I sat down with my little guy in his tent last week and we discussed things you would have when camping and made a list of things we could add to his room. His list consisted of campfire, chairs, tent, trees, thing that keeps the juice boxes cold, fishing poles and bears. I decided to tackle chairs and a campfire first. I picked up the chairs from Academy Sports. Ethan being his opinionated little self said he didn’t want them in his room because “I only like orange”. I of course bought green chairs anyway, they match and now that they are in his room he hasn’t complained.

The campfire was very simple and was made from leftover materials. I started by cutting a cardboard circle out of a box from the recycling pile in the garage. I painted a medium brown base, let it dry and finished it up by swirling a dark brown around the edges and a reddish brown towards the center. I worked those in until I achieved the look I was going for. While that was drying I gave the limbs we picked up from the yard a coat of polyurethane. The polyurethane makes a HUGE difference in the look of the branch. I left the branches to dry and using my hot glue gun glued the river rocks around the edge of the cardboard. I followed that up by hot gluing the branches into place and then cutting flames out of tissue paper and putting them in. The campfire turned out cute, last night the kids were upstairs “roasting” mini marshmallows on chop sticks. It is perfect for imaginative playtime on cold winter days.

The next thing I am going to tackle for his room is a little greenery. I’ve been playing around with an idea on how to make my own trees.

Last week I made a tent for my son’s room so in fairness this week I had to make something for my daughters. When I found out I was having a daughter the first thought that came to my mind was what will I do if I get a girly girl. I am not very girly and prefer mud and dirt to pink and frilly. Thankfully she turned out only 50% girly. When she is in the house she is all princess but the minute she walks out the door her need to get covered in dirt kicks in. I asked her how she wanted her room decorated when we moved into this house and my three year old princess with an obsession for butterflies was quick to say she wanted a butterfly garden. I don’t half do anything so I quickly hatched a plan to turn the entire room into a garden for her fourth birthday present. The room has seen a few minor changes since it was first completed but according to my daughter as of today it is perfect.

I made this cute little tutu table for under $20. I spent $10 on tulle, $2 on ribbon and $5 on a cheap dollar store table. I had some white paint laying around so I painted the table. I then cut the tulle into 3″ wide strips and looped it over a ribbon, same method used for a no sew tutu. Once it was large enough I used my hot glue gun to glue it under the edge of the table, and glued the ribbon on. It is extremely easy and much cheaper than they sell on Etsy.

I stayed up last night after the kids went to bed to finish this and nearly burned off a few fingerprints in the process. It was all worth it this morning to see my daughters face light up when she saw it. It was short lived when five seconds later she asked when I was going to make a tutu for her to wear. Now that I know how easy it is she is likely to have quite a few.

My husband has way too many toys, the one that drives me nuts is a big massive wheel he attaches to his desk for online racing. It is huge and bulky and to see his monitors over it he had placed them all on books. His office/playroom is right inside the front door so when you walk in you see his messy desk and mass of books holding up his three monitors. The sight of them always made me cringe and feel like I had stepped back in time to my college days.

I recently rearranged and cleaned his room; when I started putting his computer back together I decided it was time to do something about it. My first trip was to Lowes where I bought the shelf, which happens to be a perfect match for the desk, for $9.00. I then headed off to Hobby Lobby to the wood craft aisle knowing that I would find something to use for a base. I bought two square shelves that are the perfect height for $12.00. I painted the wood boxes with  Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, I am going to find so many uses for that stuff. The color is pretty much perfect to go with the Espresso shelf.

Once the shelves were dry I attached them with a little liquid nail and the monitor stand was done. My husband is happy with the results and I am happy his desk is a little bit less of an eyesore.

The kids rooms have a great layout, they both have two large closets, one for clothes and the other for toys. In the past the kids extra closet has been used for storing clutter we no longer needed or didn’t quite fit into this house. It took awhile but the closets have been painted, the rails removed, clutter hauled off  and they are now decorated with the kids choices. I am very picky about the overall decor of their rooms but they are free to go nuts in their toy closet. My view on decorating a child’s room is that using characters will cost you a fortune over time as their tastes are always changing. When I did the kids rooms I went for something that would grow with them.

My daughter is pretty good at picking up her toys now that she has learned shoving everything underneath her bed is not acceptable. Today we tackled her closet to hang the items she had picked out and make the clean up process quicker. The first step was taking everything out and dumping it on the floor. I then used velcro to attach the picture cards to her storage baskets. We picked through everything, throwing out toys that were broken or missing parts and sorted them into her baskets. I hung up her pictures that she chose and the wall planters that I picked up at the dollar store for $3 each, these are perfect for stuffed animals that she never plays with but won’t part with. It took two hours but it was well worth it, what a great looking closet!

The moment I saw this cute little DIY Tent on Pinterest I knew I had to make it. My son’s room is camping themed and there is an orange tent on his bedding and another painted on his wall, that makes a real orange tent he can play in a must.

I started the project by printing out the parts list and heading off to the local Lowe’s. The directions called for pine boards but after having a look at what was available I decided to splurge, spend a few dollars extra and go for the hickory. The hickory is not near as rough and it was much easier to find boards that were straight. In addition to the shopping list I also purchased some non slip pads for the bottom. The instructions call for tabbed curtains but the odds of finding the perfect bright orange tabbed curtains were slim, instead I went to Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon in my hand and purchased 14 feet of bright orange fabric. To read the full instructions go to Ana White Homemaker, her site is amazing and a constant source of inspiration. I know my husband will regret me finding her blog.

I built this over two days, it took about an hour to dig for my tools and build the frame. The following day I spent twenty minutes carrying the frame upstairs and stapling the  fabric on. I am very pleased with the results, it was a quick easy project and the kids love playing in it. It looks great for costing only $28.

I had to rearrange my son’s room a bit to get the tent in. His bed was under the mural, it has been moved to the other wall. I am not quite finished with this side of the room yet and need the spring to get here so I can finish it. I am going to find a couple of camping chairs and a little table to go beside the tent and I found a perfect pretend camp fire to go right in front of it. I love decorating the kids rooms, I’m going to enjoy it while I still have a say.

Here’s the bedding, it is from Target. My mom picked up the artwork over his bed but it would be a fun DIY project. All you need is a frame, some wire and a few fallen limbs.