Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

 

My love of fantasy and travel came together when I designed this print. The quote is from J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote it for "The Lord of the Rings" as part of the poem "All That is Gold Does Not Glitter," which is about Aragorn. 

When I first read it, I immediately fell in love! My husband and I like to go on, what we call, adventures. Our daughter now even says "Are we going on an adventure?" 

While most of our little adventures are just finding new places to explore and things to do in our community, sometimes we get to go away for a few days. We like to pack as much fun into those few days as possible, so I had a camera full of neat pictures just begging to be put up as a travel photo wall.

Here's how it turned out! I left room to grow because we plan on still having a lot of wandering to do!

Like what you see? Stop by my ETSY SHOP and get your "Not All Those Who Wander ..." digital print and start displaying your adventures today!
And don't forget to share your travel wall with me on Instagram @firefly_hill_mama so I can see how great it turned out!

Happy wandering!

DIY hanging decoration

 

When I designed my daughter's nursery, I wanted something to hang above her changing table that would look beautiful in the room and give her something to enjoy for the many diaper changes I knew were in her future. The cherry blossom branch with butterflies ended up being one of her favorite things!
 
I wanted my friend's new baby to have the same enjoyment on the changing table, so with a stick, some tissue paper, string and cardstock, I made a cute cloud dripping with stars.

Find a branch you love at the craft store - or in your back yard - and get creative. These are for decorative use only though, so please don't place this above a crib or anywhere a baby is unattended. But since you will always have a hand on baby while changing her, above a changing table is the perfect spot!

Hanging decorations are so fun to make! And don't just think of them for in a nursery or bedroom. They make perfect party decor! How cute would a group of these be with raindrops dripping from the clouds at a baby or bridal shower?! Use your imagination. The sky - or ceiling's - the limit!




Here's how I crafted the cloud mobile:

  

After painting a fallen branch with light gray craft paint, I attached some white ribbon so that I could hang the finished product on a hook from the ceiling. If you don't want to use a stick, you could also use a dowel from the craft store.
 

Now to turn tissue paper into a cloud. Remember folding paper into a fan when you were a kid? Time to brush up on those skills! Simply stack 8 to 10 pieces of tissue paper together, fold the paper like an accordion and then tie some wire around the middle to secure it. (White bread bag twisty ties work perfectly for this!)

 

You can vary the look of the finished pom pom 

by how you cut the ends, but since I was going for a cloud look, 

I rounded them. Then just start pulling the layers apart 

and fluffing them. Pretty, right?!

Now, for a little stardust! Since the uniformity was important for this, I invested in a star punch, but I have used it so many times since then, so I have more than gotten my money's worth! Remember that New Year's Eve party my daughter and I threw? Check it out HERE if you missed it! I used it a LOT for that!

When the stars are ready, arrange them in the order
you want them and tape one piece
of string down through a row of stars, securing each star to it.
To make things easier, tape the top of each piece of string
to the table you are working at so you can pull
on the other end for some resistance when taping the stars.

 Next, dot each star with white glue
and place a second star on top to sandwich in the string.

 After the rows have dried completely, 

knot the string to the branch before securing 

the pom poms.

 That's it! Screw a hook into the ceiling, hang and enjoy!! 

Check back in a few months to see the decoration 

I am making for above my son's changing table!

 I am so excited and can't wait to see how it turns out!

Sweet Dreams, Baby Giraffe!"

 

Stars dripped from a cloud floating
above the changing table. See how
I made it HERE

A few years ago I designed a nursery for one of my best friends who was expecting her second baby. The excited parents didn't know the sex until baby came into the world and the doctor proclaimed "It's a Boy!" 

Since they were preparing for one of the biggest surprises of their lives, we designed a neutral space that would be the perfect place for either a boy or a girl to get a good night sleep.

My friend had mentioned she'd thought about using giraffes in the room and I was inspired to use stars because they fit so well with the color scheme of gray, aqua and yellow. 

I decided to just make the two themes work together and "Sweet dreams Baby Giraffe!" was born - Think sleeping giraffes, clouds and lots of twinkly stars!

When I designed this space, I hadn't started my ETSY SHOP yet, so I handmade all of the decor. If I were to have designed the space today, I would have added this sweet giraffe print - available HERE - in the room. It features a little giraffe with stars speckled across his coat and his head in the clouds. This nursery was the inspiration for the "Dream Big ..." print and I hope it can act as the inspiration to the nursery you are working on!

Here are a few more pics of how the nursery turned out. I think everyone really loved it. It was such a relaxing space for a baby boy - and a few giraffes - to have sweet dreams among the stars!

I love the look of tree decals above
cribs. This one had stars twinkling
around it and dripping from the
branches. Check out another
one I created HERE that is black,
white and pink and was
fit for a princess

This aqua, gray and yellow giraffe 

was a great find at Hobby Lobby 

- I could spend hours in that store -

 and provides the perfect finishing 

 touch to the changing table.

A cozy aqua throw and yellow giraffe 

looked right at home on this gray glider. 

Like what you see? Don't forget to stop over at A Firefly Hill Creation to buy and instantly
download your print to add the perfect finishing touch to your little one's nursery!

An enchanted forest nursery fit for a princess

There are so many cute themes out there, but when I was designing our daughter's room, I wanted something that would grow with her for a while. I decided I wanted it to look like she had stepped into an enchanted forest! I used a basic palette of pink and green and added in lots of branches and trees. A bit of hard work and a little DIY later, and here is what it looks like!

 I knew immediately that I wanted a large tree 

as the focal point of her nursery, 

but to get one as large as I wanted 

would have been way too expensive. 

I am no painter, but really felt like 

I could tackle this for her. 

I ended up doing two trees in the room 

and it took me about 12 hours 

between the two of them. 

I just sketched out the trunk design 

and then started painting everything. I really enjoyed 

painting them and am so happy with how they turned out. 

Since I think great design is in the details,

the final thing I added to the large tree was

a heart with the initials 

of hubby and I. It still makes me sappy when I see it!

 

This is the second tree I painted. 

It was inspired by a specific decal I had seen.

I had hubby add shelves to the two

right branches, but we didn't want

to drill into the left because 

the chimney is behind it. So, instead, 

two cute owls were perched there. 

 

These cute owls were completely free as a result

of me raiding my craft closet. I found cute 

scrapbook paper I had been hoarding for years, 

looked at the basic shape of an owl and started cutting. 

Since they are just paper, I used plain scotch tape

to hang them on the wall. It's been more than two

years and they are still holding strong!

The wall above her changing table seemed pretty

bare, so I created this quick mobile for her to look

at during her many diaper changes. 

I am not big on putting mobiles above sleeping areas, 

but I thought above a changing table would be great!

I just took a cherry blossom branch from Michaels, 

clipped butterflies to it and then hung more sparkling 

butterflies from the bottom. She really loved this

and it stayed up until she could reach it during

changes and started pulling on the butterflies. 

If you are looking for something that would be the perfect addition to your enchanted forest or woodland themed nursery, check out the birth statistics poster in my shop! 

It's a great and whimsical way  to commemorate 

one of the most important days in your life!

Mommy's Little Sweetheart Valentine's Day Baby Shower

  

When the Christmas decorations start to come down, the house can look pretty empty, so I like to do a little decorating for Valentine's day to cheer things up a bit! Valentine's Day decorations are so fun! All that pink, red and hearts! What's not to love! 

If you know someone who is expecting soon - or a little girl about to celebrate a birthday - why not put those decorations to work and throw a "Mommy's Little Sweetheart" baby shower or birthday bash?!

Start things off with this cheery invitation 

to let guests know it will be an occasion 

filled with lots of love! Get yours in my Etsy shop

My daughter and I recently made these pretty cupcakes,

but what a sweet addition they would be to the party. 

It's all made right from a box - just cake mix, pink

icing and sprinkles and then a few heart chocolates

and heart sprinkles on top!

Little Sweetheart commemorative pregnancy posters

are available in my Etsy shop a Firefly Hill Creation

and make the perfect centerpiece for  

a Little Sweet baby shower!

Diaper cake tutorial - what I've learned through trial and error

Find the Two Peas in a Pod twin pregnancy poster in my Etsy shop

I have made a few diaper cakes over the years. This is the method that works best for me. I have always been so happy with the finished results - and it just happens to be super easy! Bonus!!

Find a different size basket or container for each layer of your cake. This is just so you have a solid shape to work with, the diapers won't be staying in the basket. My cake was three layers so I used a large wire casserole basket, a pie plate and a lid from a small decorative bucket.
Starting with the largest container, simply fold the diaper in half and start placing them in the basket with the fold facing out. This is so much easier than rolling and putting rubber bands around all those diapers. I find it looks cleaner, too. The basket helps hold everything in place until you tie a string around it at the end. When the circle of diapers is done, stuff something in the middle to help hold the shape. I used more diapers, but you could use a baby bottle or a rolled up onesie. Depending on the size of your cake, you will probably only have to do this for the bottom layer.

Tie some string around the outside of the diapers to hold it all together. This will be covered before the cake is finished, so don't worry about it looking nice. I just used some twine I found in my kitchen junk drawer. 

Removing the diapers can be the tricky part. Put a plate the same circumference (or slightly smaller) as the layer you are working with on top of the diapers and flip it over so the bottom becomes the top.  For the smaller layers you probably won't need anything if they are compact enough.

Now the fun part - decorating the cake!!

For the larger layers, fold a swaddle blanket to match the height of the diapers. Simply wrap it around the cake and safety pin it in the back. For the smaller layers, receiving blankets or oversized burp cloths work well. After the blankets are secure, stack the layers and situate the pins at the back of the cake. Next wrap ribbon around the center of as many layers as you would like. You may decide to just do the top and bottom, or maybe just one beautiful bow perched on top to cascade down the layers.
NOTE: If you decide to leave the diapers on your cake visible, simply skip the blanket step and cover each layer of twine with wide ribbon.

Find invitations for your Two Peas in a Pod baby shower in my Etsy shop

For this "Two Peas in a Pod" themed cake, I took it one step further and made tiny pea pods out of washcloths.
Here's how I did it: 

First I rolled two washcloths and taped them down to form the peas. Next, I folded a burp cloth in half lengthwise and then wrapped it around the peas to form the pod. I just used ribbon to tie off the one end and then played a bit to get it just right and tied off the other end. 

There are so many things you can put on a diaper cake. Just come up with a fun theme and go from there. This cake was for a "Ready to Pop" baby shower. I took a few onesies that matched the colors of our theme, used the same rolling technique, backed each one with a lollipop stick and then wrapped it in cellophane to create little lollipops t decorate the cake with! 

This diaper cake made the perfect centerpiece for a "Ready to Pop" shower!

Having a cupcake, little sweetie or sprinkle themed shower? How about creating a box of cupcakes instead of a whole cake? Or top off the cake with one beautiful cupcake on top! These were all made with receiving blankets wrapped around onesies and tucked into large cupcake wrappers. The results were almost sweet enough to eat.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Ok, so it's been months since I last checked in with you guys. I love the start of a new year and - even if I never seem to keep them - I love making resolutions.
This year we are expecting a new addition to our little family, so making my traditional "I'm going to lose 30 pounds" resolution is off the table (although check back with me after the little man has arrived. I will likely say the same thing then! Ha ha!) So I made my list of things I can resolve to do: Pack more lunches, get an emergency fund saved, add new items to my Etsy shop and blog more!
Keeping that resolution in mind, I thought I would share with you how we spent new year's eve!

Our little girl is all about everything princess and fancy right now. I was lucky enough to have the week off with her, so we decided to plan a "fancy party" for New Year's Eve.
It was just a little party for the three of us, so we wanted to spend as little on decorations as we could - while still keeping things fancy, of course! So off to Dollar Tree we went. If you have followed how I plan parties at all, you know by now that I LOVE the Dollar Tree! We lucked out and found a ton of stuff to fit our fancy New Year's Eve theme.

Here is how it all came together!

 

Our hallway tree got a quick makeover with just

a few items! It's a 12-foot tree, but slim, so it really

didn't need much to fill it up. We used one pack 

of silver star paper plates we picked up at Dollar Tree,

4 packs of silver and gold plastic ornaments that we

got on clearance for $.50 a pack, some paper clocks

just about to strike midnight, little paper banners that

read 2017 and gold Christmas ribbon we got at 

Michael's for 70 percent off! A little tip: I only wanted

to use the one roll, so I cut small strips and tucked

them throughout the tree. It looked like it was 

wrapped all around the tree, but really it wasn't. 

For all the paper banners and clocks, I just cut out

the shape on printer paper and used a black Sharpie 

to add the design. I should have taken a picture 

of the adorable little clocks filled in with scribbled 

crayon and the section of tree where all the balls

are clustered together - ahh decorating with our

two-year-old!! It's more important to me that she

gets to help and loves the decorating than it is that

things look perfect! She was so excited by all of it!

 We were walking through TJ Maxx one day and

Peanut saw these cardboard chargers. "Mama, we

need those for our fancy party!" At just more than 

a dollar a piece, into the cart they went! The plates

are just plastic plates from the grocery store with 

more paper clocks cut to fit the middle. We placed

the paper on top of the plate because we weren't going

to actually place food on them and it hid the logo,

but for an adult party, you could get glass plates and

decoupage the clock to the back of the plate.

Everything in this picture is cardboard, paper or plastic,

which made it all safe for our little fancy 2-year-old. 

I am kind of obsessed with paper straws. Our girl 

thinks they are so fun to drink out of, and they are

an easy way of adding a little interest to your party. 

These added to our silver and gold star theme. The

masks were a fun find from the Mardi Gras section. 

 I love this clock so much! Sadly it has stopped

working. I am determined to fix it and get it back

on my hallway wall, but for New Year's Eve it took

center stage on our buffet. The food wasn't out yet

in this pic, but we had all of Peanut's favorite foods

for our party: Strawberries, grapes, cheese and - of

course - chicken nuggets!

 Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed our little party!

We all had so much fun that we think it might

become an annual thing. All the decorations are going

to get saved in a box for next year, but there are

several times throughout the year parts of this theme

might be reused. All the gold stars would be perfect 

for an Oscar party. The clocks about to strike 

midnight would fit perfectly at a Cinderella soiree and
(for my about to be engaged friends) as glitzy as the
silver, gold and black looked, I can't help but think
how pretty a New Year's Eve wedding would be. 

There are plenty of options to enjoy a little

"fancy" in the coming year! 

The only rule - have fun with it!

Happy New Year!