Creative and Fun Themes for Your Child's Bedroom

If it's time to promote your little one from a nursery to a big-kid room, we've got some tips to design the bedroom of his or her dreams. All you need is a little inspiration, creativity and some crafts-y resources. Check out these fun boy and girl themes:

Book-Lovers Paradise

Encourage your youngster's love of the written word by making him a fun and imaginative book nook out of three tall bookshelves. Arrange the bookshelves in a U-shape with two standing vertically on top of a horizontal one. Secure the bookshelves with screws and then fasten the whole thing to the wall. Next, place a seat cushion and matching pillows on the "seat" to make a comfortable reading area. For wall art, frame covers of favorite children's books or pages of poems.

Wall of Frames

Not sure what to do with those ever-growing piles of clutter, paper and pictures? Give school artwork, old photos and summer camp memorabilia a purpose and frame them. Keep this project affordable by shopping second-hand stores and clearance shelves for fun frames in all shapes and sizes. Once you and your child have picked out bedding and other decor, buy paint in matching colors and paint the frames. Next you can adorn them with glitter, gemstones or buttons, and then arrange them in the center of one wall. Work outwards as your collection grows into a mix-and-match pattern.

Race Car Track

Give your race car driver in-the-making a bed frame that looks like a dream race car. Place a Little Tikes sports car bed and a Macy's mattress in the center of the room and accent it with race-themed bedding. Create a racetrack on the floor using paint or create one with fabric if the floor is carpeted. Place pennants or framed pics of his favorite drivers on the wall.

Around the World

If you have a future world traveler, frame and hang up maps of faraway places your child can discover one day. Shop online for a vintage globe, buy a light fixture kit and re-purpose it as a pendant light to illuminate the bedroom. Outfit the bed and windows in solid colors like red, navy or green. Store tiny trinkets and souvenirs from family trips in shadow boxes. Decoupage ticket stubs, postcards and photos onto a small table.

Closet Hideout

A bed that tucks into the closet is a space-saving solution for a small children's bedroom and creates open space for play. Paint the door a bright color or replace it with a curtain for less of a boxed-in feel. Decorate the room to resemble a clubhouse or treehouse by painting wooden boards or tree branches on the walls. Break out some old-school gingham fabric for tie-back curtains, and don't forget to come up with a secret handshake to keep out the bad guys.

Flower Power

For an undoubtedly girly girl, first create a focal point with funky, geometric-patterned bedding set in soft, feminine colors. Find solid-colored pillow shams and pick up paints in a variety of colors. Then channel your inner Van Gogh and start free-handing blooming flowers onto the pillows. Adorn a window bench, the bed, bedroom corners and chairs with your hand-painted floral pillows.
Make sure to personalize themes so that they reflect your child's personality. Involve your child in the decision making and you'll make fond memories while designing and building this room together as a team.

Guest post by Nicole Dunlap

Interior design is Nicole's passion. She loves introducing new and freshly colored themes into her clients' homes.

Flogging with Grace

Kid Stuff: What to Keep and What Should Go

If you have come to the decision that you and your family have too much stuff, it’s time to have a major clean out. Don’t beat yourself up for accumulating all these toys and clothes. Over time, it happens. Whether you live in a unit, a semi or a house, space is always at a premium. There never seems to be enough room for everything. Start with four piles: storage, recycle and let go.

Store

Having to choose to keep something or not is a hard decision. If you want to keep something, but don't have the space at home, you can rent storage from Bob’s or another storage unit so it doesn’t overrun your house. Clearly mark the storage boxes with the content. Keep a master list and pack fragile items carefully. Give one box to each child and get them to pack things they love, but can store for the next six months. Write their name in big letters on the box, so it can be easily identified.
What to Store: off-season equipment such as bulky ski gear, beach umbrellas, wetsuits, Christmas decorations and camping gear.
What Not to Store: flammable items, food, personal documents, valuables or firearms, according to Fathersandsonne.com.

Recycle

Educate your kids about the benefits of recycling. Most local councils have clean ups twice a year and give households at least 2 weeks’ notice when these are held, says KAB.org.au. You may find that your no-longer-needed items are collected by neighbours. One person’s trash can often become another person’s treasure.
What to Recycle: appliances, furniture, clean toys, clean and lightly used clothing, and electronics.
What Not to Recycle: yard waste or brush, auto parts in excess of 50 pounds, large quantities of building materials including brick and block, household hazardous waste, or motor oil and solvents, according to herndon-va.gov.

Let Go

Invest in a number of affordable 44-litres plastic storage box with a sealable lid, available at retailers and hardware stores. Each child receives a storage box and anything that does not fit into the box has to go to into the charity bag. Donate your items in a charity bin. Most suburbs have charity bins or a St. Vincent De Paul opportunity shop, says vinnies.org.au, which accept clothes, books, furniture, crockery, manchester and toys.
Seven-Day Toy Rotation: Have your kids select seven of their favourite toys/games (one for every day of the week) and everything else has to go into the recycle boxes. You will never hear the end of it if you throw out their favourite battered toy or game while they are at school.
Give and Take for Free: Ziilch.com is a site where you list the pre-loved items on one of the new gifting websites where you can list and take for free. It truly is the ultimate recycling of your valuable items with no strings attached.
Sell: Have your kids make a list of items to sell online and once you approve the list, they can start listing the items and accepting bids.


GUEST POST By Kathryn Brown

Katie pens her family and relationship articles from her home in Perth

Linking up with Jess for some #IBOT

Teachers Love Technology

With permission i have shared this very interesting article, Teachers Love Technology. 


"Once upon a time, the role of the teacher in the classroom conjured up images and ideas of blackboards, rulers, chalk, and pencils. But now, technology is becoming more and more integrated into modern school systems—not just as an added bonus, but as a necessity to how students learn and how teachers teach. While at one point in time, adopting technology into the classroom may have been perceived as stressful and forced for teachers and students alike, as it stands now, students aren’t just excited about using technology, teachers are excited and highly capable of utilizing its presence in the classroom. From smartboards to class computers to e-readers and e-textbooks, each new technology presents new modes of both teaching and learning opportunities. Now, every day teachers with tech access are finding new ways to embrace technology and incorporate it into the classroom. As a result, teachers are more efficient than ever, and students are capable of learning faster and more efficiently. In fact, a majority of students say that technology has helped them to achieve their academic goals, while a majority of teachers say they would like to use even more technology in the classroom. The following infographic looks into the tech-teaching phenomenon, and why teachers love it so much."

{Attribution to OnlineUniversities.com}

Are you a teacher? 

Do you agree? 

Please share your thoughts!

Linking up with, with some Grace for FYBF

Instagram Poster Candy review

How awesome does my photo collage look!?

My phone is literally fully because of all my photos. I had been planning to print some and back the rest up but just hadn't got around to it yet..

So i was pretty happy when i had the opportunity to work with Poster Candy. Now im on the look out for a nice frame, so i can get this baby on the wall!

Your Instagram account is full of moments you thought were worth remembering – that cocktail on your holiday, that candid shot of the bride and groom, bub’s first smile. Too often though, those photos are kept on your computer or in dust-covered photo albums, rarely seen. That needn’t be the case with PosterCandy!

Powered by Look Print (Australia), PosterCandy turns all your favourite Instagram shots into a professionally-printed high-quality poster. With a range of size options and prices available, there is no limit to the number of PosterCandy posters you could make to keep for yourself, or give to family and friends.

“We take photos because we want to remember those special moments and share them with our family and friends, but often they stay in our cameras, computers or photo albums, never to be seen again,” says David Leach, founder of PosterCandy. “With PosterCandy, you can showcase all of your memories out in the open so that they become a focal attraction in your home, and your life.”

Made via a website (www.postercandy.com.au) that links to your Instagram account to give access to your images, all PosterCandy posters are professionally printed and can house a number of high resolution Instagram photos from 12 to 176.  With all sizes able to fit into standard IKEA frames, the affordable PosterCandy posters can be interchanged once you decide you want to put different memories on show.

“The whole process of making a PosterCandy poster takes less than five minutes, made easier with the website’s hashtag functionality, meaning if you want to make one of your summer trip to Italy, for example, you can easily filter the photos on the site to only upload the ones you have hashtagged with ‘#Italy’,” says David.

“With prices starting from just $19.95, a PosterCandy poster is not only a great gift idea for your friends or family members, but can also be inter-changed as you take more Instagram snaps, themed to showcase your wedding or baby photos, or make a great addition to your office walls.”

PosterCandy launched in mid-February 2013.

Sizes available include 30cm x 40cm (RRP $19.95), 40cm x 50cm (RRP $24.95), 50cm x 50cm (RRP $29.95), 50cm x 70cm (RRP $34.95) and 70cm x 100cm (RRP $49.95), plus $9.95 Australia-wide shipping.

For more information on PosterCandy, please visit www.postercandy.com.au

Linking up with Jess for some IBOT

DIY Easter Craft

Me N my Monkeys have been having a rather crafty last few days;

First we made a Easter chicken, using;

2 yellow feathers, 

1 paddle pop stick

1 piece of orange cardboard (for the beak) we used a piece of orange glitter foam

1 15cm piece of ribbon (any colour)

Black texta to draw on the eyes

 Next we made an Easter Bunny, using;

2 Paper Muffin cases, 1 for each side of the ears (Thicker cases look better, non see through)
2 different colours of paper for the ears and whiskers
2 eyes
1 pom pom (any colour)
1 texta
1 paddle pop stick

How do you celebrate Easter?

Children's Book Giveaway ~ Possum Magic

Are you a lover of Children's books, written by Mem Fox? I am, and have been since as far back as i can remember.
My favourite children's book of all time was, and still is, 'Possum Magic' followed closely by Koala Lou also written by Mem Fox, and... not forgetting my latest addition to my Mem Fox collection Good Night, Sleep Tight.

My children also share the Possum Magic love!

Since starting my job in a daycare centre a few weeks ago, i have also noticed that these books are not only loved dearly by me but also loved by the majority of the children at the centre.

Did you know; April 11th 2013 marks the 30th Anniversary of my birthdate of the best selling picture book ever in Australia!

Possum magic has captivated and enchanted children and adults around the world. Mem Fox's lovable characters, little Hush and Grandma Poss, together with Julie Viva's exquisite illustrations weave a story of pure magic.

When possum magic first hit the book shop shelves in my birth year 1983 it caused a sensation. No one had ever seen anything like it. The first print sold out within weeks, in 12 months the book had been reprinted 10 times. Possum magic has sold over 3 million copies in Australia and continues to be Australia's best-selling picture book of all time.

This stunning 30th anniversary edition is unique with its new cloth bound cover and slipcase, this edition will only be available for 2013 for a RRP of $29.99

It's still the same great read, only now, it has a new look!

***GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***

Not only was i sent a book for my self, I was sent 3 more copies to GIVEAWAY!

The Rules are simple:

*Follow Me 

*Leave a comment. Don't forget to leave your email address. 

*Like my Facebook Page

*Like Scholastic Australia's Facebook page

Optional - but i'd really like if you followed me here too

*Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this:

"Pop over to @Me_N_my_Monkeys to enter a children's book #Giveaway, Titled Possum Magic written by Mem Fox  ~ http://www.janedavid99.com/"

Winners will be Drawn using Random.org on Saturday April 6th 2013.

Sorry friends, Entry is open to Australian Residents only!

Linking up with Jess for some IBOT

Disclosure: I received 4 complimentary Books for review purposes only. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own

DIY Crafts to Get the Whole Family EGGcited for Easter!

'Tis the season to prepare for the Easter Bunny! With Easter just around the corner, why not jazz up your home decor with a few festive crafts? Whether you're a stay-at-home mum or you're feeling crafty and want a weekend project, here are a few Easter crafts that your entire family will love.

Make a Sweet Candle Display

The craft experts at AllYou.com came up with a darling DIY centerpiece to make any table look more spirited. Gather three different-size clear glass hurricane vases, three white pillar candles and three large bags of jelly beans. Dump all jelly beans onto a baking sheet. Have your children help you sort the jelly beans by colour into bowls so each colour is in a separate bowl. Once all of the jelly beans are sorted, place each candle in a hurricane and begin pouring jelly beans into the hurricane vase to surround the candle. Carefully pour one colour at a time to create a stripe motif. Vary the colours in each hurricane to create thicker or thinner stripes of colour  adding more jelly beans when necessary until the hurricane vases are filled one third to half of the way to the top.

Decorate an Easter Tree

Who says that fancy trees are only reserved for Christmas? Pick out an artificial Christmas tree at ChristmasTreeMarket.com and decorate it with festive Easter décor  Enlist help from the kids to craft Easter-egg ornaments. Pick up a few dozen brightly coloured plastic eggs and have your little ones decorate them with glitter paint, ribbon and stickers. Then string a loop of clear fishing line through each egg so it can be hung from a tree branch. Get colourful plastic grass filling (typically used to fill Easter baskets) and use it as tinsel to add some extra pizazz to the tree. Top the tree with a small stuffed Easter bunny or a bright bow and enjoy!

Adorn the Mantle

Buy a few dozen more plastic Easter eggs in the same colours you use to decorate your tree to create a coordinating egg garland to adorn the mantle. Depending on the size of your mantle, you'll need four to five dozen plastic eggs. Get a needle and thread and string each egg together end to end to form a chain. Buy ribbon in a coordinating colour and add a bow between every 12 eggs, as well as at each end. To hang, use thumb-tacks to mount the garland to the mantle, creating a swag at each bow.

DIY Peeps Wreath

Peeps marshmallow candies are synonymous with Easter, so what better way to welcome Easter guests than with a Peeps wreath on your front door? First gather your supplies:

• One floral craft ring in whatever size you prefer
• A few dozen Peeps marshmallow candies (enough to cover the wreath)
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Ribbon in a coordinating colour

Before you begin assembling the wreath, you need to dry out the Peeps. Preheat your oven to 120°C (250°F). Arrange the Peeps in a single layer on two baking sheets and place them in the oven for five to six minutes then allow them to cool on a baking rack.
Wrap the floral wreath with ribbon. Starting from the centre and working your way out, arrange the Peeps side by side in a circle, using a dollop of hot glue to affix each one in place. Once the wreath is full, loop a piece of ribbon through the centre to use to hang it on your door.

How do you prepare for Easter?

Guest post by Lynn Gibson

A creative and fun-loving cook, Lynn shares recipes and cooking tips with her readers. She's handy at decorating and loves to put her own spin on DIY projects.

Linking up with Trish and Bree for some Wordless Wednesday!