Birthday Balloon Wreath

I've been slacking in the blog department lately. Lots of reasons, but those will make for some good posts, so you'll have to wait. One of the biggest reasons is that I'm getting ready for B's FIRST BIRTHDAY! In typical me fashion, I'm going a little over the top, but trying my best to keep it somewhat under control and personal. I'll have a whole post with all of the fun and photos, but first - I have to share this super cute balloon wreath!

I first got the inspiration (or should I say Pinspiration) to do this after browsing Pinterest for birthday ideas. When I realized how easy and fun this would be, it was a no-brainer that it could be a decoration for this birthday and beyond! I pinned several versions of this wreath, but landed on a hybrid of my own.

I found everything that I needed at Super Wal-Mart, but you could easily avoid Wal-Mart and head to Joann's, Michael's or Party City. I would have done that, had I had time, but I digress.

1. A foam wreath in your desired size
2. 1-2 spools of ribbon, approximately 2" wide
3. 2-3 bags of balloons. The number of bags that you need will depend on the size of the balloons that you used. I used 12", just to give you an idea.
4. A box of straight pins

Here's what you do:

  

1. Pin one end of the ribbon to the wreath and wrap it around until the wreath is covered. Secure the other end of the ribbon with another set of pins. Using a ribbon to cover the wreath helps to cut down on the number of balloons that you need.
   
2. Start pinning the balloons to the wreath. Bunch and tuck and arrange until you have the look that you want! 
   

Here is my finished product! I used about two bags of 12" balloons, trying to make the colors look random. I plan to hang it from the front door, using extra ribbon.

I'm thinking that I might add some elements from his birthday theme to the wreath, but that may end up to be a game time decision. Since the wreath is foam, it will be easy to stick some extra decorations in there that I can remove after the party. I'm really happy with how this turned out and even happier to have completed another Pinterest project. I'm adding this to my "Pinned it then made it/bought it/did it" Board!

No Sew, DIY Crib Rail Cover

Do the sides of your baby's crib look like this? Mine do.

Baby B managed to gnaw his way around the entire inside perimeter of his gorgeous crib.The same crib that we painstakingly picked out so that it would LAST and be a piece of furniture that would grow with him from baby hood and beyond. Now that I look back on it, I can see that I was forgetting about the part where my baby figured out how to stand and was also teething at that exact same time, leading to a perfect storm of furniture destruction. All of those mornings, where B was quiet in his crib, "playing"? Yeah, this is what he was doing.

I'm not a huge DIY'er, so first, we headed off to the dreaded, Babies R Us to find a crib cover that would stop the insanity and save the wood. When we realized that they wouldn't fit, it was time for me to get creative, which turned out to be a lot cheaper and easier than exhaustively searching for crib rail covers. I'm so excited to share my first, official, DIY project as a mom! I wish I would have through of it before B left his mark on his bed, but better late than never, right? Here's what I did:

• Go to your favorite craft store and purchase 2-3 yards of fleece. I'm bad at measuring, so I always OVER estimate incase I goof. I went to Jo-Ann's and used a coupon, straight from my iPhone, so my fleece was 40% off! 
• Measure! Measure the length of your rails, the distance between the slats and the "wrapped" distance around the rails.
• Spread your fleece out on a flat, dog hair free surface. Cut rectangles in the appropriate dimensions. Length should be the length of your crib rails and the width should be enough to wrap around the crib rails, with a little room to spare, maybe 1-2". You can always trim back if you need to.

• Mark the fleece where the crib rails will be. For me, I just marked every 2" or so.
• Fold the rectangle in half and then cut on your marks, so that you have a fringe. Cut about 2-3" into the fleece. Don't cut too deep, you can always cut additional space while you're wrapping.
• Drape the cut fleece over the appropriate crib rails and start tying the fringes together. I started on each end and then worked my way to the middle. Make sure that you knot the tails on the side that the baby can't reach. Pull the fleece tight, so that there isn't any bunching or gathers on the side that your baby will see. Cut any loose "tails" off of the knots that face out. Repeat the process on the remaining crib rails and voila! You have a completely wrapped, and protected crib. Safe from beavers and babies.

This is my first DIY post, so my process pictures aren't the best. I didn't even think to take photos until I was almost done, but I'm hoping that you get the idea. I'm thrilled at how it turned out, and so is Nick. As usual, he had no clue about my final vision until he saw it come to life. We are week one into our newly protected crib and it is working beautifully.

This is my first DIY post, so if I'm missing any details or if you need clarification, let me know in the comments. Are there any other preventative measures that I need to take, now that B is a full blown toddler?