pinterest – Page 7 – emerald city diaries

a baby shower.

last weekend i was lucky enough to co-host a baby shower for one of my dear friends amanda. amanda & her husband are expecting their baby girl this summer!

i was in charge of decorations & dessert which was so much fun! i had lots of ideas at first but really used pinterest to help me organize the details. {you can see the baby shower pinboard here.} the other co-hosts (sam & denaye) and i decided that we would keep the shower theme simple, so we went with a theme of purple (the mom-to-be’s favorite color!).

{the dessert table: mini cupcakes from trophy, cupcake flags (diy), paper pinwheel board (diy), tablecloth (diy), flowers from pike place market, tall glass cake stand from tj maxx, white cake stands and platter from crate & barrel, stripey straws from amazon & diy flags, “cupcake” sign (diy).}

{the book check-in. denaye had the idea that guests could bring a book in lieu of a card to help the baby’s library grow. i thought it would be fun to include a card inside each book that had a note to the baby, so we used old school library cards.}

{i gave the baby my very favorite book the very hungry caterpillar.}

{sam made a cute little diaper cake.}

{sam, denaye, me & amanda.}

{the food table: homemade mexican enchiladas & fajitas by sam & her husband, sangria by sam, lavender lemonade by denaye, tablecloth (diy).}

{baby shower games: name that baby food which entailed guests tasting (or smelling) baby food & writing down their best guess. wishes for baby allowed each guest to fill-in-the-blank. fill-in-the-nursery-rhyme (sorry there isn’t a picture) which had guests fill in the missing words to the nursery rhymes we all grew up with. sidenote: i totally rocked this game & walked away as the winner with a set of bubbles! on the other hand, i failed miserably at the baby food game.}

{amanda isn’t big on really girly stuff for the baby, but this outfit was insanely cute!}

thanks to sam & denaye for being fantastic co-hosts! {the food was so delish (thanks sam!) & denaye brought the cutest (and tastiest) macaroons from chicago as party favors.} thanks also to amanda for letting us throw a shower in your honor & letting us surprise you with all of the details! i can’t wait to meet your baby girl.

i am planning on posting later in the week about all the diy projects!

also visit amanda’s blog for scenes from the baby shower & a shower game.

have you attended or thrown any showers lately?

pinspiration: floor cushion.

crafternoon (noun): a mid-day spent crafting.*

my friend amanda & i had a crafternoon this week and it was a perfect time to bust out another pinspiration project!

{the original tutorial link: floor cushion}

i didn’t take pictures during the process to create my own tutorial because i thought the original tutorial was really well done. we didn’t have a compass on hand, so we used a piece of string tied to a pencil which resulted in non-perfect circles that were closer to 15 inches in diameter than the original 17 inches. oh well!

this is the first time i sewed piping onto anything & it was much easier than i expected! {sidenote: i apologize for the blurry first picture. the lighting is terrible since we have grey & rainy.}

have you been crafting in the afternoon lately (that would be referred to as crafternooning)?

*i thought i was so smart thinking up this term, but alas, it has already been coined. formally. see here.

pinspiration: sewing machine pin cushion.

i have a few sewing projects on my mind, but have yet to find a pin cushion. i realize that something like a pin cushion is really a practical thing, but i have been holding out for a pin cushion that i really like.

i am clumsy & drop boxes of pins all the time resulting in pins all over the floor & occasionally in stepping on pins – ouch! after this happened to me for the millionth time this afternoon, i knew that i had to do something about my pin cushion situation.

{story of my life.}

enter pinterest & the genius ideas that i pinned months ago…

{see original pinterest link: sewing machine pin cushion}

supplies:

scrap fabric
ribbon
hand needle
thread
sewing machine {you could do this by hand, but it would be ironic to make this by hand for a sewing machine}
scissors

i already had fabric scraps & ribbon, so it was just a matter of sewing a few simple seams. my pin cushion is a bit squarer due to the shape of my machine’s arm & the ribbon length is only one time around the arm for each side.

i will still be on the quest to find the perfect pin cushion, but for now, this one will do!

do you have a habit of dropping pins all over? do you use a pin cushion?

pinspiration: faux calligraphy.

it really isn’t a secret that i love pinterest. the problem is that i pin & pin & pin but that’s it. i attempted to change the pinning into doing at the end of last year with my a pinterest christmas series of diy projects. it was so fun to actually do something with all of those pins! so, i decided that even if it isn’t a regular occurrence, i should really do more of the diy projects that i pin on my boards aptly titled: my ever-growing to do list. so here it goes with my first pinspiration project!

{faux calligraphy (i prefer faux to fake).}

see original tutorial here: how to create fake calligraphy.

i used my very favorite fine sharpie pen and my moleskine journal (that holds my to-do lists, doodles & notes). the tutorial is really straight-forward & the trick is really to remember how to write in cursive. i wrote my letters in pencil first & then traced over the letter with the pen before i added the thick marks on the downward strokes.

practice makes perfect, but here is a sample of my first attempts.

{lower case letters}

{upper case letters}

faux calligraphy definitely isn’t as elegant as real calligraphy but it is still fun. i have a few projects up my sleeve that i am hoping to use this form of lettering, so i better get practicing!

{sidenote: this pinspiration project (which i hope to be the first of many) is pretty much exactly what sherry is doing over at young house love with the pinterest challenge. i may add my pinspiration projects to the challenge at some point, but it seems like a little too much for me; over three hundred projects pinned – eeps!}

what do you think of faux calligraphy? are you just a pinner or are you a do-er too?

valentine’s day bunting.

i loved the christmas bunting that i made so much that i decided we needed one for valentine’s day too. i think bunting banners are a fun way to decorate & they are pretty straightforward to make. i used pretty much the exact same steps as the christmas bunting.

{if you need any inspiration for a valentine’s day bunting, check out this cute one from pinterest. i love how the flags are printed pages, perhaps i will make a similar one next year.}

{pinterest link: valentine’s bunting.}

supplies:

fabric for flag
felt for hearts
sewing machine or needle
thread (i used red to sew the flags to the ribbon & pink to outline the flags)
fabric scissors
pinking shears (optional)
cardstock (i used to make templates for heart & flag)
ribbon
tacky glue
pins

{first i used my triangle template to trace out my flags. i used the template i created for my christmas bunting.}

{sidenote: a tip for saving fabric. because the template i created is half of a perfect rectangle, i found that you can alternate the triangles when tracing the template onto the fabric. this saves fabric & reduces cutting as the angled edges share a cut with the neighboring triangle. make sense?}

{i traced my heart template onto red felt using a black marker and then cut them out.}

{i glued one heart onto each flag. like i did for the christmas bunting i used pinking shears to cut the flag edges.}

{i used two spools of glittery red ribbon – one bunting had eight flags, the other had seven. i pinned each flag to the ribbon with two pins. i lined up the top edge of the flag with the top edge of the ribbon; this way wherever my seam was sewn it would hit the ribbon & the fabric. i found that it was easiest to lay out the ribbon on the edge of a long, flat workspace – in my case this was the edge of our office couch. this makes pinning the flags so much easier.}

{then i sewed a simple straight stitch to attach the flags to the back of the ribbon.}

{the finished bunting over our chalkboard. i am loving the festiveness of these heart buntings to our eating area & i think they may be cute enough to keep up for the next few months (until the next holiday i make a bunting for!).}

is a valentine bunting in your future? i hope so!

diy sewn paper valentines.

i heart valentine’s day, genuinely. who wouldn’t like a holiday that is all about love? i saw these little cards floating around pinterest & knew they had to be my valentines for this year!

{original pinterest link: sewn paper valentines}

supplies:

heart template (see website above or make your own)
pencil
fabric
cardstock for cards
sewing machine
thread (i used red & white)
scissors and/or paper trimmer
envelopes (see mine from earlier diy post)
wasabi tape (optional – i used mine to seal the envelopes)

{first i printed out the heart template from the website above & made my own heart template from cardstock – much easier to trace than computer paper! then i traced the hearts onto my fabric – i recommend tracing on the back of the fabric so there are no pencil lines that show especially if you are using a light-colored fabric – and then cut out the hearts.}

{i cut out my cardstock, two pieces for each card. the dimensions of each card were 4 1/4 x 6 inches.}

{next i sewed three stitches onto the “cover” of each card; i sewed about a 5/8 inch seam – i lined up the right edge of the cardstock with the right edge of the foot. i used red thread for the top seam & white thread in my bobbin; this helped tremendously with the next step & also to keep the back of the card looking neat & clean. i made sure to leave the excess thread at both ends of my stitch long so that i could tie each off with a knot; i think knotting the thread works best for this project because doing a back stitch shows too much on the paper.}

{the fourth stitch on the card attaches the back cover. it is exactly the same stitch, you just add the back cover underneath.}

{after all of the cards were stitched together, i sewed a fabric heart onto each card by hand with red thread. {sidenote 1: i sewed all the backs of the cards on before i hand sewed the hearts mostly because i wanted to be done with the sewing machine. it would be a bit easier to sew on the heart either right after the first three stitches of the card, or even before you stitch the card at all. sidenote 2: i originally planned to use my sewing machine to sew on the fabric hearts, as per the original tutorial. after many attempts, however, i admitted defeat!}

{sidenote: i ended up without a picture of the card front. would one of my valentines mind sending me a picture of your valentines card so i can post it here? thanks!}

{i wrote my valentine’s day message inside the card & each card went into my diy envelopes! i used wasabi tape i bought from etsy to seal the envelopes.}

{i think the wasabi tape was a fun way to seal the envelopes. if you don’t have wasabi tape you could use regular scotch tape, use a sticker, or even glue the envelopes shut.}

did you send out valentines this year?

diy envelopes.

i have an obsession with paper goods. there, i said it! i still write thank you notes by hand & send them snail mail (isn’t there something so romantic & lovely about receiving mail!) and i jump on any chance to send paper mail. while i no longer get to go to school & receive valentines from all of my classmates (wasn’t that the best?) i did want to send out a few valentines to my close family & friends.

i knew i wanted valentines that had some form of diy & when i saw these whimsical envelopes on pinterest, i knew i would be making at least the envelopes this year.

{original pinterest link: paper envelopes}

supplies:

envelope to use as template
printed paper (i used square scrapbooks sheets, but size depends on the size of the envelope)
ruler
pencil
gluestick
paper tags or labels (optional – i knew addresses written on printed envelopes would be difficult to read)
letter opener (optional – i used it to make clean cuts on my envelope template)

{i started out by finding an envelope & using a letter opener it up.}

{i laid down my template on the wrong-side of my paper (so any leftover pencil marks would be on the inside of the final envelope) & lined up the corner edges and sides of the template with the corner and sides of the paper (to reduce the amount of cutting). then i cut out the envelope.}

{while the places to fold in are really clear from looking at the cut-out, i found that it was pretty easy to end up folding a crooked fold. i remedied this by lining up a ruler edge on both sides of the fold edges and then folding over the ruler. this gave me a nice straight fold.}

{then i flipped the envelope over & folded in the pieces starting with the sides & then the bottom – this is the way the original envelope was folded. i added a very thin line of glue to the bottom edges of the side flaps. be sure that there isn’t too much excess glue on the bottom of this edge as you may inadvertently glue the envelope together!}

{i used these little cut-out tags that i picked up at michael’s. while the package says there are only 6 pieces, there are actually 12 – score! i firmly glued one tag on the front of each envelope, staggering the tag on each: bottom left corner, bottom right corner, middle. i always put my return address on the back flap of the envelope. i used our address stamp from etsy & the black ink was bold enough that i stamped it right onto the envelope, not needing to add a tag to the back.}

{the final touch was adding a LOVE stamp. you can see that i chose three different prints for my envelopes: stripey, polka dot & hearts.}

stay tuned for my valentines cards!

what do you think about pretty paper envelopes – a waste of time or can’t get enough?

diy valentine’s day coffee sleeves.

since valentine’s day is my absolute favorite holiday (yes, above christmas, and yes, because it is also my birthday), i adore all things valentine’s. while i haven’t gotten into decorating for the holiday quite like i do with christmas, i do have some projects in mind to spruce up our townhouse a bit for this lovely holiday.

this is a super easy & quick project, so much so that it is hard for me to even consider it a diy!

{original pinterest link: diy je t’ aime coffee cup wrappers}

supplies:

printed pdf of either or both templates from original blog post (above)
cardstock or thick paper (unless you print the template on cardstock)
glue stick &/or glue dots
scissors
disposable coffee cup

{first i printed the boy & girl templates}

{then i cut out each template}

{i held up the template to the cup i had (a tall cup from starbucks) to see if it was large enough. it wasn’t, obviously.}

{then i traced each template onto cardstock. i left a little room around each because i needed to add length to the ends.}

{i cut out the cardstock, adding length to the ends but not to the width.}

{i used a glue stick to attach the paper templates to the cardstock cut-outs. then i put three glue dots on the extra cardstock end that was running underneath the extra cardstock end hanging over – i think this will make sense if you are actually doing this!}

{once the glue dots were firmly holding the sleeve together, i trimmed the excess cardstock along the edge & bottom of the sleeve.}

{ta-da!}

thanks to amy over at eat drink chic blog for such an adorable template & idea! will you be rocking a je t’ aime-themed coffee sleeve to celebrate valentine’s day?

diy card book.

i saved all of the wedding cards we received & stashed them away in the back of our office closet. at the time, i didn’t know what i was going to do with all of them, but it just felt so wrong recycling them all.

then i saw this tutorial on pinterest & knew exactly why i had saved all of those cards! this is a diy that you could easily use for cards from any occasion: birthday, christmas, baby shower, wedding.

{the original pinterest link: diy card mini-album}

supplies:

cards
paper (probably different types for front & back cover, inside cover)
ribbon
initials, photo, etc. to decorate front cover
metal book ring
hole punch
2 small brads
glue or glue dots
scissors
paper trimmer (optional)
2 pieces of cardboard

first i stacked all the cards i wanted in the book (i did have to take out all of the shower cards as there were just too many) & measured out two pieces of cardboard that were slightly larger than the largest card. {sidenote: the only cardboard i had around the house was what our west elm sheets were packaged in & it was really thick. i would recommend using thinner cardboard, if you can, for this project because it will be so much easier to punch holes thru.}

then i punched holes in the top corners of all of the cards. it took awhile, but i basically punched each card individually to avoid the punch getting jammed. i punched the first card & then traced the circle onto the other cards so that it would be in relatively the same spot on each.

i really liked the glitter initials that were in the original tutorial: lower case letters & an ampersand – yes please! i searched high & low to find the perfect letters, but, alas, they could not be found. so i did the next best thing & bought glittery paper to make them myself. i just opened up a word document & typed in “m & a” and then played around with fonts & sizes until i got something perfect; this is definitely not an exact science. i ended up printing & making stencils from letters in Calisto in 120 size font. {sidenote: when i cut out the letters, though, i cut slightly bigger than the font size. in hindsight i probably would have gone slightly bigger than 120 size font as the letters were really hard to cut out.} my letters are by no means perfect but they will definitely do for a handmade book.

i trimmed paper for the front, back & inside covers. the paper that i used was grey & white zig-zag on one side (i used this for the inside covers) & grey & white paisley on the other side (i used this for the front & back cover). i was able to buy just two square sheets (they are scrapbook paper) to cover the cardboard – it was a happy accident that i liked both sides of the printed paper & only needed to buy two sheets for the project. on the front & back covers i also did a layer of printed velum paper over the paisley print (i liked the velum but didn’t want the brown of the cardboard to show thru); on the front cover i also cut up a left-over envelope from our wedding invitations to put on the bottom half; then i glued on the letters i made.

this next part was definitely the trickiest & most difficult (it is also where thin cardboard would come in handy). on the back cover you will want to attach the ribbon that will wrap around the book. you will want to glue on the back cover paper, but not the inside cover paper (i made this mistake & had to take off the inside cover paper & then re-attach it later). i made two little pencil marks on the back cover in about the middle where my brads would go in. then i lined up the ribbon (so the middle of the ribbon was between the two marks) and used scissors to make a hole. {sidenote: in hindsight, you really don’t need to punch thru the ribbon & the cardboard at the same time, especially if you are using really sheer ribbon like i did.} once i punched thru the two holes, i threaded the brads thru the ribbon & the cardboard, securing them on the inside cover. then you glue the inside cover one (covering up the back of the brads).

the last big step is to string the cards & the covers onto the ring. i couldn’t find rings at any craft stores & ended up with a multi-pack of book rings from office depot (or was it office max?) because i didn’t know what size i would need. for reference, i ended up using the biggest size ring.

the very last step is to tie the ribbon around the cards & trim the ends. voila!

this book was pretty easy to make, minus the punching thru cardboard, & though mine is definitely not as nice as the one from the tutorial, i am happy to have found a way to preserve & display our wedding cards.

are you in the habit of keeping old cards around?

a pinterest christmas: chalkboard glasses.

you read it right: a pinterest christmas. yes, i know its mid-january. i promise i am not crazy, just hear me out.

this was actually part of my pinterest christmas, but because we gave these to our family as gifts, i didn’t want to post them in december with the rest of the christmas posts since I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

even though we made these christmas gifts, they would be great for any occasion or even just to make for yourself!

{original pinterest link: chalkboard glasses}

supplies:

chalkboard paint
glasses with stems (we used wine & beer glasses)
painter’s tape (we used blue tape & frog tape)
cardboard
chalk

we decided to use chalkboard spray paint instead of regular chalkboard paint to avoid brush lines. we bought ours at home depot.

first step was to tape the glasses. we used frog tape (shown above) on the base of the stem because it gives you a cleaner line. we placed the tape pretty close to the bottom of the stem, but you could paint further up the stem if you wanted to.

then we tapped further up the glass with blue tape. the blue stuff definitely sticks better to the glass which helps with securing the top of the frog tape. you don’t need to add blue tape, but i think it helped ensure that we didn’t get any paint further up on the glass.

then we sprayed the glasses (and by “we” i mean aaron); just make sure you are in a well-ventilated area and keep moving your hand back & forth while spraying. the paint dried pretty quickly, but we left them for a few days to ensure the paint was really dry.

after the paint is fully dry, just peel off the tape! we added a little message on the glasses so that our out-of-town gift receivers knew that these were chalkboards as opposed to just black glasses. we also added a little bag of chalk – i just put three pieces of chalk in a snack sized ziploc bag & tied it with a red ribbon.

{sidenote: just for reference, glasses painted with chalkboard paint should be hand washed & shouldn’t go into the dishwasher.}

what do you think about chalkboard glasses? will they be part of your next get-together?