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Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Mushroom Kingdom

     This is what my boys' bedroom looked like for several years (the decor, I mean.  Not the cleanliness and order):



     It was a pretty cool room for two young boys: one wall was a mural of the planets and sun and there was a Moon in My Room light and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.  I had picked it all out myself when the boys were little.
     Then my oldest son (10 years old), the one who already knows more about the mysteries of outer space than I ever have or ever want to know, informed me that the mural had to go.
     "Why?", I asked.
     "Mom, it's not an accurate depiction of the Solar System [insert a bunch of technical jargon here that I didn't understand...something about how the courses of the planets are off] and besides, the wall isn't big enough.  Look--Neptune is cut off!"
     Oh-kay then.  Who am I to argue with that?
     So we brainstormed some ideas for their bedroom redo and came up with a theme that we were all excited about:
Super Mario Bros.!
     It's not just my boys who love this video game.  My husband and I do too.  I have terribly fond memories of playing Super Mario Bros. with my husband when we were in college.  We would stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing that silly game.  
     The setting of the game (in case you've been living under a rock for the past quarter century) is the Mushroom Kingdom.  With some paint, some really cool wall decals, and some new accessories, we created our own Mushroom Kingdom:


     I ordered the wall decals from Amazon.com.  They're excellent quality, restickable images that were super easy to put on the walls.
     For the paint color I took a picture of the Mushroom Kingdom (from the decal instructions) to Sherwin-Williams and had them color match the sky in the picture.


     The framed pictures above each bed are jigsaw puzzles that the boys put together this past summer.  We just applied Mod Podge over the finished puzzle, let it dry, coated the other side, let that side dry, then framed them in frames from Hobby Lobby.



     To make the question mark block shelves, I started with this ClosetMaid Cubeicals® 2 Cube Organizer shelf that is available here from Target.

I wanted the backs of the shelves to look like they were made out of bricks so before I assembled the shelves I used black electrical tape to outline brick shapes on the back piece of the shelving unit.
     For the question mark blocks, I found yellow Cubeicals Fabric Drawers at Lowe's (my Target didn't have the yellow drawers in stock).  I used Microsoft Word to create a large question mark that I printed and cut out to use as a pattern (font: College/size: 900).


I traced the pattern on a piece of white canvas fabric that I'd gotten at my local fabric store, cut it out and glued it on the front of the drawer with fabric glue.  The four dots on the corners of each drawer are circle shapes created the same way in Word (size .8 circle).   


I really wanted some fun lamps to put in the room, so I made Bob-omb lamps.  For non-Mario aficionados,  this is a Bob-omb:



I found these black lamps at WalMart and simply cut out white vinyl ovals for the eyes (I used my Silhouette but you could just as easily cut them out by hand.)  Easy peasy and oh so cute!


     And last, but not least, the Super Mario Bros. Pipe Wastebasket!  I knew that the pipe from the game would be a perfect garbage can, but how to make it?  I experimented a bit and this is the result:

Today's Photo-a-Day Challenge prompt is "green"!

Here's a little tutorial on how to make your very own Super Mario Bros. Pipe wastebasket:


Pin It


I found the black garbage can at WalMart (I can't find it on their website to show you, but it was $5.88.)


The first thing I wanted to do was remove the top part of the top because I wanted to have just the lip around the top of the can when it was finished.  To remove this I used my X-acto knife to slowly "saw" the top part off.  I would caution you to keep the blade pointed away from you when you're sawing.


Cutting this part off wasn't hard; I simply took my time cuz I didn't want to cut myself.  


Then I set the ring on the top of the wastebasket and cleaned up the little plastic pieces that were sticking out. I used the X-acto knife to shave them off.


The final step was to paint the wastebasket green.  I used this Krylon Fusion spray paint (color: Spring Grass) which is made for plastics and it was AWESOME!  Easy application and excellent coverage.



If you're new to spray painting or would like some great tips on spray painting, check out this informative post by Centsational Girl.


     And that's it!  The Goomba that you see coming out of the pipe is one of the wall decals.  If you decide to make your own Super Mario Bros. Pipe Wastebasket, leave a link in the comments below - I'd love to see it!

I'm linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick





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32 comments:

  1. Their room is awesome!! You are amazing and SO talented!! We love Super Mario Bros. too, what a great room theme, love it!!

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  2. Wow ... to everything in that room ... your efforts have made that room so cool ... I liked it very much ...
    Warmest regards,
    Ruby

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  3. Cathy, that is so cool! I can't wait to see it in person! I'm sure the boys appreciate all your hard work.

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  4. Wow what a fantastic room! I'm a bit Nintendo fan as well and would have loved to have this room as a kid!

    I stumbled upon your blog on the Photo a Day challenge. Love reading your posts!

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    1. Thank you, Janice! I really appreciate your taking the time to comment!

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  5. So fun! My son would love it. I'd love for you to share this at my link party tomorrow.
    Rachel
    adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you, Rachel! I will definitely link up tomorrow. And thanks so much for commenting!

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  6. oh this is sooo fun! Great job I love the creativity ... thanks for linking up at gomhp

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment and for hosting the link party! :)

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  7. so cool. My little guy would LOVE a room like that. And I know what you mean about you and your husband loving it as well! We like Mario around here to.

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  8. Very creative boys room! Love for you to come share this at my very first linky party today!
    Amy@Homehappyhome.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you, Amy! I just shared this on your blog - thanks for letting me know about your party!

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  9. I literally could not be anymore jealous than I am now and am seriously considering kicking the boyfriend out into the spare room so that I can bask in the glory of Mario and Luigi!

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    1. LOL! Thanks, Hayley. And thanks for following my blog!

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  10. Hi Catherine, I love this! We are Mario fans too! I think this is so great for any kids room. I have nieces that would love it! So fun!! I am glad you found the Rock 'N Share and joined in! Welcome! I am your newest GFC follower. I look forward to seeing more! :)

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  11. LOVE this room!!! You did an amazing job! Thanks for sharing at Thursday's Temptation.
    Jill

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  12. That pipe wastebasket is too cool. I'm pretty sure my friends and I would have fought over that growing up. Well done.

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  13. Oh my gosh...my boys would be all over this room! They are such Mario fans. They went as Mario and Luigi for the past two Halloweens. I'll have to show them all your great ideas! (I especially love the question mark block shelves and lamps!) Great job! Lucky boys! :)

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  14. Wow, this is the coolest room ever. Am I too old to re-do my room to look like this?!

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  15. Shut up and take my money! I want a room like that.

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  16. I am making a shelf very similar to yours, and using cubicals for question mark bins too :) i love your ideas! I plan to copy your goomba trash can but make one bigger to use as a clothes hamper lol! Thank you for the inspiration!

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  17. What super cool ideas. I have a question about goomba how big was he and where did you order it? Everything I find is small. Thx Christina

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  18. What super cool ideas. I have a question about goomba how big was he and where did you order it? Everything I find is small. Thx Christina

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  19. Hiya - super cool ideas and I love your DIY project. Great inspiration for Mario fans. Just to let you know, I mentioned this post in my latest blog here: http://wallartkids.com/mario-bros-bedroom-ideas Thanks very much!

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  20. The main idea is to invest your budget in long-lasting, appealing office and desk accessories. bathroom wastebasket

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