Conference moira::parenting

    You could check out Bradlees - or some store like that.  I've seen wall
    murals in there before in the wall paper section.  I believe they come
    in boxes.
    
    Good luck!

	My sister in law is a dance instructor and does all her
	scenery for her dance shows.  The technique she uses might
	help you out... she takes a picture that she likes,
	makes a transparency, and uses an overhead projector to
	project it onto her scenery.  She actually takes pictures
	out of childrens books which has colors so she has to
	do some work (photo copying, tracing to remove shaded areas)
	in order to get a transparency that she can use.  I think
	that coloring books might work better.  Project the picture 
	onto the wall, draw it in with pencil, then use paints to 
	fill it in.  You could even involve your son in the painting
	process if he is somewhat artistic (ie can keep within the
	lines).

	Karen

    I had one as a young teenager of a beach.  The carpeting matched the
    sand where the wall met the floor.  AWESOME!  I have seen some at
    Sherwin-Williams Paint stores.  They had several selections and 
    had quite a few to choose from to go on a door.  A door mural
    is big enough bit isn't as permanent.  
    
    Good Luck!

You could create large dinosaurs, Barneys, whatever on refrigerator-box-quality 
cardboard.  Paint them brightly and create a sort of 3D Mural of your own. 
This is good because it is not permanent...so when the child grows out of 
Star Wars, he/she is not stuck with C3PO's and R2D2's on the wall. 

My aunt had a great solution for her son.  She covered one entire wall with 
Corkboard.  That way HE could decorate it as he saw fit and when his tastes 
chenged, so did the wall! 

    Another alternative you might like to consider would be stencilling -
    either completely DIY or with ready-made ones.
    
    I went the DIY route and have just completed Kathryn's room with a
    "teddy/balloons/butterfly" scene...which kind of tells a story ..
    
    teddy sitting on the skirting board with one balloon
    floating in the air with three balloons
    climbing onto a shelf...balloons floating in the air
    swinging by feet from a trapeze under the shelf
    diving off as though going to land in a beanbag
    If you move the beanbag though, there's another teddy behind it looking
    up at a butterfly
    and the occasional butterfly dotted around the room
    
    Kathryn thought it was great - and I had such fun :-)  The longest part
    was tracing/cutting out the stencils, but it was worth it!
    
    Jackie
                                                     
     

    I've casually been searching for curtains suitable to decorate the baby's
    room. The regular department stores carry many children's bedroom
    accessories (sheets/comforters) but no curtains. Home Decorating shops
    (Bed & Bath etc) carry little for kids rooms.
    
    I do not want trendy "child's movie of the month" curtains, but 
    something with a classic theme, cheery but not to loud. Am I stuck 
    getting plain colored curtains? Also, the windows are 45" wide, fairly 
    big as windows go. Where where you able to find reasonable prices curtains? 

    Also, has anyone seen boarder paper that has the alphabet on it? I've
    seen only Disney characters that repeat just ABC. 
    
    thanks,
    
    Gail

    Couple of ideas, Gail...I bought a few yards of a Waverly print that I
    really liked and my sister made curtains for my sons room.  I have no
    sewing machine or talent to run one, so she just hemmed up the top and
    bottom , poked a rod through them and hung 'em.  They are a circus
    print with brights yellows, reds, oranges, etc.  Nice for a boys room. 
    As far as borders go, my sister used an alphabet stencil on her
    daughters walls in the colors she wanted to use for the room.  She also
    added little handprints and bought the Alphabet lamp shade and the
    balloon curtains that matched.  Nice touch - the walls were white and
    the curtains had the white background.
    
    I had a real hard time with my other sons room.  He is now 9 and didn't
    want baby prints, but I didn't want character prints.  We opted for the
    red with white stripe valance that JCPenney offers.  He has a red
    bedspread, white walls, wood trim...his room looks nice.  I can add
    blues or even sports stuff or car stuff if he wants later.  I think if the 
    room is going to be their room for awhile and you won't want to re-dress
    everything with each change the child goes through, use a basic room
    and dress with pillows, wall pictures, etc.
    
    
    -sandy
    

    You can make your own border using contact paper.  When Nathan was
    1 year old we cut the alphabet out of contact paper and placed
    all over the room.  When he was 3, he was into modes of transportation,
    so we cut out space shuttle, airplane, train, bus, car, boat,
    submarine and started in the upper corner of one wall and slowly
    sent down making hills for the cars and then to the floor
    of the opposite wall.  Last year, in 1st grade, we cut out
    beginning reading words and pasted them all over his room and 
    used them to make up stories at night, interjecting words not
    on the wall...ex. *Ashley* and I went to the *store* to get
    some *milk*.  As we made up the story we would point to the
    words.  This year we will be cutting out his spelling words
    and putting them all over the walls.
    
    You don't have to go to the trouble of changing them so much
    but we enjoy it.
    
    Pam

	Pam,

	From what you've described, it seems like the contact paper must
	just peel off easily when you want to change it?  Is this true?
	Do you have any trouble with it pealing off before you want it to?
	Does it take the paint off with it when you take it off?

	My sister-in-law did this with her son's room.  He has the race
	car theme.  She wanted a black and white checker border but couldn't
	find one, so she bought contact paper, cut it in half and used that.
	I remember her saying it went up really easy.  But since she hasn't
	taken it down (and probably won't for a few years, I was curious
	how it is coming off?)

	Thanks,
	Karen T.

    It comes off very easily and does not take off the paint.
    Occassionally we will have a problem with one or two of the 
    letters and it usually has something to do with Nathan 
    playing with them and getting the back 'unsticky' but
    he is almost 5' tall, if you have a little one and keep them
    up high enough you shouldn't have any problem.  We had the
    alphabet on the wall for 3 years with no peeling problems.
    
    Pam

Have you checked out the JC Penney catalog?  I just happen to have one
in my office so I decided to take a look.  The have bedding and coordinates
which includes curtains, wall paper and/or borders.  

Here is some of what they have:

Teddy bear on rocking horse theme
Solids in various colors 
Eyelets in various colors 
Blue and White Country hearts
Teddy bear with clown and ballons, primary colors
Ballons, primary colors
Floral, pink, green, lavender, yellow
Jungle theme, bright aqua, green, pink, yellow
Elephant theme, soft pastels
Rocking horse quilt, pastels
Boynton, blues and greens
Another floral, beige, green, mauve
Alphabet theme, primary colors

There are another dozen or so and each one is cuter than the last!

They do have an alphabet border but it only goes to the letter D.  They also
have an alphabet Wall hanging and an alphabet print.

The prices of three piece sets (comforter, bumper pad, and fitted sheet)
vary considerably, from $55 to $160.

Karen

    
    If you don't mind curtains that aren't so fancy, they're EASY to make,
    and you can make them to fit whatever size window you like.  Also, if
    the closet has a sliding door, you can hang a matching valance above that.
    
    To determine how much material you need, Measure the window length. 
    Add 6" for the bottom hem (5" fold plus 1" turn), and 6" for the top
    hem (3" ruffle, 2" for rod, 1"turn).  We'll assume the window is 3'
    long.  Each panel then will require 4' of material.  One window would
    thus require (2 panels) 8' (2 2/3 yards) of material.   Get your 8' of
    material, cut it in half, so you have 2. 4' sections.  Wash, dry and (if
    necessary) iron it (I usually skip the washing step and have never had
    a problem).  
    
    On the bottom of one panel, fold up the material 6" (if you're a
    little shakey with straight lines, iron the fold - it makes it LOTS
    easier).  Then on the raw edge (that's now folded up), tuck it down and
    inside, an inch or so.  Again, iron this if you like.  Using thread
    that matches the curtain, sew a straight line.  Repeat for the other
    panel.  To make sure it 'looks' right, it's helpful to physically
    compare the two pieces when making the folds.  
    
    On the top of one panel, fold the material down 6" (again, ironing
    helps).  On the raw edge (that's now folded down), tuck it up and under
    an inch or so. (iron if you like).  Using thread that matches the
    curtain, sew a straight line where the fabric meets.  Repeat this for
    the other panel.  **It's more critical that both panels match, more
    than the exact measurements**.  Compare the two panels before sewing
    the top of the last panel, and make any adjustments necessary to the
    top of the last paneling, by moving the fold.  
    
    To create the 'ruffle' on the top, on the top of each panel, mark down
    3" from the top.  Sew a straight line across the top.  When you put the
    curtain on the rod, leave the 3" ruffle on top.
    
    There's not usually a need to sew the sides of the curtain, since
    they're finished from the bolt.  Typically your total width should be
    at least 1 1/2 times the width of the window.  Not more than twice the
    width.  So, for 45" windows, you'd want material that's somewhere
    between 30-45" wide.  If you find a 60" width that you like, then
    you'll need to cut it *straight* up the middle, and hem the 2 inside
    edges *before* doing the tops and bottoms.
    
    A valance is exactly the same, only they're usually about 10" long,
    total length, and is frequently the same width as the window.  Tiebacks
    are typically made with a piece of material that's about 2/3 the width
    of the window, by 7" wide. (a 45" window would require a piece about 7"
    wide, by 30" long).  Fold it in half, with right sides together, and
    sew the 2 long edges.  Turn it rightside out, turn in the edges of the
    short side, and sew the shortside closed.
    
    Not so hard at all!  Or find someone who can (kinda) sew, and ask them
    to help.
    
    As for the alphabet .... I haven't seen any borders, but the children's
    toy/education store at the Pheasant Lane Mall used to sell Frieze's. 
    They're about 8-10" long, and I bordered the whole toy room with them. 
    Numbers and letters.  The letters had a picture of something that
    started with that letter, and the numbers had a picture with that
    number of items in it.  The room is about 8'x10' and it went around 3
    walls. (and geez that room is crooked! (-;)
    
    Hope this helps....