Bedroom Stage 4: everything else

About a week before I showed the whole room, I actually thought I was done. And then I turned around and realized I'd never planned a thing for one whole wall!  After some thinking, and re-discovering THIS tutorial, I knew what I wanted!

At first I was wanted to use this picture:

Can you believe she painted that whole thing with wall paint and kids brushes? Beautiful!

But when it was done, the colors did NOT match the room. However, after putting it on my bed . . .

I think it will be perfect for my room!

Instead, I swiped a picture off my sister's Facebook page (I still wish she would have put me in her suitcase for that cruise!), photoshopped in the tiny sailboat and the lighthouse (in real life it was right next to this ocean scene), and filtered it so it looked more paintingish.

One note for this method: plan on it taking forever. Seriously. Actual time spent isn't that much, put I had to print everything 4 times (all because I was stupid and bought the clearance square frames instead of splurging for the perfect rectangles. This led to some frustration, but eventually it worked out!)

I made my own monkey fists. I first tried to use this tutorial (and got the idea from her), but eventually found this one to be easier.

I used small rubber balls from the dollar store for the centers. I tried using jute for the actual rope, but after 30 frusterating minutes, I gave up and spent $6 on rope.

The quote under is just vinyl I cut with my Silhouette.

Lets see . . . what else.

The dresser we had before, and the shells were a gift from a neighbor.

The curtians came with the house.

Oh, paint color! It's called Lemon Suffle by Behr.

Cost:
Paint: $30
Monkey Fists: $7
Mural: $3 (canvas) + $4 (fixative w/40% coupon) =$7
raingutter supplies $10

Total this stage: $55

Grand total for the whole room: $85

Now that's a room on a budget!

If you want, you can check out the other stages.

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Whole thing

Bedroom Stage 3: the closet wall

The biggest part of this wall was just dejunking the closet.  The magnet board you can see HERE, and the bookshelf is a rain gutter just like I used in THE GIRL'S ROOM.

I did the mural myself.

It was based on a project I did several years ago in my apartment. It was the first time I used fabric starch to attach fabric to the wall.

 

(look how little my kids are!)

I found a picture online that I liked and copied. To make the mural, I drew a big circle on the wall, and traced the different parts, and just painted in the lines. Everyone talks about needed really good brushes to do something like this. But I pulled it off with a 10 cent sponge brush and one of my kid's watercolor brushes for the little stuff. You just have to be really patient and slow.

The starfish I found at a local store. But the life preserver just might be my very favorite thing in the whole room.

When looking for sailboat decor, I found several life preservers for $10-15. But they were just painted Styrofoam. I knew I could make it for much less.

So here's my supplies.

Pretty simple, huh.  I knew the rope around the perimeter needed to be thicker, so I braided 4 strands of jute together, and made sure it was long enough to go clear around the wreath.



Then I painted the wreath, wrapped the rope and wreath with jute (in single thickness this time), and secured it with hot glue.  I'm so happy with how it turned out!

Price list for this wall:
Starfish: $5
Wreath: $2.50 (40% off coupon)
Magnet board: $3
Rain gutter: free (left over from girls room)
Mural: free (left over paint)

Total cost this stage: $10.50
Total so far for room: 30.50

Pleasure

I just got back from Harry Potter 7.2

I'm not ashamed to say I cried.





Twice.




and I plead the fifth as to the tear content of Hubby's eyes.

Bedroom Stage 2: Name Wall

I used the same foam letters for Buddy's name as I did in the girls room.  But I did them just a little different than before. By the time I got around to picking these up, they were on clearance. (and I may or may not have driven 40 minutes to pick up a 50 cent letter)

Since the were all different colors, I started by spray painting the sides dark brown (that's the color I had). 

After a quick distressing with ink,

I modge podged scrapbook paper onto the front.

One tip: if you are tracing letters onto the back of paper,

make sure you turn the letter over too.

Otherwise, you'll end up with a bunch of letters that just don't fit.

(not that I'd know ANYTHING about that!)

To attach to the wall: take a small nail and shove the point side into the back.

Then, take the nail out and put the head side in the hole you just created.

Stick it up on your desired location of the wall, and scratch a tiny hole.

Hammer in your nail, and put the letter back on!

The wheel and anchor were actually a door knocker from Hobby Lobby. It took about 10 minutes with a hand held tiny saw blade to cut the metal piece connecting the two, but for $5 I got two wall hangings!

The branch across the top I got several years ago, and was actually the inspiration for the whole room. I . . . convinced Buddy that he wanted sailboats so I could use it! It's just resting on a couple of nails.

Costs:
Letters: $4.50 (clearance)
Paper: 50 cents (on sale)
Door knocker: $5 (40% off coupon)
Branch: already had

Total cost this stage: $10

Total cost so far: $20

Whole room
Stage 1

Bedroom stage 1: the bed

The first thing I started working on was the bed for Buddy's room. First on the list was buying an actual mattress. (he slept on that poor crib mattress/twin frame combo for a sad amount of time. He started sleeping on the floor because it was more comfortable! It was a joyous day when the mattress came!)  The headboard is the same one my Hubby used as a teenager.

I used THIS tutorial to learn how to make pinwheels. I was able to scrounge fabric from my stash for almost all of it.  In total, I spent less than $10 for THE ENTIRE QUILT!  The white you see is from a thrifted white sheet. The backing is another thrifted white sheet that I colored with Rit dye.

I thought it needed a bit more variety of blues, so I did buy 3 different fabrics, but since I only needed 1/3 of a yard of each, that was only about $6.  My biggest trick: I took this:

And used it for the batting. Yup. My old bed-in-a-bag comforter I used 9 years ago in collage now looks pretty darn cute. (it's a little hard to see on his bed. So here's a shot of it all spread out on my queen sized bed)

It's not perfect, not by a long shot:

But even with all the weird puckers where I didn't measure square, it looks great on the bed.

The yellow throw at the foot of the bed was a $5 find at a thrift store.

The Mario Pillow set me back $3.50 for 1/2 yard of fleece and THIS tutorial.

The anchor pillow I used a $2 remnant portion and more blue scraps. I did to a reverse applique anchor (just googled "anchor pictures" and found a shape I liked.

Total cost this stage: $20.

See the whole room HERE

Drop Anchor

Ready for another full room before and after?

Here's the room's first second incarnation. (when we first moved it it was just storage).  I really didn't do much decor for 'Lil's nursery. It was much more function based.

Then we moved Buddy in . . . and I didn't take any pictures!  But picture the same beige walls, strange green rug, a dresser, and a twin sized frame & box springs with a crib mattress on top.

Classy, I know!

The entire time I was working on the girl's room, Buddy asked when I would work on his. So it's with great joy that I show you the following!

 

 

 

 

Over the next few weeks I'll post with the details (and tutorials) for the different parts of his room. But for today, let's just call it a job well done! 

Linked up HERE 

Update:  check out the rest of the room

Stage one

Stage two

Stage three

Stage four

Happy blocks

I've had this picture on my desktop for months now.

I found it on some linky party and have wanted to make it ever since. (sorry, I can't find the link to the source though!)

My biggest obstacle? I don't have a saw to cut the wood. Yes, I have a fabulous sister who would let me cut any old time at her house, but that required to have enough motivation to actually go get the wood and figure out sizes and such.

Last month our church did a craft night. We made these beautiful temple blocks with pictures of our local temple.  When I took mine home, I realized I had just enough blocks to make the saying. I'm a fan of double duty crafts (less to store!), so I flipped those blocks over, modge podged some scrapbook paper (I also inked the edges), and slapped on some vinyl cut with my Silhouette.

Swoon! I adore the way it turned out. Now, obviously, I didn't do it exactly like the inspiration picture. But I had just the right about of room, and I'm very happy with the results!

(and since I know someone will want to see the temple side too)

Linking up here

*in case you're wondering, the paper came from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. The fonts for the vinyl are Pea Aimee, Century (the &), and Bookman Old Style (the love).

Preponderance on Paper

Growing up, my sisters and I knew my Mom was somewhat of a toilet paper snob. Not that she'd ever call herself such, but she was very picky about her TP.

We even had discussions on toilet paper. Not frequently, but we had them.

With that history, I find myself aware of the selection in other bathrooms. I notice textures, thickness, how well it holds up.

I lean towards the brand I knew as a child.  But I am not exclusive in my paper purchases. I've dabbled with other thicknesses, other textures (but never other colors. Really, matching your tp color is just going a bit to far!).  I recently discovered a store brand that exactly mimics my favorite childhood brand and have felt much happier about the current price point of my tissue.

It's just so annoying to be doing your business and discover you are out of the precious stuff.  And on my quest to raise my children to be self-sufficient, I have become uber conscious of the level remaining on every roll. I change every single roll myself.  I check the level of supplies in each bathroom. I do NOT want my children to be without (they are still grasping the whole cleanliness thing anyway - I've got to make it as easy as possible on them!)

But  . . . I just realized I'm taking something away from them too.  My kids don't know HOW to change a roll of TP.  That's not being self sufficient. So, today, as I notice the almost empty roll, I pledge to change my ways. Today I will teach Buddy this all important task. I will make him in charge of changing every empty roll he sees.

And someday, his wife will be grateful that her husband is so thoughtful.

Ok, so I'm sure most mothers have attempted to teach their sons this. And I know that in all likely hood, he won't do it at all once he's a teenager. But for today, I'm going to go with my lofty dreams and be at peace!