house decor – Page 5 – emerald city diaries

valentine’s day diy: xo wreath.

less than a week until the big day! this second project {see my diy heart elbow patches here} is super festive & even if i don’t get to see it inside the house, it is fun to be greeted with when we get home from work.

{original pinterest link – valentine’s day decor}

there wasn’t a tutorial for this pinterest project as the original link leads back to an etsy shop. at first i considered just buying this wreath {like i ended up doing with this year’s christmas wreath} but for a $90 price tag, i figured i could give it a try myself.

supplies:

round wreath – i used a grapevine wreath
two straight bundles– i used a grapevine wreath {these are in the same section as wreaths at michael’s}
wide ribbon – i used white wired ribbon
faux berries – i found 6 foot garlands of pink & white {if you wanted red berries, you may want to get some right after christmas on sale}
hot glue gun & glue sticks
garden hand clippers & hedge lopper {for the bigger branches}
scissors

i didn’t need to do anything with the “o” wreath to prep it, so i just set it aside to work on the “x” wreath. the two long bundles were already bound together in the middle, so i just placed them in an x & secured it with very thin wire. once the x was made, i set it on top of the o to determine how much i would have to cut the ends down.

i started trimming the thin pieces with hand garden clippers, but had to break out the hedge loppers to get the big pieces cut. i tried to make the ends pretty even, but didn’t want them to be perfectly straight.

to attach the x & o together {so the x would hang above the o}, i used invisible cord that we have to hang pictures from the picture rail. we strung cord on the backside of the x thru the wire used to hold the x together & looped it to thru a small metal ring on the o wreath that was used to attach the price tag {sorry the picture below is so bad, the camera had trouble focusing on the cord}. we left just enough space between the wreaths for them to hang without hitting each other.

adding the berries was a bit more messy & different that i had anticipated, but in the end it worked out. because i couldn’t find branches that already had berries attached, i had to buy the branches & add the berries myself. i was able to find 6 foot garlands of berries with ivy at michael’s on sale for 60% off {honestly, if these were full price, i wouldn’t have likely used them}. though both of these garlands had a main color – pink & white – they also had green berries sprinkled in which added a bit of spring-y-ness to them. {also, these are foam berries which probably aren’t supposed to be used outside, but our front door is pretty protected from moisture.}

i basically dismantled these garlands, ripping off the floral tape that was holding the berry bunches & ivy leaves together. once i had just the berry bunch i wanted, i trimmed the wire end down & stuck it into the wreath. once i had arranged the bunches on the wreath {all facing the same way even around the o wreath}, i hot glued them down. i did the x in pink & then the o in white.

to add the hanging ribbon, i looped the ribbon thru the wire holding the x together {you can see the invisible cord attaching the wreaths together there} & then tied the ends in a bow at the top.

do you have any outdoor valentine’s day decorations like a front-door wreath?

diy campaign dressers.

it probably isn’t a surprise that when aaron asked me what i wanted for christmas that i asked for supplies for a diy project. seems like diys & stuff for the house tops the wish list these days. while there are a few lots of things that i am eyeing or wanting to do for the house, i decided that i needed to upgrade my dresser.

if you don’t recall, this was my dresser.

there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it & it functioned well. however, i don’t find it very aesthetically pleasing & it was way too tall for me {i had to jump to see my jewelry!}. so, when deciding what i wanted to replace the dresser, i focused on maintaining functionality & height {or lack thereof}.

naturally, i found a diy on pinterest a few months back that immediately caught my attention.

{original pinterest link – DIY: Campaign Chest}

i basically followed this tutorial, but changed the dresser base & the handles {more about that in a bit}.

supplies {for one dresser}:

ikea tarva dresser
three Campaign hardware drawer pulls {6197}
three sets of Brass corners
primer – i used Valspar Bonding Primer
paint – i used Valspar Almost Charcoal in High Gloss
Polycrylic finish – optional
drill
paint brush & smooth roller
Dremel with routing attachment

{sidenote: when we went to ikea to buy the dressers for this project, i was sure we were going to buy the rast dresser that was used in the tutorial. however, when we got to the dresser section of the store, we realized that the rast dresser is tiny {see how it compares to sadie} & could be used as maybe a nightstand or kid’s dresser. so, on the spot we had to punt & decided that the tarva dresser, which was also raw pine wood, would be a good alternative. it didn’t have quite the same lines as a “traditional” campaign dresser would with its top & legs, but we just went with it.}

i started by assembling the dresser & priming it.

i assembled the drawers. then aaron sketched out the back of the drawer hinge & hand-routed the drawer fronts {thank you husband!} so that the drawer pulls would lie flat. {sidenote: the tutorial uses campaign-style handles that lie flat against the drawer without routing. i couldn’t find these anywhere!}

i primed the drawer fronts & their edges, & then painted the dresser & drawers. i ended up painting three coats {mostly with roller but brush where the roller wouldn’t fit}. i really wanted these to be high, high gloss, but since i wasn’t willing to use oil-based paint i didn’t get the high, high gloss. we decided that since these dressers would get so much use & also to help boost the glossiness we should put on a coat of polycrylic. we were able to get a polycrylic {see the link above} in a gloss that was pretty low VOC. i followed the instructions & put on three thin coats.

after drying for just over 24 hours, we attached the hardware. this was a lot of work, but so worth it to see ikea dressers turn into pseudo-campaign dressers.

after the brass corners were placed & the handles were set, we were able to move them to their new home! {sidenote: there is a pretty big difference in color between the pictures above & the pictures below. i tried my best with my very limited knowledge of how to use the camera’s ISO & f-stop, but the grey color in the pictures above are the best representation of the color of the dressers.}

while these are pretty non-traditional looking campaign dressers, i am really happy with the result. now i just need to find the right mirror/art/jewelry hanging combination for the wall above the dressers – any suggestions?

what are you storing your clothes in – dresser, armoire, closet?

young house love book signing.

this afternoon amanda & i ventured down to the tacoma home & garden show to see john & sherry of young house love!

{we got there just a few minutes before john & sherry went on stage & got sweet front row seats.}

{i got to hang out with miss m all afternoon – so fun!}

{photo op!}

{we waited in a really long time & ended up at the end of the line after giving up, leaving the line & wandering around the home & garden show, but we ended up with signed books. success!}

john & sherry are exactly as i thought they would be – given their personalities really shine thru on their blog – & were super sweet when we met them, even though they were exhausted after hours of book signing! thanks for hanging in there for us john & sherry!

{sidenote: i was in the works to get them here for a house crash, but, alas, they were jet-setting all over the pacific northwest & we couldn’t make it work. maybe next time.}

have you ever waited to see someone famous or for a book signing?

diy framed polaroids.

a while ago i posted about the polaroid project where i made “polaroids” out of pictures of parisian french doors. i really liked the way the pictures turned out, but i didn’t love that they were just stuck on the wall. the pictures came down along with everything else over thanksgiving weekend when we painted the bedroom & i finally got around to finding a new way to display the pictures {i framed them!}.

this was super easy. i picked up two fjallsta frames from ikea. i knew i wanted big picture frames & decided the square frame was what i wanted. i also picked up some poster tack & two heavy white posterboards from target.

i opened up the frame & took out the mat. i traced the outside of the mat onto the posterboard, one for each frame, & then cut. {this is what the second picture is, i know its hard to see with the white on white.}

then i measured the inside {back} of the frame to figure out how much of a margin i would need to leave between the edge of the posterboard & the edge of the pictures. i left a one inch margin on the left, right & bottom edges, and a one-and-a-quarter inch margin on the top {the extra 1/4 inch was to account for the washi tape}.

then i added a small wad of poster tack to the top corners of each picture. the washi tape was already on the tops of all the pictures.

i placed the four corner pictures first & then filled in the rest of the grid.

& then the frames went back onto our bedroom walls as a fun reminder of our trip to paris!

what kind of art are you framing & hanging on your walls?

my weekend in pictures.

{the ingredients to make a milkshake for someone who is lactose intolerant. not quite as good as the real thing but still pretty tasty!}

{there may have been a happy sadie dog at our house on friday night. #familymovienight #happydog #cuddlingwithmomanddad}

{just make yourself comfortable sadie. #poser #shethinkssheownstheplace #soproper}

{a bit of painting this week. so excited to share the final results soon!}

{phew, we finally organized our pantry.}

{i hate the smell of microwave popcorn – anyone else? – so we got an air popper. super healthy because it is just popcorn, except when you want to be unhealthy & melt butter on the top.}

{sadie & i spent a sunny sunday afternoon catching up on vogue. #stillnotcaughtup #onemonthbehind}

{one thing we want to do in the new year – can we still call it that 20 days in? – is to support our local farmer’s markets. we spent some of our sunday stocking up on local, in-season vegetables & fresh farm eggs.}

{pattern mixing in the bathroom. i have a patient & open-minded husband.}

{i remixed my faux fur vest this weekend – once for work & once for brunch – because it is the warmest thing in my wardrobe & we are barely getting above freezing here in seattle.}

we had a really low-key weekend which was a nice change. there were a few house projects completed & worked on, but for the most part we enjoyed our time off. while it makes for a pretty boring weekend blog post, it was nice to do nothing for a change. how was your weekend?

the day we traded three lights for one.

i haven’t really kept it a secret that the light pendants in our dining room are not my favorite thing in the house {see here}. but, for what they were {a light source for one entire side of our large living space} we kept them without too much complaint.

however, when you are a house owner {or a grown-up or both} & santa asks you what you want for christmas, you immediately start listing domestic things: vacuum cleaner, towels, dish towels, etc. this year i asked santa {very nicely} for a new dining room light!

so i got it & its AMAZING! {there are pictures below, i promise – thanks santa!} we would have hung it right away, but since our current light fixtures were in a really funky place {in the center of the room, yep, the center!} we had to call our handy dandy electrician to come in & move some electrical for us.

after he was done you can see that there were three really nice holes left in our ceiling. it has been suggested that we install a few disco balls {via our dog walker} but i think we will attempt our first plaster patching. yep, that’s right, our ceilings are plaster – bless old homes & their lath & plaster. {thankfully all of our walls have been updated to dry wall, yes!} the good news though, we were told that plaster is easier to patch than dry wall – huzzah!

okay, enough with the rambling, here is our new dining room light. prepare yourself because she is a beaut!

gorgeous, no? it didn’t take me long to find this lovely light as i frequently peruse west elm {mostly online, but the store is lovely!} to see what home goodies i can’t live without. i have had this guy on my wishlist for months, waiting for the day when it would finally grace our dining room!

so there it is, the newest addition to our house. now, is anyone interested in three lovely pendants? i can get you a very good price!

have you updated any lights in your house recently?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

this is not a sponsored post. all opinions expressed are my own.

highlights of 2012.

{via}

happy 2013!

i love reading yearly highlights on other blogs & even though i try to keep up on the updates via this blog, there are hopefully a few fun things to share that you haven’t heard before. here’s the rundown of 2012:

january: i donated blood for the first {& last} time. we dined at emmer & rye in queen anne with my friend beth ann who was in town visiting. we survived snopocolypse 2012. the repairs on the jetta were finally completed from my rear-ending in november. sadie had surgery to get a small lump removed & have her teeth cleaned.

february: we took a trip to new england & managed to visit all six new england states. we spent a long weekend in boston. i celebrated my 27 {yikes!} birthday & valentine’s day with my love in manchester, new hampshire. we celebrated thanksgiving in february with my law school friends {this is a reoccurring event in which my friend miriam cooks up a big thanksgiving dinner at various times of the year}. we celebrated leap year!

march: my mom visited for a long weekend. i oversaw work to the townhouse {new venting for the dryer}. we house-hunted on the weekends with our realtor padraic. i started & completed all three books in the hunger games series. we saw the hunger games at the IMAX. we saw {& were disappointed by} king tut at the pacific science center {no tut, just his stuff}. aaron took a work trip to vegas. we made our first {& only} offer on a house. our offer was accepted!

april: we took a post-offer tour of our new house. we celebrated easter dinner with my grandmother. we showed the townhouse to potential new tenants. i co-hosted a baby shower for amanda. we packed up all of our belongings for the big move. we closed on our house after signing lots of paperwork & handing over a very large check. we moved.

may: we were rear-ended {this better not become an annual event}. my mom & dad visited for a long weekend & helped with some house projects. we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday! we celebrated aaron’s 29th birthday! i took on my first pro bono case with VAIJ. we hosted a small dinner party with old idaho friends kami, travis, & their adorable daughter olive. we spent a night on the town in bellevue at aaron’s organization’s ship party with lots of aaron’s co-workers.

june: we saw dia frampton in concert at chop suey. we hosted a small dinner party with my law school friend marcus, his then-fiancée katy, & their beagle maggie. padraic & his partner justin threw us an awesome housewarming party! we ventured down to alabama for andy & hailey’s wedding. i had lots of phone interviews.

july: we attended herschel’s first birthday party {the son of one of my law school friends}. we celebrated the fourth of july! i started going to fitness classes with my neighbor leanne at community fitness. we hosted a small dinner party with andy & hailey, just back from their honeymoon! we attended thanksgiving in july at miriam’s. sadie & i drove down to idaho. i got my haircut & had drinks with my CBC {high school} girlfriends. we loaded up the car & took a roadtrip {sadie included} to stevenson, wa for marcus & katy’s wedding. we saw the dark knight rises at the IMAX.

august: we celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a picnic dinner at greenlake! we attended our first neighborhood potluck & met lots of our neighbors. we joined a summer bocce ball league with ben & sarah. i did yoga in the park with our neighbors – the friends – & tens of other people. i shopped & noshed with my friend ashley who was in town on a work trip. we attended the pratt’s housewarming party {a couple i met & befriend while i was in americorps}. we attended padraic’s wig birthday party. i met my pro bono client. i was offered a position doing media license management & started working. my bff carlie came into town – our first house guest! we attended a moroccan dinner feast at ben & sarah’s house. aaron’s parents visited seattle for a week.

september: we attended a final farewell summer bbq. we visited indiana to see family & surprise meg at her baby shower. we attended a colts game with our friends colt & erin. we celebrated sadie’s eighth birthday!

october: we visited peru & got to hike around one of the new seven wonders of the world machu picchu. my mom & sister anya visited for a long weekend. my friend meg was in town to visit! aaron made an unexpected trip back to indiana to attend his late grandmother’s service. we attended ghouls near greenlake, ben & sarah’s annual halloween bash, as a somecard. we celebrated halloween with our very first trick-or-treaters!

november: aaron attended a week-long conference for work & stayed downtown. i watched the election results while painting the bathroom trim & texting aaron updates. we hosted our first {vegetarian} thanksgiving. we spent the long holiday weekend working on the house.

december: we attended a housewarming party for amanda, george, & madeleine. we brunched with our neighbors – the friends – at the 5 spot in queen anne. my mom visited for a long weekend. i brought back a pinterest christmas & recruited some friends to join in on the fun. we celebrated the holiday season with six holiday parties with friends & co-workers. i won rookie of the year at work. we enjoyed a double-date night in bellevue with some newly engaged friends. we loaded up the car with presents & made the trek to idaho for the week of christmas. we celebrated christmas! we made it safely back to seattle only one day delayed. we plan to ring in the new year with friends & watch the space needle firework show.

reflecting back on this year, i am reminded how blessed we are & also how different this year has been than the year previous. it has been such a wonderful year & ringing in a new one is a bit bittersweet.

how was your 2012 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2013 already?

see highlights of 2011 here.

a pinterest christmas: etched mason jar monograms & ornament cluster.

welcome to the fifth & final week of a pinterest christmas! {see the first, second, third, & fourth week posts}

i would like to share two final pinspiration projects with you before the end of the year {eeks, that is close!}.

first up, etched mason jar monograms. i adore monograms {as you can see here} & have been wanting to try glass etching for a while now. it seemed perfect to make our neighbors monogrammed mason jars for fun christmas presents.

{original pinterest link – diy etched glass}

supplies:

mason jars {i used the smooth sided ones}
armour etch
painter’s tape
sticker letters/sticker paper
paintbrush
plastic gloves
optional: hot cocoa mix, marshmallows, crushed candy canes

this was a pretty straight-forward project & the linked tutorial above is pretty good. the armour etch didn’t have a lot of instruction with it, so i followed the tutorials recommendation & left the armour etch on for 10 minutes which seemed to do the trick. my guess {though an untested one} is that the longer you leave the armour etch on, the darker the white etching will be.

the etching was difficult to photograph, but you can see it, right? i liked the two initial monogram, but also think a big letter would be cute {like in the original tutorial}.

my last pinterest christmas project is an ornament cluster. an ornament cluster you ask? well, if you don’t know what this is, i don’t blame you. i made it up because i needed a name to call this craft!

{original pinspiration – pottery barn catalog cover}

when i saw this pottery barn catalog, i knew i wanted to make a similar cluster of ornaments. i happened to have five pink ornaments {old from cost plus world market} lying around – perfect!

supplies:

ornaments
ribbon or string
optional: 3m hook for hanging

1. i cut five lengths of ribbon that were around 1 foot in length – some were a few inches longer, some a few inches shorter, some were 1 foot. then i threaded each ornament onto a length of ribbon.

2. after all of the ornaments were strung, i gathered up all of the ends of the ribbon. then i pulled the ornaments up or down depending on where i wanted them to hang {in relation to the other ornaments}.

3. then i took a length of ribbon & tied the ends of ribbon group together. then i tied the ribbon in a bow. i bent back the ends of the group of ribbons {my ribbon was wired} to hide these ends {you could also just trim them}.

4. i hung my ornament cluster using a 3m hook!

& so marks the end of another pinterest christmas. it was fun to see all of the projects these crafty gals completed during an already busy holiday season. until next year!

{thinking about taking on this project? feel free to leave questions in the comments, and i’d love for you to comment with a link to projects you make inspired by mine.}

ready for some more {p}inspiration? check out these ladies this week and throughout the month of december:

{mondays} amanda @ without a doubt – bunting tutorial

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – santa hat brownies & christmas cards

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – giant smores stuffed chocolate chip cookies

{thursdays} –maggi @ Greg, Maggi, & Rodney – yarn trees & abbi @ The Pena Family – pinterest christmas wrapup

have you been {p}inspired by any christmas projects?

our house video.

if you follow me on instagram {@mishacslower} you know that a few weeks ago we were part of a video shoot about our house.

our realtor, padraic, wanted us to be in a video to show current & future clients. we happily obliged knowing we could show off the house a bit!

i know a few of you have been anxiously waiting to see the final product & we just got the edit back this week. enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf6v1OD7cuw&w=448&h=252&hd=1]

if you live in the seattle area & need a realtor, we highly recommend padraic!

how did you choose a realtor?

a pinterest christmas: magazine bows & chalkboard art.

welcome to the fourth week of a pinterest christmas! {see the first, second, & third week posts}

even though it is the day after christmas, i wanted to share two projects with you because it is still the holiday season, right?

first up, magazine bows. every year i try to re-use as much as i can when it comes to wrapping presents. last year i wrapped all of our presents in re-used paper grocery bags & added real red ribbon for a festive touch. this year i knew i was going to wrap in paper grocery bags, but i wanted to make my own bows.

{original pinterest link – recycled bows}

supplies:

magazine/newspaper/catalog/book pages
paper cutter or scissors
double-sided tape
ruler

you start by cutting the strips of paper. for each bow you need nine strips in all: the three long strips are the original length of the magazine page; the next three strips are one inch shorter than the original length; the two strips are two inches shorter than the original length; and the shortest is three-and-a-half or four inches.

once the strips are cut, you will start looping & taping. {i started with the longest & went down in size order.} take a strip & fold it in half. open the strip back up & put a small square of tape on the middle of the fold. loop the top part of the strip & attach the end to the tape square; add another tape square on the taped end of the strip, loop the bottom part of the strip & attach the end.

repeat with all of the strips. make a circle out of the shortest strip. to assemble the bow, start with one of the biggest strip loops & add a square of tape to the middle. stack another big strip loop on top of the first one, alternating the direction. add a square of tape to the middle of the top loop & add the last big strip loop, alternating the direction. repeat with the remaining five loops being sure to alternate the direction of the loops to form a bow. finally, add a tape square & attach the paper circle to the center. ta-da!

second up is my chalkboard art i added to our chalkboarded entryway. there were lots & lots of pinspiration posts for this project. {see my christmas pinterest board here}

i knew i wanted to put a fun holiday phrase on the wall & scoured pinterest for ideas. once i figured out what phrase i wanted – may your days be merry & bright – i sketched a few ideas of fonts & form. i also decided to add color for a bit of a pop!

{my initial sketch of the letters & layout – sorry for the blue picture, my white balance was off!}

{the festive art as you walk into our house.}

{thinking about taking on this project? feel free to leave questions in the comments, and i’d love for you to comment with a link to projects you make inspired by mine.}

ready for some more {p}inspiration? check out these ladies this week and throughout the month of december:

{mondays} amanda @ without a doubt – Christmas Cards & Wrapping

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – mistle toes

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – sock vase

{thursdays} –maggi @ Greg, Maggi, & Rodney & abbi @ The Pena Family

have you been {p}inspired by any christmas projects?