Princess Bedroom Ideas (+ DIY Canopy Tutorial)

Who doesn't want a princess room? 

My cousin recently bought a home so I eagerly volunteered to help with paint colors and room decor for the kids' spaces. My 4-yr old niece is all about the Disney princesses and more importantly the BRIGHT and not always coordinating colors that come with them. I started by creating an inspiration board on Pinterest. It proved very helpful as we went back and forth about colors, fabrics, decor, etc. The previous homeowners are downsizing, so my cousin scored an amazing bedroom set with the house. It is off white with a blue/green wash.

Around the Room:

I stumbled up on this adorable bedding by Snurk, a Dutch company, that makes beautiful stuff. I needed the princess graphic to center on full size duvet, so I contacted the company and request a special one be printed. Great service and the duvet is beautiful! 

Snurk Princess Duvet

The colors we chose are a much more muted palate that Disney Princesses general dictate. I'm not saying that there won't be a princess presence, they just won't be taking up an entire wall or four. :)  To highlight the furniture, I recommended Love and Wickham Gray both by Benjamin Moore. Wickham Gray might be a tad too light on the walls, but I think it will suit the final project beautifully.

Canopy Tutorial:

A princess room is not complete without a canopy! Other projects posted as we get to them...but for now, here's the how to.

Materials:

Embroidery Hoop - I used a 10" one
Ribbon, fishing line, or strips of Tulle - about 8-12" depending on ceiling height
Tulle (or light weight curtains) - I used 6 yards, but probably could have done it with 5

Directions:
1. Cut Tulle into 2 equal pieces
2. Sew 1" casing on one edge of tulle (skip this if you have a pre made curtain)
3. Slide outer hoop through casing
4. Tie ribbon, fishing line, or tulle onto inner hoop in 3 or 4 equally spaced spots around the hoop.
5. Place inner hoop in outer hoop and tighten  (make sure fabric is equally distributed around hoop with opening on the side opposite of the outer hoop's screw.
6. Embellish outer hoop with trim if you wish. I fabric glued some sequins to it. You could cut out a piece to look like a felt crown or use nothing at all.
7. Suspend from ceiling using ceiling hook.

Halloween with a Toddler

So I started this entry almost ONE YEAR AGO! That tells you what my life with a toddler has been like.
Now, as I was saying:

***
I had visions of grandeur when it came to Halloween with my newly-turned-1-year-old. I pictured a caravan of her neighborhood buddies (also recently-turned-1-year-old's) going from house to house saying 'wick or tweet' or whatever other sounds they could come up with to get their point across. We agreed to meet at our house for pictures and decided that we'd go up the main road towards my mother-in-law's - about four blocks.

Here's what really happened.

It was chillier than we'd expected, so quick costume modifications were needed. My little giraffe donned a cape. So she ended up looking like either a race-giraffe (do they do anything competitively?) or The Giraffe who ate Little Miss Riding Hood. Either way, it was cute, and nobody cared. 

There are no perfectly posed pictures because it was much like herding cats getting them to look at any camera all at once. Baby B didn't really understand what Trick-or-Treating meant and was pretty gun shy about walking up to a stranger's door with her little hand stitched sack. So we tried over and over and over and OVER again until finally we reached Grammie's house. Instead of taking candy from people, my Giraffe tried to share or trade her candy away.  

I'd say that for a first (well technically 2nd Halloween) she did pretty well. There was no crying or melt downs and she started to understand what was happening as we walked back to our house. 

Lessons Learned

1. Go out early. Big kids are ruthless, mean even. Toddlers aren't candy-hoarding monsters yet. 
2. Take lots of pictures. You can use them as blackmail later or in a wedding montage - is there really a difference?
3. Choose a costume appropriate for the weather, your child's temperament and ease of movement. Baby B's costume was a full jumper with long sleeves and full pants which made it perfect for a Fall day in Chicago. 

So what am I going to do with her this year? I've sewn her a Princess Jasmine inspired romper to wear as her costume. I started with instructions from Make It Love It and made some modifications such as using ribbon instead of casing elastic for the sleeves and wider elastic at the cuffs along with a wider flare to make the bottoms look more like harem pants. I have some finishing to do and modifications to make since I made my own pattern and didn't really measure her waist. It's my first attempt, so we'll see how it goes. The romper was easy enough...the bias tape out of satiny costume fabric....not so much. Next up is attaching a tulle 1/2 skirt and some bedazzling to finish. Ideas welcome.

Turkey Cookies!

Blind turkeys make for better confectionery treats...
that way they don't have to witness their impending fate.

Recent traditions dictate that my Thanksgiving responsibilities consist of the following:

Purchasing bread rolls and warming them up.

This year, I decided to go all Martha-Stewart-meets-Modern-Girl and add to my list by volunteering to make sweet potatoes, veggie dip and Turkey Cookies (really it's about assembling them). I will say it took the better part of two hours to crank out 13 of these bad boys and I didn't even give them eyes!

I was inspired by this post on Tammy Mitchell Photography via CraftGawker (my latest addiction).

I followed her directions. Mostly.

1 bag of candy corn (after I picked up 3 bags of on super sale after Halloween!)
1 package double stuff Oreos
1 box of Whoppers malted chocolate balls
1 bag of Reese's PB cups
1 package (although you only *need* 6-7 discs) of Wilton's Orange Candy Melts

I melted the discs per package instructions and proceeded to use it like glue...on the back of the PB cup, the bottom and front of Whopper and under the whole contraption to help it stick to the Oreo base. I used my little brush to 'paint' on the feet...most of them were lucky to have two pronged feet.

Since they're for the kids' table, I'm hoping their imperfections will go unnoticed. Although I suppose children are often the harshest critics. Good thing this was just for fun!

***
UPDATE - They were a hit! Not a single turkey was left on the plate and the sea of peanut butter w/ caramel kiss cookies were all gone, too! I can't say the same about the potatoes.  While they turned out well. I think I'll stick to desserts for next year.

Why Does Fall Have to be so Blah?

I get that leaves are falling, my plants are shriveling up, and the sun even sets earlier making way for winter. Fall in Illinois, like Spring, seems to last a even shorter than Kim Kardashian's marriage. A few good weekends to visit a pumpkin farm, tailgate or squeeze in a family photo shoot.

Inevitably it is a time to change up fabrics in my house- throws, blankets, drapes, etc. Then onto the little stuff- candles, scented stuff, flowers and wreaths. I am slowly building a collection of my style on our front door. At Easter I put out a store bought wreath of speckled eggs on some kind of woody twine. I sport an Americana countryish tin star on a tightly woven base for most of the summer. Halloween is time to put out a witches broom hanging from a sign. Now it is November and I had an empty door. It is too soon for winter pomegranate and magnolia leaves, so what's a girl to do?

Make something, of course! I scoured the web for inspiration and came across yarn and felt wreaths. Since I wasn't about to go out in the cold, I worked with what I had left over from baby projects that never came to fruition...the fabric bday banner or mini plush favors, and the Halloween wreath I was going to make until I found the broomstick on on super sale!

I digress. I used one ball of yarn and maybe a foot if felt. I plan to add more flowers, but who knows when that will be. In the meantime, enjoy!

I'm still getting used to the new camera.

Close up of the flower detail.

Easy Peasey DIY Guest Book

This year Husband and I have been invited to a ton of weddings. Three on the same day, in fact.  It was a little crazy and we have one more to go. The wedding we most recently attended was of Baby B's Godmother and my dear friend, Cadiz.

I had the honor of NOT being a bridesmaid. Yes, you read that correctly. I was honored to not have to be part of the formal hoopla leaving me free to do the things I find fun. Namely organizing, crafting, consulting, Bollywood-dancing (I'm talking a full out routine!) cheer leading, streamlining, guest-book-making, etc.

Kolo Albums make great guest and parent brag books.

She had a number of DIY wedding projects since she's among the craftiest people I know. She and H (and a cast of dozens) handmade all the center piece flowers out of coffee filters a la Martha Stewart in a beautiful shade of blue.

We celebrated her birthday with a few hours of handmade tissue paper flowers and turned it into a chandelier kind of like the one featured here. Only better (in my opinion).

The week before the wedding, I got a call from the bride-to-be asking about what to do about a guest book. She said I generally had practical advice to balance out her visions of grandeur. I like to think that I'm a lazy crafter. I figure there has to be an easier way to do most things. If you're doing something that takes up more time that you'd like, then it's either not worth it or you're doing something wrong.  Anyways, I digress. I offered her the idea that I've used for other friends' weddings and said I'd make her a guest book using a photo album. You could knock this out in an afternoon if you plan ahead, at the same time it is easy enough to spread out over 3-4 30-minute windows of time.

Here's what I used:

• 1 Newbury Kolo Album in Lake 
• 2 Noci Kolo Albums in Lake
• 1 package of photo corners in black
• 1 sheet of Peacock Silver on Turquoise Fine Paper
• 1 sheet of Lakota Indian Paisley on Orange Fine Paper
• 1 sheet of cover weight paper
• Wedding Invitation
• A variety of 4x6 engagement photos supplied by the bride and groom.
• Glue stick
• Rotary Tool
• Cutting Mat
• Scissors
• Printer / MS Word  

Their photos were taken by Albert Yau, Second Print Productions. He is magical. It's like he watches Bollywood movies in his spare time or something.

I waited until Baby B was soundly asleep before I began this project. Otherwise, we'd have fingerprints everywhere. I laid out all the photos and arranged, rearranged and rearranged again until I was happy with the order. Next I used the photo corners and put individual pictures on the pages. I tried to spread them out so that the first few pages had one picture and one blank page and then doubled up with facing pictures.  That way there's plenty of room for the guests to sign around them.

Then I went through and cut 1" wide strips of the patterned paper. Each set of facing pages had matching boarders. A little bit of glue held them in place nicely. I let the book dry over night.

Finally, I worked on the insert for the front covers. The couple used Arial Narrow for their invites so I matched that general style in the 2.5" insert.

The parent album cover inserts were super easy since all I had to do was reduce the size of the guest book cover insert to just over 2" squares.  I left the first slot empty so they could insert their invitations, the rest was filled with pictures and a few slots in the back empty for wedding pictures!  When they have kids, they can give them another mini brag book to match.

Making Room for Baby in the Kitchen!?!??!

Over the door canvas organizer available at Target

Husband and I have a lot of stuff. Then along came Baby so our stuff exponentially multiplied. I keep trying to go through and recycle, donate, and toss (as much as I don't like to throw things away) in spurts. Now that Baby's eating solid foods, we added utensils, food storage and baby food to her bottles, milk storage and more milk storage supplies. This meant the dog and cat treats and meds had to move..along with plastic bags and wipes and sun screens and you get the point.

Anyways, in my quest to make room for Baby in our kitchen, I decided to contain it in a 'pretty' way or at the very least fun and functional way.  The door into our kitchen lines up with our basement door so I thought this would be a good out of the way place to start to stow all those things that we need, but don't need in the kitchen and don't have space for anywhere else.

This was probably the easiest project I've tackled in a while. I printed out a bunch of categories on 4" circle labels from Paper Source and then cut out rectangles from my favorite colorful Harney and Sons and Paper Source catalogs.  I used bulldog clips that I had a stockpile of because of my obsession with office supplies. Here's a partial list of categories I used:

I used circle labels and cut up catalog pages as backgrounds

Dog Meds
Cat Meds
Dog Treats
Cat Treats
Grooming
Diapers/Wipes
Husband Sunglasses
EB Sunglasses
Husband Hat/Gloves
EB Hat/Gloves
Freezer Bags
Storage Bags
Plastic Bags
Flashlight
Sunscreen
Hand Sanitizer
Snacks (on the go!)
Citronella Candles

For those of you who require more flexibility and like uniformity, you could cut up decorative paper to use as backgrounds for labels made out of index cards. Then you could switch them up whenever you wanted.  For the Green Mom, take scraps of wrapping paper and attach to cardboard/carton/milk jug pieces. Large paper clips and clothes pins might work too, but I like the clips. We'll see if I feel the same way once Baby starts walking.

As always, thoughts welcome!

Fabric Key Chains

One of the girls at work was using stretchy thin elastic around her wrist as a key chain strap. It was really sad.  I offered to make her something sturdier and after doing some research ( I really love Google). I came across Hip Girl Boutique's tutorial on Fabric Key Chains that are really easy to make.

I used cotton webbing and grosgrain ribbon but fabric scraps would work just as easily.  I ordered the webbing and hardware supplies from Crafter's Vision because they were super inexpensive as well as very quick to deliver.

Materials I used:

1.25" Cotton Webbing
1" Grosgrain Ribbon
Double sided fusible interfacing
Key Fob hardware
Coordinating thread
Sewing machine
Pliers
scrap fabric (to wrap around hardware when clamping)


It took less than an hour from start to finish. I had trouble with clamping the key fob hardware, but that's mostly because I was afraid that I'd break the hardware if I clamped down to hard. I made mine to be 8 inches and it's definitely not going to make it over my knuckles to get to my wrist. I just needed the loop to hang off of my fingers as I'm walking from the car to the house. The ones I make for the girls at work will be 10 inches around since they wear them around quite frequently. Hopefully will get those done in the next day or so. Wish me luck! 

Baby on the Brain

Since I have Baby on the brain, I've been focusing my craftasticness on onesies, decorating the nursery, machine washable diaper changing pads and even "I Love Grandma Blankets" (one for each, of course). Here's a shot of the onesies. They are all store bought iron-ons since they are fairly easy to work with. I bought solid colored onesies from Target on clearance and found the newborn hats at JoAnn Fabrics where I also purchased the transfers. Most of them will fit Baby next Summer, but thought they'd last a bit longer than decorating newborn ones that she'll grow out of in two weeks! My next step is to design iron-ons using my computer for a more personalized wardrobe.

Invitations Sent!

I designed and made my own invitations with the help of Groom, family and friends.  I am happy to say that they're being distributed or are already in the mail. It's custom for Indian families to hand deliver invitations as a sign of respect, I think.  Plus it is a good chance to sit and visit and drink tea.  At any rate, the invitations included five pieces:

Flat Invitation Card on Luxe Cream

Flat Directions Card on Superfine White

Flat RSVP Post Card on Luxe Cream 

Flat Mendhi Card on Luxe Cream

Envelope in Luxe Cream

I used Color Block chalk stamp pads in Tangerine and Lipstick Red for the Colonial Stamp and the Henna Flower.

I didn't want an outer envelope or an RSVP envelope because it gets heavy and is quite a waste of paper.  I used Paper Source for just about everything except the henna stamp which I bought at Archiver's.  

The total cost of this project was about $250 for 150 complete sets.   Pretty sweet. 

I had my good friend Cadiz gave us the gift of calligraphy and addressed all the envelopes by hand. Alas, I got so excited to send them out, that I only have blank ones left. I will link to her post when she puts them up.  She rocks. 

Off to do more wedding stuff: I'll post soon about tuxes, pre-wedding parties and all that other good stuff as we get into the final stretch!

DIY Salt & Sugar Scrubs

DSC04653
Originally uploaded by Helene Orange

For the holidays, I made sugar and salt scrubs for my family and friends. For the ladies, I made a Maharani Sugar Scrub using the following:

Coconut Oil- 4 ounces at room temperature
Ground Almonds- 2 tablespoons
Dark Brown Sugar- 2 ounces
Light Brown Sugar- 2 ounces
Honey- 1 tablepoon
Rose Water- 1 splash
Vanilla Extract- 1-2 teaspoons

For the guys, I made "Maharaja Salt Scrub" using:
Sea Salt- 1 ounce
Table Salt- 2 ounces
Extra Virgin Olive Oil- 2 ounces
Orange Extract- 1 splash
Clove Oil- 1 -2 drops
Glycerin (a carrier oil to extend the shelf life of the scrub)- 1 once

I then created labels borrowing from Martha Stewart's idea to use bumper sticker paper. It's water proof and re positionable. I ordered jars in bulk from Specialty Bottles.com and then found some canning jars on clearance (12 for $4) so I picked those up as well. I ended up making 12 salt scrubs and 20 sugar scrubs total.

Collecting Wedding (or any event) Photos with Flikr!

I have been trying to figure out a good way to collect guest shots....thought about leaving a box of blank disks with pre-addressed envelopes, then realized people are slackers about getting photos off their cameras onto disks.  This might solve my problem as long as I include clear directions and maybe even my e-mail address in case guests have questions.  Flickr has a fantastic set of tools available for the DIY wedding album builder.  You can create a group and then invite your guests to join the group and post pictures from your event.  You then have access to all their pictures to enhance the collection you're slowing starting to amass.  

DIY Wedding Albums

Picaboo has come out with a flush mount leather bound wedding album. Starting at $349.99 for 20 pages; this is a pretty sweet deal. The pages are flush mount board and it lays completely flat when opened. It comes in 9 colors with 2 lines of foil stamping on the cover. There are two sizes to choose from (11 x 8.5 inches and 14 x 11 inches).  I was hoping they'd come out with something like this before next Spring as I'm making our album myself.   I can only imagine choosing my own lay out for each page and having complete creative control over one of the only tangible memories of our day.  Picaboo also has smaller albums I can order for our parents....the possibilities are endless!!! Can't wait!

Oh Adobe, How do I love thee?

Thanks to my buddy, RJ, I have a link to all kinds of fun brush strokes for Adobe. You can download a variety of swirls, floral and block prints to embellish your stationary. I am going to play around with a few things and post the results.

In other news, I recently visited I Do I Do bridal shop on North Damen in Chicago. It's a trip. The store smells a little funky. I can't quite place the scent...it's kind of like a lot of body odor and mustiness from an attic. The couple who owns the place is hilarious but not funny ha-ha, more like funny are-you-for-real-around-brides-to-be? The lady runs the show and her husband kind of does what she says. They're not the traditional sales personalities, they follow you around and insist that they handle the merchandise. There are signs every few feet to indicate that they want to preserve the quality of the merchandise to perfection for the 'right bride' to enjoy. It's weird. Almost like it should have been a part of Seinfeld. If you know what you want, you can find it, but browsing isn't recommended. They have beautiful tiaras, headpieces, and jewelry. They also have favor tags, place card holders, favor boxes. It is a great place to find little gifts for your bridesmaids and she has a TON of ideas for you. There's a whole corner of ring bearer pillows, unity candles and stationary like you wouldn't believe. I am just probably too OCD to enjoy the store the way one should. I might take my dress with me next time to pick out jewelry. One fun tip of the day, she's got a bunch of stuff on sale (potentially discontinued) on line at www.ido-ido.cathysexpress.com through the end of the year.

Menu Card

I have a while before I have to think about menu cards, BUT, I randomly saw an add for paperandmore.com so I clicked and found this Morrocon inspired "Eccentric Menu" They are about $1.50 a piece but I'm thinking I can make something like this for much less. Maybe using the same stamps from paper-source.com as I'm using for the invitations to tie it all together. Ideas welcome.

Favor Bags

I went to my first "Baby Sprinkle" (baby shower for baby number 2, for those of you wondering). The baby's name is going to be Sophia so I made "Sophia's Snacks--Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice". My sister and I made favor bags for the guests with Strawberry Shortcake stickers and two inch favor tags with curling ribbon tied to a bag trimmed to be 8 inches tall. We put spice drops, strawberry rice krispie treats, pink iced sugar cookies, Dove Chocolate (Carmel and dark)I was pretty happy with the results. It was a good chance to test the template I plan to use for the tin tags I'll be making for the reception. The favor bags would be a good application for a bridal shower or even a Mendhi party. Instead of sugar and spice (although Brides are made of the same stuff!!!) It would be nice to put some indulgences like chocolate turtles, truffles, iced wedding cookies or even iced sugar cookies or any Martha recipe cookies.

Freezer Paper Stencils Part II

Here are a few pictures from my afternoon of craftiness. I am still a beginner, so thinking in negative space is new for me. I started with something simple: a flower. Then I turned it into a "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" design to put on a tote bag that I will use on my wedding day. Groom approves (he came home from work while I was finishing up). The canvas fabric of the tote was a little tricky with the fabric paint in that it bled a bit, but I'll either freeze or but something in the paint to make it thicker to use next time.

Here's how you can have an afternoon of craftiness yourself!

1. Draw a design (or trace something you like)

2. Cut out the parts you want to be painted using an exacto knife

3. With your iron on to the highest setting, iron the stencil to your fabric of choice

4. Paint

5. Wait for it to dry, then peel off the stencil

6. Iron to set the paint

Guest Seating Display

I plan on using foam board from Office Depot and a single mast easel to display the table arrangements for guests to view. I will also need ribbon and card stock to back the lists. The lists will be in alphabetical order with table number listed across from each guest's name...much like the table of contents of a book. We have 300+ names to post so I may make two boards (in addition to a mini binder organized both by guest and by table for the venue manager). We'll also have table numbers at each table to connect the chart to the table and possibly individual place cards at each seat to indicate meal preference. I really want to put little wooden chicken or cows on a stick at each setting, but I think Groom would frown upon this. :)

I'm still working on the fabric painting. I will get that up next week.

Craftiness Freezer Paper Stencils Part 1

I spent a week in the woods with very limited access to technology...I had a cell phone only to talk to Groom and to check messages for interviews...speaking of which I have one!!!!


My favorite craft project of the week involved a surprisingly easy method and result in totally adorable t-shirts. Before you begin you need:


1. Freezer Paper (important to be waxy on ONE side only)

2. Exacto blades

3. Pencil to free hand or trace design

4. Cutting Mat

5. Clean paint brushes

6. Fabric paint Dharma Trading Co has starter kits to get you going

7. A T shirt, onsie, or any other fabric to paint

8. An iron

9. Piece of paper-newsprint, construction, whatever you have handy

I'll give you some time to gather the supplies...in the meantime I'll work up a sample with some pictures and show you what I'm working on. Check back in a few days.

Guest Book Alternatives

Have each guest sign a cork or write a wish in one word for your marriage. Make Cork Trivets out of a wooden picture frame (round or square), Cardboard and corks. If you must include power tools to entice your groom to get crafty, try MarJenning's method.

Either way, you'll have a functional, eco-friendly keepsake from your wedding.

If you and your beau are budding gardeners, have everyone do the same on a rock and include along a path in your garden.

Maps!

New favorite for wedding mapping is Wedding Mapper!!! You can set your ceremony & reception venues as well as points of interest for your guests to explore. There's also a DIY feature for printing to include them in your invitations. This is just what I was looking for to create a map for the day. YAY!