Right before we moved into this house we took a trip to Disneyland. It was our first time going to California Adventure. My boys fell in love with the Bugs Life part. Later after we had moved in we decided we would take inspiration from that to decorate their room. The boys wanted everything to be big so they felt like a bug. We were limited in how big we could go. The ceilings are only 8 feet after all! But it was fun coming up with ideas. We bought a basic bunk bed but only used some of the parts (head board/foot board, ladder). W bought 4 x 4 posts for the pencil and cut off the corners so they were the right shape. We were lucky to know someone with a drill press so we could drill the hole exactly where they needed to be. For the erasers I used a jigsaw to cut out lots of circles. I nailed two together then added another, and another until they were as tall as I needed them. I sanded them to be smooth. The metal parts are pumpkin pie filling cans. I drew free handed then painted the boards so the beds would look like they were made out of a match box and a cracker box. The bottom is actually two boards held together by a piano hinge. It lifts up so the trundle bed can come in and out.
Since the bedroom was suppose to look like they were outside I painted clouds on the ceiling with a sponge. The "grass" I bought at Micheal's in their floral department. I am not sure what it is suppose to be, but it works great! For the dirt and rocks I used a jigsaw to cut the shapes I wanted out of thin hardboard. I used liquid nails to adhere the fake rocks (I bought them for $1 each from SUNROC) that are usually meant for the outside of buildings. Then I mixed up some cement and slathered it on the boards all around the rocks. That became the dirt. I should also mention that I had pre-drilled some holes so I could attach them to the walls later. Painting the cement was probably the hardest part but using a sponge brush helped. After I was done painting I put on a layer of polyurethane to seal it. The panels behind the bed do not have rocks and cement. For safety reasons I just painted them.
One of my favorite things at the Bugs Life part of the park were the benches made out of giant "used" popsicle sticks. I knew I wanted to do something with a popsicle stick but we didn't need a bench. I made one big one and screwed it to the wall. We use it as a measuring stick to measure our kids!
I love this room! I will be sad when the day comes that our boys grow out of it. But I do have four boys so I think it will be awhile.
I love decorating rooms for kids. What fun things have you done? If you want to share then send me your pictures and maybe they will end up on here!!!
I LOVE this!
Oh my gosh! I love this!! You are so creative! I would never have thought of this! Awesome!
Stacy!!
You won one of the necklaces in the Weekend Wrap Up Party from Tatertots and Jello!! Yay! Send me an email and I will hook you up with Corie from Red Letter Rising :)
xoxo
Jen
How cute! I miss my bunk beds! I love the animal crackers part!
That is just great! I especially like the dirt and grass. So cool for boys!
That bed is great! Love the look of the pencils!
This is so creative! I love it!
Oh my goodness! This is awesome!
How fun! I just happened upon your blog form A Little Tipsy! How fun! I am pregnant with my fourth boy :) and I see that you have four boys! Love the room...and we need bunk beds! This is a great idea. Have fun! :)
So glad I stumbled here via Tip Junkie --- loving your blog! We hope to be decorating our boys' room soon, and they settled on an "outside-in" theme (not bug-sized, just outside). I have a lotLOTlot of ideas and will blog about them whenever they come to fruition!
Very creative, you think outside the box!
Oh my goodness, this is the cutest!!! I saw it on your giveaway post and I had to find out how you made it. I guessed aluminum cans and spray paint lids. I was half right :) LOVE IT!
i really like this room. when i was younger i too was drawn to the movie bugs life, just the idea that i was much smaller than many thing was fascinating to me. how you created the boys room to look like that was amazing, great job! i was wondering how you made the pencil bed post/frames? those looks so real