Changing it Up…The Evolution of a Little Boys Room {Picture Wall}

 

Good Morning! It’s Spring Break here and we are going to be spending a lot of time outside working in the yard (I can’t wait …. seriously it’s one of my favorite things!) and hopefully a lot less time on the computer. But before I head out I thought I would share the progress on Mason’s room. It’s been super slow progress but we’re getting there!

Since it’s been so long since I’ve updated his room, here is a picture of what we started with.

 

We painted and switched out the furniture. (Remember, this used to be Daxon’s room and then they did a switcheroo.)

 

Added some fun chevron fabric to lengthen the curtains and a memo wall.

 

And here’s how it looks today. If you follow along on Facebook or Pinterest then you may recognize a couple of the changes. We found his new dresser on KSL (a local classified website), covered his lampshade and added a super fun picture wall. I drool!

 

I mean seriously, giant pictures of my favorite eight year old, framed in rustic pine frames that didn’t break the bank! And bonus … they even graduate in stain color from dark to light. Like I said, I drool!

 

I had the pictures printed off at Staples (they are engineer prints which only come in black and white on thin paper) for $13 bucks for four 24x36 pictures. Can’t beat that! Then I mounted them with spay adhesive on some 1/8” panel board for stability (you really could use anything, we just had some laying around and figured it would work). Once they were mounted on the panel board, I thought it would be nice to protect them with a finish of some sort, so I sprayed one of the pictures with a spray poly. DO NOT DO THIS!!! It totally bubbled the picture. So, I just left the rest alone and figured they were cheap enough that they could be replaced as needed.

For the frames I used this tutorial from Young House Love. They were fairly simple and to make and way cheaper than going out and buying four huge frames.

 

Once they were built, stained, and poly-ed, it was time to attach the pictures to the frames by nailing them right into the back of the frames. Easy Peasy!

 

I then attached the hanging hardware. I used two large picture hangers per picture and nailed them right into the top of each frame.

 

I ended up having to bend the picture hangers a bit before nailing them on because if not they were flush with the panel board and wouldn’t be able to catch the screw when I hung them.

 

Once they were ready to hang I traced each frame onto some brown paper, making sure to mark on each paper exactly where the nail goes. Then I taped the papers up on the wall exactly where I wanted the pictures hung and nailed a small nail into each spot that I has previously marked.

 

Then, I took one sheet of paper down at a time (leaving the nails in the wall). If I was hanging something light I could have just hung them at this point, but I chose to use wall anchors so that my pictures were nice and sturdy. I then took the nails out and installed the wall anchors in their place and then hung the frames.

 

I couldn’t be happier with the results and may have sat on the bed and stared at them for, um … awhile after I was done!

 

And just because I seem to stay motivated with a list, here is a list of things to still be done! Heaven help me finish this up soon!

Mason’s Room

Paint

lengthen curtains

new dresser

memo wall

plank the desk wall

desk/chair

accessories

headboard

Trophy Organization

Desk Lighting

Art/Pictures on wall

*Bed skirt

*Cover Lamp Shade

 

Kristin

Linked Up:
Thrifty Decor Chick, Evolution of Style, Lolly Jane (The Scoop),Savvy Southern Style,Not Just a Housewife, The House of Smiths, Somewhat Simple, Living Well Spending Less, Six Sisters Stuff, Tatertots & Jello

Princess Cake Skirt {Tutorial}

I had so much fun making Navi’s princess cake that I thought I would share a simple tutorial on how to do it! The best thing about this cake is that it’s super quick and easy and can be customized to go with your party!

The cake part was my twist on a cake a found on Pinterest. Bird on a Cake gives a great tutorial on how to make the frosting “petals”. It’s actually a lot easier than it looks! Give it a try! Her cake was all white, but I wanted Navi’s to be pink (per her request) and decided on a whim to add the yellow in for a little more interest.

I also saw a “tulle cake stand” on Pinterest here. I fell in love and knew it would be perfect for Navi’s princess cake! 

 

 

First, you will need a cake stand. Any old cake stand will do since it will be covered with tulle (and the cake). I wanted my cake to sit up a bit higher than it would by itself so I simply found a bowl and turned it upside down. Then I took the cake stand and taped it onto the bowl with clear packing tape.

 

 

Then it’s time to attach the tulle. I used four different colors of tulle; a light and dark pink and a light and dark creamy yellow (1/2 yard of each color), so a total of 2 yards of tulle. If you want the skirt to be fuller, simply add more tulle!

Cut your tulle into about 10 inch wide strips. The length of your piece will depend on how tall your cake stand is. Just make sure it’s long enough to hang down and hide the cake stand. My initial length before folding it over was 19 inches.

 

 

Then, fold the top of your piece over but not quite in half. I folded about 1/3 of the way down. You want to make another layer of tulle without having to cut another piece. Make sense?

 

 

Then you will gather the top together with you fingers. You want your sections to be bunched together at the top … this will create the “skirt look”. If you skip this step it will just look like flat pieces of tulle hanging from your cake. No bueno!

 

 

Once you have a section gathered, you simply tape it to the top edge of your cake stand. Then start over with a new piece of tulle and keep going around the cake stand until it is full. Make sure to slightly overlap each piece to keep your skirt nice and full!

 

 

This is what the top of your cake stand will look like once you have finished taping all the tulle on. (FYI – I used strong packing tape to be sure that curious little fingers didn’t pull the skirt off while oohing and aahhing!)

 

 

Once all the tulle is taped on and secure your skirt is done! Instead of putting the cake directly on the tape and tulle, I placed a round cardboard cake plate down and then the cake on top. You can find pre cut round cake boards at Wal–mart or JoAnn’s or most party stores. Or you can do like I did and cut one out of a piece of cardboard.

After frosting the cake I finished it off with a crown a few wand candles! This is for sure up there as one of my all time favorite cakes! So cute and easy!!

 

 

 

I thinks it’s safe to say that it was a hit with the princess! You can’t beat that smile!

 

 

Now, go get your cake on!

Kristin

Linked up at:
Not Just a Housewife
Savvy Southern Style
Young House Love
Somewhat Simple
Tatertots & Jello,Six Sisters Stuff,Sassy Little Lady