DIY - TV Shelf

I was looking for a solution for our comcast box as it has always annoyed me that it needed to be tilted on it's side since we have our television on top of the cornered fireplace.

After a little DIY searching, I came across this great and inexpensive idea for making an easy tv shelf. It was perfect. I had a scrap Ikea shelf in the garage ($5 in there discount area) and shopped at Lowe's for the door stoppers ($2 a pack). Unfortunately I couldn't find any that didn't have white caps, but the solution is perfect! Take a look.

Owl Themed Baby Shower

There is no one better to throw a party with than my sister-in-law, Nicole! We have fun coming up with the theme, decorating, planning the menu and finding props for the photo booth - even better we work great as a team.

For Laura's shower we incorporated baby Ashlyn's owl theme from her room (see Ashlyn's room design) with wood cookie centerpieces, chocolate owl cupcakes, painted birdhouse crafts and much more, see below.

{ Invitation }

Invitation design - inspired by Ashlyn's bedding

　

{ Food }

The inspiration for food were lite appetizers that related back to the theme. We made cherry chip chocolate cupcakes with huge owl eyes, a creation that came from Nicole Hills blog. Owl eggs, snails (wiener wraps), swirly owl trees (asparagus wrapped with pastry dough), rainbow fruit salad, poppy flower bites (tomato, basil, mozz on a stick...Yum such an easy app), moss & grass dip (artichoke & spinach dip) and wood stump sandwiches (mini BLTA bites).

{ Memorable Crafts }

After snacking and mingling we painted small wooden birdhouses that I picked up at JoAnn's for a $1 each. I choose a bright color palette that coordinated with Ashlyn's room decor. Once each house was personalized and artistically painted we stacked them on shelves in Ashlyn's room. Guests really enjoyed this craft project and wrote short wishes to the new baby girl on the bottom of each house.

{ Games }

We finished the day with gifts, traditional baby shower games - scrabble, nursery rhyme questions and guessing the circumference of Laura. Last but not least we ended it with a photo booth session for everyone to take part in and show off there bird house creation.

 

Whooo's room was it?

Baby Rose's room, or at least that's what we'll call her for now since her name is undecided at the moment :) We'll meet her any day now though! My friend Laura, gave me the honor to design her baby's room - she picked the bedding and left the rest up to me.

I envisioned the room filled with loads of pink with hints of natural colors, browns, greens and sky blues. I wanted to stay budget conscious at around $200 for the entire room. Paint, decor, drapes, storage pieces, lighting etc.


Over 1 month I spent time searching for inspiration on the web, paroozing Goodwill for that perfect half off piece, flipping through CL posts and couponing for JoAnn's fabric. With help from the blog, Sewing for Scarlett, I was able to easily apply the custom fabric branch and owl decal that I had designed.

These are the result...



Personalized artwork &
frames for family portraits 





Custom fabric wall decal
to match hand-made owl pillow





Closet organizer, drapery,
hardware & flower light





Cubby shelf, decor & bird lamp



Pottery Barn rug & custom drapery



With help from my sister and a friend we were able to pull the room together one afternoon while Laura was at work and give her a great surprise when she got home.

Overall this project was a learning experience - I was able to demonstrate the same principles of graphic design that I use everyday and apply them to a livable space.