Girl Nursery | Toddler Girl Bedroom Makeover

I was pretty sure the girls' room would be a simple makeover. Really, all it needed was some paint and I had a fun idea for an accent wall. I had a lot of décor from Ay's old room that would still work with the space. Easy. Right?

Easy it was not. But I'm still happy with how the room came out.
There's a few affiliate links in this post to show you what we ordered for the room, and if you want to watch the NOT easy transformation, you can find it on YouTube here.

This was the vision I had for the girls room. We still need to add artwork and all to the room, but I liked having a color scheme to work with. I knew I wanted to mainly focus on some sort of accent wall. So we focused a lot of time on that. We have all our other vision boards here if you want to check them out.

I wanted an arrow accent wall. It just kind of came to me one day, so I drew out my idea on some paper. Oh, sweet naïve Amanda. You had big dreams.

I used our laser level (we were kind of pretty excited about this thing) to make straight lines and put some place holder arrows in place to show where I wanted each arrow and which direction it should be going in.

I had Cor paint stripes on the wall that would be large enough to allow for some giveway when I taped my arrows up. I measured and marked and we drew pencil lines and stuff... and then we realized that it was about the size of the length of a roller anyway, so he just put in some stripes and we called it a day. I used the laser level to put a strip of my large tape on the wall and then went to work on the points and tails of the arrow.

I made each point and tail out of two 4in pieces of tape. I used 1 1/2in tape for the body and point of the arrow and smaller tape (.94in) for the tails.

 

I used my ruler/level to then create a 90 degree angle for my points and tails. There's a sort-of-okay video that Cam took of me making the points if you're confused. (The YouTube video is linked in the beginning of this blog post)

I put my tails 4in apart from tip to tip and just eyeballed them to be center. I could have pulled out the laser pointer at this point again, but I was confident in my eyeballing skills and didn't really need them all super duper perfect.

Boom. Past Amanda was so proud of herself. Then Cor painted out the second color of arrows (we had a tan color and a light pink color for arrows).

Tape tape tape tape tape. Math math math math math.

After all the arrows were taped up, we painted over each arrow with the color UNDER it. So a tan arrow got another coat of tan on top of it. This makes crisps lines when you eventually pull your tape up because the color of the arrow seeps into the little tape crevices and seals it in when you go to paint the top color. We then painted the whole wall Precious Pink. The other 3 walls (and the pink arrows) are Heirloom Pink. And the tan is Toasted Almond. Remember our Wal-Mart paint issue in our Main Bathroom Makeover? They were out of RED in the paint machine this time. So we had Lowes color match our Glidden Color Chips. And they turned out great. Lowes is our hero.

Here's where it got cray. We were SO excited to pull this tape up. I planned so much to make the arrows perfect. We took time to clean and prep the walls. I did MATH. Me! Doing math!?! And when we went to pull the tape up... This.

I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the wall. Maybe we didn't let the bottom paint dry enough before taping over. Maybe the world hates us.

But whatever. We had a solid solution.

We went slow with the other arrows we pulled up and used a pocket knife to score the wall, so most of them were fine. That second one from the bottom really pulled the wall up with it though. So meh. That was totally un-cool.

It still was my vision though. The arrows turned out LOOKING adorable, even if the wall was not.

Remember my solution?

I put the crib in front of the busted arrow.

I win.

This is how I fix the things. Don't judge.

So here's the before (with the sellers furniture). Pretty plain Jane (actually, I'm almost positive it was never painted before. Like ever). It's hard to tell, but it also was COVERED in sticky tape residue so I lovingly spent time scrubbing that junk off. And we had to patch up some wall. Shudder.

And the After. Other than paint, we just added in some of her bedroom décor. The carpet was left here by the sellers (and I'm in no rush to buy something expensive that a two year old can destroy, so hellllo, free!) The blackout curtains came from her room in the old house. I picked up some cute blankets from Ikea that tie the crib and the bed together a bit. I also have a big diy idea planned for some artwork. So stay tuned.

Eventually the bed turns into a bunk bed.

Eventually we need to kick Ay out of the crib and make her use the bed.

Because she won't sleep in the bed. And she kinda has a baby sister who is going to need that crib.

so...

yeah.

Swoon! Even though that wall gave me trouble, I'm still pretty much in love with it. 

So, there you have it. The after of the 'easiest' bedroom in the house. Silly me. I'm happy with how it all turned out. Ay seems to like it. I mean... She still ends up in our bed in the middle of the night anyway... but I don't think it's because of the room.

This Year BLEW By Last Day of School Bubble Tag Free Printable

Happy Last Day of School!

Last year I created and printed off these adorable bubble tags and tied them on with some cute twine. Boom. Instant summer gift. There's 9 to a page on the printable PDF (linked below) and the perfect summer send off.

Follow this link to a printable PDF to print some for yourself!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-XVhfwFTBF1S1JFRnpQaGx0djQ/view?usp=drivesdk&resourcekey=0-8V1KW842ZB_P5OiRmjn5FA

Master Bedroom Room Makeover!

When we toured the house for the first time, the Master Bedroom needed A LOT of imagination. The sellers had their own kind of style (that most certainly not the same as OUR style), and the room was filled with furniture that didn't really fit or fill out the layout of the room.

Here's the before (with the sellers furniture)

We used our imagination (and Pinterest) to come up with our vision board for the new bedroom. (You can see all our vision boards here). I've added affiliate links throughout this post so you can find exactly what we bought to make our vision come to life. And if you want to watch the madness, you can find us on YouTube here.

I knew that I wanted some sort of accent wall. Our bedroom in our old house was gray, and while I LOVED that room, I was also ready for something different. So we decided on Glidden Blue Gray Slate for the accent wall. We painted the other walls Glidden Antique White. The painting process was relatively painless... for me. Because Cor did most of it.

Thankfully, we didn't have any issues with the paint colors in this room (unlike when we painted the bathroom) and painting was the main thing that this room needed. We got a rug that we have been eyeing up at Lowes for our room. To be honest, it's the most expensive rug we bought for the house because we're grownups and hopefully won't spill anything on it, unlike any other room in the house where tiny people inhabit it and the chance of spillage is 10000%. It's crazy soft. Worth every penny (especially since Lowes has a great Military Discount too!)

We rounded out the room with the same sheer white curtains we had at our old house and a few accessories. I got a tobacco box when we went Antique shopping for Mother's Day. I'm not going to lie, I have no idea why they are called tobacco boxes. I just know that someone local makes them and it supports small business (yay!). The best we can think of is that they are made from barn wood of old tobacco farms. Maybe? Maybe not? But if you come over to see the house, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I also got the antique poetry book (from 1912) on our Antique trip too. There's also a birdhouse on Cor's nightstand from an antique shop when we were visiting Mississippi.

 The cute water pail came from Target and it's filled with Hydrangeas from Dollar Tree.

And that's it! Another perfect AFTER photo!

It's hard to believe how easily this room came together. Partially because we had such a great plan going in. We still have a few more things to add. We're getting a brand spanking new KING sized bed for our anniversary this month and ordered some bedding to go with it. We got these gray and white striped sheets and this lightweight white comforter to go along with it. We're also planning on adding in a celling fan and, like in all the rooms, changing out the doors.

We'll do a fun update when we get the new goods too!

Main Bathroom Room Makeover!

We've got a big goal to try and get a room done each week at this new house. Problem is, we have four little humans who inhibit ... well... getting ANYTHING done. So we have a small window starting at 8pm to get things done each night. But we're doing it!

We started with the smallest room first (but don't be fooled, it probably required the most work!)

Here's our Main Bathroom Makeover! (And because I know you love it, if you want to watch the crazy, you can find us on YouTube here!)

There's also affiliate links sprinkled about to help you find exactly what we purchased for our new bathroom.

First up was paint. We said goodbye to our fond friends, the glitter worms, and picked Glidden Monsoon Green for the color. But more on that in a bit.

We used CraftSmart Chalk Paint and Wax to paint over the gold on the vanity. We probably could have used acrylic paint (but don't quote me on that!), but I have plans on painting other vanities in the house and this was a good first try project.

Remember five seconds ago when I told you we would get back to that paint thing. We're here now. So there was a situation at the paint mixer (spoiler: it was out of white when mixing colors!) and our first can of paint was TOTALLY the wrong color. We also had another problem with a third can of the same paint when we went to do some touch ups! We never had a problem with the Walmart paint department before, but we've learned that the Walmart in our new town is probably not the best place to get paint...  

I waxed over the Chalk Paint with the same brand of clear wax. This was super easy and is a necessary step to seal in the paint and protect it. It's also clear, so I let Car help out (but don't tell Cam. Shhh...)

Our secret weapon. We went back and fourth about wainscoting and what our plan would be. We priced out actual beadboard and it wouldn't have been too terrible, but we were slightly on a budget. We also wanted to do the same thing in another bathroom, those two rooms full of beadboard would have added up. So enter our secret weapon: Paintable Textured Wallpaper! Don't get me wrong, it took a lot of work, but it looks awesome and it was under 25$ for an ENTIRE roll. We used about 3/4ths of the roll for this room (but we also messed up a ton and had a learning curve! Ooops!)

Mirrors. I couldn't decide. I went back and forth. I took a picture and texted it to Cor (who never answered anyway...) and I made an executive decision and bought the one on the left. It was totally the right decision! Let's not talk about how I went to Kohl's to get a shower curtain and came home with a mirror... But it was only $50 and I had a giftcard that made it free-to-me! Score!

Adventures in Miter Joints. And Math. We had to learn both and kind of got it right.

The chunky part was supposed to go on top, but we're just not going to tell anyone that and revel in the fact that we did a thing and it still looks awesome.

Remember that mirror? We hung it on a wall!

Believe it or not, finding one of these thingies was a difficult decision for this room. Who knew toilet paper holder thingies came in so many colors and designs and options. There are SO many on Amazon and they were way less expensive than the ones we saw at our hardware store. We got this one.

We made shelves too. Because we're ambition (and cheap) like that. I wanted to look of 'floating' shelves so we took these corner joints (I guess that's what they're called?), spray painted them with this, and screwed them into our stained wood pieces (on to the bottom of the shelf) and then also to the wall (where the cute stuffs would eventually hide the brackets)

Pretty stuffs! My very sweet sister-in-law is a stalker thoughtful and knew the color we painted the walls and got us the MOST amazing décor for the new bath! It matches perfectly and it's amazing. I also picked up the You Make Me Happy sign at Dollar Tree! Like what!! It was going home with me for sure. And Cor picked up the white shower curtain on one of his Walmart runs. He done good.

And here it is! The most perfect AFTER shots ever.

Swoon! See that wall? That's all the babies after their bath after the first birthday cake smashes (except for Air for obvious reasons) wrapped up in sweet towels. I got the frames at Dollar Tree, painted a base coat of teal and a top coat of white, and distressed them a bit. I also cut the mat that came in the frames to make a square. It's like my favorite thing ever.

Boom. One room done and a dozen more to go! Let's do this.

Weekly Meal Plan

Here we go again! Here's what we're eating this week. I'm probably most excited about the Jackfruit Noodle Soup! It is SO much like the real deal that it's kind of creepy - but so so good and totally vegan! Enjoy!

Day	Dinner
M	Pasta with Veggies
T	Jackfruit “Chicken” Noodle Soup
W	White Bean Salad
R	Sweet Lime Tofu Bowl with Rice
F	Potato Tacos with bean dip and rice
S	Pizza
S	*Leftover Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces

M

Pasta

Sauce

Mixed veggies

T
1 can of jackfruit in brine

1 medium carrot
1 stalk of celery
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
2 bouillon cubes
1 cup dry noodles
8 cups of water

W

• 3 cups cooked no-salt-added cannellini beans, from 2 (15-ounce cans) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 4 cups tightly packed fresh spinach leaves, tough stems removed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Crunchy Bread

R
1 Pound Green Beans, Trimmed and Halved

1 Fresh Lime, Squeezed
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
3/4 Teaspoon Pepper
14 oz Extra Firm Tofu
2 Tablespoons Oil
4 Teaspoons Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sliced Shallots

F

bean dip
1 can pinto beans, drained
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup pepper of choice (anaheim, pasilla, jalapeno, etc), chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
1 Tbsp olive oil

5 russet potatoes
salt
tortillas
tomato
avocado
lettuce

Rice

DIY Key Holder

I decided that I want to FILL our new home with literary quotes, and I was on the hunt for a place to keep our keys, so I decided to make this ol' thang from some recycled wood. Maybe you want to make one too with a favorite quote, bible verse, or song lyric.

The first (and hardest) part is to find a quote you like. Then follow my tutorial here to get your quote transferred to your wood.

All you need next is a few hooks and two saw tooth hangers. Plan out where you want your hooks and twist them into place. Then take two saw tooth hangers and place them on each side of the back of your plank. You don't want to use one in the middle. When you hang it and add your keys, it will tilt (don't ask me how I know this...)

We got our hooks and hangers at Lowes, but you can also grab everything your need right from these affiliate links from Amazon. Here, here, and here (and you didn't even need to get out of your pajamas. You're welcome.) 

Now get to making!

Weekly Meal Plan

Here we go again. We've been a little busy (have you noticed?) and meal planning has taken a dive.  It here we are. Back at it. Cory requested a kale salad and I wanted in on the taco soup (add chips and it's delicious)

So here's the plan and color coded shopping list:

Day	Dinner
M	Curried Chick Peas and Rice
T	Lemon Asparagus Pasta
W	Kale, Carrot, Avocado Salad
R	Roasted fennel couscous
F	Taco Soup with Tortilla Chips
S	Pizza
S	*Leftover Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces

M

1 Can of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 Cup of Diced Yellow Onion
1 15oz Can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons of Curry Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon of Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon of Ginger
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
4 Kale Stalks, stem removed
1/8th Cup of Water

T
1 bunch asparagus (12 ounces), trimmed and washed

Sea salt and black pepper

2 lemons

Olive oil

3-4 large cloves garlic, minced (~2 Tbsp)

10 ounces (~5 cups) bow tie pasta (see notes if GF*)

2.5 cups unsweetened plain almond milk

3-4 Tbsp all purpose flour (sub another thickener if GF*)

1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for a subtle cheesy flavor | optional)

W

1 bunch kale, stemmed and finely chopped 2 cups grated carrots

1/2 avocado, peeled and pitted

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

1/2 teaspoon reduced sodium soy sauce

R

1 box israeli couscous, prepared according to package directions

1 cup broccoli florets (from about 1/4 large head)

1 cup cauliflower florets (from about 1/4 large head)

1 fennel bulb, cored, quartered, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

F
tortilla chips

• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can corn
• 2 can diced tomatoes (stewed or italain)
• 1 can original Rotell w Green Chilis
• 1 can Vegetable Broth
• 1 packet of Ranch
• 1 packet of Taco Seasoning
• 1-2 lbs of ‘meat’ (sausage links)

S
Pizza