Style Lush

Nursery Tour: Chloe Elizabeth

By Sara

Now that my wee baby is a walking, talking, sassing toddler I thought it high time to photograph her nursery for the memory capsule. Her room isn't perfect; it's small, it's usually a mess of books and stuffed animals but it's full of pieces made and collected over the years just waiting for this little girl.

Welcome to Chloe's nursery.

This dresser was in my nursery when I was a baby and was formerly a blonde wood that I refinished in a semi-gloss white. I love the faux bamboo detail so very much. The curtains are made from flat sheets I found at HomeGoods and then had lined and hemmed into curtains by a local drapery fabricator. I also chose to trim them in a grass green grosgrain ribbon.

From left to right: Tiny little boxes for her first tooth and first curl gifted to her by her great-grandmother. The lamp was gifted to us by my mother and has the sweetest little painted bees and flowers. The elephant "piggy" bank was a gift to Noah when he was born but I thought it worked better here than in his big boy room (and it's from Tiffany so...baby's first Tiffany, hooray!).

The mirror is another HomeGoods find that I bought in 2007, well before children. It started out hot pink which I promptly painted white and tucked it into the closet for 5 years until it found its current home. The book, Chloe by Peter McCarty, was a gift from my aunt and sits nicely behind a sweet floral cross stitch I made and framed. Lastly, the ceramic bird house is from West Elm (2011) and was the FIFTH I had sent to me after the first four arrived broken (I have another one stashed in the closet to be hung on the wall when we get around to it.)

The glider is hideous yet hideously comfortable which is why it survived from Noah's nursery. I would have loved to have replaced it with something prettier and fully upholstered but I knew it would just get covered in spit up. I plan to retire it soon since she refuses to let me rock her now. She's too busy doing who knows what to sit nicely with her mama. We keep bins stashed full of books and a basket for her "stuffies" that she rotates through on a weekly basis. The lamp and table are from HomeGoods (it seems I was on a tear at one point).

Here you have your ubiquitous embroidery hoop "art" installation made with a random assortment of fabrics. My mother thought it genius and completely unique. I didn't try to correct her. 

This is the pencil eraser monogram I made. You can find the very-simple-I-can't-believe-I'm-calling-it-a-tutorial tutorial here.

This is the gallery I've begun over her crib. The pink open frame was a gift on her first birthday and holds a card and her party invitation. The shadow box holds a vintage knit baby bonnet that my mother bought a few years ago and tucked away with the hope of a future granddaughter. The "Believe" art is by Katie Leese bought last month on my trip to New Orleans. I loved her work the minute I saw it near Jackson Square and made sure not to leave without picking up one for each of the kids. I plan to add to this wall as I come across the perfect pieces. 

Oh look! Here's the little lady herself, Miss Chloe. The crib is the classic (and cheap!) Jenny Lind. We also have the matching changing table that I got off Craigslist for FIVE DOLLARS. I think that was my best Craigslist buy to date.

I'm truly surprised she wasn't attempting to scale the crib at this point. 

Chloe's room is one of the happiest in the house and we love spending time in there reading and playing. I hope you enjoyed the short tour of her little room.

 

Christmas Paper Crafts: My New Tree Topper

By Jessica

This year, I have resolved to work with what I have and refresh my holiday displays without purchasing anything new, as much as possible. I did purchase this GORGEOUS Santa print that makes me smile every single time I look at my mantle, but, so far, nothing else. Which is how I ended up searching for ideas on a new topper for my tree that wouldn't cost me anything. Because while I may be working with what I've got, that doesn't mean I don't also want to change my theme/color scheme again. I'm a complicated woman. 

I have fallen in love with idea of red, teal, and acid green with hints of white and sparkle so that's the path I've headed down. I have decorations that will work for me but no topper and I thought about just pulling out my doves and using them again but wanted something more funky, retro yet modern? I also, for some reason, have been obsessed with the idea of making things from paper this year. 

I did some Google searches and some Pinterest searches and ultimately I ended up with two tutorials of a similar style. One that was more intricate and since it was made with glittered paper, more glittery as well and the other, more subdued and I suspect, since it was made with black paper, the one really spoke to me.

Obviously, I didn't use black paper (I still might somewhere this year) but I definitely went with that second tutorial to make my tree topper:

I followed that second link pretty much exactly with two exceptions:

1) Glue. I used hot glue to make it quicker and not require anything to hold the strips together while they dried. (NOTE: hot glue is HOT, have a bowl of ice water handy, in case of drips)

2) Measurements. Even though we were taught metric briefly in elementary school, I am still a lame American that knows inches not centimeters so my strips were 1/2" x 12" 

This project required less than one standard 12"x12" sheet of cardstock scrapbook paper which I always have on hand and probably around 30 minutes total (that's being really generous with the time, I didn't time myself). So totally FREE, YAY! And also, totally GORGEOUS, YAY! I love how it resembles a celtic knotwork design and looks different depending on how you look at it, since it's open on the inside and sort of puffs out a bit. 

I HIGHLY recommend making one of your very own or even making a bunch of these stars and just hanging them as decorations in front of windows, from the ceiling, around the mantle...the possibilities are endless.

Have you ever made your own tree topper?

Creative Christmas Countdown 2012

by Hillary

Advent calendars featuring Christmas-themed activities instead of candy are nothing new around these parts (check out posts by Jen, Jennie, and Lawyerish for more inspiration.)

The Creative Christmas Countdown 2012 by Creative with Kids is a little different (and a lot exciting!) Twenty-four bloggers have put together an advent calendar of Christmas-themed activities and art projects. All you have to do is subscribe to the countdown via email and you'll receive a daily email with a brief description of the day's activity.

Supply lists will be emailed the last week of November so you can be prepared for the first Christmas activity on December 1st.

Do you do activity advent calendars or do you use candy to countdown the days to Christmas? My mom sewed beautiful advent calendars for me and my siblings. She'd fill them with toffees and hang them on the wall. I used to sneak bites of my siblings' candies and then wrap them back up and put them back in the advent calendar half-eaten and sticky. I can see the benefits of an activity-based advent calendar, is what I'm saying here.

{Photo credit: creativewithkids.com}

Crochet Slippers

by Megan

Every year my mother-in-law knits slippers for everyone in the family, and every year they're one of my most coveted gifts. They're comfortable, and warm, and kind of ridiculous looking, and I love them. People always want their own pair, but my mother-in-law can only knit so fast. So, imagine my surprise when I found these chrochet slippers on Etsy.

Buttercream Crochet Slippers $19

I think this buttercream color is perfect for winter, but she has several other fun colors. She even has these loafer-like slippers, which are available in a his and hers matching set. Lest you think your husband wouldn't be caught dead in these, let me tell you that my husband LOVES his slippers and needs several pairs because he wears straight through the soles.

Her Crochet Slippers $26

The one complaint my mother-in-law gets is that her slippers are, well, slippery on hard floors. For $6, you can have a latex coating added to the bottom of your shoes that will make them non-slip AND make them last longer.

If I didn't have a pair headed my way this year, these would definitely be on my wish list.

{Photo credits: etsy.com/shop/WhiteNoiseMaker}

Walnut Animal Society

By Janet

Holy cuteness, y'all. I am in l-o-v-e with the Walnut Animal Society. They are the most darling little stuffed animals, handcrafted in the United States by Lauren Bradshaw.

So cute, right? These darlings aren't cheap, but if you are looking for an extra-extra-extra-special present for a little one in your life, these are just too adorable not to consider.

Year-Round Beachy Decor?

by Tara C.

I know, I know. Summer is amost over. We're supposed to be looking ahead to fall and Halloween. But I can't help myself! I'm just drawn to things that remind me of sea and sand. And summer vacations and tropical drinks and so on. I think somebody is going to have to pry the piña colada out of my hands and drag me into our much more rigid fall schedule.

After a recent trip to the beach, I found myself wanting in incorporate more beach-style decor into my home. However, I am a little worried about it looking seasonally inappropriate, say, in Novemeber. Since I don't live in a cottage by the sea (not even close) it's probably best to keep it to a few small decorations, right?

Martha Stewart has a gallery of shell craft ideas, including these seashell koalas:

I think this looks like a fun craft to do with kids, but I don't think I would want these guys hanging out in my living room (watching me) for the next couple years.

I found a beach decor store on Etsy called Beach Grass Cottage and I like a lot of their items.

I love the color of this sea glass vase:

I'm crazy about this starfish garland, although I have no idea where I would put it:

As if to prove that beach decor is not exclusively for summer, I offer these lovely Christmas ornaments with sea glass :

and seashells:

What do you think? Do beach decorations scream "summer" a little too loudly to be out all year? Should I pack them away after Labor Day along with my white shoes?

{Photo credits: marthastewart.com, Beach Grass Cottage on Etsy}

Make Your Own Phone

By Blythe

Yes, you read that right.

Sure, it's a paper version, but that means it won't break or crack and you can just make another one if it gets wet.  These qualities make it perfect for kids.

The delightful and talented Secret Agent Josephine has created a free fake phone printable for those of us whose children require their own personal communication devices.  I love it as a summer project that combines the allure of electronics with old fashioned cutting, pasting and coloring.  The blank make-your-own-app screens might just inspire ideas for the next generation of app developers.  Or, at my house at least, an endless supply of imaginary dinosaur/Star Wars apps.

{image credit: Secret Agent Josephine}

Easy DIY Freezer Paper Stencil Tutorial

by Natalie

There are freezer paper stencil tutorials all over the internet, but here's just one more for your viewing pleasure. I love to give a handmade gift, but after my homemade baby quilt kick a couple of years ago (which, while fun, was incredibly time consuming) I hadn't really found a replacement "personal" gift that I could whip out quickly and efficiently. Enter: the freezer paper stencil dress!

I have all of the necessary items on hand: freezer paper, fabric paint, an iron, scissors, and a paintbrush (I use a sponge brush, but you can use a regular paint brush or anything similar.) For the stencil, I chose a Martha Stewart bird punch, because it's easy and because I'm not great with an exacto knife. You can use an exacto to cut out any shape, letter, number, design, etc. that you would like... I took the easy path for this one and used the punch.

I chose this dress in both gray and green (about $20) from American Apparel; I buy these every summer for my daughters, and they hold up incredibly well. I love how simple they are, and they're so easy to dress up.

I cut my freezer paper into small squares and then punched the bird shape into each square. I then arranged them on the dress in a pattern, waxy side down (this is why it's important to buy FREEZER paper, not wax paper, as freezer paper is only waxy on one side.)

Then I ironed each square to the fabric, making sure to get all of the small edges of the cutout shape pressed flat to the fabric. Once the paper is secured, just paint inside your cutout area. I chose gold and silver for my colors and just did a little assortment on each dress.

Once you have your paint covering the cutout area, just let it dry overnight. You can also dry it with a hair dryer, as the heat will help set the paint. Then just peel off your paper and voila! Cute additions to a simple dress.

That's it! Seriously, the easiest "fancify your kid's clothing" maneuver ever.

{all photos by me except for that cute one of the girl in the yellow dress... that's via American Apparel}

 

 

Spinning Card DIY

by Leah

When it comes to Hallmark holidays, we're more of a handmade card + special activity family than a buy-a-gift one. For Father's Day this year, my baby daddy's getting a spinning photo card, courtesy of Martha Stewart. 

Instructions are here. (Dear Martha: It's not really a three-step process if Step 1 has seven parts.)

Two things to add:

1. The directions are kind of confusing, so I recommend making a dummy version out of scrap paper first, so you can figure out what you're doing before you add the fancy paper and photos into the mix.

2. If you want the photo to actually spin on its own when Dad opens the card, make sure you wind up the photo first and then hold the photo in place so the string doesn't untwist as you're putting the card in the envelope. Then, when he opens it: TWIRL!

Cute cute.

{Photo credit: marthastewart.com}

Currently Coveting: African Wedding Necklace

by Christina

West Elm just previewed their latest collection via Elle Decor and a few things caught my eye but this is by far my favorite thing.

The equivalent of a bridal bouquet. Traditionally worn at weddings by Masai
brides in Kenya and northern Tanzania.

I think these are incredible and so unique. They would be a stand out piece on a mantle or bookcase or anywhere you can think to place one. So beautiful. Don't you think?

(Photo from: West Elm)