emerald city diaries – Page 88 – family + adventures + the emerald city

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?

my weekend in pictures.

{couldn’t resist this rodarte + sbux mug on the clearance rack!}

{enjoyed delish indian nosh with our friends, the friends!}

{played our new game say anything. thanks david & jodi!}

{grabbed lunch at jimmy john’s. delish but a very limited menu for vegetarians.}

{spent some of saturday afternoon catching up on mags & cuddling with the sade-ster.}

{saturday night dinner & a movie with my husband & grandmother. the best! p.s. this is 40 is a good rental movie…}

{i managed to put a few things from ikea together this weekend despite the often terrible directions. stay tuned for upcoming projects!}

{we sampled some soda with our whole foods dinner on sunday night.}

{lots of tomatoes for a crockpot marinara sauce. fingers crossed it is yummy!}

we had a very busy weekend that went way too quickly! {where did the year go?} i am still trying to get the house back in order after our week away. lots of laundry & new things {i.e., christmas presents} to find homes for. how was your last weekend of 2012?

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?

happy christmas!

we hope you all have a very merry, happy christmas this year wherever you are celebrating!

i worked with tiny prints this year & LOVE our cards. tiny prints has such a great selection of cards that i had trouble picking just one! {they will also stamp & mail your cards too if you have no time!} i have always wanted to send out a christmas letter to update our friends & family about the happenings of the lower family, but every year i sit down to write it it sounds like the cheesiest, most narcissistic thing i have ever. hence why we have never had a lower family christmas letter. but, then i found this card that had the highlights of the year & it was perfect! i like the idea of doing a version of this card every year.

i hand addressed each card with a little fauxligraphy & used our address stamp to make the envelopes a bit more festive.

do you send out christmas cards or letters each year?

happy christmas!

my long weekend in pictures: idaho edition.

{driving thru snoqualmie pass to start our roadtrip from seattle to boise. luckily we had dry roads!}

{crossed over the 45th parallel. even though we were driving farther away from the north pole, it seemed fitting that this sign said north pole. very festive!}

{my two teams went head-to-head in the las vegas maaco bowl game on saturday. #gobroncohuskies the broncos pulled out a win but it was an awfully close & nerve-racking game.}

{i caught up on magazines during half-time. thanks for saving all your mags for me mom!}

{my mom & i made caramel this weekend. twice. it keeps coming out too hard. any suggestions on how to make soft, chewy caramel?}

{watched the seahawks destroy the 49ers. happy for the victory & happy we weren’t in seattle for all of that rain!}

{merry christmas eve from my parents’ house!}

we have had such a wonderful weekend in boise. my being so relaxed has directly resulted in the very few pictures for this weekend post – my apologies! i hope you have had a wonderful pre-christmas weekend too! how was your weekend?

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 fresh coat of paint: bedroom edition.

over thanksgiving break, our other big painting project {in addition to the bathroom} was our bedroom.

our bedroom’s original color was yellow with yellow trim. yep, lovely. {thankfully, our bedroom has the 11 foot ceilings & picture rail like our living room.}

it took me a long time to figure out what color i wanted in this room. i tend towards grey {& deliberately chose not to paint our living room grey as it is the biggest space in our house} but i wanted to brainstorm a little more & not go for something so easy. at the same time, i wanted to keep the color pretty neutral as it is the place we sleep, as well as match the citrine color of the new roman shades.

it took until we were at the paint counter at lowe’s actually buying the paint for us to finally figure out the color. the winner was woodlawn sterling blue from valspar which is a light blue-grey. this color is also part of its national trust historic color collection as is the carolina inn club aqua by valspar color of the living room. i used the allergy & asthma paint which is a little spendy, but highly, highly recommended. i have used this paint all over the house – it is no VOC & has great coverage.

after priming the trim & walls, & painting on the wall color, we finally had beautiful not-yellow walls!

the pictures really don’t do the room justice – it is so awesome in person {not that i am biased or anything}.

we still have to finish painting the insides of the windows {requires warmer weather} & also finish painting the closet doors, but just the paint on the walls is a vast, vast improvement!

have you updated the color in a room recently?

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?

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie got a christmas scarf & was posing in front of her christmas stocking.}

{it is fun to get packages in the mail this time of year that aren’t christmas presents!}

{got my stocking stuffer shopping done on friday night at the u village, including a stop at madewell. boy is it hard to walk past cute things for me that are 30% off when i am supposed to be shopping for other people!}

{the christmas cards keep rolling in – love it!}

{aaron made a delish pizza on friday night – half veggie, half bbq chicken.}

{there was lots of wrapping of presents this weekend.}

{on saturday we took a family trip down to ikea! it is amazing how fast you can get thru the store if you don’t stop & look at everything.}

{this is how sadie spent her time while i worked on some pinterest christmas crafts.}

{the holiday party we attended on saturday night included a “bite” contest – this was the first round. yum!}

{this 10 foot santa was quite the sought-after present at the greedy gift exchange. we lost the santa, but came home with a snowman right out of the 80s.}

we had a busy weekend filled with last-minute holiday errands & lots of holiday socializing with friends in town. we had a blast, but need another few days to re-coup! luckily this is a short work week for both of us. can you believe that christmas is next week? where did december go? how was your weekend?