It's Raining Books

L has slowly accumulated quite a book collection and the allotted shelf has filled up.  Everything is constantly falling on to us when we are in the rocking chair.  I find myself wishing we had put a little more thought into book storage.  I don't know if we will ever get around to doing this at our house, but I wanted to share a few unique DIY ways to not only store books, but use them as decoration.

I really love these shelves I saw on Elizabeth Sullivan Design and wish we had a huge wall space in L's nursery to do this...

Elizabeth didn't include any "how to" instructions, but it seems other were inspired by the above picture...

Go to Frugal Home Designs, Kara's Corner, and Anything Pretty to see a some different ways to achieve this look.  If you don't consider yourself a do-it-yourselfer, Ikea sells similar shelves for $9.99 or $14.99 (depending on the size)...  

If you are good with a sewing machine, I found another book storage idea on Penny Carnival.  You could use any fabric you wanted with a curtain rod!

What do you use for book storage?

$ave $ome $crilla: Mobile Madness

There are DIY mobiles everywhere!  My Babies R Us Mobile is looking pretty ugly after seeing all of these.  What a great way to add some flare to your nursery!

I stumbled upon a great post on Trashy Decor while researching this topic.  They put together a list of DIY mobiles (a couple of them pictured below). 

I have seen the butterfly mobile they reference copied multiple times.  The $60 Pottery Barn Mobile (no longer available) inspired many crafty moms to try and recreate it. 

Pottery Barn Kids

Pick your fave copycat mobile below and click on the links to see how they did it.  These may be more high maintenance than you are looking for, but if you enjoy crafts, these are definitely for you!

Pretty Pink Monster

The Penny Parlor

Mama Tots (spent $8)

I love the 3rd one the best!  What a great idea to use a wreath base!

Please send in any of your own DIY nursery items!  Let me know if you try any of the above.

Go to Girls

To echo what I said last week in "Sweet Mint Studio," decorating on a budget is not always easy!  A few girls from my neck of the woods keep a great catch-all blog, Go to Girls.  They post recipes, fashion tips, decorating ideas, and more.  I wanted to share a recent Go to Girls post that is a really inexpensive way to spruce up a nursery or any room for that matter!  I have seen these trellis screens on a few blogs and wanted to make sure you knew about them!  GENIUS!

Click here for more details.

Sweet Mint Studio

If you are trying to decorate your nursery on a budget, this is no easy task!  The baby market can be a bit of a racket.  I ran across this great blog called Sweet Mint Studio that features decorating ideas, recipes, life lessons, and more.  Here is a sneak peak of her low cost idea for nursery wall art.  I just LOVE it! 

Click here to read how she did it.

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CopyCat: A bad thing?

Growing up, I was never one to care if someone copied me.  After all, copying is the highest form a flattery.  Why is copycat a negative term, just take a look at these two!?!?  They are too cute to be thought of in a bad way!

 
Now that I am a grown up (ha), I flatter (copy) all sorts of people!  I am no Martha Stewart or even close to it,  but I like to consider myself an expert googler.  There are some fantastic ideas out there!  I have gathered some ideas about baby showers decorations and activities that I would love to share with you.  Please copycat my copycats!

I have renamed these awesome things Puffkins.  We made them for a baby shower I was hosting last weekend.  I was a bit nervous because usually the make your own decorations things looks way easier in the picture than it turns out to be.  These were actually really easy!  We found this article from Martha Stewart with the step by step instructions, but here are my pictures to see a different vantage point.




8 sheets of 20x30 tissue paper




Fold 1.5 inch accordian style




place a wire around the center




Round the edges with scissors




Pull each layer of tissue paper to "fluff" it up




Hang with ribbon




My mom had the idea to stuff them at the top as well



I had a couple thoughts after we made them.  We could have alternated the colors of tissue papers to make multicolored Puffkins.  Also, it might be cute to use tulle or organza, but thought they turned out pretty cute as they were.  I think they added a lot more than flowers and were a fraction of the cost.  At Michaels craft store they sell pre-assembled Martha Stewart "Puffkin" making kits for $20, but we just bought all the pieces separately and it was only $10. 

Good luck!  Please send pictures if you decide to copycat or improve on the idea! 

More baby shower ideas to come!

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