Handmade Bulletin Boards

I think one of the fun things about getting the kids' room ready has been doing a few craft projects to complete the room (like their name letters I made for the wall). I love doing crafty things, but I'm not a very crafty person. I'm always excited to find a crafty project that I can actually complete.

I'll admit that this idea isn't original with me. The first time I saw it was when one of our friends made Ella a bulletin board for her nursery. I LOVED the idea, and I thought I'd make Ella and Troy bulletin boards that match their bedding.

These bulletin boards are made from ceiling tiles. I simply painted the plain white tiles to match their bedding, and used hot glue to add ribbon hang them.

Ella's bulletin boards:

Troy's bulletin boards:

I wouldn't examine them too closely because I am not the best artist/painter in the world, but I was pretty pleased at how they turned out given my lack of artistic ability. I was even more excited when Ella was able to identify both the owl and the bird on her bulletin boards. She did think that the fox on Troy's board was a cat, but, hey, that's pretty close, and I don't technically think she knows what a fox is anyway! :)

Progress in the Kiddos' Room

After much debate, planning, and decision-making, we've finally actually made some progress on Ella's and Troy's room (yes, in case you didn't know, baby brother's name is going to be Troy, although he still doesn't have a middle name yet!). We've got the room painted, and I got their name letters up. I still have several other things to do before the room is finished, but this is a kind of sneak peak to the finished product.

Troy's side of the room is blue, and Ella's side of the room is purple-pink. The letters match their individual bedding which I'll get better pictures of later.

And, I couldn't resist adding this photo of Ella. We put her in her crib while we were moving furniture around, and she wasn't happy about it! :)

Follow-Up: Creating a Shared Toddler/Newborn Room

Last week, I blogged that I was trying to figure out how to create a shared room for my toddler daughter and her future baby brother. After much thought and searching (lots and lots of internet shopping), I think I've come up with a plan. I'd love to know what you think (even if you don't like it!). I found I was really, really limited by the toddler bedding that is available out there right now. I did a ton of shopping, and I was surprised at how little toddler bedding is actually available on the market (or maybe it just seems like such a small selection compared to the quantity of crib bedding available).

Bedding for baby brother:

Carter's Forest Friends Collection

Bedding for Ella:

Circo Love and Nature Toddler Bedding Set

I like that the animals are similar on the two bedding sets, even though they don't match exactly (and I was never going for matching exactly). 

As I mentioned previously, I think we will paint Ella's side of the room one color and baby brother's side of the room a different color. For example, something like the twin nursery I found on Baby Room Bio.

I'll have to actually have the bedding in hand to decide what colors, but for now I'm thinking light blue or light green for baby brother's side of the room, and light purple for Ella's side  of the room. I'm also thinking I'll do all the curtains in the room a chocolate brown color to tie everything together. I'd love to know what paint combinations you'd think would work best!

I also plan to make wooden letters spelling out each child's name to hang above their beds (like I have in Ella's room now, but her current letters won't match). I'm still looking for some other creative DIY projects to add the finishing touches to the room (well, imaginary room at this moment, since I haven't actually done any work yet!).

Stay tuned for pictures of the completed room!

Creating a Shared Toddler/Newborn Room

We've officially decided that Ella and her baby brother will be sharing a room. That was an easy decision. Now comes the hard part . . . I'm too picky, but maybe even more so, too indecisive. I'm struggling with how I actually want to decorate the room. I'm hoping you will be able to help me out with some creative ideas! I need all the help I can get!!

First off, let me give you the basics.

• The bed situation:
• Ella will be staying in her crib (which will be converted to a toddler bed at some point, but keeps the same size mattress), so I either need to keep her current bedding or get new crib/toddler bedding.
• Baby brother will be in a crib as well (duh!, right?). It will be the same color wood as Ella's but a slightly different style.
• The color situation:
• I like the yellow (currently in Ella's room, see pictures below), but I'm really in the mood to do something different in the room.
• I'm not against doing something creative like painting one side of the room one color and the other side of the room another color (the room could actually be split in a very natural way). See some of the photos of the twin rooms to get an idea of what I'm talking about here.
• I'm not a fan of a bunch of pink. Some pink is OK, but I'm not going to do lots of pink.
• The theme situation:
• It can have a theme or not, I don't really care one way or the other. But . . . 
• I don't want to do anything with cartoons.
• Miscellaneous things:
• It does not have to be a matchy-matchy room, but I would like everything to look good together.
• I made Ella's name letters, and I'll make new ones for her (if the current ones don't match) and new ones for baby brother.

If you've made it this far through the post, thank you for your patience as you read through all my pickiness. :) Here are some photos of Ella's current stuff. The colors in the first photo are much truer to the real colors in the room (these are some old photos and Ella is sleeping right now, so I'm not going to take any new ones). Her bedding has bees and stars (the stars are on the bed skirt and her lamp - they are not easily seen in the photos).

Thank you for your creative input! :)