Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?? (tween boy room deco & birthday party)

Hey all! Sorry I have been so absent lately. We have had quite the week 'round these parts, and are gearing up for the 3rd (and final!) kids birthday party this weekend. Of course, then the holidays kick in, so no rest for the weary! ;) I've been collecting pics for awhile for the MONSTER post you are about to see. Ian has been on a major football kick lately. We redid his room to more of a mature style, his pick! I really had to let him choose most everything, but I did have veto power. ;) Then we had his football themed birthday party 3 weeks ago, and I thought you'd like to see:) The card above is one of the thank you notes that I (just yesterday!) finally got done to give out, I used the "Wrap It Up" Cricut cartridge and a Paper Smooches sentiment stamp. Easy peasy. 

I'm going to start with his room, he didn't want a "theme" room, though there's a lot of football, there's also plenty of skateboards and other things... You can also sneak a peek at my new carpet, which has truly made my house look brand new again. Check it:

The football wall was a mutual choice, painted this one wall bright green. My original intent was to paint the stripes and numbers, but the more I thought about it, I knew that would not be a good idea. A friend suggested white duct tape, and she just happened to have a huge roll, too! Cost for stripes: free. The numbers were cut from white vinyl using the "Varsity Letter" Cricut cartridge. The football helmet vinyl was ordered from eBay, and I know, it's WAY too small! I will order a bigger one sometime soon. :) The rest of the walls are a pale blue which I love and it turned out to brighten the room from the mostly yellow walls he had before. Awesomeness.

I made new curtains to cover the french doors from the view of the street outside. Ian picked the fabric himself, and he did a GREAT job, it is really perfect! And the stripes look nice with the football field stripes on the adjacent wall. 

I made my "normal" cheap homemade curtains, by using cheap white liner fabric, and sewing it right sides together with the stripe (which is a quilting fabric, not very substantial, thats why it needed to be lined). I left the bottom "open" flipped the curtain right side out, almost like a giant pillowcase. I pressed it, added the clips, hung it from the rod, and then pinned it before removing & hemming on my machine with a zigzag stitch. I know that's not the "right" way to make curtains, but they always look nice, and they are easy for the inexperienced seamstress, like yours truly! ;)

Here's the other side of the room. One challenge was that his furniture is navy blue, and we can't really afford to replace it right now. Also, he isn't a big fan of navy, so you can see he chose a slighly more cobalt color for the bedding (duvet set from IKEA) We added an old body pillow that I used to use when I was pregnant, but no longer have a use for. The jersey cover we found for it at Target was the perfect shade of green, to pull in the football wall color on this side of the room. Also, the little green lamp (also IKEA) worked well for that. We already had the blue shelves on the wall above his bed. 

He is getting to the age where he likes to have friends over more, so we made a little hangout spot with a beanbag, and this blue and green rug, also from IKEA.

The skateboard shelf was a fun little project. Ian and I both loved this skateboard shelf from Pottery Barn Teen, but I couldn't see spending 39$ on one shelf when we'd only spent less than 100$ on the entire room redo! We went to Target, and Ian picked a 10$ skateboard. Some 50 cent plastic brackets and we were good to go. I love that it has wheels on it, too! The PB Teen one doesn't. :) Hubby put the whole thing together in a matter of minutes.

We also turned this little wall behind the door into a spot for a hook rail (more IKEA goodness, gosh I love that place!) The Broncos canvas was one of his birthday presents. He added the pennant afterwards, I think I'll move it a few inches higher when he's not looking! ;) LOL

a couple more room shots:

Ok, now onto the birthday party! His birthday fell over a fall break when the kids were off school. It seemed Monday Night Football would be a great way to keep the kids occupied:) I got some cute paper serving trays at Michaels, only 1.39 each! Love that! 

added some little pennant flags, and some "party tape" (aka plastic streamer!) from Dollar Tree around the edges of the island.

Splurged a bit on the Broncos napkins and tablecloth, but it was a Broncos party after all! :) Centerpiece also from Dollar Tree.

Strung some teeny "footballs" with fishing line from my kitchen light fixture:

Got these long hanging decorations at Dollar Tree, too. A pack of 6 for a buck, can't beat that! One in this spot, and the other 5 in front of our sliding glass door.

He wanted an ice cream cake, and Dairy Queen turned out this cool cake. Good thing, too, because cakes are NOT my thing! 

Birthday boy showing off his new Manning jersey and real football, his other birthday gifts from us. :)

Look who's tired! We still are, too, no matter if we have to do another one of these this weekend! LOL

I hope you all are doing well, I'll be back to blogland soon, take care!

Noelle