Trees for Lucy

It was so fun to do something crafty after such a long time! I've been brainstorming and collecting inspiration for Lucy's new big girl room, and it's really great to start implementing. I've been seeing lots of birch trees used in design recently, and I totally love the look.

First, I sketched the trees on the wall using a regular pencil.

Then I used pieces of torn painters tape to make the markings in the trees.

I used leftover white latex wall paint from our dining room (I wore a mask and opened the window for all of you who are concerned). At first I was bummed to see how much paint leaked through the tape (curse you textured walls!), but the I realized that it actually looked pretty great.

Here's the final result! It turned out just as I had hoped.

The only problem is that I can't get the pencil off the wall. I thought I could just erase it, but I might have to use the tan paint to cover over it. If you know any cleaning secrets, please pass them on!

Design Consultant

I had the pleasure of pretending to be a design consultant for my friend Christine who is expecting a little boy any day now. It was so fun helping her brainstorm for a boy's nursery!

I looked through the photos I had on file from all my time looking at decorating blogs, as well as from magazines, and came up with a fun cloud theme.

Christine glued the fabric to the cardboard letters, and she also cut out the cloud shapes.
Before:

We used spray starch to stick the clouds to the wall.
After:

Here's a close-up (because I couldn't resist).

Here's what the dresser wall looked like before:

And after! So much happier :)

I didn't want to overdo it, so we kept the closet wall fairly simple. Before:

I love the balloons in this shot!

It might be time to start focusing on the nursery for a certain little Heller baby girl who will be arriving sooner than I think!