merry christmas!

postcards from paradise pt. 2

e've been back from Hawai'i for a couple weeks and it kind of feels like it was all a dream!  A very good dream.  Also, looking at these photos is a little crazy because the day after we got home, Dan shaved his beard clean off!  Ah!  It was a little very unsettling.  I've gotten used to it now, but it's funny how different he looks in these photos!  I think if I lived in Hawai'i I'd have to make a living taking pictures of plants and cocktails, because both are just so much more pretty and vibrant in tropical climes.  But I probably shouldn't live in Hawai'i because I'm sure I'd drink way too many Mai Tais.  Too much of a good thing. I feel like we're itching for a change of scenery, Dan + I.  Between going to Hawai'i and having time to dream, and talking to people who have been inspirational, we've been talking a lot about moving or just traveling more.  We just chatted with one of Dan's old high school friends who just came back from living in NYC for two years and we were like, "Huh... we could do that, that'd be interesting, eh?"  It's nice daydreaming about living somewhere else for a bit, though I suspect that regardless of where our travels take us, we'll probably end up somewhere in the PNW.  Still, I don't want to spend my whole life in Tacoma.  As much as I love it, I need to stretch my legs and get out for a bit. 


 


 


 

gold in them thar hills

he story of these jeans goes all the way back to my very first year of blogging, actually the first few months!  Back then I didn't really do a lot of outfit posts yet, but I did a lot of sharing style images that really inspired me.  One of the outfits I fell in love with was this one shot from a Nylon magazine spread that I'm sure I found somewhere online of an actress wearing the most perfect outfit featuring gold painted jeans.  I was smitten and desperately wanted a pair, but couldn't find them anywhere, and I'm sure the pair they had in the magazine shoot were designer jeans that were well outside of my college student budget.  I had thoughts of DIYing them, but I never did and sort of forgot about it.  Flash forward SIX years and I'm browsing through ModCloth and lo and behold...  I scroll to the jeans.  Like, these are them you guys, they look exactly the same.  And bonus: they're my absolute favorite brand of jeans, Angry Rabbit!  I have two other jeans by them, both high waisted, which fit like a dream and when I got these I didn't even realize they were Angry Rabbit until I looked at the label.  Gold jeans can't be practical right?  Wrong.  I've worn these jeans probably 4 times since getting them, and they're actually so perfect for holiday parties right now.  They feel sexy and festive, but still a bit casual and definitely rock and roll.  

 


jeans/courtesy of modcloth :: top (similar)/cosette jacket (similar)/modcloth :: shoes/thrifted :: photos of me by Dan It's funny how my style has sort of come full circle.  I look at that post where I shared the image from Nylon and I love the vibe of all the images.  I think some people see finding personal style as an end goal, but I think the whole process is what's cool.   How all your influences, past and present, shape how you want to dress.  It's funny thinking back to 8th grade me, who really wanted blue hair, but didn't want to have to bleach her hair to achieve it.  By 9th grade my high school had changed the dress code so no "unnatural" hair colors were allowed and I gave up on my blue hair dreams, but here I am now, at 28, rocking some blue(ish) hair!  Sometimes we feel like totally different people compared to our younger selves, but sometimes it's bizarre how much we stay the same.  And speaking of staying the same, look who has two thumbs and cut bangs again!  This girl.
  

Hexagon Painted Wall Mural Tutorial | Tacoma Mural Artist

've been painting my living room slowly over the last year and a half.  The first thing I did was paint two of the walls white, then I painted my big chalkboard wall, but I still had one wall left.  It was still the boring, dingy beige that was there when we moved in.  I knew I wanted some kind of pattern or statement, but nothing too crazy because I already had a huge black wall.  When 

The Home Depot

 and 

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

 contacted me seeing if I'd be interested in doing a painting project in collaboration with them, I knew this was the perfect time to finally finish my living room!  I love how it turned out!  It's clean and neat, and a statement but not visually overwhelming.  I picked some muted, pastel 

Behr® paint

 colors so it wasn't too bold.  I'd already painted the door bright yellow so I wasn't sure if the muted colors would clash, but I love how the door stands out and is still in the same color family as the yellow hexagons.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

Behr® Premium Plus Ultra™ Paint

- I used: I used: Glacier Bay #500A-1, Citrus Hill #200B-4, Bee Pollen #390B-5, Chocolate Froth #720C-2, and Simple Silhouette #790B-5

Wooster®

 Pro 

brush

Scissors

Pencil

Cardboard

DIRECTIONS:

1. Decide on your pattern.  I used photoshop to mock up how I wanted my design to look on the wall and which colors would go in each hexagon.  This also helped determine how big I wanted to make my hexagon template.

2. Create your hexagon template.  It's pretty easy to make a hexagon, but you'll want to make sure it's pretty close to perfect so that your pattern doesn't get wonky.  I used

this super easy little tutorial

with a makeshift compass.  My hexagon ended up being 13 inches from tip to opposite tip (diameter of the original circle drawn). Cut the template out of some cardboard or other sturdy material to trace around.

3. Draw the outlines to the hexagons using a pencil.  Make sure your hexagons are level.  I leveled the first one and then outlined about 4 or 5 and checked the level again, just to make sure I wasn't getting off level.  In each hexagon I lightly wrote the color that would be painted inside.

4. Using your  

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

, outline the hexagons that aren't directly next to each other.  Since these hexagons are directly butting up against each other, you'll have to wait for the paint to dry so you can mask off the one next to it.  I masked as many hexagons as possible and painted the color that was written inside using my Behr paint.  Each hexagon got two coats of paint.

5.  Because I had to wait for each hexagon to dry before taping the one next to it, this project took a little longer, but I'm super happy with how it looks.  As soon as I painted the second coat on a hexagon I'd remove the tape and allow it to dry.  This project took three days to complete with the time required to wait for paint to dry.  I let the paint dry about 2 hours between coats, as recommended by 

Behr®

.

I have to say I was skeptical about how good the Edgelock tape would

really

be in comparison to the regular painters tape I usually use, but I was super happy with how precise my edges were.  I didn't have to fix any leaks and the edges were

so

sharp and clean.  I used the

Delicate Surface Painter's Tape

, but 

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

 has

a guide that can help pick

the right tape for your project surface.

I am proud to be a 3M, Behr®, and Wooster® - sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate products. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me. Thanks for supporting those companies that keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking!

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five homemade christmas treats!

t's Christmas week!  That's totally a thing right?  Christmas week?  It's like how you get a whole week for your birthday, right?  Right.  Since I'm sure we'll all be indulging in a few seasonal treats this next week I thought I'd share some of my favorite holiday recipes from Christmases past.  Do you have a favorite holiday treat?  When I was a kid we used to get these Santa cookies every year from one of my grandparents' good friends.  Each year she'd make these big Santa sugar cookies and frosted them with some delicious frosting to look just like Santa.  I always loved opening the package from her and getting our yearly Santa cookie.  There's just nothing quite like a home baked goodie.  People say that they can taste the love baked in, which can sound silly, but sometimes I think it's true.  
Nowadays I'd say that my favorite holiday treats are boozy holiday beverages.  One of my favorites this year has been Mulled Cider with a splash of whiskey.  Hot Buttered Rum and Eggnog are also some great drinks and adding peppermint schnapps to hot cocoa is one of our holiday traditions!
Above: Homemade Eggnog


Peppermint Fudge


Christmas Cookies


 
Candy Cane Mug Hangers


Homemade Peppermint Schnapps