Ikea Hack: Painting an Accent Piece for your Child's Bedroom

My son's due date was just on the outer edge of fall, so my nesting instinct kicked into high gear while the leaves were just starting to give way to breathtaking hues of red, yellow, and orange. I loved the fall so much that I decided to make fall colors the theme of my son's nursery, and I did, and I loved it, and I stuck with it for a while, until...I walked into a local gift shop one day which sold goods of a French/antique/repurposed persuasion, and I spotted a picture frame constructed out of small rectangular pieces of rotting wood that had washed up on a shore somewhere, with each wood piece lightly painted with some beautiful shade of sea glass and bearing holes where nails used to pierce it. I coveted that picture frame but alas, I couldn't justify the hefty price tag so I sadly left it at the store.

Well, here, you see my budget version of that picture frame, and I happened to like it so much (and the lighthouse/sail boat bookends that I later found at Ross) that  it became an inspiration board of sorts  as my son's fall-themed nursery gave way to a nautical theme centered around the myriad colors of sea glass. 

You will need:

• Ikea Malma mirror, $2.99!
• Small bottles of acrylic paint (whatever colors you choose)
• One paintbrush
• Painter's tape (or regular masking tape will do)
• Black ink pen
• Ruler (any sharp edge will do)
• Mod Podge

1. With a pencil and ruler, lightly draw out the rectangles directly onto the mirror. Space/stagger them however you wish.
2. Using masking tape, tape around the edges of each rectangle as you paint so that you get clean, straight lines. Wait until the painted area is dry before proceeding on to the next rectangle.
3. After you finish painting the entire mirror and it is completely dried, take your straight edge and black pen and outline each rectangle. Add tiny black circles within many of the rectangles for added effect (to mimic former nail holes)
4. Once the pen ink has completely dried, use your paintbrush to paint on a layer of Mod Podge over the entire frame. After this first layer has dried, add a second coat. Add on coats as you see fit. 2-3 coats should suffice.
5. Admire and display in your child's room/nursery!

Gift Basket for Foodie Parents

Here are some items you could put in a "gift basket" for the epicureans in your life who are expecting a little foodie baby:

1. Top 100 Baby Purees: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby
2. Little Pea
3. Foodie Babies Wear Bibs (An Urban Babies Wear Black Book)
4. Ikea Kalas bowls
5. Ikea Kladd Prickar bibs with sleeves/pocket
6. Ikea Kalas utensils


** Start Fresh Watch out for Tyler Florence's "Start Fresh," his cookbook focusing on baby food, scheduled to be released May 24, 2011.

I personally love the Kalas line of utensils, plates, and bowls at Ikea because they are dirt cheap but extremely durable (perhaps even unbreakable), cute, and easy for awkward, clumsy baby hands to grasp when they are learning to feed themselves.

To give the gift basket an added personal touch, you could include handwritten recipes that your child loved as a baby.

Preserving your Child's Artwork for Posterity

I know that in a matter of months, when my son acquires the ability to put crayon to paper (which will necessarily be preceded by the ability to keep crayon out of mouth), the artist within will burst forth and my fridge will be assaulted with countless "works of art." And I know, sentimental mush that I am, that I will not be able to part with anything he creates, and I will be left in 18 years with a storage room overflowing with disintegrating paintings and crumbling clay monstrosities that no one will ever see and appreciate ever again. That is why I have decided, preemptively, to come up with a way to preserve my son's masterpieces in a cost-effective, space-efficient manner that will showcase his work for years to come, starting with this beauty:

I haven't quite decided on which method yet, but here are a few ideas to get me (and you) thinking ahead at least:

1.  Create a book.  Scan or photograph your child's artwork (for extra fun, you could even photograph your child actually holding up the artwork so that you can see how your child's artistic abilities tracked with his or her physical development), upload them to a photobook processing company like Shutterfly, Snapfish, etc., and voila.  Click here to see a great example.

2.  Turn them into ornaments.  You can convert many of the little three-dimensional doodads that your child creates into ornaments for the family Christmas tree. It would be a fun family activity to admire (or laugh) at them together as they are pulled out at the end of each year for hanging, and when your child moves into a place of his/her own one day, you can present them to him/her as a priceless heirloom. No doubt their future spouse and children will get a kick out of it as well.

3.  Frame them.  Choose a few of your child's favorite two-dimensional works for framing, and find a nice place in your home to hang them. Change them out as desired.

4. Turn it into jewelry.   Okay, this may not be the most practical idea, but...if there is a piece of artwork that is particularly precious to you and/or your child, you could consider having it turned into a pendant that you could add to a chain and wear around your neck on special occasions (i..e, your child's kindergarten graduation, or college graduation, what have you).

**Above all else, make sure you write your child's name and the date that the artwork was created (or at least the child's age) on the back of the artwork for record-keeping purposes. Considering how quickly the arts and crafts projects pile up, especially if you've got more than one child, you're going to be glad you did!

The Alphabet as Muse

 

It occurred to me recently that I should probably start teaching my son his ABCs. As I started perusing the blogosphere for ideas, I got the distinct impression that the English alphabet is pretty hot right now. If you do a quick search in Etsy for "Alphabet Posters," you'll see more artistic renderings of the alphabet than you thought possible, ranging from baby nursery appropriate [i.e., alphabet accompanied by cute illustrations of woodland creatures and marine animals] to career specific [see the Statistics-themed print at the top left corner of the collage above] to quirky [while I personally wouldn't purchase the zombie print because zombies scare me, I give the artist credit for originality].  The more abstract interpretations of the alphabet [like the one in the bottom right corner of the collage where the alphabet letters look like they were  gracefully dumped into a pile], while perhaps aesthetically pleasing and visually arresting, don't do it for me because if I'm going to shell out a boatload of money for an alphabet print, I at least want it to be functional. My baby needs to learn his ABCs, and he can't tell up from down as it is. 

While I'm super impressed by all the creative alphabet-inspired art out there in the blogosphere, I have to thank my sister for actually helping me along in my journey to turn my illiterate toddler into bibliophile. She, bless her heart, suffered a thousand pin pricks creating the following gift for my son in the hopes that it will make learning his ABCs more fun. As an added bonus, these aesthetically pleasing, visually arresting, and functional wool felt letters are portable, and large enough not to pose as choking hazards! The latter feature is especially important to me right now because my son still suffers from the burning desire to shove anything and everything into his mouth.

Building Up Your Child's Library

 

When I first found out I was pregnant with my son, I immediately began dreaming of raising a little bookworm, a miniature bibliophile who would rather spend his afternoons with his nose buried in a book than play video games, who would get so lost in the adventures of different worlds that he would lose track of time like his mama often did when she was a little girl. While other expectant moms were debating themes and colors for nursery decor, or knitting booties and hats, I spent what little energy I had building up a pretty impressive library for my unborn child. I did it slowly over the course of several months, and at a fraction of the cost. Here's how:

1. Thrift/Consignment Stores.  It can be hit or miss, but when you get lucky, you can get really, really lucky. There was a huge thrift store about 15 minutes from my home that I would frequent on sale days, and on a few occasions, I would make out like a bandit, trucking home an armload of books for a sum of money that I could find tucked below my couch cushions on cleaning days. I probably collected about 75% of Sandra Boynton's entire bibliography and numerous Eric Carle hardcovers (not to mention classics like Goodnight Moon, Guess How Much I Love You, Runaway Bunny, etc.) at a whopping 50 cents per book. They were all in very good condition, and for the few that weren't, I just slapped on some extra-strength, clear packing tape along the spine or weaker parts of the book for added reinforcement. I couldn't have been more ecstatic about not paying $7+ per book when my son bound to drool, bite, and shred them somewhere down the line.

2. Consignment Sales.  Where I used to live, consignment sale season occurred twice a year, in the spring and fall, and I made sure to hit at least a couple each time (and remember, the early bird gets the worm when it comes to sales like these whose target demographic is the aggressive, coffee-ridden parent who has been up against his/her will since the break of dawn). You can score great deals on children's clothing, toys, and baby gear, but I always went hunting for books and also had great luck on more than one occasion. I picked up numerous board books and also a like-new, complete Chronicles of Narnia collection for about $6. I know it will be a while before my son can enjoy the Narnia series, but for the price of 1.5 frappuccinos, I couldn't pass it up.

3.  Friends.  If you have friends with older children, they are likely to have some books in their collection that their children have long outgrown, and that they would be happy to pass on to you. Don't be afraid to ask.  In fact, even if you have friends with similar aged children, you might consider doing a "book swap." That way, all parties involved get a fresh stack of books to add to the bedtime rotation. And maybe, just maybe, you won't have to read Goodnight Gorilla twelve times a night, every single night.

4.  Library Book Sales.  Another source of children's books at a steep discount.

**If you have any other resources for buying children's books (without breaking the bank), I'd love to hear it! And best of luck building up your child's library. Unfortunately, having an impression collection does not a bibliophile make. I'm still holding out hope for my son, but when it comes to reading time, he has the attention span of a flea and would much rather bang household objects together.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

I decided to start this blog out of sheer necessity. I had my firstborn a little over a year ago now, and as much as I would walk on a bed of nails for him, I sometimes go a little crazy trying to be the playmate he longs for me to be {every single waking moment of every single day!}. Before I had him, I thought I loved kids. Afterwards, I realized it was really babies I loved. Babies who were yet immobile and wanted nothing more than to be held and cuddled. Who did not need to be "entertained." After my son started demanding more out of life, I realized I wasn't a "kid person."  I didn't really enjoy reading picture books, singing songs with exaggerated hand motions and nonsensical lyrics, and creating some imaginary world where driverless cars and trucks vroom vroomed around living rooms and stuffed animals talked. I wanted to stimulate my precious toddler and make his childhood fun and exciting, but I always ran out of ideas by breakfast time every morning. And by lunchtime, you could find me surfing the web and checking my email, yearning for an escape that would never come, as my son repeatedly thrusted toys at me and pulled on my leg as he whined irritatedly. And with good reason. The kid was bored out of his mind, and so was his mama.

So, that's where the idea of this blog came about. I know there are lots of other moms and dads out there just like me who feel wholly uncreative and uninspired on a daily basis, but do genuinely want to craft a really special and memorable childhood for their little ones, and want to enjoy themselves in the process. I hope this blog helps you as I hope it will help me (and my son)! Let's call it Operation Sanity Saver.