Evan's Room - Letters

When I originally purchased these letters, my plan was to cover them in the fabric leftover from Evan's Hungry Caterpillar sheets. Then I had the idea to paint them green and red to vaguely look like the caterpillar:

So here's what I did...

Materials:
Cardboard letters (JoAnn)
Paints (I used green, blue, yellow and red)
Tissue papers in red and green
Foam brush
Paint samples/swatches in yellow and green
Chenille stem/Pipe cleaner
Mod Podge

I got the paint samples from Lowe's (free) and most of the other supplies from JoAnn. Don't forget your JoAnn coupons! I wouldn't shop there without them. Tissue paper and Chenille stems are also available at the Dollar Tree.

The first step is to paint your first cardboard letter green. There will be some of the cardboard showing through, but that's OK since you will be applying tissue on top of it.

Then you'll want to mix up a few shades of green. In addition to the main green color, I mixed up a little yellow-green and blue-green. I only added a little bit of the yellow and blue so that I would have more subtle differences.

Then, rip up a small piece of green tissue and lay it down on a protective surface (I just used a flattened cardboard box). Paint the tissue paper (pictured below) and lay it on top of your first letter (no picture). Smooth it down flat with your brush and fingers pushing it around the shape of the letter (i.e., down the sides of the E, etc). Be sure to allow for (and encourage) small wrinkles in the tissue paper so that it has a nice textured look!

Repeat with various shades of green. Since you will see some of the cardboard through the thin tissue paper, you will need to have more than one layer of tissue paper in some areas. I don't have any more pictures of the process since my fingers got really messy, but it's really straightforward, so I doubt they're needed.

Repeat with all but the final letter. For my second letter, I painted the cardboard letter yellow-green before starting so that I would have a little bit more variation (like seen in Eric Carle's caterpillar).

Make the final letter red. I used red and a dark orange (mix of red and a touch of yellow) for mine.

Cut the eyes and mouth from your paint swatches. Glue to the red letter. Apply a layer of Mod Podge to all letters to give them a nice finish. Fold the Chenille stems over one time and glue to the top of the final letter (I used super glue for just this part).

So that's all! I probably made the whole thing more confusing with all my explanation. It's really easy and somewhat therapeutic! It would be a great activity for a child too if you use non-toxic, washable paint!

More Very Hungry Caterpillar and other Eric Carle decor to come, including pillows, a valance and prints mod podged to canvas!

Evan's Room - Crib Sheets

A couple of weeks ago, my husband's desire to decorate the kids' rooms with random stuff, led us to Target where we found this picture:

As I looked at the price tag ($30) and started to put it back, Evan heavily resisted. It was then that I realized that all the animals were Eric Carle renderings. Two of Evan's favorite things are Eric Carle books and the ABCs, so naturally, we had to get it.

Later that night, I scoured the Internet for more Eric Carle decor. Luckily, I found lots of good stuff. This is how the quest for random decorating stuff became an Eric Carle theme which leads me to the first of many projects...

Evan's Crib Sheets

I was delighted to find fabric for both The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See on fabric.com! I ordered the fabric and searched Pinterest for crib sheet tutorials. I decided to follow this one, since it was the most detailed and thorough:

http://whatthehay.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/crib-sheet-tutorial/

And here is my result:

They look great, don't they? I am really happy with the result. They fit nicely even after lots of jumping and my son LOVES them! Since I put the sheet on, he has apparently decided that he no longer wants his sister to get on his bed!

Here are my tips and things I learned in the process. Keep in mind that I am a beginner to sewing and this was an easy project.

1. The fabric shrank down to ~42" after pre-washing (originally 44"). I followed directions for the 42" width on the aforementioned website.
2. Be sure to buy a stretchy elastic. I initially purchased a 1/4" knit elastic and it wasn't nearly stretchy enough. I had to rip it out and replace it with a 3/8" braided elastic that worked much better. I pulled very tight on the elastic while sewing. 

And that's all! Here's the back (I have a second sheet on underneath):

Granted, the fabric is going to cost you $20 for 2 yards (much more expensive than the solid-colored Target crib sheets), but it is so much cuter and fits our theme. Also, it's cheaper than the $50 Pottery Barn is charging for their Hungry Caterpillar sheet set (although that might include a flat sheet and pillowcase).

Finally, here is my boy, enjoying his new sheet:

More projects to come!