there. But, that is all going to change soon. Yesterday I showed you the sheeting for her bed and a while back the inspiration photos for the color scheme. Now there is nothing for me to do but git 'er done. Hopefully tomorrow I will pick up some sample paints, then Thursday let her take her nap in my bed while I tape and edge. Then Friday I can roll the rest of the paint on. Just saying it to you all makes me more accountable and I'm all about that!

Here's my plan for her big girl room.

• Wall Paint: Skysail Blue (Behr) Similar to the band of color running horizontal
• Headboard: Tutti Fruiti (Behr) Similar to the vertical strip (although Tutti Fruiti isn't quite radish-y enough for me, I might also leave the headboard white if I go with more colorful curtains. Or drape some fun fabric over it. Haven't quite nailed this down yet.
• Sheets: Garden Party (PBKids)
• Bedspread: White Matelasse (exact one unknown) I need to get a BB&B 20% coupon because they have a pretty cute one that will do the trick
• Drawer Pulls: Caria Knob (Anthropologie) & Faceted Acrylic (Target)
• Curtains: Jordon Blackout Kids Twill Panel (JCPenney) I like the pink and the multi but I'm afraid the multi is a bit too geometric for the sheets. Who knows? Maybe the contrast with the floral print will be kinda fun and funky. Thank goodness for in-store returns! We definitely have to get blackouts because this child is up with the sun!
• or Solid White, which I know will look breezy with the blue paint. Its such a small room I don't want to overwhelm it so much that I can't add some artwork
• Pillow: Etsy (will make my own using coordinating colors). I feel so bad that I can't credit the creator of this pillow. I bookmarked the pic, not the site on my phone. If I figure it out I'll update.
• Chandelier: Portfolio (Lowe’s), We already have one that is similar. My parents got it for G as a 1st birthday gift and its super cute and just the touch of sweet that the room needs.
• I also plan on making a banner similar to the one in the pic of the white drapes with coordinating colors. She's all about knights and castles right now (not the princesses that need rescuing...oh no! She wants to be the hero!!! That's my girl!) so I want to work that in somehow in a way that can be easily changed.

So there it is! The big plan. Let me know what you think and if you have any great resources that you think would work for my sweet 3 year-olds big girl room.

Having a Garden Party

Sorry for the hiatus folks. I went to visit my parents in Missouri and honestly, just didn't feel like blogging. I was going to make a visit to the cutest little sewing shop EVER and post about it (go ahead and check out the Sew Sweet Quilt Shop for yourself since I flaked) but G got sick, then I got sick (I had to go to the doctor TWICE! Serious bummer). The visit to the shop was going to lead to a fabric purchase and said purchase was going to lead to a post about the ruffle pillow I was SUPPOSED to make for my sister as a birthday gift. Major fail on my part. But, I blame strep throat. And an ear infection. And pink eye.

So we'll just start fresh this week with a nice Garden Party! That's right. Spring is starting to rear her beautiful head here at my house. Not only outside but also in my daughters oh-so-boring bedroom. I FINALLY took the plunge and bought some sheets for her bed! They're Garden Party from PB Kids and I love them.

Next up, a paint color. She requested blue and blue she will get. Tomorrow I'm going to post the dreaded before pic of her room. I'm so ashamed of how blah it is that I'm nervous to show you. Hopefully it will be so cute when its finished that you'll forgive how awful it is now!

Inspiration!

Yesterday I saw some great inspiration for my house and I think its just what I need to get the ball rolling on a couple of rooms.

The first is from Hi Sugarplum! and is perfect for G's room. Her room is soooooo depressing right now and I can't wait to get started. She requested "bwue" walls so this is perfect!!!

lotusbleu2

pottery barn teen

The color scheme in the second will be reversed but I'm so excited to have some direction! I think I'll go a little more blue-grey than aqua but will achieve the same bold and wonderful effect. Her room serves as a guest room so I don't want it to look too baby-ish and because we live like renters, knowing we'll be moving on in about 3 years I like to keep colors pretty neutral. I REALLY want to get some sheets from PB Kids but they're so darn expensive. I've been scouring stores to find something that I like even half as much but to no avail. I do have a 10% off coupon so maybe I'll make it happen anyway.

Pics will be coming soon so pop back over and check out our progress!!! And I'll be posting about solving my curtain/drapery rod dilemma with a little help from Courtney at A Thoughtful Place.