pinterest – Page 5 – emerald city diaries

highlights of 2012.

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?

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?

merry christmas eve house tour.

this holiday season has been so fun decorating the house for christmas. i was able to use all of our old decorations {see some of last year’s décor here & here} in our new space. we don’t have a fireplace like we did in our townhouse, so it has been a bit of a challenge to decorate without a mantle. {i guess the trade-off is that instead of a four foot christmas tree we could have a nine foot one!}

nearly all of my decorations have come from two series worth of a pinterest christmas. {see the first post from last year here & the first post from this year here} i enjoy making the decorations to fit the space that we are in. even after a month of a pinterest christmas projects i am already thinking about what i can make for the house next year!

i hope you enjoy a quick tour of our house all dressed up for christmas.

is your house all dressed up for christmas? if you have a blog, please share a link in the comments!

merry christmas eve!

a pinterest christmas: paper tree forest.

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

this is a project that i completed over thanksgiving weekend with amanda during our crafternoon date. {see amanda’s tree forest in the blog links below}

{original pinterest link – handmade christmas trees}

the original tutorial mentions that you don’t have to buy the paper cones, you can make your own from cereal boxes {i used both} but there is really no instructions. it is pretty straight-forward, but i am a visual person & like to see pictures of the process!

{flatten out a cereal box* & cut off the sides & bottom}

{start to roll in from one corner & gently bend the cardboard}

{unfold the cardboard & add glue – i used hot glue – to the edge & fold the cardboard in}

{once you have a cone shape & the glue is dry, cut the bottom of the cone so that it will sit level}

*you don’t have to use chex cereal boxes, but they are thin enough to bend without buckling.

tinsel tree:

this tree was the easiest tree to make. you just add lines of {hot} glue around the cone & stick the tinsel to it. then trim the excess tinsel. i especially became an expert at making this tree since i had to make two {see explanation below}.

feather tree:

i followed the tutorial for this tree, but found it much harder to make than it looked. plus, be aware that there will be feathers everywhere after this project. {thanks amanda for letting me feather up your craft room!} see finished pictures below.

newspaper tree:

i followed the tutorial for this tree & found it to be pretty simple & straightforward. instead of bookpages, i used newspaper. see finished pictures below.

cloth tree:

i followed amanda’s lead on making my cloth tree as she finished her cloth tree first. i just lined up the fabric the way i wanted it to wrap around the cone & added lots of {hot} glue. then trimmed the excess fabric. be sure to double-check where the cut edge will be before you cut because amanda & i both ended cutting a bit too short! see finished pictures below.

when i first got my trees home i set them up on our entertainment stand. we didn’t have many decorations up at that point, so it was fun to have something festive up!

then we came home from work following the long thanksgiving weekend to find this:

apparently sadie didn’t like the tinsel tree which she told us by tearing it to shreds. she also started into the cloth tree but didn’t completely destroy it before we go home. the interesting thing was that these were the two trees that were made out of chex mix boxes. that dog is way too smart for her own good sometimes!

i re-made the tinsel tree & set up my paper tree forest on our sideboard to celebrate the holiday season!

{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 tree forest

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo – a stocking for mogo & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – diy yarn trees

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – yarn trees!

{thursdays} –maggi @ Greg, Maggi, & Rodney – odds & ends & abbi @ The Pena Family – pinterest christmas

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

master bedroom mini-blind update (or pinspiration: no sew roman shade)

when i made my first no sew roman shade for the kitchen this spring, i mentioned that we also have miniblinds in both bedrooms. while i haven’t done a thing about the miniblinds in the office/extra bedroom {or anything for that matter!} i did finally do something about the miniblind situation in our bedroom.

i made these blinds the same way i made the other ones, so i won’t hash out all of the details. {see tutorial here}

the one change that i did make was that i added blackout material {also acts as a thermal liner} to the backs of the three shades. i found this blackout material at joann & though i don’t remember exactly how much it was, but it wasn’t very expensive.

i cut the thermal liner to be the same size as the fabric. in hindsight, i may have made it 1/4 inch smaller on all four sides. once i had cut the ladder cord & removed the extra blind pieces, i added the thermal liner by gluing it to the bottom of the miniblind metal bracket {i that isn’t what it is called, but just go with it!}. i laid the thermal liner down on the floor {i don’t think it matters which side is up} & then laid the miniblinds on top. after lining the top & bottom up, i rolled the top metal bracket towards the bottom of the blinds twice. then i added a line of glue to the edge of the thermal liner & glued it to the edge of the metal bracket {see picture to the right below}.

after the glue was dry on the thermal liner, i rolled the top metal bracket back & then began gluing every other slat to the thermal liner. then i glued on the front fabric like in the original tutorial, adhering the front fabric to every other slat.

the fabric is dwell studio bella porte citrine from fabric.com. i am a big fan of dwell studio fabric despite the heavy price tag. i love all of the patterns & it is upholstery quality – you can’t go wrong!

while the biggest reason i added a thermal liner to these bedroom curtains was to help keep heat from escaping thru the windows, the blackout feature has been nice. the curtains are all a teeny bit smaller than our window frames so we get little slivers of light in the morning, but for the most part i feel like we are in a hotel. the blackout curtains are completely messing with my circadian rhythm, but we are loving being able to sleep in on the weekends!

{sidenote: the shades are hard to open and close because the pullcord is in-between the fabric & the liner. i decided to sandwich the blind slats between the fabrics so that you couldn’t see the slats from the back/outside. instead, you could attach the liner to the back of the fabric before gluing it to the blinds to avoid this problem. i may add a little slit at the top of the liner right next to the pullcord to allow the cord to be pulled thru & hang on the back of the blinds, between the shade & the window.}

how do you feel about window coverings? have you ever made your own shades or curtains?

a pinterest christmas: clay ornament & pom pom santa.

welcome to the second week of a pinterest christmas {see the first post here} – very exciting!

this week i was able to add more ornaments to our family christmas tree.

first up, a house key clay ornament. i really liked the idea of preserving our first house key as there is a {slight} chance we won’t stay in this house forever.

{original pinterest link is unknown}

there wasn’t a page that linked to this pinterest {hence no source link above} but it was a pretty easy project to figure out.

instead of buying white clay, i followed this recipe to make a simple clay.

supplies:

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup baking soda
glass – to make round ornament
key
plastic straw – to make hanger hole
parchment paper
cookie cutters – optional {i used ones from the trader joe’s christmas sugar cookie kit}
ribbon/twine/string
thin marker/Sharpie/paint pen

once the mixture started heating up, i stirred it often in order to scrape up the cornstarch that would stick to the bottom of the pan. once in the bowl, i let my clay cool for a couple of hours before i rolled it out on the cutting board.

i had a little trouble with the dough crumbling & had to make a few round ornaments before i got two that i liked {i made two in case one didn’t turn out}. i also found that moving the round circle of clay to the baking sheet before imprinting the key was much more successful! {sidenote”: on the snowman & christmas tree there is unevenness – this is because when i was rolling out the clay, pieces stuck to the rolling pin. i liked the texture so i left it.}

after the ornaments had cooled, i added the string. on the house key ornament, i wrote our first house 4.27.12 – i used a sharpie marker. the clay was a bit soft, so the pen made an imprint where i wrote. in hindsight, i would try a thin paint pen.

i also made this cute little pom pom santa!

{original pinterest link – pom pom santa}

supplies:

knobby white/cream yarn
red felt
ruler
small wood beads
red embroidery floss
needle with large eye
glue – i used hot glue
scissors

the original link has a really great tutorial. the only thing i did differently is how i made my yarn pom pom – instead of using the fork method, i used the method kendra used last week for her pom pom wreath.

i trimmed up my pom pom, but didn’t worry about it being a perfectly round shape. this is supposed to be santa’s beard & i liked it to be a little uneven. when i made the felt hat, i didn’t use a compass – instead i measured out the 3 inches along the bottom & side of the corner & also from the corner, making marks. then i cut along the marks i had made.

these were the only small wooden beads i could find at michael’s. i sort of like the idea of making santas with different racial backgrounds!

i love this pom pom santa – he was easy to make & so cute! i only made one for our tree, but i am planning on making them {without the hanging string} as placecards for christmas dinner {perhaps adding a name sign to the hat or something}.

since this is my christmas ornament post, i will also share the pinecone ornament i made out of a pinecone i saved from our now-gone cedar tree {see timber details here}.

{this pinecone is nearly 4 inches tall & weighs a lot, so i rested it on a tree bough along with hanging it!}

{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 – diy ornaments & alternative christmas tree

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo – ornaments & junk & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – diy ornaments

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – ornaments & scrabble

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

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

a pinterest christmas: reindeer wreath & felted garland.

last year i did a series during the holiday season that was called a pinterest christmas {you can see the first post here and the rest of the posts are under the diy tutorials page here}. i am doing this blog series again this year, but this time i recruited a few blogging friends to join in on the fun {see their blogs & posts below}.

i wanted to make a wreath for our front door this year {you can see there is a wreath theme this week for the blog series} because i didn’t have a wreath last year. i had pinned the felted wreath from west elm {see below} as a {p}inspiration.

{felted wreath from west elm – in white}

this ended up being one of those projects that just wasn’t meant to be. diy-ing can be an awesome way to create something either for cheaper or to be super personalized, but sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. this wreath fell in the latter category. first, this west elm wreath was exactly what i wanted – dare i say perfect! second & probably most important, the supplies to make this wreath would have cost two or three times as much as just buying the wreath. so, alas, i did not make this wreath – i bought it, added a gold ribbon, & it is currently hanging on my front door. i am in love!

so, after that lesson in diy, i was determined to make a christmas wreath this year. i am happy that i found a fun tutorial that satisfied not only my need for a wreath, but also my desire to have a cardboard deer mount in the house.

{original pinterest link – recycling meets rudolph}

supplies:

cardboard – i used an old moving box
red felt, marker, or paper
red cording
2 – 3 jingle bells
wreath – i made one {see below}
black marker
scissors
hot glue/glue
exacto knife
reindeer template – i printed it out on two pages, increasing the size by 196%

{note: this project took a little while, mostly the cutting out of the cardboard, but it was so worth it!}

the instructions are pretty straightforward:

1. cut out the template & trace onto cardboard

2. cut out cardboard

3. glue inside of noses together

4. add rectangular piece across back of headpieces

5. glue on cording to inside of headpieces & sew on jingle bells to cording

6. make noses red – i used felt pieces

7. add black eyes

8. assemble antlers – i glued the pieces in with glue – & attach to headpieces

9. make wreath – i glued holly leaves onto a foam wreath core

10. hang & enjoy – i used a 3M hook

since i was originally going to do a felted wool wreath, i also wanted to do a felted garland.

{original pinterest link – felted garland}

supplies:

wool roving – i bought two packages which made 24 1.5 inch balls
embroidery thread
old tights
big needle

i have never felted before so i opted for the tights-in-the-dryer method as opposed to buying felting tools. yes, my felt balls did have little dents from the knots in the tights (the tutorial posts calls the balls fannies) but i didn’t think anyone would care too much. the process is really easy, i was a little surprised! this would be a really fun project for a kid’s room or nursery too.

{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 – diy sweater wreath

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo – diy pom pom wreath & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – diy pom pom wreath

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – quick & easy wreath/garland

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

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

pinspiration: chalkboard spice jars.

{image via anthro}

i am sure you have seen these spice jars either in-store at anthro or pinned all over pinterest. i have had them pinned on my to-do list pinterest board for months since the $12 a piece price tag was a little steep for moi.

this was a fairly easy project, though it took me a long time to complete. you could probably finish it in a weekend.

supplies:

glass jars – I used baby food jars left over from amanda’s baby shower
chalkboard paint – I used the spray paint
white paint – I used a sample of cloud cover from benjamin moore
craft paint
paint brush(es)
painter’s tape
paper – to make label

{first i spray painted the jars with chalkboard paint. in hindsight i should have taped off the neck of the jars (for the entire process) and added one or two more coats of chalkboard paint. you could just paint or spray chalkboard paint on the area where you want the label, as opposed to the entire jar. i found that the chalkboard paint worked really well as a primer. i also primed the lids with bonding primer that i used here.}

{once the lids were dry, i painted them with acrylic paint that i picked up at michael’s. i found that if i painted around the lid first, holding the top & bottom {as seen in the second photo} & then gently set the lid down on the newspaper to paint the top, the process was much less messy {i.e., not as much paint on your fingers.} it took about four or five coats of the red & blue paint to get to the opaque-ness i wanted.}

{to make the chalkboard “label,” i made a design that i liked and cut it out of computer paper. then i traced it onto painters tape & cut it out.}

{i attached the tape labels to the jars & made sure the tape was really stuck on there. then i taped the jar necks – again, i would recommend taping the jar necks before painting on the chalkboard paint. then i painted the jars white. i used a sample of cloud cover by benjamin moore that i had from our kitchen cabinet update. i didn’t paint the bottoms of the jar since there was a useable chalkboard surface there, for expiration dates or other notes. i painted about three or four coats of white paint.}

{after the jars were dry, i took off the tape from the neck and the label. at this point, i decided my jars needed some touch-up, so i painted the rest of the necks white & i used a very small craft brush to clean up the edges of the label.}

{the final touch was to “season” the chalkboard label by rubbing chalk all over it & then wiping it off. then, fill up the jars with your favorite spices & add names!}

how do you store your spices?

pinspiration project: nursery art.

even before i had planned to surprise meg at her shower a few weeks ago, i knew i was going to make (at least part of) my present to baby garner-ballard. since i have been helping meg with ideas for the nursery for months now, i thought it would be fitting that i made something for the nursery.

meg & i have been going back & forth on the art for her mostly gender-neutral nursery, but since she has loved all things map from the beginning, i knew she would adore this piece!

{original pinterest link: be curious.}

if you follow the original link, it takes you to a huge website compilation of prints & pictures. obviously there was no tutorial, so i had to create it.

one of the things i loved about this piece was the old school map that it was printed on. i searched high & low (from the comfort of my couch – thanks interwebs!) until i found the perfect map on etsy. this map was meant to be a “travel map” where you put pins every place you have travelled, but the size & colors were perfect.

i knew ahead of time that i would more than likely have to letter directly onto the map because i didn’t want to figure out how to try to print it onto the paper, but i didn’t know how until the map was in my hand. at first i attempted to draw out my own letters copying the pinspiration, but that ended up being frustrating & would have taken so long (me being a perfectionist & everything). so, i decided to blow up a copy of the pinspiration (i did a print screen, copied it into a Word document, & blew it up) to the size that i wanted the letters to be & then i printed the image in black & white.

{the print-out}

i cut out an 8 by 10 inch piece from the map choosing a similar layout of the pinspiration – the middle being the atlantic ocean & showing north & south america, europe & africa. once i had the cut out of my map & the print out of the letters, i figured tracing the letters would work the best. fortunately for me i have a glass-top desk, so i turned on my iPhone flashlight & traced the letters onto my map with a pencil.

after i had everything traced, i “colored in” the letters & flourishes. i happened to have a thick chisel tip whiteboard marker in black & a red sharpie – not ideal but they didn’t bleed & got the job done!

i picked up a white ribba frame from ikea which worked perfectly.

i hope that baby garner-ballard & his mom & dad love this little print as much as i do. i love the way this print turned out & i can’t wait to see it in the nursery!

what are your thoughts on making your own prints?