Word Clouds - Nursery Decor

There is a website called Tagxedo, found here, that allows you to pick a shape and the add a list of words to fill in that shape. You get to pick the font, color, style and theme of the words. You can save the file as an image or print it out when finished. I used the baby elephant shape and filled it in with words describing our baby. I chose a blue theme for my colors. Then I purchased a board from Hobby Lobby and used Mod Podge to add a piece of bright blue scrapbook paper to the board. Then Mod Podged the cut out elephant to the board. Pretty easy nursery decor. 

Pumpkin Hat

My Mom used to knit seasonal baby hats for friends and charity so I decided to make pumpkin hats.

I used orange and green cotton yarn and normal toddler hat pattern. Circular needles allowed it to be garter stitch and then just switch to green toward the top. For the stem I used icord stitch and attached it when finished. 

If you don't want it to roll use a 1 inch ribbing around the bottom. Although if you don't know the size of the child's head then the roll can be helpful. 

This one has a ribbed edge and not as much green for the stem.

Here is a pic of my little guy wearing one!

Fabric Pouf

"Poufs" are very popular now, basically it is a bean bag but without the beans and with stuffing. I found one I liked at World Market, Restoration Hardware, Crate and Barrel and Target but they were all way more than I was willing to spend. Even Target has them for no less than $50 some up to $190. Making one allowed me to pick the fabric to match the theme of the room - gray and white. 

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 2 yards of gray and white polka dot fabric. I followed this really easy pattern I found on HGTV's website. 

Here are a few pictures along the way.

The pattern: printed, cut out, and taped together

Cutting out 8 identical pieces

Pieces paired up and ready to be sewn together

Two halves of the pouf - 4 pieces each

Finished Product

Hiding a Circuit Breaker Box

When the builders of your house put the circuit breaker box in the first floor hallway, leading to the backyard, it is an eye sore to say the least!

My first idea was to buy a mirror, picture frame, or piece of art to cover it. That would be an easy fix if it weren't such an odd shape. The dimensions were 18' W and 41' L. 

This project was completed by myself, my husband and my future sister-in-law's help. We used scrap pieces of trim, gave them a fresh coat of white paint, used corner hinges to secure them together and placed a cork board in the middle. Covered the cork board with fabric to make it prettier and had a great way to cover the box for very little money! It is easy to take down when we need to access the circuit breaker box. 

Growth Chart

I need some nursery decor and thought that a growth chart would be a cute and useful thing to have. This way we can track how much our kid grows each year!

I bought a piece of wood from Home Depot - 6 ft. long and 7 in. wide for $4.50. I tried to find a piece that had some character - knots, stripes, rings that would show through the staining. 

The wood needed to coats of stain (Minwax - Golden Oak). 

Then I measured the height of the baseboards in the room where the growth chart was going to be hung. If you have baseboards you can't start the measuring at zero. I decided to hang it 6 inches off the floor. So when making the marks I started at 6 inches. I used a black paint pen to make the marks. I did 1 in. marks for the inches, 2 in. marks for 6 in. and 3 in. marks for each foot.

Then I added the numbers for each foot. I bought a stencil and used leftover paint from painting my garage door. Now I am just waiting for my husband to hang it in the nursery!

Nursery Curtains

I couldn't find any gender neutral curtains for my nursery that had a cute pattern. It was either yellow ducks, giraffes, or pink or blue. So I decided to make them. I found a gray and white chevron print fabric from Hobby Lobby. I bought 2 pieces 5 yards long each. I cut them in half, ironed them and then started pinning. I pinned each of the long sides in one inch. The bottom edge 2 inches. The top edge I folded over 2 inches and then again 3 inches. I ironed the edges and then began to sew!

Garage Door

Painting the door from the garage into the house adds a pop of color and stops it from looking so dirty!

Before

After

Then I asked my husband to add a kick plate to the bottom so it doesn't get marks from shoes.