Play Room Revised Part 2

Since I was able to finally add some color via the bins I repainted, I knew it was time to get some more art on the wall using the same colors.  I started by building 4 squares from left over pallet wood.  I have some scrap canvas from a project 10 years ago and used a staple gun to create a canvas.  I primed the canvas and mixed up acrylic paint in the shades I desired and coated the homemade canvases two or three times.

 Next, I pulled up Microsoft word and printed the words SING, LOVE, PLAY and READ on a few different patterns of scrapbook paper.  I used mod podge to adhere the letter in a block pattern and cut out four hearts for decoration among the letters.  TA DA!!!  Homemade art that didn't cost me anything new!

But I couldn't stop there.....  I had more bins and some picture frames that needed the yellow, turquoise and pink paint.

After I painted the frames, I bought some teeny tiny miniature clothespins from the Woodsies collection at Joanns and used some 20 gauge jewelry wire to hold the girls' artwork.

The next thing I will be doing is repainting the shelves I re-purposed from an entertainment center and the small bookshelf seen holding the toys in the above photos.  I can't wait for the final reveal after all this work!!!

Play Room Revised Part 1

Labor day weekend was supposed to be dedicated to nothing but painting walls and finishing trim.  However, hurricane Ivan brought nothing but hot, damp, humid weather our way making it impossible to paint.  No big deal because I can always find something to do!  So here's what I started with....

I picked up this crap-tastic dresser and vanity on craigslist for $30.  Do you see a dresser overhaul like I do?

The very first thing I did was smash the hell out of the first two sections of drawers!!!  It felt so good to just break something!

 Next, I cut a custom piece of MDF to fit the dresser for a shelf.  I also purchased bead board to fill in the back and sides of the dresser.

 I have a half dozen gray shades of paint lying around the house so after priming the dresser, I put two coats of Behr Sparrow on the dresser followed by two coats of white.  Once the paint dried, I went back over the edges of the white with sandpaper to distress it some.  

I hated the original dresser pulls, even after painting them, so I attached a single pull I had left over from the kitchen island.  I still have to fill the old holes and paint them but I couldn't wait to show my new playroom storage off!

playroom storage on a budget

I needed a storage unit that was low enough to the ground that the kids would be able to put the storage bins back by themselves.  Too many times, they would pick up their mess and then leave the bins on the ground or they would bug me in the middle of something important to pull certain toys down.  This was my previous solution....

You can also see that it wasn't very safe for my three year old to be hiding up in the shelves!  These bookcase shelves were originally from an entertainment center I had purchased in college that held a TV in the middle.  I don't have any photos of it but it was HUGE!  Years ago, I figured out I could take the thing apart and make nice little storage shelves for bins.  One problem though, my husband HATED it!!!

He coerced me to self them on craigslist so I put out an ad and I got so many offers to fast.  I begged and pleaded with him to keep them.  He let me reluctantly.  Around 2am the other morning, I was staring at the bookcases and started hating them myself.  While everyone was asleep, I began working on my brilliant idea!  With a drill and handsaw, I turned the two shelves into this....

Now I know it's not the greatest picture!  But I'm also not done entirely.  I want to paint the unit white and top it with a mahogany stained top.  I'm in the middle of redoing their play table right now and it would match beautifully!  This is what I've got so far on the play table so you can see what I'm talking about...

 Again, it's not a great picture but I was too excited to wait for good light!  Keep checking back for the finished product on both projects!

More refurbished playroom stuff...

After redoing the flash card holder, I couldn't stop there.  I had to redo the bins I's started as well.
With this....

I made these using the same method of painting and modge podging on bird silhouettes out of craft paper...

Please excuse the mess in these photos too!  The house is really undergoing its largest transformation now!  If you are curious about what shelving unit the bins are in now, continue reading on in the next post!

Already re-doing old projects...

Remember this?

Well, the other day, as I was impatiently waiting on J to finish the foyer, I started to HATE the playroom. I knew that when I put it together that it wasn't perfect and eventually I would get new storage shelving. I'd been begging my husband to do some building since it's been to wet to paint but he always tells me that what I have planned isn't a 24 hour project. I take that as a challenge. So, being who I am, I went with it and this is what I did and have done so far: The problem with the original flashcard design was that a small bump would send the cards falling off their nails. I also started to hate the color I'd chosen for the background. I needed color and I needed it FAST!! Here's how I fixed it. I used teh same hooks I used in my window/jewelry project.

I also took a plain white t-shirt and painted it yellow as the background.  Then, I modge podged some craft paper cut outs of some bird silhouettes I pulled up online.  Wa-LAH!  I totally love the transformation!

And More Play Room

I also wanted to share this really cute idea I decided on for displaying the kids' artwork. In the old house playroom, I took a simple poster frame and framed a giant drawing and it stayed that way for 2 years. The fridge here and there are stainless steel so magnets don't stick to it and, the the old place, we ended up having papers scattered everywhere of random drawings. No more messy stacks of artwork! I figured the main reason the art stared in the frames is because it was annoying to have to take a picture down and replace it after removing the old and so and and blah blah blah. Since I break g;ass all too easily anyhow, why not just use those cute little clips I used for the flash cards?
This is what I came up with: I haven't decided if I'm going to paint them or not. I kind of like the mismatched colors.


Here's a close up of the empty frame and the clips. Now, I can easily change around their art whenever I want, in no time at all!

Play Room (more)

I am STILL trying to get that playroom together and solve storage solutions like this:
Puzzle and game pieces strewn about due to broken boxes!



But, never fear! Remember this: twin sheet I used in the other playroom project?



And I'm sure you now what this is: Modge podge, (ignore the roll of wrapping paper; it was a bad idea), foam brush, and FREE flat rate shipping boxes



I just modge podged the fabric right onto the boxes after I glued them together and sealed them up.



I still need to come up with a pretty label for each box but they look like this when you're done and they match all the other projects so far in the playroom:

Play Room

I worked until the wee hours last night getting the playroom organized. I'm not ready for the final reveal but here is one of my favorite storage solution to date and I made it with things lying around the house! I have a huge problem with messes. I don't like pieces and parts floating about. I do love flash cards but hate the mess that comes along with them. The little cardboard boxes don't hold up and they end of here and there and everywhere. I found a bag of these plastic clips while I was unpacking. I also noticed they were sitting close to and empty picture frame and I picked one up and got to wondering what to do with the flash cards as I whirled the clip around in my hand on a nail. DING!!! Idea!
I took and old set of sheets and used the fabric to create a nice pretty surface over a piece of cardboard the same size as the back of this poster frame. Then I just nailed holes in an orderly way, sorted the pile of cards, clipped them together and here we have my storage solution!





I decided I like the idea of the sheet as fabric so much, I cut more fabric off the sheet and started gluing (with fabric glue) the same material to my existing baskets for a different look.