Homework Zone

I've been working all week on setting up a homework area for my boys.  I wanted a dedicated space with all the supplies needed to complete their homework, which at 4 and 6 isn't a ton...yet. I also wanted it designed to grow with them.  My home has a room just off the front entry that hasn't really had a purpose and I'm not one for a "formal" room that never gets used.  So it seemed like the perfect place for our Homework Zone.

This is what my front room looked like before it's transformation.  At the bottom left of the picture you can see the arm of a couch that used to be against the other wall (a couch we sold in our garage sale last spring).

Nothing wrong with this layout, but both of my boys rooms are too small for a desk.  So I knew we needed another solution for doing homework.

And this is that wall now.  Just looking at this picture makes me happy!  :)  I moved the piano to the other wall where the couch used to be.  It fits much better in that space than either the couch or the tables did.

So let's take a closer look at the pieces.

Pretty much everything on this wall can be found at Target.  I hung three magnetic dry erase boards side by side.  I found a week long calendar for marking activities in the week.

For each desk I have a bar with hanging cups and hooks.  I used the cups to hold crayons, pencils, glue stick, colored pencils, and markers.  Hopefully everything my son will need to complete his 1st grade homework.

There wasn't enough room to hang three bars side by side, so I hung this one slightly higher.  For now the shelf holds a pencil sharpener, tape, and an eraser.  Eventually I'd like to put some fun trinkets here.  Haven't found what I want yet though.

The last bar, on my younger son's side, still has crayons, colored pencils, and markers.  But the final cup holds my dry erase markers instead of pencils and glue.  He doesn't need easy access to scissors or glue yet.  :)

In addition to the calendar I have some magnets, magnet clips, and two magnetic bins (filled with paper clips and binder clips).

I spent a long time looking for white writing desks with a modern design.  I finally settled on these from Overstock.com.  Psst...as of today they are still on sale and overstock.com ships everything for $1!!  Seriously good deal!

And these chairs from Target.com were also an excellent deal!  Even though the picture on the website was a bit brighter green than they are in real life.  But I still love the look!

Each desk has two drawers.  Perfect for holding workbooks, and any other tools you need for doing homework.

 

Next to each desk I hung a hook for their backpacks.  No more searching everywhere for their backpacks on the way out the door.  :)

My final touch to our Homework Zone was this little list of what to do when you come in the door.  I made it myself in PSE using a few simple steps.  I used clipping masks like I did here for the rectangles.  And I used this technique (when I isolated the logos) to isolate each number out of some digital patterned paper.  All papers are from Crystal Wilkerson.

And here's my youngest enjoying some coloring time while waiting for his brother to come home from school.  And YES he immediately colored on the table with purple crayon.  Grrr!  And thank goodness for the plastic overlay I had bought!  Cause it cleaned right off.  But not before we had a little talk about the ONLY place we write/draw/color.  :)

Loving our new Homework Zone!  It's so bright and cheerful.  I find the boys in there all of the time.  Even when we aren't doing homework.  I think that makes this room redo a success!













What are your homework secrets?  How do you make it an enjoyable experience for all involved?  Or is that just a pipe dream?  :)  Do you have a special space to do homework?  I'd love to hear what homework time is like in your home!

Gallery Wall

Recently I showed you the results of my Pinterest project.  And promised you that a gallery wall was in my future.  And this week I got the process started.

I started out by laying the frames out on the floor.  Once I had them arranged the way I liked I began to hang them on the wall.
 

Instead of measuring like a mad woman, or using newspaper to mark out where to place each frame as seen here, I used this little beauty.  Nail through a clothespin and you have the best picture hanger thingie ever.  :)










I used a nail that was a bit big and it split the clothespin {hence the tape around the end} so you may want to use a smaller nail.  All you do is hang the frame on the end of the nail, place the clothespin against the wall where you want the frame and lightly tap or push the pin into the wall.  Marking exactly where your nail needs to go.  Awesome right?!?

And I ended up with this!  I love it!  But you may notice I am missing some pictures.  :)  I am trying to decide if I want to make all the family photos black and white, or leave them color, or have a mix.  Decisions...decisions...









What would you do?  Black and white?  Or color?  Or a mix of both?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Friday Feature

My Pinterest project is being featured over at Budget Blonde today.  Go check it out along with the other projects Cat is featuring!  You may just notice some similarities!  ;)

Pinterest Challenge

UPDATE: Scraplifters Anonymous has moved and changed names. You can find this same post at http://scrapinspired.com/2011/08/pinterest-challenge/, along with lots more scrappy fun stuff on my new blog ScrapInspired.com.

So the other day I came across this Pinterest Challenge over at Young House Love.  (be sure to watch the video-hilarious!)

The idea is to take something you've pinned and actually make it!  Now I scraplift from my Favorite Layouts board all the time, but I have yet to try out one of my home decor or craft project pins.  This challenge was the perfect opportunity and I knew exactly which project I wanted to tackle.

The original pin links back to a site that sells these beauties for 25 pounds each (for a 15x15 canvas).  I don't even want to know what it would cost to ship from England!  And I wanted 3 canvases.  That's like 75ish bucks (don't ask me what the exchange rate is!) + shipping.  Yikes!  Sounds like a time to DIY.













So I headed to Michaels ready to find my materials.  I grabbed a 4 pack of 6x6 canvases ($7 for the pack) and some little wooden letters ($5 for all 13 letters I needed).  Then I picked up some Quick Dry Glue ($3) and some spray paint ($3).  So for only $18 I was able to make all three canvases and I even have a blank one left over!  WAY better than 75 pounds (converted to dollars) + shipping!

Here are my 3 canvases with the words spelled out.  'Heaven' wouldn't  fit straight across so I had to get creative with the arranging.  Even though 'Earth' would fit straight across I decided to arrange it like 'Heaven' so they would match.

 

I put this project together while at my parent's house (taking care of my Dad while Mom went out to get her nails done).  I had limited time (while everyone- my boys and my dad- were napping) and limited supplies.  So I had to get creative with how to make sure everything was nice and lined up.





First I found the 3 inch mark on both sides of the canvas I was working on.  I put the other two canvases on each side right at 3 inches.  That way I knew where center was.  Then I measured up 2 1/2 inches from the bottom and placed the measuring tape across.  That way I had my bottom line to work from when placing my letters.

I wanted the first and last letter to be centered on the 3 inch line.  So I placed those first.  Then I arranged the rest of the letters.

Next it was time to glue down the letters.  This is the glue I used.  No particular reason why, just seemed like a good choice.  :)

Once the glue was dry I took these babies outside to paint.  (yep, those are Wendy's cups propping up the canvases).

Again, no rhyme or reason for why I chose this brand other than it was a smaller can and I didn't think I needed a large one.

And then I just sprayed away.  I put two coats on, making sure to spray from every angle so that I would get all the edges of the letters and canvases.

It may be hard to see but a couple of the letters got a little bit splintery around the edges when the paint dried.  So I took some sandpaper to those edges and sprayed across just the letters one more time.

Here they are all together.  Ahhhh, so pretty!

This is not the final resting place for these lovely little canvases (I believe there is a photo wall in my future).  They will, however, be paired with this photo I took, which just happens to be called, "Heaven on Earth."  See how the earth and sky reverse in the glass of water?  LOVE this photo.  One of my favorites!  I plan to hang the photo, the canvases, and a collection of favorite family pics.  Cause, you know, life with my family is like Heaven on Earth!  I know, I'm cheesy like that.  :)

(Shameless plug alert...you too can own this photo along with several others OR photo jewelry if you 'like' my store, MB Photography and Design, on facebook)

Addicted to Pinterest yet?  Wanna follow me on Pinterest? (there's a link on the right sidebar to do just that)  Ever actually made something you pinned?  Dying to spray paint something?  I'd love to hear all about it!




Be sure to head over to Young House Love and see all the Pinterest projects!

Scrapbook Decor

Have you ever had a piece of patterned paper that you just love?  Or a blank wall that you didn't know what to do with?  Why not bring those two things together to create one fantabulous piece of art!?!

My son's nursery presented exactly that problem for me.  (Sorry for the strange neon glow to this photo!) I'm not one that goes for cutesy in a nursery.  I didn't want to decorate with animals, or clowns, or boats.  I wanted something colorful and graphic.  Since I couldn't find anything that suited me I decided to make my own.  I wentand purchased nine 12x12 frames.  I sorted through my stash and found nine sheets of pattern paper that matched the colors in the room.  Framed them and hung them in a grid.  And simple as that I was done!  And I loved how it turned out!

Granted that was 4 years ago in a different house than we live in today, but the idea is still a great one!

Here is the rest of the nursery just for fun.  You can see the frames hanging above the dresser/changing table.

I can't wait to find a spot in this house to try out a similar technique.  I'll let you know when I do!



Have you ever used scrappy supplies to create art to hang on your wall?  Link us up so we can see!

Schedule Board for Stroke Patients

I've mentioned before that my Dad suffered a massive stroke on December 1st, 2010.  His stroke was a right brain stroke which means that it affected the left side of his body.  My Dad, a mechanical engineer with several patents to his name, now needs help with almost everything.  His short term memory is spotty. And he has to follow directions given by his wife and daughter almost constantly.  How depressing right?

We wanted Dad to have a say in his day as well as know what comes next.  So I put together this schedule board.

Since this board needs to be out and visible all the time Mom wanted it to look nice.  So I went to an office supply store and bought this magnetic dry erase board with a wooden frame. Instead of hanging it on the wall I bought a picture frame easel to support it.  This way it can sit on the floor, which will be easier for Dad to see.

I made all the tags in Photoshop Elements and printed them on cardstock.  Then I had them laminated and added magnets to the back of each tag.

The times are highlighted in red.  Dad has trouble remembering to scan all the way to the left.  So hopefully by reminding him to look for the red tags he can find the times he needs.  The activity tags are in brown.  And there are small car tags in green designating that a certain activity requires a car ride.  There are also some blank tags that we can write on if we come up with any other activities needed in the schedule.

Because it would be too confusing to have all the extra tags on the front of the board I am hanging these little baggies from the back.  I hope to come up with a better solution at some point.  I'd love a basket that would hang on the back of the frame.  Still working on that one though.  :)

In the top corner of the board I placed a large digital clock (actually a kitchen timer).  I also found these adorable day of the week magnets.  I knew that would help Dad keep track of what day it is.  And these magnetic dry erase markers are perfect for writing in any changes in his day.

The plan is that every day Mom will start the schedule.  There will be parts of every day that Dad can choose what activity he wants to do.  Then as the day goes on and Dad starts to get antsy, as he so often does, Mom can direct him to the schedule board to see what comes next.  

Another issue of Dad's is an obsession with using the bathroom.  Like every 15 min.  Except he doesn't actually go most of the time.  So by adding bathroom breaks into the schedule we can say to him, "You went at 9:30, go check and see what time it is and when your next break is"  Hopefully that will make the clock the bad guy, and not us.  :)  We'll see how it goes.  And I'm sure the board will go through several renditions as we discover what is most needed.

While I made this board for my dad I can certainly see it's uses in the home as well.  Especially with summer coming up!  You could use something like this to make a daily schedule.  For children I would add pictures to the activity cards.  That way when the kids are driving you crazy with the I'm bored stuff you can direct them to the schedule board to see what is next on the agenda.  I did something similar, but way less detailed, last summer.  You can read about it here.

What do you do to organize your day?  Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

Subway Art Decor

I'm in love with the girls at eighteen25!  Have I mentioned that before?  (tee-hee)  I have recently become addicted to subway art.  There are so many examples out on the web!  I even have a Pinterest board going for favorite text art.

I was originally introduced to subway art with this Christmas poster (didn't get a picture of mine but here is the pic from eighteen25).

Did I mention the download is FREE?!?  And I print them at Costco for about $6.  I got the frame at 50% off at Hobby Lobby.  So the whole project was less than $20!  I also made these adorable glitter trees following the tutorial on eighteen25.  All so cute!

Then in February I put up this one.  There are two color versions and I chose the brown and pink.  You may remember the post I did about all my Valentine decoration.  At this point I was hoping these posters would become a rotating display with the seasons!  And eighteen25 did not disappoint!

I didn't find much St. Patty's day decor so this display was all I had.  But it made me smile every time I walked by!

March is the month of many birthdays at my house and it is apparently eighteen25's birthday too!  :)  So this poster was very timely for me (sorry about the glare in the photo).  I got the cupcakes and glass stands at Michaels.  The cupcakes are actually little treat boxes for $1 each.  Love them!  Having so much fun with these subway posters!

And then I saw this...

I've already downloaded and sent it over to Costco for printing.  Can't wait to switch out my display for a Easter theme!  I don't know what I will do if the girls at eighteen25 stop making these!  I might have to start doing my own.  :)

Dressing Up For Valentines!

I've always liked to decorate for the holidays.  Yet I sometimes find it hard to marry my love of simple modern decoration and holiday trinkets.  And then I saw THIS...

Once again the ladies at Eighteen25 have come up with this gorgeous subway poster and are giving it away for free!  I just downloaded it to my computer then uploaded it to Costco and had it printed.  I had bought this frame for the Christmas subway poster so I just put the Valentine poster in the same frame.  Now this lovely poster graces our entryway.  I found a cute little heart shaped potted wreath at Michaels (currently 40% off!) and I thought that made a nice simple addition.

My living room has built in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace (here it's decorated for Halloween).  With an orange living room finding Valentine decorations that would coordinate was a little difficult.  So I added just a few simple touches.

These adorable little wooden cupcakes I found at Hobby Lobby.

This sweet word stands before a wedding picture of my husband and I.

Since I am participating in The Joy of Love this month I thought it would be fun to find a few Valentine frames and use some of the photos I have already taken.  Here is one of my favorites of my husband.

I found all the frames at Target for $4.99!  And here is a pic of my oldest.  Love that smile!

This photo I took during Picture Fall and it is one of my favorites ever!  It definitely depicts the love between my youngest and his Mama.  :)

Thanks for taking a peek at my simple Valentine decorations!