DIY Eucalyptus Garland

Merry Christmas! I was busy over the weekend putting the finishing touches on our decorations. Even though it feels like I put up less and less each year, I still somehow end up bombing our entire house with boxes, wrapping, general Christmas messes of all kinds, and leaves. So many leaves. 

The good news is, we have almost completely dug ourselves out from under it (though my office may need to be declared a national disaster area), and I have a super sweet and easy little DIY to share.

DIY Eucalyptus Garland

Time: 45 Minutes

Cost: $12

Skill Level: Intermediate 

Patience Level: Beach Read

Supplies:

Lightweight Fresh Greenery

Twine 

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Wall Hooks

Instructions:

The greenery I used for this garland is called Silver Dollar Eucalyptus. The only place I've ever seen it (without a yucky sprayed on blue-ish color coating) is at Trader Joe's. They also usually have Seeded Eucalyptus this time of year, which would be a lovely substitute or in combination. For my garland, I used TWO $2.99 bunches.

- Begin by deciding where you are going to hang it and cut a length of twine to fit your space. I knew I wanted to drape this garland over the bed in a bit of a "tent" pattern, so I made sure to allow enough twine for the swags.

- Next, cut the bottom of the stems off each spring of eucalyptus, so that each piece has leaves all the way to the end of it.

- You're going to glue the stems end-to-end along the twine. Start at one end of the twine and work your way to the other, keeping the stems going in the same direction. To hide the end of the twine, glue it to a leaf. As you work your way along, wind the twine through and around the leaves for an organic, casual feel. Dot the glue every 4 or so inches along each branch and try to place it in the more substantial parts of the branch, like where the leaves shoot off. 

- Overlap the branches just slightly so that leaves cover the ends of the stems.

- Once it starts getting long, you can lay it out along the floor to keep from getting tangled.

- You can change the direction of the last branch or two so that the open end of the twine can again be covered with a leaf, and you don't have a bare stem ending the garland.

- For hanging, I used 3M Command Hooks to create a pattern on the wall. I half-heartedly used a tape measure and mostly eyeballed it since the branches aren't perfectly straight anyway.

- Loosely fold the garland in half so you find the middle and hang it from that point on your center hook. Then you can hang one side at a time. Adjust as necessary.

Aaaaand scene. It's really simple and quick, and smells wonderful! It is also long-lasting. The color will lose its minty blue hints and fade to a more sage green over time. My sprigs from last year stayed in a vase looking lovely (without water) for months.

My daughter has already called dibs on this garland for her room after Christmas. She has also demanded I switch rooms with her, because she likes mine better. I'm not going to lie to you, that's probably the best compliment I can get on a project. :)

Enjoy the season!

DIY Summer School // Sprayed Gold Leaves

Hi everyone and welcome to your LAST class of the designPost DIY Summer School Series. I'm sad it's over! Today's theme is 'Found in Nature.'

In true last-day-of-school fashion, today's lesson is so easy, it's downright lazy. Two instructions: Find a leaf, and spray paint it gold. Boom, DIY!

Now since you know I can't help it, I'll give you more detail about how I did mine, but if you are a skip-the-words-read-the-pictures kind of blog reader, you can cut class now and feel confident you've already got the gist of it.

First of all, this project was inspired by two things: 1) My inability to keep house plants alive, and 2) Mari Orr on Instagram. A while ago, she posted a picture of a gold spray painted leaf in the #foundforaged feed, which fittingly inspired my friend Traci to comment, "Paint all the things gold!" Yes, yes, let's do that. (By the way, if you love art and want crazy amounts of inspiration, follow Mari on Instagram. Her feed is a delight to the eyes).

Anyway, around the same time, I was posting about my rubber plant and its sad and untimely demise. It was a slow process - probably 9 months in total- but the plant went from a robust green beauty to two sad and spindly sticks pointing wickedly out of the dirt, like the tsking fingers of a petrified teacher shaming me from beyond the grave. But I had a plan. I was collecting the leaves as they fell, letting them brown and curl, dry and harden, as I imagined painting all the things gold. (Careful readers will remember me promising I had a plan when I defended the Dead Plant of Terror's continued presence in my old bedroom. Today's DIY is that plan! And new readers will have fun clicking that link and playing I-Spy for the plant's cameo...so long as you promise to go here afterward, so I can prove to you I don't live like that anymore).

So, to clarify the process for the DIY-er's who need very specific instructions, here are the steps:


1. STEP ONE: SLOWLY MURDER A RUBBER PLANT

Yep, let the leaves fall off one by one and just leave them on your floor to brown, dry and harden.

Cautionary note: Communicate your plans to your husband, who might otherwise throw them away, thinking he's helping out around the house, only to be met with your near hysterical meltdown and frantic clawing through a garbage bag.

I am sure this project can be done with any number of leaves, but I can't imagine one more perfect than the rubber plant's. The texture and curled patterns that the naturally dried leaves take on are beautiful, and so diverse from leaf to leaf!

Also, for those of you who are too horrified to read any further at this point, you could just get a rubber plant and try to keep it alive. They are lovely plants and naturally shed a leaf or two from time to time, even when healthy. :)

However you choose to do it, grab a leaf and you're all set to start this project.

2. STEP TWO: LACQUER THE LEAF (OPTIONAL)

When I painted my bedroom nightstand, (the one New Readers just saw when they clicked the link absolving me from bedroom shame), I had a jar of Americana Decor Chalky Paint Lacquer left over. (Sorry I can't find it online- I bought mine at Hobby Lobby). I decided to use it on my leaf before spray painting, because I wanted to fix some hairline cracks and make the leaf as durable as possible.

If you're going to display this up high and out of reach, this isn't a necessary step. But since I didn't know if I might want to use it to hold paperclips, business cards, or as a ring dish, I thought it best to shore up its strength as much as I could before painting it. The lacquer I used was on the pricey side at $10 a jar, so I think Mod Podge would work just as well. I just used what I had on hand.

Make sure you spread the lacquer extremely thin. The leaves have a wonderful striped texture that is reminiscent of these lovelies and you'll want to preserve it. Don't slop a ton of clear coat on, or the texture won't show through under your paint. A large paint brush stolen from your kids' art drawer will suffice.

3. STEP THREE: SPRAY PAINT THE LEAF GOLD

Having tried every gold metallic spray paint on the market, I will agree with every blogger who has ever told you that Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold is the only way to go. The finish is gorgeous.

Give your leaf several light coats. I did four coats, each 15 minutes apart, to achieve my color.

One trick I use to spray paint small objects is to set them inside a box instead of laying them on flat cardboard. The lid flaps keep the paint from flying all around, and you can easily carry it inside to dry (helpful when the garage is humid on a Chicago summer day).

4. STEP FOUR: DISPLAY!

I actually tried the lacquer again over the top after painting, thinking it would seal everything, but all it did was change the finish to a sickly shade of green. In the end, I haven't needed anything on top of the spray paint. I've used the leaf a few different ways (though I think it's best suited to sitting on top of books and looking pretty), and the paint hasn't come off at all.

So, style away!

Well, team, that does it for DIY Summer School. It's been a privilege to be included with this group of bloggers, and my heartfelt thanks goes to Beth of designPost Interiors for creating this series and inviting me to be a part of it.

I'd love for you to follow Avery Street Design Blog on Bloglovin' (or sign up on the right side bar to have posts come to your inbox) so we can stay in touch. Kind of like waiting until the end of the school year to friend your teacher on Facebook so it isn't awkward. Wait, do kids ever do that? You can also find me on Instagram and Pinterest.

And now, for the last time, let's head off to the other teachers of DIY Summer School and see what they've been up to!

DIY Summer School brought to you by:

Beth, designPOST interiors

Jennifer, Dimples & Tangles

Claire, Claire Brody Designs

Mallory, Charming in Charlotte

Lindsey, Lindsey Brooke Design

Kevin, Thou Swell

Sarah, Life on Virginia Street

Laura, Avery Street Design

Featuring these DIY themes:

June 4th: IKEA Hack

June 18th: Thrifting

July 9th: Wildcard

July 23rd: Craft Store

August 6th: Hardware Store

August 20th: Found in Nature

DIY Summer School // Updating Doorway Trim

Hi Team! Welcome back to DIY Summer School, created and hosted by my dear Beth of designPost Interiors.

Today's theme is "Hardware Store," and Ryan and I certainly see plenty of the ol' Depot. We have been focusing on updating the architecture of our builder's basic 1991 house (slowly but surely). Beefing up the baseboards and door & window trim, along with replacing the interior doors, is making it feel like a new house entirely.

Today I'm going to share with you how to trim an interior doorway, using a classic trim design. We settled on this style because it has a nod to history but also works well with the more minimal interiors of today. And I love it!!

** Note, this is for a pass-through interior doorway without a door. There's a little different procedure for the inside frame if you're putting on a door, but the outside trim would be the same.

TRIM PIECES:

Across the top: EverTrue 5.5" x 8' Interior Flat Trim (Qty. 1)
Along the sides: 3.5" x 8' Composite Trim (Qty. 2)
Crown: 1-5/8" x 8' PVC Composite White Crown Moulding (Qty. 1)
Inside Door: Door Frame Kit (Qty. 1)

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Caulk (we use DAP Dynaflex in white)
Semi-Gloss Paint (we use Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic color matched to Martha Stewart Pure White)
Finishing Nails
Lightweight Spackle
Lightweight Sandpaper
Shims (optional)

SUGGESTED TOOLS:

Compound Miter Saw
Caulking Gun
Air Compressor
Nail Gun
Crowbar (if removing existing trim)


1. STEP ONE

Remove any existing trim with a crowbar. Our doorway started like this, with plain ugly drywall:

2. INSTALL DOOR JAMB KIT

The kit comes with instructions for you to follow. You will cut the pieces to size. Use shims if needed to make it even and plumb. Use the nail gun to nail it in place.

3. INSTALL SIDE CASING

Cut each piece of side trim (3.5" wide) so that it is 1/4" higher than the bottom of the jamb. This shows the height of the side piece compared to the top of the doorway:

The side piece should overlap the door jamb so that about 1/4" of the jamb remains uncovered, like this:

Nail the sides in place. Lay a level across the top of both sides so that you make sure they are installed at the exact same height.

You can see from this picture how these sit on the floor- we didn't do anything fancy around the bottom:

4. INSTALL TOP CASING

Cut the piece of 5.5" trim for across the top so that the ends match up with the outside edges of your side pieces. Again, leave 1/4" of the door jamb showing. Use a level to make sure it's straight and then nail into place.

5. INSTALL CROWN

This is the only real tricky part of this project. You need to know how to use a compound miter saw. If you're like me, with absolutely no spacial reasoning skills and no hope of ever knowing how to use a compound miter saw, maybe you would like the look of this door trim without the crown moulding? Or maybe you have a handy neighbor. Thankfully I have Ryan. For the rest of you who are like him and capable of figuring this out (you lucky dogs), here is what you need to know:

Your piece is 45 x 45. You're doing an outside corner and you need to put on a 90-degree angle. The miter adjustment is 35.26 and bevel adjustment is 30.

Here is an excellent tutorial with graphics and explanations for how to use a miter saw and how to cut crown:

How to Use a Miter Saw & Cut Crown Moulding by Dewalt

Ryan's tips are: Use a scrap piece to practice, and if it goes wrong your piece is probably upside down. :)

Once the front and sides of your crown are cut, place the front along the top of your top casing, with the bottom of the crown about 1/2" below the top of the casing. Nail it into place by driving your nails straight through the bottom, so they attach it to the casing. Start with the center nail and then do 2-3 nails on either side, evenly spaced. The nails go in straight, not at an angle.

Then fit your sides in, and nail them into place with one nail each. You can glue these instead of nailing them if you feel more comfortable. Just use wood glue.

In this example, the star by Ryan's thumb represents the part of the crown where the nails go.

Here is how it will look from the top:

6. CAULK THE SEAMS

Use caulk and a caulk gun to fill the seams- aaaaaalll the seams. You need to hit the inside and outside edges of the top and sides, all the seams where the trim pieces meet, and underneath the crown where it sits against the casing. The best thing about caulk is that if your crown corners didn't meet up perfectly (or if there is a gap) the caulk covers a multitude of sins. Caulk will make your door look so much better. It is a critical step in all trim work, and though mind-numbingly time consuming, it will be your best friend.

7. FILL THE NAIL HOLES

Use spackle to fill the nail holes. Ryan uses the kind that goes on pink and turns white when it's dry. Once it's dry, lightly sand it so that it doesn't leave visible patches that will show through your paint.

8. PAINT 

Paint your new trim with a semi-gloss finish paint.


And you're done! It's definitely tricky with the crown if you're unfamiliar with doing it. But the end result is sooo incredible, especially compared to how our doors in this house started out. Just to give you an idea, here's a shot of a current door (in real time!) that's waiting in line patiently for new trim:

Shudder! One at a time....one at a time. Soon (or I should say eventually, someday), they will all be bright, white and pretty:

Let's see what the other DIY Summer-Schoolers have done with hardware store wares. I'm so curious! Check them out!

DIY Summer School brought to you by:

Beth, designPOST interiors

Jennifer, Dimples & Tangles

Claire, Claire Brody Designs

Mallory, Charming in Charlotte

Lindsey, Lindsey Brooke Design

Kevin, Thou Swell

Sarah, Life on Virginia Street

Laura, Avery Street Design

Featuring these DIY themes:

June 4th: IKEA Hack

June 18th: Thrifting

July 9th: Wildcard

July 23rd: Craft Store

August 6th: Hardware Store

August 20th: Found in Nature

Link up below and/or show us your hardware store DIY's with #DIYSummerSchool on Instagram. We love to see what you're up to!

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DIY Summer School // Fabric Covered Bulletin Board

Welcome back to DIY Summer School! Today's theme is "Craft Store" and I've chosen to share with you one of my favorite DIY projects: The fabric wrapped bulletin board in my home office. I've been wanting to properly share the instructions with you for, like, ever so once again a huge thanks goes to Beth of designPost interiors for inviting me to this series and giving me the motivation!

I first noticed a board like this in the Ballard Designs catalog all the way back when I started this blog. I knew I needed to have it, but unfortunately it was like $300- that's insane. (And it's since sold out anyway).

Then I saw a version in the ridiculously gorgeous apartment of Alaina Kaczmarski from The Every Girl and it dawned on me I could probably make it. I pulled an old bulletin board out of the basement, bought some duck cloth, nailheads and spray adhesive, and went to town. It worked like a charm.

And guess what? I started to write up the tutorial for you, and then happened to see that Alaina had actually done one! And I had made mine the exact same way she did. So, rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I'm just going to send you to Alaina's for a minute to get all the details:

DIY Nailhead Bulletin Board Tutorial by Alaina Kaczmarski

Then come back here and jot down these tips:

• A solid color fabric without any obvious straight lines or patterns will be more forgiving of any slight crookedness as you apply. Trust me from experience, a pattern that you have to line up perfectly straight, like stripes or trellis, will drive you crazy forever if you don't get it right.

• Start in the center of the fabric and work your way out to smooth the wrinkles. The spray adhesive doesn't dry immediately so you have some time to pull up the fabric and re-stretch it if you need to.

• I used a yard stick to space the nailheads evenly. Just lay the stick alongside the frame and use it as a rough guide to space the nailheads about an inch apart. 

• Use the inside edge of the frame as a guide to make the line of nailheads straight. If the edge of each nailhead just slightly touches the frame, your line will be perfect.

• Make sure you place a nailhead in each corner (even if you have to get slightly off in your spacing). If there isn't one in the corners, they'll look rounded when you stand back to look at it.

• Once the nailheads are down, you can spray a little more adhesive on the frame.

• I used a nail gun to attach the fabric to the back of the bulletin board and it worked perfectly. 

• Here's a detail shot of how I folded the corners (I basically did a hospital fold like when you're tucking the corners of your sheets at the end of your bed):

• To keep the staples from scratching the wall, I covered them with duct tape on the back. It might not be the prettiest but it does the job well!

Alrighty, those are my tips. Like I said, you can visit Alaina at Live Creating Yourself for the full supply list and step by step tutorial. This is one of my favorite things I've done and it was so cheap and simple. It took less than an hour, and you can get all the supplies you need in one stop at your local craft store. And then you can set out to decorate it! (The best part of all).

 The most fun thing is changing it seasonally with new inspiration and the colors that I'm currently craving.

For more DIY & decor inspiration, follow Avery Street Design on Bloglovin'!

Now before you race to Hobby Lobby, be sure to check out today's other craft store themed DIY's!

DIY Summer School, brought to you by:

Beth, designPOST interiors

Jennifer, Dimples & Tangles

Claire, Claire Brody Designs

Mallory, Charming in Charlotte

Lindsey, Lindsey Brooke Design

Kevin, Thou Swell

Sarah, Life on Virginia Street

Laura, Avery Street Design

Featuring these DIY themes:

June 4th: IKEA Hack

June 18th: Thrifting

July 9th: Wildcard

July 23rd: Craft Store

August 6th: Hardware Store

August 20th: Found in Nature

Bloggers, do you have a craft store project to share? Feel free to link it up below using the blue button! And as always, play along on Instagram by sharing your projects with #DIYSummerSchool. See you next time!

An InLinkz Link-up