The Bean's Bedroom Plan

I have dozens of nicknames for my daughter, but Bean is one that has stuck.  And lucky for her I have finally decided to dig in my heels and decorate her bedroom.  The Pack-n-Play is set up in the guest bedroom so it is time to get to work. 

Have I mentioned that I do 95% of these projects while my daughter is sleeping?  So basically I get 2 hours (if the nap goes well) during the day and then from 6:30 or 7 until I decide it is time to hit the couch for a crucial TV shows like the Bachelor.  (Not sure Brad really deserves a second chance.)  So yes, you do have time to make your home beautiful!!!

To get things rolling I wanted to share my plan and inspiration with you.  Before we had even moved into our home I was struck over the head by this pic, instant LOVE!  (I should say something cute here, like just when I met my husband, but the first time I met my husband he was in a dress, long story!)   But LOOK...

 
Thump, thump...thump, thump (that is my heart pounding for this beautiful room)!  THRIFTY DECOR CHICK is amazing!  She is not only the creator of this beautiful room, but she is my inspiration for many of my design projects, including this blog.  So a shout out of LOVE to her!  http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/

I instantly fell in love with the green stripes.  I also have white nursery furniture and light carpet and this just drew me right in.  She created this room for her baby boy, accenting the green with a light blue ceiling (so cute) and other boy accessories.  So my plan to girl it up is to add hot pink highlights...curtains, storage bins, sheets...great pops of pink throughout the space.  And then I will reuse all the great elephant items I have collected and been given since Bean's last room was elephant themed - grays, pinks, greens, blues...perfection.

The trickiest part of this paint job is the taping.  As always true with painting, taping is the key, but especially in this case.  So much so that it is a little intimidating and has kept me from getting started until now.  But I've taken the first steps!  I have taped the base boards, doors, outlets, all the basics - as well as the top line for the chair rail.  I measured 32 inches from the top of the base board.  This should take me right to the center of where the chair rail will be.

The next step will be to tape off the stripes.  I used basic blue painters tape so far but I have been told that "Frog Tape" is the only way to go when doing stripes.  It is pricier but apparently totally worth it so I made the investment and will let you know what I think. 

I got started on a few stripes here few here, but still have a long way to go.

I am planning to use the current wall color as my base for the stripes and add 2 shades of green.  From there I will vary the stripe width, 4, 5 & 6 inches, but I need to see it on the wall before committing.  Then I (really "we" because I am hoping to get my husbands help on this part) will add the chair rail and POOF it will all be done.  It sounds so simple and I'm hoping it really will be...famous last words!

1st Birthday Party to Remember

My daughter turned 1 on the 16th...HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLIE! And I had so much fun planning her party! I did some research, since I have never done this before, and found a few good tips that I wanted to share.

1. Keep the party short! If you are inviting a lot of kids, which we did, keep the party to two hours. If guests stay later great! Also consider nap times when selecting a time. We did 12 to 2pm and it was perfect.

2. Pick a theme! Picking a theme makes decorating, invitations, favors and activities much easier to plan. Our theme was Story Time, super fun!

3. Plan an activity! Now your one year old may be a little young for a magician or a clown so save that till next year, but do pick a simple activity to keep parents and children involved. Keeping with our theme we did a Story Time!

4. Designate someone to take pictures! If you have a friend or family member who doesn't have a child to watch over ask them to be in charge of taking pictures. You will be so busy that you will totally forget and then be really sad later.

5. Make your own decorations! This is my money saving tip. I made all my own decorations and saved a ton of cash. More details are below.

To get the party started we needed invitations. I am a big fan of Shutterfly. It is easy and cheap...two words I LOVE. So that is what I used. On the inside (not shown below) I included a great pic of my daughter "reading"" a book, to go along with the Story Time theme.

But my favorite project was the decorations. I looked online at Story Time decoration packages and they were all expensive and cheesy and I knew I could do better. So I did! I went to the local library and checked out some of our favorite children's books. I made sure they all had bright and colorful picture pages. Then I photocopied the pages I liked.  So far about $7 spent on the copies.

Next I bought some clothes pins, $2 for 50 at Target. I painted 10 or so pink to brighten them up a little. I used paint I already had so $2 more spent for clothes pins to add to the total.

I found some rope in the garage, attached the pics to the rope alternating natural colored and pink painted clothes pins and voila, banners! I did the same spelling out "Happy Bday Ky!" and the house was decorated! Add $3 more for the 3 balloons I bought at the dollar store for the front entry and that brings us to a grand total of $9 spent on decorations!

We also had a lot of fun with the Story Time activity. We gathered the guests around and first I read Birthday Monsters by Sandra Boynton. LOVE this book, LOVE all her books, LOVE her! And then I recruited my brother to lead us all in the Eensy-Weensy Spider. There is a great series of "sing-along stories" that take your favorite songs and make an extended story out of them. I printed out the words to The Eensy-Weensy Spider by Mary Ann Hoberman & Nadine Bernard Wescott and we all sang along together. The activity only took 10 or so minutes which was the perfect amount of time before the little ones lost interest.

To tie everything together we gave out books as party favors. Simple paperback books at Barnes & Noble are $3.99 a piece. I bet with a little work you could find even better deals online, but I just ran out of time. I wrapped some ribbon around each book and made tags with each child's name, simple and fun! I always love getting books as gifts so hopefully they did too.

I know I had a hard time getting started with all of this. I am new to baby birthday parties and I bet many of you are too. So if you have ideas, tips or stories from great birthday parties you have created or attended PLEASE SHARE! Even post pics!

Side Note: We also made a Whole Foods knock off Curry Chicken Salad as part of a "sandwich bar" that was so YUMMY I wanted to share it.  The recipe is below.

You will need:
2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed
Handful of slivered almonds
Handful of currants (I found these in the bulk section at my grocery store.)
1 bunch of scallions chopped
1/4 cup light mayonnaise (Next time I make this I am going to try plan Greek Yogurt and a little mayo to cut some of the fat.)
A couple tablespoons of curry powder
A couple tablespoons of Major Grey Chutney (Yes, this is what it is called and it is the secret ingredient so don't skip it.  I found it by the marinades.)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix the Mayo, Chutney & Curry Powder in a bowl to create dressing.  Add it to the chicken and then add the remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate for a couple hours or over night.  Then EAT!