Office Gallery Wall

I've been gathering things for a gallery wall to put up in my office at work for...probably a year.  I've had this sketch sitting around for...quite awhile.

Then I got this amazing frame for Christmas (thank you Mom!!!).  It has 16 openings for 4x4 Instagram photos (I loooooooove to display Instagram pics) and that spurred me to action.

I laid everything out and edited and rearranged.  In fact, I wasn't happy with some of the pieces, so I found an 8x10 wooden frame I had bought at Goodwill and painted it with a mix of navy and black chalk paint and then pulled out a pack of stickers I had and a piece of cardstock and made the piece at the bottom left in an hour.

This is the "before" pic of the blank wall in my office.

Here is a GREAT tip for hanging things on your wall (and it's extra easy when that wall is in an office) - make a photocopy of the back of the frame.  Then tape that copy up on the wall and you can rearrange without putting a bunch of holes in the wall and see exactly where the nails need to go.

From the top down:

1. You can see all about how I made the Embroidery Hoop Bunting Wall Art in this link.

2. As mentioned above, I received this for Christmas, which can be found here and had some of my favorite Instagram pictures printed by Walgreens - who make it super easy.

3. In this blog link, you can see the creative process for the Whatever (Philippians 4:8) Print and in this link to my Etsy shop you can buy your own downloadable Whatever print.

4. I bought the adorable arrow from a local Old Town shop, Lucinda's, at a sidewalk sale.  

5. I elevated the clipboard by adding gold leaf to the clip, which you can read more about here.

6. And as mentioned before, I threw the final piece together at the last minute.

Happy Birthday Hadley!!!

My niece Hadley turns four today and she is the most beautiful and precious girl in the world.  She had a very fun Cinderella birthday party this weekend.  

My sister made this adorable cupcake dress:

Then we took her FOUR pictures!

Happy 4th Birthday Hadley!  I love you so much!

January Mantle

**Update January 25, 2016 - this weekend at Goodwill I spotted this branch with really pretty blue flowers and decided to bring that home with me to complete my mantle!  I used a tin vase I already had.  

After Christmas, it was fun to come up with a fresh, clean look for my mantle.  I went back to my pre-holiday colors of navy/blue/black/ivory/gold.

The first thing I decided was to leave up my chalkboard background.  I found the big mirror at Goodwill last weekend.  I bought the print at Hobby Lobby last spring.  I had the wooden frame that needed updating and so I bought navy and black chalk paint and mixed them up.  I realized I liked the gold bead look, so I left that part unpainted.

I found the little stand clipboard at Michaels and added my own "hello January" print (I decided to learn calligraphy 1/1/16 and it's definitely still a work in progress).  The spools holding candles were found at an antique store and Goodwill.  The final piece to come together is the empty space on the left side.  My initial thought was to put a wire basket filled with greenery.  Second thought was a glass jug holding greenery.  A wreath stand  holding a boxwood wreath was an option. Then I saw a white orchid I wanted to get (even though I can't keep them alive). My mom offered a white cross, so I may go with that. 

The key to this look is to form a visual triangle.

Also to layer various sizes, shapes and colors of frames, to add visual interest.

It's sad to day goodbye to Christmas Mantle but it makes it easier when you see it as an opportunity to redecorate!

2016 Calendar

Happy New Year!

I designed a 2016 calendar to help keep me organized.  I print this, 3 hole punch it and put it in a notebook.  I like to call the 2016 edition "Triads".   

Click here for your free printable 2016 calendar!!

Hot Chocolate Bar

Lately, I get a lot of my ideas and inspiration on what is trending from Instagram.  It may be my favorite app.  Hot chocolate bars are everywhere lately.  I was trying to decide what to put on my 3-tiered stand at Christmas time and decided this would be perfect!  Since part of my theme this year is "vintage Christmas" I decided to hunt for vintage Santa mugs at the antique store - so fun!!  The tray is vintage too.  The jars mostly came from Michael's or Goodwill.  Straws from Michael's, then I added Starbucks hot chocolate packets, marshmallows, mini chips, wafer/fudge stir sticks and peppermint stir sticks (not shown in this pic).  

Two Sided Fleece Blanket

I love how this blanket turned out!  

For this project you'll need:

2 yards print fleece fabric

2 yards solid color fleece fabric

lots of pins

sewing machine

Step 1:  Lay out the solid color, right side up.

Step two:  Lay out the print fabric on top of the solid fabric right side down.  So right sides together.

Step 3: Pin the two sides together, all the way around.

Step 4: Sew around the edge with a 1/2 inch margin, leaving about 8 inches open on one side, to enable you to turn it right side out.  Also when you get to the corners, stop 1/2 inch away from the edge and leave your needle in the fabric and turn the fabric to begin sewing the next side.

Step 5: Turn the blanket using the 8 inch opening you left.

Step 6:  Top-stitch around the entire blanket, which will close the 8 inch opening and give your blanket a more finished look.

My brother-in-law Lance loved it!!

Colorful Vintage Christmas

These pictures are my inspiration.  

It's a Wonderful Life

Christmas in Connecticut

Here's what I took from the pics - common elements - colorful, old fashioned C9 lights, garland - tinsel or popcorn, colorful ornaments and tinsel.

Then the colorful, vintage idea expanded to include "Merry & Bright" so I created my mantle with Heidi Swapp marquee letters in bright, colorful, glittery paper, a chalkboard background and an oversize ampersand.

I found a mix of colorful ornaments at Target, Michaels, Hobby Lobby and an antique store.  I bought a bunch of tinsel.

And made a popcorn, cranberry, orange garland.

I love how it turned out - colorful, cheery, vintage - just like the old movies I love!