Baby Room Makeover: Name Sign

This project cost me a little more than I had initially wanted, but I was also able to utilize materials I already had around the home to make this cute name sign for my love.

While I was at Blick art supplies I came across these adorable little canvases and had the wonderful idea to paint Eamon's name on them and turn them into a hanging sign to place above his new shelf and some artwork I hung above this dresser. Since I am not a magnificent freestyle painter, I was on a mission to find some durable stencils that I could reuse for other projects and that wouldn't bust the bank. Luckily, they were having a sale and I was able to score stencils that normally $7.79 for a bit lower at $5.99. Not much of a score when you think about it, considering that I could have printed free stencils online, but I was in the moment. My idea was to spray paint the canvases using some leftover paint at home and stenciling one letter to each using some acrylics (which I have a huge stash of). I would then use some cheap art clips and some jute I had picked up at the thrift store a while back to create the hanging sign.

Baby Room Makeover: Mini Skateboard Shelf Project

As my baby is getting bigger I decided that it was time to redecorate his room (which is rarely used to begin with) to make it a little more mature and playroom oriented. Doing this on a budget can be a trick, especially since things like artwork can be pricy when you're trying to do the "handmade" thing. The trick is to use items you already have around the house to keep that cost to a minimum.

One of the first things I noticed in Eamon's room was a novelty mini skateboard I had bought him during the summer from Five Below. Since it is something that is not regularly used (given that he has only just turned 2 and we literally a dozen other boards in the house), I decided to put it to good use and mount it to the wall above the vintage Playschool Record Player I dug out from my childhood pile and set up in his room.

The project is really quite easy and requires minimal skill (so don't fret if you're not a master building!)Now, everyone likes to make their shelves a bit differently: some people use prefabricated bookshelf materials and some people go for simple braces; it's really up to you. I chose to use small corner braces because I was using a small board to begin with and didn't want it to be "clunky" looking.