Top Decoration

I have had a lot of questions about how I painted the scallops in Ellison's bedroom, so I decided to do a tutorial.

Two things you should know first:

1. I do not at all claim that this is the easiest way of going about painting scallops!
This is just my way!
If any of you have an easier, more efficient system, by all means...share your knowledge!

2. I apologize in advance for the pictures of my process. They were taken at night under terrible lighting, but this is all I've got!
The reason they were taken at night is because that is when I do my painting. Yep - that's my secret! With three small kids running around, it is pretty much impossible to get any kind of painting done during the day, so once everyone is tucked soundly in their beds, that's when my paint brushes come out!
In the case of Ellison's bedroom, I had her in her pack-n-play in my bedroom so that I could get her room done!

Whatever works, right?

Now that my disclaimer is out of the way, onto the how-to...

You will need:

a level (a long one),

a pencil (or something to mark on your walls),

a saucer (or a round object that fits the size that you want your scallops to be),

and painters tape

First, I used the painter's tape to create a center line on the saucer. The top edge of the tape divides the saucer exactly in half. This is important because...

...the points where the tape wraps around the back are the marks that you will use to line up your scallops. If you haven't created perfect half-circles your scallops will look "off".

...and here...

Once I had traced my saucer all the way around the room, I grabbed my paintbrush and filled them in with the pink...

And then...did it again.
It needed two coats...

It was A LOT of work, but when it comes to kids rooms, I'm more of a "Go big, or go home!" kind of person, so doing this was completely worth it to me!

Once they were done I felt like they were good, but....missing something.

So each scallop got a polka-dot above each point...

I did the polka-dots by using one of these...

...in the absolute smallest size I could find. I wanted the dots to be dainty and petite.

A little helpful tip about these pouncers:

Swirl. Don't dab! And make sure that you swirl a complete circle.

Trust me on this one!
It will save you the frustration and agony of having to wipe fresh dots off your walls for re-do's!

I love how the scallops and polka-dots turned out!


So much, in fact, that many months later I decided to add more...

I needed something to draw your eyes up when you walked into the room...

I love polka-dots. She loves polka-dots!

It was a natural choice!

I did these dots using a sponge pouncer (or whatever they are really called) as well, but in a much larger diameter. And the same goes for these...make sure to do a full swirl! That's the secret to achieving a perfect circle!

And that's it!

If I left something out, let me know! I would be happy to answer any questions!

Oh - and if anyone goes for it (a couple of you have already told me you're ready to do it right now), come back and let me know! I would love to see your pictures!

Good luck and happy painting!





P.S. The colors in her room are by Behr.
The pink is called Primrose Bouquet #PPL-43
The green is called Palm Breeze #420E-2

I should preface this post by saying that after having two boys, I was certain that I was never going to get my pink little girl. We were pretty darn sure that we were done after having two kids and I was learning to accept the fact that I would never be decorating a pink nursery for a baby girl of my own.

And then....in the summer of '05, I discovered that I was pregnant.

It was completely unexpected!

So, with some help from my friend, Jen, in AZ who came over and watched the boys, I took my husband out to dinner to tell him the news.

I handed him a present that said...

We were SO excited!

But I didn't dare hope that it was a girl.
I was certain it was going to be a boy.

At our 20 week ultrasound the tech told us that our baby was, in fact, a girl!

No way....

NO WAY!

It was hard to believe, but sure enough, 4 excruciatingly long months later, our sweet Baby Ellison arrived!
Perfectly Pink!

To say that I was "excited" would be an understatement.

And so began the introduction of the most feminine color into our home.

All of that being said,

Welcome to Ellison's room!

This was how we announced that we were pregnant to our family and friends.

I hand painted scallops all the way around her room.

And painted a polka-dot border up near the ceiling.

The yellow doll cradle was made for me by my grandparents when I was little.

Ellison's absolute favorite baby doll, Abby.

Notice the worn out copy of Cinderella that we read every night before bed.
It is well loved!

A picture of my mom on her 2nd birthday.

Ellison's Tea Party table.

I have to give credit to my husband - he made Ellison's bed! I had wanted to find a beautiful, old iron bed for her room, but he really wanted to make one for her. We designed it based off of a few different pictures that we had found and I love how it turned out.
And it is so much more special to have a bed made by her Daddy!


And, yes, I totally went over board on the pictures!

I just couldn't choose!


Thanks for taking the tour of Ellison's room!

I'm just waiting for the day when she says "Enough pink, already!"
I'm sure that day is coming...

But until then, pink it is!

.................................................................

To see more make-over's head on over to Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch where you will find tons of great inspiration!