John's Custom Headboard

If you are playing along with my 'guess which fabric is which game' (there were about two of you!), then here is our first answer!! The brown fabric is for John's new headboard! (either of you guess correctly?!)

So, I am in LOVE with how the headboard turned out. Here is what it looks like (obviously not attached to the bed yet) and here are some simple instructions on how to make it.

Supplies:
-plywood (although I think we used mfb)
-fabric
-egg crate or foam
-batting
-staple gun and staples
-saw of some sort
-loving dad and brothers-in-law to do the actual labor and a sister who knew how to make the headboard (see example below!)




How to:
1. Cut out the shape of the headboard you wanted. We just wanted to curve out the corners of the headboard, so my sister used a bowl to trace a curve on each side. Easy peasy. There are TONS of pics on the 'net that you can search for headboard designs. We also decided to make the headboard tall enough that it reaches all the way to the ground. You could make it shorter and just hang it on the wall if you didn't have as much plywood lying around.

note the curved corners...can this be any easier?!


2. We then layed the egg crate layer so that the bumpy side was against the headboard. Wrap around the edges of the headboard and staple around nice and tight. Trim excess if necessary.







3. Lay the batting over the egg crate, wrap around the edges of the headboard and staple around. This just helps give it a nice overall finish and pull the egg crate even tighter. We actually got a cheap batting so it was on the verge of tearing as we stapled so I would suggest either not buying the cheapest stuff out there or buying a little bit thicker batting so it doesn't tear as you staple. Trim excess if necessary.

here is the crappy batting from Walmart. it did the trick...barely




this is what the headboard looks like with the eggcrate and batting stapled on...we are getting there!


4. Now comes the fun part- stapling on the pretty fabric! We held the headboad upright (instead of laying it on the table) so that way the girls could stand back and tell the boys how to get the fabric nice and straight across the top of the headboard. Obviously, you would want your fabric pattern centered (if there was a center) and you would want to make sure the fabric lines were perfectly horizontal. And by perfectly horizontal, I mean that we eyeballed it.



5. We started at the center and stapled the fabric across the top, all while holding the headboard upright. (Those boys are so talented!) Once we got to the curves, we cut the fabric into strips so we could pull it tightly without it all getting bunched up. Once it was stapled (and a dose of double stapling to make sure it wasn't ever coming off!), we trimmed the excess material which hopefully I can use somewhere else in the room!



6. Tada!!! John's custom headboard! Seriously, how cute did it turn out? And considering that a new bed would cost me about $700 (why oh why do I like the expensive stuff?!?!?), I saved myself quite the chunk of change making this on our own and attaching it to the frame we already had. If I had to guess, this project cost me around $60 or $70 bucks. Not too shabby! It took the guys about an hour to do and considering that all I did was take pictures and eyeball if the fabric was straight, it was extrememly easy for me. Double bonus!



As I am typing, the headboard is sitting in the dining room waiting to be put in John's big boy room. My goal is to have his new room ready by the end of June, so be sure to check back for the final room reveal! Get excited!

Father's Day Flashback

Father's Day is going to be here before I know it and I haven't though of anything cute to make for Brad yet! So, as I think of something new, let's flashback to last year...

For Brad's first Father's Day I made him two crafty gifts! The first was a project that John and I made for him- his handprints with the wording 'Hands down, You are the World's Greatest Dad!'. Brad has it hanging up at work still! This was so easy to make even when John was eating the paper instead of helping me glue. :)

The second project was making him some 'Daddy Dark Ale'. I found this from some random blog back in the day and it was really easy to make. The lady who made them said to soak the beer bottles in soapy water to take the labels off the bottles. I was way too lazy for that and left them on. I printed out labels with different pictures of John and Brad together and taped them onto a 6 pack of Shiner beer- Brad's fav! He loved it and still has the empty bottles in the garage. I also made a sign for the cardboard box that the beer comes in so tie it all together.


The morning of Father's Day Brad woke up to his favorite breakfast (donuts!) and presents.




We had lunch at his favorite Italian restaurant (I think this was John's first time to sit in a high chair at a restaurant!!)




We finished the day by playing in the baby pool in the backyard. It was a wonderful and relaxing day!







This was such an easy way to make the day special for Brad without spending a ton of money...and getting to be crafty all at the same time! :) Anyone doing anything fun for Father's Day this year?

Airplane Birthday Party

I have been planning the MIL's retirement party and looking online at lots of parties. This makes me so excited to plan John's 2nd birthday party. And yes, his birthday is in December, but I am already thinking of a theme and saving ideas! :)

So, I wanted to reminisce a little on his 1st birthday party. Here is how it went...(some of this is reposted from my family blog!).

Birthday Prep!

**John's Party Invitation**
I got the idea from a similar one I saw somone's blog (sorry but I can't remember where I found it!!!). I spent about an hour or so creating it on the computer and just printed it out and mailed it. Very cheap! I got lots of compliments on it and it really helped to set the theme for the party.

**Month by Month**
For part of the decorations, I had thought of making a long banner with pictures of all of John's 'firsts'. Yes I was going to totally copy Kinsey's idea! :) But I figured that would take forever considering I took pictures of EVERY first. I mean, do people really want to see a picture of the first time John had juice? So I modified and made a decorated page of a favorite picture from each month. Then I 'helped' Brad hang them up in a grid on the wall in the kitchen. It actually turned out pretty nicely! I used the tons of scrapbook stuff I already had as well as a gift card that I had to Michael's. So this turned out to be about a $40 project, but I had TONS of stickers left over from what I bought at Michael's so I could have done this for much cheaper. {Notice in the pictures that my table of food isn't set up yet, so ignore that!}





**Mantel Decor**
I joked with Brad that my biggest problem was I didn't know where to put all the decorations that I was making! So a banner and paper airplane 'burst' adorned the mantel, along with a book and toys that my mom got John. Brad so kindly let me use one of his model airplanes as well. The airplane 'burst' was the most frustrating thing to make! I found the idea online but mine kept looking like crap. I finally made different sized planes and that seemed to make it look nicer. I am still not in love with it, but I think it is a cool little twist to the decorations!






**Party Favors**
I really wanted to make cute little favor bags that looked like suitcases. However, I am not that artsy so I just made a luggage tag for each guest and attached that to the paper bag. Each kid will get a pilot rubber ducky, a personalized sippy cup, and a little baggie of puffs and raisens. I set them up in our suitcase, even though I would have loved to have used an old bright blue hard-sided suitcase! I am too cheap to buy one from the thrift store though. :)





I also made little employee ID badges for each kid. It was super easy to make and it has John's birthdate for all the employee numbers. Thanks to my dad, Brad and I have been proud owners of a wing tip, but up until now I have banned that ugly thing to the backyard. However, it was perfect for our party! So, I put it on the dining room table so people could see it as soon as they walked in the door. I attached ribbon to it and hung the badges across it for the kids to get when they arrive and can wear them. Probably a little cheesy, but still cute. I figure that we can also put the presents on this table so they are out of the way!






Party Time!

I had two parties for John- one for the mom's group and one for the family. Although it was more work, there was no way we could fit everyone in the house at one time so we had to split it into two different days. Not sure if I will do that again this year though. :)

John's birthday was a very long but special day. We started out the day with some presents and then when I happened to look out the window, it was SNOWING! What a great first birthday present for John! After breakfast (egg-free!) at IHOP and a check-up with the doctor (John is doing great!!), we had a party for the mom's group. This was a blast! We had a total of 13 babies and 16 adults at the party which made for a crowded living room! I don't think the babies minded one bit.


birthday morning!

snowing in Texas!

yummy IHOP breakfast!

Miss B on the plane

Birthday boy on the plane!

cupcakes with cupcake toppers that matched the invitations

singing happy birthday to John John

Saturday's family party was so fun too! We had lots of yummy food, had an airplane-making contest (Grandma's was the funniest...especially when Dad said there was no way it was going to fly), and great cake. John LOVED his egg-free cake, although he mostly ate the icing. John had tons of gifts- he is so spoiled by his family! Between the two parties, we had toys sitting in their boxes for a couple weeks. It was so tempting to rewrap them and put them under the Christmas tree!

handmade birthday crown...that John wanted no part of!

the fam with their airplanes for the contest...Uncle Ty Ty won!

loved the cake!

Seriously, how is it possible that John turned one 6 months ago??!?!?!

I am sharing at

Sneak Peak!

Today was the big 'shopping and planning of the rooms' day with my sister. We got all the bedding picked out for John John's room, so that was awesome. Didn't get quite as far with the nursery so I may have to head to some more stores tomorrow. I decided since I am recovering an old bumper (yeah for garage sales!) I can use cheaper fabric because the baby will only use it for about 2 months. So JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby will be my next stop!

So, here is the sneak peak of the fabrics we bought for John's new big boy room. I am excited but VERY nervous because I have somehow assumed that I can manage to sew all of this myself. In over my head possibly?



This will make up the upholstered headboard, duvet cover, bedskirt, and pillows. Can you pick out which is which?