Valentine's Day Decorations and a Free Printable!

I put up a few Valentine's Day decorations today.  I don't have a mantle, which I think is the best spot for holiday decor, so I put mine on the kitchen counter.  Maybe this will remind Zach that Valentine's Day is approaching and he can plan accordingly.  He is a Valentine's Day scrooge.  

Here's a quick break down.  I cut out the glitter hearts from a glitter craft foam sheet I got at Hobby Lobby, for under a dollar.  Then I hot glued the hearts to the ribbon.  This was quite the process because my cat kept laying on my ribbon while I worked.  The candles are just plain white candles, I wrapped heart shaped ribbon around them that I bought from the Target dollar section.  The XOXO print I made in Microsoft Word, and the framed heart I simply cut out of scrapbook paper.  The other accessories are things I had around the house.

 
My original plan was to use this print that I designed, but then my printer decided to stop working.  Wah-waaah.  So I thought I would put it here for you instead!  Just click to enlarge, save to your computer, print, and frame to add to your own Valentine's Day vignette.

Organizational Tip - Trays!

While we're on the topic of organizing, one of my favorite topics I must say; I thought I would share one of my personal must-have organizational items - the tray!  I'm addicted to buying trays, and I use them all over my house.  They are great for corralling those random items that you need easy access to.  Plus you can find really cute ones and they're almost always affordable.

Here's some examples of how I use them in my own home.

In my office to keep everyday office supplies in one space instead of spread all over our desk.

In my bedroom I actually use a cute dinner plate in place of an actual tray for lotions and perfume, don't judge my cheap perfumes.

A tray also can be nice as a strictly decorative item.  I have one in my living room behind the sofa holding a few room accessories just to break up the sofa-table a little. 

And finally in my baby girl's room to hold all those baby necessities.

Here is a quick round up of some of my favorite trays available right now.  And they're all easy on the wallet. 

1. BARBAR Tray 2. Blue Arrows Tray 3. Coral Scalloped Platter 4. Mini Desktop Trays 5. Silver Bird Tray 6. Porcelain Stripe Tray 7. Coral Lattice Tray 8. Seeing Spots Tray

The Evolution of an Art Wall

When talking about arranging art and photos on a wall, so many times I hear friends and clients say they haven't hung anything because they're scared they'll do it wrong or that it won't look good. So instead they have blank walls. But the thing is, what's the worst that could happen? You hang something and it looks bad? Then take it down and try something else. Believe me, it's very easy to fill nail holes.

To illustrate my point, I'm going share with you some really ugly wall arrangements (and crappy photos) by yours truly. One wall in my living room has gone through many changes.

This is what I hung up when we first moved in, yikes. Mostly I used items I already had, and then I spray painted a couple of thrift store finds. It's not good.


Here's what I did next, I decided I needed some bigger pieces.  Better I guess, but still scary.


After we bought our sectional, I added to the arrangement.  It stayed like this for awhile, but I wasn't truly satisfied with it.


And this is how it looks now.  Much better from the original crap fest.  But I'm sure I'll change it again eventually.






This just shows how it won't kill you to experiment a little. Yeah like me, you might go through some fugly arrangements; but eventually you'll find something that works.

Ivy's Nursery

I finally took some pictures of Ivy's nursery! I had so much fun putting this room together for my baby girl.



I really love the rug!  It adds so much to the room, from Rugs USA.






I go the idea for the flower balls in the mobile on Pinterest - here. The metal birds I already had. They are from Alice Lane in Orem, Utah.





Two things on the shelf are from my own childhood. I framed a page from one of my favorite children's books, The Fat Cat. And the alphabet box used to be in my nursery as a baby.


Sources:

Crib and glider - WalMart
Curtains and dresser - Ikea (but I got the dresser on Craiglist for a great deal)
Rug - Rugs USA
Crib sheet, crib skirt, Ottoman, lamp - Target
Artwork above dresser - Cost Plus World Market
Artwork above crib - Urban Outfitters

A little progress

Slowly but surely making some progress in the nursery. So far we have:

- Emptied the room and closet, no easy task since this was formerly our office.
- Touched up paint
- Painted closet and installed closet system
- Bought a dresser ($80 bucks on Craigslist!)
- Placed rug in room
- Ordered and framed first piece of artwork

Here's how it looks now compliments of a poor quality phone camera. Even though we've done a lot of work, it still looks pretty sad and empy. But I'm loving the rug!!



My next steps are:

- Order the crib
- Decide on hardware for dresser drawers
- Decide on a glider
- Continue hunt for curtains or fabric for DIY curtains

I also picked up this print that I hope to work into the room as well. It is "Collective" by Jodi Fuchs.

Nursery Ideas

Baby #1 is on the way! I'm 22 weeks along and ever since we found out we're having a baby girl the wheels have been turning for how to decorate the nursery. Here are my initial ideas, but I have a feeling I'm going to be changing my mind on a few things. I just want it cheery, but soothing, neat, and modern. Lots of colors and not TOO much pink.



I already ordered the rug from Rugs USA during their 4th of July 40% off sale. Can't wait for it to get here!

Copycat Project : DIY Cloud Art

I knew when I saw this project featured on A Cup of Jo, I had to try it out.





Amber from Amber Interiors took a photo of clouds, blew it up, and framed it in an IKEA frame. Genius.

I used a photo I had taken a long time ago, and simply cropped it so only the sky was in the frame. Then I tweaked it a bit to get the turquoise color I was going for. Here is my version hanging in my bedroom.





Such a fast, easy, and cheap project!

Bathroom Makeover

This is my little downstairs powder room/half-bath. And those are my legs, standing on a toilet, because rooms the size of a closet are hard to take pictures of.



Last year, while my husband was away camping I got bored. When I'm bored I do weird things like rip out this bathroom vanity by myself, and drag it into the backyard. Only to discover a big ugly hole behind the vanity.



Well it's a few months later and we finally have a functioning bathroom again. Here are my tips for you.

• Do not think you can remodel a bathroom in a week, no matter how small it is.
• Do not think you and your husband can put in a pedestal sink, because you can't. You will discover this after watching YouTube videos of pedestal sink installations, receive your reality check, and then you will call a plumber.
• Do not paint your bathroom the night before the plumber comes with a color that you chose really fast and in a panic, because you won't like it. Then you will have to re-paint AFTER the sink is in. And that's hella annoying.
• Do not think, "Well I've never done it before, but I'm sure caulking baseboards is really easy and no big deal. Doo da doo." Because you'll be wrong.

And here she be: much prettier, but still hard to take pictures of.














I framed this little Henri Rousseau painting from an old art calendar I had. Zach thinks he's creepy, I think he's very dapper.

New Bookshelf

This is the sad little bookshelf I had in my office that I've been needing to upgrade.


Well on Saturday my mom and I went to Ikea to shop for a client, and I picked up this little ditty for myself. Went with the tried and true Expedit.











I'm feeling much more organized.

Stairway Art

I finally tackled my stairway wall this weekend. I ordered wallpaper samples from Graham and Brown, all in the green family. Their samples are $2.00 each and size 8x10. (Let's not talk about the drywall banister.)

Before:


After:


Before:


After: