Star Wars room completed

We finally finished the room. We would have had it done on schedule but ran into so problems with our new furniture, and had to make an extra trip to Ikea.

 If you follow my blog, this post won't be that exciting, because you've already seen all the elements of the room.  But, I still wanted to show the finished product with the painted walls. I found it to be incredibly difficult to get any decent pictures. I had low light, lots of glare from the windows and even while standing the corners I couldn't get the views I wanted. Does anyone know of a good tutorial for shooting a small room?

I started a gallery wall above his dresser with most of the artwork. I hope to add more to it over time. 

Go HERE for more info about the artwork.

I was worried the blue walls were too dark at first. Now, I love it, especially how they make all the wood stand out.  We finally got him a real book case from Ikea. I'm hoping he'll store all his junk here so no one will see from the hallway. 

I used some of his star wars toys around the room, which he loves.

We have this mask that is meant to be a costume, but I decided it looks better on the bed as decor. 

For more info about the bedding go HERE.

We all LOVE the room.  I wish you could see it the way we do. 

millennium falcon lego cake

It's tradition to let my kids pick whatever kind of cake they want and I will try my hardest to make it happen. I've been anxious ever since my son let me know that he wanted a Lego cake. As we looked online at different options he fell in love with some images of millennium falcon Lego cakes, HERE and HERE. Despite my concerns that it might not work out, I told him I would try it.

It's not perfect but I was pretty proud of how it turned out. I spent about 6 hours on it, 2 of which were spent just putting the little Lego bumps on.

 I had to get creative and figure some things out with this cake. I wanted to share what I did in case anyone else ever wants to attempt this.

This was my first cake using a cake and rice crispy treats and I loved how much easier it was. I used a 8' round cake for the main body and then added the rice crispy pieces to the front and side. Sorry I forgot to take a picture before I frosted it. I think it would have been a big mess if I had tried to cut cake into this shape like I was originally planning.

When I colored my fondant I ended up with purple instead of gray. Apparently this is a big problem when using black coloring,especially with the Wilton brand. I also tried Americolor and it wasn't much better. Luckily, I found online that you can add some yellow coloring to neutralize it.  Worked like a charm.

This is my contraption I created for making my Lego bumps. I had some straws from Ikea that were the same circumference as my bamboo skewers. I cut a 2' piece of straw and slipped it over the end of the skewer.

With the skewer pulled up into the straw I would poke the straw into rolled out fondant.

Then I would very lightly wet the bottom of the fondant and then with the skewer push it out of the straw onto the cake.

I hope this makes sense. It worked very well. It's important the the skewer fit tightly inside the straw otherwise the fondant will squeeze up the sides of the skewer as you push it out.

I probably wasn't very acurate in the design I just kinda stuck things were I thought they would look good.

In the end all that matters is this happy face. Happy Birthday G-Man!

I'm linking to today's creative blog and these parties.

Star Wars art

I'm still trying to get my sons room completed before his birthday this weekend. Hopefully I can show you some pictures next week. 

Yesterday I finished his name sign. He's wanted one ever since I made one for his cousin at Christmas. 

I added more layers and detail to this one and we both love how it turned out. 

I thought I might as well share some of the other art we are hanging in the room. I've been so worried about him outgrowing this theme, so I tried to keep it as grown up as possible, and as inexpensive as possible. 

action figure shadow box:

I love how this turned out. I can't imagine anything not looking great in a shadow box. I glued a gray scrap of fabric from the bedding to the backing and then hot glued the toys to that. I had big plans to tie them down with clear wire, but in the end decided to go with what was easiest. 

R2D2 print:

I got this print from HERE. I especially love how it pulled all the colors in the room together. 

character line up from the entire saga:

I got this print HERE. We absolutely love this print. My son could spend hours staring at it. I can't image any star wars room complete without it. 

We got a huge surprise when it came in the mail. The artist Brad, was so kind to address the package to my son with a painting General Grievous. 

Since General Grievous is his favorite character we had to cut it out and frame it too. 

I seriously can't believe, the artist would take the time to paint this for the package. The detail is amazing. I wish you could see it in real life.  

Complete saga poster:

I am not usually a poster fan, but it was only $5, I already had a frame, and I liked the colors for his room. 

I finished up the artwork by framing black and white photo's from his birthday party last year. 

I know I haven't been posting as much as I used to. My life just can't seem to slow down. My days are filled with running kids to preschool, soccer, baseball, dance, scouts, etc. I thought my life would slow down when my kids got older and didn't need to be entertained as much, turns out I'm just spending that time in the car now. 

Thanks so much for sticking with me. Crafting and Blogging are still my outlet. I love having something for just me. Your sweet comments help keep me going. 

Star Wars Bedding

Last spring I attempted to get the ball rolling for the decor in my sons room. It's a sad neglected room full of left-over furniture and no style.  You see, decorating a boys room is scarier than a girls. Boys seem to out grow things so much faster.

When I finally decided to redecorate my son's neglected bedroom there was only one choice for a theme, Star Wars. He wouldn't have it any other way. I've been dragging my feet on this project wondering how I was going to tastefully accomplish his dreams. Then I found the Star Wars collection from Pottery Barn. 

I was so excited to find some pieces that my son wouldn't outgrow overnight and weren't too cheesy.  

I especially liked the pillows and knew they were something I could tackle on my own. 

Here is the my version I made for a guest post on a knock-off series.

Even though I had bought supplies to finish the room, it has sat untouched all these months. 

This week I decided I better get it done before his birthday at the end of the month. I finished all the bedding, including this fun pillow.

 Since I never posted the tutorial for pillow here on my blog, I thought I might as well do it now.

With an envelope closure and appliqued letters it was super simple make. 

Details make the difference in a good knock-off. The pillow wouldn't have been the same without adding the pick-stitch boarder 

This Knock-Off can be easily changed to fit any decor. PBkids is famous for it's personalized accessories. I would love to make one in pink with my daughters initials on it. 

To make your own pillow you'll need:

-a printer, paper, a pencil

-outer fabric- 1/2 to 1 yard depending on size of pillow

-white or contrasting fabric

-wonder under or Heat N' Bond

-clear ruler

-thread, pins and sewing machine

-chalk pencil

-pillow form, mine was 20 x20

Step 1: print and cut out lettering

 I typed out the saying in a word document. I used the Star Jedi font found HERE (size 190). 

After printing the document I cut it out and traced it backwards onto my white fabric that was already treated for applique. Then I cut all my fabric letters out. 

Step 2: cut out pillow front and back.  

Since I was working with a 20 x 20 pillow, I cut a 22 x 22 square for my front and two-13 x 22 rectangles for the back.  What ever the size you make, add an inch for the boarder and and inch for  your seams. 

Step 3: add lettering to the front.

Using my clear ruler, I laid out my lettering so it would be centered. Once it was all in place, I ironed it down. I put a towel under it so I could iron on my table, since it wouldn't all fit on an ironing board.  

Step 4: stitch down lettering

I used a zig-zag stitch because it reminded me of the embroidery on the original. A straight stitch would be easier. Use a short stitch to avoid going over the edges. 

Step 5: adding the back 

I hemmed one side of each of the back panels. Then with right sides together I places the first panel on top of the front piece. Make sure the finished edges are on the inside of the pillow and your edges line up.  

Next I put the second back panel down, overlapping the first. Pin and stitch around the edges. 

Step six: adding the boarder

I flipped the pillow right side out and pressed all my seams and corners. Then I used my ruler again with a chalk pencil to draw a line one inch from the sides around the entire pillow. 

Next I sewed over the chalk lines first with navy blue thread then again with a double stitch in white.

When your done slip your pillow inside the opening. 

* I made my own pillow form using a standard $4 pillow from Walmart. I measured 20" over and cut the pillow in half then stitched up the opening. It was a lot cheaper than any other square pillow forms I found. 

Star Wars Party- What I Did

I just finished a little "What I did" for the Star Wars Party. 

If you are interested CLICK HERE.