It’s February, and FINALLY, I’m feeling somewhat like myself again. It felt like I started 2012 trying to wade through quicksand — just not getting anywhere and getting mired deeper and deeper into the muck with every step. So something had to give, and unfortunately, for the past month, that something was Green Your Decor. But I’ve never been one to give up that easy, so I figure the best way to get myself back on track is to find something — anything — to do around my home to build some inspiration. Even my husband has said “you need a project.” But once I started looking around, I realized there are a LOT of somethings that I need to get done.

So here is a list, with photographic evidence in some cases, of things I really want/need to handle around here:

1. Find or build a console table for the living room. As you can see in the photo below, our living room lamp is currently living on a table that is entirely too small for the space. I’d like to find a used, solid wood console table to refinish or use as is — preferably with some closed storage. We’re also considering building a table ourselves, since my husband said the other day that he “wants to build something.”

2. Purchase a rug for the living room. For an apartment, we have a reasonably large living room. And to me, it just doesn’t feel complete without a rug. A 5 x 8 rug would just be too small, particularly in comparison to the sectional. So I need to find an affordable, natural fiber, 8″ x 10″ rug. Wish me luck!

3. Buy or make thermal curtains for the living room. I can only guess how much heat we lose through our glass door, but I know how cold it feels right in front of the door during the winter, and how hot it gets during the summer. Not to mention how unfinished the living room looks without any curtains. So it’s time to get some stylish thermal window treatments for that door.

4. Make a headboard for the master bedroom. As much as my husband and I loved our previous headboard made from Inhabit’s bamboo wall flats, we decided not to use them in this apartment, just because we didn’t feel like mounting anything on the wall this time. I have a couple ideas for a headboard, but I’m really thinking about trying to replicate the woven headboard shown below, from West Elm (though it’s no longer available). I have a pretty good idea of how it would work. Now, to try it.

5. Buy a rug for the master bedroom. We been planning to do this since our last apartment. I think it’s about time to tick it off the list.

6. Have my Freecycle chair reupholstered. Finally. Remember Grace? It’s only been…oh…almost 2 years since I first got her. Since its become painfully obvious to me that I am too much of a coward to attempt reupholstering my free barrel back chair myself, we’re just going to pay a professional to do it. Does anyone know of any good upholstery shops in the North Atlanta area?

7. Paint a wall in the master? I have a question mark next to this one because I’m just not sure if we want to paint again. In the end, I know myself, and we probably will. Especially because we’ve had an unopened gallon of deep, charcoal gray for about 2 years (yeah…that long), and I’m dying to use it.

8. Find a desk for my husband. He’s back in school pursuing his bachelor’s degree in project management, and he really needs a proper desk. Right now, he’s using a cheap fold-out table that just isn’t working.

9. Refinish my own desk. Remember the Mid-century Hooker mainline desk I painted a while back? Well, as you can see, the paint job didn’t hold up so well. Plus, I’d like to change the color to a rich turquoise — a few shades darker than the walls in my daughter’s room. I already have a quart of paint waiting for this job.

10. Clean up & decorate the office. We are buried under paper. As usual. But lately, I’ve been much worse at actually sorting through that paper. I’ve been lazy. And it’s a mess. Now that I’m sharing the office space with my husband, we really need a clean, efficient space so we both can focus. For me, that means not just cleaning up, but also prettifying the space a bit. Some art on the walls, maybe some tone-on-tone stripes on the walls? A nice mirror and desk lamp? We shall soon see

11. Decorate our third bedroom. Betcha didn’t know we have a third bedroom, right? Well, that’s because I rarely talk about it. When we rented this apartment, we got it specifically for the office-ready space (which is really supposed to be a breakfast nook) and the third bedroom. Now, when my stepsons are with us, they have their own room. And when they’re not here, it serves as an awesome guest room. But other than buying a bunk bed and some organic bedding, I’ve done nothing in that room. It’s time to do something about that.

12. Reupholster my $7 cane chair. Finally. I’ve had the fabric for this project for a long, long time. I have no idea why I haven’t done it yet, but it’s time to change that.

13. Redesign Green Your Decor. It’s been 2 years since I launched this site design. As much as I love it, it’s time for a change.

Like I said, there is a lot I could be doing around here. Which makes me wonder why I’ve been in such a rut with “nothing to do.” We’ll, there’s nothing like a big, fat list (and a great Spotify playlist) to kick my butt into gear. So over the next few weeks/months, I imagine there will be a lot of sanding, priming, painting, building, obsessing, wrapping, upholstering, sewing and ironing around here.

Who’s with me?

Crickets?

Ok. But I’m going to get on all this anyway. I think.

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I’ve been a little lazy with my gift wrapping this year, and I’ve used more paper than I’d like. So for the rest of my wrapping, I’m determined to get creative and reuse gift bags, boxes, fabric and anything else I can find. Here are some of my favorite green gift wrapping ideas:

Use boxes and bags from last year

My family has been reusing the same gift bags and boxes for years now. As we unwrap (or inbox or unbag) gifts on Christmas morning, I neatly fold them up and put them in a stack. I also save bags and boxes from birthdays, Valentine’s Day, etc., all in my gift wrap bin. As a result, we are able to use the same gently used bags and boxes over and over. We simply replace the tags, or use the same bag for the same person so the existing tag still applies

Use what you already have

Before you purchase another roll of wrapping paper, look around the house to see what you already have. Chances are, you’ve ordered some gifts online and had them shipped to you. I’ve personally received a LOT of boxes over the past month or two. Many of them came stuffed with paper instead of packing peanuts. I’ve been reusing a lot of that paper to wrap gifts.

To wrap the gift above, I reused two sheets of crinkled brown paper from a package I had received (and I actually like the crinkled look). Then I used some tulle that I had leftover from a tutu a made my niece for Christmas. I simply wrapped two colors of tulle around the package and tied them in bows. Easy, and beautiful! (NOTE: Please ignore the extremely blue coloring of these photos. I forgot to change the white balance on my camera when I was taking them )

There are other ways to reuse that brown paper, though. I used it to wrap another gift, then used a couple of craft sponges to paint circles on it in our chosen Christmas color scheme (turquoise, gold and lime green). I also used those colors to paint a gift tag that I printed for free! Looking for more free printable gift tags? Click here or scroll down. The finished look is handmade and luxe at the same time. And it took only a few minutes.

You can also take a cue from green guru Danny Seo and use newspaper to wrap gifts. Believe it or not, it will curl much like ribbon. This is a great way to wrap a bottle of wine. Simply put the bottle in the middle and fold the newspaper up around it, then secure it at the top with a rubber band. Cut the excess into strips and use scissors to curl it just like you would curl ribbon. Makes a really festive host gift! I would show you the video, but it looks like Danny has removed it.

Lastly, you know all those tote bags and shoe boxes you have in your closet that you never use? They make great gift packaging

Wrap a gift in a gift

See that gift above? It’s not wrapped in just any piece of fabric. That’s actually a pillow cover. I put the other gifts inside it, then carefully folded and wrapped it with ribbon. Of course, this works best when the other gifts are small, but it can work in other situations as well.

For example, I put together a personalized gift basket for someone using a $2 basket from Goodwill. I was trying to figure out how to conceal the items in the basket, and I remembered that the recipient has been wearing a lot of scarves lately. Inspiration! I made her the circle scarf that you’ll find on the DIY gift ideas page in the Green Gift Guide. I then used the scarf to enclose the gifts inside the basket, then tied it all up with a stray piece of tulle (see below). Easy peasy, and she’s getting 2 gifts in one!

This can work with sooooo many gifts: A recipe book wrapped in a tea towel. A pair of earrings inside a decorative, lacquered box that the recipient could display on their dresser or a bookshelf. Candles wrapped inside fabric napkins. An organic stuffed animal wrapped inside a baby blanket. Anything at all inside a reusable shopping bag (like a ChicoBag, Envirosax or RuMe bag). The possibilities are endless. (aff)

Use paper just for the kids

Let’s be honest — part of the Christmas magic for kids is tearing their gifts open with wild abandon. It’s just not the same with a gift bag, or if they have to carefully untie a piece of fabric. Adults and teens will be better equipped with the patience required to open a carefully wrapped gift.

So if you’re going to use paper for wrapping, use it just for the kids — and make sure that paper is either made of recycled materials or at least recyclable. Even Walmart, Target and Dollar Tree offer recycled wrapping paper if you take the time to look. And please stay away from shiny foil, velvet flocked, or glitter-covered paper, because it is generally not recyclable. Simple printed paper is best.

What are you doing to make your gift wrapping more eco-friendly this year? Share your ideas in the comments below!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

I’ve really been agonizing over a “WOW” gift I can make for my daughter this year. She used to have a plastic play kitchen when she was a toddler. We donated it a long time ago, but I’ve noticed that she always heads right for those types of kitchens whenever we go to a toy or thrift store. I’m seriously considering making one for her — though I’m worried about where we’d put it. Here are the best of the best in DIY play kitchens I’ve found online, made from desks, entertainment centers, nightstands and more.

This boy-friendly kitchen from Finding Joy comes complete with a rack to hang pots and cooking utensils and magnetic chalkboard doors for making shopping lists. Love it! Be sure to click the link for many more photos and details on how it was built.

If you have an older or taller child, an entertainment center might be too small. Utah County Mom solved that problem by using a corner desk to create this kitchen. The best part? Because she already had the desk, she was able to create this for less than $50!

Maybe you don’t have room for something so large. No problem! Start with a side table or nightstand like this version from SAS Interiors! There’s room for enough sweet little details to still make this worth doing, and it will fit nicely in a corner.

The attention to detail on this kitchen by Britt & her Boys is amazing! Check out the tiled backsplash, which was meticulously laid out, painted and adhered one rectangle at a time! I also love the realistic buttons on the microwave. And this crafty mom didn’t stop there. She also made a bunch of felt play food to go with the kitchen. Is she amazing, or what?

Have two tables or nightstands? Then you’ve got a stove and a sink with storage below! The set in the photo shown above was actually made from scratch by Blue Eyed Yonder, but you can see how 2 nightstands could easily become these two pieces!

This one by Bonne Nouvelle is made from a changing table. Love that idea, particularly because changing tables outlive their usefulness really quickly. I also love how she used the back of the piece to make chalkboards so it can be used in the middle of a room, as well as up against a wall.

Seriously, there are about a million ways to do this, and you can add tons of details to make it completely unique and super special. If play kitchens aren’t your kid’s fancy, how about an awesome work bench, complete with hardware store details (built by The Frugal Granny):

Or you could use two nightstands to make a washer and dryer. The possibilities are endless! All of these are much better than a store-bought play set, and your child (or whatever child you make it for) will be able to pass it down with a great story about where it came from.

You can add some eco-friendly pretend “food” from Plan Toys, Green Toys, or Melissa & Doug and your kid would be ready to go!

Since I refuse to buy a plastic kitchen set, my daughter may have one of these in her future. Now it’s time to convince my husband to let me chop up a side table that’s way too small for the spot it’s in!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Every year, my husband and I (ie. mostly me) pick a color scheme for our Christmas decor. This year, we chose turquoise and gold (with a tiny bit of lime green added for a little extra pizzazz). The problem? We owned exactly two ornaments in any of those colors. In years past, we have always incorporated silver into our Christmas color palette. Not a speck of gold. Ever. So what’s a girl to do? Buy a whole tree’s worth of ornaments? You know me better than that

First, I swapped ornaments with my mother, who had tons of gold decor, but is decorating in silver this year. That’s what I call a stroke of good luck. I came home with a whole box full of goodies. Next, my daughter and I got down to the business of making our own ornaments. I was inspired by some owl ornaments I found on Pinterest:

Owl ornament tutorial

I’d been saving toilet paper rolls for weeks in anticipation of trying this, and it couldn’t have gone better. Since the available tutorial is in Spanish, I’ll walk you through the steps. Kids can definitely help with this.

1. At the top of a toilet paper tube, push down on opposite sides so they fold and meet in the middle. Squeeze the peaks that will be created by these folds. If you squeeze hard enough, you shouldn’t need glue, tape or anything else to hold it in this position.

2. Paint the tubes however you want. We used turquoise and lime green. Let them dry for at least an hour.

3. Use a black permanent marker to draw owls on the painted tubes. If you’re afraid of messing up, first draw lightly in pencil, then follow with marker. Here’s a tip: start with two large circles for the eyes and work your way out from there. You can also Google “owl illustrations” for some inspiration.

4. Thread a needle and tie it off. Push the needle through one peak at the top of the toilet paper tube (the owl’s “ear”). Then push it through the other peak and meet with a little length in the middle. Cut off the excess. Tie the ends of the thread to create a loop. That’s it!

We had lots of fun coming up with different ways to draw the owls so that no two are alike. One of mine is shown at left, and my daughter’s owl is on the right

Flower ornament tutorial

Wanting some variety, I decided to try another toilet paper/paper towel tube ornament design. I’ve had the image below from Design Sponge saved in my inspiration folder literally for years, but I’d never gotten around to trying it. That photo was the inspiration for this ornament. And it is super easy to make.

1. Paint the toilet paper or paper towel roll in the color of your choice (or leave it unpainted if you’d like).

2. Once the paint is dry, flatten the tube vertically as shown in the photo below. Then turn it horizontally and cut it into strips about 1/2″ to 1″ wide. You’ll see that the strips will open up into petal-like shapes.

3. Stack 6 or 7 flattened strips together. About 1/8″ from the bottom of the stack, push a threaded needle through all of the strips. You’ll need to do this one at a time, but keep them close together. I showed just two so you can easily see how they will attach. Loop around the bottom of the stack and push the thread through all the strips again. Pull the thread taut and begin to fan the petals out to form a flower. Push the thread through one side of the very first petal, but not through the second side. Make sure that the thread is tight and your flower looks as you want it and tie off the end of the thread. Cut off the excess.

4. If this is secure enough for you, you can stop here. I chose to reinforce mine by winding thread around the center of the flower, through the middle of the petals. See the closeup below to see what I mean.

5. The upside of this design is that you don’t need a hook to hang it on the tree. Simply open a petal and hang it on a branch. Easy peasy! Although I’m thinking I may go back and paint the inside of the petals too, so it’s all blue. Or I may be lazy and leave them as is

Miscellaneous other ornaments

I had lots of leftover bits and pieces from my daughter’s peacock Halloween costume, and I needed more blue on the tree. I made a couple of additional, very simple ornaments from costume remnants.

1. Feather ornaments.

I had some leftover pieces of feather boa from the costume. I cut lengths of boa at about 4 inches long. At the 2 inch mark (in the center), I simply tied a piece of string, looped it twice, pulled it taut, and tied the excess in a loop at the top. You want to know the best thing about this one? After I made these, I saw identical pre-made feather ornaments (same color and all) at Hobby Lobby for $7 a pop! I made 5 of them for FREE

2. Fabric strip bows.

All I did was cut 2″ x 14″ strips of fabric and tied them at the ends of a few branches (this was after I ran out of actual ribbon…lol)

3. Ribbon star ornaments a la Martha Stewart

Mine didn’t look like hers at all — they were more like tiny wreaths. Still I like them. To make them more like Martha’s, stiffer ribbon would be a better idea. I used slippery satin ribbon, so it was difficult to get each knot to keep its shape. Still, each of these took about 5 minutes.

The Finished Tree

This is the finished look. We filled out some more blue with a couple of packs of store-bought ornaments. So we decorated the whole tree for about $15. Woo hoo!

What about you?

Are you making any ornaments this year? What colors are you using to decorate for the holidays? Is your tree up yet? Send in pics and get featured at Green Your Decor!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

I love making handmade gifts, and I love supporting good causes. With this project, I am able to do both.

Essentially, Elmer’s has challenged me to be creative and given me the opportunity to help the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. My challenge? Use an Elmer’s Tri-fold Display Board to make something. Anything. Then submit my project in their Projects For Great Futures contest. Elmer’s will select finalists based on originality and creativity. Then on December 14 (my birthday, yay!), the public will be able to vote for the finalists’ projects. But here’s the sweet part: The Boys & Girls Clubs of America will receive $1 for every single vote, up to $50,000. Moreover, the Club closest to the Walmart store at which the Elmer’s® TriFold Display Board used in the winning entry was purchased will receive a $5,000 Walmart gift card and $1,000 in Elmer’s products. How’s that for a reason to get involved!

Of course, I had to figure out what to do, first. Display boards bring up memories of junior high school science fairs and class projects. I needed something different. Inspiration struck when I was researching Christmas gift ideas. I realized the display board would be the perfect medium for me to make a puppet theater! And even better for me, I could get a handmade gift out of the way. I’m making a lot of gifts this year, and I’m a little behind, so I’m glad I was able to do this one for a good cause. I made this for my niece, who is young enough to still think puppets are awesome

Want to make one too? Here’s the tutorial.

You’ll Need:

• Elmer’s Tri-fold Display Board, large
• Paint (I used navy blue and gold)
• Small roller and tray
• Paintbrushes
• About 1 yard of red fabric
• Scissors
• Box cutter
• Hot glue gun
• 1/4″ wooden dowel

Step 1

You’ll need to cut out a hole where your puppets will show. The top of the rectangle should be about 8″ from the top of the display board and centered in the center panel. Because I’m horrible at measuring straight, I used a large shoe box to trace a rectangle onto my cutting board.  It wound up being 22″ wide and 17″ high. Feel free to use that as your measurements, or use dimensions that work for you. Use a box cutter to cut out the rectangle.

Step 2

With your rectangle cut out, you’ll start to see that it’s looking more like a puppet theater. But it needs some pizazz. Paint the entire board in a solid color. I chose to use a paint sample that I had left over from when we painted our dining room. It was more than enough to cover the board. Because this is cardboard, you’ll want to roll on 2 very light coats. Otherwise, the board can start to warp and bend from the moisture. Let it dry for at least an hour.

Step 3

While this is drying, grab the piece of display board that you cut out from the center. Sketch a star on it. I did mine freehand, and it wasn’t exactly symmetrical, but it did the trick. My star was about 6″ x 6″ at its widest and tallest points. Use the box cutter to cut out the star. Paint the star in whatever color you’d like — preferably a color that contrasts with your background color. I used metallic gold craft paint. Set it aside to dry.

Step 4

While the paint is drying, you can start making your curtains. Cut out 1 piece of fabric that is 30″ x 5″. Cut out two pieces of fabric that are 13″ x 22″. The first piece will become your valance. Hem all four sides of the fabric with a 1/4″ seam allowance.  There is no need to create a rod pocket, because this will be glued to the poster board.  The other two pieces, however, will need a rod pocket.

Pin and hem the 2 long sides of each piece of fabric and one short side with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I actually doubled my fabric because it was very thin, and I wanted to give it a little more weight. Because of this, I used the folded edge as a finished hem, so I didn’t sew it. I only had to sew the 2 longer sides. If you don’t have a folded edge, you’ll need to hem the third side. The fourth, unfinished edge will become the rod pocket. Fold the fabric about 1/4″ and iron the edge. Then fold again, this time allowing 2 inches. Hem all the way across the top, sewing 1 3/4″ from the edge of the fabric. By doing this, you will be creating a pocket for the dowel, which will act as your curtain rod.

Step 5

By now, your display board should be dry. You’ll need to make holes for your dowel to fit through. I couldn’t find my hole puncher, so I used scissors. This part will be a lot easier if you use a punch. Plus, the hole will be cleaner. Make a mark on the right side panel about a half inch from the fold in the cardboard and parallel to the top of your rectangle cutout. Use your punch to make a hole. Do the same on the left side. Take your dowel and slide it through the holes from right to left to make sure it will fit. Remove the dowel, for now.

Step 6

Now it’s time to fancy it up! You can paint any decorations your want. Stripes, hearts, unicorns — whatever you want. I chose to paint a simple scallop at the top and bottom of the hole, framing it. Next, I used a stencil sponge and made random polka dots all over the board, including the two side panels. Very simple, but it has an incredibly fancy effect. Paint to your heart’s content, and let it dry for at least an hour. In my experience, craft paint dries a lot faster than regular wall paint.

Step 7

Hot glue your painted star to the top center of the display board. Next, you will hot glue your valance right above the curtain rod to hide it and give your curtains a fancier, more finished look. Measure a half inch to an inch above the top of the hole. Center the valance on the hole. You should have a little bit of a swag on either side. Simply hot glue the fabric to the poster board all the way across the top of the hole, leaving a little hanging on either side.

Step 8

Finally, you’re ready to assemble the last piece. Stand up the display board. Slide the dowel through the hole on one side of the display board. Then slide it through the rod pockets at the top of your curtains. Finally, slide it through the hole on the other side of the display board. The upside of this setup is that you can easily remove the dowel so you can fold the display board for storage. This also means you can change the curtains whenever you want

Ta Da! You’re done. All you need now is some puppets and a willing participant!

As you can see, my daughter was more than willing to try it out for me. This is for a much smaller child, so it’s less likely she’ll be seen from the front. Still, my daughter thinks it’s awesome. I know she’ll be begging me to make one for her in the near future

If you try this, I’d love to see how yours turns out Plus, if you want to get involved in this initiative, it’s really easy! Simply use an Elmer’s Tri-fold Display Board to create a project for any reason (school, work, Christmas, or any reason at all). Once you are finished, submit it via email to ProjectsForGreatFutures@elmers.com. You could be chosen as a finalist!

Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Elmer’s #gluenglitter #collectivebias #CBias Collective Bias. All opinions, images and instructions are my own.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Last year, I waited until the very last minute to decide that I wanted to make a Halloween costume for my daughter. Of course, my last minute project didn’t go so well. I won’t get into all the details, but lets just say that my attempt to make fairy wings was a fail. Tinkerbell would NOT have been proud. So this year, I decided early that I was determined to make a costume for my daughter. She initially wanted to be Minnie Mouse — an homage to our Make a Wish trip to Disney this summer — but I knew I had little chance of being able to make Minnie’s dress, given my less than stellar sewing skills.

I searched hundreds of homemade costume ideas, but couldn’t decide on one both my daughter and I liked that I’d actually be able to make. Until I downloaded a background photo of a peacock to my iPhone. Inspiration! I don’t know what made me think I could make a peacock, but I went ahead with the idea anyway. Pinterest and Coolest-Homemade-Costumes.com provided enough ideas for me to start sketching what the costume would look like and making a list of necessary supplies.

I’m a graphic designer, but I’m not very good with pencil and paper. Still, I could see the end result in my mind’s eye, and that vision was enough to get me going. I headed off to Walmart, Hobby Lobby and a couple of other places to collect my supplies:

Knotted, No-Sew Tutu

• 5.5 yards nylon tulle, Walmart (I chose to use several colors: 2 shades of turquoise, purple, green and black)
• 1 yard satin ribbon, Walmart
• Blue feather boa, Hobby Lobby

Peacock Tail

• 50 long peacock feathers, Hobby Lobby
• Scraps of blue & green iridescent fabric, Walmart
• Scrap cardboard
• 1 yard elastic sequin trim, Walmart

Mask

• Gold plastic craft mask, Hobby Lobby
• Beaded flip flop embellishments, Hobby Lobby
• Leftover tulle and feathers from the boa

Headpiece

• Turquoise Plastic Headband
• Turquoise stretchy headband
• Black feathers, Hobby Lobby
• Leftover blue feathers from the boa

Outfit

• Turquoise long-sleeved leotard, Target
• Short peacock feathers, JoAnn Fabrics
• Purple tights, Target

General Supplies

• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Craft glue
• Measuring tape and ruler
• Patience

Making the Tutu

I started with the tutu, because it seemed to be the easiest part of the project (and the part that required the fewest supplies). I started to buy a peacock-colored tutu from Etsy, but backtracked and decided to search YouTube for a tutorial. I’m glad I did. It turned out to be really easy to make! Seriously. I won’t rehash it, but watch the video below for a tutorial that’s extremely easy to follow:

Time Spent: 1.5 hours

 Making the Tail

I won’t lie: I really splurged on the feathers for this costume. Before the feathers, I had spent about $25 for the other supplies. I wound up spending an additional $50 on feathers alone — and I would’ve spent more if I hadn’t gone to go to Hobby Lobby on a day when they happened to be 50% off. But I was determined to make this costume with real feathers and not with fabric. And I think it was totally worth it in the end!

Of course, once I bought the feathers, I still had no idea how I was going to turn them into a peacock tail, much less attach it to my daughter’s back. So I improvised. I held a piece of a cardboard box up to my daughter’s back so I could get an idea of the size I’d need. I drew a wedge shape approximately the width of her back (at the widest point) and cut it out. Next, I made 2 vertical cuts in the middle of the cardboard. I threaded the elastic sequin trim through the slot, planning to use it to make either a belt or arm straps. I glued the trim to the cardboard where it came out of the slots to make it extra secure.

Next, I simply started hot gluing the feathers to the cardboard in a fan pattern. It is worth mentioning that the “eyes” of the feathers (the pretty circle part at the top of the feathers that make peacocks so recognizable) need to face forward, toward your child’s back. This way, they’ll be seen from the front when they’re wearing the tail (see the front view above). I had to cut down some of the feather stalks since the feather lengths varied, but they were really easy to cut. I started gluing at the outside edges and worked my way to the middle, leaving a little space between each stalk. Once I had one layer, I started working to fill in the spaces between the first layer, to better fill out the fan.

The feathers were secure, but I needed a way to cover up the jumble of stalks, since all of this would be visible from the back. I cut a piece of an old folder in the same fan shape, and glued it on top of the stalks to cover them up. Lastly, I cut some blue and green fabric into “scale” shapes, and layered them on top of the folder — first a row of green, then a row of blue. I overlapped each “scale” to make sure the folder wouldn’t show between them.

You can see in the first photo of the finished tail how the “scales” worked once they were complete.

Voila! Done, and done!

Time Spent: 2 hours

The mask

I picked up a gold, plastic, masquerade-style mask on  a whim, thinking it would be a great addition to the costume. I was right. I simply hot glued some beaded embellishments onto the mask. They are designed for flip flops, but they worked just fine for the mask. I had some scraps of tulle and feathers left over from the tutu, so I added a little around the edges to give the mask a little something extra.

Time Spent: 20 minutes

The headpiece

One of my favorite parts of a peacock (in addition to their beautiful tails, of course), are the feathers on their heads. I found peacock head plumage feathers online, but I didn’t want to wait for them to be shipped, so I figured I’d try to replicate them on my own. I bought a couple of stalks of black feathers from Hobby Lobby. They looked like tiny feather dusters at the end of a solid, but flexible wire.

I knew the wires would be too long, so I bent them at the length I wanted (about 4 inches). Next, I measured an additional 3″ and cut off the rest of the wire. I bent that additional 3″ section back on itself several times to create a makeshift base that I could hot glue to a headband. The headband needs to be hard (not flexible) and relatively wide for this method to work. But though it worked, but it wasn’t pretty. I had to improvise again. I used a flexible headband in the same color, also relatively wide, to cover up my handiwork. I cut the flexible headband open and glued it across the full length of the hard headband to cover the base of the feathers.

Finally, I grabbed some more leftover feathers from the boa used in the tutu and hot glued them in the center of the black feathers. Done!

Time Spent: 20 minutes

The outfit

Ja’Naya would have to wear something under all these pieces, and I initially wanted her to wear a blue unitard. Those were all but impossible to find locally though, so I decided on a leotard and tights. I bought a sleeveless, crushed velvet leotard from Walmart‘s Halloween section, but I had to return it. It was really ill-fitting, especially in the underarm area, and I thought it would be a good idea to find an option with sleeves in case it’s really cold on Halloween. So I headed to Target and found a long-sleeved leotard in their Halloween section.

I initially planned to leave the turquoise leotard plain, but once I saw it all together, I knew the bodice would need some embellishment. I grabbed a couple of short peacock feathers from JoAnn and hot-glued them to the front of the leotard in a fan pattern. Then I cut a strip of ribbon to cover the bottom of the stalks.

Time Spent: 10 minutes — and 7 of those minutes were spent deciding how to arrange the feathers

The finished product!

I couldn’t wait to see all the pieces together, and I know my daughter was equally excited. So are you ready for the final reveal?

Here she is, my little peacock!

As I saw each piece of the costume come together, I knew the total package would be awesome, but I couldn’t anticipate how beautiful it would all be! We are both incredibly happy with the way it all turned out. After Halloween, the peacock fan will find a permanent spot on the wall in her room. So now I have to figure out how to outdo myself next year. And what shoes she’s going to wear. On both counts, I have no idea.

So what about you? Have you ever made a homemade Halloween costume? Are you planning to make any this year? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for sharing my DIY Halloween costume project with you. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

As much as I love our little patio, I don’t spend as much time out there as I’d like. It’s a shame really, because living on the third floor at the back of our building means we get a whole lot of breeze. Now that the stifling Georgia summer has given way to a much milder fall, I plan to spend a lot more time out there. And hopefully, the newest addition to our patio means I’ll have some company.

As a Walmart Mom, I often get to try products and projects I may not have attempted otherwise. In this case, we were asked to try a simple craft: Make Halloween ornaments from birdseed.

This was a fun, simple assignment that my daughter helped me with one afternoon after school.

We used:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons Great Value light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cups Pennington Wild Bird Food
• Halloween shaped cookie cutters
• Yarn

Note: This makes about 16 ornaments, which is a lot. If you don’t want to make so many, consider cutting the recipe in half.

We simply mixed all the ingredients in a large bowl. Next we laid out a cutting board covered by wax paper. We spooned the birdseed mixture directly into the cookie cutters, and used a small piece of wax paper to press and flatten it.

We did spray the cookie cutters with cooking spray to stop the mixture from sticking to them. We also used a straw to create holes we would later use to thread yarn so we could hang the ornaments.

The next step was simply to let them dry. We left them on the wax paper until about 9 p.m., then turned them over to let the other side dry overnight. When my daughter returned from school the next day, we threaded orange yarn through the straw holes and tied them.

Finally, they were ready to go. My daughter and I took turns hanging the birdseed ornaments on a plant hanger on the patio. Now, we’re just waiting patiently for the birds to figure out that we’re trying to feed them so I can snap some pics of our feathered friends enjoying a free meal.

Given the number of birds we hear singing all day long in the trees just behind our building, we shouldn’t be waiting much longer.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for sharing this birdseed ornament project with you. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

How long ago was it that I first talked about refinishing my daughter’s IKEA Malm dresser? It was sometime early this year, I think. Well, I’ve finally gotten around to it, and I LOVE the result!

Pinterest has been the catalyst of a lot of projects around here lately. I can spend hours getting lost in inspiration there, but I’ve been trying to take more of that inspiration and turn it into real projects. When I found the photo shown below, I knew I wanted to recreate something similar in Ja’Naya’s room.

Of course, I didn’t want to jump right into without first having some idea of how it would look. I created this mockup in Photoshop from a photo I took with my cell phone and fell in love:

So I jumped right in and started taping off the lines. I was so gung ho that I decided not to measure. I just eyeballed the distance between each stripe. Because the drawers mark the meeting point of each sideways chevron, I was able to get away with this approach.

I created my tape lines with the drawers still in the dresser so I could look at everything vertically and see how the finished result would look as I went along. All I had to do was match the tape lines on the drawer below with the one above it. The final look isn’t perfectly spaced, but I’m OK with the slightly asymmetrical lines.

Hardware

I have been obsessed with ring drawer pulls for a long time, and I was determined to use them on this piece. I couldn’t find any that I liked locally, so I wound up ordering these Hickory Hardware pulls from Amazon. They are nice and solid, but not too big or too small. The 3″ diameter made them the perfect size for these drawers, which measure 8″ vertically.

I measured 3.5″ in from the edges of each drawer and 5.5″ from the top and marked where I wanted the pulls to go. My hubby was kind enough to drill the hardware holes for me. The key is making sure the drill bit is just a tiny bit larger than your screw — but smaller than the screw head — so it can slip through to catch the grooves on your pull.

You may have noticed that the pulls are white in my Photoshop mockup. Well, I planned to spray paint them white. But once I put them on the dresser, I liked the look of the satin nickel finish enough to leave them as is.

Painting

I was wary about how a piece of IKEA’s inexpensive MDF furniture would handle being sanded and painted. I know that their solid wood pieces are hacked and painted all the time, but the Malm line has a laminate finish. After a ton of Googling and reading, I figured it would hold up relatively well and I got to task. I used medium grit sandpaper between my tape lines. I wasn’t trying to go past the laminate. I just wanted to remove the slick finish and rough up the surface so the paint would have something to grab.

You probably can’t tell much of a difference in the photo above, but trust me when I say you could see a visible change in the areas that had been sanded and the areas that had not.

I debated using primer, but decided to go without it. I regretted it later.We did four very thin coats on each drawer front, and we also did the edges.

Since we were painting on the patio, my daughter got in on the painting action — wearing one of my old t-shirts, of course. She’s been itching to paint for a long time, so I figured this was a good opportunity for her to learn proper “technique.” Lol. I talk like I know what I’m doing!

I let the paint dry for about an hour between coats and planned to pull the tape while the last coat was still a little tacky. Unfortunately, it was night time, and I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, I knew right away that I was going to be in trouble.

Then it all went sideways…

The problem with painting over laminate is that no matter how much you sand, the surface will still be a little slick. And latex — which all low-VOC paint is made of, to my knowledge — is notoriously easily to peel away in layers. So I started peeling the first piece of tape gingerly. Within an inch, the rest of the paint started coming off with it.

Not good.

I tried using an Xacto knife carefully at the edges of the tape. Not a good look. The blade started peeling the tape, too. By the time I was done pulling tape, I had exactly 3 clean tape lines. The rest of them had peeled in horrible, jagged shapes. NOT the clean lines this chevron pattern required.

This was about the time that I started wishing I had used primer. I don’t know for sure that it would have helped, but at least the paint would’ve had something else to adhere to. I was pissed with the outcome. So pissed that I forgot to take photos.

Still, I knew it was my own fault. I knew I’d have to start over, so I just went ahead and peeled/scraped the rest of the paint off. That took about an hour of grumbling and cursing, but eventually, I got most of it off.

There was a silver lining, though. Because I’d sanded over the tape, I could clearly see the pattern I had originally taped. The sanded areas were very visible, so I just laid down new tape lines over the old, un-sanded areas. When I was done, I resolved not to make the same mistake twice.

I again painted in 4 thin coats (again, sans primer — I really didn’t learn the first time, huh?). However, I only let the drawers dry for about 15 minutes between coats. And AS SOON as I was done painting the last coat on the last drawer, I pulled the tape.

Sweet success! The lines were clean, but for a tiny amount of bleeding from the edges of the tape.

I let the drawers dry for a full 2 hours before coating everything with some low-odor polyurethane. Honestly, I need to find another brand, because that stuff still smelled and gave me a headache. But I did the recommended 3 coats, with a light sanding between coats with fine sandpaper. Because of the smell, I let the drawers dry for a little more than 2 days before I put my daughter’s clothes back in them.

And I can honestly say I am in LOVE with the result! In fact, the corner where this dresser sits is now my favorite vignette in the whole room:

I love the juxtaposition of the sharp chevron lines next to the looser, more bohemian pattern of the comforter.

So what do you think? Have you ever had a project go completely sideways like this one did? Did you give up, or start again? Because I definitely considered giving up this time!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Slowly, but surely, I’ve been doing little projects to complete my daughter’s room. The biggest one — the makeover of her IKEA Malm dresser — is prepped and ready to go, but I haven’t found the time to finish it yet. This one, however, I tackled one afternoon while I watched reruns of Billy the Exterminator. Please don’t judge me.

I’d been wanting to make some chevron art for a while, and thanks to the awesomesauce that is Pinterest, I found my fair share of inspiration photos and tutorials. In the end, I used this tutorial, mostly because it linked to a pre-made template I could use to make the lines exactly how I wanted them. I learned from experience that free-handing a crisp chevron is a pain in the butt, at best, and damn near impossible, at worst. So the template made my life a lot easier.

I also loved the tip about using thumb tacks to punch tiny holes in my canvas, which would then guide my tape lines.

With the holes punched, placing the tape was relatively easy. In the overlap areas, at the points, I just used an Xacto knife to remove the excess once I was done taping each row.

Then came the easy part: Painting. I have a LOT of paint leftover from when we painted the accent wall in my daughter’s room. So much, in fact, that I really wish we’d bought a quart instead of a gallon. Anyway, I used some of it for this project. And believe it or not, even after painting the accent wall in her old room, her pink dresser and her dollhouse, we STILL have a decent amount of pink paint left. So I used that too.

I used 1″ Scotch blue painter’s tape, and while it did its job, the resulting lines weren’t as crisp as I would’ve liked. But after looking at it for a while, I grew to like the slightly jagged, raw-looking edges, because crisp lines would’ve been a little too perfect. Up close, it reminds me of a fancy ikat fabric.

So where did I put this new…ahem…masterpiece? Ja’Naya has a built-in desk and shelves opposite her bed. I considered painting that wall too, but decided it wasn’t worth it, since we’re renters. But the area at the very top of the shelves was looking bare, so I decided to inject a little color with this art, and something else I had up my sleeve.

See that colorful peacock poster next to my chevron piece? I broke out my Illustrator chops and designed it just for that spot. I had it printed at Kinko’s FedEx Office and just threw it in an IKEA Ribba frame we already had. Came out pretty great for something that took me about an hour to create Here’s a closer look:

I made the pink edges slightly raw on purpose so it would better complement the chevron art. If you like what you see you can download it for free! Just take it to a local printer and get them to put it on 12″ x 18″ paper.

Get it in: Pink — OR — White

So what do you think? Would you attempt to make your own inexpensive art?

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Pencils. Notebooks. Crayons. Markers. School supply lists for kids in elementary school tend to look the same. As a result, the supplies we parents buy tend to look the same as well. This year, I was determined to make at least one item on my daughter’s back-to-school list by hand. Since I’m no good with power tools and I made crayons for her last Christmas, I decided to try my hand at making a pencil case.

Understand that I am a complete novice when it comes to sewing. I can sew a straight line, hem curtains or make a pillow cover, but I’d never, ever tried to make anything with a zipper involved. I thought the process would be complicated. But I really wanted to create a zippered case to make sure my daughter wouldn’t lose all her pencils and markers. A pouch with a flap just wouldn’t be secure enough. So I tried to find the simplest possible tutorial for making a zippered case. I stumbled upon this one over in the Craftster forums and decided it was just simple enough.

I don’t want to be redundant, so I won’t repeat all the steps, but I did make a couple of small changes. I wanted a really durable fabric, but nothing I had on hand really fit the bill. I decided to use an old pair of jeans that no longer fit me. I used the bottom portion of one leg because the width of the fabric was most even there. I also wanted my case to be a little larger than the one in the tutorial, so my fabric was 11″ x 11″ to begin with. Other than that, I followed all the steps as provided. And trust me when I say if I can do this, anyone can do it. I will say that does help to have a zipper foot on your sewing machine.

The finished case was no masterpiece, but I managed to get it done without blowing up my sewing machine. Still, I knew it needed a little something extra. Thankfully, I’d picked up more than one zipper from Walmart when I was planning the project. I bought a black zipper and a pink zipper because I hadn’t decided which fabric I was going to use for the case. I wound up using the black zipper, but I remembered seeing jewelry made of zippers on Etsy. I figured I could use the pink zipper to make some sort of embellishment.

The process of making my zipper flower was relatively simple. Click the photos to view them larger.

1. Open the zipper as far as possible and cut off the pull.

2. You’ll be left with 2 zipper halves. Cut each side of the zipper into 4 equal pieces, for a total of 8 pieces. I used a 16″ zipper, but you can use any length you have on hand.

3. Fold each segment into a petal shape and secure the ends with a drop of hot glue. Try to make them as flat as possible.

4. Attach the petals together at the ends, starting with the first 2 and building from there.

5. Once all the petals are glued together, you’ll need something to cover up the center so you won’t see all the overlapping areas. I used a fabric-covered button that I happened to have in my sewing kit, but you can use a regular button, a circle cut out of fabric, a few rhinestones or anything else you can think of.

6. Attach it to your case with hot glue, and you’re done!

I’m pretty proud of my little case, and my daughter loves it!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for sharing a back to school DIY project with You. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Ever since we moved into our new place, we’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to place all of our old stuff. For example, I was absolutely in love with the design of my daughter’s room in the old apartment. However, the design was very specific to that space. Now, her room is quite a bit smaller and the available wall and floor space is completely different.

We faced a similar challenge with our art. We’d found the perfect spot for most of our photos and wall art in the old place, but we were struggling to decide what to do with our huge collection in the new place. The ceilings in this apartment are also really high, so small pieces of art floating in the middle of the wall weren’t really going to work. Since we had no intention of acquiring a bunch of new art (though we have bought one or 2 pieces for new spaces), we had to figure out how to work with what we already have.

My solution? A gallery wall!

You’ve seen the beautiful photos in magazines: Eclectic collections of art and photographs that work well together all on one wall. Even my favorite husband/wife blogging team, John & Sherry over at Young House Love, created a whole gallery hall (shown above). Once I realized that we have a LOT of black frames, I knew we could pull something together.

I sat one afternoon with the Pinterest app on my iPhone (for visual inspiration), a stack of art, and lots of floor space to lay out my frames. Not all the art made the cut, but we wound up with a pretty great collection. This is what it looked like laid out on the floor. I did edit a couple of placements before I put them on the wall though. Sorry I didn’t take a pic of the final “before.” But here’s the After:

In my opinion gallery walls work best with frames of varying sizes and shapes. We sprinkled in a couple of silver frames for variety (and because they worked best in those spaces), but overall, the look is very purposeful. And we’re thinking about covering the whole wall area with more frames over time. And best of all, this project cost us Nothing. Zip. Nada. We already had tons of picture hooks and all the art on hand.

We were able to use a variety of beloved family photos, art and posters. But if I had to pick a true favorite, it would have to be a drawing my niece gave my husband and I for Christmas. She recreated a photograph of our daughter taking a picture with my Nikon using pastels. She took the photo last Fourth of July and gave us the framed, matted artwork for Christmas. My heart melted when I saw it, and I’m so happy we finally have a place for it

What home projects have you done lately with stuff you already have?

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

We’re finally all moved in to our new place, and I couldn’t be happier. This apartment is larger with much more useful storage and just generally feels more like home than the other place did — and we’ve only been here a little more than a week. I have so many posts to write about things I’ve done around here, and things to come, but this is one of the first projects I tackled as I was unpacking.

In our last apartment, we had a huge walk-in closet in the master bedroom. Sounds great, right? Well it should have been, but the large closet apparently was used to make up for lack of storage elsewhere. There was a small linen closet in my daughter’s room, only large enough for her bedding and towels. So all the rest of the linens were stored in our master closet. It also became a dumping ground for stuff that had nowhere else to go — like air mattresses and my crafting supplies and board games, etc. Meaning that our closet looked like this most of the time:

I was determined not to let that happen in our new place. It helps, of course, that this apartment has storage everywhere: A large, dedicated linen closet, extra shelves and cabinet space in both bathrooms, and more. So there’s no shortage of places to put stuff. But of course, the extra items were only part of the problem in our previous closet.

Bottom line: My husband and I both had a LOT of clothes and shoes. My husband regularly wears pretty much everything in the closet. I, on the other hand, had been hanging on to outdated, ill-fitting clothes and shoes that I never wear. So I got rid of them. I gave away at least a dozen pairs of shoes (probably more) — mostly heels that, while cute, were not at all comfortable. I got rid of any clothes I haven’t worn in at least a year. As a result, my side of the closet is considerably slimmer and better organized.

Also, because we had so many pairs of shoes, but no shoe storage, we were constantly sifting through our respective footwear piles trying to find a matching pair. Frustrating, to say the least.

I grabbed a Canopy over-the-door shoe organizer from Walmart, which also happened to be made of recycled PET plastic. Score!

But while it’s awesome, it only holds 12 pairs of shoes (13, really, because I put two slim profile shoes in one slot), and my husband’s large shoes can’t fit at all. So we grabbed some shoe storage shelves from Target so that our shoes on the floor would have a home as well.

Lastly, I had to figure out what to do about the bevy of hats living on the shelves of our closet. Both my husband and I wear hats all the time (I have a thing for fedoras), so we couldn’t just get rid of them. But I wanted to find a way to organize them so we can easily find the one we want. Plus, this apartment has incredibly high ceilings, and the closet shelves hang really high too. So I couldn’t hide them away on the top shelf like I did before, because I’d never be able to reach them without a stepladder.

Vertical storage to the rescue! I grabbed a bunch of 3M hooks from Walmart. You know — the ones with the tabs you can pull off without damaging the walls. I arranged them carefully on the rear closet wall, and I love the look! I started to organize by color and style, but I knew my husband would never put the hats back in their precise spots. I settled for patting myself on the back for having come up with the idea in the first place.

Now, I can actually walk into my walk-in closet and find everything I need at a glance. My craft supplies still live there, but like everything else, they have a place. I’d say that’s an organizing job well done.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for sharing a DIY project with You. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Warm weather has returned and the sales of veggie seeds are booming — mostly because the desire for folks to grow their own food is positively contagious. But what happens if you’re a humble tenant? How much time and money do you really want to invest in a space that is not even your own? And what happens when you pick up and move?

You’ve probably heard of container gardening. Well here are a few tips for creating unique container veggie beds you can take with you when you move out:

Gutter Gardening

Gutters are intended for catching rain water, but with a little ingenuity, you can use them to create a vertical garden. Buy the guttering from a local home supply store, or try to find them at a local salvage yard or Habitat for Humanity RE-Store. Then hang them in horizontal strips against walls, sheds or fencing. Or in a pinch, attach them to a sturdy sheet of plywood and lean them against a wall. These small plots will make use of wall space, and they’re perfect for herbs and salad crops. Best of all, they’re relatively easy to pack away and take with you.

Grow Bags

Good old grow bags have been a firm favorite for growing tomatoes for a long time, and with good reason. This awesome mobile solutions is the perfect match for green-fingered tenants. Rather than the standard three plants inserted horizontally, try cutting the bags in half and planting one plant on each end. This gives the plants more room for their roots to expand and makes the containers more sturdy and thus easier to move.

Bring out the Wheels

Old wheelbarrows are the perfect solution for creating a mobile veggie bed; Plus they’re cost effective, time efficient and can be easily reclaimed from a thrift store or yard sale. Use a drill to pierce holes in the bottom of the wheelbarrow for good drainage. Then line with horticultural plastic to minimize rust contamination and add a layer of gravel to further aid drainage. A sheet of glass or plastic can also be placed on top to create a mini greenhouse, perfect for seedlings and herbs.

Potato Bags

In recent years, potato bags have emerged as a popular way to grow plants without all the digging required for a plant that grown underground or the need for a large plot. The bags come empty, so you’ll need to fill them with compost. Start with a 4-inch layer, then add the potatoes and cover with more compost. As the potatoes begin to sprout, continue to cover them with compost until four inches from the top.

Hanging Baskets

While you normally expect to find flowers and ferns in hanging baskets, they can also be a great place to plant tumbling tomatoes or peas. Rather than having to stake and support the plants, the height and freedom of the basket will allow them to grow downwards. Practical and pretty.

This guest post is sponsored by Homebase.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

My daughter’s dresser officially went kaput a few days ago. She’s had it since she was an infant, and it’s been through a lot. Honestly, for a cheap piece of laminate furniture, I’m surprised it lasted this long. Anyway, we’re going to do some furniture shuffling for 3 reasons:

• We’re moving into a 3-bedroom apartment to accommodate my stepsons and a general need for more space.
• The aforementioned dresser is no longer serving its purpose.
• My husband’s 3-drawer Malm dresser from Ikea (shown above in our current bedroom) just isn’t large enough for all his clothes.

We’re going to give my daughter my husband’s current dresser and find a used 6-drawer dresser to make over for our new master bedroom. Of course, Malm dressers are plain, and boring — none of which are words I’d use to describe my daughter’s room. The old dresser lived in her closet, but she’ll have a smaller closet this time, and the dresser may not fit. So I’m generating some ideas for ways I can make over the Malm dresser to make it fit the decor of her room.

I’ve read that if I sand the veneer lightly and prime it well, it should hold paint without a problem. So of course, that’s one option. But I’m debating if I want to do something a bit more unconventional than just paint.

Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with:

I love the idea of painting a large funky graphic on the dresser, rather than painting the whole thing. Plus, we still have some pink paint left over from when we painted the accent wall in her current room. Maybe not enough to paint the whole dresser, but definitely enough for something like this. Some funky knobs from Anthropologie could really make this something special, since they sort of look like eyes.

But of course, that got me wondering what it would look like if I reversed that idea. I really like the look of the wood showing through and the single knob at the middle of the starburst! Something like this would mirror the shape of the starburst above her bed without being matchy matchy.

But I don’t want it to compete with the pink TV table that’s already in the room.

And lastly, something completely different. Maybe face the front of the drawers with some wallpaper from Mod Green Pod?

Again, my biggest quandary will be coming up with something that won’t compete with the existing pink table in her room. I’m not married to any of these ideas, but they’ve definitely gotten my creative juices flowing.

So what do you think? Do you like any of these ideas? What would you do with the dresser?

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Back in December, I mentioned that I wanted to give my daughter a doll house, mostly because my father and I had built one together when I was a little girl. It took hours and hours, but it was a great experience that I’ll always remember and one I wanted to share with my own child. After searching fruitlessly for an eco-friendly option, I remembered that my father had actually kept the doll house we put together all those years ago. It was sitting unused in a dusty corner of his office, and it was unpainted because we never got around to that part, but he still had it. So after my dad and I shared a few fond memories of the time we spent building it, he shipped my lovely old doll house to me.

Forgive the horrible photos, but I took them with my cell phone. As you can see, it wasn’t in the best shape. It is easily more than 15 years old (I can’t remember exactly how old I was when we built it), and it hadn’t been touched in years. It was dusty with some parts that had fallen off, and some of it was being held together with crunchy old pieces of tape. I thought that this would be a project my daughter and I could do to celebrate Mother’s Day together. After all, quality time is the among the best gifts you can give or receive, and I knew we’d both remember this experience for years to come.

I won’t say this was an easy undertaking. Because it wasn’t. It took days to finish, and many hours spent contorted in weird positions to paint all the details and finish the interior. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in this world.

In addition to the house itself, we started off with a few supplies from Walmart: craft paint, craft glue suitable for wood, and sheets of scrapbook paper.  We added that to the Olympic low-VOC paint we had left over from my daughter’s room and the mid-century Hooker desk we refinished a while back, along with an abundance of paint brushes. We also grabbed some doll house shingles and wood flooring from the miniatures section at Hobby Lobby and got to work.

And here’s the final result!

I’ll spare you all the details, but time was the major requirement for this project. When we were finally done, I told my husband that it’s “far from perfect, but looks perfect from far.”

I love the ice blue, white and hot pink color scheme, and my daughter thinks it’s absolutely perfect!

We used the scrapbook paper as wallpaper on the inside of the house, and I love how you can see the patterns through the front windows (even though my wallpapering technique was less than stellar).

I love how you can see the flooring and staircase through the front door, so it really feels like a home. We still have to line up and secure the flooring with adhesive and do some touch-up painting, but you get the idea.

We chose fun patterns and colors for the inside of the house: green and white damask for the living room, solid green with one damask wall for the kitchen, colorful stripes for one upstairs bedroom and a chocolate and pink damask for the other. The result is a look that is not at all matchy-matchy, but that still feels cohesive enough.

My husband got in on the action and added the wooden floors, and he was like a kid in a candy store at the thought of creating something together that our daughter will enjoy for years to come.

So although we have a gorgeous doll house, at the end of it all, the best part of this project was simply the experience of doing it together.

When we started painting, my daughter said to me, “Mommy, why is it so much work?” All I could tell her was the work would be worth it in the end. And I was right. The idea that I was able to pass this doll house down to my own daughter is rewarding enough, but the idea that she can pass it on to her daughter with the memory of having worked on it too? At the risk of sounding like a MasterCard commercial, that’s priceless!

Plus, the whole family has been bitten by the miniatures bug (How cute is that fireplace in the living room?!). The next job is to furnish the house and bring home a family for it. I plan to try making as much of the furniture as I can, but we’re not completely against buying some of it. We’d also like to wire it for lighting, and add some molding throughout the interior to cover up some of my mistakes

And another bonus? My husband already has plans to add another doll house to the collection when our daughter is a little older. He wants to put one together with her like I did with my dad. If that were the only reward of doing this, it would absolutely be worth it!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for sharing a Mother’s Day DIY project with You. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.

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