
Wish I had the dimensions for this house to make this for our almost two year old Aurora. Looks like they used a large appliance box as the base. I would decorate it a lot more but the concept is great.

Wish I had the dimensions for this house to make this for our almost two year old Aurora. Looks like they used a large appliance box as the base. I would decorate it a lot more but the concept is great.
Follow this link for a great how-to on how to make a gingerbread village from stuff you probably have available and stuff from your craft closet. Gingerbread Village Tutorial
When you live in a small apartment or house it is important to make the most of every inch to feel comfortable. Multi-purpose furniture, proper organization and smart storage are all necessary to have a tidy, clean and uncluttered home. How do we make tiny living spaces seem spacious? Is that even possible? Here are 7 hacks to help you get inspired.
Space-saving bedroom sets are meant to fit anywhere, particularly in tiny rooms that take up a lot of space. For example, you could have a sleeping platform installed in a bedroom rather than an average bed. This way you will double the sleeping space available. Younger kids will definitely enjoy climbing up the ladder to sleep at the top, while older ones can take the ground floor. Many compact bedroom sets feature storage spaces too. Some even have hidden tables with stools and desks. When you don’t have a lot of room for additional furniture, these sets are the perfect addition into your kids’ bedroom.
Elevated platforms for working or sleeping are an excellent way of saving up space. When dealing with minimal square footage, we have a tendency to focus our attention on the ground space only, thus totally ignoring the upper space. If the room you’d like to decorate has enough height, then you should focus your attention on lofted designs, such as elevated storage, lift beds or working spaces. This way the space available on the floor remains free.
Some people don’t use desks on a daily basis. So there’s no pointing in having a huge table occupying so much space in a room. A fold-up desk on the other hand, could be a much better alternative. Use it only when you need to and then wrap it nicely to make room for additional space activities.
Side furniture pieces with multiple purposes are an excellent way of saving space. Go for a custom-made model with a headboard or nightstand; this way you can slide over the bed and have breakfast on it in the morning without struggling too much. If you live in an apartment that’s really small, you could consider placing your desk by the bed, and give it a double purpose.
For a room to look and feel comfortable it has to have a proper rug or carpet. To create the illusion of space, go for a geometric rug with squares or circles. Add a minimalist touch to the overall room and it will certainly appeal to other people’s senses. As for the dominant color, stick to neutrals; this way you’ll be able to decorate and redecorate numerous times without replacing the rug.
Many people believe that custom-made furniture is expensive. It doesn’t have to be. There are so many DIY projects available on the web you can do yourself. If you want to replace current kitchen cabinets, do it. But don’t throw away the old ones. Use them to build something else; maybe a console table for the hallway or nightstands for the bedroom. Custom handmade furniture is designed to fit specific spaces, particularly small ones. Put your imagination to good use and create something fun and practical for your home.
When attempting to maximize space it is important to consider practical furniture ideas. Fold-up beds for example, are excellent in tiny flats or compact rooms. They’re excellent when you have guests over and don’t have where to put them to sleep. Furthermore, if you live in a one-room apartment with very little room for roaming around, a fold-up bed might be exactly what you need to make space, and throw a little party every now and then.
Transforming tiny living spaces into practical and comfortable spaces is easier than meets the eye. It is important to focus on de-cluttering. Select compact or multi-purpose furniture and accessorize properly. Add mirrors to create the illusion of space and rugs to make yourself and your guests feel comfortable. Stay away from cold nuances and opt for warmer tones or neutrals to widen a room and make it seem airy.
I always enjoy this time of year – in close succession I can decorate for Halloween then Thanksgiving and right on to Christmas and then even a short time to Easter. I grew up with a Mom who left no corner of the home not touched by whatever holiday was coming up. I want to pass this down to my Daughter Aurora – I want her to have these wonderful memories of the holidays surrounded with fantastical creatures from ghosts, Santa to pilgrims, turkeys and the Easter Bunny along with everything in between.I didn’t get it all put up this year (only two thirds) as having an eighteen month puts challenges up for decorating since she always wants to touch and pull.
I really enjoy the aspect of blow ups and have them now for almost any holiday. I get ones that are mainly upright and around four feet so they can sit on top of the entertainment unit or other service with little interruption to things in our everyday use. Up his year I have my very first blow up Mr. Frankenstein. I also started out with the eight foot stacked skull and a pumpkin with ghosts pouring out – but my little one got scarred of it and we had to get something she could relate to more so Hello Kitty vampire is in its place.
The tree is new (well not really new as I have had it for about a year and haven’t used it since I got it on after holiday sales). This is an all wrought iron design about eight foot tall. It makes for an interesting tree and now that I have had it up I want the white version of it for Easter or other holiday. Ornaments range from wooden coffins that open, skulls, bats, spiders, crows, pumpkins, skeletons, gravestones. Most of these I had acquired over the years – old light strings with the push on figures were converted to ornaments. Skeleton garlands were cut down (bought at dollar store) and made into ornaments, clip on crows are light activated and other odds and ends. Then we put on Halloween garlands and added a strobe light to the bottom shining up which gives awesome designs on our two floor high ceiling.
Now I am a big collector of animated figures and have several hundred when adding them from different holidays. All of what you see on the shelves (which I made to accommodate them) are push button or lever controlled animated figures. I have ones that go back over a decade. Some have not made it that well over the years but I glue or screw em back together the best I can.
Behind the tree I have Halloween nutcrackers (Mickey, Minnie, Day of the Dead bride and groom, Frankenstein, witch,skeleton and vampire). These are hard to come by so I grab them early when I see them. Some can be found at Michael’s but I have also located unique ones at CVS so you never know where you might find them. My suggestion for any holiday collectible you want is to go early and buy it when you see it since these items are time sensitive and usually once they are gone they are just gone.
What do you do for Halloween in your home? What holiday collectibles do you collect? Have any budget friendly diy projects for holiday decorating? Send the ideas and/or photos in – I may just make a post to show your information off with accredited information and a link if you like.
Got to be one of the simplest ways to create a really cool Halloween decoration. Add water to a jar half way. Submerge an old Halloween mask and arrange to make it look as real as possible. Here we used an old lady mask but don’t be afraid to use those demon and monster faces as well. Then fill with water carefully all the way to the ridge. Let sit undisturbed for about an hour to release and air. You can add a tea bag to get a dirty water effect – just don’t make it too dark. Several of these placed on a shelf or table with candles would be really neat.