Project E. M. M. A.

I am a MOM on a mission! If I do not accomplish my mission then I will fail as a Mom!!

Yea Right who am I kidding?!? Seriously though, I am on a mission to redo Ms. Em's room. The last major update we had on it was her new bed back in August of last year! Hmm I have been totally slacking!!

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest then you know that I am always on the lookout for colorful pieces to add to Ms. Em's room. We have a few larger projects that we will be working on soon but I stumbled across something this weekend that I knew I had to go ahead and do.

I have always loved seeing my kids names on things. I am sure it stems from the fact that my own name is never on anything unless it is a custom made piece due to it's crazy spelling(love you Mom!) I also have a major love of letters, any kind of letters will do as I am not picky at all! This time I did find all the same style letters in Ms. Em's name so I knew I had to get them. I also knew that I wanted to make some sort of hanging sign and this is what I came up with.

 Plain ole street sign letters(no I did not steal them!!)

 Pick out some pretty papers.

 Trim to fit and ink the edges.

 Stack of letters and finished paper before the mod-podge was pulled out.

 Add some ribbon and WaaaLaaa you have a Name Sign!!

I tied a knot in the ribbon and just hung it over the top of her bed. 

It may not stay here but for now she likes it :) and I LOVE it!!

Is it crazy that I like seeing her name so much? I happen to think that it is cool to see your name on things.
Is your name easy to find on items at the gift shop? Do you have lots of pens, mugs, license plates for your 10-speed bike or are you all sad and nameless too? (laughing -- kinda)

Friday we are starting on one of the bigger projects for her room and I couldn't be more excited about it! Can't wait to share it!

Ikea Initiation

What do you do when your best pal calls you up and says "Hey girl, Since we are headed to Atlanta anyway - do you want to go by Ikea before we head to the museum*?"
Well if you are me you can't say "Yes, Yes, Yes." and "What time do we leave?" fast enough. You see until yesterday I was an I.V = Ikea Virgin!!. *hangs head* Yes I am 37 years old and I have never been to Ikea before -- sad isn't it. It actually always made me laugh when I told people that because I do like to shop so it was a shock that I had never experienced the fabulousness of Ikea before now.

I simply can not Thank my pal Heather from TwentySomething enough for introducing me to my new favorite place. YOU ROCK H!!! I tend not to say this around TheHandyman because he will think it is due to the furniture(he is a furniture builder after all so it is a little sacrilegious to purchase that elsewhere) but in reality it is due to all the wonderful accessories. If you have not been then you totally need to go and quick. They have the coolest items there.

Below are some of my favorites of the day.

 

1. Letter Bookends -- just happened to be displaying the best one -- B

2. Wavy Light Shade - so pretty.

3. Fabulous wall of photos. Even though white is not my color I could so see this in Black!

4. Baskets GALORE -- I was in heaven!

1. This light consisted of wires(sparkler size), Paper flowers, and buttons -- crazy!!

2. Pillow of the Day -- loving the colors and it had Birds on it which is always an extra plus :)

3. Dresser and Nightstand - these beauties were an lovely gray color with the cutest teardrop pulls <3

4. I am totally coveting this sink. The shape is so different and unique it was hard for me to resist haha

LOVE the colors!

This lamp was simply stunning..thin wood strips - loved it!
Above photo linked to Sweet Shot Tuesdays because I LOVE it!
 

Heather with her $19.99 find.

I know she will talk herself into it so we will get to go back soon and pick this baby up!

Emma was our photographer for part of the day and had to get the requisite self-portrait - love this girl!

 Our lunches for the day :)

Needless to say it was an awesome trip and I can not wait to go back. 

When all was said and done my total purchases equaled $3.60 -- see proof positive that I have awesome restraint!!

*Sidenote: If you are in the Atlanta area you should check out the Breman Holocaust Museum. After the Ikea visit we went and heard a Survivor speak then toured the museum. Very moving!

Do you have one of those friends who introduces you to new and fabulous places? If so - what was your favorite?

R is for Recycle

It seems every store I go into these days or every catalog I get in the mail has some sort of initial display, wall hanging, accessory, etc. Whether it be one letter or a whole wall of letters like the photo below, letters are very popular! I am totally adoring the walls below :)

I am loving all the letters and symbols that I see!! I am not sure if it just goes along with my reading habit or what but I totally Love letters. It is not simply my own Initials I love - I love them ALL! The fact that this post features my own initial is purely circumstantial -- honestly ;)

I have seen quite a few people decorate letters in a number of different ways but my favorite has to be using torn book pages. Since I am an avid reader it seems I always have more than a few books laying around and as you know there are only so many times you can read the same book(unless it is reaaaalllyy good) so I like the idea of recycling them into other things.

Today I actually took some time to cover an R that I bought a few years ago so I thought I would share the How-To with you guys.

Book Page Monogram
Materials:

• Letter of Choice - R found at a Flea Market for $.50
• Old Book - I used two with different size font
• Mod Podge
• Paint Brush

The actual work is so easy that you could have your kids do it if you wanted. Just tear pieces of the book pages into all sorts of sizes and apply a small amount of Mod Podge to the back of the paper with the paint brush. Put the pieces on the letter/symbol, overlapping as you like to give it the decoupage look.

There is no rhyme or reason here, simply cover the whole letter with the paper.

Once the letter is completely covered in paper, let it dry then apply a few coats of Mod Podge to finish it off.(Let dry between coats)

Excuse the yellowed photo -- will take a better one tomorrow.

Hang or display in your house for everyone to Ohh &Ahhh over :)

I am now on the lookout for letters for everyone in the family along with some unique symbols.

Feel free to let me know if you see any I would like!

Linking to: