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where I work :: magnetic chalkboard & more

by Kaylah Stroup May 14, 2013
A few weeks back I painted a wall in office with both magnetic paint and chalkboard paint so now I’ve got myself a fancy pants magnetic chalkboard! Awesome, right!? I’ve been wanting to change up my office for some time and finally it hit me exactly what I wanted. So I picked up Rust-oleum magnetic primer and chalkboard paint and set off to work!

The magnetic paint was kind of a hassle. I probably wouldn’t use it ever again. It was insanely difficult to mix. All the magnetic particles or whatever were just in a solid three inch glob at the bottom. My arms were actually sore from mixing this stuff. (If you pick some up locally ask someone in the paint department to throw it in the mixing machine for you real quick to make it a bit easier!) On top of that it took two full cans and what felt like a billion coats to even get it remotely magnetic. I’m really glad I didn’t decide to paint an even bigger area than this, that would have been crazy.

Let’s talk about how much the magnetic primer stinks! I had all my windows open, the fan running, taking all the precautions I’d normally take painting. A few hours after I was done painting I started smelling gas. I called the gas company and commenced a mini freak out. I grabbed the all four cats, put them in three carriers and shoved them in my car. Then ran back in the house grabbed a bunch of things that were special to me and pulled my car out into the road and waited for the gas company to arrive. Nearly an hour later the guy shows up and I take him into the house. Long story short, he didn’t smell anything, his machine couldn’t detect any gas and he asked if I’d be painting. How embarrassing!! I’m not 100% sure why it took so long for the smell to get to me especially because it never really smelled in the room I was painting but after I started painting again with the second can I realized this stuff does sort of smell like gas.

Anyway, back to my little project. The next day, after that was all dry, I applied the chalkboard paint which was a breeze compared to the magnetic stuff. I painted two coats and waited for a few days before “conditioning” it (which is just rubbing down the whole thing in chalk so it’s easier to erase.) Easy peasy! Luckily there was some spare molding in the basement from when I moved in so that made an easy frame for the whole thing. I love how it doesn’t actually look like I painted the wall itself but hung a big chalkboard instead.

Despite being a bit of pain in the butt I’m very happy with how this turned out even if I have to use super strong magnets and everything is now covered in a fine layer of chalk dust. Ha! I wouldn’t recommend using the magnetic primer if you’re looking for something easy, cheap or very strong but the chalkboard paint is great. It’s super neat to be able to write on my wall!

As well as that little project I also cleaned out the closet in this
room that was home to lots of random things many of which now are at
Goodwill. With that closet clean I was able to move one of my clothing
racks in there which freed up a ton of room and made the room SO much
brighter. I stacked my shoe racks so they take up less floor space and
moved in a table for succulents. I’m so happy with this room now. It’s
amazing how much of a difference little changes like that can make.

I love this little office of mine!
xoxo 

Sources:
magnetic paint
chalkboard paint 
calendar
giant mushroom
giant ice cream cone – vintage
bunting – handmade
hanging planter – target
wisdom tooth print 
humming bird print
shoe rack 

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what I wore : tiny bunnies + polka dots

by Kaylah Stroup April 25, 2013
details
shirt – Forever 21
necklace – Le Petit Lapin Necklace c/o Ji Ji Kiki
brooch – Sugar Cookie
ring – c/o August Wrinkle
skirt – thrifted
tights – JC Penney
shoes – BAIT Footwear

I really try not to be swayed to not wear an outfit based on the fact it doesn’t match my hair. I guess that’s the one thing I’ll agree “comes with the territory”, sometimes my hair color just doesn’t look so hot with an outfit I want to wear. But when I pick out an outfit I really like with my hair color it’s one of the best things ever. This is one of those cases. I suppose all colors look okay with black but this color I’m rocking now looks so excellent with black, especially with this shirt! I wish I could find an outfit that felt this great with every hair color I try out.

Well, I’m back to work. Today is painting day round two in my office. Yesterday was quite the adventure but I’ll share more about that when I finally finish up this little project and blog about it. Cross your fingers everything goes a bit more smoothly for me today.
xoxo

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what I wore : seagulls and polka dots

by Kaylah Stroup April 18, 2013
details
sunglasses – Tumbleweeds Handcraft
sweater – seagull sweater c/o Oasap
jeans – Target
socks – Happy Socks
shoes – Amazon
camera bag – Jo Totes
I am back in full swing beach obsession mode, it happens ever year. We had the nicest weather here in Ohio last week. Full sunshine and low seventies! This, of course, meant I wanted to spend the evening at the beach. It feels so great to be back there sitting in the sand, wind in my hair, and the sun on my back. I collected my biggest haul of beach glass that I’ve ever found in one evening. I quickly filled up three film canisters with glass and had to put the rest in my camera bag. It was perfect. Evenings like this should happen more often.
Hope you have a lovely Thursday! I hear it’s supposed to be near 80 degrees (Fahrenheit, which is around 27C) here today. That is so exciting. I can’t wait to get outside!
xoxo

PS. Isn’t it so crazy to think that this is the same place from these two posts – 1 & 2 ?!

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See ya later, purple!

by Kaylah Stroup April 16, 2013

Saturday night, on a complete whim, I decided to bleach and dye my hair. My bathroom cupboard is packed full of hair dye in just about every color I could ever want so I just waited to see how light my hair bleached to before deciding what I wanted to dye it.

Oddly enough the purple and pink bleached right out. Normally they’re two colors I have problems getting out of my hair but I was literally watching it disappear before my eyes as I applied the bleach. I still had some residual blue left. I’m opposed to going back to blue for a little while though. I still want to play around with new colors and combinations before settling down with a color again.

This is Punky Colour Turquoise mixed with equal parts Punky Colour Bright Yellow and conditioner on the top layers of hair with Punky Colour Apple Green underneath. I’ve had green hair three very short times in the past (here is one of them) but this is definitely my favorite! I think this one might be sticking around for a while or at least until I can’t fight the urges to completely make over myself again. 😉

I’m just glad I decided to do this way after St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve found that someone will always ask if your hair color correlates with whatever holiday is closest. When I was in the ER at the beginning of the year with a concussion the nurse and doctor both (at separate times) asked if my blue hair was “for the new year”. Um, no? Pink hair for Valentines. Orange for Halloween. Pastels for Easter. Purple for The Grape Jamboree (it’s a local thing). These are all things I try to avoid.

Hope you have a lovely Tuesday!
xoxo

You can find all my tips on bleaching, dying and maintaining colorful hair here.

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where I work…

by Kaylah Stroup March 13, 2013

I just wanted to share a few pictures of my work space/closet today. I guess it’s considered a slash closet when you keep most of your shoes, clothes and accessories in it. But it’s my personal sanctuary. I love looking at all my things displayed around the room. It’s colorful and bright in here and it always makes me smile (uh, except when it’s a mess!)

Last time I blogged photos of this room I mentioned how I loved taking and sharing photos of it because it changes so often. It’s often little changes too, donating something, bringing something new in, so sometimes I don’t really realize how much it’s changed until I look back. My most recent new additions are the succulents on my desk. This winter is really bumming me out. I’m ready for leaves to be back on the trees and birds to be singing outside my window. The succulents are just small but the impact they’re making on my day is tremendous!

Hope you’re having a lovely day!
xoxo

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what I wore : chilly wellies

by Kaylah Stroup March 11, 2013
details 
hat – Gabriel Brothers
coat – Target (a few years back)
scarf – Modcloth
gloves – Kohls
jeans – Karaoke Songstress Jeans c/o Modcloth
camera bag – c/o August Wrinkle
boots – Women’s Wellies c/o Joules

I know it might not look like it but oh my gosh, it was so cold! Even colder than last week when I visited despite the fact there was less snow and ice this time. It was just super windy. But I had a blast shooting some outfit pictures that were a bit different than the ones I normally share, both outfit and photo style wise. If you were to find me at the beach on a day like this that’s definitely what I’d be wearing, not a cute dress!
I have a really  hard time feeling cute in things like this though. Normally when I’m all bundled up and in jeans I don’t feel like I put any effort into my look. But I’m finding if I focus on my accessories, both the ones you can see (cute boots! fun hat!) and the ones you can’t (necklace, cute socks, etc) I feel so much more put together than if I were just to put on any old warm things. I don’t know, it sounds kind of silly to write about. But it’s been something I’ve always struggled with and I’m working really hard to get over it and weeeeerk some winter clothes. Haha!
Hope you’re having a great Monday!
xoxo
PS. Once again I’m the one that drove to the beach and back! It’s still scary as heck but I’m definitely improving. Drivers license – you will be mine soon!!
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au revoir, blue!

by Kaylah Stroup February 25, 2013

Last weekend I finally ventured away from my natural hair color (blue!). I had been purposely trying to fade my hair for a week or so with long soaks in the bubble bath, and lots of conditioning treatments before I bleached it. That blue was not coming out! I finally decided just to go for it. The bleach took out the majority of the blue but there were still some spots left with light blue. Luckily putting the pink over top made those spots a pretty purple. It all worked out perfectly.

I used Punky Colour in Flamingo Pink, Plum and Purple (each mixed with equal parts conditioner because it helps stop the color from bleeding, and staining plus I really love to condition) I used plum on the bottom layer, purple in the middle and flamingo pink on the top.

I’m pretty smitten with it, but somehow this doesn’t quite satisfy my urge to dye my hair. Perhaps because pink and purple also feel fairly natural to me as well. All I know is I’m not comfortable crossing off my new year’s goal of venturing outside blue and purple hair just yet. I think it’s going to take another color to mark that goal off…

Hope you’re having a lovely Monday.
xoxo

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Weekly Nail

by Kaylah Stroup February 24, 2013

Supplies used…
Sally Hansen Right Said Red
Essie Meet Me At Sunset
Essie Fear or Desire
Zoya Pippa
American Apparel Crescent Heights
Funky Fingers Mint Mountain
Zoya Wednesday
Sally Hansen The Sky’s the Limit
Funky Fingers Volt
L’oreal After Hours
Reinforcement Labels
Seche Vite as a top coat

Phew! That’s a long list of colors! Rainbow nails just seemed like the right thing to do though. These turned out even prettier than I had imagined they would while picking out all the colors. A bit childish or not – I really love them! Sometimes it’s nice to just go crazy with color.

Hope you’re having a lovely Sunday!
xoxo

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what I wore : orange you glad

by Kaylah Stroup February 21, 2013
details
coat – Vintage
brooch – thrifted
dress – Got the Memo Dress c/o August Wrinkle
sweater – Charter School Cardigan c/o Modcloth
ring – Burst of Sunshine Ring c/o August Wrinkle
necklace – c/o Oasap
belt – came with the dress
tights – Target
shoes – c/o Wanted Shoes
camera bag – c/o August Wrinkle

I inadvertently added another camera bag to my collection with this bag from August Wrinkle! I just thought it would make a cute purse but come to find out my camera bag insert fits inside perfectly. It’s actually way better than previous bag I was using the insert in, so much roomier. It also has a ton of pockets which is always a plus. I’ve been pocket obsessed for as long as I can remember. The more pockets a backpack had the more likely it would be the one I chose for my school year. Even to this day my decision to buy a coat, purse or anything really can be based on how many pockets it has. What can I say, I’ve always liked to carry way more stuff than I really need. I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t need a whole pocket devoted to lip balm or gum. Haha!

Hope you’re having a lovely Thursday!
xoxo

PS. For better photos of my nails – see here.
PPS. This is the last post (at least for a little while) with blue hair! Last weekend I ventured into new hair color territory. Can’t wait to share photos!
 

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About Me

About Me

Hello!

I'm Kaylah! Renovating a 150-year-old home in Northeast Ohio. Likely found in my garden.

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THE DAINTY SQUID
  • blog
    • all the posts!
    • stroup mansion
    • some of my favorite posts
    • plants + gardening
    • beauty, fashion + hair
    • reviews
    • window shopping
    • explore everywhere
  • about me
  • contact
  • shop