i finally got some curtains up in our playroom the other day and it's feeling like it's really complete now. our playroom was the first room we did when we moved into our home last year and it's easily our favorite. i wanted to create a fun, bright, creative room for ava to play in without the distraction of technology. her collage wall was so fun to put together for me and i am so surprised at how well it turned out considering i kind of just bought a bunch of stuff and didn't really coordinate the colors or anything...i think that with a picture collage, uncoordinated is maybe better?
i also wanted this collage wall to have some meaning to it. the watercolor picture of the temple is the temple that david and i were married in 4 years ago and where we officially became an eternal family unit. i always want ava to know the significance of the temple and how special that place is. i made her a "i am a child of God" sign too, hoping that she internalizes that simple truth for the rest of her life.
i love the london, new york and paris prints i bought from ikea. i was lucky enough to go on a study abroad in college to london. those four months i spent abroad were some of the brightest of my life and once we found out ava was a girl, london was destined to be her middle name. i also visited paris on my study abroad and david and i visited new york while i was pregnant, so all of these places hold a little place in my heart. my grandma is one of my most treasured, favorite people in all the world and she has always loved birds. i have so many memories of looking through her books about birds and watching for bluejays outside her kitchen window. i thought about her so often when we considered the name ava. ava means "like a bird" and in a way, it's an indirect tribute to my grandma. when i was about 8, i painted my grandma a paint by number of birds, and she mailed it to me when we moved into our new house. it's now hanging in the playroom and it coordinates perfectly with our playroom, almost like it was made to be in there.
ava is in preschool now and every day she brings home a little piece of art. i wanted to display these little masterpieces and at the end of the year, put them in a book for her. i found these little wire hang ups are ikea. truth be told, most of this playroom is from ikea, with the exception of the lamp and "imagine" pillow, which are from homegoods, and the curtains, which are from target.
david made ava's dress-up wardrobe for christmas last year. it is the cutest thing ever and was fairly simple for him to make. it's just a board and some spray painted pvc pipe and i love how it turned out. last year after halloween was over, i went to walmart and bought a bunch of 70% off princess costumes that ava has used for dress-up all year. they were about $4 each and i can't wait to go raid their selection again this year after halloween is over!!