Changing the Function of an IKEA Kallax

I have been really bad about sharing our DIY and inexpensive creations for our daughter's room. But here is how we turned an IKEA Kallax into a functional changing table that can then just turn back into storage space.

First you need the Kallax. Then you'll need the inserts for it; we went with 2 drawer inserts (creating 4 drawers) and then 2 cabinet inserts. We also added some feet to the bottom to give it some height so it would be a little taller for the "changing table" purpose. I bought new nobs for it from Hobby Lobby and some cubby baskets from The Land of Nod. For the diaper organizers on top I found these cute boxes at The Container Store that matched perfectly and were WAY cheaper than the diaper caddies they sell at baby stores.

All the hidden storage space hides her diapers and wipes and things of that nature while the cubbies hold books and shoes and then the baskets hold all her toys.

I love that this will have a purpose after we are done changing diapers. We can take the inserts out and turn it on its side if we want or it can stay as is; there are so many possibilities with IKEA's furniture!

Turning an IKEA Spice Rack into a Cute Book Nook

So I really wanted to have this post up yesterday but I didn't have time to edit the pictures yesterday of last night so it's getting posted a little late. More on why later.

Alana's room is made up of some cost saving ideas and IKEA hacks I have found on Pinterest. One was dressing up an IKEA dresser. And today's post is about another.

IKEA has these wooden, unfinished spice racks that, with the help of Pinterest I'm sure, have quickly become just regular trinket racks. My favorite idea was turning them into a book rack/holder.

So I painted them to match her room and up they went! We utilized the dead space behind the closet door. Of course she is too young to read but by the time she can she'll have a little stool made for her that she can use to reach the top and middle one. And as you can see they quickly filled up with some of my old books and new books of her own!

I can tell she already enjoys story time; her eyes follow along, taking in all the pictures and colors. And now she is grabbing at the books to try and put them in her mouth! Babies are so funny!

Side note: We used these in our last house as extra storage in our master bath. They really work great for adding a little extra storage space!

Nursery Art

So I am finally starting to get around to taking pictures of Alana's room and the art I have hung in there. Unfortunately, the lighting was total crap yesterday! So I apologize for the bad pictures. We sort of have 4 areas showcasing pictures and art:

The first is above her crib - I ordered these pictures from etsy from a photographer in Ukraine. I love these pictures that were taken in Paris, France and that they have been changed to have the purple in them matches her room perfectly! They are 8x10 and my husband wishes we would have gotten the 11x14.

Then we have what I am calling the gallery wall - I decided to stop worrying about how the pictures line up as this will be something that we continuously add to. And I don't want to end up with more holes in the wall because this picture needs to move 2cm to the left. I bought all the frames on sale and I spray painted them the same gray so they would all match. I made most of these and here is how:

~ So Many of my Smiles: I made this using a design I found on my Silhouette machine and just changed the color and printed it using my printer.
~ A: Michael's Arts and Crafts had these small frames for like $0.25 and then I bought a set of scrapbooking letters and made that cute little piece.
~ You Are My Sunshine: I made this with my Silhouette too, the "sunshine" is actually raised and I love the look.
~ Mirror: I found this on sale too and I spray painted the pink on there to add a little somethin', somethin'
~ Street Lamp: The photographer from Ukraine included this card in her delivery so I framed it and put it on the wall :)
~ Hello, Love: This I found at Hobby Lobby

I have a few more pieces that I need to finish and get up there but it's looking good so far.

There is the area above and the top of her dresser that I posted before:

And then we have the most meaningful pieces of all, the hand made birth announcements that my mom made for me and for Alana. Mine is actually being fixed at the moment but below is Alana's! I am so thankful she has something like this to keep and treasure forever!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are having a great start to the week!

The Minion Family

I love Halloween! And I was super excited to dress up as a family this year. We went as minions and Gru!

Alexa a.k.a. Kevin
I was Kevin, the tall minion. My outfit was pretty easy to throw together. I ordered my overalls and yellow shirt from Amazon and I got my minion beanie from Etsy. For shoes I wore my black converse. And I just printed the Gru symbol off the internet

Overalls
Yellow long sleeve shirt
Minion beanie
Black converse (already owned)

Alana a.k.a. Stuart
Alana was Stuart, the minion with one eye. Her outfit was pretty simple too: a yellow onesie, blue tutu, socks and I made her little eye from a kit I got a craft store.

Yellow onesie
Blue tutu
Mudpie Mary Jane socks
Build Your Own Minion kit (seen to the right)
Yellow headband and bow (already owned)

Matt a.k.a. Gru
We already had most of his costume, all we had to do for this was order the right scarf and some fun foam for his nose. And I just printed off the Gru symbol for his jacket zipper.

Black pants (already owned)
Black jacket (already owned)
Black/gray scarf
Fun foam nose

And we had a Build-A-Bear Bob minion to complete the minion trio!

I hope you all had a super fun Halloween!

Gru Nose Tutorial
I bought a pack of sticky fun foam that included some skin colored tones and I cut it into a triangle pyramid shape. I fit it to my husband's nose..ish... Once I had the shape drawn out I scored it to make it easier to bend where I needed it and then took the paper off the backing and stuck it on! I think it turned out pretty great! However with the humidity the nose only lasted about an hour until it didn't stick anymore.  

Dressing Up IKEA's Hemnes Dresser

For Alana's room (which I have yet to post about because I am still hanging stuff up in there) we have a few high end pieces and a few IKEA pieces that we dressed up.

The first one is IKEA's Hemnes 3-drawer dresser in white. I had seen many Pinterest/blog posts on sprucing this dresser up and it was an idea that I liked! Pick the color that you want, I chose Veiled Violet because it was the color that Potter Barn Kids and Sherwin-Williams had picked out to match her nursery collection. Then I picked 2 more colors on the same color strip (Beguiling Mauve and Soulmate). And we went for an ombre look!

I also picked up some different drawer nobs from Hobby Lobby when they were on sale - this is a really easy way to make a piece for furniture look better! Hobby Lobby has 50% off sales on rotation so make sure you go during that time!

DIY Celulite Reducing Scrub

I wanted to try a cellulite reducing scrub ever since giving birth. I feel like my skin is more dimply now. You can find these scrubs all over pinterest so I thought I would give it a try and let you know what I think.

I followed the simple recipe of 1/2 cup coffee grounds, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 olive oil. I mixed them all together in a container and applied to my thighs and stomach before my shower. I massaged it for about 5 mins.

I bought the cheapest of all products and used in-store coupons that were available to make this the least expensive way possible.

Survey Says - - - I think it works! I noticed less dimples and smoother skin. I definitely recommend applying the scrub before you shower since you'll need to wash all of it off and you'll need soap to get all the oil off. I'll be bringing this with me the next time we take a beach vacation for sure! Plus it smells pretty good!

A Travel Themed Baby Shower

Welcome to the World

If you were a reader from travel mi amor then you know I HAD to have a travel themed baby shower. The theme was Welcome to the World!

Lets start with the crafts:

1 - Mod Podge Kleenex boxes and letters. Except we didn't use mod podge, my mom found out that using Elmer's Clear Glue (not gel) works just as well as mod podge; and its cheaper! We just painted the maps onto the Kleenex boxes and cardboard letters. They looked perfect!

2 - The 'Welcome' wreath was made by my best friend and co-host of the shower. I had seen many of these wreathes on Pinterest using wrapping paper for the holiday season. It turned out great and I LOVE it! Here is the tutorial she used.

3 - The food labels and gift tags were made by me using my Silhouette. This machine is pretty cool! If you're cleaver enough you can design your own designs or you can purchase some from the design studio.

4 - We also made some banners out of maps. This was pretty easy since we just cut out some triangle and strung them together with twine.

The food was one of the coolest things out everything I think! We had food from some of favorite countries!

America - Mini Hamburgers & Cupcakes

France - Macarons

Italy -  Spaghetti

Mexico - Taco Cups

Germany - Soft Pretzels

Asia - Crab Rangoon

And as a 'Thank You' to everyone that came I had little boxes filled with European chocolates and cookies! 

I absolutely LOVED my baby shower! Thank you so much to my friend Ashley, my mom and my mother-in-law for hosting and putting it together!