Inexpensive Kids Room Idea

Check out this headboard all made of foam noodles! Yes, that's right - pool foam noodles, water noodles, swim noodle what ever you call it. It's a flexible, light-weight polyethylene foam resistant to water and used in the pool. This headboard was created using several of them stacked on top of one another. Check out the dollar stores during the summer and you can create this headboard for cheap. Another inexpensive idea is using rope to decorate around the bedroom walls - not only is it decorative but its functional! Look closely, the rope is also used to hold towels which can be considered art or used as a towel/coat rack.

Clever Solutions: Angled Ceilings!

What to do with an angled ceiling? I've found a few images to help with solutions for the awkward ceiling syndrome! Burnt Toast Studios painted the ceiling in this shabby chic room, the same shade as the wall to open up the room and fool the eye. The flower border is hand painted.

Since there is no room for a headboard, an initial medallion was painted as the focal point.



An underwater playroom designed around the angled ceilings. Awkward ceilings can be a problem trying to design a room. This room from Better Home & Gardens makes use of awkward angles by creating a submarine room. The underwater playroom has many clever ideas:

The built-ins, disguised as control panels, contain bins for toys and an art station. Loving the storage/tv cabinet under the low ceiling!

Fabulous ocean mural (with octopus tentacles) painted on the angled ceilings.

Here's the perfect storage solution to the angled ceiling. Sometimes there is "dead space" below and behind the wall of this type of ceiling - this space was utilized with storage cabinets.

Airplane Birthday Party

Attention to detail makes this boarding pass invitation so realistic thanks to Jennifer Kielp of Nounces Design. I love the map envelope too--once you receive this invitation you can hardly wait for the ADVENTURE to begin! Check her Etsy site if your are interested in learning more about these amazing invitations. Enjoy more pictures of this fun airplane themed birthday party Jennifer threw for her 2 year old...

These goody bags are such a fun and creative way to recycle Cheerio boxes! I'm loving the baggage claim sign!

An airplane themed party just would not be complete without individual lunches served by parent flight attendants.

Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your adorable party photos with Design Dazzle.

Glam Teen Rooms

Any teen girl would feel like a Queen in a room like this Marie Antoinette inspired master bedroom featured in the Atlanta Showhouse. I love the sparkle and shine of the chandelier!

What cool refreshing wall colors! Walls and trim paint are teal-tinted Catalina Blue #703 and ceiling paint Hush #AF-95: Aura by Benjamin Moore & Co. Images from here.

This is simple elegance. The Lilac colored walls and accents are soft and comforting.
Image from here.

What a great headboard idea! The pop of color is really fun. Your imagination is the limit when it comes to deciding what to put inside the picture frames. A couple of ideas could be photos of best friends or inspiring quotes! Image from here.

Brown & Pink Sophisticated Nursery

What a sophisticated room! The tone on tone Damask chocolate wallpaper from Seabrook by Espressione (on page 100) is amazing. The chandelier brings sparkling beauty! The crib bedding name is Greta.

Designed by Interiors By Mad City, Gretchen Sturman. Check out more room photos here.

Decorating With Fabric Embellishments!

Such a cute and adorable lamp! All of these ideas come from Sizzix the manufacturer of the press-style die-cut machine. Don't have a Sizzix? Use stencils or free-hand and cut out your own fabric or paper pieces.
Instructions from Sizzix: "Use fusible web to adhere two pieces of fabric together. Die-cut Bird from fabric. Finish edges with zig-zag stitch on sewing machine. Apply fusible web to various fabrics. Die-cut Leaves from fabric. Hand cut branches from fabrics. Stitch edges of branches if desired. Attach all die-cuts to lampshade using a warm, not hot, iron or use fabric glue. Embellish with pen and buttons."

I love the colors and simplicity of the embellishments on the lamp shade. Instructions found here.

Instructions found here.

There are so many objects you can add embellishments too and make it more of a custom look. Instructions found here.

How To Make A Lollipop Clock And More....

Isn't this a sweet clock? Lollipops will definitely tempt your kids taste buds - this might be best kept out of reach. Unusual but creative idea using the bottom of a salt container to hold the clock mechanism. Image from here.

Clever idea using dice as "numbers" on the clock - perfect clock for a playroom. Image from here.

DIY starburst clock made from wood dowels and small round boxes. Image and instructions from here.


A wood-burning tool and a clock mechanism kit help make this piece of wood into a fun little clock. Image and instructions from Design Sponge.

Toile Girls Room

This beautiful "Hooked on Toile" girls room was featured on Hooked on Houses. Things I love about this room:

• the color combo - refreshing!
• upholstered headboards
• white coverlets
• white bead board wainscoting
• matching wallpaper, bed skirt, valance and pillows

Isn't this such a refreshing color scheme? Wallpaper from Thibaut.

Party Certificate Giveaway - CLOSED!

Alicia from DesignGirl16 created these adorable barn yard theme cupcake toppers. She custom designs and makes favors, decorations and invitations for all occasions including, weddings, birthdays, baby showers, bridal showers, gift bags, etc. Check out all of her lovely products on her Etsy site. This giveaway is for a $30 gift certificate of DesignGirl16 products of your choice!

I need to have a barn yard party so I can use her barn yard theme products - they are so cute!!

Alicia makes themed candy bar wrappers, cupcake toppers....

birthday banners....

baby shower decor...

...and invitations!!

I'm really liking her "this cup belongs to" labels. To enter to win this fabulous giveaway, please check out DesignGirl16's shop and see which is your favorite product! Then come back here and leave a comment on this blog post about your favorite. Contest closes September 4th at 11:00 pm (PST).


Additional entries:

• Extra entry -become a Design Dazzle follower (by adding yourself to the follower group on the sidebar)... would love to have you as a blog friend and reader:)

• Extra entry - add our Design Dazzle button to your blog or website.

• Extra entry - follow me on Twitter and Tweet about the giveaway on Design Dazzle.

• 3 Extra entries - blog about Design Dazzle on your site and provide the link in your comments.


Each entry needs its own comment! Post a separate comment for each extra entry - if you entered all entries you would leave 7 separate comments.

Random.org will be used to help choose a winner (comment). The winner will be announced on September 5th on a blog post. If winner fails to respond within three days, a new winner will be chosen. You need to be at least 18 years old to be eligible for this prize. Open to US shipping addresses only.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

DIY: Flower Petal Backpack!

Jessica from Happy Together created this oh-my-goodness-too-cute backpack. My favorite part about this adorable pink petal back pack? It cost only $2!! Yes, unbelievable - both items are from the dollar store. Don't you love it???

Full instructions on how-to make this backpack are found on the fabulous Ucreate website.

Those who know me well - know I am a dollar store junkie! I've had a few interesting looks from the dollar store manager... when my shopping cart is over-the-top full and I'm putting silk flowers inside glass dessert cups! Someday I'll have to post my 50's party decorations using dollar/thrift store finds.

Boys Space Room

Such a fun, clever space frontier room!! Melody Riches created this way cool solar system bedroom for her son - with help from her dad. She painted two coats of Valspar Hampton Surf Blue (American Tradition) on the walls. A heavy vinyl and a special heavy-duty printer was used to print the planets. A 3m spray adhesive was used to adhere the vinyl to the walls. The sun on the ceiling was printed on a light-weight paper. The lettering is vinyl letters.

Glow-in-the-dark stars were placed on the ceiling.

Thank you Melody for sharing such a fabulous room! I love it all!! Check out Melody's blog here.


Room decor for a space room...

Blast off bedding for a space room - view here.

Solar system planet rug - view here.

Blast off traceable wall mural kit and easy instructions to paint your own mural - view here.

The Winner of the Love Letters Wall Decal is...

The Mayers

Yippee!! Wow!! Congrats!! The Mayers - please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize!
Thank you to Love Letters for the decal giveaway and also to everyone who entered the giveaway. We had 335 comments total. Check back weekly for our giveaways.

Budget Nursery!

Sarah from Life Sweet Life came up with this sweet nursery on a budget. She decorated the nursery wall with scrapbook paper - directions featured here. And it's hard to believe..but she designed this nursery for a total of $75! She purchased the canopy and bedding from Ikea. Sarah explains the pricing:

"Pricing Details: Crib - FREE (thanks Mom & Dad!)
Bumper - $14.99
Green Blanket - $9.99
Sheets - FREE (thanks Rach!)
Quilt - $14.99
Canopy - $19.99
Mattress - FREE (thanks Jen!)
Scrapbook paper & glue dots - $15 Grand total: $74.96
(and now I've got 4 cents burning a hole in my pocket)."

Thank you Sarah for sharing your darling nursery:) I appreciate everyone's emails. We have a waiting list of photos/ideas waiting to be featured. But, we still want you to ...Share Your Awesomeness!!

Good luck to Sarah and hubby for starting the adoption process. Blessings:)

Last Day of Our Giveaway

The Design Dazzle giveaway ends tonight at 11:00 pm (pst). Make sure to enter the Love Letters giveaway here.

The Birthday Carnival Is In Town!

Kara from Kara's Party Ideas knows how to plan a party!

And she knows how to make an entrance - a party entrance that is!! As soon as you pull up to the party - you know it will be spectacular when you see this balloon entrance and this...

and this! What a great way to welcome your guests!

Check out all her fun ideas and photos for a smashing success carnival party. Body Boppers from Oriental Trading.

Goldfish soaps were given out at the goldfish toss - CLEVER!

photo booth op!

What a fun -over-the-top party!! Make sure to check out her blog for fabulous party ideas.

More carnival party ideas...

Carnival Rubber Duckies 1 Doz

Create a duck pond - a classic carnival game! Use a kiddie swimming pool add a couple of inches of water and place rubber ducks that have numbers written on the bottom (permanent marker). Each child gets to pick a duck or two and give them a prize that corresponds with the number on the duck. Place the duck back in the pool and let another child take a turn.An adult needs to supervise this game.

Circus Clown Child Costume

Adult Fortune Teller Booth Costume, One Size fits Most

I'm not the type to go see a fortune teller. But if I see someone roaming around at a carnival party in this costume, I would for sure go up and ask for my fortune. Wouldn't this be a hoot?? Someone with a fun outgoing personality would be a good bet for this costume!

Carnival Decorating Kit

Nostalgia KPM-508 Old-Fashioned Kettle Popcorn Maker

Who doesn't love carnival food? Cotton candy, popcorn, snow-cones, funnel cakes, candy apples are a few of my favorite foods I love to eat at the carnival/fair. Here are a few ides to help with serving food at your party.

Nostalgia Electrics RSM-602 Retro Series Snow-Cone Machine

Susan from Entertain Exchange had an adult carnival party. She added these stripes with wide red ribbon and made this sign "Drinks" to go on top of the umbrella - clever. Check out her site for some fun food ideas.

Download and print name tags - here.
Need red and white striped paper? Download and print - here.

Images and free downloads from Style Guide.

I hope all these ideas get your creative juices flowing. Remember you don't need to spend a lot of money to have a terrific party. If you want to have a fabulous party, creativity and planning (plenty of time) will help create a fun, memorable party!