Fireman Themed Bedroom

While one grandson wanted a policeman themed bedroom (you can see it here: Policeman Themed Room), the other requested a fireman room. Here's what their beautiful mom and I came up with.

I used the exact same technique for the fire engine wall hanging as I did for the police car in the post I referenced above: I created and saved the image to a USB drive, printed it out (extra large) at Kinko's, then cut it into thirds. Then, I used Mod Podge to attach it to three large canvases.

We placed it over the bed, and then made three pillow covers with iconic fireman designs on them. For the pillows, we used my Silhouette machine and heat transfer vinyl.

We placed the same images on the fabric bins in his storage cubby.

Here are the bins, close up. How cute are the accessories? That's a toy fire extinguisher on the top left, and fireman boots on the top right. If you know a real fireman, you might be able to score some real gear.

I found this cool sign on Amazon, but when it arrived, it wasn't large enough for the space. Rather than send it back, I mounted it on a piece of flat black canvas.

Here, I drilled a hole into a toy fireman's helmet, and inserted a lamp base purchased by my daughter-in-law at Ikea. We added the yellow stripe (made from duct tape) to tie it into our theme colors. I covered the hole in the helmet with air-dry clay, painted black.

We repeated the same design on this other cubby. The fire hydrant (from Amazon) is actually a plastic storage container. We made the ladder with pieces of wood trim. Very easy!

This is my favorite element in the room. I used bulletin board paper because I don't know how to mount wallpaper (this is the same paper I used for my Harry Potter party; you can see it here: Harry Potter Party). Once we stapled the paper to the wall, I brushed on a heavy coat of Mod Podge to protect it. Then, I added a chair rail and the cutest hooks EVER:

The hooks are from Amazon. You can find them if you search for "fun vintage faucet spigots." 

I freshened up these vintage chairs with paint and added the fireman symbols (cut from my Silhouette machine, but you could use an online image and Mod Podge instead). Then, I made the table, using a wooden table top and very short legs that I purchased from Lowe's. After I painted the legs, I covered the tabletop with a tire cover that we cut down and stapled to it. You can't tell from the photo, but the tire cover (on Amazon, called a "silver diamond plated steel vinyl spare tire cover") looks very much like this, only it is a soft surface:

This little cutie loves his new room!

UPDATE: I found an old fire hose in an online auction, and thought it would be a great addition to the room. It looked a little tired, so I painted it with a bright yellow acrylic craft paint, then I anchored it into the wall, for safety. I think it adds a lot to the room:

You may notice that the "brick" wall looks a little different, too. That's because the bulletin board paper didn't hold up very well over time. I ended up dipping a rectangular-shaped sponge in red paint, and creating the brick pattern on the wall. The porous sponge created realistic-looking "bricks," and I didn't tape off the area or try to make it too perfect. It looks much better now.

Policeman Themed Bedroom

One of my little grandsons wanted a policeman themed bedroom, and here's what my sweet daughter-in-law and I came up with (the other grandson asked for a fireman themed room, so please be sure to check out that post, at Fireman Themed Room):

First, I created and saved this police car design, put it on a USB drive, and had it blown up at Kinko's. Then, I cut it into thirds and used Mod Podge to attach it to the canvases.

We made coordinating pillow covers with my Silhouette machine (using heat transfer vinyl, which we pressed onto plain pillow covers).

The police car lamp was created from a simple Ikea lamp and a plastic police car. I just drilled a hole through the car, stuck the lamp through it, and used air-dry clay to cover the hole. The bedside table is just a black table, onto which we applied white duct tape so we could get perfectly straight lines. Much easier (and more durable) than painting the table.

I purchased these real metal street signs from Amazon.

I made police hooks using metal police badges (toys purchased from Amazon), attached to metal hooks (also from Amazon; you can search for "Gatco 4245 Latitude II single robe hook, chrome"). I attached them with Gorilla epoxy.

I purchased this cute desk -  which included fabric bins in the perfect colors for the room - online, from Walmart. Then, we added the same police icons that coordinate with the pillows. The images needed a little contrast on the dark bins, so we used white heat transfer vinyl to make a background for each one. Here they are close up:

I made this cute bulletin board by stapling plain black cotton fabric over cork, then I used police tape (also from Amazon) to fit our theme.

 I couldn't resist these police car pushpins from here.

We also added a giant thumbprint to his "detective's desk" (made on my Silhouette machine, but you could just print and Mod Podge an image instead). We then covered his desktop with a piece of clear plastic, to protect the thumbprint - and the desk - from damage.

When I asked the room's new owner to let me take a picture of him next to his favorite thing, this is where he wanted to pose. He loves his new room, especially his desk and bulletin board!

Harry Potter Party

Everyone who knows me knows that I love a good theme, whether it's for a party or anything else! I offered to host a child's adoption party recently, and he requested a Harry Potter theme. Here's how it all turned out:

I used bulletin board paper to create "Platform 9 3/4" for the guests to enter the party. The scrolls said "Welcome to Hogwarts" and listed the "Wizards' Homework" (essentially a list of activities at the party that I didn't want the little ones to miss).

Voldemort's snake, Nagini, was a giant Cocoa Krispie treat. We later added green candy eyes:

 The gorgeous cake came from my favorite bakery, Freed's. I just added the magic wand and Harry Potter glasses.

The  "winged keys" looked great! I hot-glued real feathers to large metal keys that I purchased at Michaels for $1 each.

These "house banners" were some of the very few things I purchased - rather than made - for the event. I found them on Amazon.

I blew up a big picture of Dumbledore that I found online, then placed it in a picture frame from Goodwill that I had spray-painted to look aged.

The entry to Honeydukes was just a few plastic tablecovers, attached to completely cover the door.

We wanted a funny way to tell kids that some areas were unsafe/out-of-bounds, so we used this Dumbledore quote from the movie.

"Moaning Myrtle" is actually a Halloween ghost. that I ordered from Amazon. I added a doll wig, with hair trimmed to look more like Myrtle's, and a pair of doll eyeglasses that I spray-painted gold.

Arrow signs at the craft stores were expensive - about $7 each. I found each set of three arrows at the $1 store. They were already decorated for a Hawaiian themed party, so I spray-painted over the Hawaiian words and then used my Silhouette machine to make Potter-themed words. I painted the edges blue and glued on some metal stars to make them a little fancier.

A large (30" x 40") piece of foam board provided the perfect backdrop for the "Pin the Scar" game. I made the words, hair and glasses on my Silhouette.

The game's blindfold was a Gryffindor scarf that I made from a patch that I sewed on a simple striped scarf. Both were purchased online from Amazon. I made the scar stickers on my Silhouette, but if you don't have a Silhouette machine, you could print them on full-page sticker/label paper, and cut them out by hand.

The Wand Station was the biggest attraction for all the guests - even the adults wanted to take home the homemade "magic wands."

There are lots of tutorials online to make wands. There's a good one here. They weren't difficult to make, just time-consuming. I used chopsticks, hot glue, and brown spray paint. Once dry, I painted the raised areas with silver or gold acrylic paint, then I dry-brushed them with black acrylic paint to make them look old.

I found the Wand Guides online.

One of my favorite party elements. I made this Ollivanders sign from a wooden sign that I found at JoAnn Crafts for 70% off. I simply spray-painted over the original sign, then used it as my base. You could also find and use an old tray or piece of art from a thrift store. The curlique "O" is from JoAnn, and the white letters were made on my Silhouette. When all that was done, I hot-glued on the metal stars and one of the homemade magic wands. 

This picture doesn't do justice to the "flying letters"! Although they took several days to make - printing them on cardstock, adding the Hogwarts seals, and stringing them on fishing line - the effect was magical. I printed the letters on card stock. You can find the printable here. Then, I folded them in half and glued them together. I used a brown permanent marker to color the edges brown because I didn't like the white edges. Next, I used a red hot-glue stick and a Hogwarts stamp from Amazon for the seal. To string them, I used the smallest diameter hole punch I could find to make 2 holes in each letter. When stringing them to the fishing line, I knotted the line so they'd stay in place.

The "sorting hat" was purchased from Amazon, but there are some good tutorials if you want to make your own. I got the "sorting quiz" online; you can find it here. I made "quill pens" for the kids to use by hot-gluing feathers to black Bic pens. Have I mentioned how much I love/use my hot glue gun?

Each child got to take a sticker with their "Hogwarts house" on it, as determined by their "sorting quiz" answers.

This sign, made from wood I purchased at JoAnn, led kids to the secret "cupboard under the stairs."

I made the temporary tattoos on my Silhouette machine, with Silhouette's temporary tattoo paper. If you don't have a Silhouette machine, You could still print the design on their paper, then cut them out by hand. In fact, you don't even need to cut them into the lightening bolt shape, because only the colored printer ink shows up on the tattoo. The glasses are from Amazon.

I purchased all the battery-operated candles at the $1 store; most even came with batteries! The "Dementor drops" were caramels, because chocolate would have melted in our desert heat. I used books from my personal library, covered in "parchment" copy paper. I printed the book titles from this website.

The "dementor" is made from a Halloween skeleton decoration. His face was covered in masking tape, then painted black; his hands were painted black, too. Here's a good dementor tutorial. Props for mine go to my son, Chris, who made this one for me. I was running out of time, and he did a much better job than I could have done. We elected to use the existing skeleton hands rather than make our own.

The "floating candles" looked especially cute at night, when we turned them on. I purchased mine in bulk from Amazon, but later found them for much less at the $1 store.

 I loved finding adoption-friendly Harry Potter Quotes to use at the party. Here are a few more personalized decorations that I made (with the guest of honor's name redacted to protect his privacy):

The kids could make "withdrawals" (of chocolate coins) at "Gringotts Bank." To reduce the amount of stuff I needed to fill a container, such as the treasure chest used here and for the "magic wands," I covered foam blocks in aluminum foil and placed them in the bottom of the chests. 

  

 The "Monster Book of Monsters" was super fun to make. I bought an unfinished wood "book" storage box from Michaels, glued on some "fur," and then used Sculpy clay to create the mouth, teeth, and tongue. The eyes are also from the craft store (look for "cat eyes" there or online). I made the letters on my Silhouette machine, but you could always make and print them from Microsoft Word.

The "Butterbeer" was made from cream soda (I eliminated the bubbles by heating it, but you don't have to) with butterscotch flavoring added. I covered the whipped cream cans with labels.

Although the pictures of Honeydukes didn't turn out so well (thanks to the sunlight streaming in behind the table), you can get the gist of it. I had "Quidditch Brooms" (mini peanut butter cups with mini pretzel "broom handles"), "Sour Slugs" (sour gummy worms), "Magic Wands" (licorice sticks), "Fizzing Whizbees" (Pop Rocks), "Bernie Botts Every Flavour Beans" (traditional Jelly Belly flavors with a few boxes of the gross flavors added in at the request of the honored guest), "Owl Droppings" (Whoppers) and "Golden Snitches" (Tootsie Roll pops covered in gold candy foil, with hot-glued feathers). I also made Honeydukes "to go" bags: small white $1 store bags with handles, onto which I hot-glued Honeydukes labels.

Next time, remind me to use heavy paper to block out the sunlight before I add the plastic table cover "stone walls." I decorated well into the night, and didn't realize the sun would be a problem until the party started; oops.

I had to come up with a creative solution to cover the sports equipment in our gym, where Honeydukes was located (it was too tough to move our treadmill, etc.). I covered everything in cheap white paper drop cloths, then added a giant spider (aka Aragog) and hot-glued a ton of baby spiders.

The cute "wizard" who took this picture was a young lady we hired to welcome our guests. The kids loved when she handed them their "homework" scrolls. The sweet girl in the background is wearing a pink apron with the Honeydukes logo. We hired her to "work" the Honeydukes candy counter.

The tabletop Quidditch game was fun. I made the hoops from dowel rods, embroidery hoops (screwed to the end of each dowel), a piece of wood scrap, and 3 $1 Store rulers, all spray-painted. I ordered the red "bludgers" (ping pong balls) from Amazon. The banner, like all the others, was made on my Silhouette machine.