DIY Heart Wall Stickers

DIY Triangle Accent Wall

After I painted my kids' room blue, I knew I wanted to do something with the main wall behind their bed. It previously had an owl mural so the plain blue was just looking well a little... plain. ;p

DIY: Repainting my kids' room

I'm probably the most adventurous when it comes to doing painting projects in my kids' room since it's not that big. I know I can pretty much do it myself without spending a whole lot for materials. One of my very first DIY projects was doing this owl tree mural, which is probably one of my all-time favorites.

After, I decided to paint half the wall purple, just to give it an accent color.

Then, I went all out and painted stripes on the ceiling since I figured, why not? ;p

I guess I'd forgotten how much work it actually took to do these projects since after a while, I was itching to make some changes again. Plus the kids were getting older, which meant they could already give me input on what they wanted. Both my son and daughter stay in this room so I couldn't really choose between a "Princess Underwater" or "Power Rangers" theme. ;p

Basically, I knew I just wanted to change the color of the walls first. Of course, it had to be gender neutral and something that would match the striped grey and white ceiling (no way was I repainting that anytime soon since it took me forever to do that!). Honestly, it was so hard to choose especially when I was looking at paint swatches since there were so many nice colors!

In the end, I decided to go with an light blue color called PEACE RIVER in a satin finish. I got a gallon of paint which cost about P1k. This was honestly more than I was expecting to pay for the paint, but it was good quality which meant good coverage. So I figured it was fine since I was going to be looking at those walls for quite some time right? :)

Before I got started though, I first wiped the walls using a damp cloth. This is important since a lot of dirt and residue can accumulate on your walls over the years. Mine was super dusty, I didn't even realize it! I also sanded over any uneven parts from my previous paint job. You definitely want a smooth and clean surface when you start.

it was definitely hard to take the owl mural down, but it's time for a change ;)

Since I was repainting over the owl mural and also the purple half of the wall with a lighter color, I had to get a primer so I could even out the color first. Others might just go ahead and paint over everything at once, but you might need more coats to make sure the old paint color won't show through. Personally, I think a primer saves you time and energy and just ensures a nicer end result.

I loved putting on the primer since I didn't need to be neat about it. It doesn't have to be applied perfectly since you'll be covering it up with your new paint color anyway.

After everything was covered, it was finally time to really paint. I also love how my little assistant was back! She also helped me paint the purple half of the wall before. I had to kick her out after a while though, since honestly, we would never finish with her around! lol ;p

Anyway, if you think it was easy, it was NOT. I definitely need blog posts like these to remind me of the blood, sweat, and tears it took to finish painting the damn room! I blame HGTV for making it look like a breeze haha! And honestly, who here hasn't looked around a small space and confidently thought, "I could paint this in a few hours max!"

Well, it took me 3 days and I almost gave up and hired someone to finish it for me. I think maybe it was because of the cheap paint rollers I used, or maybe I just bit off more that I could chew. But I got the job done in the end and it's beautiful if I do say so myself!

I love how the color turned out! Even though it's blue, the light shade is still feminine enough for a girl. The primer definitely worked since it covered all the old paint perfectly. And the color made the room brighter and fresher, don't you think? My kids are happy and so am I!

My whole body was aching for days after I did this - from all the bending over, reaching up, and going up and down the ladder. I now have a newfound respect for house painters! I told hubby I won't bargain anymore when a painter charges for labor since I now know how hard it is to do their job haha! ;p

I honestly want to paint over a lot more walls in our house (like the accent wall in our living room and also our master bedroom). But with this weather, it will definitely take a while before I do manual labor again hehe! But stay tuned since I have a lot more home improvements coming up soon. :)

DIY: Getting Creative with Chalk

Like every other parent, I love taking pictures of my kids. I love dressing them up in costumes or cute little outfits and teaching them how to pose (my daughter Miley has mastered the hands-on-hip, beauty queen stance at 4 years old).

We’ve had our family portraits done by a professional photographer about 4 times already (basically once a year). And one thing I can say is that these photoshoots do not come cheap these days. It really is an investment, especially if you choose to go with the more well-known studios around town. 

But really, there’s no reason not to have beautiful pictures even if you just take these by yourself at home. I love searching for inspiration online, and if I can recreate something with my kids, I’m all for it! One of those ideas I’ve been wanting to try is sidewalk chalk photos.

I love this whole concept since it’s so easy, inexpensive, and creates a big impact. All you need is chalk, an area where you can do your drawing, and a huge imagination.

To find out more on how I did this, please head on over to Cerelac & Gerber's #ParentingNerd blog, where I (along with other mommy bloggers) give lots of cool tips and ideas on Food, Fashion, and Arts & Crafts.

Decorative Letters from Invitation House

I'm so happy I found these letters from Invitation House since I've been wanting to place Miley's name on her bedroom wall for the longest time already. The letters are made from lightweight cardboard material and cost P120 each. I think it's already a steal compared to some other letters (although made of wood) being sold online at more than twice the price.

their store in Alabang Town Center

Each letter is 7" tall and 3cm thick. They have different designs per letter so you can mix and match, but I choose this design which I think matches the room the best. And I liked it the most. =) If you don't like any of the designs though, you can just change it by cutting out and gluing scrapbook / giftwrapping paper on top of the letter. I actually plan to do this when I buy letters for Sabe's room since they don't have a design that fits the color combo I want.

Since the letters are super light, they just needed a few strips of my favorite mounting tape (P39.75 at Handyman) to stick to the wall. This tape is super strong which is perfect since I just know the kids will try to remove the letters haha! And I got to test it when I tried moving a letter a few centimeters (since it was a bit crooked) and it wouldn't budge!

And here's the finished product! Miley loves it, she now keeps spelling her name out loud. =) And as expected, Sabe keeps wanting to pull the letters down though (with matching mischievous smile). Don't worry Sabe, you'll have your own set soon! =)

If you don't feel like hanging the letters, you can just use them to decorate a bookshelf or a console table. Or even use them as part of a centerpiece for a party. So cute right? =)

Wall stickers for kids

I really love wall decals since they're such a fun and easy way to update any room. I have a couple put up in my home (see here and here). Before, they were really expensive and I could just find them online. But now, you can find a lot of designs in different stores for a steal! Here's 3 places you can get cheap and nice wall stickers for kids.

I found these wall stickers at Robinsons Department Store. I grabbed all the kiddie designs since they were on sale at 50% off so each sheet was just P100. 

Here's a closer look at the stickers. I'm planning to use the airplanes and spaceships for Sabe's room which I hope to finish in the next couple of months. The owl stickers are obviously for Miley, to go with her owl themed room.

You can also find wall stickers at Japan Home Centre / Daiso Store. I was surprised that they have a lot of designs and really great quality too! The best part, everything for P66 or P88! I got the sea creatures set (this was P66) since Miley loves fishies and the ocean.

I decided to put them on her bathroom door. Miley isn't potty trained yet and she hates spending time in there (unless she's going "swimming" which means tub time). At least she'll have something to look at when she's in the potty haha!

Anyway, the kids really love it! I intentionally placed them higher up the door so Miley wouldn't be able to peel them off (she loves doing that). Problem is, she now asks us to carry her so she could touch and point to the fish. =)

These stickers are from 168 Mall in Divisoria and they cost just P25 each! Although they're much smaller stickers, they have a 3D effect (they aren't completely flat) which makes them fun for kids. They have so many designs to choose from but as usual, I got the owl and fish ones.

I also placed these in Miley's bathroom to make it a really fun place for her. Don't they look super cute? =)

It still surprises me how cheap these stickers are nowadays. Before, I spent about P500 - P1000 for each sheet! Now you can get the same designs for a fraction of the cost. With wall stickers, you don't have to spend a fortune to add life to your child's room. Since they're so affordable, no need to worry about changing them when your kids rip them or grow tired of the designs. Just buy a new set and stick them back up!

Our new bedroom wall

I once got obsessed with wall stickers and hoarded them like there was no tomorrow. I bought several from Multiply, in bazaars, and finally in Bangkok where they were selling them for less than half the price I paid online (grrrrr!). What I loved about them is that you can make such a big difference in a room without having to paint or put holes in your walls.

Anyway, I had so many designs to choose from that I couldn't decide which ones to use (labo noh?). Well, when we moved into our home, I finally got the chance to use this pole wire decal to spice up our boring bedroom wall.

It took me the whole morning to stick them (keeping those thin lines straight were a bit tricky) but the end result was worth it!

Now off to find more places to stick the other wall decals I have! ;p

DIY: Owl Tree Wall Mural

Miley just loves owls ever since she was a baby (I think it started when she watched a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star video featuring an owl). So when we moved into our new house, there was no question what design her room would be. I knew I wanted to put a tree mural on this wall so I searched online for decal stickers, but they were all so expensive! The ones I wanted were about $100 up!

No way was I going to spend that much when I could make it myself. So, armed with my self-taught photoshop skills (thank you to all those years working in advertising), I found a peg of a wall sticker and recreated it. Now this takes a lot of time and effort, so if you don't have either, then I recommend just buying the stickers.

After I had finished making the owls and the leaves, I had them printed on sticker paper. Each sticker sheet is 1ft x 1ft and I had 12 sheets printed. The whole thing cost about P1300.

After I cut the stickers, I then positioned them on the wall using scotch tape first. After I was happy with the arrangement, I then drew the tree trunk free hand with a pencil.

I then used painter's tape to outline the shape of the tree.

I used this brown paint from Ace Hardware (around P200). They had me choose what shade of brown I wanted then they punched the codes in the computer and it was mixed by a machine. It was my first time to experience that so it was pretty cool haha! Of course I made sure the paint I got was water based so it would have no smell (it didn't) and it would wash off easily on my hands or on the wall if I made a mistake (it did).

I used a paintbrush at first but the paint came out uneven on the walls because of the bristles! I think I spent about an hour just painting and reapplying several layers of paint to make it even but to no avail. I then used a rollerbrush and the paint came out perfect and consistent. I also just spent about 10-15 minutes using the rollerbrush to paint the entire tree! So quick and easy and no drips!

My favorite part! Removing the tape!

Now, this was the problem. There were some parts where the paint seeped through the tape causing jagged edges. What I did was buy a brown pentel pen and just traced over the jagged lines. Problem solved!

So again, this was Miley's boring blank wall BEFORE...

And this is how it looks AFTER! If you look closely on the bottom left part, you'll see the happy occupant of the room =)

After I showed this to my friends and family, I got so many requests to make murals for their rooms! But like I said, this is really a labor of love. If I wasn't so kuripot, I would have probably just gave it and bought the ready made wall decals to make my life easier. But still, its a different feeling knowing you worked on something yourself. I'll probably do one again for Sabre's room in the future. For now I'm just really happy with how beautiful this turned out! =)