A Little Bit of Inspiration

A sneak peak of some birthday party prep work. Yikes. Why on earth did I make this so time consuming. Ms. A is only going to be two-years-old. Probably because I saw these (see below) in a Pottery Barn Kids catalogue and fell in love with them, but not with the price tag. I thought they would be a fun accessory for her playroom upstairs.

Then I started thinking, wow, hmmmm, I could really do these. When Iron Chef and I decided on a Jungle Safari Birthday Party theme for Ms. A's 2nd birthday bash - we decided it was a must for the little kiddos to celebrate with lifesized jungle animals. Let's just say it's a good thing Ms. A has been low key this week watching movies and having quiet time while her little ears heal from their ear infection and her cough subsides. It's given me plenty of time to draw, cut, paint, and paint, and paint some more.

I would like to add that these PB Wall Decals will run $99 to $129. Or at least for the jungle themed ones.









I put my thinking cap on and went straight to work. My supplies - my creative hand, paint, poster boards, drawing pencil, paint brushes, and a little bit of elbow grease.

Next, I hand drew all of the animals (with inspiration from Pottery Barn) and cut those babies out with a pair of scissors.



Proceeding to paint and paint and paint some more, the animals came to life. One by one. I am more than thrilled to see how well they are turning out. My price tag is probably 95% less than the Pottery Barn decals so I'll take it!









Here's my favorite one thus far. A little blue elephant. At a price tag of $1.97 for a large blue paint, $1.97 for white paint, and $.97 for a small blue paint. Let's just say $5. And, this paint was shared with other animals as well and I have TONS leftover for future projects.

My elephant. My $5 DOLLAR, elephant, might I add.



Or, Pottery Barn's Elephant. At a price tag of $119.



You make the call! My adorable little blue elephant for $5 or pottery barn's WAY OVERPRICED elephant for $119.

The decision is easy. Thank you, Pottery Barn!

And, this is only the beginning of the fun safari decorations and jungle themed birthday party plans I have up my sleeve for next weekend.

Happy almost Birthday, sweet little A.

"New" Pictures on the Walls

Here is a photo of our old bedroom. Yes, a little blah, a little boring. I'm not that great w/ decorating and this was a middle stage of our OLD house in Vancouver. We made changes before we sold our house, but I never got around to take pictures before we moved. Thus, the resulting photo.



Well, since this photo, we have moved to a new house w/ a different master bedroom. However, our bedroom furniture, accessories and decorations have stayed much the same. All except one little thing. The pictures on the wall.

If you noticed in the first picture [ old house ] the pictures truly get lost on the wall. The problem - No color, no bold frame, the pictures get lost on the wall. The solutions - DIY project and a little spray paint and elbow grease.

What did I do?

1. Take the pictures down from the wall.



2. Cover the glass like crazy! I simple used tape and paper to cover the frame, sliding the paper underneat the frame to make sure I didn't get any paint on the glass.



3. Spray paint. I used an oil rubbed bronze color this time around, although the spray paint still looks very much brown or espresso to me. I wanted for the frames to dry and then took the paper and tape off the frame.

4. Hang new pictures and enjoy.





Ahh ... much better.

You'll also notice that we have plantation shutters. I'm still adjusting to this new style of window treatments and pondering what else I should do to jazz up the windows or leave them as is.