A Little of This & That… Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family
A Little of This & That… Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

Man-Wrapping

A huge thank you to Kirsten over at 6th Street Design School for featuring our home during her Feature Friday series! I love this girl’s style and I’m so honored to be included.

Father’s Day in the States is tomorrow (eek) and if you are like me you are wrapping up gifts and adding ‘bacon’ to your last-minute grocery list for brunch.

Guys don’t expect much in the way of wrapping paper (do they even notice?) but here’s my simple solution for man-wrapping!

Man Wrapping | Simple Gift Wrapping Ideas for Dudes | PepperDesignBlog.com

This year for Dad’s Day, I found these neat handmade wooden iPad stands by Shuttenworks on Brickyard Buffalo (a daily deals site for Etsy-type stores… awesome!) for the Dads and Grandpas in our life.

Dad's Day iPad Stand Gift | PepperDesignBlog.com

Dad's Day iPad Stand Gift | PepperDesignBlog.com

Pretty cool, right? Nifty for watching/reading something on your iPad (like a recipe in the kitchen or scores to the game at your desk) while you’re preoccupied and don’t want to hold or prop it up.

But my real reason for this post is my shortcut for wrapping these guys (or anything for the Dads). So easy and very man-looking. I used a ‘Dad’ tag on all of these, but some are being changed to ‘Grandpa’ and the like.

Man Wrapping | Simple Gift Wrapping Ideas for Dudes | PepperDesignBlog.com

1. Cut a large strip of construction paper to wrap around your gift. 2. Use double sided tape along one edge. 3-4. Wrap gift in tissue (optional) 5. Wrap construction strip around gift tube-style and adhere the edges using the tape already applied. 6. Cut extra strips of paper for decor and to close up the opposite (and now open ends). 7. Wrap them around the gift perpendicular to the first wrap to close up the loose ends. 8. Decorate with Dad tags!

Man Wrapping | Simple Gift Wrapping Ideas for Dudes | PepperDesignBlog.com

To download the Dad labels that I created, open up this document and save the PDF to your computer. Happy wrapping!

Man Wrapping | Simple Gift Wrapping Ideas for Dudes | PepperDesignBlog.com

And happy, happy Father’s Day!!

Handmade Gifts for the Coffee Lovers!

Here is an easy gift idea that was inspired by a friend of mine who makes personalized bride & groom sharpie mugs as wedding gifts (so creative). I had a few white mugs left over from this chalkboard project and a few sharpies in fun colors, so Liv and I drew out (and painted) some fun designs to play around.

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

My favorites ended up being Liv’s gold sharpie marker creations and my geometric painted mugs. So easy! A great handmade gift for teachers (filled with treats) on a student’s last day of school, or for dads this Father’s Day.

Here’s how we made it happen.

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

I preheated the oven to 200 degrees and set the sharpie mugs inside for a couple of hours. Then I turned off the oven and waited until the mugs were cool enough to remove with bare hands, this left me with a permanent design on the mug.

For the gold mugs, I turned to my favorite metallic paint and used painters tape to mark out a geometric shape. The mugs each received 3 or so coats.

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

To capture that seamless line, score the edge of the painter’s tape with a utility knife (just like we did here).

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

Boom, perfect line.

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

Repeat with any other favorite colors, I used a teal acrylic as well. Baking the painted mugs didn’t make the paint any more permanent so I wouldn’t put these guys in the dishwasher but would hand wash instead. Also, be sure to not paint inside the mug.

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

DIY Gold & Teal Hand Painted & Sharpie Mugs | PepperDesignBlog.com

Coffee lovers unite!

PS More handmade gift ideas shared here. And more Father’s Day gifts right here!

Girls’ Room: Painting Progress! Walls and the Bookshelves

Thank you to Ikea Hackers for picking up Liv’s little kitchen

We have made some awesome progress in the girls’ new room (and just in the nick of time, right? please let me not go into labor tomorrow with my hallway full of furniture and toys…) including painting that new built-in bookshelf and the walls. You may have caught a sneak peek of the nursery paint samples or the wallpaper installation over on Instagram, but here are a few more photos to document the nursery transformation.

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

Kevin sprayed each bookcase using our Graco Magnum (also seen here) for that clean, brush free finish early one evening last week.

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

An alternative to a sprayer is using a small spongey roller designed just for cabinetry. I’m sure that once the bookcases are installed we’ll go back and make small touch ups using this technique which is a hair more time consuming but great for indoors (and when you don’t want to cover everything in plastic).

To be very honest, I’ve been having a hard time letting go of our current nursery. I’ve been looking forward to doing something special in this room for the new baby – and the girls together – and I love the inspiration board, but when it comes to actually painting the walls it has been a struggle.

Liv's Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

So many happy memories in this space! But they are well documented…

Speaking of painting walls, do you ever suffer from paint-sample-paralysis? It’s this terrible problem I have… and I hope I don’t suffer alone. I go from choosing too many paint samples at the store:

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

To staring at them on the wall for a few days in various lighting…

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

(New wallpaper sneak peek!)

To very shortly a wall that looks like this because I begin mixing them all together (which is a TERRIBLE idea because the paint stores can really never color match that correctly).

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

The ultimate decision paralysis.

And then guess what? I end up not choosing any of those options. I finally settled on Hot Springs Stone (by Benjamin Moore) but color matched to mix into an Olympic Elite gallon. That’s a no VOC, paint and primer in one that does a terrific job of keeping coats to a minimum. The below white sprayed primer spots are where we really needed another top coat to help cover a few dark spots form the multiple (!) samples and a patched picture frame.

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

Looks uncannily similar to the previous paint on the walls when I was sure I was going bright white or a dark, dark griege. But now that the paint is up I couldn’t be happier! It is MUCH better than the previous tan (this one is more rosy/grey rather than yellow) and plays so well with the lighting. Which is a good thing because it’s not getting repainted any time soon.

So now here’s a little dilemma… Kevin and I both love this little tree on the wall so much and we’re trying to figure out a way to keep it. But is it awkward that it is cut off with the new bookcase? (not installed yet, just up for the photo). The owl is sort of peeking out in a cute way, but he also looks like he’s accidentally chopped in half.

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com

We might keep it for a while and see if the tree blends in well with the rest of the space. Maybe it will? Maybe it will look odd… Now I just need to go and trace its branches a little more carefully…

Painting the Nursery | PepperDesignBlog.com


Next up: wallpaper, bookcase installation, a changing table makeover, an upholstered big bed for Liv and so much more… the fun continues!

PS More nursery progress here!

PPS Speaking of nurseries and babies, how cute is this bump? I would like to request that cuteness the next time around.

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