Ikea Expedit Hack: Compact Storage Bed

Posted on March 22, 2013 by jewelsathome

It’s happening… our oldest is officially a “tween” and has asked for his own room. The timing works out, as baby J and middle brother L are excited to move in together and play all day (hopefully not all night), so K can have the former nursery as his own.

J’s nursery was a small room – you may remember that it was converted from the former master bath – so I put a lot of planning into making a space-efficient layout that would be useful and not feel too claustrophobic. As part of the plan I needed a bed that was “zero clearance” – just the size of the mattress, and when I didn’t find what I was looking for shopping, I decided to get creative! As you know, I’m definitely one of those people who thinks everything is more fun when you make it yourself.

Here’s how we made our compact bed with plenty of storage space below.

Materials:

Two (2) Ikea EXPEDIT 1×5 bookshelves. Ours are black-brown
Ikea SULTAN LADE bed slats
Mattress (we used the one we already had)
Optional headboard: Ikea LACK wall shelf in the 43″ length for a twin bed – you could use the longer version for a full or queen bed
For hanging the headboard, Command Large Adhesive Picture Hanging Strips. I used these black ones to match the shelf.

Instructions:

Assemble the two EXPEDIT bookshelves, placing the felt pads on the long sides
Place the two bookshelves next to each other, with a gap in between. (pictured below, left)
Lay the SULTAN LADE bed slats on top of the shelves. (pictured below, right)

I moved my slats in 2″ from the edge, so you won’t see the slats when the mattress is in place. If your bed will be exposed on both sides, I would recommend trimming the slats, so the bed base is not too wide. Since our bed is up against the wall, I just shifted the slats over, and they hang off the edge next to the wall. (pictured below, left)
Since the EXPEDIT is just a couple of inches shorter than the mattress, I also let the slats extend about an inch over the bookcase at the head, for extra support. (pictured below, right)

Awesome Ikea hack. DIY compact bed with tons of storage, using Ikea EXPEDIT. {Jewels at Home}

Place the slats about 2″ from the edge of the shelf and hanging over the “head” end by about 1″.

You can paint the bed slats before securing, so they blend into the the shelves better, since you do get a little peek of the slats, even when the mattress is on. (pictured below)

Use four screws, two in each bookcase, to secure the bed slats to the bookshelf at each end and create a stable base. Then then screw down some of the slats in the middle, to keep them from slipping around.
For the headboard, trim off a few inches from the LACK shelf, so it matches the width of your bed. (pictured below, second picture)
Add the Command Large Adhesive Picture Hanging Strips to the back of the shelf. I used eight large strips, to make it very secure. (pictured below, third picture)
Attach the headboard to the wall above your bed. (pictured below, bottom)

LACK wall shelf hung as a headboard for a compact bed.

I’m planning on this wide stripe bedding from West Elm to complete the big boy bed!

Here’s the finished bed. I’ll put up some more pictures as the rest of the room comes together!

DIY compact bed with tons of storage, using Ikea EXPEDIT.

Although the rest of the room is unfinished, our tween boy is very happy hanging out in his new room. This spot for the bed is perfect for our bookworm to read away the afternoons.

“Jewels”

DIY Ninjago Eyes T-shirts

Posted on February 13, 2013 by jewelsathome

Our Lego Ninjago birthday party is coming up, and I’m making t-shirts for all the kids as party favors.

I tried two different ideas for the shirts. First, I made stenciled ninja silhouettes for the older boys. Details on where I got the blank shirts and created the stencils are in that post.

Use contact paper and fabric paint to stencil your own T-shirts.

And for the younger kids, here’s how the cute Ninjago eyes T-shirts turned out:

Instructions for DIY Ninjago eyes T-shirts:

Create a template for the eyes and trace it onto contact paper. Cut out the template, including the eyebrows and eyes. I used a circle cutter – you could also use a large circle punch – for the eyes. You can print this image and enlarge or shrink it as needed:

Stick the contact paper onto yellow fabric, trace around the outside with a pencil and use black fabric paint and a stencil brush to paint the eyes and eyebrows.
When the paint dries, iron it on both sides to heat set the paint.

Iron Heat’n Bond Ultra Hold Iron-On Adhesive onto the back of yellow fabric.
Peel the backing paper off and iron the yellow fabric on to the T-shirt.
I used black puffy paint to outline the fabric, which also seals the edges to help prevent peeling and fraying.
Your design will last longer if you wash the shirt inside out.

Here are some close-ups of red Ninjago Kai and blue Ninjago Jay:

Besides red for Kai, and blue for Jay, I also made heather gray (because I’m not crazy enough to make a white T-shirt for a little boy) for Zane, black for Cole, and green for Lloyd Garmadon, the birthday boy!

Hope you’ll try some of these ideas and make shirts for your own little guys!

You can also always find great sales on Ninjago and other Lego shirts, games, and toys at Zulily.com!

“Jewels”

DIY Stenciled Silhouette T-shirts

Posted on February 1, 2013 by jewelsathome

Honestly, I don’t get tired of planning the boys’ birthday parties. This is different than saying I don’t get tired executing my own plans, which I do, but the ideas are so endless and inspiring, so I hang in there, and their happy faces are always the best reward!

This year, L wants a Ninjago birthday. I have to say that Lego’s marketing strategy is truly brilliant – combine Lego, a fantastic toy, with every possible boyish fad – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates, Lord of the Rings, and Ninjas! It’s irresistible, as the clutter in the boys’ room will attest.

I’ve mentioned that I try to do a larger and reusable treat in place of a goody bag of small items. This time, I wanted to make the boys Ninjago T-shirts.

You can actually find T-shirts for sale for a reasonable price, if you keep your party small, but 1) I wanted long-sleeved shirts, since our weather is temperate year-round and 2) I think everything is more fun when you make it yourself!

I got the shirts at BlankShirts.com. I’m not affiliated with them or anything – I just figured I’d share my research in looking for inexpensive blank shirts. You can get short-sleeved shirts for as little as $2. I got these long-sleeved ones for about $8. I’ve also found some on clearance at Lands End for as little as $5, but you won’t get the same range of colors there.

I’m trying two different ideas for the shirts:

stenciled ninja silhouettes for the older boys
ironed-on and painted Ninjago eyes for the younger ones

Here are the instructions for the stenciled T-shirts. I’m really thrilled with how well they turned out, and it was quite easy! I’ll post the Ninjago eyes when they’re done.

Choose a ninja silhouette from the Internet and enlarge it.
Tape the printed silhouette over some contact paper and cut it out with a craft knife. I was able to do two layers at once, to make two stencils. (top row of pictures below)
Stick the contact paper stencil in place on the shirt, with a piece of cardboard inside the shirt. (bottom left picture below)
Use a stencil brush or sponge to apply black fabric paint. Remember to use small amounts of paint at a time and “pounce” up and down, so paint doesn’t bleed under your stencil.
Remove the stencil. I was able to reuse it a few times.

Once the paint is dry, heat set the stencil with a hot iron. I used a thin press cloth on the front and then also ironed it from the inside. (pictured below)
Your pattern will last longer if you wash it inside out.

Yay! The pattern on these came out very crisp and looks great. I’m already thinking of other patterns to try!

More ninja-themed T-shirts coming up soon!

“Jewels”

Favorite Paper Art Ideas

Posted on January 30, 2013 by jewelsathome

I’m just about ready to create some art for my craft studio walls, and I’m collecting some of my favorite inspirations here. I love these simple ways to showcase gorgeous papers and fabric prints, and I can’t wait to try them!

From Mondo Cherry, check out this trio of ideas:

stacked butterfly silhouettes mounted on a book page
circles wrapped in a range of pretty fabric prints
three-dimensional retro flower cut-outs

Go to Mondo Cherry

These butterflies cut from vintage books are decoupaged onto a piece of painted wood and sold by Gathered Together on Etsy. I love the inclusion of some sheet music!

Go to Gathered Together on Etsy

Sarah and Bendrix on Etsy have many charming variations on this hearts collage.

Go to Sarah and Bendrix on Etsy

Bombus on Etsy has a range of art made from maps. Here are some of my favorites:

Here’s another beautiful butterfly collage by Mallory Christensen on Pinterest.

I hope I’ll be posting my own creations here soon!

“Jewels”

Gifts in a Jar – Put a Lid on it!

Posted on January 16, 2013 by jewelsathome

Steve likes to say that everything sounds better when spoken in a British accent… My version is that everything tastes better when it came in a pretty package. I love a project that can reuse an old item in a beautiful way – upcycling at its best! For the holidays this year, I decided to make a variety of gifts in a jar to give to our neighbors and the kids’ teachers. I saved glass jars of various shapes and sizes, and I’ll show how to clean and prep them below.

Here are a few ideas for how to make your own gifts in a jar:

Large jars, like pasta sauce jars, are great for pancake mixes.
The smallest ones, like jam and salsa jars, can be made into apothecary jars and filled with bath salts.
Medium-sized jars, like almond butter jars, are perfect for hot chocolate mixes!
Homemade granola is another delicious idea for a gift.

How to clean jars for reuse:

start by peeling off as much of the label as possible
soak the jar in some water and peel off more of the label
if there’s sticky residue left, spray the jar with Goo Gone or vegetable oil and let it sit before a rubbing off the rest of the label
run the jars and lids through the dishwasher, using a mesh laundry bag to keep the lids from flying around
I finished off by spray painting any lids that had printing on them, for a clean look

Great ideas for gifts in a jar. Step one: clean and prep your jars. {Jewels at Home}

There are so many ideas for gifts in a jar. Step one: clean and prep your jars.

Tips and recipes for gifts in a jar. {Jewels at Home}

Another tip: make a funnel from clean card stock to help layer ingredients more neatly.

Some more pictures of our dressed up holiday gifts:

Ideas, tips, and recipes for DIY gifts in a jar. {Jewels at Home}

Homemade apothecary jars filled with bath salts make a wonderful gift for a shower, hostess, or any occasion.

I really love having something handmade for the holidays, and making several of the same gifts made the project more doable. The only real-world caveat I have is that these were very heavy to carry into school. Add our toddler in the baby carrier on my back, and I definitely broke a sweat. It was all worth it, though I might recommend a wagon if you are trying this…

“Jewels”

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

Posted on January 13, 2013 by jewelsathome

I’ll admit I’m not the main cook in our family – thanks, Steve! – but I do have a few dishes that I rely on to get a good, healthy meal on the table, and this is one of them. Our whole family loves the taste of this take on Chinese sesame noodles, and I love that you can pack it full of veggies that the kids will eat. Since it can be served cold, it’s also a good meal to make ahead for hectic weeknights.

Ingredients:

For the noodles:

5 medium carrots
1.5 bundles buckwheat noodles
1 cucumber
2 stalks green onions
1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken meat

For the sauce:

1/2 cup tahini, peanut butter, sunflower butter or a combination of these
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp chili paste (I leave this on the side, when cooking for the kids)

Instructions:

Boil the chicken until cooked. Cool and shred
Shred carrots to similar width as noodles using mandolin or food processor. Boil until soft, about 10 minutes.
Slice cucumbers into thick strips with a mandolin or knife.
Slice green onions into long strips with a knife. Place in the bottom of a colander or sieve.
Boil noodles according to instructions. Drain in a colander over the green onions, to soften the green onions.
Mix all the above in a large bowl and then prepare the sauce (see below)

Here are the ingredients (sans chicken), waiting to be mixed:

Sesame noodles full of vegetables!

Mix the ingredients for the sauce together and then stir into the noodle mixture. You can serve this dish hot, cold, or anywhere in-between.

Asian sesame noodle recipe with lots of veggies the kids will eat!

H0pe you enjoy this addition to your family’s menu!

“Jewels”

My Favorite French Toast – Panettone French Toast

Posted on January 8, 2013 by jewelsathome

I don’t spend that much time in the kitchen, so if you find a recipe here on Jewels’ blog, you be assured it will be easy to make. I love French toast, and this is my favorite way to make it come out perfectly delicious every time!

The secret is to use Italian panettone bread. Its rich, sweet flavor is the perfect starting point for French toast. Here’s the easy recipe that will serve 6:

One panettone loaf – this time around, I actually found a loaf with chocolate chips!
1 cup yogurt
6 eggs, beaten
Butter for pan frying

To prepare the French toast,

slice the panettone bread into 1″ thick slices. You can do this the night before and let the bread dry out a bit.
heat the pan to medium-high and melt butter
beat the eggs and beat in the yogurt
dip the slices of breast into the yogurt-egg mix
pan fry on both sides until lightly brown

Bon appetit!

Jewels

White and Woodsy Christmas – 2013 Wrap-up

Posted on January 6, 2013 by jewelsathome

Happy New Year! I have so much excitement putting the decorations for Christmas, that it seems to go by in a flash, but this packing up thing always seems to take longer. Not to mention, somehow there is more to pack up each year. I wonder how that happens… I was listening to the radio last month, and they were listing Christmas destination houses – you know the ones that take a month and a whole work crew to set up – and I had a little inkling that left unchecked, that could be me in another decade or two. Well, “Crazy Christmas lady” wouldn’t be the worst thing to grow old as.

Anyway, I was trying to get our Christmas 2013 wrap-up (get it? ha ha!) posted on Christmas Eve, but I was having technology problems, so I hope that this cheers you up a little as you are taking down your own tree. The last couple of years, I have tried out themes to our Christmas decor. Christmas 2012 was all about silver and red with a burst of bright turquoise.

For 2013, our theme was snowy white. I grew up in Canada, so Christmas was associated with cool temperatures, bare branches, and as often as not, snow on the ground. Even my kids, who grew up in California, ask for snow at Christmas. So, I decided to create a snowy Christmas for us at home.

I pared down my decorations to focus on the white and silver, as well as outdoorsy decorations like animals, trees, and snow. I also made several new projects in a white and woodsy theme. I put links to all the DIY projects at the bottom of this post.

When you walk into our house, this big window is the first thing you see. I was recently mildly traumatized by a visiting architect who called the window “tragic,” because it looks out on our driveway and into our neighbor’s house. While his delivery was a bit quirky, I see his point, so I have some ideas for softening the view down the road, but at least for the month of December, we can focus on our Christmas tree! Here is how it looks by day (hard to photograph with that window behind it) and night. I picked up some new white ornaments in stores and also made many, including some that the kids did.

This is the new Christmas tree skirt for our simple white theme. I sewed our previous one the year we were married more than a few years ago, so I’m enjoying the change of scene.

Our homemade ornaments included these clay ones I created with the kids as well as some white felt poinsettias. I got a little addicted to those and started carrying a bag of felt and beads around to work on them anywhere and any time…

After the tree, the mantel is a big Christmas focal point. I used last year’s DIY felt and feather Christmas trees mixed in with some new white houses to make a modern winter village.

Decorating for a white Christmas. Modern Christmas village in white with lots of DIY ideas | Jewels at Home

The white felt stockings were on sale at West Elm, and I added our initials on these circles.

Welcome, Santa!

A few more touches around the house are below, I like that they are more “wintery” than strictly “Christmas-y,” so I plan to leave them up a little longer. Did I mention I’m tired of packing up?

Here are our new pillow covers:

In the front hall, I “planted” this faux birch branches. I have in mind to adorn them a bit more next year – stay tuned!

And in our family room, I hung this DIY antler painting. No reindeer were harmed in creating it, and s I plan to leave it up a little longer.

And while we enjoyed our California version of white Christmas for most of the month, we went to see the real thing in Canada, and I brought home these pictures:

As promised, here are the links to this year’s Christmas projects:

Clay ornaments with the kids
Faux birch logs
Felt poinsettias
Christmas pillows in white and grey
Antler art
Christmas tree skirt in gray and white
DIY felt and feather Christmas trees (from last year)

Back to those multiplying storage boxes!

“Jewels”

Animal Silhouette Christmas Ornaments

Posted on December 3, 2012 by jewelsathome

Well, I could happily have gone on making trees, after these Christmas trees made with trims and the felt Christmas trees, but I’m exercising some restraint, such as it is, and switching over to making ornaments.

I’ve seen some whimsical animal silhouettes with pretty prints at One Kings Lane and Raredevice.net, and I thought I’d try a DIY version.

Deer silhouette Christmas ornament from Raredevice.net

Reindeer and bird silhouette Christmas ornaments seen at One Kings Lane.

If you’d like to buy something similar for a reasonable price, check out these pretty wood ornaments by Arks and Animals on Etsy.

Wooden animal silhouette ornaments from Arks and Animals on Etsy.

I’m quite tempted by the wood ones, but, I like the prints, so back to the DIY project… The ornament from Raredevice is wood with a printed design (no can do), but the One Kings Lane ornaments are cardboard and paper (can do!!). I tried this with both cardboard and craft foam as the centers. The cardboard cut more neatly than the foam, but in the end, I preferred the foam, because it gave the cut-outs a little dimension and substance. The cardboard ones ended up looking a bit more like gift tags than ornaments.

Materials:

assorted scrapbook, wrapping, and origami papers
craft foam (no longer just for kids!) in colors to match your papers or thin cardboard (like cereal boxes)
Images or templates to trace, such a cookie cutters, stencils, or printed images
craft knife and scissors – I used both large and small scissors as well as some pattern-edged scissors
small hole punch
string or ribbon for hanging

Instructions:

I used a glue stick to cover both sides of a piece of craft foam with decorative paper.
I found silhouettes I liked on the Internet and printed them out. A good size for these ornaments is about 3-4″.
I laid a silhouette over a section of foam and used the scissors and craft knife to cut through the foam and paper. I started with the large scissors to get the general shape and then used the small scissors and craft knife to neaten up the edges and the pattern-edged scissors for adding details, like the feathers on the birds’ wings. Because the foam is flexible, the paper did wrinkle a bit, but I tried to bend it as little as possible. The cardboard bent less, but as I said, I didn’t find the result as substantial.
I punched a hole in the top and threaded a ribbon… voila!

Make these sweet animal silhouette ornaments decorated with origami paper! {Jewels at Home}

Sweet animal silhouette ornaments decorated with origami paper! In case you are wondering, the reindeer in the top row was made with a cardboard center, and the rest have the foam center.

And here are the new ornaments on our Christmas tree. By the way, if you are in San Francisco, Lowe’s had trees for literally a third the price of the Christmas tree lots. The ambience was somewhat lacking, but it was worth it!

Moose silhouette ornament. O Canada!

Bunny silhouette ornament with instructions. {Jewels at Home}

Bunny silhouette ornament. For my sister and little nieces, who were all born in the year of the rabbit!

Make a little blue bird silhouette ornament for the tree. {Jewels at Home}

A little blue bird silhouette ornament for our tree.

These ornaments turned out very sweet and were fairly fast to make. They might show up as gifts this season! I also found some homemade ornaments from years past that I’ll post soon.

“Jewels”

I shared this project at:

Centsational Girl’s holiday Link Party

Clothespin Wreath Advent Calendar

Posted on November 28, 2012 by jewelsathome

My brain has been whirling with all the creative advent calendar ideas out there. I grew up with a beautiful felt advent calendar my mom made, and I want to recreate something like that for our boys. While I’m still mulling over all the options for the long term, it is the end of November, so for this year, I’ve decided to make a clothespin wreath using Christmas wrapping paper and scrapbook papers to hold 24 cards with activities we can do together through the month.

Clothespin wreath advent calendar with an activity for each day.

The instructions for the wreath are detailed in the previous post. The only changes were that I made this wreath a bit bigger (13″ diameter) to accomodate 24 pins, and I added numbers to the pins for each day. The numbers are stickers on punched out circles, and I used removable tape to stick them on the clothespins, in case we use this wreath for pictures or cards in the future.

Clothespin wreath for Christmas makes a lovely advent calendar or card display.

Numbers for a clothespin advent calendar

For the activity cards, I printed 2″x4″ shipping labels with 24 different activities, one for each day. There are lots of options – here are some I thought would be fun to do with the kids this year. I’d love to hear what you are planning, too!

Get a Christmas tree
Decorate the Christmas tree
Write Christmas wish list
Make ornaments
Holiday Faire at school
Make a gift for a friend or family member
Give a homemade gift
Drink hot chocolate
Go see Christmas lights
Wrap presents
Make snowflakes
Read How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Read The Polar Express
Prepare Christmas “thank you” cards
Donate food
Donate toys
Decorate a gingerbread house
Visit reindeer at the zoo
Watch “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”
Watch “Frosty the Snowman”
Make a snowman pizza
Bake Christmas cookies
Write cards for teachers
Deliver gifts to teachers
Family game night
Snowman pancakes for breakfast
Mail Christmas cards
Brunch with Santa (like family photos, this is a strange torture I cannot resist!)
Call relatives and sing carols to them
Movie night (this is a Christmas Eve tradition for us)

I stuck the labels on cardstock in Christmas colors and patterns and then clipped them to the wreath, with the labels facing the back. We can turn over one each day!

Clothespin wreath advent calendar with a special activity for each day.

Maybe I’ll come up with a new advent calendar next year, or maybe this wreath will become our tradition. I think I’m at least as excited as the boys for the countdown to Christmas!

“Jewels”

I shared this project at: