our zero dollar photo wall.

Okay, you caught me.  Our zero dollar photo wall is in all likelihood a five or six dollar photo wall.  You see, I always have a few spare picture frames lying around, but I have an addiction to swiping my debit card, and I can't help myself from picking up a few interesting ones at the Goodwill just to spice it up when I'm working on a collage.  Two of the frames in this project are new to me.  Everything else is already owned or fabricated by yours truly.

I think that one of the most difficult tasks when it comes to home decor is making art cohesive and appropriately scaled.  By this, I mean that an 8x10 of Remy and a poster of Channing Tatum are not going to cut it.  Not only do they not match, they surely can't anchor a wall or piece of furniture.  Frame collages are a great tool, because they can be made in any shape, size, and color, and the contents can be personalized.  We have one with family photos and sentimental type stuff above our piano in the living room, but here's one that I whipped up for the kitchen:

Just in case you're wondering, here's the who's who when it comes to what's inside my creamy white frames:

1.  Scrapbook paper.  Valentine's Day.

2.  Lyrics to "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait, which was our wedding song.  I simply searched the lyrics in Google Images.  If I owe you credit, let me know.

3.  Pinterest find.  Bryan says this one is his favorite, because it is what our kitchen usually looks like.

4.  Another Pinterest image.  Seriously, I have an entire board of art that I plan to print and use.  This one is near and dear to me, because my mom had a little rooster theme going on while I was growing up.

5.  A card from my mother-in-law.  It reminds us of the town where we got married.

6.  Go spraypaint a place setting -- it's so cute, no?

7.  This is my favorite piece up there, but if you zoom in and are crazy like me, you'll notice that something doesn't quite add up.. 

8.  This one just screams one of these things is not like the other, and will probably be cut by week's end. I've got a greeting card in mind for this slot.

So, what do you think?  Am I the only one who makes art of things just lying around the house?  Anyone have tips on a great, sentimental (and cheap!) project?  

photoshop + recipes = cheapo kitchen art.

So, let me preface this by stating that I am in no way a photoshop expert.  In fact, I am pretty much last on the photoshop wagon and might be just about the farthest thing from an expert on the matter.  There is, however, one thing I know about the program.  Photoshop allows you to very easily create a canvas of any size you want (as I'm sure is true with any photo editing tool).  This means that I can make FREE art for any frame in my house... which in turn means I can make these:

I picked three of our favorite recipes: Chicken Croissants was a delicacy that my mom made while we were growing up.  The Turkey Chili is a recipe that my dad shared with us shortly before he passed.  And the Spiders are a favorite from Bubba's mom, and also the most requested dessert in our extended family.

As far as the nitty-gritty how-to, all I did was sit down with three recipe cards and a glass (ahem, bottle) of wine.  I opened photoshop and created a canvas of the size I wanted to fit in the frame.  I did this by going to File > New.  When the new window pops up, you just have to change a few things instead of simply clicking OK.

Next to the arrow, you will see a spot for height and width.  Enter your desired dimensions in inches.  Directly to the right of those values will be a dropdown menu.  Select "inches" instead of "pixels."  Click OK and you've got yourself a blank canvas, and from there, you can add your text and graphics in whatever fashion you like.  You're on your own for that part, because my finished product is just the result of moving things around until I liked it.  Anyway, here are the close-ups:

They admittedly took longer than I would've liked, but they fill the wall in the kitchen just right, and everyone who comes over comments on them.  There's not much I like more than personal art.

springing along.

It is March 3rd.  I woke up this morning, and my doormat said "Ho-Ho-Ho."  My wreath was appropriately matched.  As if the embarrassment of my neighbors seeing this for three months too long was not enough, let me share:

Honestly, I love my Christmas wreath.  Chartreuse and gold are my babies, but even I know when it's time to put a good thing to rest.

Armed with a few Pinterest inspiration pictures (here and here), I set out to create something that would work for my budget, my style, and my front porch for years to come.  Here's the final product:

To anyone who spends $50 or more on seasonal wreaths: take a trip to Michael's, bring a 40% coupon, and give yourself a shot.  This whole project took me forty-five minutes, tops (much to Bubba's chagrin).  All you have to do is lay things out and see what you like.  It's personal, it's subjective, and it's so much fun with wine!

let me teach you how to pinterest.

I was early to the Pinterest party.  I joined back in the day when you had to wait for an invite like it was some sort of exclusive club, and I've been hooked ever since.  It seems like everyday, I'm surprised by the suggested people to follow:  Facebook friends I'd never dream had a creative bone in their body.  But Pinterest isn't just about creating, and there's no one right way to use it.  That's part of its beauty.  Regardless, after seeing the same silly things over and over, I thought I'd share some insight into how I get the most out of my endless time on Pinterest.

1.  Use the search bar.  Sure, it's great to see all of the inspiring things that your friends have pinned and tack the good ones onto your own boards.  It's even helpful to look through the categorized pins.  I might, for instance, check out the holiday section if I'm looking for Christmas inspiration.  But I know that I'm really looking for DIY Christmas decor, so I type that into the search bar instead.  I end up with pages and pages of pins that I want, rather than an assortment of projects, cards, landscapes, and the lyrics to Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer when I'm really just in it for the projects.  This is also the method by which I ended up with boards about gift wrap and centerpieces.  There's tons of good stuff out there, but you don't find much of it unless you know what you're looking for.

2.  Caption your pins!  When I repin something, it is going onto my personal board, which has its own unique purpose.  Why on earth should it not have a caption created by me to help me remember my intention  when pinning it?  A few weeks ago, I pinned this beauty:

My sister is planning a wedding and hoping for a niece that she can dress up as a flower girl.  I pinned this as a reminder of a lovely outfit that I'd like my (nonexistent) daughter to wear at my sister's future wedding.  I captioned it Susan's flower girl.  Since then, the pin has been repinned about fifty times, presumably, each time by a woman planning her own wedding.  Because I have too much time on my hands, I checked those repins out.  Know what the caption is on almost all of these women's wedding boards?  SUSAN'S FLOWER GIRL.  Come on, people!  Type something into that little text box when you hit repin!  I know you're not all named Susan.


3.  It's not just about pretty pictures.  Think of Pinterest as your favorites menu on your internet browser, only organized and visual.  When you pin something, it's like bookmarking a webpage on your favorites list, only you can put it in an appropriate group, and remind yourself what the page is about with a picture.  The remarkable thing about Pinterest is that it links all of these pictures to the original external site.  One of the Pinterest projects that I have on my list for the near future is this:

I think I stumbled upon it in my friends feed.  I have a few of those terrible grates in my house, and knew I'd want to remember this as an idea of how to spruce them up.  By pinning this, I not only remind myself of a project, I save the website that originally published these photos.  Usually, this means a blog with additional photos and tutorials.  When I click on this picture within Pinterest, it will bring me here, and I'll have everything I need by way of instructions for this project.  What's better is that I have an entire board filled with projects, their pretty pictures, and tutorials and details for all of them.  Take advantage of that!


4.  You can pin things from anywhere, not just Pinterest.  On the top right-hand corner of the site, go to the about tab, and click on Pin It Button.  Just download that bad boy, and you're good to go.  It will put a permanent button on the header of your internet browser.  When you're searching the internet and come to a page you want to "bookmark," click the button.  It will bring up all of the photos on the page, and you'll be able to choose which photo you want to remember it by.  Then you can pick the appropriate board, caption, and you're all set.  I do this all the time for recipes, because, let's face it, Allrecipes beats Pinterest over the head when it comes to recipes.  When I planned my Thanksgiving menu, I spent my time on Allrecipes, but pinned all of my ideas so that I could revisit them later using the Pin It Button.  This way, I get the quality recipes and reviews that I need, but I organize them in a much more effective way than my browser's favorite list.  Works like a charm.

So there you have it.. the way I make Pinterest work for me.  I am a creator, and I use it to organize my ideas, my inspiration, and the directions I'll need along the way.  I've also heard that it can be used to aid in fashion choices, and I'm working on that, too.. 2013 is a growing year, you know.

falling in love with a john.

This week, I picked up a thirty second and six dollar switch that has sent me head over heels for my toilet.  You heard that right.

You see, there's not much that I like about my bathroom.  It's small.  There's only one sink.  The ivory colored vanity clashes with the pink tile.  And the pink tile is all over the room.  It's a step right back into the fifties.  So, when the opportunity arises to have something in there that makes me smile, well, I jump on it:

I've had my little crate on the back of the toilet for at least a year now.  It started with a candle in the middle.  Over Christmas, I had a baby Christmas tree.  This week, I figured it was time to clear out the holidays and make room for Spring.  I picked this bad boy up at the grocery store.  They say it's a mini rose plant, which I'm not sure I believe.  All that mattered to me was that the $5.99 price tag was acceptable for something that will likely soon fall victim to my green thumb.  Here goes nothing!

crafty man cave wall art.

I know, it almost seems like that juxtaposition of words should not exist. In recent months, Bubba and I have been dreaming up plans on finishing our basement. Since he's such a sport and lets me do things my way above ground, I figured it's only fair to let him take the reins downstairs. And so the man cave plans were born.

 Anyway, my husband is a class act, and would never think of plastering posters of cars or girls in skimpy shorts all over walls that are still half-mine. I'm sure he's going to fill the space with dark leathers, faux furs, and coffee table books. But just in case, I figured I'd get him started with a piece of art that says, "I trust your judgment, but don't you dare hang ratty old posters in my house" all in one gift.

 If you're like me and type things like "DIY man art" into Pinterest, then you may have seen something like this or this or this.  I normally hate words on the wall, but loved the rustic and laid-back vibe, and thought it'd be just the right springboard for the beginning of the basement story.  So, on December 23, armed with an exacto knife and contact paper, I got to work.

It was a pretty easy process.  All I had to do was type my text into a word document, choosing different fonts for different lines.   I used Open Office, and exported it as a PDF afterwards, so that I could open it with my favorite photo editor to size to my preferred dimensions (what I actually wanted to hang on the wall).  Then I just uploaded it to Staples, had it printed as a poster, and got to stenciling.. for a long, long time.

Once I had my poster, I stuck a piece of contact paper to the front, and traced each letter out with my knife.  It took FOREVER.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but wine made it worse.  A couple of hours before midnight mass, I finished the cutting stage, and peeled each piece of contact paper from the poster backing.  Since my piece of plywood was already painted white, I could just stick the contact paper on wherever I wanted, and get to spraying the whole thing black.  Admittedly, I wish I'd taken more time to make sure everything was perfect, but it's definitely got that homemade vibe going on.

Here's the finished product:

Of course, it's not in its permanent home yet.  You know, we need stuff like drywall first.  For now, it's propped up on a shelf in our dining room.  I'm hoping to sneak it into a closet for the next couple of months, but we'll see.  I caught Bubba taking pictures of it on his phone, so I think he's pretty pleased.  Now if I could just get him to use those new running shoes I bought for him..

Christmas Tree 2012

This is probably a sick statement:  there are very few things more important to me than a Christmas tree.  I know.  I mean, I value a lot of things:  education, faith, a solid foundation... but there are very few things as universally magical as a Christmas tree.

I grew up in a Christmas house.  I say that with careful tread, because if you asked my mother today, she might try to tell you that she did not necessarily care for Christmas more than any other woman or parent.  I grew up in an enchanted house.  A perfect, day-dreamy childhood home.  We had egg hunts on Easter, wore giant headphones on the Fourth, and decorated the tree together in December with rules that had been ingrained since we could walk.  If you're old enough to know Santa's nine reindeer, you're old enough to know that big, heavy ornaments go on the bottom.. dainty, glass ones up top.  Ornaments in a group are not placed right next to each other, but far enough apart in the same quadrant for spectators to realize that they're related, but not be overkill.  Tinsel is not clumped, and ugly goes in the back.  It's a lot of rules, I get it.  But life is full of rules.

When I was just starting out in my first post-college place, my mom and I went to Kohl's and bought the entire St. Nicholas Square ornament line.  They were on sale.  At the time, Bubba and I lived with his younger brother, and I gave the two of them the long-and-short of decorating a Christmas tree.  I snuck out of bed one night and rearranged.  On my wedding day, we had a Christmas tree, and after the rehearsal dinner, my bridesmaids helped me decorate.  Although I promised to relinquish control, still, they got the lesson.  Both trees, for what it's worth, were beautiful.

Anyway, nowadays, Bubba knows his place:  he follows me dotingly to the tree farm, tips the young man who ties the tree to the car with a manly bro-shake, finagles the darn thing in the tree stand, and then sits back and drinks whiskey while I fuss over whether or not we need more lights (for the record, the answer is always yes).  It may not be a perfect system, but it works for us, and it makes us equally happy.

Behold, the tree of 2012:

Yes, that is the Grinch on television.  It's tradition in our house to watch a classic Christmas movie while decorating.  Usually classic is a little more along the lines of Rudolph or Year Without a Santa Claus, but let's face it.. sometimes it takes me so long that I have to move along to the new age favorites.