diy Archives - Page 26 of 26 -

Creating a Gender Neutral Nursery

For some crazy reason, I felt like I couldn’t be a good mom until I had created the perfect nursery. I spent hours on Pinterest, in Home Depot, and Ikea just to find the right colors and furniture. Of course, I was thrifty in my endeavors and am excited to share with you how you can create your own cute nursery without paying a hefty price.

Selecting Nursery Colors

This was by far the hardest part! There are so many great colors to chose from. Knowing the baby’s gender is the most helpful when making your selection. I knew I was having a boy, but I wanted colors that would be neutral enough that they could be used if I ended up having a girl later. If you want to keep it neutral, I recommend avoiding pink, purple, and brown. Most other colors can be used for boys or girls. I wanted something really bright. I went to home depot and looked at paint swatches until I found the combination I wanted: aqua/turquoise/ orange/ and black. I kept the swatches in my purse so when I went shopping for things for the room, I could match it to my exact colors.

Creating Removable Wall Decals for the Nursery

After I selected my colors, I had a problem–I live in an apartment. We are not allowed to paint unless we paint it back to the original color before we move out. I hate moving as it is and I was not about to add an extra paint job to that process. Because of this, I did some research and found out that you can use contact paper to decorate your walls. Contact paper is usually used to line drawers. It is mildly sticky, easy to cut, and paint-able. I was inspired by the Curbly blog. She gives a complete tutorial on how to create these aspen trees I made. I printed some leaf stencils, and after painting the contact paper blue, I traced the stencils onto the back and had my students cut them out during read aloud to earn some class money. Then I stuck some blue tacky to the back to play around with where I wanted them on the wall. Once I was ready, I removed the back and stuck the contact paper to the wall. It has been a year, and they are still sticking just fine. If I ever want to remove them, they peel off easily and leave no residue. That’s a renter’s dream!

Making the Most of a Large Window in a Nursey

We live in a great apartment, but it is seriously lacking on storage. Because of the huge window in the nursery, there weren’t very many options for placing furniture or adding additional storage. I finally was inspired by Ikea to put an expedit shelf under the window. I got the shelf for $50 and it was so easy to build I did it myself. I also got lucky and was able to find the storage boxes for $2.50 each in the clearance section of Ikea. Waiting for a deal definitely paid off! To make it feel more homey, I bought some fabric (matching it to my swatches) and sewed a bench pad. I used a simple tutorial to learn how to sew the bench. I also bought the curtains from Ikea for $19. They came with an iron strip that allows you to shorten the length without sewing. I shortened the curtains, and then added orange ribbon to the bottom to make them pop. The expedit shelf sat on a vent, so I hot glued some wooden molding from Home Depot to raise it off the ground.

Tissue paper $3 from Dollar Store. Tutorial on how to make tissue poms.

I used a tutorial to learn how to make the simple tissue buds. I used the remaining tissue paper from the dollar store, I also used a dollar vase, which I lined with scrapbooking paper. I glued hemp around the top with a hot glue gun, and added peacock feathers from my wedding bouquet.

I bought this handmade frame from a charity auction for $25. It was all white, but my husband and I used modpodge to add orange scrapbooking paper on the outside of the frame.

This shelf was $3 from a garage sale.

Frames painted from dollar store. Plant tower from Deseret Industries, $5.

Finding Nursery Furniture for a Good Price

Everyone was once a baby, which means there is a ton of baby furniture in the world. If you take your time, and you probably have like 9 months, you can find great deals on the things you need. I’m not huge on hoarding furniture so I didn’t get things like a changing table or a rocking chair. I just used his crib and a large office chair instead. I was able to get my crib for free from my husband’s aunt ( I did sand and paint it black). It is a great idea to email family members when you are pregnant to see if anyone is getting rid of anything. Garage sales are also great. I got the small white shelf for $3 at a garage sale. The lamp and the plant tower were purchased from the second hand store, Deseret Industries, for $7 total. The frames on the plant tower were from the dollar store and I painted them to match the room. The vase with the tissue flowers was also from the dollar store. The only thing that was a little pricey was the black dresser that my husband purchased for us when we were first married. We got the dresser from Walmart for $169.

Overall Advice for Decorating a Nursery on a Budget

Check out thrift stores and garage sales.
Use paint swatches to ensure you buy the correct colors and that they match.
Find simple crafts that can add a lot of flair.
Be patient in your purchases, you will find a deal if you wait!
Be brave! You can refurnish that crib or create that wall decal.
Make it a date! My husband and I had a lot of fun doing stuff together, plus more minds equal more creativity and more hands equal less work.
Don’t worry about buying expensive bedding. I just bought crib bumpers from Ikea for $20 and got a bed sheet from Michael’s aunt. Babies will poop, spit up, and throw up on their bedding. I just use normal blankets on Camden and he is just fine. When he was smaller, I used the extra fabric from the curtains to make the bedskirt. Really, don’t waist a ton of money on the bedding.

Just for reference, this is my BEFORE picture. If I can do it, you can too!

Good luck!

-Kara

As much as I love sewing, I sometimes need a break. As promised from the previous post, Blazers and Bow Ties, I have found a great, easy way to make your own bow ties. These can be used for your little guy’s Sunday clothes, baby shower gifts, hair accessories, or even simply attached to a cute sweater.

Here’s what you will need:

Hot glue gun, flat iron or normal iron, scissors, fishing string, hair pin, fabric, measuring tape (optional)

You can use any fabric of your choosing, but I recommend thicker upholstery fabric because it holds better. I got the fabric above in the discount bin at The Cotton Shop in Provo. It was about $2.00.

The first step is to cut the main piece for your bow tie. There is a lot of flexibility in how large you cut it. I have played around with it quite a bit, but find that 7 inches by 4 inches works quite well. For this project, I chose to make a green bow tie.

Cut fabric about 7 inches by 4 inches.

Then you will fold in the sides until they meet in the middle, hot dog style. You will then flat iron the crease so that the fabric stays.

Flat iron to keep fabric neatly folded.

Then, hot glue the fabric in place to maintain the new fold you have created.

Now you are going to repeat the same steps, this time using a hamburger fold.

This will result in a rectangle. To make the bow shape, take fishing string and securely tie the center until it bunches. Do several knots to make it sturdy.

Almost there!

Now all you need is to make the center piece. I made mine 2 inches by 6 inches, but found that it was a little too long.

Like you did with the main piece, fold in the sides hot dog style, flat iron, and hot glue.

Careful not to burn yourself when you press the fabric down, sometimes the heat can burn you through the fabric.

Next, place the end of your center on the back of the main piece and secure with glue.

Once the glue has dried, tightly wrap the middle all the way around until it meets with the back.

Open the hair pin and place it on the band. Glue the back side to the bow. I like to use a little extra glue to secure the head of the pin to the bow as well.

(Note: I made a little mistake in that I glued the pin on backwards. You want the end with the open prongs to be on the outside to it can easily be clipped onto a button. Because of this, I just clipped it through the button hole instead, but it made the bow a little uneven since the button could not be secured.)

Trim off the excess fabric.

And Enjoy!

(Pictures are blurry because someone couldn’t stay still)

This red one might be my favorite that I have made:

Blue shirt, Savers $3 or $4

I have also made a few bow ties from scraps of clothes I have made myself. You might remember my Mint Refashion. I used a left over piece to create this bow tie for Camden. I love that we can coordinate now!