The ABC's of Alphabet Nurseries

Photo courtesy of Project Nursery

With nursery trends leaning towards modern and contemporary, alphabet nurseries are becoming all the rage! Here at Bouncing Off The Walls we've had the pleasure of assisting a few crafty moms in their quest for an original alphabet nursery. With some thinking outside of the box you can create a nursery that is unique, educational, not too babyish and certainly eye-catching!

To recreate this look start by looking around you. You would be amazed at some of the objects around you that can represent letters! For different textures and letters made from different materials visit craft stores. Some sell metal, plastic, fabric and wood letters. Glue some into frames or onto some other shape.

Bouncing Off The Walls can help by cutting letters in various sizes and fonts and we can paint them for you or send them to you unfinished for you to paint or decoupage yourself!

The ideas are endless. This is one nursery design that is sure to be fun to put together!

Big Success!

This past weekend I spent my time in a little 10x10 booth at the Calgary Home & Interior Design show peddling my wares and chatting it up with everyone who stopped in. It was great to meet some of my past customers face to face, create new relationships with future customers and network with other businesses. Trade shows are, indeed, tiring but fun all at the same time!

Thanks to all those who stopped by to chat and I hope to see some of you at the Calgary Baby Show on October 3rd and 4th, BMO Centre at Stampede Park!

Toy Boxes Are Here!

Finally!! One of the most requested products has finally been added to the line up at Bouncing Off The Walls! Why did it take so long for me to sell toy boxes? Because I had a hard time finding quality ones that I wanted to paint! Who wants a toy box that is cracked, lopsided or just plain cheap and flimsy even if it is painted beautifully?

Our toy boxes are none of that! (Well, ok...they're painted beautifully, but there not any of those other things!) Serguei from Khorin Custom Woodworking builds my toy boxes for me and he builds the best toy boxes around! Out standard one is solid pine with reinforced corners, anti-slam hinges and an air space for in the event a child should end up inside it. It measures 34"x20"x20" so there's plenty of room for even larger toys.

Every toy box is built to order which allows for changes to the design of not only the artwork, but to the box itself. Serguei is a woodworking genius and can craft the toy boxes from different woods and change whatever you want! It's as easy as contacting me with your ideas and I will give you a quote!

Match Made in Heaven!

You know how some people just seem to have been made for each other? Well, recently I found the perfect mate for some of my hand painted drawer knobs! These gorgeous chocolate and pistachio throw pillows were made by Lily from Two Stray Cats on Etsy and as soon as I saw them I knew I'd found a match for my Chocolate and Lime drawer knob set!

This set of two 12" x 18" (30 x 45cm) pillows have been made with co-ordinated chocolate and pistachio toned cotton fabric with an envelope opening made from a lighter chocolate fabric that has been secured with gorgeous chocolate bronze looped edge ribbon.

Please check out Lily's shop; she does absolutely amazing work. Oh, and did I mention she's a fellow Albertan?! Like I said....a match made in Heaven!

Win Tickets for The Calgary Baby Show!

Come meet Bouncing Off The Walls in person October 3rd and 4th, 2009 in the Calgary Baby Show at the Roundup Centre!

A fun and interactive event specifically designed to put everything you need all under one roof. More than 100 exhibitors will be present showcasing the latest in technology, apparel, furniture, products and toys to assist parents and caregivers every step of the way, from babies to school age and everything in between.

Bouncing Off The Walls is giving away two prizes of two tickets to two lucky winners! How can you win? There are many ways and each one you do is eligible for one entry!

• Become a fan of Bouncing Off The Walls on Facebook


• Sign up for our email newsletter


• Follow this Blog


• Tell us on our Facebook page what your favorite item is at Bouncing Off The Walls and let us know if you did any of the previously mentioned things!

It's that simple! Two lucky winners will be randomly drawn on Tuesday, August 18th and announced on Facebook!

Yee Haw, Cowboy!!

It's Stampede time here in Calgary, Alberta which means that everyone you see is decked out in their best, or worst, western clothing and partaking in free pancake breakfasts, concerts, midway and a little rodeo! Tagged as the "Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth" the Stampede draws crowds from all over the world and takes up the better part of two weeks.

It is in this western spirit that I celebrate not by wearing boots and a hat, but by showing off some of my western and cowboy themed room decor!

Where the magic happens!

Working from home can be a challenge in many ways but the one thing I am lucky to have is space! I talk to so many people who have to work off their kitchen tables or take over a dining room with supplies! It used to be this way for me, but last year we were able to build me my very own room! I also have a corner of the garage all to myself for doing all my letter and shape cutting. What more could a girl ask for? I thought I'd give you a little peak at my workspace so you can see where it all takes place!

Tracing out the letter design

At work cutting the letter out of the wood with my scroll saw

And this is my studio inside the house. I went bright and funky with this room as it is in the basement with a small window! We put in laminate floors for easy clean up and fluorescent lights for brightness. Along the top of the walls I put one of my favorite quotes to help with inspiration! “Nothing comes from nothing…Dare mighty things!” Believe it or not I still don’t have enough space some days when my worker is here and we’ve both got things spread out all over the place! When we originally built this room I had planned to have a corner set aside for the kids to have a craft area and I even painted a funky chalk board on the wall with chalk board paint for them, but I don’t see that happening now!