A couple of small additions to the playroom

So I thought I was done with the playroom, but turns out I wasn't.

I wasn't convinced this wall was full enough. It just needed a little something more.

After using the space for a while, I found we needed a clock. This space is totally separate from the rest of the house, so it's easy to lose track of time. I was scouting out some options and I went into Target thinking I was going to buy a certain $25 clock, but walked out with this $4 model. It's plastic, but I'm OK with that. Penny pinching wins again.

 

I found these lowercase e's at my favorite antique mall for $1.25 each. They were in a box of assorted letters. I was trying to figure out what all the letters could have spelled, but all I could come up with was “Pony Express.” That can't be right. Anyhow, I love E's and couldn't pass them up for the price.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Let's talk about playroom toy storage

I hope you're not getting bored with all the playroom posts. This is the last one, I promise! There is just so much I wanted to show you, but I'm ready to move onto something else now.

But before we wrap this up, I thought it would be worth explaining a little bit about the toy storage in the playroom.

The vintage Little Tikes strawberry toy box was a leftover from my childhood. (Made when Strawberry Shortcake was popular, I guess.) That stuff is indestructible!

It holds a surprising amount of toys (especially great for bigger and odd-shaped items) although Elise often prefers to empty it and sit inside.

I took an unused TV stand from our basement and tucked some pink plastic bins from Target inside. These bins are working out really well; they are very sturdy and have lids to keep little pieces contained.

The red vintage suitcase was something I've had for years and I've used it to store everything from videotapes to blankets. Right now it's empty, but it's a nice shot of color and gives us room for expansion.

I took this oversized wire tray I found at an antique mall and wasn't really sure what I would use it for. But I needed someplace to put Elise's puzzles, and the tray volunteered for the job. It holds about six or eight puzzles horizontally (only about half is shown in the photo above) and slides neatly underneath the couch.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Chalkboard play table

This play table was formerly a mid-century coffee table I've had for about ten years. I got it from a thrift store for a whopping $10. When I originally bought it, the veneer was chipping and it was in sorry shape, so I painted it straight away. Since then it has gotten a couple of different paint jobs, none too remarkable.

I decided it was the perfect shape and size to use for a kid's play table, so another coat of paint was in its future. I was really dreading painting it (for whatever reason), but when I actually got motivated to do it, it took no time at all. This seems to happen to me a lot.

I painted the bottom with some semi-gloss in Delicate White leftover from the playroom trimwork. And for the top, I used some chalkboard paint I have had for almost as long as the table. It was a little gloppy, but some extra shaking took care of that.

The pink chairs were $10 each from The Container Store. They are lightweight but super sturdy, enough to hold a momma's weight without the legs splaying.

Elise is still a bit young for chalk indoors, so for now it's just a play table. But it has become the perfect spot for impromptu pizza parties.

Linked to: Sixty-Fifth Avenue: Chalkboard party

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Nightstand turned playroom end table

But really, is it that much of a stretch? Nope.

Before

This piece came from my grandparents' house. Love their hand-me-downs. I did have some hesitation about painting this piece, rather than refinishing it. I lived with it for a little while and it grew on me slightly. But then I came to terms with how damaged it was.

There were a couple of larger areas where the veneer was chipped and like a thousand tiny dings and scratches. I wasn't going to ever be able to fix the veneer appropriately. And even if I could, I'm not sure it would be worth my time for a lone nightstand. Priorities, people.

I filled all the areas missing veneer with wood filler then sanded smooth. I did that about three or four times to each area to make sure the spots were filled adequately. I usually don't have enough patience for multiple coats of wood fill, but for some reason I wanted to do this properly.

I picked out a cool red paint with hints of pink: Red Licorice by Olympic in a semi-gloss finish. It's much like the red in my "I like you" paintings.

I went against the advice of the paint mixing person and used a plain white primer (rather than a tinted primer), mainly because I didn't want to buy another product when I had plenty of white primer at home. But I ended up paying for it in another way. After a coat of primer and five coats of red, I surrendered. Honestly, I think it could have done with a couple more, but five was good enough for me.

I'm happy to say that the drawer is actually empty right now. Always nice to have untapped storage for future toys.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Playroom clipboards for displaying artwork

I have a secret love of clipboards. You really can't have too many. They're super functional and this is an easy way to make them pretty.

I was initially going to make some sort of empty-frame-with-clips contraption for the playroom to display ephemera and eventually Elise's artwork, but after thinking about it for a while, clipboards just seemed easier and more practical. Plus when the decor changes, they can have another life someplace else.

I picked up two plain clipboards from Office Max for $2 each. (They also have a half-size clipboard, which is a bit cheaper.) I made a few of these for Christmas gifts in 2009.

Problem is, these clipboards measure 9 x 12.5 inches, so using a single sheet of 12x12 inch scrapbook paper was out. Frustrating. (Yeah, I could have used a sheet of wrapping paper or some such, but thin paper in that size likely would have wrinkled and ripped during the whole Mod Podging process.)

My solution was to piece two different patterns together without it looking like the paper was too small to cover the surface. This might be obvious, but using a full sheet and then piecing in a little half inch sliver at the bottom would have made it look like I didn't plan. Instead, I planned. I cut two pieces to create an approximately two-thirds/one-third ratio.

The most important step in the process is to lift up the clip and keep it off the surface of the board. I used one of those heavy duty plastic twist ties from some packaging, but a regular twist tie or a zip tie would probably also work.

Next, I trimmed the paper to fit around the clip. It's a little difficult, but it doesn't have to be exact. You can drive yourself crazy trying to make it perfect and it still won't be perfect.

All that's left was to Mod Podge the paper to the clipboard and then seal with a top coat of Mod Podge. You could also paper the backside of the board, but I didn't do that this time around.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Heart cutout wall art

Somehow I managed to put together a red and pink playroom for a little girl without including any hearts until the very end. Amazing. I needed one final piece of wall art and this idea came together very easily.

I bought one of these thin wooden heart ornaments at Michael's for $1 in the Valentine's Day section. Dan has been asking when his blog cameo would come along. "Here, Dan, just hold this heart."

I had planned on painting it and hanging it up for Valentine's Day, but when this idea didn't work...

(I didn't feel like it was attached to the wall securely enough.)
And this idea didn't look right...

(It was more of a placeholder until I could think of something better, anyway...)

I decided to grab three more hearts (this time using a 20 percent off coupon, which made them 80 cents a piece).

I painted each of them a different color: red, pink, black and brown, and then I hung them up in a couple of empty frames I reused after this project fell apart.

Not bad for under $4, eh?

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Festive paper scrap garland

Little makes a room look more festive than a colorful garland, and festive is exactly the look I wanted for the playroom.

I wanted to use fabric, but I definitely have more paper scraps lying around than fabric scraps. Use what you got, right? (Small confession: I did buy a two new pieces of paper to fill in some color gaps.) Plus, I'm just more comfortable working with paper. Me and paper go way back.

I took some rough measurements for how long it needed to be by draping my ribbon around the room. I did this by myself, and probably would have been more precise if I had someone helping me, but it turned out to be more or less pretty accurate.

I took that measurement and calculated how many pieces of paper I would need based on the width of the paper (2.25 inches). I added in a quarter inch width (per piece of paper) to accomodate for the gap between the papers.

After I cut the approximately 100 2.25 x 7 inch pieces I needed, I laid them all out to find a nice randomization. Then I folded all the pieces in half.

I took some 3/8" grossgrain ribbon I had on hand (the same ribbon I used to measure). Then I folded the paper over the ribbon and ran a stitch down the length of the ribbon with a sewing machine, adding papers one by one. A little time-consuming, but easy.

I used these cute birdie hooks to tack up the ends and one of the points in the middle.

Honestly, I think this is what ties the whole playroom together. It makes me smile every time I walk in.

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Check out another paper garland I've made.

Click here to see the finished playroom!