Salt Dough Fingerprint Magnets for Valentine's Day

Yesterday's Valentine's round up really got me in the mood for Valentine's Day.  The kids and I made these super easy salt dough magnets to give to our family.  I love that they can be used year-round on people's fridges and that their little fingerprints make it so special.  I got the inspiration from Pinterest (which led to this Messy Little Monsters post) however, as usual for me, it turned out to be a major #pinterestfail.  The recipe I found for colored salt dough called to mix in paint instead of half of the water and instead of a bright, red color that I was looking for, the dough came out like a rusty, dusty light pink.  Not the look I was going for at all.  So, I doctored it up with a little red craft paint, added the gold paint to enhance the finger prints and voila! 

Getting both kids aged 3.5 and 1.5 to cooperate with their fingerprints was the hard part.  The idea was that two thumb prints form an interior heart on the magnets but I actually love how they all turned out different.  Some have just one thumb print, others have one from each kid and some have two from the same kid.   I put a little tutorial at the end of this post.

I already had some supplies on hand to put together Forrest's Valentine's for school so I used the clear baggies, filler and ribbon I had on hand to wrap these up to deliver to family in the next week or so. 

And on that note, I have to show how cute Forrest's little Valentine's for school turned out  That kid always does give me a "raisin" to smile!

I got the tags as a printable from LoveLucyDesign.  I adore all of her precious invitations and cards. 

We put together a little care package for our friends in DC that we used to have our nanny share with.  Forrest loved packing everything up to send to his buddy Archer and his baby brother.  The little glow sand Valentine's are from Target. 

Salt Dough Fingerprint Magnets

Tools:

**I used this salt dough recipe.  It was super easy and fail-proof, even for me.  I recommend doing this and skipping the coloring of your dough in the dough-making process.  Just paint the things afterwards. 

**I used these cookie cutters.  I love that you had three different sized hearts to play around with. 

**Pick any color paint you like but I went with this red and this gold. 

**You will need a rolling pin.  I add this in because I had to make a special trip to go out and buy this one from Target because I.do.not.bake.

**Modge Podge I recommend getting the gloss finish.

**Parchment paper.  Ever since this happened, I use the stuff for everything.

**Magnet backers.  I got mine from Michael's but something like this would work fine if you, like me, are an Amazon junkie.

Steps:

**Make salt dough and roll out until it is about an inch thick.  I found it easier to split the dough into fourths and then roll out one section at a time.  I cut the dough using all three sizes of the heart cookie cutters. 

**Place the heart shapes on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Have your child place their fingerprints in the hearts in the desired location.  (Good luck with this.)

**Bake the magnets low and slow at about 200 degrees until the dough is hardened.  Check the underside to make sure they are hardened all the way through even if they look done on top.

**Paint the entire heart red.  It took me about three to four coats until the color was as saturated as I wanted it.  Fill in the finger prints with the gold.  I just used a small paint brush and made circular strokes.

**Once all the red and gold paint has dried, paint a coat of Modge Podge over all the magnets. 

**Adhere the magnetic backing.

Enjoy for years to come! 

Wishing for Wallpaper

I am ITCHING to wallpaper something.  Ever since we bought our first house in Virginia, I have been wanting to do something permanent like wallpaper but never did because I knew we wouldn't be there very long and I couldn't justify the cost.  Plus, we were always thinking resale, resale, resale and had to have something so neutral so it would appeal to a wide variety of buyers and so it defeated the purpose of me wanting to do something awesome design-wise with the space.  We are in our house in North Carolina now and I still think about which space I want to wallpaper all the time.  We have some great built-ins in our living room that I think would really pop with some paper behind them.  We also have a small breakfast nook (formerly our playroom) that could use some oomph.  And of course, the most exciting space to think about wallpaper?  A kids room!! 

And so, on this cold, gross, winter day, I've collected some of my most favorite kid wallpapers to brighten your day!  How adorable are these?!

Some modern arrows paired with a vintage print.  Right up my alley!

Love the large scale for a little person in this next one.

 I love how this next one carried the paper right onto the ceiling!  It makes such a bold statement.

 Perfectly pink bunnies for a nursery - I love that they aren't too babyish or too pink so could totally grow with a little girl!

Super hip cacti!  Love that really unique shade or green mixed with the bronzey gold.

I've saved my two most favorite for last.  This first one, I have been dying over for sometime and definitely have it saved as major inspiration for whenever I can redo a kids room.  I love, love, love the paper with its historical and European vibe and I love the modern bright upholstered headboard with the modern monogram pillow up against it.

And how truly sweet is this musical paper?  I think I'd like the bedding to have a little more color and spunk for my taste but I cannot get over this Minuet in G Major. 

All sources for the images can be linked through my children's room inspiration board on Pinterest.

Adorable Nursery Decor - Fiona Walker, England

Yes, the animal head trend has been in full force for some time now but I'm still not tired of them yet as I keep seeing more exotic animals and cooler twists on colors, prints, quirkiness, etc.  But Fiona Walker's animal heads are not the only adorable nursery decor she's got going on.  I love her collection of animal bookends, wall hangers but especially her other wall art.  She makes it all still feel very fresh, relevant and whimsical.  Here are some of my favorites:

Love the punchy color combo for a boy or a girl's room.

These castles are wall hangings! 

Dying over the headdress. 

That crown!!

And just because it's Christmastime...is this not the most adorable little reindeer?!

Shop and source full collections here. 

The Playroom Situation

Our house has a little breakfast room off of the back of our kitchen.  It is clear that its original intended purpose was for dining because of the old build in corner cabinets that I ah-dore.  Because the house already has a spacious dining room and because this little nook was easy to be closed off, I decided to make it a playroom for the kids.  In theory, my plan was nothing short of brilliant.  It was an adorable little nook of a space that the kids could make a mess in and visitors didn't see it right when they walked in.  I pictured myself making homemade dinners from scratch, dressed in an apron, while the children played quietly in the room together.  (Yes, I recognize that image is nothing short of delusional).  Anyway, the room has worked pretty well for us for a little while.

The room is one of my favorite spaces in the house - it is filled with light, an adorable rug, and lots of fun toys for my little ones.  Problem is, now that we have put the theory into practice, we have discovered it is a really, really small space for a playroom.  My two year old loves to dump out all of his toys and now my 8 month old has started crawling.  In about two seconds flat, there is no room for either of them to move.  And I had to put an adult chair in there for me so that I had somewhere other than the floor to sit and that just clogs the space up more.  So, what happens is that after just a few minutes of playing, the kids become overwhelmed by all the toys around them and are (I'm projecting my feelings here) most likely clausterphobic, and they want out.  And that is just with me and the two kids in there.  Forget about having friends over to play!

Here's the playroom as it is right now:

And when the kids inevitably evacuate the small playroom, where do they go?  Straight for the living room with my brand new custom upholstered furniture.  YIKES!  But I don't blame them for wanting to get out of there.

In between the living room and the kitchen is a large dining room.  When we moved in, I toyed with the idea (pun intended) of making the dining room a second living area/playroom but then ultimately decided I really wanted a dining room.  Three main problems: 1) We just aren't entertaining as much as we used to.  We are exhausted from running after the kids or my husband is travelling for work. 2) The house is just too small to have large formal dinner gatherings because we only have one living room to accommodate 5 or so people max comfortably (in my opinion).  3) We moved from an even smaller house in DC and have only a dining room table.  To furnish a large dining room the way I want to would mean a pretty substantial investment.  I just don't know how long we will be in this house and so I don't want to buy furniture to fit this space when I'm not sure what the needs/set up of the next house will be.

Sooooo, my plan is to turn the now dining room into the new and improved playroom and move the dining table to the breakfast room.  Not only will that offer the kids more space to play but it will be much easier for us to entertain more people with another place to hang out.  I'm mentally wrestling with this plan since I can't imagine not having a proper dining room.  I also really didn't want to succumb to having my kids toys so prominently displayed in our house but after a lot of thought, I just think it will be more comfortable for everyone.  This isn't a forever plan...this is just what I think will work for us right now.  Stayed tuned for the big switch.

#cameronjonesinteriors #playroomdecor #kidsspaces #playroom #moderntraditionalmix #colorfulplayroom

Obsessed with these new Modular Carpets

I am obsessed with these new fun shaped modular carpets from KinderGROUND that I read about in the latest issue of House Beautiful.  They were designed for children's spaces but they are about as chic as any carpet pieces I've seen for other rooms.  This is going high up on my wish list for the next rug I get!

The shapes come in triangles, hexagons and diamonds and you can mix and match.  They are also larger in size than other modular carpet squares that are on the market.  Here are just a few of their great designs.

I'm almost finished with the nursery for Baby Jones and I had the hardest time finding a rug for the space that I liked so I ended up going veeeery neutral.  I am loving how the space turned out BUT these would have been so much fun to use!  Now I just need to find another space to design!