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Entertaining With Emily

Although my design background is in interior architecture, I am a creatively-obsessed, hands-on DIYer mostly because I have an insatiable need to alter everything, just a bit. I never met a can of spray paint I didn’t like!

Okay guys, I’m really embarrassed to admit a couple of things in this post, but here it goes! First off, I’m finally going to admit I’m that mom—the mom who hates the thought of the walls in my home being plastered in my kids’ artwork. There, I said it. But it sounds awful, right? […]

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Catch the Wave! Maverick’s Big Boy ‘Cali Surf’ Room Update

Three and a half years ago (tear…), I posted photos of Maverick’s Nautical Nursery, which I had designed.  I used a pale blue and white color palette and accented the room with sailing decor – sailboats, a boat helm, anchors, and other nautical elements. I adored this room!!!  Cut to three and a half years later – Maverick is now a busy boy, and we decided that it was finally time for a big boy bed!  I wanted to change up his room slightly, but not a full on overhaul. Think of it as a mini-makeover of sorts.  I wanted to keep the same paint on the walls, curtains, carpet, and sofa.  I thought long and hard about a type of room that I could make for him while still keeping with his original color scheme for the most part when finally it hit me!
When Maverick when born, a friend of mine had given me a book called, quite simply “Maverick’s”.  It’s a book about the aforementioned surfing location in northern California and how its huge winter waves attract the world’s best big wave surfers.  I’d had this book sitting on a shelf in Mav’s nursery, and when I was looking to do an update for his room, I knew that this could be a great starting point for a theme! A California Surf themed room for our Maverick would be perfect!  I mean, why not? His name is Maverick, we live in California, he loves the beach, and maybe someday he’ll love to surf!
Like I said before, I only wanted to change out accessories and decor for his big boy room update.  I added in a darker navy blue color as well, in an effort to make his room seem less like a nursery.  We swapped out his crib for a full size bed, removed his baby changing table, moved his sofa/rocker, changed out hardware on the cabinets, and added new surf themed accessories and decor.
I love that his new bed has a coastal look to it, along with the “dogs on surfboards” sheets which Mav loves!  These items, along with awesome giant plush octopus, are all from Pottery Barn Kids.
Most of the decorative accessories were found at Homegoods.  They have a truly awesome “coastal’ decor section that I wanted to go bananas in.  I found the surfboard (the one above his bed) there.  It was painted in different colors and I simply repainted it to match his room.  I then re-used his rope name letters (which used to hang above his old crib) and mounted those to the surfboard.  It really gives them a completely different feel, but they still work with the theme of his room!
I did have some fun with a little DIY project I spied on Pinterest – I made the little mason jar with the VW bus, shell, sand, and palm tree in it.  Isn’t it cute?  Perfect for his nightstand.  I made sure to glue that lid shut, too!
I love how his whole room came together!  It’s proof that you don’t totally have to re-do a room to make it look like a different place.  The last picture in the reel shows the before in after of Maverick’s room!
xx,
Emily
 

Liesl’s 7th Birthday: An Under the Sea Bash

My daughter Liesl, is animal obsessed.  I mean, completely in love with animals of almost any kind.  For her 7th birthday party, she told me (almost 9 months in advance, mind you) that she wanted to have a mobile aquarium to come to our house for her next birthday!  Ok, I thought – well that’s a tall order, but I’ll see what I can do!  So, I got to work and found that I could, indeed, rent a “mobile touch tank and aquarium” from The Aquarium of the Pacific.  I booked the truck to come to our house, and Liesl’s ‘Under the Sea’ party theme was born!
Color Scheme: For Liesl’s Party, I  wanted to make it bright – as in, fluorescent bright!  I bought a TON of neon colored spray paint.  I used neon orange, yellow, hot pink, and aqua as the main colors of the party.  I love a brightly colored party, but this one really took the cake, so to speak!  I bought lots of starfish and seashells, and plastic coral for fish tanks, and spray painted everything in bright colors to match my color scheme.
Decor: I found aqua tulle fabric that was embroidered with aqua sequins that looked like a coral reef and sea grass.  I used this fabric as an overlay over top of some iridescent aqua fabric that resembled mermaid scales.  I also decorated the tables with my neon-painted starfish, seashells, and coral, and added ocean animal mylar balloon bouquets to the center of the tables.
Food Buffet Table: I had fun creating some ocean-themed food for the buffet table!  Seashells (shells and cheese), fish and chips (potato chips and goldfish), crab legs (carrot sticks), shark teeth and starfish (cheese wedges and star crackers), and an orange pepper octopus in a bed of hummus.
Cake and Dessert Table:  Liesl’s cake was by far, one of my favorite elements from the party!  I had the cake covered in blue marbled fondant to resemble ocean waves.  Then, I added a bunch of fondant ocean items – coral, sea grass, starfish, sea urchins, etc.  I loved the clamshell with the number 7 on the very top that was made by Les Pop Sweets.  Other sweets – clamshell sugar cookies, starfish cookies, and white chocolate seashell lollipops – were also on the dessert table. It was like a sugary sweet under the sea world of goodness!
Mobile Aquarium:  Many thanks to the Aquarium of the Pacific for bringing their mobile touch tank full of ocean animals – sea urchins, sea stars, sea stars, sand sharks, and more.  The kids had a great time touching and learning all about the sea life, and they even did a presentation in our backyard with shark jaws and a giant blow-up sea turtle.
All graphic signage items that I made for the party are available in my Etsy Shop, Entertaining with Emily!