15 Minute Projects- Hanging Mementos

Yesterday, Husband and I set out to get a good long list of things done. Cleaning the bathrooms, changing the oil in my Jeep, vacuuming, and hanging the wire I bought from Ikea almost 2 weeks ago were on that list. 

#Truth: Husband had to YouTube directions to hang it. Sometimes the vague Ikea directions just aren't enough!

Backstory: Behind the door to the garage (our main entry/exit point) is this little cut out area. I have grand plans for a bench, hooks, cubbies and more, but they have not come to fruition just yet. In the meantime, we have a nice table that has 2 drawers, a shelf and 2 baskets which is providing all the storage in the area for now. A few months ago we hung up a memento board to hang invitations, tickets, reminders, and Booger's artwork. The artwork has taken over and most papers were too big for the little board, so it was time for something new.

Browsing through Ikea the other week, I saw this tension wire clip photo holder and knew instantly that it would solve our problem (it says curtain wire, but they had it in the store holding pictures!). Being able to utilize the length of the wall would be much more helpful than the tiny board.

My ever so handy Husband took over the job of putter-upper. I did get to use the drill to put in one screw, though :-) Once up, I organized Boogers art, our zoo attraction tickets, and some pictures and voila! All done!

The clips slide on the wire, so nothing is stuck in place. It almost looks bare compared to the over cluttered memo board! Booger needs to get to work making some more projects!

15 minutes projects-- Shadow Boxing

No, I'm not talking about teaching the kiddos how to become a boxer! I'm talking about creating shadow boxes for their rooms!

After Chunk was born, I realized I needed to do something with the hospital bracelets, tiny baby socks, etc. Booger's bracelets were still sitting in a bin, doing nothing. It was one of those "I'll get around to it sometime" type of project that 2.5 years later never happened.

A few weeks ago, we popped into Michael's and found these boxes on sale. I didn't want something too big because A) they were more expensive and B) I didn't want it to be a large focal point in their rooms, but a small addition with little items. Yes, I marvel over the boxes with lots of pictures, baby items, coming home outfits and such, but considering I don't even know where Boogers outfit is, I knew I wanted just a small reminder of precious times.

 the box measures approx 6"x14"

A few days ago, I carved out some time to prep and finish the boxes. I gathered all the items I wanted to put in:
** hospital bracelets
** painted wooden initial
** baby socks
** hospital/baby picture
** ultrasound picture

I debated adding things like their height/weight/time born, etc but at the moment I left that out. I may go back and add it in the future.

Some other items you could add:
** coming home outfit
** family picture
** newborn sized diaper
** hat or other items worn in hospital
** baby blanket or portion of one
** babys footprints

The first fail I had was using the insert to cut out the background paper I wanted for each box. Upon lining it up in the box, the "duh" part of my brain went off-- the insert was smaller than the actual background. Returning to the drawing board, I used the background itself and cut a new piece.

 

Then it was just arranging and taping/pinning things down. There was a lot of trial and error that went into the arranging portion. Each time I would to go pop it into the frame, something would fall off, be too close to the edge, etc. Each box took a while. The bracelets and socks are pinned down using straight pins, everything else is taped.

Which led to fail #2. Chunk's letter fell after day 1. I went back and hot glued it (careful not to get it on the ultrasound pic, as I may want to remove/change/keep them later) to the background paper.

Husband hung both boxes while I was out of the house yesterday morning, and my heart practically burst when I saw them on the walls. Yes, Chunk is still a baby, but seeing his and Booger's boxes on the walls almost made me cry. 

Tucked into a corner, but still makes my heart flutter. Booger's box is in the same corner of her room, too.

I'm so happy with the new additions to their rooms!

15 Minute Project- Curtain Tie Backs

My son, the Chunk, was born 8 weeks ago.

His room has a crib and a dresser/changing table.
The end.

Second kid syndrome, right? When the parents are too busy taking care of the first kid to put much effort into the second kids bedroom. With Booger, her room was painted not only one wall color, but has an awesome accent on one wall with her name spelled out. We had a crib (that I put together myself, thank you very much!), clothes washed and hung in her new (and also painted) closet, a rug, stuffed animals, blankets, curtains, the whole nine yards.

With Chunk... we were lucky we got the room painted and a changing table in there before he came. It was a close call.
That being said, these just went up about four days ago.

And there they sat, all dark and gloomy for 4 days. They are a bit squished on the rod, so pushing them open wasn't much of an option-- I needed something to hold them back. They are room darkening curtains, so the room was, well, dark.

So off to the craft store we went! Chunk sound asleep in his carrier, Booger in the cart desperately trying to grab anything she could off the shelf (did you know a 2 year old neeeeeeeeeeeds a floral wreath? And scrapbooking supplies? And vase filler rocks?)

I searched the aisles numerous times, hoping a spark of inspiration would come. Then I found it-- white, braided rope. I knew I could easily make a tie back with the rope, held onto the wall by some 3M hooks.

A day later, I was able whip out some new curtain tie backs! Chunk's room is now coming along, slowly but surely.

Step 1: Measure approximately how long you wish your rope to be to hold back the curtain
Step 2: Cut rope
Step 3: Using a hot glue gun, fold over the frayed end(s) that are cut, and glue onto rope, creating a small loop.
Step 4: Attach one loop to the hook, gather rope around curtain, attach second loop on hook.
Step 5: Admire your handiwork.

Silver 3M hook; white braided rope

It's not perfect (the loops are pretty shabby), but it gets the job done! And it hides behind the curtain a bit, so no one will notice anyway, right?

At least we can get some nice sunlight in this room now! Chunk will appreciate my work when he's older...

And that's today's 15 Minute Project!