playing on the walls

No major traveling this time for the family this Christmas break. Instead, we spent most of the holidays for play time in the house. And I mean not just for the little one but for mum and dad, too.  Lakay settled in with his PS3 and NBA 2K11,  my bugey with his new toys, and I with the blank walls in our apartment that are in dire need of coloring.  Because it was snowing outside, and that I found it more fun and challenging to use materials that I already have, I can proudly say that I did not shell out a single penny on these.

Here's what I accomplished so far:

1) Photocopy Wall Art
I filtered photos of my bugey and his playmates through photoshop,
colored it with his pastel crayons and
hung it in this nice frame I got 2 years ago.

2) Hand-painted the cork board: a mum and babe artwork.
We used bugey's water-based paint and colored
the frame black. Then we covered the whole board with our
hand prints. Lakay was supposed to join in but
had to run out for an errand. Bugey said,
"Let's just imagine his hands."

Here's the finished product.

I improvised a paper and pen holder using
Body Shop catalogue.

3) Re-framed my bugey's painting of mum and dad.
These are two of his works in his K-1 class, when he was barely 4 years old.
The glass frame and the background red cloth  I got from
a nearby thrift shop last summer.

4) Updated bugey's height ruler. I've had this since 2008. 

I simply updated some of the photos by using ordinary

white paper and my printer. If you want to do this, better to use Microsoft Word 

for editing and resizing if you're printing from your own

home printer. At least you're sure that it will come out as

you expect it. Also, adjust the photo to higher level of brightness and contrast

so that the details of the photo will come out more. 

5) Finally filled the frame I got from the thrift shop last May. These
are our photos from our pre-nup pictorials.  I did the same thing
using our home laser printer. 

6) Made my own interpretation for a "monogram" for
bugey's bedroom. I used an old kiddie map of Europe that
used to hang in our corridor. I like this idea a lot since its so personalized.  

7) Installed the wall sticker my artist Sis gave me this Christmas. (thanks mwah)
It was a bit of a challenge putting this up since the
dandelion design was so fragile. I relied very much on Lakay's
meticulous and "OC" hands. (was really more his labor of love)
 I love the way it blends with our couch.
It refined my favorite corner in the apartment. Sis suggests I add
colored throw pillows for accent.
This makes things more exciting, of course. It means I have more hunting to do
to get the best finds at the cheapest price. Weeeeeeeee!

In case my professor is reading this now,  I just have to say that my play time did not really affect my study time. In fact,  I was able to write 500 words or more after each project. (wink!)