Let's go camping....

Lets be honest... With three kids, the youngest at 15 months, this does NOT sound like fun. I grew up camping and fishing, and being outdoors, but that was in Colorado where the weather was perfect  for camping half of the year. Here in Texas, there is about a 2 month period where this is even a realistic thought. Chasing around after Kiera on a campsite though, is just about enough to put me in an institution. That being said, I thought I would bring the outdoors...indoors.

In our last house, I made a modern version of a woodland room. This was really breaking out of the box for me for several reasons... We got the crib which was more modern, but unmistakably boy ( not my style). Then I found the cutest bedding set at Dwell, unfortunately it was WAY above my price range. So I had to settle for the stroller blanket...poo. I tried to coordinate the whole room around this, without getting matchy-matchy.  So I painted some tree trunks, an owl, and a fox. My style of painting is much more realistic...so this was a stretch... I think I messed with him for days, and finally just decided to be happy with it. I made the bedding, and art above the dresser.

When we moved I had all sorts of woodland stuff, and still really loved it, but needed a more grown up toddler room. First we found a toddler bed.... And I HATE toddler beds! They do nothing for decorating, they are so small you can't even  put art above it. We did fall in love with the  wood finish on this Ikea toddler bed, and dresser, very versatile. I'll be honest, at this point I had NO IDEA what I was doing in the room. I was still brewing on it. I finally decided on an outdoor camping room, brings in the woodland...I can paint a mural...and bring in lots of animals, my favorite thing to piant. So I decided what better way to disguise the tiny toddler bed, than to turn it in to a tent.
I'll give you the process on another post (find it here)...very simple.

Next was the mural...the idea started off with a moose.... I have always wanted  to paint a moose, and what better place than in my own house. But what's a moose on a wall? He needs friends, and something to eat! Insert the 360 room-OF-a-view! When I started this painting I had a simple idea, and i just kept going, and going....even though I had no idea where exactly I was headed. It's nice when you don't have to have a full plan plotted out for a client. I just did what I wanted.  An hour here, a couple minutes there.... And several weeks later (not my normal working pace), this is how it turned out .....I will admit, sadly, that I just finished the sunset sky a month ago....the Sistine chapel wasn't painted in a day :)

I staged the dresser, with everything you'd need on a camping trip. Foam mat, vintage suitcase, vintage minnow bucket, lantern from Pottery Barn (which I never found a small enough bulb for), a good book, and some findings from a walk in the woods.  

On the bed are sheet from Pottery Barn Kids, they are safari I think, but hey it has animals. The duvet is also from Pottery Barn Kids, both items were twin bedding, that I tucked under the mattress. The cute little fox, was a great find at Ikea. The super cute log was a DIY kit from "My Imaginary Boyfriend", on Etsy, but it appears she is no longer making these.

We have this cute little antique mall in town, Iron Side Market. Among the junk, there is a great little shop in the back called, "Mom's Hangup's" She always has the funnest, yummiest finds. I got this great antique bow and arrow set there, as well as the minnow bucket, suitcase, and antler. I was having a lucky day!

When I first started this room, I had this idea for a camp fire. I found a couple things on Etsy, but most were felt, and felt ain't my thing. So I went to hobby lobby to look for fabric that looked like, dirt, rocks, flames, and bark. To my surprise they had it all. I finally got around to making this almost a year after I painted the room...ran out of time. I needed something big for Braeden's 3rd birthday, so I whipped it out, in a couple hours really. This was soooo simple, though it may not look it. Just a litlle patience, and my old faithful, the hot glue gun! When I post info on the tent, I;ll fill you in on how to make this fire set. 

I also bought a picnic basket, and filled it with all the necessities for a cook out....

-Felt sandwich stuff, from Melissa & Doug (purchased at Micheal's)

-A coon-skin-hat 

-A toy  lantern from Amazon, that  plays sounds, and lights up.

-A canteen, with a compass on the lid

-A cook out set, which came with two plastic sticks, hot dogs, and marshmallows. 

The kids LOVE this. At night when we read a book, Braeden picks out his food, and puts it on the fire, yes even the sandwiches, and we have a cook out. 

A couple other animals around the room, there are raccoon, a snake, a chipmunk, birds flying, ducks swimming, and bears taking a bath,

Thanks for checking out this fun space...Hope it inspires you to create a wonderland for your kids. Stay tuned for the tent tutorial, and campfire tutorial.