Harry Potter "Lumos" canvas (Wordless Wednesday)

The kids and I are a wee bit addicted to Wizard Wrock.  Yes, it exists and it has for some time.  Yes, some of it is painful, but much of it is fun and some of it is actually very good.  Among our favorites are Roonil Wazlib ("Bookworm" and "Not the End" are our very favorites), How Airplanes Fly ("Sidekick",  "To Fall in Love",  "Forget the Girl", "Believe" and "Purely Educational"
 are among my favorites, but honestly, all the songs are fantastic) and the Hermione Crookshanks Experience (Go listen to this album. It's amazing.  Along with that, we love "Not the Messenger," "Train Doubts and Dreams" [My youngest will often ask for "Not An Owl" and "My train song."], and "Lumos").  I just love "Lumos."  I knew I wanted to create a wall hanging for the kids using that song, but I wasn't sure what to do exactly.

Through Pinterest, I found this which gave me the inspiration I needed.  I decided I wanted a wand in the darkness with the lyrics in light.  I stumbled around my boards on Pinterest until I found the map I had pinned from the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter.  That's my background and I also used a picture from one of my very favorite HP artists on Deviant Art.  Seriously, have a look around at her gallery.  I've been through all things Harry Potter on Deviant Art and hers is some of the very best.  Her character sheets are perfect.  I LOVE how she draws the characters.  Her Ginny is exactly as I imagined her.  If you read the books, you know that this is exactly how the long-awaited kiss should have been.

I used the library card generator to create one with the "Lumos" lyrics.  The call numbers are 62442 (M-A-G-I-C).  I printed a copy.

I found 8x10 canvases at Michaels on clearance for 89 cents plus I had a 20% off coupon.  I stocked up because I knew I wanted one for this and I wanted some so the kids could make their own art.  I painted the edges of this one black.  Then I used Mod Podge to attach the map, the art, and the card.

I painted over the map using Mod Podged tinted with blue paint.  I did a few coats with different amounts of pigment.  I wanted to make sure you could still read at least portions of the map and see the picture of the trio.  I did the same over the card using just a bit of yellow paint.  When it was dry, I coated the lyrics with a few coats of glow-in-the-dark nail polish.  That way, the lyrics glow in the dark.  I also gave Ron a crown using that nail polish, but you can only see it in the dark.  Weasley is our king, after all.  I tried adding a dark blue swirl in the upper right corner, but I hated the look.  So I painted over it.  I dabbed on gold and copper translucent glaze which is left over from when I painted our bedroom wall.

I found this great tutorial for creating a wand from rolled paper.  So I used scrap paper and created a small one.  I followed the directions and painted it, then did a wash of black and wiped it off.  I used gold paint marker to highlight the raised decorative lines.  I then attached it to the canvas using tacky glue once all the paint was completely dry.  I should have taken pictures of the wand before I attached it, but I was so anxious to finish that I didn't.  So I don't have a good photo, but you'll have to take my word that it looks so cool.  You'd never be able to tell it's paper by looking at it.  It really does look like wood.

Not the best, but some detail on the wand.

Closeup of the tip of the wand

Here's the back of the wand. 

I like how it turned out and the kids seem to as well. So woo hoo!  I'll hang this up in the basement soon.  The plan is to turn our huge basement playroom into Hogwarts.  I've been collecting ideas for months, but we haven't had the time or effort to create it just yet.  One of these days...

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(not so) Wordless Wednesday

Not Just A Housewife: Show Me What Ya Got #45

Wordless (day before) Wednesday: Nightstand redo

I'm horrible about getting my WW posts up in time, so I'm doing this the day before Wednesday in hopes of FINALLY having one up for Wednesday.

When my daughters wanted a nightstand, I decided to find one and redo it for them.

The end result isn't anything I'd pick for myself, but it's what my girls wanted and they love it.

I used the turquoise paint we have for the youngest's room because it goes well with the pink in the big girls' room (I also used it on their dresser which isn't quite done yet).  We scoured the scrapbook aisle for papers they liked and I cut those into squares and decoupaged the top and side with Mod Podge (inspired by this adorable dresser I found through Pinterest).  I used the leftover paper scraps and the same dark pink paint I used for table accents on this "Magic" canvas I made for their room.  Somehow, I screwed up and got paint drips on the top, so I covered those with butterfly wall stickers from the Dollar Tree (which are also on their dresser).  I sanded down the edges to distress it.

After

Before

During

side

Top

I'm not happy with the handles, but I just painted and reused the existing ones for now.  Anyone have any ideas for alternatives?  It's so busy that I'm not sure what to do.  I'm leaning towards these.  I saw a turquoise painted dresser on pinterest with these black half-circle pulls and I loved the look.  What say you?  Do you think they'll work?

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Wordless Wednesday

Things I Love (day after) Thursday: Magic, Creativity and My Kids

I'm a day late, but I'm still hopping on the Things I Love Thursday train at The Diaper Diaries.

I'm missing my girls something awful this week.  This is the first time I've been away from them this long and it's the first time they've been completely without either one of their parents.   I know they're having a blast and they were absolutely ready for camp.  I, however, am adjusting.  

Since we've been busy working on other rooms in the house, we haven't even begun work on the girls' room.  Our goal is to have it finished by the time they come home from camp.  

I have a number of different pictures, posters, and quotations saved on Pinterest as inspiration for ones to make for their room.  While unpacking, I found our large canvases (that I found on sale at Michael's last year super cheap) and headed to my board for an idea.  This one spoke to me the most.  And so, I created that canvas up there.  

It's not perfect.  I see lots of little things I would change if I hadn't rushed into it.  Still, I like it. It's far more sparkly than it appears in this shot.  The background paint and the paper used for the letters is the same paper I used to decorate their night stand (that's another post for another day).  

I'm going to hang it in their room if we ever when we finish it.

Decorating: You Can Go Your Own Way (Wordless Wednesday)

Click to enlarge.
Of course, in true Oy Vey That Boy fashion, he had to be in the picture, even if he was already in jammies.

The corner before (with the last owner's stuff)

I got hooked on Pinterest months before we moved.  So, I had more than enough time to collect decorating inspiration for the new place which existed only in our dreams.

I created an "Oy Vey That Boy" folder full of inspiration for my son's room.  After toying with super heros, monsters, dogs, and other animals, I found this inspiration.  That did it.  I LOVE that sentiment and I love the colors and shapes of maps.  I love the sentimentality of maps from our past just as much as I love the potential contained when we grip a map to a place we've never been.  I showed my son some of the map ideas I found and he loved them.  I knew I wanted to wallpaper one of his (dreary brown) walls with maps (I've actually wallpapered 3 walls).  I found a great collection of websites where I could request maps and I did.

During the actual move, whenever we stopped, I searched for maps.  If I found some freebies, I grabbed two or three.

When we arrived here at the new house, we found our map collection was woefully inadequate.  "What if we ask people to send us maps from where they live," my son asked.  And so we did.  Through Facebook, I asked friends to send maps from their home state, their current town, countries they visited, their favorite amusement park, etc.  Some did just that.

For those maps we didn't get, Tour Guide Google helped.  I found pdf files of maps from zoos that were near and dear to us.  I found links to tourism departments for states/countries where our friends and family live and requested those.  I was able to search through gorgeous vintage maps from places not so near, but very dear to us.

In this past month, my son has received more mail than he has in all his 5 and 1/2 years combined.  Friends and family addressed their maps to him.  I purposely requested maps in his name from the tourism departments.  He LOVED it.

Just last week, I found we had collected enough maps to begin the project.  Initially, I used wallpaper adhesive to attach the maps to the wall.  I started with some of the larger ones, and filled in with smaller ones.  I found many maps have smaller maps of various areas on the back of the large map.  So having two or three copies came in VERY handy.

I purposely tried to position important maps at what will be his eye level when in bed.  So there, you'll find a map of the state where he was born, a small map of the town where we last lived, a map of Israel, a map the kids used in a school project about our heritage (yes, it's the actual map from their display.  I found it during the move and took it apart) and a map of his favorite zoo.  Our change of address cards have a map background and one of those is up there too at eye level.

Great Grandpa's St. Louis map

He has the neatest collection of maps.  There are maps sent by friends from their home states.  There's a giant world map that used to hang in his grandmother's office.  There's an old St. Louis map that once belonged to his great grandfather.  There are gorgeous maps I found from the Graphics Fairy.  When I came across a map of the route of the British Royal Wedding, I had to grab that and put it up.  There are 21 year-old maps from DisneyLand (the last time I was there).  There are maps from all the places dh and I have lived.  I came across a few cool maps in magazines and saved them.  They're up there too.

Over the window sill

Oh yes, it's Hogwarts.

Royal Wedding procession map

Neat map I tore out of the last Woman's Day magazine.
You can tell I couldn't get it exactly right.  Note the great state of Tes. 

Before we moved, a friend gave us a whole host of toys for the ride (which helped save my sanity).  Among them was this puzzle along with that note attached.  I damn-near giggled with delight because I already knew I wanted to go with the map theme.  I purposely saved the note.  I figure we'll put this together, seal it, hang it up and keep the note with it on the wall.





The thrift store fairies worked their magic a few weeks ago.  I saw this super cool puzzle at the thrift store.  I adored the colors and the fact that, HELLLLLOOO, it's a MAP, but I worried it wouldn't all be there.  Opening it up revealed that it's still sealed in the bag.  This is actually a personalized puzzle someone purchased this past Xmas for a family member (the receipt was still in the box).  You can have a map made of any address.  Apparently, the recipient didn't like it, but I sure did.  By that point, though, I had a bunch of maps and figured I didn't need any more.  We left without buying it, but that entire weekend, I was mad at myself for doing that.  When we returned the following week, not only did I find it again, but it was half price, so I got this for a whopping 98 cents.  I will not ignore the thrift store fates when they damn-near toss this into my hands.  I bought it that time.

It's still a work in progress.  My mother recently grabbed a magnetic knife rack at Ikea which I'll put up in his room to hold his cars.  She also grabbed some spice racks that I'll paint and put up to hold his books (his baby sister will get some too).  His sister's old Finding Nemo desk will be covered in maps (just the Nemo portions.  I'm actually leaving the blue and orange because I think they'll work well with the map colors) and moved into his room.  You can see in that shot that he's still in a toddler bed.  We need to get him a new twin bed and pass that down to his baby sister.  I have an old scratched up dining room chair that I want to paint, recover and put in his room.  If you look through the Oy Vey That Boy folder, you'll see some of the other ideas I'm considering for his room.  Right now, one large wall is still brown.  I'm not going to cover that, but I'm strongly considering painting it turquoise.

Oh and did you notice the parachuting monkey between the windows?  That was $1.99 find at Michael's.  They have wall stickers on clearance and I had to grab that.  It was too stinking cute.  Nothing completes a travel-themed room like a parachuting monkey.  ;-)

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Map to Your Heart Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

Wordless Wednesday

Metamorphosis Monday

There's no place like home.

I had no idea what on earth I was going to blog about today.  Well, I DID have an idea, but then the baby got to feeling sick again and suddenly, I was at a loss.

Well, now she's on the floor flipping through books and I'm online flipping through Etsy.  That gave me a blog topic.

I've been putting together a wish list for the kids which involves lots of neat artwork for their new rooms (whenever we move).  I want to have a whole exciting array of new artwork for them to anticipate hanging on the walls of their brand new rooms.

I've found some adorable artwork for them, but I've also found some art that I want to hoard all to myself.

The word "Home" as always had a different meaning for us since we were a military family.  That quotation is one I've loved for the longest time.  Now that we're separated again in our quest for "Home," this rings even truer.  I love that art from  Volume 25.  I have no connection with that shop.  Heck, I've never even heard of them before, but I can't tell you how much I love that piece right there.  

And oh my stars and garters!  This one titled "Wherever we are together is home" is another one I must have.  What a fantastic reminder this is!  I think this would be perfect in my youngest's room.  I love the colors and there's a bird.  We called her "Tziporah" when she was tiny.  She reminds me of all things birds (plus she was even a bird for Halloween).  

Oh, that shop just made my heart so happy!  I want to stock up on just about everything they have.  Happy distractions ROCK!  

Crafty Goodness Roundup

I've abandoned my weekly link roundup as of late (quite accidentally.  I want to keep it up, but life has a way of interfering).  My constant collection of crafty goodness that I hope to create just keeps growing, though.  Out of the kindness of my heart (and the selfish need to keep them somewhere where I know I can find them), I'm compiling a collection here.

Leaf mobile (found at Creative Jewish Mom).
We have tons of yarn, so this would be great to do with the kids.  Plus, I've wanted to dress up our front door for fall.  I actually created a leaf wreath with items from the Dollar Tree, but I love that look, so I may create this mobile in addition.

Halloween Bloody Bathroom
This is one I don't actually plan on doing (could you imagine the reaction from potential buyers when they came to see the house?), but I love this and other Halloween ideas they have on that blog.

Cutest Owl Costume EVAH!
Okay, so I altered the title a bit to better suit my feelings on it.  :-)  I'm all about birds, especially in relation to my youngest (we called her Tziporah when she was tiny because she looked like a bird) and I particularly like cute owls.  So I'm going to get to work on this costume today.

Again, on the bird theme, I want to make these
Paper Mache Birds
They seem pretty simple and very cute.

I've been scouring the side of the road for drawers to use to make this
Dollhouse.
That's so cute and would be a great way to use up some of my neglected paper supplies.

I am absolutely in love with this owl room for my youngest.  Again, with the owls.  I adore that bedding.  The problem is, it's no longer available.  *sigh*  I have a knack for falling in love with things that are either 3 years old (and therefore nowhere to be found) or from a foreign country.  I wonder if I could try to create bedding like that.

Heart-shaped photo arrangement
I love that.  When we (finally) move, I want to try that out at the new place.

Not exactly a craft, but these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes are calling my name.  Problem is, I'm drooling too profusely to respond.

There's a lolcat for that.

This simple Halloween decorating idea from the Graphics Fairy cracked me up.  I'd like to do that year-round.  :-)  That's another one that makes me wonder what the potential buyers would think.

This rock collage is darling and simple (and a much better souvenir alternative to buying plastic crap with the name of the state/town/country plastered on it).

These owl items aren't crafts, but they are adorable and I think they'll easily lend themselves to crafts.  I could easily recreate those with fabric scraps.  Although, I must say, we have some Stephen Joseph items for the kids and we've been very impressed with the company.  We had a problem with one and the customer service was phenomenal.

This French Vanilla Creamer seems simple to make and lacks all those extra chemicals.

These paper name mobiles are adorable and simple.  That's another thing I want to make for the kids' rooms when we move.  Hmmm...I would even do something like that for the front door to spell out, "Welcome."  That combined with that first leaf mobile could be super cute.