My Daughter’s Room–Updated {Yes, Again!} in Aqua Blue, Brown, and Pink

Chair as nightstand at 11 Magnolia Lane

This post feels a bit like Groundhog Day, because this isn’t the first time I’ve written a post on my daughter’s room redo!  My daughter’s style is constantly changing, and her room has changed along with it. In our historic house in North Carolina, her room was pinks and greens with tons of vintage touches, perfect for the first and second grader she was at the time (click HERE to read the post):

Pink and green little girls room at 11 Magnolia Lane

When we moved to Tennessee, she told me she wanted to get rid of ALL the pink in her room.  Gasp!  That was pretty much her entire room.  We tried aqua blue, green, and white for awhile, but the pinks kept creeping back in.  Finally, we decided to embrace it and added pops of hot watermelon pink to her color scheme.  Here’s what we wound up with, read about it HERE:

Aqua, hot pink, and green girls' bedroom at 11 Magnolia Lane

I lived with it for about six months, but then my daughter and I both realized that it was a little, well, much.  So we turned to Pinterest (of course!) and found two rooms that we adored:

Edie at Life in Grace did this gorgeous room for her girls (swoon!), and I loved how she used brown to make the bedding pop:

Life in Grace Girls’ Bedroom

Then, Chris at Just a Girl did this gorgeous room for her daughter:

Little Girls’ Room at Just a Girl

I love the way that they both use brown (chevrons and zebra) to set off the bedding.  And, of course, it’s the same bedding–Serena & Lily’s Annabel duvet cover.  My daughter is named Annabelle, so obviously it was meant to be!  We ordered it, and the game was ON!

Here’s how it turned out:

Tween girl's room in aqua, brown, and pink at 11 Magnolia Lane

I spray-painted the iron headboard–again–covering up the hot pink with white.  I was tired of the brass accents that were there from the 70′s (it was my headboard as a girl), so that worked out well (I was tempted to do the antique brass that Edie has in her girls’ room, but chickened out).  Then I spray-painted her flea market nightstand from robin’s egg blue to metallic silver.  Here’s the before:

Bright blue nightstand at 11 Magnolia Lane

And the after:

Metallic silver nightstand by 11 Magnolia Lane

The lamp was a Target purchase and the drum shade was white.  I covered it with brown zebra shelf paper from TJ Maxx (we’ve given several rolls of this away on the blog and it’s in stores now).  The quatrefoil monogram is a free printable from the ladies at For Chic Sake (thanks, girls).  I used a different color combination in my closet.  The brown bedskirt is from Goodwill ($2–score!), and I already had the sheets and the pillows.

Closeup of nightstand

Amy gave me these square polka dotted plates when she changed her color scheme in her kitchen a few years ago–I think they were a TJ Maxx purchase.  We pass things back and forth more often than we’d care to admit, and it’s probably a good thing we don’t live near each other, because our houses usually sport pretty much the same decor.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut letters out of that same roll of vinyl shelf paper and stuck them on the plate–instant wall art!

Monogrammed plate wall art at 11 Magnolia Lane

The little table got a coat of brown spray paint, but it’s lived several past lives.  I wrote a post about it HERE and you can see all the different ways we’ve had it painted.  It was a $3 yard sale find.  There’s a big wooden “A” on the wall above it, and I spray painted it metallic silver (it was hot pink and then celery green prior to that!).  By the way, I also spray-painted the lamp shade brown–why not?Brown and white side table at 11 Magnolia Lane

At the foot of the bed is my daughter’s armoire–it’s been in my kids’ rooms since my son was born, and the door panels have had different paints, fabrics, stencils, you name it.  For this project, I gave it a shot of brown zebra!

Armoire panels covered with sticky shelf paper at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

To the left of the armoire is my daughter’s ballet barre.  You can read the tutorial on that HERE.  It only takes up about 3′ of wall space, and was under $20 to build–one of my favorite ideas ever!

DIY ballet barre for little girls' bedroom at 11 Magnolia Lane

To the right of the armoire is her “bulletin” board–a thrift store picture frame I filled with chicken wire (the tutorial is HERE).  A little girl needs somewhere to put all her paper bits, right?  The kitty cat collection is OLD, because it was mine when I was her age!

Chicken wire frame as bulletin board at 11 Magnolia Lane

In the corner to the left of the window is her reading area.  Right now there’s a patterned papasan chair from PB Teen there, but I’m hoping to have an old slipper chair from my bedroom recovered in white and put in its place.

Little girls' bedroom at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

Reading nook at 11 Magnolia LaneHer desk was a find at the Cameron Antiques Fair in North Carolina.  It’s a junior size and just right for her.  Last time I checked, there were twelve tons of junk in the drawers!

Antique desk at 11 Magnolia Lane

I’m planning to change the window treatments–the panels were on clearance for $10 at Ikea, so I’ll just pop them on Craigslist and buy another pair in a softer pink–or maybe brown.  Thoughts?

I only shot the top of the bookshelf, because we have TONS of books in our house, and it’s hard to make them look cute when they’re jammed in there every which way!  The little white shelf was from Goodwill, as were the vintage Bobbsey Twins books.

Bobbsey Twins books at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

And last, but not least, here’s a repeat of the first shot.  The chair was given to us by a friend.  I painted it white with brown accents and covered it with a brown and white striped fabric that I had in my stash.  This little chair has seen a lot of different styles over the years, too.  Right now, instead of a stack of books, it holds my daughter’s Kindle, because that’s as good as a couple of thousand books, right?!  You can also see the close up of the duvet fabric–so beautiful.

Chair as nightstand at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

We are not changing this room again until she goes to college.  Or, at least for a couple of years!  And for those of you who are wondering, my son keeps saying that he doesn’t want his room updated–he likes it just the way it is.  HERE’s a post of how it looked in our North Carolina house, and it’s pretty much the same here.  One of these days!

Do you have any rooms in your house that you obsessively redecorate, or is it just me? :)

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Lalaloopsy 4th Birthday Party

 Since it’s been the holiday season, I didn’t want to jump back in with a post about all that was pink, girly and Lalaloopsy until now. But, a few weeks ago we celebrated my daughter’s fourth birthday in grand style.

To give you a little background, this was her first ‘party’.  I said to someone the day of the party, I have thrown approximately 17 boy parties {My boys are 7 and 10 so think Star Wars, Army, Ninja Turtles, Transformers–you name it, we’ve done it}, but this was my first GIRL party so I may have gone a little over the top. It was a TON of fun to finally create something related to dolls, pink and totally girly, and I can definitely say she enjoyed her celebration too.

The theme of the party was not without much debate. During my last visit with Terry (who among her many talents is a professional event planner) together– with Pinterest– we planned a beautiful silver and white Snow/Winter Fairy party for her. That lasted about a day. Then my daughter decided she wanted a Hello Kitty party. Again, after much discussion and maybe a little hopeful persuasion from her mother, she finally settled on a Lalaloopsy theme for her big day.

Putting something together with the doll concept with buttons and sewing was too cute to pass up. I prefer to use mostly homemade items for parties, especially since I used to make and sell many of the party accessories such as you see in the photos.  I was really in for it when we {she} found LalaLoopsy party plates, cups, etc. at Wal-mart. So, again we compromised, and she got to set the table, which she did days in advance in her excitement.

I used generic white and pink cups, made stickers for them and filled them with popcorn and served the drinks in them. The straws were leftover from this Baby Shower we had last year.

The party was in the afternoon, so I didn’t do too much for food, just lots of snacks and sweet treats for the little girls to enjoy.

We did cupcakes, pink of course, with little toppers I made.

I knew I wanted to have a seat for each little girl, so we rented some extra chairs, a large round table and a white cloth. It made things so much easier to have everyone sitting instead of running wild, then we just packed it all up and returned it the next day.

I made the banner out of fabric scraps to hang above the buffet table; it’s been repurposed and now hangs over her bed in her room as a little reminder of her day.

We had a craft station set up in my office.  The girls made three different Christmas ornaments {under the supervision of some gracious middle schooler helpers} which of course, I don’t have pictures of to show, but it kept them busy and the ornaments served as their little “take home” gift.

 All in all I think the birthday girl had a ball!

XO,

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Turquoise, Pink, and Purple Bulletin Board

Big Girl Bedroom with New Custom Made Cork Board

My son’s very best girl friend recently turned 7.  Hannah the Banana is a sweet girl near and dear to all of our hearts, especially my oldest son’s.  They grew up together, born a couple months apart, and have been connected ever since.  It is such a sweet relationship, one that I hope never changes.

Her amazing mama turned her little girl room into a stylish big girl room as one of her birthday gifts.  I, of course, wanted to be a part of this transformation and thought that a bulletin board would be the perfect accent piece and a special gift for a growing girl.  With new bedding ordered and a color palette of turquoise, purple and pink I quickly got to work.

I have done a few bulletin boards around my house and love to see how a bit of fabric and glue can really change up a cheap cork board.  Since this was a gift, I wanted to create something a bit more special.  HomeGoods sells amazing framed bulletin boards, so that was my first stop.  They didn’t have the color I wanted so I simply spray painted the board bright turquoise.

Bright Turquoise Frame!

Next was finding the perfect fabric to cover the cork.  Her new big girl bedding had lots of bright colors and patterns with a bit of a Moroccan feel to it.  I felt that I needed a neutral fabric to match her new bedding but I didn’t want a solid white.  I found this amazing fabric with a circular patterned print that worked perfectly with her bedding.

Spray Glue works wonders on cork boards... I really love that stuff.

I tacked the corners of the fabric to hold it in place while the glue dried.

I wanted to add a border and found this hot pink pom pom trim that I fell instantly in love with.  It still has that Moroccan feel but it is also playful and girly.  I didn’t want to choose something too grown-up for the border as she is only 7.   My girlfriend and I embrace that our kids are growing up, but we also want to enjoy each phase.  I definitely wanted something that reflected her maturing style but I also wanted to keep it age appropriate.  I am in no rush to for anyone to grow up fast :) !  I think the pom poms are a sweet touch of fun and color.

Hot pink pom pom trim makes the perfect statement!!

I finished off the pom pom trim with some silver accent tacks.

I felt that I needed to include some fun push pins to tie it all together.  Since I already had these silver pins on hand,  I figured that I could jazz them up for her girly board.   I had some extra pom pom trim and cut off  a few poms and  hot glued them to the top of the pin.  I also purchased a .99 cent flip flop bedazzle kit from JoAnn Fabrics a while back and loved the idea of adding some flowers and jewels to this piece.  I simply separated the jeweled flowers from the set and hot glued those to the top of the push pins, which added a bit of whimsy to the board.

Creating custom push pins to match this fun big girl bulletin board

I also had purchased a wooden “H” to personalize her board.  I wasn’t sure what to do with it but I wanted to have something hanging on the board when we presented her gift.  I had lots of purple glitter and some clear spray paint top coat.  It was as simple as that!! I stapled some ribbon to the back of the H and hung it center stage.

I simply covered the "H" with Mod Podge and then sprayed a clear top coat to ensure the glitter wouldn't come off.

Here is the final product hanging in her new and improved big girl bedroom.  Check out her new bedding and adorable her peace sign artwork.  She is growing up, as is her fashion forward style!

Big Girl Bulletin Board

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Easy {and Cheap!!} Kids’ Summer Craft: Bandana Flip Flops



My favorite kind of tutorial is the kind that’s only one or two steps long…and this craft fits the bill.  You can pretty much look at the picture and figure it out!  And, best of all, this is a craft that middle to upper elementary school girls can do on their own with minimal assist from mom.

Thanks to my dear friend, Andrea, who introduced me to these cute flip flops years ago.

Gather your supplies:

1.  A pair of rubber flip flops in the appropriate size (ours were $1.99 at Hobby Lobby, although they go on 50% off sale every few weeks if you want to buy them even cheaper).

2.  A bandana (or two, or three) in your choice of colors (ours were $0.99 at Hobby Lobby and, again, they go on sale every few weeks).  We chose red and blue to go with a swimsuit my daughter has…and of course, for the 4th of July.

3.  Fabric scissors (or pinking shears if you want to jazz them up a little more).

Now, cut your bandana into strips that are about 6″ long.  The width can be 1/2″ to about 3/4″, depending on your preference.  Obviously, the thinner the strips, the more you’ll need.  6″ is the right length to be able to tie them in a double knot, which is essential, otherwise the bandana strips fall off with activity.

Knot the strips on the flip flop straps, double knotting and pulling them tight.  Alternate colors according to your color scheme.   I have also used thin ribbon to do this project, but if it’s too “slippery” then you can’t tie a tight knot.  It does give you endless options for customizing your flip flops, though.

The last step is to wear and enjoy!  Since a single bandana will make several pairs, this is a great project for a sleepover or birthday party, or even for a Daisy or Brownie troop.  We’ve also given a pair as a sweet, and inexpensive, birthday present.  Big girls wear them, too–one year I made a couple of dozen for some of the military ladies I volunteer with, as a thank you gift.  Maybe a teacher would like them in a tote bag as an end-of-year gift?  The possibilities are endless.  Have fun!

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Pretending to be Supermodels…

Have you noticed our new look? Thanks to some amazing photography of the three of us by Jessica Oatman, we have a new Blog header and have freshened up our “About Us” page.

We had such a great time working with Jessica. She really listened to our ideas, and spent time talking about what we hoped for and looking at the inspiration shots we had gathered. OK, actually Terry was the Creative Director on our end, Christy and I just stood where we were told, and smiled through the cold!

Our goal was to get some fun shots that captured our personalities, that would feel fresh and would work within the space limitations of our blog pages.

Our inspiration for a large part of our shoot was the Mad Men era, in fact Christy and Terry both were able to wear vintage dresses (Christy from her mother and Terry from her Grandmother). These were the most fun shots to do.

We also took some dressed up shots as all three of us love any reason to get all ‘glammed up’.

Finally, we did a whole mess of outside casual shots and individual headshots.

And we did all this in a 2 hour window—including wardrobe/hair/jewelry changes. Unfortunately, the hotel where we stayed and held the shoot at was not very accommodating of extending our check-out time, and so we had to rush through much of the pictures to wrap up and race out of there by noon. Jessica was super-efficient and had some great suggestions for what have become some of our favorite pictures.

And, did we mention it was freezing with rain threatening that day? I don’t know how supermodels do it!

Thanks Jessica, we look forward to working with you again! You can read more about Jessica (her story is incredible) on her Blog here.

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Visions of Sugarplums—Or My Daughter’s Bedroom, Decked Out for Christmas

 

Probably the saddest thing about this photo medley is that it might be the last one done in shades of pink and green, as my daughter tells me that next year she wants her room done in robin’s egg blue and green with ELEPHANTS on the walls.  OK…no problem, honey!  Actually, I’m not sure how I’m going to include the elephants without it looking tacky, so I’m hoping she’ll just forget about those.  No need to remind me that I’m stifling her creativity by saying that!  Her room is pretty much entirely pink, green, and white, so it will be a challenge to shift gears with the color palette.  But, since I really do love to decorate, I will arm myself with a can of spray paint and create a more grown-up retreat for my seven-going-on-seventeen-year-old!

So, all of that is a little background on why I really savored the Christmas decorating this year and decided to take pictures.  I know that everyone’s taste is different—consider me and Annabelle to be absolute proof of that statement—but I thought it might give some of you inspiration as you decorate for the holiday.

I seem to have a bit of a “tea theme” going on in Annabelle’s room, hence the two teapots and the tea-related books stacked under the topiary.  I know you probably can’t see that the books are titled Muffins, Scones, and Tea for Two, but that’s because my camera is pretty old and has been dropped on its head a few too many times.  As a side note, I asked Santa for a nice one this Christmas, but I’m not really sure that I’ve been good enough to get it!

Back to the teapots…the larger one is from a dear friend who gave it to Belle on her fourth birthday, and the smaller one was actually hand-painted by my great aunt and is a real family treasure.  I hold my breath over that one every time we move.  The topiary is from TJ Maxx (raise your hand if you LOVE TJMaxx!) and is going on fifteen years old, but we don’t discriminate against the aged in this house, since the house is older than all of us put together.

A quick aside on the tree:  it’s kind of a Charlie Brown tree this year, having lost several of its branches in our last move, but since we’ll probably be moving again next summer, I think I’d better hold onto it and buy a new one once we get there.  Also, since I find tons of Christmas decorations at yard sales, I can keep an eye open for a “new” one.   In the meantime, I stuffed it full of ornaments and other decorations and I hardly notice that it’s a little lopsided, although you might now that I’ve called attention to it.  I continued the tea theme (but did NOT beat it to death, I promise) with her silver tea set and a Christmas-themed set under the tree.  The Christmas set was from my mom and since she died before meeting her granddaughter, it’s extra special to me.  The tree skirt is actually a dresser scarf and it was embroidered by my grandmother, but I think I need a better camera for you to see the detail on it (Santa, are you listening?).

Oh, and do you see the bed in the picture?  That’s my old white iron bed, and I love it.  My daughter, on the other hand, does not.  She has asked me to paint it green or blue next year.  I will normally spray paint anything that sits still, but I have to admit that makes me nervous.  Any ideas?

This is normally Annabelle’s bedside table, but of course I had to rearrange to put the tree in the window so it’s hanging out at the foot of her bed this month.  I actually snagged this little old table for $3 at a yard sale, painted and distressed it, and glued the pompom fringe around the top.  Love it!  (I wonder how it will look in green and robin’s egg blue?)  The Sugar Plum Fairy nutcracker is a reminder of our annual trip to see the Nutcracker—my daughter’s seen it in three different states already.  You can’t really see the quilt, but it was my great-grandmother’s and we think it’s almost one hundred years old.  I sewed the duvet cover out of two fabric shower curtains I found at Marshall’s.  My mother always told me I’d need to know how to sew, and as with everything else she told me, she was right.

“No Pouting.”  These are words to live by during the holiday season, aren’t they?

I made this dollhouse for my daughter last Christmas and I won’t lie, it was nearly the end of me.  It turned out great, although there were moments of despair along the way (and several bottles of wine consumed late at night).  The dollhouse has been decorated for the holidays, but only on the outside.  The residents are extremely messy and when I took a look today, the toilet was in the attic and the bedroom furniture was in the living room.  Some of them were missing articles of clothing, too.  It must have been some party!

I have a few more pictures that I’ll post below without a lot of explanation; if you’re like me, then the more pictures, the better.

Thanks for taking a look around, and enjoy getting your home ready for the season!

For a lot more pictures, you can check out this room on Rate My Space.  I’ve never posted anything there before and am petrified that everyone will give me horrible ratings, so please say nice things (even if you have to fib a little bit–that’s what girlfriends do!).

Also, take a look at Southern Hospitality’s Vignette Party; Annabelle’s room is entry #192.

 

Santa Pillow (made by my talented aunt)

Pinky Bear (made by another talented aunt)

Angel Chandelier
Old Dining Room Chair–Redone
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