Space room!

*Please note: to view images larger, just click on them!:)

It's finally done!!!! I started this project mid-June and put the finishing touches on it yesterday. Tristan's new space-themed room is completed and he loves it. He's loved space since as long as I can remember. He's always asking questions about the universe and galaxies, and he even won the science award at his school last year in Kindergarten.

Come on in!!

First I'll start with the paint colors--I used two different colors. The first 3 walls (and ceiling) are by Valspar, and it's called Cosmic Blue (4008-10C) and the wall with the curtains on it is also by Valspar, called Star Gazer (4008-8B). The combination of the two colors really makes the room pop.

 

I used his existing curtains from his old room. They are made by pottery barn. They were pretty long, so all I did was fold it up to the length I preferred and using this amazing stuff called Peel 'n Stick. I cut fabric to size and used the Peel 'n Stick again covering the fold. I recommend that stuff, especially for people like me who are oblivious to sewing machines! (That's another project in due time)

Yes, yes....I realize yellow submarine has absolutely nothing to do with space, but we're a Beatles-loving family and Tristan LOVES the song and the movie, so we kept it. :) The toy box is old, we got that at a yard sale years ago. It's all battered and bruised but we love it.

His bed set comes from Target, it's made by Circo. The clothes line and clothespins come from Wal-Mart. I painted the clothespins orange and yellow. Using photoshop, I changed the photos I wanted to use to black & white and then added blue stars on them. They are regular sized 4x6. The main reason I went with a picture clothesline is because we live in California, and earthquakes are not a rarity. I did not want something hard like a big picture frame over his bed (even though that would have been cuter)  so in the event of an earthquake, it wouldn't hurt him. 

You definitely cannot have a space room without CAPTAIN EO! It's one of our favorites at Disneyland. If you haven't seen it yet...Gogogo! It's so much fun.

The yellow picture frame is sized 11x18 and spray painted yellow with a bit of the clothesline and another clothespin- this way we can change artwork :) This current masterpiece is of course, a spaceship. 

We got this awesome solar system canvas at a store called Utopia. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist in our mall anymore:( 

Welcome to Tristan's homework center!! I'll start off with the bulletin board- I got that at Michaels. I painted the outside of it with color of the year by Valspar (they sell it at Lowes in small containers), it's called Emerald Green. It's the same color I used to paint his bookshelves on the wall, which I'll get to in a bit. I made the calendars using Photoshop and we will fill it out every week/month. Again, the clotheslines/clothespins come from Wal mart, and I painted them just like his picture line. I also made the chevron bunting in Photoshop. The buckets come from Michael's and I just used some hooks from Lowe's on a cheap curtain rod. Tristan loves it because he can take them off to use what he needs and just put it right back on when he's done.

I made the labels again, using Photoshop.

See that folding chair? That was the funnest part! I got that thing at a thift store for next to nothing. I took it all apart re-covered the seat and back cushion with the same fabric I used for the curtains- The fabric comes from Joanne's. Then I spray painted the whole thing with a jade green and put it all back together. Best. Homework. Seat. Ever!

And now for the other wall in the room- I got those crates at Michael's and painted them with the color of the year by Valspar. Nailed them on the wall and put books inside! The book shelf comes from Lowes. And Tristan LOVES Mario, so we have a little Mario center on his book shelf. The blue rug comes from Target.

Check out this ceiling. My nerdy husband (love you babe!) also loves the universe, and meticulously placed constellations on his ceiling. He wins father of the year. At night, while falling asleep, Tristan can point out the little dipper, the big dipper, Orions belt....and so on. Seriously, so cool. The hanging planets came from my mother in law, who is a teacher, so I don't know where she got them.

 

And that's it! A room that will last him until he's a messy teenager and I'm not allowed in there. 

xoxo

Preschool graduate!!

Tristan has been at this preschool since he was 2 years old. It was so hard to say goodbye to his teachers, his classroom, and his friends. His school has been such an inspiration to him and an amazing foundation. He has learned so much here!

I volunteered to create a little graduation ceremony for this kids. We had a blast! 

For the graduation hats, you will need:

-Styrofoam bowls

-Black paint

-Rainbow scratch-off black paper

-Elastic

-Thread

-Hot glue

First I painted the bowls black and let them dry. Next, I wrote words and names on the rainbow scratch paper (the kids can even do this themselves). After the bowls were dry, I hot glued them together. String thread together and tie a knot at the bottom and hot glue on the top of the hat. Then, punch holes on each side on the bottom and string elastic through them so the hats will stay on. 

The kids loved them!

We also made flower pot appreciation gifts for the teachers- I saw this idea on Pinterest:)

Tristan's Super Mario 5th Birthday Party!

It's fun to watch Tristan grow up playing the same favorites we used to play when we were kids. Super Mario mania seems to have taken over again, and the bug has hit Tristan! When we asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted, it was obvious - Mario.

After researching Mario party items, I came to found out not only were items scarce, but terribly expensive. So my husband, my friend Jewell, and I decided to make most everything on our own. And I have to say it turned out awesome! Tristan and his friends had a blast, and we had a blast creating everything. In the words of Matt; "this is the party I always wanted!"

We made customized Mario & Luigi hats using fleece and lots of thread & patience; We used house hold items such as a large plate and a cottage cheese top to cut out the shapes. They turned out amazing:

As you can see, my stitches weren't that great at first; it took me a few tries to get them perfect:) Jewell was much better than I was at this! It took us over 2 months to complete these. We made about 20 of them.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I completely forgot about the invitation. Tristan loved watching me paste him into the pipe!

We chose to have the party at a rented space in downtown Ventura called MovieTown, because they have a HUGE big screen TV and the kids could play all the video games they wanted. 

We used random, small boxes that I got from work and covered them in red construction paper and drew lines to make bricks for decoration. The cupcakes were simple chocolate and vanilla with vibrant food coloring mixed in the white frosting. We made our cupcake toppers and Jewell printed them on cardstock, cut them out and popped them on lollipop sticks. 

You're welcome to print out the original, the link is here. 

Next, I made Goombas! These were Tristan's favorite. 

These were really easy to make. Go to the dollar store and buy a package of styrofoam bowls and a package of plastic cups. Paint them both brown, and then hot glue the cup (upside down) into the deep part of the bowl. Then, get black and white construction paper and cut out the shapes for the teeth, eyes, and eyebrows. The kids had a blast "stomping" the Goombas at the end of the party!!

We did little embellishments like drawing a mustache on the cups, and providing stick-on mustaches for the kids (and adults!).

Jewell spent HOURS on this thing! Pin the mustache on Mario was another game we played. 

And Tristan won! :) (if you're wondering where I got his short, I had it customized by Made Cute Just 4 U, an awesome shop over at Etsy. I highly recommend them!

And then, last but not least...

The Mario Mystery Box Pinata!! We made this out of a large box, cut the bottom out and wrap it in yellow construction paper. Then cut out a question mark from white construction paper, glue it on, and then outline it with a sharpie. The bottom of the box has about 10 Trader Joe's bags (the brown bag type) stapled together and then glued to the box. This made it so the kids could "punch" the bottom just like Mario! We filled the box with gold coins (of course) and lots of candies and goodies. The kids loved it.

Another easy thing I did was make the goody bags from brown paper bags and again, construction paper (all things you can find at the dollar store). We filled them with Mario-related things and the kids used them during the mystery box pinata.

Overall it was an super-fantastic-Mario day! I still can't believe I have a 5 year old....

Lastly, here are some videos of the day!

Merry Christmas from the Davis Family! :)

R2D2 Halloween Costume!

This year Tristan wanted to be R2D2 and we were unable to find any costumes in his size. Matt and I decided to take it upon ourselves and make his costume- It certainly wasn't perfect, but the smile on Tristan's face was all worth it!!!

To make the hat, we went to the thrift store and found a large tupperware bowl and a kid's size helmet. We spray painted both of them silver and then hot glued them together. We used a paper towl roll for the circular embellishments (also spray painted silver) and blue, silver, and red paint for the other embellishments.

To make the body, we also got things from the thrift store; a small, collapsible laundry hamper  (this particular one was in the shape of a frog) and a XXL men's white t-shirt. We cut out 2 holes in the hamper for the arms, and slipped the t-shirt over it. Then we folded the white into the hamper (sleeves also) and hot glued everything together. Then using blue and silver felt we cut out the shapes that go on R2D2. We used a sharpie to draw the correct lines on the sides, too.

To make the arms, we got a large cardboard box and cut out the correct shape and painted it accordingly. We used velcro to keep them on; he was attending a fall festival at school, and knowing there would be a jolly jumper I wanted to make sure he could take them off easily and not ruin them.

Then we used white karate pants (from his costume last year, ha!) and viola! You got R2D2: )