When our $5 Ikea stuffed animal hanging toy tower bit the dust due to weight, I started brainstorming what could work better in the corner space.

I looked into these hanging hammock things, but they seemed way too big for our small space. Plus, at $10 a piece, I didn’t want to make an investment in something that wasn’t what I really wanted.

Other storage ideas were cute, but bulky. And quite honestly, I thought they still looked messy.

In efforts to limit the stuffed toy explosion – seriously they can NEVER play with all of those toys and it just gets too crowded, I have been known to pick off a forgotten stuffed toy here or there to reuse the stuffing for other projects. 😉 Shhhh, don’t tell the girls.

But since they still have the beloved ones, I wanted to find a way to display them, keep them out of reach (therefore allowing special ones to be picked for play and not the whole stinkin’ zoo needing to be cleaned up), and still allow for easy clean-up as needed.

So I checked out my space and modified this tutorial to make my own stuffed animal hammocks from my sewing/material supplies here. 

First off, I thought the hammock this lady made was WAY too big for our space. So I measured the corner walls and decided on how far I wanted it to hang out.

I came upon a general idea of a 19″ by 19″ by 29″ sketch of a triangle, used the general explanation of making a stuffed animal hammock from the aforementioned website, and started my cutting part of the project.

I cut two by two (layering the fabric) to cut down on the amount of time to cut. I had some brightly colored fabric, nice addition to our cheery playroom, but not really “my style” when it comes to “non-kid” sewing projects. Since I had a good deal of it and it was a little stretchy, I thought it a nice choice.

Instead of wasting some of the fabric, as suggested in the cutting out of the triangle in the tutorial, I decided to sew my fabric down as a reinforced hammock since some animals have beans in them (making them a little heavy in bulk, and also the material itself was a little thin and not what I’d consider “industrial strength home decorating fabric.” But I wanted to use what I have and not add any additional cost to the project beyond time.

After sewing the one side down, I folded and sewed the other side down and hemmed each side excluding the front of the triangle (since I planned on using bias tape to reinforce that).

Instead of using bias tape all around the project, I decided to reserve the bias tape for only the hooks at each triangle point and the front of the hammock. This not only saved the bias tape for other projects, but seemed smart since the animals would be filling the other sides of the triangle. So I got a nice clean finish on the front and a frugal cheat on the other sides. 😉

When putting on the bias tape I found it important to hold out the one side, fold over the other side while sewing it on (just for added support due to the stretchy material). [I also chose to fold over the material (since it was a raveling, stretchy material) and then sew the fold to the 1/2 bias tape side. I cut off the extra material after the bias tape was completely sewn on.].

With all hoops sewn on each triangle edge, my project was complete. =)

It hung nicely and easily with three nails (I didn’t use special wall hooks) and serves the job quite well.

It took me about an hour to complete hammock one, 40 minutes for hammock two and 35 minutes for hammock three. I like to go at a nice slow and not stressful pace so as to enjoy the project with no real “time limitations” and nap time provided just that environment. But I did increase in speed as I learned the tricks of the trade for this project.

Three hammocks total should get the job done and still limit our stuffed toy space so as not to overrun and not add an addictive hoarding behavior. 😉

Cost: Total of 2 hours and 15 minutes of time (over 3 days) from scraps to hanging.

=D 

P.S. I’m sure there’s some other way to sew these a lot more simply and quickly, but for my amateur skill level this method worked great!

A little while ago now, I started a series of home decorating/organizing projects to use our space more effectively. It involved building the wall-mounted bookshelves and moving the toys out of our living room, remember?

Well I changed around our “office space” too and promised I’d let you see the finished product. That project sat a little more on the back burner and I finally finished it earlier this week. So….. drum roll please…..

 

Our new office space has everything in it there was before (ta da!!!) hehe. PLUS all our “please ask Mommy” homeschooling supplies.

In order to avoid tempting disobedience, I went to the thrift store and purchased two sheer-ish curtains. I wanted them to be sheer-ISH because even the wonderful organization in clear tubs, etc behind them can begin to look messy with all it’s business.

So with these cute little curtains cut, reinforced at the top and stapled onto my bookshelves, it helps with the “no touchy, please” hint, keeps with our black/white “office” furniture theme, and makes it look not quite as cluttered. I also added a panel of sheer curtain to the underside of the desk to follow-suit and really section off the space.

And again, for my non-reading crowd, I added my stop signs as a reminder that while I don’t mind them standing around in this space, curious hands need to stay in pockets.

The girls have been very good and respectful of the privacy of the space/items in the space as well as their happy little welcome selves in sharing in electronic fun with me.

To give you a general feel for how “the office” falls in the layout of the room, here’s a pic to help.

I like how open the “office” remains despite the fact that I turned the desk to cut the room up a bit. And now I have this gorgeous sliding glass window to gaze out while blogging [Sorry in advance for the spacey posts. 😉 ].

It’s not ridiculously impressive, but I’m happy with the space changes and I like that it allows for function, some cuteness, and still being a part of family life while getting a few “officey” things done.

Thus closes the chapter on the living room/fireside room flip.

=)