Sneak Peek: Memo Board

I am in the process of making a large memo board for the big empty wall in the newly made-over craft secion of the playroom! A memo board is perfect because it will add a lot of color to the room and be able to hold lots of photos and art work! I was inspired to make a memo board because someone gave me a large poster frame that I couldn't find a use for anywhere else in my house. Unfortunately I ran out of ribbon before we could finish making the memo board last night but here is a sneak peek:

I also spent some time redecorating the other walls and shelves in the playroom so there will be more of a cohesive theme in the room instead of a hodge-podge of decor. I hope to reveal the makeover in it's entirety within the next couple of weeks!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Scrapbook Paper Wall Art

Scrapbook paper is such an inexpensive, easy and fun way to creat wall art for any room in the house. I purchased a package of Nana's Kids paper with Glitter at the craft store for $10 and got started on wall art for the new craft area section of the playroom.

For my first project, I wanted to use frames that I already had which just so happen to be from Pottery Barn. All I did was cut up some pieces of matching paper to fill in the spaces where photos go in the frames. The new wall art is now resting on the top craft shelf {I can't decide if I am going to hang them above the shelves or leave them on the shelves}.

For my next wall art project, I had this wooden plaque that is square with beveled edges and is almost exactly the size of scrapbook paper. It when I saw it at a garage sale for fifty cents I knew instantly that I was going to use Modge Podge to make wall art with it. First, I spraypainted the edges white. Next, I found a cute alphabet themed piece of paper in my new pack that incorporated all of the colors in the playroom. Finally, I trimmed it up so it fit on the plaque then I Modge-Podged the front and back. Now all I have to do is attach a hanger to the back and find somewhere to put it on the wall. For now it is resting on one of the craft shelves.


I still had some really cute scrapbook paper from my new package that I wanted to use so I found another empty frame and made more wall art. The only problem is that I don't know where I am going to hang it yet. I still have an empty wall above the table but I want to make sure whatever I put there is going to be functional and serve a purpose. One idea I have is to find several more mesh office baskets, such as the one below that I spray-painted white, to hang on the wall with art surrounding it. But then again, I really like the idea of using a bunch of frames from Goodwill, spray painted white, so that I can display my girls' art work.



Another change I made was that I replaced the oversized, plastic bench that we previously had as seating with these bright pink ottoman storage cubes. They are the perfect size for the space and were only $15 each at Kohls. I think we are going back to get two more for the other side of the table. The nice thing about them in addition to the storage is that they fit under the table when you are not using them.

In addition to needing to fill the empty wall above the seating, I am still working on finding more, different containers for the bottom shelf and cute, girl accessories for the top one as well as labels for all of the containers. This room is a work-in-process but it's been fun seeing what projects I can come up with next and I'm getting most of my ideas from other blogs!

Linky Love:

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursdays

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Remembering {Ava} the Superprincess

Ava, you will never. be. forgotten.

Happy Birthday Superprincess from sheye rosemeyer on Vimeo.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Playroom {Craft} Area & Storage

Finding motivation this summer has been a little difficult and I haven't accomplished much in the way of decorating projects. So it makes me very happy that the playroom shelves are finished and we have a new craft table for Arielle. Looking at the pictures that I took of the shelves made me realize how badly I need to decorate the playroom, especially the new "craft section". I feel as though I am working with a blank canvas and have a ton of ideas floating through my head for all of this empty wall and shelf space.

Here is a BEFORE picture of the area in our playroom before we built the shelves:

Here is the after pictures with new shelves and craft table:

The fabric bins are concealing a lot of craft supplies and are perfect for the shelves because they have handles that will make it easier for Arielle to get them down. Since the shelf that they are on is a bit taller than her and she can't see inside them I am going to put some labels on the bins. It's so nice to be able to do that now that she is reading like a pro! I think I am going to steal JAG's idea so they should look similar to this when I am done {in fact I am going to email her right now to find out where she buys those circle things to make the labels}.

We purchased the table on craigslist for $35 and cut the legs down to a reasonable height for Arielle, keeping in mind that she is growing like a weed! I would love to paint the table white but I know it's going to get dirty so I don't think that would be a good time investment. I didn't intend to use the toy box bench as seating but since we decided to keep the table on the taller side our existing chairs a bit too short as you can see from the picture. The bench ended up being the perfect height and it provides additional storage, it just takes up a bigger footprint on the floor than regular chairs.

Here is a list of the supplies that we purchased to make the shelves including costs:

-3 six foot long primed MDF boards ($10 each)

-5 sets of two decorative metal brackets ($10.50 each)

-1 quart of Behr "February Frost" {purple} paint ($12)

In retrospect we could have saved money by purchasing a sample size of the purple paint but hopefully we can find a use for the leftovers and since we already had the pink paint that saved us a little. The total spent for three 5 foot shelves was about $95.

Check out this cute dry erase board that I got at a garage sale for $5! We hung it up in the playroom this weekend next to Arielle's kitchen playset {which she has totally outgrown} and she wrote this sign:

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesdays

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursdays

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday
Organize & Decorate Everything...We're Organized Wednesdays

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Averi ~ 10 months

Averi turned 10 months this week. It's really hard to believe that she will be one year old in less than two months. She is still such a happy, content baby and we love her so much! Her personality is a mix of serious, funny, sweet and quick tempered. She has a lot of patience but when she doesn't like something she's not afraid to let you know. Sometimes she is so serious and doesn't show any emotion but other times she is very silly and knows how to make you laugh! Averi is becoming just as much of a talker as her big sister. She babbles on and on most of the time and has added a couple of words to her vocabulary. Of course only we know what she is saying but I'm certain that she says, "DOG", "BALL" and "SISTER". Of course she says "MAMA" and "DADA" much more frequently and usually Mama is associated with when she wants something and Dada is when she is playing around. Averi has been pulling herself up to a sitting position for the past month and she enjoys rolling all around the floor. In the past week she has really started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking but she is not truly crawling yet.



Here are a few more milestones:

-4 teeth (two middle teeth on top and bottom)

-Size 4 diapers

-Size 12 to 18 month clothes

-Bedtime between 7-7:30 pm (she is very good at letting us know when she is ready for bed and also very good at going to sleep right away)

-Wake up at 6 am usually on the dot! There have been a couple of nights that she has woken up in the middle of the night and turned on her fish aquarium but she doesn't cry.

-Sleeps with a receiving blanket

-One of the things she loves the most is to kick and splash at bathtime! One of the things she likes the least is being on the changing table after bathtime.

-Eats almost anything you put in front of her but recently she has decreased her intake and decided that she doesn't like apples.

-Cries whenever Momma is in the same room but not holding her

-Taking one nap a day at school (12-2 pm) but still taking two naps a day on the weekends at home

-Drinking 22 ounces of formula a day (4 bottles)

-We have been supplimenting Iron drops in her bottles for the past month because her levels were low at 9 month check-up

-She loves to snack on Cheerios while we she is sitting in the shopping cart while we are out and about!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Where have I been? And an Award!

I have been such a blog slacker and I'm not very happy about that. My only excuse is W-O-R-K which is exausting me beyond belief. The last thing I want to do when I come home is look at another computer screen so there goes the idea of blogging. I hope to return sooner rather than later but we are in the middle of a financial audit and implementing a new accounting system.

In the meantime, Elizabeth at Habitually Crafty sent me a blog award. I would love to keep passing this award when I get some "free time". Thank you so much for reading my blog!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

New {striped} curtains

I stopped in Lowe's the other day for a can of spray paint. It was bad luck that they didn't have a very good selection of paint colors, however, it was good luck they were having a HUGE curtain sale. When I say huge I mean there were panels for as low as $4.99 and there were so many to choose from!


One of the things on my June To Do List was to buy/make new curtains for our kitchen. Well I've been looking but couldn't find anything I liked until now. I bought three sets of curtains and tried them all out and I think I may have found a winner. I like how these blue and green striped curtains lighten up the room. What I don't like is how the background color {beige} blends into the wall but I think that is what lightens up the space so I am okay with that. Here is a sneak peak of what the curtains look like but I'll take more pics once I have a chance to clean up the space and accessorize {to see pictures of this area with my old curtains click here}.



Don't you hate those just-out-of-the-package wrinkles?

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{embrace} the camera: july 15

The girls and I enjoyed some time on the swings yesterday evening. They looked too cute and were having so much fun that I made Arielle run inside and bring out the camera. Averi loved the swing so much so I took a little video. She is such a happy baby!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

A little of this and a lot of that

Sadly I haven't had a lot of time for fun projects lately. I don't think I've been to a thrift store in over a month either. I have managed to squeeze in a tablescape on my newer console table and another chalkboard makeover.


You may remember this post about the challenges I am facing with decorating my console table that sits next to our huge entertainment center in our living room. I hadn't done a thing with it until last week when I redecorated my mantel {you can see that post here}. I decided to use the accessories that were previously on my mantel until I can find some time to shop for new ones. I also purchased six eyelot tote bins from Bed Bath and Beyond so I could have lots of storage. I love the bins but i think having six of them might be a bit too much. However, having two young kids the storage comes in so handy so I probably won't be changing them out any time soon.





I love the gallery picture frame from Red Envelope that I have hanging about the table but it doesn't look as good without pictures in it! Maybe I'll have time to do that this weekend.




Here is my latest chalkboard makeover. I know I have been doing a lot of these lately but I couldn't help myself from finishing off a can of chalkboard paint that I had leftover from other projects. I had this great frame sitting around that was black but I spray painted it with glossy white. I have it hanging near the door to our garage so we can leave messages. This will be very helpful in the mornings when we are rushing out the door to school and work!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Giveaway at Nikki's Nacs

Don't miss the CSN giveaway that Nikki is hosting! She has a great blog too so while you're over there check out her awesome decorating skills and two cute kiddos.

Post edit:

I WON!!!!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~