A Bright and Colourful Vintage Nursery Room

My little boy is 2 and a half years old... His room has been under renovation twice. Now, he has his own bunk-bed, since we are planning for a sibling soon... So, yes! The nursery room post should have been published something like 2 years ago. Well, anyway... let's accept that time is a relative measure and forgive this belated display of my son's nursery!

It was such a fun experience gathering all these little, completely useless, pretty things and mixing them together! 

Adding a bit of DIY projects (like making these three house-shelves, painting the floor-lamp green or sculpting this colourful mobile -you may wanna see my previous post) and lots and lots of love and the result came pretty nice!  

A little piece of advice to all those new moms trying to decorate their future child's nursery is the following: do not try to be functional! Just enjoy yourselves! Do not buy expensive furniture and do not spend time thinking how everything is going to work out smoothly... It won't! And once you figure out how to place your child's necessities in the most efficient way, his or her needs change and you have to adapt to a new routine! 

So stick to simple and cheap solutions and follow your instincts. Be spontaneous! Don't worry about colour palettes or themes! Anything you buy with love and thoughtfulness for your little angel will almost certainly find its place in a coherent whole! 

If you choose items that trigger your imagination and make you smile -as a kid would do-, you start to see the room through a child's eyes... And that's exactly the point! The successful nursery room is not the prettiest or the most functional but the one that puts a smile on your baby's face!  

And one last thing! Don't be attached to the room but to the souls living inside! Your children's "job" is to explore, feel and experience the world and this journey starts from their own little universe! Let them unveil their interests and first talents without the constraints of your own system of order. In time they will learn to appreciate the worth of materials, but as for now it is most important to learn to express their inner self! Even if that means ruining your precious pretty dollhouse...

After all, the canvas you have provided may be too small for such a big talent!!!

Photos by Dimitris Tsiapas

DIY Flower hoop for May 2015...Let's do some stitching!!!

 Spring is here! Flowers are beautiful and the traditional flower hoop for may is a must! Nonetheless, each year I like to make a second, "long-lasting" flower hoop to keep the memory of the glorious, blooming nature alive!

This year I made an embroidered hoop. I'm not much of an embroidery expert but there are some very fine "how to" videos for beginners on YouTube. If you want you can check out the following links -but there are many more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9-1ZPAdSs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qs7eOH5Uac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09L9o5IMxoU

Step 1:

Using some masking tape, stick on your window's glass a piece of paper with the phrase that you want to embroider.

Step 2:

On top of the paper stick (again with the masking tape) the piece of fabric that you are going to use for your hoop. Then trace the phrase from the paper to the fabric using a tracing marker that goes away with water or air.

Step 3:

Embroider the phrase on the fabric using any kind of line stitch that you like: split, chain or stem. I used the split stitch.

Step 4:

Give some volume on certain areas of the flower pattern by using the satin stitch.

Step 5:

Paste the fabric on the wooden hoop using some contact glue. Cut around the extra fabric.

Your 2015 may hoop is ready!!! Have a beautiful spring!!!

For my little angel...

It's been so long since my last post but I have the best excuse of all time. Life as I knew it has changed completely since the arrival of my little baby. My days are now filled with love and laughter, dedicated entirely to taking care of this little magic creature! 

Nonetheless, I have found the time to take some pictures of one of the things that I made for the nursery room. It is a colorful mobile with flying objects made out of paper-mache. Actually, I had posted some work-in-progress photos of this mobile a while ago. 

With the hope that my baby boy is going to enjoy it in the years to come...

...and in more detail...

For my angel who came and brightened up my life...

For my little nephew with love!!!

The time is almost there!!! In a few days our family is going to welcome a new member! My sister is going to give birth to a little boy and we are all very excited!!!

I wanted to give a special welcome present to my first nephew who is coming to this world to brighten up our lives! After a thorough search on the internet I decided to create a cloud mobile for his baby blue room. I was inspired by a popular french brand, called the Butter Flying, that sells beautiful cloud mobiles all over the world. You can see their work here: http://thebutterflying.wix.com/the-butter-flying

Now, my mobile is a bit different since I used clay for the stars and raindrops and baby blue fabric for the clouds (the Butter Flying is using felt for everything). I also added some newspaper flags  to decorate the hoop!

I also bought him these beautiful art prints from etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/trafalgarssquare?ref=l2-shopheader-name).

To match the sky theme of the room with these tender drawings I bought a soft rabbit toy from Mama's and Papa's (http://www.mamasandpapas.com) and boosted a bit his appearance by adding the crown and the cloud which I made from fabric and felt!

So, this dreamy baby bedroom is now ready to become a nest for this small creature that is about to come and meet us!!!

Work-in-Progress: My baby boy and his mobile!!!

It's been a long, long time since I last posted...My excuse is quite simple: it was summer time and the living was eeeaaasyyy... Yes, during the past few months I have to admit that I was actually lazy! I didn't have the energy or the enthusiasm to finish any kind of project and so I followed my need to relax and enjoy the beautiful Greek summer!

Now that the weather is gradually shifting, along with the falling temperature comes a fresh wave of ideas for action! I think this is what happens to everyone right after the summer lethargy! For me  there is also a new drive and a new inspiration in my life since I'm 4 months pregnant for the first time! I'm expecting a baby boy and I'm full of ideas for his nursery bedroom!!! I want him to grow up in an environment full of stimuli that can set his imagination  free!!!

My first project is a colorful mobile made out of paper mache and paper clay! Its theme is the sky and all flying objects (I excluded the airplane since I want to make a separate airplane mobile later on). 

You can see my mobile's elements in their earliest stages.

 

As you will notice I have finished with the sculpting stages and I'm now in the process of painting. 

Actually I have a newer version of the same elements with additional painting embellishments:

And now a photo of the most complicated and beautiful creation in progress of all:

...to be continued...

 

DIY idea: Plastic Animals Hoop!

How to make a beautiful decorative hoop for your children's room! The idea is so cheap and easy that anyone can make it happen! Just buy a bag of the common plastic animals that are sold in any toy store. Paint them with acrylic paint and paste them on an embroidery hoop! 

For instance, look how charming my rainbow zoo decorative hoop came out:

Here, you can also see some details: