Baby Bottles to Battleships: Nursery to Big Boy Room Makeover {Before}

Hey, Friends! I'm so excited to share that we are embarking on our second One Room Challenge this month! The One Room Challenge is put on by Calling it Home every April and October and is so fun! The challenge is to take one room in your house and give it an overhaul in just 6 weeks, posting and sharing your progress every week! Remember last fall when we redid our entire bathroom?

Guess what we're up to this time? Little Man's room! He has been slowly outgrowing his nursery the last couple of years and as much as I try, I just can't seem to slow down time and keep him little forever. So, forward we go! This month, we're taking his room from nursery to big kid!

I realized I have never actually shown you his nursery on the blog before, so enjoy this little trip down memory lane! While we were eagerly awaiting Little Man's arrival, we got to work on his room. Jeremy assembled furniture...

...while I grew our tiny human. Here I am a day before giving birth. 

Just kidding, I was only 5 or 6 months pregnant here. I have the shortest.torso.ever. When I'm pregnant, I look really pregnant. Go big or go home, right? Here's the last belly picture (36 weeks maybe?) before Little Man was born... basketball belly, mom haircut, swollen face and ankles, oh yeah! 

So, back to the nursery. Jeremy's one request was that we paint it blue. I couldn't pick a paint color for the life of me and ended up crying at the paint store because I couldn't decide on a color. Pregnancy hormones don't play, folks. Ha! 

We ended up with a pretty blue that we both loved! It was from Sherwin-Williams, but they have discontinued the exact shade. I should mention, these pictures are from before my blogging days, so excuse the quality. :)

I have never been a huge fan of overly themed rooms, so we went with a simple striped crib bumper and solid green textiles. This was, of course, before I knew that curtains need to touch the ground. Live and learn. And take your curtains down to the floor. ;)

We did bring in some turtle accents, though, which we both loved! The turtle lamp was from my Grandma and aunt and I still love it. The ceramic turtle was an art project Jeremy did in high school! We also had the cutest turtle mobile ever, but I can't find a picture of it. Sad times. The truck was from Jeremy's childhood and his parents collected fun construction vehicles for Little Man to display on it.

Our old house had some cool sloped ceilings, which made for a fun little reading nook in the nursery. That was my favorite spot in the room! 

When Little Man was one, we moved into our current house. To try to keep things calm and familiar, we painted his new room the exact same color and decorated it pretty much the exact same way. I did learn to get longer curtains, though!

When we were pregnant with Little Girlie, we transitioned Little Man into a big boy bed. At that point, we weren't ready to redo his entire room, so we made a few changes and tried to work with the existing paint and curtains. Check out some of the projects we have done to help his room grow with him:

Repurposed Train Table

To the Moon and Back Painting

DIY Bedrails

Monogram Car Art

Brown Bear Sign

Here's how his room is looking now. I left the table out just how he left it this morning so you could see how little floor space he has left when he's using his table. 

That extra closet shelving we added is still waiting for paint. Clearly, we just purged. This closet is usually a mess because the storage bins are not all within reach for Little Man. 

It's starting to look cluttered and hodge podged. He is in desperate need of more floorspace to play and storage solutions that he can actually reach and that work for his specific toys. *cough* Legos *cough* 

Little Man is growing fast and it's time we get his room functioning for a big kid instead of a baby! He is really into Star Wars, so I know he will flip out if I include some Star Wars in the plans. Again, I don't care for overly themed rooms, so expect some Star Wars accents, but not Star Wars covered everything. ;)

Ready to see where we're headed with the room? 

Images via Pottery Barn, Rugs USA, I Love Print, I Heart Organizing, Apartment Therapy, Sherwin-Williams, and Renovation Tracker. 

 Here's what's on our agenda for the next 6 weeks:

-Paint the room.

-Purchase new curtains.

-Purchase new rug.

-Rearrange the furniture

-Add Star Wars art and accessories. 

-Build window seat with storage. 

-Add storage solution for art supplies.

-Paint closet shelves. 

-Get rid of dresser and add closet clothing storage. 

We plan to keep the light, his bed, nightstand, and bedding which definitely helps out the budget!

We decided to keep our room design plans a secret from Little Man and are going to try to pull off surprising him. It's like our own little version of HGTV over here. Ha! I can't wait to see his face when he sees his room and realizes we encorporated Star Wars!

I hope you follow along as we overhaul Little Man's room! Be sure to check out all the other awesome room makeovers going on this month, too! There's some serious talent going on over at Calling it Home!

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, and many other awesome blogs!

Shop with Me: Kirkland's Edition

Hey, Friends! Sometimes, I wish we could all just pile in the car and take a shopping trip together, don't you?! But, since geography seems to be a bit of a problem for that plan, I decided to do the next best thing-- snap pictures while I shop! Come along with me on my recent trip to Kirkland's! 

Now, two disclaimers for you...

First, this is not sponsored! I just wanted to share my great decor finds! Kirkland's has no idea who I am. I wish! Hey, is this mic on? Kirkland's? Kirkland's, can you hear me? I love you! ;)

Second, I was pushing a stroller with a very grabby ninja 2 year old in it while simultaneously corralling my 5 year old and repeating "look don't touch" every two seconds AND trying to snap pictures with my phone. All because I love you. So, excuse the sub par pictures and just focus on the cute decor, ok? :)

First up, this bottle table runner is my absolute favorite! I asked for it for my birthday. Crossing my fingers that I get it! I know, I know, I could just DIY one, but sometimes it's nice to get something already assembled, you know? And check out the table it's on! Swoon!

Kirkland's has some great accent furniture! That cabinet on the bottom left reminds me of my teal cabinet. It'd be the perfect stylish small space storage solution for a dining room! And that table on the bottom right would look amazing in an entry way!

The lamps were all unique and very reasonably priced!

 I swooned over the large wall decor! The arched mirror would be amazing on a fireplace mantle, wouldn't it? The wood art on the bottom right catches my eye every time I go into Kirkland's!

Their mirrors are always super well priced. If you are doing a bathroom remodel, check Kirkland's for your mirror first! They're big, have great frames, and are a fraction of the price of the hardware store mirrors!

There were lots of cute accessories, too! I loved this set of sweet tea cups and they were on sale for only $8! It took all of my willpower (and remembering I have an overflowing cup cabinet) to not buy them!

This was actually my second trip to Kirkland's lately. Last week, my bestie Amy and I were supposed to be working out at the gym but somehow ended up at Kirkland's. I have no idea how that happened... ;) We both loved the wood signs! They're the same style as my DIY wood sign, so you you could totally make them yourself using my tutorial! Amy went home with that adorable measuring units sign. My picture of that stinks, but you can see it better here. It's SO cute!

Ok, ready to see what I bought? Both things were on clearance and I stacked a coupon on top from Kirkland's Spin it to Win it app!

I thought this sign was perfect for my dining room! I love the saying and how the text picks up the teal in my teal cabinet.

The sign I showed you above had me at hello! It's in our bathroom for now, but I'm thinking it'll be perfect in Jeremy's office!

Did you enjoy this little shopping trip? What store would you like to see next?

Nursery Gallery Wall Take Two

Hey, Friends! I'm so excited to share our updated nursery gallery wall with you! 

You may remember, this is what Little Girlie's gallery wall looked like while we were waiting for her grand arrival. After she was born, we added a picture of the kids to the polka dot frame and her footprints from the hospital to the green plaque. I loved it and it stayed like that for the last two years. 

Recently, though, we have had to switch a few things out. The footprints were fading from the window light, so I took those down. Then, after my Grandma passed away, I brought home a painting I had done for her a couple years ago and decided to add that to Little Girlie's gallery wall. Here's how it's looking now!

See where my popsicle stick mosaic mirror landed? I just love it! Who knew I could love popsicle sticks so much?! See the full tutorial here. 

I'm still head over heels for this print from Katie Daisy and the letter C that I ordered from a friend for Little Girlie's room, so those two things stayed put. 

I fell hard for Bre from Average but Inspired's peg doll family, so just had to make one for our family! You have to check out Bre's and her tutorial over on her blog! My little peg family fit perfectly on the green plaque and brings a giant smile to my face whenever I see it! 

Here's where the painting I did for my Grandma's 93rd birthday landed. I painted this for her a few months after she broke her hip and moved into a nursing home. I wanted something bright and cheery for her room. I was inspired by a gorgeous painting at World Market. It's such a happy/sad feeling to see it in here. It can be a painful reminder that Grandma is gone, but it also makes me smile that Little Girlie has this link to Grandma in her room. 

I'm loving the changes! Amazing how just a couple changes brought a whole new life to the wall!

Wall Color: Panache Pink by Sherwin Williams

See Board and Batten Makeover here!

Catch up on all of the nursery posts here!

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, Thrifty Decor Chick, and many other awesome blogs!

Neutral Winter Wreath

Hey, Friends, how was your Super Bowl weekend? I have to say, I was really pulling for the Panthers to win the Super Bowl for my hubby's sake, but we all know how that turned out. Sigh. On top of the stinky game, Little Man came down with the stomach flu and is absolutely pitiful. I haven't seen him this sick in a long time! Poor guy! 

Before the sickness set in, I did get a fun craft done this weekend! I don't know about you, but after Christmas, I never know what kind of wreath to put on the door. I'm not quite ready for a spring wreath, but can't do much in the way of Valentines decor because my door is coral and does not play well with Valentines colors. 

This year, I decided to create a neutral winter wreath, focusing on texture instead of pops of color. I'm a color lover at heart, so was worried it would look too lifeless, but I ended up loving the results! As an added challenge to myself, I decided to try to make my wreath exclusively with materials I had on hand already. Free decor for the win!

You'll notice it is very similar in style to the spring wreath I made a couple years ago. I love, love, love that wreath, so thought this was a good neutral version. 

I had a spare wreath form in the closet that I picked up during a sale at Michael's about a year ago for a couple dollars. Then, I rummaged through my fabric scraps from previous projects and came up with enough stuff to create the embellishments! 

I used leftover polka dot burlap from my no-sew pillows and this flower tutorial to make the burlap flowers. I used leftover felt from the spring wreath and this tutorial to make the loopy flowers. I had a roll of ivory yarn that has been floating around for years now to make a couple pom poms to look like snow balls/flakes. Here's a great pom pom tutorial if you need it. 

Then, I finished my wreath off by gluing on some pearls (again, leftover from my spring wreath) and wrapping some twine around a section of the wreath. I think the twine gives it a rustic touch and adds some balance, but my husband thinks it looks weird. Haha, gotta love the honesty! What do you think? Both the twine and leaves were inspired by this wreath. 

I'm so happy with the results and thrilled that I was able to pull it together for free! Hope this inspires you to rummage through your scrap piles and see what you can come up with! 

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, and many other awesome blogs!

How to Frame a Wood Sign

Hey, Friends! As promised, I'm back to spill all the details on how we framed our DIY lettered wood sign! If you missed the tutorial for making the sign, check it out here!

We designed our frame to have a groove inside for the sign to fit into. This allowed us to be able to frame and hang our sign without putting any nails into our sign. Here's how we did it!

Step One- Measure and cut a 1x2" board to the length of each side of your sign, adding 2-3 extra inches per side to allow for adjustments or mistakes. If you try to get a precise measurement before cutting your grooves, your measurements will be off. You'll trim the boards to exact length in Step 4.

Step Two- Next, make a groove in the wood for your sign to slide into. To accomplish this, lower the saw blade so that it is only sticking up about 1/3". Then, place your wood, broad side down, so that one edge of the wood extends about 1/4" past where the saw blade will hit. Place your saw guide along the other side to hold the wood straight, then make your cut all the way down the length of the board. 

After you've made your first groove, you'll repeat the process 2-3 more times on the same board, moving your wood over less than the width of the saw blade each time. As you do this, your groove will gradually get wider and wider. The goal is to get your groove wide enough for your sign to slide into. You want a good, snug fit. We ended up doing 4 passes over the table saw to get the perfect sized groove, but it may take you more or fewer passes depending on your sign width. After each pass over the table saw, do a check to see if your wood will slide over the sign. 

See how the groove gets a little wider with each pass? 

Step Three- Now that you have your grooves finished, dry fit your wood by sliding your two side boards onto the sign. Once your boards are in place, measure the width of your sign inside the side frames. This will give you a precise measurement for the top and bottom boards. Trim your top and bottom boards to your precise measurement. 

Step Four- Dry fit all sides of your frame, squaring up the corners. Both side boards will be too long, so mark and trim off any excess wood. The boards should be in the order below. 

Step Five- Paint or stain your boards. I only bothered painting the sides that would be exposed. Hey, ya gotta save time where you can, right?

Step Six- When the paint or stain is completely dry, assemble your frame and secure it with a nail on each corner. We used a nail gun for this and it made it so easy! You can go back around and fill the groove and nail holes on each corner and touch up your paint, but I found that it wasn't even noticeable on my frame once on the wall, so I didn't need to. Your choice!

Step Seven- Screw two short screws onto both of the back sides of your frame, leaving them sticking out about a quarter of an inch. Make sure not to screw them in too far or they will come out the side of the frame and that would be sad. ;) Wrap and string a wire from the screws to hang your sign. Done!!!

Both the sign and the frame ended up being so much more simple than I anticipated! Can you believe that I had figured out my plans and purchased the supplies months and months ago, then procrastinated because I was intimidated and thought would be hard?! Seriously, if you love these signs, try this method out! It's so simple!

Click here to see the simple and foolproof tutorial for how I made the lettered wood sign!

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, and many other awesome blogs!

Simple & Foolproof Tutorial for Making Your Own Lettered Wood Sign

*Affiliate links provided for your convenience. For more info, see my full disclosure here.

Are you all as obsessed as I am with the beautiful, lettered wood signs popping up all over the Internet and design world? I love the warmth, texture, and personal touch they add to a room!

The last big to-do for our living room makeover was to figure out some sort of large artwork for above the couch. After seeing my friend's wood sign, I fell in love and knew a wood sign would be a great choice for over our couch. We decided to use part of the chorus of the song "Safe" that my husband sings to our kids all the time. It's sentimental and also a great promise to be reminded of throughout the day!

Of course, after we decided on the text, I started stewing on how to actually DIY the sign. I read countless tutorials, but everything I found either required a projector which I had no access to, or required me to piece together multiple pieces of printed computer paper to fashion a stencil. That seemed like something I was sure to botch and end up with crooked text.

I brainstormed until I finally figured out a simple and foolproof method to making these awesome signs. Don't get overwhelmed by the length of this post-- it's a very simple process! The post is long because I wanted to include a picture of every single step to make the process as easy and straightforward as possible for you! Here's how I did it!

Step One- I started by typing out my text on PicMonkey.com, which you can use for free. We wanted a straight-lined, scripted look, but you could do any style font and layout you'd like! If you don't want all of your text in a perfect line, create your words in individual text boxes for easy maneuvering. PicMonkey has a great selection of fonts to choose from, but you can also use your own fonts which is what I did. 

After I got the text how I wanted it, I saved it in their largest file size called the "Sean" size, like so.

Step Two- Here's my biggest (proudest) lightbulb moment... Make an engineer print of your text to use as a stencil! By doing this, you will have a stencil that is one sheet of paper in the size you need! 

To make your engineer print, simply upload your image to your local office supply store in the size closest to the size of sign you are making. I printed mine in the largest size option. There are two keys to getting a successful print; make sure you save in the largest file size like I showed you above AND be sure to click the "Fit Content to Paper" check box. 

Clearly, I was stoked to have a gigantic stencil to make copying all that text as easy as pie!

Step Three- Now that you have your stencil taken care of, it's time to prep your wood. I like to make the stencil before cutting the wood, because I can use painters tape to hang it on the wall and see if I like the size. Mine was a little taller than I wanted, so I trimmed some of the white space off the top and bottom, then measured my stencil to get the size dimensions for my wood.

Cut a piece of 1/4" plywood to the desired size. We used 1/4" plywood for this project to keep the sign nice and lightweight and easy to hang. Give it a good sand by hand or using an orbit sander. 

Step Four- Paint or stain the wood. If you're going the paint route, I found that rolling the paint on with a foam roller was the fastest way with the best results. 

Step Five- Here's another lightbulb moment... Use graphite transfer paper to transfer your lettering to the wood! My Grandma taught me this method for transferring onto canvases back when she was teaching me to paint. I was thrilled when I tried it out on the wood and it worked like a charm! *Here's the graphite paper I used. 

Graphite paper is a breeze to use. It has a shiny side and a matte size. Place the shiny side down on your wood, then lay your engineer print stencil on top.

Line up your stencil exactly how you want it, then use painters tape to tape it down on two sides to prevent it from moving. I like to only tape on two sides if my graphite paper is not quite as big as the board. That way, I can slip my fingers or the eraser end of a pencil in and move the graphite paper over or down if necessary. 

Now that your graphite paper is down and your stencil is taped into place, use a ballpoint pen to trace firmly along the perimeter of your text. Be sure that the graphite paper is underneath where you are tracing at all times. Depending on how much text you have, this step can take a bit of time, so pop in a movie or watch a football game while you trace! :) 

After you've traced all of your letters, you'll be left with a nice outline on your wood! (This method works great on canvas, too!) If there are any stray marks or if you made a mistake, you can simply erase the mark with a pencil eraser. 

Step Six- Now that you have your stencil transferred to the wood, fill the outline in with paint! Here's my last big tip for you... Use a liner brush to paint flawless lettering! (No, not this kind of liner brush. Ha!) This is another lesson I learned from my Grandma! A good liner brush is only a couple dollars and will get you great results and give you much more control over your lettering. 

Here's *the brush I used. I also have a longer, slightly fuller one that I love, too. I bought mine at Michael's and used a coupon to make it super cheap. I couldn't find it on their website, but check your local store! 

If you've never used a liner brush before, here's a couple quick tips. Roll the brush in a thin layer of paint, then gently roll it on your plate or flat surface to get off any excess paint. You want the paint to be evenly distributed on the brush. When painting, the harder you press and the closer your brush is to the surface of the wood, the thicker the line will be. I recommend using a nice, light touch for the most precise line. Practice a letter or two on some scrap paper to get a feel for it. It's very simple and gives such great results, so it's worth learning!

I used the liner brush for all of the text on my sign. I outlined, then filled, all with the liner brush. I used light pressure for the outline and filled using more pressure on my brush to spread the paint faster. Can you tell I love the liner brush?! My Grandma taught me well. ;)

Again, this step can take a bit of time. I had a little Friends marathon during a couple of Little Girlie's naps and got it done.

Once you're finished lettering, you're done! After it's dry, you could lightly sand to distress it with sandpaper if you'd like, but I chose to leave mine as is. You can prop it up on a mantle, buffet, or dresser or you can frame it and hang it up like we did. If you are interested in seeing how we framed our sign, click here!

We absolutely LOVE it!

We love the style and personal touch it adds to the living room!

I hope this tutorial helps you create your own sign without all the stress! If you do your own sign, I'd love to see it! Send me a picture via email (littlebitsofhomeblog@gmail.com) or facbook or use the hashtag #littlebitsofhomesigns on Instagram and Twitter!

See the tutorial for how we framed and hung our sign here! 

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, and many other awesome blogs!