We have a lot of blank wall space in our house right now because my taste has changed so much over the last year or so….and now I am just itching to get some stuff up there!
And apparently, I have a thing for gallery walls right now. I lurve them. {which is better than love sometimes.}
I think it’s because they kind of seem like a show-and-tell of your life and what’s important to you, you know? A landing place where someone can come in your house and instantly get a feel for what you’re about. And because every family is different, I love the idea of gathering items and creating a tailor-made display just for your family.
There’s a mother load of ideas out there for gallery walls, but the thing with being creative is that you don’t want to do it like everyone else. It needs to be uniquely you. Quirky, snarky, heart warming, inspiring and fun.
{Remember, I have high expectations for my decor.}
So, in my planning, I thought it would be helpful to make a list.
What I need from a gallery wall:
1. Something that inspires me
2. Something with deep meaning
3. Something that takes me away to another place {beach}
4. Something quirky that makes me smile
5. Something old
6. Something new
{of course, some pieces can be more than one of those things.}
Here are some of my favs from the interwebness {click on them to go to the source}:
{I adore the idea of sitting in the soft glow of art… from your wall}
{love the mix of different things here}
{John and Sherry can do no wrong in my eyes.}
{again with those two}
{oh how I love nautical}
I’m realizing that I just really like the unexpected, you know? Life is too short to not love what’s on your walls.
So my next step is to gather all my stuff. I have been stashing away old frames that need to be painted, wooden wall “art” that needs a new look, embroidery hoops, favorite art prints, starfish from the beach last summer, an old pepsi crate, chalkboard painted plaques, pictures of us, a mirror, an old paned window, hanging shelves and a few small filler items. Quite a few of those items will be a project in and of themselves, but it will be fun to show you what I decide to do with each piece.
I’ve also spied some prints from etsy that are tempting me…
{minus that frame. eesh.}
{I have a deep, deep love of dolphins. And other large sea mammals. Don’t make fun of me.}
{and woodland creatures}
{born and raised. plus it’s on metallic paper. win-win.}
And then I start thinking about weathered wood, chalkboards, cute pendant banners, fabric-wrapped canvases, stacked frames, nail art…. aaaaaah!!!! You can see how I overwhelm myself with the endless options, right? This is why that list up there at the top is handy. Stick to the list, Dana. Stick to the list!
If you happen to like being overwhelmed, you can browse my new wall board.
Do you have a gallery wall in your house? What did you hang up?
{are you subscribed yet? now there are 2 ways: with your email on the right, or click the rss icon at the top and add me to your reader. yay!}
Treasuring the moments takes intention, I’m still learning.
I don’t know what it is exactly…well, it’s a couple things….but I’ve been feeling really sentimental {read: a little weepy} about my kids growing up lately. And the work of being a mom to them. The calling.
Because I’m distracted. A lot.
And they keep growing.
First I read this post by Ann {one of my favorite authors in the whole world. her blog gets me every single time.} And then Lisa Leonard wrote about feeling like a failure. I related so much with her.
And then I went back to my old blog where I’ve chronicled life since I was pregnant with our firstborn. So many memories and little things the boys would say and do when they were tiny that I’ve completely forgotten. So many moments where I was desperate and the Lord met me in such a specific way. I’m grateful that I wrote some of them down and reminded of the reality that if I don’t, I’ll lose those precious memories.
The other day, after feeding Zoe, the light was just right and I was able to capture some of her signature faces and personality… so if you don’t mind, I’m going to overload you with pictures of a child you might not know just so I won’t forget these sweet, fleeting moments I share with her. :)
{she loves the lens}
{what we call “straight mouthing”}
{She thinks I’m funny}
{more straight mouthing}
{chubby, little fingers wrapped around my camera strap}
{I KNOW you ain’t talkin to me. shoo’.}
{intent on getting the lens}
{those happy, crazy eyes}
{….protesting….}
{the baby blues that will probably get her whatever she wants in life}
{…until the crazy comes out}
{lashes}
Sigh. I sure do love that little girl.
How do you treasure the moments so you don’t forget?
{Don’t forget to put your email in the little box up there on the right so you don’t miss the fun! There’s a little prize when you do!}
Thanks so much to all of you who participated by pinning those lovelies like crazy…you guys were motivated!
And a big congrats to….
CAITLIN!!!!
Yay for you, Caitlin! I’ve already sent you an email so go check your inbox!
That was a lot of fun….I think we’ll do more of those in the future. :)
You see that little dash up there in the title between “Pantry” and “Laundry”? That little dash is the bane of my existence. The sweet, kind, ever-so-practical souls who planned out this house, decided that I didn’t need a pantry and that the laundry closet room should be right off the kitchen. Bless them. They must eat out a lot.
To make some kind of a pantry my father-in-law added shelves to the back of the door and one of the walls. There are also a few shelves on each side, above the washer and dryer. Last year, we added a small white standing cabinet in our kitchen to hide our trash and give us a few more shelves to work with, but day-to-day functioning in that space is still a headache.
There are almost always baskets of laundry on the floor, the shelves are full (and way up high!) and there is this huge basket on top of the dryer that holds chips and snacks and juicer parts, but also serves as a place to lay clean clothes that I don’t want to get wrinkled. I’ve learned to feel around for the knob and set the dryer timer without looking. Then I shove the basket really hard until it pushes the start button on the back of the dryer. I’ve had to keep my potatoes and onions on the floor because there wasn’t room for them and I may or may not have washed an entire bag of onions hidden under a dirty clothes pile before.
FOR. THE. LOVE. Are you cringing with me? I’m pretty sure I can feel my blood pressure going up just thinking about it.
Last week, I made a big grocery shopping trip and when I started putting them away, I realized how hard it was going to be and just out right refused to do it anymore. {insert foot stomp} I started dragging out all the junk I don’t use, the expired seasoning packets and dressings, millions of shopping bags, old starbucks aprons, paper products and jugs of whey powder we used when we thought we could still pull off young and ripped at some point in our lives. The kitchen was a hot mess and I had to remind myself that it would get worse before it got better. Oh, the piles.
I reorganized the shelves, neatly arranged the things I don’t use often but didn’t want to get rid of on the top shelves and used shelf dividers to give me more room on the lower shelves. I even gave myself an appliance shelf for the stand mixer, food processor, juicer and ice cream maker. I cleaned out all the Aldi and reusable bags we shoved between the dryer and the wall…that was shocking {I could stock an Aldi store}. I found a new, shallow basket that wasn’t being put to good use to put on the dryer that could hold our snack bags AND allow me to see the knobs again! I dumped, recycled and called my sis-in-law to arrange to give her some of what I didn’t need anymore.
Josh, who has been quite vocal about how he feels about that room, walked in there when he got home and y’all, it was not far from when the nurse handed him our first born. Big eyed and quiet, he just looked all around, up and down before he exclaimed, “Oh! Ohhh! Ooh! Ooooooh!” It’s a little sad, really. Glad I could make the poor man happy. :)
He actually told me that if I had done nothing but take the huge basket off the dryer, he would have basically had the same reaction.
He was so inspired, he rushed out to Lowes and bought another rack to hang on the wall {turns out, there was enough space for 2} to double our wall storage. Yay!
{I didn’t get a good before picture, but here’s the basket that was there.}
Now this is not our dream makeover. There are tons of things we want to still do. We would love to have stackable machines on one side and lots of deep shelving {wood, not wired} on the other side, fresh paint in a gorgeous accent color and loads of cute, labeled baskets like you see all over pinterest. That’s just not going to happen right now {though I have ordered some galvanized tins I saw at 70% off that will hopefully be put to good use in there}. So no. It’s not sparkling. It won’t go viral on the interwebs. But it made a heck of a difference to us! I dart in and out of there all day long and each time I can’t believe what an improvement it’s made to my day! Not having to shove and kick and move things out of my way just to change the laundry over has lowered my stress levels more than I ever anticipated.
This made me think about why we do projects….to impress the masses or to serve us and our families a little better? Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of impressive projects. :) I drool over tons of those beautiful makeovers. But I know that in the past, if I knew my project wouldn’t turn out like that, I didn’t want to even start it. It wasn’t good enough. For them.
I was missing the whole point. Maybe you struggle with that a little too? So, here’s a bit of encouragement to go and tackle the things that would make the biggest difference to YOU and your family….regardless of how much it may or may not sparkle. If it sparkles to you, it’s worth the effort. One my favs, The Nester, challenges me all the time with her motto:
What about you? Tackling any projects lately?
My shop is surprisingly very steady for January. In fact, I have seen DOUBLE the sales I did last January. While this is of course very exciting, it leaves me nail-biting about what the rest of the year is going to look like. I’m at the uncomfortable place of trying to decide if I need to hire help. December just about killed me.
Usually, this is the month where I enjoy a lot of quiet at the shop and get to plan, evaluate where things are, make new lovelies, dream up the spring collection and really plug time into the business side of things. Well, I’m certainly doing those things now, but I’m having to squeeeeeeeze them in between life, the laundry, this blog and orders. I’m grateful to be in this tight space though. This is happy growth. :)
I’m also learning just how right-brained I actually am. My refrain lately when we’re talking about DBA vs LLC, taxes, copyrights, trademarks, budgeting, labels, logos and branding is {in a very whiny voice}: “I juuust want to make pretty things!” Do any of you guys ever feel like that?
SO. With all that left-brain stuff going on, I need a good dose of cute to keep me sane. That’s why I’m so glad I do what I do! A favorite excursion for me is shopping for materials. I scour bead sources and loiter around the fabric remnant bin at Hobby Lobby. How adorable is this stuff?!
{Be looking for new earrings in the shop soon. Brightly hued filigree is calling to me right now.}
And I am SHOCKED at how these have been flying off the shelves lately.
And then there’s this pretty little thing that makes me smile. :)
All this talk of cute has me in the mood to share the joy so let’s have some fun, shall we?! :)
I’m assuming most of you are on Pinterest so here’s how you can win that ^^^ necklace up there and your choice of earrings {matching earrings are an option as well}:
1. Make sure you are following me on pinterest
2. Go to my Etsy Shop board and repin as many lovelies as you wish. Each pin is an entry.
3. Leave one comment here with your pinterest profile name and how many you repinned.
And that’s it!
I will randomly pick a winner from those entries and will email them. This {Pin}away ends at 11:59pm est Saturday, Feb 2nd.
Have fun and spread the word!!!
If you’re like us, you spend most of your nights in. Valentine’s day is usually no exception. We have small kids, it often falls on a weekday, we want to save money, etc… And honestly, though sometimes we make up for it later on a weekend night, we don’t really mind staying home.
Over the last few years we’ve figured out how to make it special and feel like a fancy date that we get to wear our pajamas to. THAT…. trumps almost any restaurant in my book.
Here’s why I say “almost.”
Which means this…
Be still my very hungry heart.
The Melting Pot has been a birthday or anniversary tradition of ours since we were dating. In fact, there is a framed picture of us on our first date there in our bedroom. Fondue is near and dear to our hearts.
In fact, during one very financially hard season for us, several of my dearest friends pitched in and sent us there so we wouldn’t miss our tradition. I know! They’re wonderful.
Back to our Valentine’s day tradition…..so one year I decided to try to recreate this experience at home. It was a huge success! We loved it! I cut the boys’ naps short in the afternoon so we could feed them an easy dinner and send them to bed early. Party time for us!
Now, I didn’t do the meats…that would have been too much for me to try in one night, so I sent Josh to the store for a quick, frozen skillet meal and I got to work on the cheese and chocolate fondue. This has become a new tradition for us on Valentine’s Day.
I think this picture is of our cheese fondue from several years ago {all the pictures in this post were taken with a crappy camera at night. but you get the point.}….
We get our favorite bubbly….Chimay for Josh and Martini & Rossi Asti for me. :)
Then we have cheese fondue with all the dippers. Mmmmm. My mouth is watering. This is the recipe I have used before and it’s really good. Here’s a recipe that has become my go-to because to me, it tastes just like it’s from The Melting Pot. It looks great and I love how the url says “low cholesterol.”
For the dippers, we use cut up apples, baby carrots, broccoli, pretzels and cubed french or italian bread {our fav}. Last year my friend let me borrow her electric fondue pot and it was fantastic, but if I don’t have one, I heat it on the stove until we’re ready, bring the pot to the table and we chow down.
We eat our lovely skillet meal {though last year we were too stuffed} and then it’s time for dessert! Woo hoo!!!
{Seriously, get excited people. It’s REAL good.}
Now, I’m a simple girl so I’m probably not going to track down the highest quality unsweetened, semi-sweet and milk chocolate. I usually use Ghirardelli chips because to me, those are the fancy kind. Just keepin’ it real. :)
Here’s a really basic recipe that is everything you need and you don’t have to go to Madagascar for the ingredients.
For dippers we use bananas, strawberries, apples, pineapple, marshmallows {we LOVE the coconut covered ones. they are my favorite!}, brownie bites, cheesecake, angel food cake, rice crispy treats, oreos, our fingers, puzzle pieces, dog treats….whatever we can find!
The things I would eat if it were dipped in this chocolate would, no doubt, bring the health department to my door.
The whole experience just screams romance.
If we can keep ourselves out of a sugar coma, we usually rent a movie and cuddle up on the couch. The perfect end to a sweet evening.
Although we usually do this for Valentine’s Day, I’m pretty sure fondue is DE-lightful for anyone, anywhere….married or not. I think it sounds like the perfect girl’s night. In fact, I think it sounds great as an afternoon snack all by myself. Hmm….I may have to rethink my plan. :)
Are you guys planning on staying in this year? What do you do to make it special?
{Don’t forget to subscribe by popping your email address in the little box on the right. There’s sweet treat from my shop for you when you do!}
Shared with Works for me Wednesday
I have a love for typography. I already love words, but when someone can take them and turn them into art? I stand amazed.
I mean, how gorgeous is this?!
And with Pinterest has come OODLES of wonderful and FREE printables. Be still, my heart.
You may have noticed a lot of bloggers talking about picmonkey…a free photo editing site that replaced picnik earlier this year. I use it all the time and love it. In fact, any time you see a collage or graphic here, chances are that I used picmonkey to do it. There are tons of easy tutorials on how to play with it so I won’t reinvent the wheel and do that here, but you should really check it out. :)
I was seeing that there were a lot of folks using picmonkey to make fantastic printables and I decided to try it. Y’ALL. I had the best time! So much so that I wanted to share it with you!
A little back story….when Josh and I got married, there was a song…The Nearness of You…that we just loved {still do} and it was sort of ”our song.” Anytime we hear it now, it brings back so many sweet memories and we still sing it to each other. I know…we’re weirdos.
So we decided that it would have to be our first dance at our reception and our only debate was whether to use the James Taylor or the Norah Jones version. Now, I love me some JT, but I won that decision. Norah rocked it out. It was so perfect. I’m humming it to myself and having a little moment right now. :)
I thought it would be sweet to have a few of the lyrics framed and sitting out now that we’re approaching valentine’s season so I played a bit and came up with one I like {for my first time anyway}. So just in case you also love “The Nearness of You,” I thought it would be fun to post it so you could print it off and use it too. I know. I’m basically the nicest person in the world. ;)
And here’s one more…
I think the easiest way for you to print it is to right click on it, save it to your computer and then use your print settings to print the size you want. I needed a 5×7 so after I clicked “print” there was a drop down menu with size options. So easy.
Ok, time to share the love! If you have found a printable you can’t live without, leave us a link in the comments…I love finding new ones! Or, tell us what your first dance was to.
And make sure you’re subscribed over there on the right so you don’t miss our fun. :)
I’m having one of those days where I just can’t seem to get anything done and all I want to do is lay down. Maybe it’s just that I’m not as young as I think I am, but I’m noticing more and more that one or two very productive/busy days inevitably leads to a day like this…very unproductive. Do you guys ever feel like that?
Friday, Josh and Isaiah were off work/home from school because of our “snow.” In the Charlotte area, that means that a snowflake fell and everyone freaked out. We pretty much shut down. So the boys were really excited about playing outside…aaaand it had all melted by 10. Our weekends are always crazy, then they were off Monday for MLK day and yesterday was a teacher workday here and we had community group last night. Gosh, maybe that’s why I’m tired. Everyone home for 5 straight days. Wonderful but…..yawn.
I’m also really trying to make conscious steps towards health like exercising 3-4 times a week consistently and eating more plants, juicing, stuff like that. I think it’s wearing me out. ;)
Anyway… despite all that, I’ve actually been feeling pretty inspired to play with color and texture in my shop lately and I thought I would share a little bit about what helps shape what you see in my shop wares. Because my lovelies use the same kinds of materials {fabric and beads, etc}, a big chunk of it comes down to color. And I LOVE color. It might sound weird but color really moves me. It can take me to far off places, paradises, memories, feelings, tastes and smells…almost like I could dive in and instantly be sipping a cappuccino in Italy, feeling a warm breeze sweep over me on white sands overlooking sparkling clear waters or browsing through an outdoor farmers market in a bustling city.
{Here is a print from one of my favorite artists. I own several of hers and this might be my favorite, though it’s hard to choose! }
Isn’t it pretty? All of her work is equally colorful and gorgeous. I can’t get enough. {PS, you can click on all the images in this post and go right to the source.}
However, winter is typically not my favorite season and some of that is because of the absence of color around me…that’s where you have to get a little creative, but with winter comes the hope of spring. And I get very, very excited about spring. :)
I keep my phone handy all the time and when I see something that strikes me, I jot it down into a running list I have there. Sometimes it hits me in the most random ways… a colorful scarf thrown over a leather bag on the floor, tree branches stretched across the sky, fruit slices on a turquoise plate, a rusted sign on an old building, plants in worn pots, even my sweet girl’s bright blue eyes and pink lips looking up at me.
Right now, I’m really loving pinks paired with teals…
{You can see that in my Cherry Blossom necklace.}
…deep reds with aqua…
{Like in my Cherry Juice necklace.}
…greens with blushes…
{hmm…just realized that’s not in my shop yet. I’ll get right to work on it.}
…and green and navy.
{I’ve paired this happy couple together in my Spring Rain necklace.}
I love how eventually every color or combination that speaks to me traces back to nature. God is truly the Master Designer. There is nothing new under the sun that He did not create. Man, He has some great taste!
If you’re craving even more color, go check out my pinterest COLOR BOARD!
What kinds of things are inspiring you these days?
{Want to read more about this? Add your email to the little box on the right and you’ll get a fun treat for subscribing. }
Yay for another sweet shop deal!!!
Ok, y’all. I’m not trying to rush you or anything but Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and sometimes a girl has to push for what she wants. I say take advantage of the few weeks you have and drop some major hints. OR…just do the work yourself and make sure you receive a sweet little gift. There doesn’t have to be a man in the picture to ensure you look cute…you catching my drift?
That’s why I think you’ll be pretty excited about what we have going on in the shop today. Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, this one is for you.
From now through 11:59pm est Saturday night {Jan 26}, any item in the shop with RED or PINK in it is BOGO HALF OFF.
Here’s what you do: pick out your lovelies at the shop, then send me a convo {how you send messages through etsy} telling me what you want. I will set the listing up to take 1/2 off your equal or lesser valued lovely. Make sense?
Now this is important: your order MUST be placed by the cut off time above to get the deal and it can’t be combined with other coupon codes.
I can’t wait to see what you pick and feel free to send your husband’s and boyfriend’s over…I’ll be happy to help him get it right. :)
I don’t know what it is, but in my head, I have put really high expectations on a certain little side table in our living room. And not even expectations of great functionality. It’s more like expectations of it tying together my entire house and causing people to walk in my door and say “Whoa! This place is amazing and I canNOT get over that side table! I’m totally instagraming that. You should submit this!” …and then they ask me if they can live here until I go to their house and make it as awesome as mine. All of my house-woe’s would melt away with the perfect side table.
Why a side table and not, say, a couch, a wall or something else more significant? I don’t pretend to understand myself, people. I’m a complicated being.
We’ve had a few side tables over the years, but I felt the need to lighten up a bit. We have large furniture and I wanted something a little less bulky so I posted to a swap group I’m a part of, and was able to arrange a swap for this table….
A little round one with a cloth cover and glass overlay. I was so happy to welcome it into our home…with a few changes. No cloth and no glass overlay. I have small kids. That has disaster written all over it. So I stripped it naked and decided I would have to paint it yellow. Oh, and I wanted to try to paint a chevron pattern at some point in my life so that would go on the top….yellow with a yellow and white zigzag pattern. It would solve all our problems.
My Phases of a Project:
- scan the pictures with hurried excitement and unquenched optimism
- quickly review the items needed …blah, blah…(you won’t have them all)
- assess what you can sub in because that’s what the truly resourceful do (this is the peak of blind optimism and denial)
- imagine the hundreds of times your project will be pinned, liked and posted about all over the blogosphere
- figure out how you will handle the BHG people when they call
- throw out the instructions, you’re not an idiot (you’re awesome)
- dive in
- recheck the instructions….not sure what’s happening here
- decide that the poor soul who wrote the instructions is the dumbest person alive
- realize you can’t redeem this, shut yourself in your bedroom and take to the bed
- get some distance…maybe listen to your husband’s gentle assessment of what happened
- decide on a plan B when you’ve recovered your pride
I wanted chevron, didn’t have the stencil so I found one on pinterest and printed it out. On paper.
Exhibit B:
I didn’t have painters tape so I dug around in the garage until I found electrical tape. If McGuiver could deactivate a bomb, and make a phone with it, it would work for me. (I’m not really sure if he did all that, but…he probably did.)
Exhibit C:
Screw the chevron. Whoever wrote that post I found on pinterest had NO idea what they were talking about. Too much measuring and reading. We’ll settle for stripes. They’re straightforward enough.
Exhibit D:
Wow. That’s a lot brighter than I thought it would be. All paint completely mellows out as soon as it comes in contact with a surface, right?
Exhibit E (where I curse the whole world):
Crisp lines, they are not and now I’m seeing big yellow spots everywhere I look. I’m not saying it’s completely awful. It just didn’t heal my soul and that’s what I was going for. I’m not sure it can carry the weight of the world. I’m questioning everything. What’s happening to me?
Fast forward a few weeks later….
I’m happy to report that I’m starting to recover from the horror of it all. For now, it’s sitting where it’s supposed to and I’m trying to live with it, but… I bought new paint at Lowe’s today. Oh, and painter’s tape.
And a few weeks after that….
The paint is called Secluded Garden (Valspar). Let’s all just breathe that in for a moment…
Breathe in… Breathe out…
I mean, just look at it sitting over there all serene and peaceful. After all it’s been through. Quite the difference from the original naked version with a piece of cloth and glass for dignity, but I made it a promise that I would never again subject it my neurosis again.
I’ll be sure to update you if as history repeats itself, and please tell me I’m not the only one who does this.
{Want to read about more of my failures adventures? Just stick your email address in the box up there on the right and I’ll make sure you don’t miss anything. You’ll get a sweet discount to my shop too!}
