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


Two things you should know first:

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

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

Whatever works, right?

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

You will need:

a level (a long one),

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

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

and painters tape


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

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



(Take note: this is where the bad pictures begin. Click on the image and it will enlarge...hopefully you will be able to see the details better)


The first thing I did in her room was pick the height I wanted the scallops to sit at. I wanted them to be above the tallest point on her crib, so that was the determining factor for me.
I painted my top and bottom colors up to a centralized line.
Once the paint was dry, I took my 4' level and marked the line all the way around the room.
I then took my saucer, which had already been taped off, put it against the wall with the bottom of the plate facing me, and where the tape folded over the edge is where I lined up the plate with the level line.

Sheesh. I hope that makes sense...

I then used my pencil to lightly trace the bottom of the saucer onto the wall.

You can see it here:

...and here...

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


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

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


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

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


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

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

A little helpful tip about these pouncers:

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

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

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


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

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

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

It was a natural choice!

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


And that's it!

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

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

Good luck and happy painting!





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


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