THE gallery wall

Y'all...I don't know if its more embarrassing how long I've gone without blogging or how long my pictures and frames sat around before I hung my gallery wall? Lets just say they were both overdue.

I don't think I'll be spending hours writing blog posts anymore trying to make them "pinterest-worthy".  I have more important things to do like spend time with my husband and work on my fitness :) but I do want to give you a glimpse into whats going on around the house. Be warned: these are all phone pictures.

So I'm going to start by showing you the progression of my gallery wall. It all started with this daunting 7' x 11' wall that I had no idea what to do with. I searched high and low for a console table long enough that wouldn't break the bank. And then World Market came to my rescue and created the Everett Foyer Table. It was perfect!! Its no wonder its so popular with other bloggers because there aren't many other offerings in this size and price. AND with their sales (which they have often) + my member discounts I basically got it for nothing!

So then it was time to determine the style for my gallery wall and what I wanted it to include. Uniform or organic? Matching frames or not? Frames only or add wall decor? So many decisions!! I knew I wanted to include our wedding canvas and a mirror I got while at the beach. I also love the look of the ikea ribba frames. Once I collected all of the frames, it was time to fill them. I wanted each piece to have a special meaning so that it becomes a conversation piece when we have people over. I want to tell the stories of how each thing landed in my home.

Here is the console shortly after we got it (this is 2014 fall decor)

This mirror now resides in the guest bedroom. It was temporary until I could find another mirror for the living room.

After Christmas blah...I knew it was time!!

Artie decided to help me with the layout. I wish he could've unwrapped all the ikea frames... (p.s. the pics below that didn't make it on the gallery wall are actually going to go in our master since they are more personal)

 If I'm being honest...I didn't really measure everything out. I mostly eyeballed it. It took about 2 hours to get everything hung. That is not including cutting out templates for each frame.

 Almost finished!!

 All done...just in time for the 3 gatherings that we hosted!!

I've got a few more tweaks to make. I am going to paint that crate. (Those are Tim's records by the way. He bought a record player!) I will also probably relocate the wire basket and books so that I can center the wicker basket. And I actually bought this lamp for the guest BR so I may be switching that out. 

Well it's been a long process but so worth it!! Is there a project you are procrastinating at your house??

Housewarming Ideas

Okay...I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself because we haven't bought a house yet but I was perusing Pinterest and stumbled upon some adorable housewarming ideas that I couldn't resist sharing. (wow that was a long sentence...whew..)

Moving Announcements/Invitations

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Party Ideas

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Guest Baskets

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Making Memories

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Have you ever hosted a housewarming party? I'd love to hear about it :)

If you've been following along, you'll remember that I shared a challenge Tim and I decided to take on in 2014. We are donating to a different charity each month and Charity: Water was our January selection. 
I first learned about Charity Water my senior year of college. We were to select an organization (from a list) to design an office space for. After watching one of Charity water's promotional videos, I knew this was the one! If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will. They are doing great things and I am happy to help in any way that I can.

You can keep up with them here:
website/blog/facebook/ twitter

Gabby's 1st Contributing Post

(So I wanted to make a little button with a picture of Gabby to put at the start of her posts but...my macbook died and therefore I do not have photoshop for now. More on that later)

Hey blog readers! I’m so excited Samantha asked me to be a part of her blog and can’t wait to start sharing some of my projects with you all. Some of you might already know a little bit about me (like Samantha and I are sisters in law) since she has mentioned my name a few times, and for everyone else new to the blog, I’m excited to meet you!

Samantha and I both love DIY projects (and even attempted one together—see the post about the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Entry Table), so I’m going to share some of my adventures in DIYing…the good, the bad and maybe even some of the ugly.
One of my favorite crafty past times is making quilts. I know Samantha will agree with me since I made this chevron quilt for her birthday last year!

I started quilting many, many years ago with my mom, and within the last couple years picked it back up after a summer trip to Cape Cod. There was a really cool quilting shop there called Tumbleweed Quilt Shop and I saw some AWESOME quilts there. I am in no way as gifted in quilting as these ladies are, but I try!
      
Source: http://www.tumbleweedquilts.com/photo_album.html

Since all of my siblings, friends and coworkers have all of a sudden started having children (eek!), I started making a lot of baby quilts as baby shower gifts. I’ve always tried to think of personal and unique gifts, so this was one way I could give them something no one else would!

The hardest part for me is always picking a design that I like and finding material that I think fits the design. I’ve spent hours at fabric stores (just ask my husband! he’s called me before asking if I’m ok haha) mixing and matching colors and patterns. Apparently I’m a perfectionist…who knew?

My latest project is for a friend who is due in March. She’s having a girl and decided to stay away from the pink theme. A few months ago she told me about her nursery color scheme (funny enough, it was at another friend’s baby shower…) and I decided to stick to those colors and make a quilt for one of her baby shower gifts!

So the last time I went to JoAnn fabrics I just so happen to find all the material I needed within a half hour! Seriously, that’s an all-time record for me! My friend wanted a mix of orange, grey, teal and lime green colors and decided on polka dot and chevron patterns. I threw in the navy because I love the color combo and then later added the owl pattern (from spoonflower.com… check them out, they have some really great fabrics) because it broke up the other patterns more. Plus, who doesn’t love owls? I found some really cool chevron material for that back that had some of her colors and I thought would be really fun with the front.
     



I had already decided on the pattern before I picked out the material, so I knew how much to get and the general layout I wanted. Then the fun began…cutting and sewing all the pieces together. It started to come together pretty quickly and I loved how the colors are so vibrant next to each other!
    
I pinned and sewed and pinned and sewed…until I finally finished the top! It ended up being 25”x25”. There’s no real “right” dimensions, I could have kept going with the squares and made a bigger quilt…but I stopped since it’s a baby quilt!


Then I got to the fun part…sewing the inside batting and backing on with the binding. There’s about 100 different ways you can do the binding, I kept it simple for this one and just folded the edges over several times to the front and sewed it down.


And here’s the finished product!

         
        
Right: without quilting. Left: with front quilting.

I absolutely love all the colors and how much fun it is. I think she’ll like the non-pink themed quilt!
I found a really cute box at Target that was the perfect size and made a “Care Instructions” card so she’ll know how to wash and dry the quilt. I can’t wait until her shower!!

Thanks for reading!! I’m so excited to keep sharing all my crafting adventures with you all. I already have my next project. Hint: It involves burlap! See you in February!

When in doubt, paint it Gold

I have been so eager to find my next DIY project. So on my last trip to Michaels, I picked up some gold paint.  I bought Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Metallic Paint in Gold and Brushed Bronze. I didn't have anything specific in mind that I wanted to turn gold so I looked to Pinterest for some ideas.

Speaking of crafts, I am going to let out a little secret. I have been working on starting up an Etsy Shop. I am not going share my full plan yet but let's just say it involves watercolor and is going to be very customizable! Will hopefully be taking orders before the holidays!

Now onto some pretty things to start the weekend off!

Frames

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Dishes

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Mason Jars

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Pumpkins (for fall)- definitely doing this one!

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Furniture

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Napkins

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Food

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And if you really love gold...

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Hope you have a Happy Weekend :)

Have you painted anything gold?? What is your favorite brand of gold paint? Share your gold posts with me!

Gabby's Table Makeover

Today's post is going to make your life A LOT easier....if you are a DIYer! Remember when I revamped our hutch and painted it yellow? We spent countless hours sanding, priming, painting, and repeat... I just discovered a product I SERIOUSLY wish I had known about then. Maybe I am late to the party and you can tell me if I am, but if you don't know about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, then you're welcome!

We went to Christiansburg/Blacksburg this weekend to visit Ty and Gabby. One of our highlights was going to a place called Black Dog Salvage. They just so happen to sell this paint and Gabby bought some to paint a small table she has.

And of course I had to document it so I could give you a before and after! Gabby's table is a combination of Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue, Pure White and Dark Wax. She wanted a more vintage look so after applying the dark wax (with a soft cloth), she used a fine sand paper to allow some of the black to show through.

Before

After 1st coat: (the cloudy sky made the color look more grey than it was)

After 2nd coat: (still wet, thats why the coat doesn't look smooth)

Doesn't it look amazing?? Who knew furniture makeovers could be so easy? I love that this piece is now unique to her and looks great the way she styled it!

(If you don't want a distressed look, they also offer a clear wax.)

So what separates this paint from the rest?? There is NO prep work! You don't have to sand or strip paint/finish off the furniture. Just get a good quality brush and a drop cloth. You can paint it on wood, metal, concrete, plastic and much more. And to make it EVEN better, it dries really fast so you can be done in a few hours unless you are overly ambitious painting something really big!

**Check out the website for even more reasons to use this paint!

More Resources:
-Extending the Range of the Color Palette
-Crackle Effect
-How to order
-Annie Sloan's blog

Now I have to find something else to paint! These are the colors they offer but you can customize it by mixing (like Gabby did). My favorites are French Linen, Versailles, Provence, Florence, and Paris Grey. Which ones do you like??

**These opinions are my own. I was not asked to review this product nor did I receive compensation for it.**

Here are some other great finds from Black Dog Salvage:

I dream of a porch swing like this...

Love being near Blacksburg...so much Hokie spirit

Teal brick :) love the faux mantle and crab painting

Teal chair- need 4 of these for my dining room!

Where there's teal, I will find it!

Love this grey and yellow set up

The crates I almost bought for my shoe storage idea...

A similar factory cart table but for $895!! WOAH