painting – emerald city diaries

Pinterest Christmas: Toddler Fingerprint Tree Cards {Linky Party}.

Welcome to week one of the Pinterest Christmas series for 2015! I am SO excited to share my projects with you this month!

First up is a {pretty} simple project I did with Eloise. I like to include her in cards I send out, like her feet in the shape of a heart for Valentine’s Day last year, or her footprint on her birthday thank you notes. This was the first time we used paint on her fingers, & I am glad the paint was non-toxic…

{original Pinterest link – Toddler-Made Christmas Cards}

Supplies:

{white} cardstock – for the cards; I cut each one into quarters
Paint – I used acrylic craft paint in 5 colors
Sponges (optional) – I picked up some cheap ones at the grocery store
Green paper – for trees; I used one dark green & one light green sheet
Scissors
Glue stick
Marker – I used a fine point Sharpie which is my go-to!
Wet wipes – to clean up messy hands!

This project is pretty straightforward, albeit messy, & I would suggest doing it with your toddler right after mealtime, or when he or she is the happiest!

First, I cut out all of the trees. I started by cutting my green paper into three strips (they were 12 x 12 sheets) & then eye-balled a good triangle shape. Then I cut out all of the trees. {In hindsight, I should have waited to cut the triangles out & let Eloise paint these longer strips. There may not have been as many “ornaments” on each tree, but she is little enough I think this would have been a better route.}

Then I cut my white cardstock into quarters. I was originally going to do a 4×6 or a 5×7 card, but it seemed so wasteful!

Next, I opted for painting. I squeezed a small blob of paint onto the sponge – three on one & two on the other. I let Eloise dip her pointer fingers into the paint (with some help) & then helped her press her fingers onto the trees. I tried to get about three or four prints on each tree. She was super interested in the sponge (so I gave her a clean one to play with in an attempt to keep paint from getting everywhere!) & also wanted to eat the paint. Big surprise. It was difficult for me to see her eat that paint (well, lick her fingers) because it definitely wasn’t organic, edible paint, but oh well!

Because there was paint, well, everywhere, I placed each completed tree on newspaper to dry. Once dried, I glued three trees on each card, alternating the light & dark green trees. Finally I added “Love, Eloise 2015” on the bottom of each card.

I saved one of the cards for our fridge (& it will ultimately go into Eloise’s baby box for safe keeping!) but the entire point of these cards was to include them with our holiday cards. We don’t have a lot of family that lives close by, so I think it is fun to send a little something special in the mail when we can!

Thinking about making this project? Feel free to leave questions in the comments or link your own in the Linky Party below! Also be sure to check out Kendra’s Pinterest Christmas projects over at The Gilbertson Family.

What are you DIY-ing for the holidays? Do you include your kiddos?

Here are the instructions if you are a new to linky-party:
•click on the blue button at the bottom of this post – the one with the frog
•add a link to your Pinterest Christmas blog post in the URL field (please do not link to your home page but the specific post page)
•for “name” write a short descriptive name for your post
•if you would like to put the Pinterest Christmas button on the bottom of your post, we would love to see it there!

project baby {diy mid-century dresser update}

when I was planning & sourcing furniture for eloise’s nursery, I knew that I wanted to get a low-boy dresser that could not only double as a changing table, but also be used as eloise grows up. I scoured craigslist for weeks in search of a mid-century dresser that was in good shape, but reasonably priced. finally I found one & we drove down south to tacoma to pick it up. the dresser sat around for weeks until I finally had time to paint it & get it ready for the nursery (I was 38 weeks along at that point!). while this was a simple & straight-forward project, I loosely followed this young house love post.

in its original state, the top & sides were super dark, almost black. the gentleman we bought it from told us that his sister had just refinished the dresser with this darker color. definitely not my favorite, but I loved the rest of the piece & knew that was an easy fix!

I started by taking out all of the drawers & sanding everything down. I used a palm sander for the main part of the dresser & hand sanded the drawer fronts with a block sander. then I wiped all the dust down & started painting the main dresser & removed the handles from the drawer fronts. I used this Behr Paint & Primer to save myself a separate priming step.

it ended up taking three thin coats of white to cover the dark wood & get the white color that I wanted. I rolled most of the coats, but used a brush for the smaller details along the front of the dresser.

after the white paint was dry, I brushed on two coats of a polycrylic coat with a small brush. I also did two coats of poly on the drawer fronts.

& here is the final product (again – you already would have seen these in the nursery reveal!). I am really, really happy with how this dresser turned out. it is such a great & timeless piece & is exactly the warmth I was looking for for this space. I also know that this will be such a great piece for eloise for years to come.

have you refinished a craigslist find recently?

highlights of 2013.

{via}

happy 2014!

i’ve said it before, & i’ll say it again!, yearly recaps are always my favorite kinds of blog posts. its a small way to sum up your year & to see how much the last 365 days have brought. as i look forward to the New Year, i am humbled & grateful by all of the wondrous events of 2013. here’s the rundown of ours:

january: I started out the new year with a bout of the flu. we hosted our first blog giveaway! we installed the west elm hanging capiz chandelier over our dining room table. I framed my diy polaroids for our bedroom walls. amanda & I met john & sherry from young house love during their book signing tour! I diy-ed campaign dressers for our bedroom.

february: I did lots of diy-ing for valentine’s day {here, here, & here} I celebrated my birthday! we bought a kitchen island. I tried to be better about getting in front of the camera!

march: I tried my hand at painting an antler {& was so impressed with the results!}. we took my 91-year-old grandmother to target for the first time! amanda & I diy-ed framed house keys on maps. we sold jez the jetta & bought a new car.

april: we updated our bathroom vanity with a converted antique sideboard. we updated the closet doors by stripping off the old paint in a crock pot. we celebrated our one year anniversary in our house & I reviewed all of the house diys!

may: we finally got some good weather in seattle! I painted the ceiling & hallway walls. we celebrated aaron’s thirtieth birthday with a beer tasting party! we had a fun-filled memorial day weekend. we were featured in west elm’s blog front & main.

june: aaron replaced our toilet. sadie was featured in the seattle dog spot blog. my parents visited for a long weekend en route to the olympic peninsula. my diy his & hers maps were featured. we finally got some summer weather!

july: we celebrated the long Fourth of July weekend with a holiday parade, fireworks, & time with friends. I made a nine layer ombre cake! we replaced our kitchen track lights with globe pendants from west elm. we road-tripped to idaho for my ten-year high school reunion. we started growing our first eggplant.

august: we celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. the blog got a Liebster Award Nomination. I diy-ed the tiniest baby hats for our friends’ new baby. we road-tripped to hood river, oregon to celebrate my cousin’s wedding.

september: we went to the husky vs. bronco game to kick-off labor day weekend complete with husky-style tailgating {via boat}. we took advantage of the warm weather & cleaned up the front yard with a fun game called love it or lose it. we celebrated sadie’s ninth birthday! I attended the Alt Summit for Everyone blog conference.

october: I attempted to start doing fashion posts again. we celebrated our two year blog anniversary at emerald city diaries! I finished up with the #embracethecamera challenge. we went to the pumpkin patch & carved pumpkins with friends.

november: aaron joined a team for movember 2013. we snuck off to hawaii for thanksgiving.

december: I reviewed some of my favorite weekend in pictures pics. I participated in A Pinterest Christmas for the third year {see this year’s projects here, here, here, here, & here}! we celebrated Christmas in indiana with aaron’s family.

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 2013 – was it a year to remember, or are you itching to start 2014 already?

see past yearly highlights for 2011 & 2012.

a fresh coat of paint: hallway edition.

one of the last remaining rooms in our house which hasn’t been painted was our hallway {the very last is the office, unless you count the interiors of closets, but i digress}. it is a pretty small space and has four doorways – to the living room, to the bedroom, to the bathroom, and to the office. the problem with the hallway was that it was yellow. the walls were yellow. the ceilings were yellow. it made you feel like you were inside of a butter dish. i would have painted it sooner, but i hate painting ceilings. a few weeks ago, i finally pulled the trigger and painted it all, ceilings and walls.

{the befores}

i decided that i should stick with a neutral color since this hallway {as mentioned above} connects nearly every room in our house. we have a pretty neutral pallet going in the house, but it was important that the hallway color look good with the living room color, the bathroom color, & the bedroom color. we happened to have some grey left over from our old living room at our townhouse, so i went with that. {it is martha stewart driftwood gray}

{the afters}

{the color is closest to what is shown on the very top picture // the “color scheme” in the house is well represented in the bottom picture}

how do you pick your paint colors? do you have a color scheme, or do you just pick the color for each room or space separately?

a year in review {house diys}.

it is hard to believe but we have been in our house for a year – can you believe it? while it doesn’t seem like yesterday that we were moving & packing & unpacking, it definitely doesn’t feel like its been an entire year. {where does the time go?}

i thought since so much of this blog is devoted to the work we have put into the house, it would be fun to do a review of all of our house projects over the last year. {also, this is making up for the fact that i have been horrible about keeping the house tour tab up-to-date.}

here we go! {are you ready for lots of pictures?}

{entryway} – chalkboard paint

{living room & dining room} – paint color, curtains, west elm light

{bathroom} – paint color, Ikea light, vanity

{kitchen} – paint color (walls), painted cabinets, painted countertops, painted tile, kitchen island, roman curtain

{office}

{bedroom} – paint color, roman curtains, closet doors

phew! it is hard to believe we did all of that in just one year. we still have lots of things on the to do list, including some bigger projects that we are saving up for! reviewing all of these projects makes me thankful that we have such a fun house to work on & enjoy. it was scary to make the decision to buy a house last year {it felt so grown-up!} but we have loved every minute of it & learned so much.

what sorts of projects have you completed in your living space? do you ever go back & review all of your hard work?

my weekend in pictures.

{sidenote: my weekend update is backwards this week due to my not-so-quick-to-learn the quirks of my new computer.}

{our rhodie is finally starting to bloom – very exciting! it is strange though that it is coming in bright pink because last year it was white… anyone know why?}

{sunday brunch with old & new friends at americana in capital hill.}

{caught up on some glossies this weekend. yep, that is vogue from march. i am a bit behind.}

{yep, painting again. finally finishing up the hallway that i started last weekend.}

{one of two trips this weekend to the lowe’s paint counter. has anyone else tried to match ceiling paint without a really good ceiling sample? fellow homeowners please do us all a favor & leave a sample paint can of the ceiling paint for the next owner.}

{paint samples to figure out what color to paint the hallway. we went with driftwood grey by martha stewart. grey, i know, surprising.}

{on friday night we celebrated my good friend sascha’s thirtieth birthday at bastille in ballard. happy birthday sascha!}

{you can’t come empty handed to a birthday party, right? cupcakes it is!}

this weekend flew by – did it for you too? i don’t understand how monday thru friday often drag on & on, & then saturday & sunday are gone in a blink! we were busy wrapping up a few on-going projects on the house & trying to tackle our ever-growing {out of control} yard. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{my building’s cafeteria closed but there is always a food truck around. i got to enjoy a yummy meal while enjoying the sunshine!}

{hung out in post alley at pike place market on friday to celebrate my friend miriam’s birthday.}

{we saw an improv comedy show the pretty wonderful club. it was based on the john hughes 80’s high school movies. so fun!}

{yes, that is a gum wall behind me. post alley is filled with gum. it is a disgusting tradition, but you pretty much have to participate if you are there.}

{sadie & i patiently waited outside for aaron to get us lattes on saturday morning.}

{when it is sunny outside, which it was ALL weekend!, everyone in seattle washes their car. including us.}

{we went “car shopping” this weekend just to look & ended up buying a new car. this is the final picture of us with jez, our old jetta. bye bye jez, it was a great 9 years!}

{bluetooth in cars is awesome!}

{got a new coffee table book by the one & only kate spade, my fav. can’t wait to flip thru it for some inspiration!}

{happy easter sadie! yes, that dog toy has bunny ears.}

{good morning new jetta sportswagen! i haven’t had it long enough to give it an official name – any suggestions? we are thinking something german perhaps. what, you don’t name your cars?}

{making sure the new bathroom hardware is level.}

{had to paint a few touchup spots on the bathroom walls where old hardware came down. i think our latest bathroom project is nearly finished & i am hoping to be able to share it later in the week!}

we had a wonderfully sunny weekend, busy but fun. our weather was spectacular, especially for seattle in the early spring, & we were even wearing shorts to work around the house & in the yard this afternoon. we often get a burst of very early spring weather that gets everyone a little hopeful (& nervous for a very hot summer) but inevitably we will be back to normal cool spring weather. also, we accidently bought a car this weekend. i say accidently because we were really just going to look at cars on saturday. it was our first day out looking & there were a few types & models that were in the running, but next thing you know, we were buying a new jetta. we opted for the sportswagen because, you know, we could use the space for the constant lowe’s & home depot runs/sadie/future babes/etc. but the real reason why we bought the sportswagen was because of the full sunroof which is amazing! we had a great easter weekend – how was your weekend?

diy painted antler.

i have been seeing a few painted antlers on pinterest & i thought they were cool looking. it just so happens that my brother has a massive collection of antlers & acted as my source while we were home at christmastime. armed with two antlers {spoiler alert: i have only painted one so far} i have spent the past few months figuring out how to paint an antler. this project didn’t take me that long in total, but i spread it out over the course of almost three months due to life, i guess. also, it turns out it isn’t too hard to paint an antler.

{original pinterest link – source unknown}

supplies:

antler – i am sure you could find some on etsy or perhaps a craft fair
primer – i used bonding primer
small paintbrush
frog tape or painter’s tape
acrylic craft paint – if you want to do gold or silver, make sure the label says “metallic” so it’s super shiny
glossy protective finish – i used Minwax {pictured below} which i also used here

i started out by taping off the end of the antler and each tine as i knew i wanted these pieces to remain unpainted. in order to get a straight line, you will have to create the line with tape {if you just put a single piece of tape around any part of the antler, there will be a small v where the ends meet}. also, you will need to firmly press the tape edges to the antler to ensure you get a clean line.

you wouldn’t need to tape at first if you want the entire antler painted, or you could add more tape {like stripes}. then i primed the antler with one coat of bonding primer. {side note: as this was my first painted antler attempt, i am not sure whether regular primer would work. i typically use bonding primer on all of my projects that aren’t drywall because it generally sticks to everything.}

after the primer was dry, i started painting. you won’t need to tape off again with the first color. also, i painted from the outside of ends of the antler in {if this doesn’t make sense, you can see it from the rest of the pictures}. i started with gold & painted four coats to ensure it was a nice solid color. four coats sounds like a lot, but the areas are small so you don’t use much paint and the in-between dry time is about an hour.

i let the fourth coat of gold dry for 24 hours before i started with the next color as it required me to tape over the gold to make a clean edge. then i painted four coats of my next color – light blue.

i left the fourth coat of light blue dry before taping over it to add the last color –navy blue {not pictured}.

after my final color was on & the antler was fully painted the way i wanted it, i painted on three thin coats of minwax polycrylic which gave the antler a high gloss finish.

i am thrilled with the finished result! this is a really fun piece that is really unique – definitely a conversation piece. {though i am a bit sad that i can’t showcase my new painted antler on the coffee table as it is still an antler & sadie thinks the ends are a tasty treat.}

what do you think of painted antlers? have you been taping & painting anything interesting lately?

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?

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?