Nursery tour.

Finally the room is ready to share. I think this will be an evolving and changing space but I am quite pleased with the cute little room we have created. I have shared many of our diys for the nursery on the blog already so I'll be linking back to them throughout the post for anyone interested.

Our goal was to create a calm and peaceful space which used animals as a theme. I wanted to use existing items wherever possible and find colours which were gender neutral and worked with the existing green light, carpet and blind. The room already had a built in robe and sink which we decided to embrace rather than remove- click here to see how we painted the built ins.

As I am not currently working at the moment the budget for the room was very small and total cost for the makeover were around $500 including all the purchasing of materials and furniture. This meant I looked around lots for the cheapest and best supplies but even with our tight budget we did not compromise on quality. Everything we purchased was well made and doing lots of diy projects meant that we finished each project off to the best of our ability. We are fortunate to have parents and a grandpa who happen to be quite handy and can help with lots of these diy projects. I've taken lots of photos of the room which was the first completely finished space in our home.

The details:

The cot is a tasman eco sienna cot and converts to a toddler bed for when baby is older so it should get plenty of use. We purchased it second hand off gumtree relatively new as it's still under it's five year warranty. We chose this cot as it was highly recommended on choice as being very safe.

The change table and rocking chair were also bought second hand off gumtree and the lamp table was a diy project. The lamp was a thrifted lamp that I updated. The cloud shelf above the change table was made by my grandpa, as was the framed box shelf and elephant bookends. The mirror, pin board, "for this child I prayed" artwork and giraffe canvas were diy projects. I also sewed the quilt, pillow and elephant toy.

The hooks in the room were all thrifted, as was the hanging basket and umbrellas.

All other items were already owned except the "sophie the giraffe" which was the first item I purchased when I found out I was expecting...I've just got a little thing for giraffes.

This room is just what I wanted and more and I hope many beautiful memories will be made in this space.  I loved doing lots of diys for the room and making a special room filled with love and unique items.

Thanks for reading through my nursery tour.

Lisa x

Learning to knit.

This post is a very long time in the making...knitting a blanket is time consuming! When a friend offered to help me learn how to knit, I snapped up the offer and decided to make my own little baby blanket for the pram. Knitting is something completely new for me so I was keen to get some help.

I choose 4 colours of baby wool (4 ply) for the blanket- pale grey, light yellow, white and a white,yellow, mint green mixed wool. I also bought a row counter and some 3.25 mm needles.

Having never knitted before, the whole starting experience was full of mistakes and restarting again and again. Each of my squares were 25 stitches across and 45 rows long. I  originally thought I needed to knit 20 squares (which would take this new knitter a very long time) but after researching good sized cot blankets, I realised I was going to need 99 SQUARES!- 11 squares x 9 squares.
But thankfully the more I knitted, the faster I got and it wasn't too long before I had a big old pile of squares, although let's be honest, it really took forever! Knitting is far more time consuming than sewing but I was feeling determined to have finished as much as possible of the blanket before the baby comes.

Once I started to get enough squares, I then had to learn how to sew the pieces together. This wasn't especially hard but quite time consuming. I used the excess leftover wool on each of the square ends to sew it together and hoped the colour I was using worked okay against the different colours. It wasn't perfect but it still looks good, just with a homemade edge :)

And this labor of love was finished. I actually  have ended up with a blanket that is 7 rows x 9 rows but there is always the possibility of extending the blanket to the originally planned 11x9 squares in the future.

My dear Mum saw me knitting lots and decided to knit me a scarf for this winter in my favourite mustard yellow colour..something bright and cheerful to wear over the long, cold months ahead :) This was very sweet of Mum and she just used wool from my wool stash. For interest sake this scarf was 55 stitches across and the length was two balls of mustard wool I had sitting in my craft room. However Mum decided to knit it one row purl, one row knit and unfortunately this ended up with the scarf curling up. This resulted in me consulting google and eventually finding the solution...
Wet the knitted scarf with warm water and then pin it on a towel to dry. It still curls a little but is much more wearable than before.

 I think it will be a while though before I attempt anymore knitting projects. I've really grown to value the craft and the intense amount of time (and skill) it takes to knit things.I'm impressed with all you knitters out there!
Lisa x

Mini hot air balloon.

While the nursery is finished (except there aren't that many baby clothing items in there and no baby!), the baby is actually going to be sleeping in our room to start off with. I didn't want to set up too much of a baby space as it's living in our room is temporary but I wanted the baby's corner to feel a little bit cute and special. I will get a second hand bassinet from my sister-in-law which was white and perfect. Then I decided on two diy projects- a quilt and a mini hot air balloon. The quilt is coming along beautifully so I can share it soon but for today I'm sharing my little hot air balloon. There is something whimsical about things hanging from the ceiling and our ceiling already had a hook in the perfect spot. 

 

thrifted basket

To begin making the hot air balloon, I thrifted a little basket and got to work paper macheing a balloon. I had initially blown up the balloon larger but as I was adding the newspaper pieces it burst :-( and I resorted to using a slightly less blown up balloon. When the balloon mould was dry, I undid the balloon and cut a hole in the paper mache bottom.

For fabric I choose to use some leftover fabric from my current quilt project. That way both diy items will tie together nicely. I love the choices you get to make when you diy something yourself and how you always end up with things exactly the way you want them to be. The yellow and black floral material was also used on the lamp shade update so it's making it's rounds in the house.

I used a quilter's ruler and rotary knife to cut my fabric into 2 inch squares and attached the squares in the best  patchwork style pattern I could manage (curved edges are hard to work with). To attach the fabric I used some mod podge, leftover from my lamp shade upcycle and diy filing cabinet.

I used some mustard yellow wool from my craft stash to attach the balloon basket to the balloon and attach the hot air balloon to the ceiling. I have a big old craft room filled with stuff so I am really trying very hard to use some of it up and not buy new supplies unless they are absolutely necessary.The handle easily pulled away from the basket and attaching the basket to the wool involved simply tying some knots. I put a little giraffe toy my mother gifted me when I was younger in for a ride and it was all finished. I tested it to make sure the measurements of the wool were correct. This testing stage happened while we were mid painting the room.Once the wool was the right length, it was time to leave it up for good and this shows the start of a little baby area in our bedroom for when bubs first arrives and we want the baby to be sleeping nearby.

As you can see the little baby area now includes a hot air balloon, a diy baby gym and some thrifted frames which hold beautiful giraffe illustrations that I found in an old second hand book belonging to husband. I am considering sewing some bunting for the area too as I've still got a bit of the fabric leftover (as used on the hot air balloon and a quilt I am finishing) and I am one big fan of bunting :) I might also add a few other little friends to have a ride in the balloon

From this post, you can also see a  snap of our how we are progressing doing up the master bedroom. The walls are now coated in a crisp layer of taubmans 'hydro' paint and the room is feeling so much better, bigger and cleaner! I'll share more of the master bedroom update soon.

Lisa x

Cloud mobile.

Okay, I'll admit it- sewing nursery items is just a whole lot of fun.  The room is just bursting with homemade goodness and all I felt it was missing was a little mobile.I felt that a little bit more colour on the walls was necessary so I wanted a mobile that tied in the colours of the nursery (yellow, green and grey). I really love my cloud shelf and wanted to make a mobile that tied in with the same theme using some supplies I already had around the place, especially as my craft room is still bursting with supplies and using existing items fits my tight budget better.

To recreate this mobile you will need:

Scrap pieces of felt

White thread

Toy stuffing

White embroidery floss

A small piece of ribbon

For this mobile I used white, grey, aqua, mustard, lime green and citrus yellow felt scraps. I choose these colours as I already owned them and they fit with the colour scheme of the nursery. 

To make the cloud I simply free handed a cloud shape and cut two pieces to size. Thankfully a cloud is one of the easiest items to draw. I then stitched the two cloud shapes together and filled them with toy stuffing.

For the rain drops I made a raindrop pattern and cut out 18 pieces this size. I used blanket stitch to stitch two pieces together and filled each raindrop with a little bit of toy stuffing.

Once I had made 9 raindrops I worked out a colour pattern and stitched the raindrops together (roughly the same distance apart) using some white embroidery floss.

To complete my mobile I sewed a small piece of ribbon to the top to hang the mobile from. Then to attach the mobile to the wall, I simply nailed it in place.

For some reason I can't quite get the walls to look as minty green as they really are. I have tutorials on how to sew the quilt and elephant softie.The cot was a gumtree purchase and I'll share more details when I post a nursery room reveal.

I think it turned out just right...another handmade touch for my little munchkin and the room is complete for now (except for the most important little person of course!). Thank God for the blessing of this little one growing in my belly and time to work on my sewing skills.

Lisa x

Pinspiration making- part 3.

Time for my final project in the 'Pinspiration making' series for this week! It's been so rewarding to actually finish off some projects and be someone who actually does things rather than just dreaming about them. Actually this final project is quite dreamy looking for bubs to look up at as he/she gets changed. I am also currently working on some other 'Pinspiration making' projects that I will share when they are finished. But for now it's time for project number three.

Project 3: A cloud shelf.

here

I just went mad for this beautiful cloud shelf and knew that it could be easily replicated. This shelf hasn't yet been mounted yet but it's going to look brilliant when it's up above the change table. I also have thrifted some mini umbrellas which I'm planning on hanging below the shelf for extra effect. To make this I drew a cloud shape and then enlarged in just over 2x. This template was used to cut out the clouds and wood glue attached the two clouds. The clouds were sanded and given two coats of white paint.

This shelf is excellent storage and looks very cute. I am still deciding what books and bits and pieces to put on it but one can never go wrong with Sophie the giraffe or Beatrix Potter. I tried some of my more colourful books but I am preferring this space with pastels and light colours.  I still need to paint the screws too (that I used to attach the shelf to the wall) white so they blend better with the cloud but that will be a quick job for another day.

Now it's time to get some more inspiration for over the cot and the hallway connected to the nursery before this room will be perfect.

 Check out my pinterest board for many more ideas that are inspiring me at the moment.

Lisa x
I've chosen to join a few link parties today to share my Pinspiration making project:
 The Thrifty Groove,What-About,Redouxinteriors,The Best Blog Recipes,The Jenny Evolution

Getting down and organised.

Lately I have been able to complete more craft projects recently and am really enjoying finishing some of the projects that have been lying around for ages. It is satisfying to be not have such a huge to do list and see progress around the house. It's also meant I've had more chances to blog and have enjoyed being able to share a different project everyday. I've been trying to write a new post each day and would love some feedback, ideas from you readers out there about any other DIY projects you'd like to see or other details you want when I'm sharing projects send me an email at thethriftychallenge@gmail.com.  

Now for today's DIY projects which all involve making the nursery a more organised space...

 

First up I decided to update an old pinboard that was lying around for the nursery. When bubs arrive I'm sure there will be lots of cards and many photos taken so I thought it would be lovely to have a little spot for these things.Updating an old plain pinboard is very easy. All you need is an old pinboard, some fabric and a staple gun. I also chose to use some grey paint (leftover silver dollar from the hallway) to paint the frame so it matches nicely with the fabric. This particular spotted deer fabric has certainly made it's place in the baby's room as it was also used on the quilt, pillow, elephant softie and ottoman.

I removed the frame from the existing cork board and used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the cork board. While the frame was removed I gave it a light sand and two coats of silver dollar paint. Once secure I then reattached the frame and it was ready to hang.

Now there's a space in the room to hang special photos and paper memories. This technique for upcycling a pinpoard is very simple and a quick way to create a cute pinboard and you can just use whatever material you have lying around.
Having places to hang items around the nursery is also important for me. I don't just want things thrown across the floor. These next DIY items came to me by accident. I was buying a little sewing basket from a garage sale and in the basket were some sewing goodies. However when I got home I also found these hooks in the basket, I quite liked them and thought they'd be useful to hang things from such as towels,  bags and changes of clothes. They were quite nice but needed a tiny bit of work to fit in with the nursery aesthetics.

before

After

I wanted the hooks to be a little bit more interesting so instead of just painting them white I used some paint tape to seal off the top half and gave it two coats of white. I like the end effect of wood and white and they look sweet hanging on the side of the wardrobe and holding some little booties for now ( I would have taken a wide photo but there are a few other little projects I've been working on nearby that I didn't want to get into the photograph).

And to finish off this productive day or making space for mementos and hanging items, I also thought I'd create a little growth chart for baby. If baby is anything like me in height this won't last that long.

I had an old ruler in my stash of randomly thrifted items and quite like it's vintage look. Without needing to do anything else I lined the ruler up along the door and attached it using two screws- a simple and easy growth chart that I look forward to using with bubs although I'm still not 100% sure whether I'll mark growth on the wall or door pane. I think I might add a little mark too for Maisy as she's the only current family member less that one metre tall. Her mark should never change as I'm certain my four legged friend is fully grown.

This nursery is making me so excited- so much cuteness is one space. I just need bubs to get here safely so we can start to enjoy the beautiful room. This definitely has been one of my favourite spaces to create so far and it's so nice having a room coming together and almost finished. I'm working on a few more things including what to do for a cot and chair and then I'll be happy to share a full room tour.

Happy upcycling. 

Lisa x
Today I'm linking up with  A Creative Princess,All Things with Purpose,Rhinestone Beagle,Glued to my Crafts,Artsy Fartsy Mama,Sweet Haute,A Glimpse Inside,It Happens in a Blink

Holding books with elephants.

I wanted a cute little set of bookends for the nursery and my lovely Grandpa agreed to help me with the woodwork side to make some special elephant ones. I chose elephants as they are such an easy shape to draw and work with and they tie in with my elephant quilt. I just love all the cute ways animals can find there way in babies rooms. So if you'd like to try out this craft you will need:

- thick plywood (about 1cm thick)
-jigsaw plus straight cutting blade and scrolling blade
-sandpaper
-electric drill plus bits, and countersink bit

-white primer
-paintbrush
-wood glue
-6x2.5-cm long wood screws

-white and grey semigloss paint 

How to :

1. Create an elephant template of an elephant with separate ears. Lay the template on the plywood and draw around the edge using a pencil so you end up with two elephant shapes and four ears. You will also need four rectangles ( mine are 15cm x 7.5cm) for the bases.

2. Cut along the pencil lines marked on the plywood with a jigsaw using a straight cutting blade for the base rectangles and a scrolling blade to cute the curved elephant and ear pieces.

3. If any of the edges are splintered smooth  them using sandpaper.

4. Use a fine drill bit and an electric drill to make two holes for the elephant's eyes.

5. Apply a coat of white primer to all pieces and let dry. Apply a second coat of primer and sand back.

6.Glue the base rectangles together to form two right angles. Let the glue set a little and drill two pilot holes through the right- angle join. Countersink each drill hole and insert a wood screw the secure the join. Then fill the screw hole and sand smooth.

7. Glue the ears to teach elephant  and glue the elephants to the base. Let the glue dry before screwing the deet to the bases from underneath. 

8. Apply two coats of white paint to the bases and two coats of grey paint to the elephants.

I'm looking forward to getting more and more books and filling up the gap between the book ends.I love how it turned out and think you could make a whole range of cute animal bookends for a kids library/playroom like turtles, pigs and rhinos- any animal that's easy to draw... a whole zoo of book holders. I'll be back with part 3 of my 'Pinspiration making' series tomorrow.

Lisa x
I'm linking up with

Cupcakes and Crinoline,Our Delightful Home,Not Just a Housewife,The Winthrop Chronicles,Funky Polkadot Giraffe,Memories by the Mile,Tiny Sidekick

Pinspiration making -part 1.

I've been pinning lots of great ideas and thought it was about time I tried to recreate some (with help from my handy Grandpa of course). Grandpa is amazing and together we created our own versions of some crafts I'd been eyeing off.  I've decided to divide these projects into a series called Pinspiration making so for the next few days I'll be sharing how I (and my handy Grandpa) have been inspired to create our own beautiful objects.

Project 1: A baby gym with hanging toys.

here

I saw this gorgeous simple baby gym and realised it would be easy as to recreate, although I still have to wait another few months before I can too have a cutie lying underneath it, starring up at their little toys. Finding a quilt was easy as I'd already made my own quilt. I chose to paint the frame white as every other piece of furniture in the room is white. I don't really have any baby toys yet so I've just attached a few things I found in the second hand goodies some friends gave as hand me downs since they've already had their babies. My baby gym is a little bit different to the original too as it was made so the pieces can be taken apart easily and put away when not in use.

Got to love pinterest for all the fantastic inspiration! I've got plenty more ideas planned...check out my pinterest board for many more ideas that are inspiring me at the moment.

Lisa x
P.S I'm linking up with
 Nifty Thrifty Things,Flamingo Toes,DIY Show Off,USS Crafty,Life on Lakeshore Drive ,Titi Crafty,Momnivore's Dilemma

Updating a thrifted lamp.

before

 I found a lamp at a garage sale about a year ago and knew it could be saved and made into something nice for the house.I liked the details on the base but it needed some work before I would actually use it. This was such an easy DIY and I am blown away by how much better it now looks. Let's take it back to the before...

And now the how to... Steps to an updated lamp:

1. Paint the base. I sanded it lightly and gave it two coats of china white and two coats of a pale yellow I had lying around.

2.Find a lampshade. The original lampshade was too big and bulky so I found a free lampshade on the roadside. This one was in good condition and much smaller.

3. Make a template out of craft paper by tracing around the lamp

4. Use the craft paper template to cut out some fabric. I chose a beautiful yellow and black floral fabric that I had bought extra of (the rest of the fabric will hopefully be backing for a quilt).

5. Make sure the fabric fits the lampshade. Slowly attach the fabric in small section using mod podge and a paint brush.

6.When all the fabric has been applied use mod podge to hold the edges in place and pin down with safety pins to hold in place. I also chose to add some yellow ribbon on the inside of the lampshade to finish all the edges off neatly.

The before and after really shows the massive difference.

 And now for some detail shots:

To make the base and top (where the fabric was cut off) a bit neater I trimmed it back and mod podged some plain yellow ribbon around the edges. I am just so pleased with how it turned out. It's such a cute and unique lamp and just perfect for the nursery. It actually worked out far better than I thought it would be and the whole process was quite easy, only taking a few hours. I think I'll  be searching some more thrift shops for lamps, after all I still have plenty of mod podge, fabric and ideas :)

Lisa x

P.S I'm linking up with

The Thrifty Groove

What-About

Redouxinteriors

My Turn For Us

Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons

Freaky Keen

The Best Blog Recipes

The Jenny Evolution