A Little Decorating Project

Well, we're finally feeling settled in our new home here in Jacksonville.  All the boxes are unpacked and apart from some pictures that still need to be hung on the walls - things are looking pretty good!  Of course there's tons of 'decorating ideas' I have (all the awesome blogs I subscribe to are such great inspiration - lots of fantastic DIY projects out there!!!) but I have time... we will be here three years and although I have to remind myself this daily - I don't need to have EVERYTHING done in a week!

I have made a point of making my daughter's room a priority though and I am thrilled to show you pics!!!  It all came together this morning when I hung up the last of the fabric garland... what do you think?

All finished!!!  Ry's room turned out a lot like I envisioned... a little random and a LOT colorful!
The garland was inspired by this awesome tutorial:  Purlbee Party Garland
I used fabric scraps that I already had - such a thrifty decoration!
This turquoise shelf was $9.99 at Michael's and then I painted it turquoise using acrylic craft paint.  The vinyl decals were $12.99 at Target - unfortunately my daughter saw that they're 'stickers' and keeps trying to pull the lower ones off the wall!!!!

Her 'big girl' bed that she started sleeping in the 2nd night we
were in our new house!  We found the adorable bedding
at Target for only $39!

I had the basket and used it for craft shows and the  local farmer's market in our old town - works
perfect with her books & a few bedroom toys

The turquoise wall art on the left normally sits vertically and holds a calendar!  I thought it'd be a fun place to put
family photos.... the art work on the right is something I painted in high school, the colors are super bright and PERFECT for little girl's new room.

The lamp is a thrift store find from a couple years back - I just added ribbon trim to the shade and looped some of the fabric garladn to the top.  

The turquoise shelf is an antique store find that I spray painted.  The three birds hanging from it are Christmas ornaments that I found in December at World Market.

This is just a simple Ikea dresser from years ago but I found the adorable turquoise knobs
at TJMaxx last week for $12.99!  

This is a blackout panel purchased at Target for $15.99.  I'd still like to embellish it with some jumbo white rick rack trim but the fabric garland looks cute too (I need to iron these - oops!)

This was a Christmas gift from Grandma but I waited to hang it until we got to our new house

The reading area... the glider will go to baby #2's room down the road but it works great for snuggles and reading time before naps and bedtime.  The quilt was knitted by Grandma Jan - another great homemade accent!

Some Little Projects

Since we're in the process of our big move I'm not doing a bunch of sewing/crafting but I thought I'd show you all a few projects I have worked on. The first - I found a super adorable dress at Target for my little girl but realized quickly it was basically a tshirt with ruffles at the bottom.  So, instead I bought a cute tshirt for $7, raided my Mom's fabric stash at home for the PERFECT matching fabric and we went to town!  My Mom ended up doing most of the sewing since I'm not very proficient with her fancy-schmancy sewing machine.... I'm super happy with how it turned out and look forward to making many more to hopefully include in my Etsy shop once we're all settled!

ok... but missing something....

Better!  A cute little fabric flower!

The finished product on my little model

Later in the week I bundled up my restless energy and went to TOWN on re-organizing my Mom's kitchen pantry. It's a lovely space - nice and big with four levels of shelving and TONS of potential but it was crazy how much was jam-packed in there!  I ended up clearing everything out on Wednesday morning - wiping down the shelves and walls and floors as best I could.  (to be honest - a fresh coat of paint would've been fantastic but really, once everything was put back & away - all the dings and scuffs on the shelves weren't even noticeable.)  I was floored by some of the things I found.... first off, my Mom's a baker by occupation and at home so she has a LARGE collection of food colorings, sprinkles, spices, baking goods, etc.  The biggest shock?  How many bags of chocolate chips and baking chocolate she has!  HOLY COW!  I would say 15 bags of chocolate chips alone... not to mention two HUGE bags from Costco that we combined into a large bin.  WOWZA!  To consolidate a lot of smaller & like items, I used baskets, bins, shelves, etc. purchased from the local Dollar Store, Wal-Mart & Target.  I still want to add some labels to some of the bins and shelves but it looks GREAT!  I was very proud of my Mom for throwing some stuff away.... it's amazing how you have the urge to constantly purge material things when you have to move every three years.  I suppose it's not a bad trait for me to have.  ;)  Here are some pictures of the project and it's end result:

The Empty Pantry....

Another view

My parents aren't big drinkers but all this alcohol would lead you to believe otherwise.... not to mention three waffle makers and two popcorn poppers! WHAT?

the BEST thing I found!  ;)  hee...hee...hee.... don't tell anyone but my Mom threw it out!  And yes, they just celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary!!!  Isn't that amazing?! 

The finished and organized pantry!  

 

All this organizing really gets me fired up!  Now if ONLY I was at my own house in Florida doing this with all my OWN STUFF!  Soon enough.... we'll be there by April 12th and I can't WAIT!  It's a beautiful house (as far as I can tell from the pictures) and I WILL have a sewing/craft room!!!  YEAH!  Oh, and I really want a label machine - maybe something I can buy later today.  :)