Embellishments Kids

Alright Sports Fans! DIY- Do It Yourself Vintage Sports Jersey Chalkboard

2012-01-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

Whetherit hosts your favorite teams game schedule, a fan showing of schoolcolors or a personalized homage to your son's player number, my easyto create jersey chalkboard is a great addition to any sportsbedroom. It can be customized to support your favorite sport andteam colors. This project includes a recipe to create your owncustomized chalkboard paint. Combine this unique piece with my OopsyDaisy vintage sports art and you're set to reign as a champion sportsroom designer. Visit Oopsy Daisy's blog for complete DIY instructions.

Go Team!

-Aaron

Men Scan 2 Blog Hop - New Years Eve Treat Poppers

2011-12-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

Don't recycle your empty cardboard wrapping tubes just yet. If you're having a New Years Eve get together here's a great idea for either confetti or candy treat poppers. This is simple project that would be great to do with the kids.

My love of vintage carries through on these tissue
wrapped New Years Eve Poppers.

First, I needed to create some decorative papers in the color palette and with the textures I wanted. The portable Flip Scan © mobile scanner came in handy. I took it's cover off, flipped it upside down to direct scan silver glitter I spread in a shoe box lid. I also scanned some burlap, an old book and one of my wife's sweaters.

Because the scanner can be inverted you can lay it on
a variety of surfaces to direct scan.

My palette of decorative papers

I filled 4 inch cardboard tubes with a variety of treats.
Wrapped them in natural white tissue papers and tied off
the ends with various ribbons.

Scanned images from an old book, burlap, glitter and a knit sweater
combined with a few metallic papers complete the look.

I cut the decorative papers into a variety of strips for both wrapping the tissue tubes and to create folded pinwheels. I added some 12's and clip art of an old pocket watch. To add a little sparkle I daubed a few elements with hot glue and dipped them into silver glitter.

Our guests, especially the kids will enjoy the treats and we have nice festive poppers that will look great for our party and will coordinate with our Christmas decor that we love to keep up for New Years Eve.

Be sure to visit my fellow Men Scan 2 blog hoppers listed below. These guys have outlined some amazing projects for you.

Enjoy your Holiday and I wish you a Happy New Year!

-Aaron

P.S.

I'm excited to be able to offer you a coupon code for a discount on the Flip-Pal© if this little charmer is on your holiday shopping list. Coupon codes are valid on theirwebsite until December 22, 2011.
To receive $20 off the purchase of a Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner with Creative Suite Craft Edition DVD use coupon codeMS2CS11.

To receive $15 off the purchase of a Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner use coupon code MS2FP11.

Join my fellow Flip Pal bloggers of Men Scan 2

Suede Baum - http://suedesays.com/blog

Ken Oliver - http://kensworldinprogress.blogspot.com/

Martin Amado - http://www.martinamado.com/

Mark Montano - http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/

Men Scan Too - Flip-Pal Review and DIY Week 3

2011-12-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

A retro style Believe sign created using the stripes
from a painted cabinet and a scan of a venetian plaster wall.

I'm two weeks into my blog hop experiment with the Flip-Pal© mobile scanner. Last week I challenged it by taking it outdoors to scan garage siding and old fence boards to create a "reclaimed wood" look reindeer and frame http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2011/12/men-scan-2-blog-hop-flip-pal-review-and.html. The scanner runs on batteries and offers the option to remove the lid so you can direct scan any flat object. So, I thought I'd scan a few unusual things in the studio and use the images to create a vintage look Believe sign so Santa knows the Christensen family is ready and waiting.

Who would ever think that this funky painted cabinet's
stripes would come in handy for a craft project?

Being portable, you can hold the scanner to any surface no matter whether it's horizontal or vertical. I decided to scan my black and gray venetian plaster wall and an old funky cabinet I have. The plaster would be for Santa's black outline and fill, while the stripes from the cabinet would serve as the background for ol' Saint Nick. There would be no way to scan a wall or a piece of furniture using a regular scanner, so the Flip-Pal performed the unusual task.

I held the Flip-Pal© against the wall and scanned away.

A single scan from the Flip-Pal© had to be stitched together with
multiple scans to create the larger version below.

The stitching software is included with the Flip-Pal©. You simply highlight the files
to stitch and the software does the rest. It will automatically save
the new stitched version for you.

In order to replicate the cabinet stripes I had to make multiple scans, overlapping each one in order for the stitching software to weld them together.

Rather than trying to break the spine of my vintage clip art book
and force it into a regular scanner, I just dropped the Flip-Pal©
onto the page and scanned away.

Once I had the stitched stripes, captured the Santa image and the fill texture, I used my photo editing software to manipulate them all into the fun Believe image. I printed the image onto textured paper, spray mounted it to a piece of MDF, sanded the edges back and drilled holes for the tinsel ribbon. Once it was completely dry I gave it a light coat of decoupage medium to act as a sealer.

My cabinet stripes and venetian plaster walls are terrific
textures and patterns for this handmade Believe sign.

The lil' mobile scanner allowed me to scan a wall and a piece of furniture which is pretty cool and very effortless. The only issue I had with the scanning was the location of the "scan" button. Although it's conveniently located where your fingers can reach it, it's easily bumped resulting in an unwanted scan. But, it's not a big deal compared to the joy of scanning every vertical surface because you can!

Be sure to check in with my fellow Blog Hoppers, the talented Suede Baum - Fashion designer and TV personality from the Project Runway, Ken Oliver - The Accidental Crafter, Martin Amado - Interior designer and HGTV design host, and Mark Montano - Author of The Big Ass Book of Crafts, to see what they've come up with for this weeks hop.

I hope you Believe and enjoyed my little project for old Santa. I'm offering it as a free download to my Facebook Fans over on my Embellishments Page. May the Christmas Season bring you joy and happiness. I'll see you next Thursday for our final Men, Men, Men Scan too hop.

-Aaron

P.S.
I'm excited to be able to offer you a coupon code for a discount on the Flip-Pal© if this little charmer is on your holiday shopping list. Coupon codes are valid on theirwebsite until December 22, 2011.
To receive $20 off the purchase of a Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner with Creative Suite Craft Edition DVD use coupon codeMS2CS11.

To receive $15 off the purchase of a Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner use coupon code MS2FP11.

Join my fellow Flip Pal bloggers of Men Scan 2

Suede Baum - http://suedesays.com/blog

Ken Oliver - http://kensworldinprogress.blogspot.com/

Martin Amado - http://www.martinamado.com/

Mark Montano - http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/

Now, much like a superpower, with great power comes great responsibility. I choose to be a Man Scanner of virtue, only scanning, non-copyrighted or approved source materials. It would be very easy to take the power of the scanner to the dark-side and be an arch villain of copyright. As an artist that has been the victim of copyright theft I therefore ask that you please do the right thing and respect copyrighted works.
In full disclosure, I was provided a complimentary Flip-Pal© Mobile Scanner to use and review. Even though I've received this item for free, I will give you my honest opinion about it regardless, that's how I roll. I'd encourage you to explore the product's capabilities and features on your own to form your own opinion. I've been invited to participate in their affiliate program. By clicking through the links I've provided and making a purchase I may receive a small commission. Monies raised by affiliate programs are used to fund postage and offset costs related to our free give-a-ways and contests.

Men Scan 2 Blog Hop - Flip Pal Review and DIY Project

2011-12-07T20:53:00.001-08:00

RECLAIMED LUMBER FRAME AND HOLIDAY REINDEER DIY

It's been a week since my Flip-Pal© Mobile Scanner arrived and I've been putting it to the test. After a few field trips with traveling"pal" and some in-studio challenges, I'm happy to share with you a couple of fun DIY's.

The Flip-Pal© Mobile Scanner's most valuable feature to me, is the portability. It runs on four AAA batteries, which allowed me to take it everywhere, ready to scan when something caught my eye. I was also pleasantly surprised how well the image stitching software handled the unusual subjects of my oversized scans, which you will see further in this post. The removable cover allows for direct scanning of images by placing the face of the unit against your image source, which opens the door to all kinds of scanning possibilities.

To introduce the first DIY, using the Flip-Pal know that I specialize in designing and creating products for kid's rooms and children's spaces in addition to my work as a published artist. I wanted to create something for use in a child's room, utilizing scans of "reclaimed" lumber, which is a hot material in design right now! I placed the word reclaimed in quotes because some of the lumber didn't have to be reclaimed, I actually scanned it in place, by holding the scanner up against an old warehouse wall and a couple old garages in our Portland's 1920's bungalow neighborhood. Following the scanner's instructions I made multiple scans, overlapping them to enable the stitching software to assemble one larger image. This photo frame project is an easy one, perfect for crafting with your kids. It requires basic craft materials and abilities.

Having enjoyed putting together the reclaimed wood frame, I decided to add a second project and create a holiday reindeer wall hanging utilizing the same technique, to follow. I'm a big fan of vintage decor, so I catered the design to have a retro appeal. This second DIY requires use of power tools and a few specialty craft mediums.

DIY- RECLAIMED LUMBER LOOK FRAME

A decorative frame with a reclaimed lumber look. It's a perfect accessory for a boys room. Personalization would be easy to add and the color scheme could be tailored to suite your needs.

Materials list-

Simple pine frame blank, available at most craft stores $5.00 and under.

Matte decoupage medium

Raw umber acrylic craft paint

Chipboard or matte board

Brush, cutting blade knife, fine sandpaper and scissors

Glue Gun and glue sticks

Flip-Pal© mobile scanner

Remove the Flip-Pal scanner cover to utilize it's direct to surface scanning capability. Assemble your supplies.

Lightly sand your unfinished frame to remove burrs and minimize rough spots. Dilute the raw umber craft paint with water so it can be applied like stain to the frame's surface. Wipe excess paint off and let dry. Facing the scanner against the reclaimed wood of your choice, scan various spots of unique texture and paint effects. If you would like to utilize larger pieces follow the supplied instructions on overlapping your scans for the stitch software to assemble. Remove the supplied memory card, place it in the provided card reader/usb adapter and plug it into your computer. Follow the instructions for MAC or PC to download the scans. I imported the scanned images into my photo editing software and played with the colors and saturation to create the look and palette I wanted. I also reduced the size of the "boards" to better suit the scale of the frame. Print the finalized images on a quality text weight paper.

Cut the printed images into individual boards. Decoupage rows of your wood images in various lengths and thicknesses onto the frame, while staggering the ends. Leave gaps between the "boards" so the background's raw umber color shows through. You may want to layout your board rows before hand to achieve a color balance or just wing it and take your chances. Once the entire surface is covered, give it a final coat of decoupage medium, let dry. Adhere a "board" print to chipboard and let dry. Cut the covered chipboard into strips. Arrange those strips around the frames opening and cut to the desired lengths. Use hot glue to adhere the strips. If you choose to personalize the frame you could cut out letters from the board scans, also mounted to chipboard. Hot glue them in place.

DIY- RECLAIMED LUMBER, RETRO LOOK HOLIDAY REINDEER WALL HANGING

Materials list-
In addition to the items listed for the frame add:
Small glass ornaments to match
Small pine cones
Glitter
White Glue
Wire
Alcohol Inks- dark brown and black
Alcohol blending solution
Old soft hair brush
1/4 or 3/8's inch thick Mdf (medium density fiber board)

Tools-
Drill and small bit
Jigsaw or table top reciprocating saw
Safety glasses
Wire cutters

Image of Deer-

Download a larger PDF file of this silhouette here.

Print the deer silhouette. Utilizing tiled prints and tracing paper, projection or grid enlargement transfer the image in your chosen scale to the MDF board. While wearing safety goggles and observing proper tool safety, cut out the image using a power jig saw or a table top reciprocating saw. Sand the edges to remove burrs and smooth out any ragged cut marks. Dilute the raw umber craft paint with water until it's a stain consistency. Brush and wipe the color onto the MDF, removing any excess. Allow to dry. Draw a horizontal line across the body of the deer to use as a starting point for your decoupaging. This guideline will help start your rows off level. Decoupage rows of the images onto the frame in various thicknesses and lengths, akin to the instructions for the frame starting on the line. Continue decoupaging varying board lengths. Once completed apply a final coat of decoupage medium and let dry. Drill two holes to receive the hanging wire.

Like I mentioned earlier, I love the vintage look. If you don't have small antique ornaments lying around you can create your own. First sand small areas of the colored coating. Second apply diluted layers of black and brown alcohol stain to the ornaments using an old soft hair brush. You can reapply to build up layers or sand the dried ink back to achieve different looks. The alcohol stains also antique glitter and glass bead ornaments. Let dry. Remove any wires from the ornaments with wire cutters. Anchor your ornament collar by hot gluing the two outside ornaments first. Fill in with assorted ornaments, being sure to hide the hot glue within the arrangement. You could add metallic tinsel or jingle bells for variety or go with pine cones and whole tree nuts for a more rustic look.

Feed the wire through the holes and twist or braid it into a decorative look. While I like the look of the deer as is, for the purposes of this DIY, I added the glittered NOEL. There are a ton of options for this part. Use precut letters, cut them from your die cut machinery or create your own by hand. To do so, print in a light grey, the desired font in your chosen scale. Decoupage it to chipboard and let dry. Cut out the NOEL with a blade knife. In a small plastic bin pour a generous layer of the glitter of your choice. I chose vintage look aluminum tone glitter. Cover the face and sides of your NOEL with a generous layer of white glue. Immediately place the word face down into the glitter, pressing lightly to ensure good adhesion. Remove the word, tapping off any excess glitter and let dry.

If you'd like the antiqued glitter look brush the edges with the alcohol stain. Let dry. Hot glue the NOEL in its final position.

You could choose to not add the NOEL for a simpler look.

The NOEL adds that retro feel with it's flowing cursive font.

The reindeer would look terrific on a front door, leaning on top of a mantel or dangling from a cabinet's nob. You could cater the colors to match your color scheme utilizing photo editing software. Many of which are offered free online.

While I'm obviously in the honeymoon phase of my Flip-Pal© relationship and am truly in love with it for all the right reasons, my fellow Men Scan Too scanners and I will post each Thursday during December to reveal creations and blog about this little gem in review. Immediately, I'd like to encourage a power adapter option for those times when the scanner's size and convenience keep it indoors with an outlet close by. Otherwise I'm truly impressed, let's see how this baby handles what I have in store for next week....

Be sure to check in with my scan happy partners in blogging the talented Suede Baum - Fashion designer and TV personality from the Project Runway, Ken Oliver - The Accidental Crafter, Martin Amado - Interior designer and HGTV design host, and Mark Montano - Author of The Big Ass Book of Crafts.

Thanks for hopping with me, I'd appreciate your comments and feedback. Happy Holidays to you and your love ones!
-Aaron

P.S.
I'm excited to be able to offer you a coupon code for a discount on the Flip-Pal© if this little charmer is on your holiday shopping list. Coupon codes are valid on their website until December 22, 2011.

To receive $15 off the purchase of a Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner use coupon code MS2FP11.

To receive $20 off the purchase of a Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner with Creative Suite Craft Edition DVD use coupon codeMS2CS11.

Join my fellow Flip Pal bloggers of Men Scan 2

Suede Baum - http://suedesays.com/blog

Ken Oliver - http://kensworldinprogress.blogspot.com/

Martin Amado - http://www.martinamado.com/

Mark Montano - http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/

Now, much like a superpower, with great power comes great responsibility. I choose to be a Man Scanner of virtue, only scanning, non-copyrighted source materials. It would be very easy to take the power of the scanner to the dark-side and be an arch villain of copyright. As an artist that has been the victim of copyright theft I therefore ask that you please do the right thing and respect copyrighted works.
In full disclosure, I was provided a complimentary Flip-Pal© Mobile Scanner to use and review. Even though I've received this item for free, I will give you my honest opinion about it regardless, that's how I roll. I'd encourage you to explore the product's capabilities and features on your own to form your own opinion. I've been invited to participate in their affiliate program. By clicking through the links I've provided and making a purchase I may receive a small commission. Monies raised by affiliate programs are used to fund postage and offset costs related to our free give-a-ways and contests.

Men Scan Too! - A Men's Crafty Blog Hop

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

When author, TV personality and designer Kathy Peterson sent me an email saying she needs a man, I almost clicked the spam button. Sure, she and I are Facebook banterers keeping each other's spirits high with humor and accolades, but this proclamation had me perplexed. In reading further, that was just the tip of the iceberg, she needed five men. Now, before I lead you on too far and tarnish the respectable and admirable reputation of the talented KP, let me share with you her exciting idea.

In association with Flip-Pal ©, Kathy was assembling her team of Men, five men who create. Her invitation was for us to test drive the mobile scanner, that was awarded the Craft and Hobby Associations Innovation award in 2010.

The Flip-Pal© Mobile Scanner features battery operated portability and a removable front cover for on-the-go scanning.

To run it through it's paces with a different breed of animal, joining me are the talented Suede Baum - Fashion designer and TV personality from the Project Runway, Ken Oliver - The Accidental Crafter, Martin Amado - Interior designer and HGTV design host, and Mark Montano - Author of The Big Ass Book of Crafts.

While my resume of notoriety is dwarfed by these high profile men of design, Kathy knows that my magical world of Embellishments can put any product through a warfare of art and craft. I'll put it to the test and share with you how it does keeping up with kid's design, prop making and the overall theme overload we see here in the studio. I unwrapped mine today and have just begun to play with it.

Every Thursday during December, the guys and I will be updating our blogs with our Flip-Pal© experiences and sharing our creations. To keep with the "man" theme, I wonder if we all scan our manly abs, could we start a Men of Flip-Pal calendar? I better scan and crunch, scan and crunch
Crunch...1,2,3...Crunch 4,5,6... whew! Could I please have a stunt double, or an ab stand in?

Here are links to my cohorts.
Happy Hopping!
-Aaron

Suede Baum - http://suedesays.com/blog
Ken Oliver - http://kensworldinprogress.blogspot.com/
Martin Amado - http://www.martinamado.com/
Mark Montano - http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/

In full disclosure, I was provided a complimentary Flip-Pal© Mobile Scanner to use and review. Even though I've received this item for free, I will give you my honest opinion about it regardless, that's how I roll. I'd encourage you to explore the product's capabilities and features on your own to form your own opinion.

Blanket Forts and Toilet Paper Ghosts - Rosenberry Rooms Shares my Story

2011-11-15T11:16:00.001-08:00

Top children's retailer, Rosenberry Rooms recently interviewed me for their Very Rosenberry Blog. The owner Susie Fougerousse had some fun and interesting questions to pose. I enjoyed having the chance to share some behind the scenes stories and a little backstory on how my path as a children's designer began.

Take Your Cavities to the Theme Park

2011-10-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you for keeping your arms and hands inside the ride until your dental visit comes to a complete stop. It's not a phrase your likely to hear anytime soon, but we're getting closer, with the debut of our second and third installments in the Dentistry for Kid's theme room makeovers.

The themed Adventurer room at Dentistry for Kids, by Embellishments Studio.

The Adventurer room is combination of Safari, Exploration and Jungle themes. Created to look like a den of a world class explorer, the room features decorative paint finishes, mural work, ornate crown molding, shutters and faux bamboo shelving. The room is visited by several birds, a friendly giraffe and a mischievous monkey. All of which were sculpted in our studio. Visitors will notice a treasure chest, dinosaur skull, genie lamp and a tiki, all great acquisitions of the explorer.

The jungle and exploration themed dental office, designed and created by Aaron Christensen.

The dentist, Dr. Dustin James is a big Disney theme park fan, so I designed every piece to have that retro 1955 feel as if Walt himself, oversaw the installation. While I don't possess the technology to add animatronics, I hope visitors get the sense that the animals are smiling and wanting to share their stories of adventure.

Whimsical props handcrafted at Embellishments Studio complete the safari themed dental operatory.

The other recently completed room is the Bayou themed room. In this particular operatory our options were very limited by the lack of wall space, so we turned that negative into a positive and utilized the ceiling spaces as much as possible.

A hound dog and his swamp friends, greet the patients at Dentistry for Kids.

This sliver of 3 ft wall was the only area where we could bring the theme down in dimensional form with our cajun shack, featuring Elvis the hound and his firefly eating friend, the frog. The rest of the room adorned with mural work or the dimensional props are up on the ceiling. To utilize the ceilings we carried branches across, resembling mangrove and cypress trees. An old wooden boat, hoisted up into the trees became the timeworn home to two baby raccoons and a visiting blue crab.

A mural and three dimensional props, enhance the bayou themed dentist office.

A waterlily carrying mother opposum, watches her baby swing over the shack, lit by the swag of lantern lights that add to the ambiance.

Mommy opposum carries a waterlily in the old tree.

Out of her mommies reach the baby possum swings into action, above the swamp shack created by Embellishments Studio.

These two rooms are in addition to the Farm room we created earlier this year. It features a farm fresh helping of sculpted animals, mural work and sloppy piggy fun.

The farm themed operatory at Dentistry for Kids, by Aaron Christensen

Hand sculpted chickens are one of the many props used in the barn like interior.

The bees are all abuzz, creating honey in the farm themed dental office treatment room.

A mallard duck, pours a stream of water to keep the baby pig slipping and sliding down the wall. These props were designed and created by Aaron Christensen

The farm room was a off-shoot from the garden theme we created in the office waiting room, where a train visits various theme areas in different parts of the room.

The waiting room at Dentistry for Kids features a train that circles the room high up on the wall. The train visits three themed vignettes. This is the garden portion.

An old west, desert themed area features a silly rattlesnake, cacti and some gold nuggets for discovery.

The boardwalk themed area offers sandy cliffs, with sea life, a visiting gull and a backdrop of a pier amusement park.

When I was a kid, I think counting the individual holes in the acoustical tile and try not to breath the odor of drilled teeth were the only things to do. And, I am sure my experience were similar for a lot of kids. It's great to know that a whole new generation of children, not only get to experience my work in the office, but that the entire space is dedicated to their fun and having a positive memory.

Since it's opening Dentistry for Kids has had an overwhelming amount of requests that they see adult patients. It must be there hope to rewrite their not-so-good childhood experience and relearn that dentistry can be fun. Needless to say, the office is now accepting adult patients for both its kids and teen offices.

A Sweet Nursery Retreat - for the love of trees and birdies.

2011-09-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise that birds and trees are a very popular motif for nurseries. Nature is always welcome in spaces for children.

Birds have symbolism around the world and throughout history. The Owl embodies wisdom and virtue, the crane eternity, the eagle power and courage and the nightingale love. I'm not sure what the twitter bird stands for, maybe a short attention span. Regardless whether they be animated silly birds or decorative tweets on fabrics and furnishings they bring nature in and herald joy as in the joy of spring.

My client, whose gorgeous craftsman style home sits remotely out in the country, asked that I create a room befitting their home and thought a natural theme would compliment their style and their surroundings.

We settled on a design that featured poppies along the baseboard, a tree and some visiting birds. The colors of bedding and room accents varied from pale red, a mauve to an antiqued poppy orange.

The nursery had very high walls that followed the wood beam vaulted ceiling. To make the room more cozy and bring the viewers eye down we incorporated a tree mural.

To break the wall's height issue we created a focal point using vintage style frames which were hung framing the mural illustrations of birds.

The soft beautiful light was glorious in the late afternoon as it beamed in the wood encased windows.

A bird in flight carrying a ribbon helps frame the opposing wall and diminish the wall's height. Stripes of complimentary colors graces a small sidewall that flanks a door going out onto a patio.

In the studio we created the striped etagere to house trinkets and help carve up the height of the room.

The softness of colors, the implied tree and the elegance of the colors make this room charming and cozy. Baby Elizabeth surely will have treasured memories in her sweet retreat.

From Pale to Precious - A Girl's Bedroom Makeover for Two

2011-09-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

Confection colors and our studio created crowns add whimsy
in the made-over shared bedroom.

When inspiration hits, I like to grab a sheet of blank paper and jot down ideas, scribble my thoughts in picture form and transform it into a brainstormed blueprint to elaborate on. When I asked for submissions from my Facebook page fans for rooms that need makeovers, I was struck by this room and couldn't resist the proverbial blank slate's allure.

A floating door and overwhelming pale walls.

The good sized room was divided ineffectively.

Eclectic furniture of varied scale.

The homeowner, Tara said in her email to me, submitting her two daughter's shared bedroom, that they had purchased some chandeliers and their placement presented a problem. While I would have gladly offered help in placing light fixtures, the room pictures cried out for more.

When discussing the rooms potential with her, I found out that there were three assorted sized crawl-space access doors within the room. You can see them in the pictures, one floating on the wall in the corner, a second hidden behind the toybox and the third covered by the crib's side panel. These three eyesore doors added intrigue and a level of difficulty to the project that had my mind racing for ideas.

Unlike our previous makeover project for Nick, which focused on handyman skills and built on site custom aspects to transform, I wanted to confine this room to crafts, paint and light budget solutions. These type of solutions are easily adapted and may serve as inspiration to others.

So, after an interview of the girl's likes and dislikes and a survey of the rooms furniture, bedding and existing items, I embarked upon my ideas. The girl's bedding which was from Ikea featured animals celebrating in merriment with musical instruments, juggling, riding bikes and carrying birthday cakes. This was my launching point for creating a confection colored room that had a celebratory tone to it.

The bedding offered fun and inspiration.

While, I restricted my own participation to simple affordable ideas, I did ask Tara to sell her youngest daughter's outgrown crib and replace it with the exact Ikea bed her oldest sleeps in. This would give us some continuity in the room and help expand upon black as an accent color. Other than a few accessories, paint and craft items everything in the room was either reused, altered or edited.

2 gallons and 3 quarts transforms the room.

Considering the room was two square shapes overlapping, it presented itself as a candidate for some color carving, with wall of different confection flavors, as illustrated in my layout concept below.

Here are side by side room shots presenting the before and after photos.

Addressing the issues that we agreed the room had, I presented my solutions-

The Crawl-space doors- The floating one would be disguised by painting the door trim and adding a ribbon board facade. The only technical issue was guaranteeing the door and door knob functioned. The other two doors would be primed and painted to match the walls. Any pattern would continue right over the doors as if they weren't there. This basically camouflages them.

Shared Space solutions- Considering the room was shared by sisters two and half years apart, I decided to separate their sleeping areas into the two natural room halves. Our custom studio crowns would personalize each half.

Function- The dresser and dresser hutch combination dwarfed the wrought iron Ikea beds. To de-emphasis the scale difference our crowns would hold draped tulle adding weight and scale to the beds. The girl's needed lighting and side tables. To stick with our light budget theme and the Ikea tradition started by the family, I sought out two lack tables and fabric shade light pendants. While I enjoy Ikea's lack table simplicity, it wouldn't do for this project so I altered them by moving the legs back and adding a scallop trim.

Personality- Adding color, pattern and some whimsical features transformed the plain room. In the studio I created the ribbon boards, the bird sculptures and the bunting pennants to add dimension and a low cost but customized touch.

While money can be thrown into any project to purchase style and whimsy, I offer this room as a testament to sweat equity and creativity. The rooms walls are works of tape, small rollers and a level. The scalloped crown trim is easily created using a cardboard pattern that is traced and filled in. Some details about the individual pieces are described here.

Post makeover, Tara offered " First of all, I can't believe that was how I allowed the room to look! I had no idea, sense of direction and just didn't know how to organize the room and make it cute for the girls." Commenting on her favorite feature, the dotted wall she said " I could look at that wall all day. I'm really glad that it acts as a feature wall and it's the first thing you see as you walk in." While the girls proclaim to her "They love their crowns!" adding, "They really define each of their spaces, which is important to them since they share the room and pretty much everything in it!" "Working with Aaron was such a fun experience. There were so many ideas and surprises." she said.

While makeover contests don't happen often, we are thankful and excited to offer them when we can. Be sure to join our Facebook page, that's where all of our contests are announced.

Pennants add a sense of festivity.

Studio made birds sculpted from foam add whimsy.

Pom Poms and Ribbons help the room celebrate with color.

Ikea's lack table purchase on sale for $4.00 transformed by moving the
legs back and adding a hand wrought scallop trim.

Out of the woods - a nursery mural for woodland friends and baby McClure

2011-08-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

New Portland residents and blushing parents-to-be, the McClures and I sat down to talk murals. They wanted their daughter, due in October, to be welcomed into her nursery by friendly animals and flora from their new stomping ground, the Pacific Northwest. Our collaborative thoughts of mountains, trees and evergreen forests were enhanced by the idea of a flowering Cherry tree, an iconic Portland beauty.

A Kwanzan Cherry Tree beginning to blossom.

Kwanza Cherry trees are radiant clouds of pink early in the spring and the McClures thought its splendor would be the perfect centerpiece for the mural. Having an interest in the mural featuring watercolor-like imagery, we discussed the works of Beatrix Potter and I turned them onto a favorite illustrator of mine, Barbara Firth. Her look was less whimsical than Potter's yet her terrific use of color, texture and pencil outline was perfect inspiration, in my mind, for the baby's nursery. The McClure's agreed.

I rendered several loose mockups to convey the idea of a blooming cherry tree mixed with Northwest flora and fauna. The mural was to be executed in a similar styling to Firth's illustrations, with big washes of color, a framing composition and visible pencil outlines. Short of my locating a gigantic pencil to render with, I chose to outline the mural in gray tone glazes to simulate the sketch of pencil lines.

A little bird will peer down at the crib.

The completed tree mural.

A friendly squirrel runs across the branch
to see what the baby will be up to.

The McClure's beautiful foursquare bungalow
frames the mural well.

I have to duck into the pictures now and then.

One of the best things about creating a mural, is that it becomes part of the family. The proud parents and their new little one will enjoy this room for many years to come. Its imagery will be engrained in their child's loving memory, a gift from me to her.

Welcome baby McClure, your new painted friends are waiting your arrival. Congratulations McClures and thank for for bringing me in on your special project!

Girl's Bedroom Goes From Pale to Precious! - Our 2nd Makeover

2011-08-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy summer and have finally reconnected with the winner of our 2nd Win a Makeover to take photographs of the bedroom. Our upcoming post will show how we transformed a pale, unispired room that lacked character into a whimsical place for two sisters to enjoy. Unlike our previous Makeover winner's room which featured custom woodworking and handyman tricks as a solution, this room will showcase crafts, paint work and inexpensive cures for a room that lacks the fun factor. While there are a few small items purchased for the room to round it out, we worked with the existing furniture, bedding and decor. Be sure to "follow" our blog and or like our facebook page to see the forthcoming before and after pictures, as well as d-i-y instructions for several of the room's features.

As a bonus, if you are new to following our blog, drop me a comment and I'll enter your in our corresponding give-a-way that will coincide with the upcoming Makeover post. The prize will be one of your own choosing, we'll have wall art, wall decals, posters and maybe more.

Boy's Sports Room Inspiration

2011-07-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sports decor is a request that I get frequently for custom boy's rooms. It's the combination of classic styling, longevity that goes from toddler to teen that makes it popular with both kids and parents. As part of my ongoing quest as an artist and designer to bring new and unique offerings to the juvenile market I'm launching my latest art series. The new football, baseball and soccer pieces revisit the genre with a contemporary style combined with classic and nostalgic accents. Available in canvas reproductions in 14 x 14 inch and 30 x 30 inch dimensions. As of this writing, the new additions are being added to the offerings of popular children's room boutiques, internet and catalog companies worldwide that carry my art line, as well as our online boutique.

I thought it might be fun to offer an inspiration guide showing a way that my new wall art can easily be combined with some of the products available through popular retailers.

1) 100 Series Art by Aaron Christensen

2) Wire Crate Storage - Pottery Barn Teen

3) Coco cabana chair - Urban Outfitters

4) Shaggy Brown Rug - Rosenberry Rooms

5) Vintage Sports Bedding - Whistle and Wink

6) Deep Sea Annabelle Wall Locker - Russell & Mackenna

7) Vintage one-of-a-kind letters - Relique

Be Inspired Blog Hop - Aaron Christensen's visit to the Land of Seuss

2011-03-03T00:02:00.000-08:00

Some of my artist friends and I have noticed an increasing amount of how-to's and knock off blogs that stray into the realm of copyright infringement, which is simply the stealing of others art. As an artist with art and artworks featured worldwide, this has me concerned and disappointed. So, to help the blogosphere out, and add a dose of originality, several of us (see permalinks below) are posting about how you can be inspired by another without stealing from them. Before you glean someone's art from google images, color copy it from a catalog, scan it with your scanner or take snippets of it to use in your art, please consider being an original. It's a great way to go and it will keep you out of hot water.

That being said, I'd like to introduce you to my art inspiration, he's Dr. Seuss. His 107th birthday was yesterday. I am a collector of vintage Dr. Seuss memorabilia and grew up with his books. To illustrate our point about being being inspired yet original, I'm sharing with you my faux taxidermy project. I've created this quip to get you into a Seuss frame of mind.

I made it my own with Seuss in my thoughts. A tribute to him, no stealing, no cops. Now look what I did, enjoy it you may. Now look what I did, be inspired this way. As you sit on your bumple, scratching your head, "what is it to be original, what is it I said?" It's a place in your heart, a place in mind, a place that all artists must honestly find. - A.C.

These are copyrighted characters and sculptures created by Dr. Seuss- Theodore Geisel. Property of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, all rights reserved. This image is being used to explain an editorial point and I claim no ownership of this photograph or it's contents.

Here in my studio we are lucky enough to have the materials and the know how to create magical things out of thin air. If I chose to, I could copy one of Dr. Seuss's character mounts, or to be really bad I could post a blog how-to and teach you all how to do it. But I'd never do that because it is morally wrong and frankly illegal. So to illustrate how he has inspired me as an artist, I'm in the process of creating my own wild character wall mount with Seuss-like silly characteristics, but it's 100% my own idea. She's something I dreamt up, created in sketch form and then sculpted into three dimensions.

She's a Bird Nesting Head Doe, a rare jungle treat.
She carries bird eggs till their up, up on their feet.

In her second stage of sanding, she's taking shape.
I'll need to finish her features, prime and paint her.

As she progresses, I'll post some new pictures here. I'd love to hear suggestions as to what her name should be. I have her new home picked out, it's just above my drawing table.

Here she is, long eyelashes, whiskers and all.

I hope my example illustrates the difference between being inspired, using that as motivation to create something of your own and the opposite, which is duplicating and infringing upon your inspiration. Remember, it's okay to be inspired by other artists, as long as you make your art your own. Be fresh, be original and be honest, you'll enjoy it!

Please stop by my artist friends blogs to see what they've come up with.

Brenda Pinnick ----- Shelly Kennedy / Drooz Studios

Phyllis Dobbs ----- Chris Chun

Joanne Sharpe ----- Sharyn Sowell

Vickie Lea ----- Monica Lee

Molly Smith ------ Jen Goode

Beth Parker ------ Jane Maday

Robin Pickens ----- Sue Zipkin

up, uP, UP on a pedestal - The Good Doctor, Dr. Seuss

2011-03-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

While most artists rattle off a list of historical figures like Picasso, Monet or whomever as their inspiration. I take a somewhat more whimsical path into the dewberry dawn...the shimmering seas, where the swamie swans swim in the suntacular breeze. That's where you'll find the mind of Dr. Seuss. Theodore Geisel, the good Dr. Seuss is one of my most favorite artists. Although my art generally seems quite opposite to his. I share his love of advertising, having fonts be a subject matter and rethinking what's been thunk before.

Tomorrow, I will be posting a terrific Seuss-like adventure into my first D.I.Y. on this blog. It will also be a place to have conversation with visuals about being an original artist. Original artists takes what they find for fun that is funner, shake it around in their brain until it's new, like no other. (sorry, had to put a Seuss-like spin on it).

In the children's room decorating business, there's a lot of copyrighted properties that children love ie. Batman, Hannah Montana, Yo Gabba Gabba and so on. During my fourteen years designing children's spaces, I've been asked to duplicate or create murals of all the popular characters. As a business person, aware of copyright theft issues and liabilities and a sense of wrong versus right morally, I've chosen to steer my clients another direction. Yes, it can be hard work, but it's worth it. They appreciate originality and in the end respect you more for your creativity.

Understand that abandoning the idea of duplicating copyrighted works doesn't mean you can't please your client. You can create Batman's world, with skyscrapers, the moody night sky and even a cave as long as you are inventing the ideas yourself and not duplicating the work of others, which include his likeness, the logos or pages from comic books. Paint a great Batman-like room and order the licensed products to fill it, if that's what your client wants. But do not steal or as it's technically called infringe upon the intellectual property of others.

What about Seuss, what's this to do with Seuss? Okay...I had a client whom collected Dr. Seuss's art. Not only did they collect his illustrated works, they own several pieces of his contemporary art and sculptures. They wanted me to create a Seuss room for their daughter. Having had a lifetime love of the good Doctors work, I was eager to take on the challenge.

I worked up some drawings based upon my thoughts of what I thought Dr. Seuss would do. How would he address a bed, paint a wall or decorate? If you are inspired by an artist, a designer or a product, you are free to use them as inspiration to generate something new. This doesn't mean color copying, collaging, tracing or altering it, it must be something new, from your own hand. In this case I dreamt up Seuss-like objects, that I sculpted in my studio. I do not claim for them to be Seuss, it's not using his characters or brands, I'm not selling them in the market place confusing people into thinking they are Seuss, they simply are inspired by him one-of-a-kinds. Because they are original, now they are my copyright, my creation that can not be duplicated, or used without my permission or license. I hope this makes sense.

My client is happy, they have a Seuss like room, no copied characters, no rip offs, nothing but originality inspired by the good Doctor.

I made it my own with Seuss in my thoughts. A tribute to him, no stealing, no cops. Now look what I did, enjoy it you may. Now look what I did, be inspired this way. As you sit on your bumple, scratching your head, "what is it to be original, what is it I said?" It's a place in your heart, a place in mind, a place that all artists must honestly find. So with these kind words, I bid you good day said Aaron the artist, on Seuss's Birthday!

What's old is new and what's new is hot!

2011-02-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

What's old is new and what's new (meaning old) is hot, not that new (as new) is not, uhm.....we'll something like that....

Meaning, there's been a resurgence in interest of all things old, especially those of an industrial and pre-industrial era to expand back further than the recent revisit to mid-century. When companies like CB2, Restoration Hardware and Anthropology are looking backwards for design ideas and even offering vintage one of a kinds, that's something to take note of. Have you seen the recent Pottery Barn catalogs and in-store offerings? They're taking us back, way back to pre-industrial era with rustic pottery and rough hewn pieces.

Pottery Barn offering vintage cameras

Restoration Hardware's factory cart table

Restoration Hardware's Aviation inspired aluminum side table

Obviously, as an artist who enjoys vintage inspiration in his modernized pieces, I'm excited to see the trend grow.

In the realm of children's room design, I've always been a bit of a retro kinda guy. I like to procure vintage pieces or have reproductions and one of a kinds made by through my studio, to incorporate into our room designs. A vintage piece adds character and provides a sense of longevity or timelessness to the room.

Instead of a slick ultra bright race car, this client chose for us to create a

room with a sense of heritage and time worn charm. Our custom twin sized truck bed, although new, looked like it had been parked for 50 years.

Our Speed Demon room featured vintage objects combined with "new" creations we made

in the studio. I used my art as a visual replacement of a headboard.

The Max Transit wall art collection

Max Transit Art Collection available as individual reproductions in 14 x 14

or as a 39 x 39 canvas.

My latest art release entitled "Max Transit" does a bit of a switch a roo. Instead of reaching the vintage stage via texture I chose to go for a more graphic approach. With its gears, maps and instruments it has an industrial feel but done in a modern way. These pieces can bridge the gap between the slick modern furniture you see in stores today and yet allow the homeowner to bring in a vintage look.

Here, I've provided you with 3 vignettes showing how my work could be incorporated into a boy's transportation room that utilizes vintage industrial looks combined with a modern aesthetic. I'm quite fond of raw, unpainted metals like aluminum, galvanized, chrome and zinc plating. If you stick to the white metals you can mix and match freely. If you prefer the golden metals you can tone them down by using brown waxed shoe polish as you would a traditional wax polish. Be sure to let the piece dry before handling.

Option A utilizes one of a kind pieces, products from higher end retailers 1stDibs, Rejuvenation Lighting, Serena and Lily, Room and Board and a few off the shelf items.

Option B draws it's vocabulary of items from traditional retail environments like Rosenberry Rooms, Land of Nod, Lowes, Urban Outfitters and Caden Lane with some one of a kinds.

Option C incorporates similar looks for less with help from Target, Toys R us and Ikea.

The Max Transit collection is part of my Oopsy Daisy- Art for Kids spring introduction and is available through fine retailers and independent boutiques. Email me if you need assistance with finding a retailer or if you are interested in purchasing them directly from Embellishments.

Also available in a personalized growth chart.

Great resource for vintage industrial are Ebay, Etsy, 1stDibs.com, Dog dish lights, Rejuvenation and even Craigslist. Here in Portland, I love to browse a material handling company store. They often pass on used equipment such as carts, dollies, work benches and more. If you have a great site to pass on please leave it in the comments for others to browse.

Enjoy!

Celebrating 14 years of Embellishments

2011-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you are having fun. We are celebrating Embellishments fourteenth year and in it's honor I want to share a few glimpse of the good times we've had. So, over the month of February we will be posting a few of our cherished moments.

August 28, 2003 rises to the top of the memory as a great time. I asked a few of my favorite artists to participate in our Amazing Sideshow of Art, in my northeast Portland Studio on Alberta Street.

Joining me in exploring the art of the Carnival, Circus and Amusement genre were Paul Solevad, Nyree Watts, Amy McDermott, Kendra Binney and Nicholas Liebrecht.

The Ringmaster!

A great time was had by friends, visitors and patrons.

We abandoned the wine and cheese for fresh popcorn.

A viewer contemplates Paul Solevad's clown having a Hamlet moment.

Kendra Binney

Nyree Watts

Our featured performance artists AWOL Dance Collective enters the room filled with anxious on lookers.

Awol Dance Collective performs on the aerialist ring to the amazement of the huge crowd we drew from Alberta's Last Thursday Art Walk's crowd.

The next generation of artists dabble with the crayons in our courtyard. My daughter Cailey, in the polka dots, loved being in charge of mini crowd control and crayon fairness.

The studio as seen from the courtyard.

We had a full house.

Thank you to Michael McDermott of Michael McDermott Photography for capturing the candid moments and preserving the good memories.

Million square foot search of Children's Decor, Bedding and Product Trends

2010-10-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

I'm back from a visit to one of the world's largest trade shows for the juvenile wholesale product market. With over 900 exhibitors and a million square feet of trade show space, it would not be an understatement to say, I've seen everything one could want for their newborn, toddler, big kid or teen.

Over 900 exhibitors trying to capture the attention of the countries biggest children's retailers, boutiques and catalog companies.

The ABC Expo gives me the rare opportunity to visit, view and meet up with my children's product and art licensees (the folks that sell their wares bearing my art and images). I get to see their booths, meet their salespeople and am introduced to many of their clients. Going beyond this, as a children's room designer, I look forward to seeing new products, watching trends develop and having the opportunity to touch and feel a wide variety of items I'd love to design into kid's rooms and nurseries.

Last year's show was a bit depressed, people were just starting to feel optimistic about our economy and the prospect of selling. In contrast, this year was a boom, with a sold out show and crowds to match, I'm personally exited for all of these vendors who were indeed writing orders and selling their wares. I had heard from a good source that one stroller company sold enough product in the first two days to exceed their entire four day show estimate.

As an artist and licensor creating for industry, my tour also helps me focus my trend analysis for new introductions. For children's rooms decor and products, you have to grasp the sense of colors, styles and materials people are gravitating to make sure your work is complimentary. After all, most people purchase furniture, bedding, accessories and art to match to some degree. Although there are a few companies that manufacture all of them under one roof, many of the items are mixed and matched from different vendors and lines. Hence, my products or art may be used by the consumer to coordinate with bedding from company A a crib from company B and a rug from company C.

Without giving away too many of my proprietary feelings about where trends are going, I have some general observations to share with you.

1) Is modern getting old? Yes...
Judging from the manufacturers new releases they are moving away from the overly simple, less is more, modern styling that has dominated the shows in year the past two years. Replacing it is a more complex movement with modern underpinnings but it's heading back towards a traditional look. The buyers in my opinion want more content. Yes, simple can be elegant, but in frugal times, people want substance and the minimal modern look just doesn't satisfy. To accommodate, Manufacturers are layering simple patterns to create more complex ones, adding dimensional embellishments and shrinking the patterns into a tighter overall print. Gone are the monochromatic masses, replaced with fresh color palettes combining 3 or more complimentary colors. Even the mod strollers, cribs and furniture pieces are becoming more complex, with tighter lines, more options and bang for the buck.

2) Hello Glitz!
Never before have I seen so many rhinestones, jewels, sequins, bit's of glitter and shiny metallics. But they aren't alone and isolated. They are combined with fresh new color ways, partnered with ribbons, bows, satin and the ultra microfiber plush. Many of the chic newborn and toddler designers are glamming up their outfits with appliques, over the top bows, wild socks, barrettes and head pieces. It looks as if the latest generation of babies are going to be outfitted like parade floats. From head to toe there's not one spot thats not decorated, bedazzled or popping out in three dimensions with ribbons, tulle or oversized silk flowers.

3) Black hasn't returned to being the new black, but it's trying.
Dark woods, chocolate, espresso tones are still dominating the furniture lines. But there's been a resurgence of black creeping back in. It's not strong, but it's showing. Gray was trying to sneak in last year but has fizzled out and was almost nowhere to be found. The dominance of pink in the girls market has moved over a smidge allowing a variety of lavenders, light purples and turquoises to shine. Don't get me wrong though, pink is still the dominating force, it's bright, it's deep and it's showing up in every motif and product line.

4) Green has grown.
Over the past couple years, the idea of being green meant you had to sacrifice style. The materials were crude, the look blasé and the allure of 100% organic was hindered by the ugly, raw color palette. Manufacturers are stepping up their game. They are offering 100% organic fabrics in fashionable colors and patterns. Simple glass and plain BPA free plastic has been replaced with polished steel, decorative glass, aluminum and earth friendly colorful bioplastics born from corn and potatoes. Green is being taken to broader concept. More and more companies are switching from overseas manufacturing to domestic. Not only does that help our world by eliminating our dependance on goods from countries that pollute without conscious, it reduces overseas shipping. Overseas shipping requires more fossil fuels, more packaging, and an enormous amount of regulation and customs governance. Domestic manufacturing also promotes drop shipping, where manufactures take an order and fulfill it on the retailers behalf directly to the consumer. The product is created, packaged and shipped only once, eliminating the need for giant warehouses, redundant shipping and costly returns. Operating domestically has an added bonus....American Jobs!

Outside of trend watching I found quite a few amazing and creative items, I'd like to share with you in part two of this blog post next week.

In closing, I want to thank my licensees for the wonderful job they are doing showcasing my new products and art. It's always a great time meeting and greeting during the show. Thank you to Child Style Magazine for the amazing two page interview spread about me and my art. Knowing that the ten's of thousands of trade show visitors all went home with your magazine under their arms, will be a great boost to my business and brand.

Stay tuned for next weeks post with a few of my favorite picks.....

Celebrate with Color - a Girl's Bedroom Makeover begins.

2010-09-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

The second winner of the Embellishments Kid's bedroom makeover is an interesting one. It's a demure, simple room waiting to come into its own. Its occupants are a lively, sweet cherub faced 2 1/2 year old and her doesn't miss a thing, girl power, cool 5 year old, big sister. Their room, which was recently moved into, lacks a personality befitting such charming and spirited girls. It's my goal to transform this understated room into one that celebrates their joyful and fun loving character.

The room is currently a pale...pale....pale, did I mention pale pink.

As you can see in the picture above, color is not the rooms strong point. It's paler than pale pink paint job creates a contrast issue for everything in the room. Either the black metal bed draws too much attention or the crib and white furnishing disappear into the colorless abyss. We need a color palette that brings together the rooms decor and furnishings. The room is a good sized room created from two intersecting square footprints. So there's plenty of room for two girls to share and yet have their own spaces.

This opposite view from the previous picture highlights how the room consists of two intersecting square footprints.

Now, there's a bonus challenge in redesigning this room. It's like a gameshow....what's behind door number 1, door number 2 or door number 3. Yes, there are 3 odd, off to wonderland, mismatched doors that lead to the attic crawl spaces. Can you spot them? One in the picture below, which is obvious because it's a big, bold, in your face, step up. The second, in the picture above, is hiding behind the toybox. Alice would need to indulge in the "Drink Me" secret sauce to enter for sure. The final one is concealed behind the side of the crib in the first picture. There are traditional ways of camouflaging these types of doors but I'm going to propose the opposite for at least one of them. I'm going to make it stand out, altering it's appearance so you no longer notice it's a door.

The attic access door adds a bit of "Winchester" styling to the room.

I've met with the lovely family and discussed my ideas. They are excited and ready for a paint party! I'll share with you some progress photos and details as the room develops during the month of October.

Also, Facebook friends of Embellishments will get sneak peaks of the progress prior to my posting here. Be sure to join me over on FB to view my renderings of the proposed makeover. www.Facebook.com/Embellishments

What do you think? Should our colors go brilliant, trendy, sweet or simple. How about style? Do we let the metal bed lead or dial it down letting the white furniture prevail?

Teen Bedroom Makeover- Goodbye Kid, hello Young Adult!

2010-09-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

Back in July, I opened up a contest on our facebook page asking for submissions of kid's rooms for a makeover. Having a hard time deciding on just one, I chose three winners. The first of our three winner's, Nick has been anxiously awaiting the reveal of his new room. As a Birthday gift to him, yesterday we completed the room while he was at school. Now, I'm happy to share with you the finished project. We've taken Nick's room from a messy, eclectic one he's outgrown and turned it into a more modern, sleek, storage filled one with plenty of room for friends to hang out.

If you want to follow the progress of the makeover from the beginning, I've posted links to the project beginnings at the end of this post.

First, and most obvious from the original pictures of Nick's room, he needed storage. One of the leading causes of a messy room, other than age appropriate procrastination, is inadequate storage. To remedy the issue, I designed a wall storage niche, desk and headboard configuration which we built on site with the table saw artistry support of Nick's Dad. We then removed the legs from his 2 x 6 constructed bed and mounted it "floating" between the headboard and the walls. To dress it up we created a "weathered steel" facade which mounted over the face. The accent wall of red was highlighted with a custom 3D, backlit piece of art comprised of 5 dimensional letter "N's" of various typestyles. This was an abstract way to express Nick's various interests in science fiction, music, theater and acting.

Our secondary storage goal was to get his closet back into working order. The bypass doors had been removed by this parents to create an area for his TV, and AV equipment. In doing so it left his hang bar and other shelving open and exposed.

To return order to his chaos, we installed and finished out a new wall in the middle of the closet niche. This would serve as a divider between the two revamped areas. To the left, shelves were installed to hold his electronics. To the right a hang bar and shelving was reinstalled, restoring his closet into working order. We reinstalled one of the bypass doors with a facelift of blackboard paint and new trim.

To free up floor space and create seating opportunities we removed the roll top desk and replaced it with a revamped and restyled chair. The newly found space also gave room to display his guitar and a personalized piece of art we had Nick create. The art is a collage presentation of his goals, dreams and images to motivate and inspire him (see detailed photos at the end of this post).

Pictured below are details about the room including the custom roller shade and cornice.

This 10 x 9 foot room went from very crowded and underutilized to seemingly spacious and clutter free. It's personality reflects that of Nick, a young man with aspirations and confidence in who he is. It was a terrific project and I'm glad to have been of service. I'd like to thank Nick's parents for their faith in my ideas and their hands-on assistance during the project. The following images offer some details about the individual features of the room.

If you would like to see more of our custom bedrooms be sure to visit our website EmbellishmentsKids.com. Aaron Christensen's Embellishments is based in Portland, Oregon and is available for consultation/hire throughout the west coast. We also offer design packages created remotely with correspondence via internet and phone.

http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2010/07/kids-bedroom-makeover-with-ryan.html
http://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2010/08/before-to-after-teens-bedroom-makeover.html

Teen Choice Awards - My Girl's Rock Art in a clip.

2010-09-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

The ABC show Modern Family was nominated for the category of Choice TV Comedy on the 2010 Teen Choice Awards. The clip they used features my Girl's Rock Art in the background @ 1:35. Fun Stuff.

Dawning of a New Age- The non-themed Birthday Party

2010-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

My daughter's 13th birthday is not only a milestone of change for her, it is a marked change for me too. Since my children's first birthdays, my wife and I have always tried to make them celebrations. We've wanted them to be more than cake and ice cream socials or cartoon character homages. They needed to be creative, outside the box events, memorable for them and fun for us to host. The parties are an opportunity for us to thank and treat her friends for the joy they bring her and celebrate how precious she is to us.

If my daughter were over my shoulder right now, as I type, she would be able to recite the nicknames she's given every birthday party we've every had for her. Endearing terms like Parisian Acrobat, Rock Star Studio and Duo Luau come to my mind. Yes, the parties had themes, but their execution was absent the typical big box decorations and out of the catalog cake. We either have the parties at our home, in the backyard or in my studio. The decorations are a combination of things we have, can make or buy on a budget.

My having a studio workshop filled with unusual props, store window display items, craft supplies and a seemingly endless supply of "this and that's" plays a huge part in this annual challenge. A challenge of how to create memorable birthday parties utilizing the past years collection of stuff. I find myself rummaging through my beloved miscellaneous in search of decoration ideas, things to sew, items to hot glue and embellish. I dig out some of my eclectic lighting supplies from my retail display service and imagine how to repurpose them into theme majesty stretched across the walls or dangling out from out trees.

This year was no exception, she wanted it to be fun and memorable, although it had one exemption, and I repeat...one exemption, "no theme". Enter sound effects of cars screeching to a halt...errrrrrr. WHAT...NO THEME? As a wiser than adult, soon to be thirteen year old (sarcasm obvious and inferred), my daughter wanted to just dress up. She found a pretty dress, while out shopping with her Grandma and wanted a special occasion to wear it. She would prefer not to have aerial acrobat lessons, flaming tikis or fairy wings, no spotlights and karaoke, just a cute dress. I was devastated! What am I to glue, to build, to hoist into the air, this can't be right, I'm themeless, creatively naked and obsolete.

Thankfully, when asked "What are you and your friends going to do while dressed up", my daughter cracked the door open, just a bit, letting in some creative wiggle room. She said "I don't know, how about a sit down dinner." Yes! we proclaimed, a sit down dinner it is!

So, without loosing a year of traditional rummaging the studio for party mecca, my wife and I came up with our backyard dining room, complete with chandelier and twelve foot long table. Our inspiration was the pretty pink and black dress she bought. We mixed in an accent of turquoise and her favorite print Zebra.

The table linens were sewn out of some pink velveteen yardage I had left over from a girl's room project, some black sateen from a halloween party, white butcher paper, an inexpensive but designer looking quatrefoil tablecloth and we borrowed the zebra drapery sheers from my daughter's room to use as a runner.

I strung a wire across the lawn from neighboring trees to secure the outdoor chandelier from. To adorn the chandelier and the wire, I used some miscellaneous pom poms, ribbon and beading I've been toting around for years. We utilized wicked oil torches instead of candles, they are just wrapped in fuchsia parchment and damask paper.

I strung two paper lanterns down the supporting wire for additional light.

The place settings were fun mix ups of paper plates from the party store and monogrammed black damask napkins from a discounter store.

To transform a $5.00 white cardboard cupcake stand, I glittered the inner support with black, wrapped the tiers in damask scrapbooking paper and added ribbon. The "C" on top was cut out from black core foam core and hot glued to the top. Adding in some fresh florals from our yard and a few accessories from within the house and the cake table became a beautiful setting.

The beautiful hydrangeas, sea thistle, dahlias, fuchsias, dahlias, bells of Ireland and daturas are in full bloom right now, which made for a fragrant and color themed display.

Considering we had a small wind storm come through during set up, I had to double stick tape all the paper plates down to the table, so the party guests were treated to table-side service with sparking cider and hors devours. The dinner went off without a hitch, candles were blown out and songs were sang. What a wonderful evening we shared with her and her guests. We got to be creative, craft our way into celebration and she got to dress up. What her 14th birthday will behold, I'm not sure, but I hope it's as fun and memorable as the 13 years past.

Now, I have 12 months to accumulate some new goodies for a surprising themeless party next year. Thankfully, I'll have an excuse to pick up and save every crazy bit of this and that for who knows what.

This and that for who knows what....I like it!

Pre-festivity hugs for Daddy, who's working up a sweat. Payment in Full! Love ya baby girl!

While Birthday parties are a fun addition to my life, I invite all of you over to my Facebook page where we share the fun we get to have designing kid's rooms, products and more.

Thanks for dropping by!

-Aaron

A Teen Room Makeover in Process

2010-08-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

A continuation of our kids room makeover series of posts.....

We are in the midst of turning Nick's teenage room from it's blue and green disorganized state into a stylish, storage filled hangout. Gone are the chunky furniture pieces, replaced with a sleek headboard and space divider that melds into a floor to ceiling desk and storage area. The multi colored scheme of blue, aqua and white has been buried for good under a contemporary gray and red palette. The 9 x 10 room has grown in scale, visually, due to the reduction of those colors and the unifying of walls and ceiling by using a single color. At our studio, his new art monogram wall art is underway. It will mount relief style in front of the red wall, reducing the red to a graphic border. With the help of Nick's Dad, we are returning his open closet to a closet with a rolling door, with one alteration. We are shrinking the closet to half it's original width. The unused half will be home to open shelving to be used as his media center.

Next up...

1) Transforming his existing 2x6 wooden bed frame into a floating faux metal masterpiece utilizing paint techniques and Hollywood movie prop style embellishments.

2) Creating a one of a kind work of art by making tangible Nick's goals and dreams to become a Broadway Singer and Actor!

3) Bedding - a touch of plaid honoring his Scottish heritage, but with a rock and roll edge.

And more.....stay tuned.

Before to After - A teen's bedroom makeover in process.

2010-08-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today, I met with Nick and his family to review my ideas for his teen bedroom makeover. He's the all american 15 year old. He loves music, plays the guitar and the violin. Hanging with his friends, computers and science fiction are a big part of his life. His room is his hangout, it's filled with glimpses of his younger years and aspirations for the future. Wanting to be an actor / musician he's got his eyes set on performing in the theater, hopefully on Broadway. During his remaining years at home and through high school, I look forward to him enjoying his soon to be made-over room. The before pictures can be viewed on my previous post.

Nick's room is only 10 x 9, so utilizing every inch is the easiest way to improve his conditions. We will replace his oversized writing desk and hutch with something more efficient. I've proposed building a custom headboard and desk storage area to accommodate the book collections and memorabilia he has. We will be altering his wooden bed to make it look made from metal. A unique backlit, relief mounted piece of focal art will enhance the red background behind his bed. It will feature five custom 3 dimensional "N"'s of various typestyles and colors to express his interests in Rock, Classical, Modern Technology and Sci fi in an abstract way.

His window wall will be dressed up with a cornice board to hide his louvered blind mechanism and hold his new custom roller shade. It will be painted with a NY skyline. Small holes, resembling stars and little windows will be cut out of it to allow light to shine through. Giving the illusion it's a night sky. Art and a mount for his guitar will round out this view.

His closet wall will be altered from an open closet niche to an enclosed closet with adjacent storage shelves for his media components. A reclaimed, reupholstered chair and a wall shelve will flank a unique piece of art that I will be helping Nick create. It will be a realized projection of himself in the future, using photographs, magazine clippings and some of my painterly touches. It will serve to remind him of his amazing personal goals.

The color scheme for the room will be warm tone grays with antique reds and hints of denim/chambray blues.

Nick has been packing up his things, getting ready for the process to begin. He's very excited as am I. It's a pleasure meeting and working with such a fine young man.

Kids Bedroom Makeover with Ryan Seacrest? What?

2010-07-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, I wrote on our Facebook page asking for submissions of kid's rooms in need of a makeover. I have some new products and new techniques I was hoping to experiment with and photograph in the made-over room. There was an overwhelming response. Now came the hard part.

I'm more of a Paula Abdul judge than a Simon Cowell. I'd much rather tilt my head side to side, smile and see the opportunities within, rather than be critical. But, unless I wanted to do twelve makeovers, I had to start narrowing things down. Immediately, there were obvious rooms that could be cut from the contenders and I don't think they were surprised by my actions. They really didn't need a makeover, just some editing and creative storage. They were the Chris Daultrey's and Adam Lamberts of room makeovers, just a little grooming and styling and they're done. I'm on the hunt for the William Hung or tone deaf, two left feet kinda spaces.

Down to six candidates, I posted them to our Facebook page looking for opinions. The comments and observations were fantastic. But, even with the great feedback, I was presented with a dilemma. A makeover theoretically means there's a before and after. It's the contrast between the two that shows the depth of change. Undoing what's been done and creating new would be the intriguing part of this. Much like this room. The room with no closet, technology spiderwebbed all over, nursery colors and the teenage need for storage. Undoing this "kid's" room and making a "teen" space would be great fun and a challenge.

The dilemma is this room presented as a blank slate, and I mean blank. Does that qualify? The accompanying story is sweet of two girls, sharing space who love fairies and princesses. Surely, two little fairy girls are deserving of a makeover...right? To create more challenges, I find out the room has 3 mysteriously placed attic access doors. Sweet and challenging....hmmm. The owners hit more of a road block which means the room will never progress past this point. There are a lot of parents that hit that same obstacle. They've purchase furniture, placed it in the room and have no idea what to do, especially when presented with two girls of varying ages, likes and 3 weird doors. So, Yes it is a makeover, officially candidate #2.

A third option consists of a room that started off okay, but lost it's direction. It lacked personality so it's a great makeover story in the making. Two boys, rough and tumble, love building things, how things work and are fast becoming the best of friends. Their room could be a place of imagination, fun times and brotherly bonding but it's missing the fun factor and bonus...there's a weird air duct "growth" just hanging on the wall and a out of scale door that leads into their attic play space, under the eaves. What to do...what to do??

The remaining candidates were all very similar, they are great spaces needing something to make them function better or come alive. They were good candidates, but in my American Idol analogy, they could sing, but couldn't find their voice. They're Top 10 material, but couldn't make the cut.

So, as of this post my top three are evident. The "I'm a teen, not a toddler", "Blank - a design roadblock" and "What's that weird duct thing doing in my boring room" rooms.

WHO'S THE WINNER OF THE MAKEOVER?

So, in classic Paula Abdul fashion, I nod and clap, hymn and haw, talk nice and vote all three through. What does that mean? Well, instead of just selecting one room, I select all three, THREE WINNERS!

In depth, this will mean three separate makeovers, with three separate goals and looks. All of which, I'll document and share with you here on the blog. Now, the intention is for these to be made-over, which doesn't mean a full revamp with all new this and all new that, like some game show prize. I'm going to rework the rooms, add some Embellishments tricks and techniques, build things from scratch, shop for a few new things, alter the existing and put the parents to work. We will be teaming up for some sewing, painting, crafty stuff and handyman hardwork. If we can work out our schedules to accommodate this, I'll be working on one room each month for the next three months and sharing the progress with you, here.

Thanks to all the loving parents whom submitted their child's room. I appreciate your faith in my abilities and willingness to allow me to take on this task. This will be fun. Be sure to bookmark or follow the blog for updates.

Coming soon....

Visiting the rooms onsite and discussing ideas for the makeovers.

Embellishments Kids Bedroom Makeover

2010-07-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've selected a few top candidates for our children's room makeover. There are some interesting challenges to each, but I'm already filled with ideas. What room should it be? If you are a Facebook fan of Embellishments, drop by and give me your vote.

Pulling Teeth- Re-imagining the Pediatric Dentist Office

2010-07-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Setting one's self apart from the competition, in my mind, is the new age mother of invention. With technologies ability to crawl, index and categorize everything from A to Z, it seems to me that the only way to be noticed is to be extraordinary at what you do. I have had the distinct pleasure of working with a new Pediatric Dentist on the scene whose ideals and vision is more akin to the extraordinary Walt Disney than a dentist.

As a child, I did not have the greatest of experiences with the dentist. Mine was a seemingly nice guy in his later 50's, white coat and pressed slacks. He spoke softly filling the air with a medicinal blend of mouthwash and cologne. His office was very clinical with textured wallpaper, old magazines, vinyl covered chairs and a walled off reception desk that seemed more like a security check point for what goes on beyond the walnut door marked "Please check in with the receptionist." The office was the product of the clinical mindset, function over form and was designed to get straight to business and get it done effectively and efficiently. There wasn't a surface material in the office that couldn't be pressure washed, scrubbed with bleach or hauled off in a hazmat suit. Counting the precisely place holes in the acoustical tiles, while he rummaged through my mouth was the only escape from the reality of the situation....cavities!

I open the door, expecting to see the recycled vision of my childhood dentist standing before me. This was my first meeting with Dr. Dustin James and I was manifesting the pains of dentistry through the sweat on my brow and the quiver in my hands. Although this was a meeting over design, I somehow felt I was going to end up driving home with gauze in mouth and drooling. To my surprise, standing before me is a thirty-something, bright smiled engaging man with an honest whit, personable way and thankfully no medicinal smell.

Usually when I'm hired to consult or design for uber professionals like dentists, lawyers or doctors, there's a huge communication gap to overcome. I speak in the abstract of the imaginary, waiving my hands as if to carve space into realized objects. They on the other hand are products of their disciplined education hoping for well defined ideas, pragmatic principles and designs that fit into blueprints not storyboards or renderings.

With Dr. James, the initial awkwardness was a product of my experiences now a preconceived notion. Straightline linear this....color theory that, speaking with my hands restrained were all futile exercises designed not to frighten this Doctor of Science with my left brain visions. In a moment he shattered those notions by starting to waive his arms around, motioning objects in the air and talking about movie sets, old restaurants and Walt Disney World. I had entered the twilight zone. Feeling more like I was being punked than interviewed for the work to be done.

Dr. James and I have been friends and collaborators for three years now. We communicate with our hands flying, chicken scratches on the back of napkins and pages of renderings depicting the imaginary realized. Between us we have a museum's worth of story boards, design sketches and mockups of our ideas. Our inaugural project Dentistry for Kids was a success and it's neighboring DFT- Dentistry for Teens recently debuted as the first dentistry office geared especially for teens.

If you haven't experienced the extraordinary in pediatric or teen dental care than I invite you to Wilsonville, Oregon, to visit his offices.

Designed from the ground up for teens, DFT features a technology counter for MAC browsing, smoothies and online music and game play. Props from my studio line the movie theater like cloud above the counter.

There's a bank of Video Game screens for XBox and Playstation play amongst the comic book wall. A vintage Ms. Pacman table console and a DVD jukebox offer entertainment.

After the visit his patients drop by the prize cabinet for a fun take home gift.

The rock n' roll operatory features a 9 ft guitar, video gaming and movie playing on the patient's video screen.

More pictures can be found on Dr. James' DFT and DFK Facebook page . Information on his practice is available on his websites:

Dentistry for Kids

Dentistry for Teens

Dentistry for Teens was designed by Aaron Christensen owner of EmbellishmentsKids.com

Aaron's work in children's spaces including DFT and DFK can be found at his Facebook page

Aaron Christensen's Embellishments

503-816-9900

www.EmbellishmentsKids.com

For those of you not familiar with the birth of Disneyland, I recommend the book IMAGINEERING-A behind the dreams look at making the magic real from Hyperion press.