Chic At Home: DIY Wreath

18 Jun

Hello and happy Tuesday!  Erin here to introduce today’s post by our good friend, Fallon.  Fallon has become an expert wreath-maker of late and is going to share her how-to for anyone that might be looking to jazz up your door (or wall or a room), with colorful flowers.  I’ll let her tell her tale: 

So when all of the decorations finally came down after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patty’s Day and finally Easter, my front door was sad and empty looking.  And to top it off this is what stared at me from across the street:

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The picture does not do that wreath justice…as I had to take it with my phone peeking through a window so my neighbors don’t think I’m some weirdo taking a picture of their house.  Anyhow, I went to Michael’s in search of a wreath of this caliber but the ones that they had pre-made were rather messy and ordinary looking in comparison, and not to mention, quite pricey. So I wandered into their flower section and saw that they were having a 40% off sale! Hmmm…a few aisles over I found a Styrofoam wreath, mini hot glue gun and glue sticks.  Add a dozen bright flowers and there ya go! I am not a very creative, artsy person, so I thought of this as a personal challenge.

I created my wreath during one of my daughter’s naps and was so pleased with how it came out I sent a picture of it to Erin and that’s how I ended up here!  While I didn’t take many pictures of my own wreath, my grandmother saw it and asked me to make her one…Challenge accepted!  Michael’s here I come!

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When I got home I assembled my materials and pulled the looong stems off of the flowers.  I didn’t need quite as many because this one was smaller, as it is for an apartment door.  (This is a 12” wreath and 10 flowers.  For mine I used a 16” wreath and 14 flowers).

Next I set up the flowers on the wreath in the order I thought looked best and then took them off in that order so I didn’t forget.  I have issues about putting green and red together when it’s not Christmas-related, so this was an important step for me.

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By then the hot glue gun was warmed up and I started glueing away.  I really globbed it on the back of the flower and them jammed it into the Styrofoam.

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The next part is the trickiest…placing the flowers close enough that you can’t see any of the white, but not too close that they look cramped.

You may have to play with the petals a little to make it look neat and pretty.  Voila!

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Here’s my original wreath…the flowers are a little more cramped then I would have liked, but all in all I thought it was a wonderful answer to the beauty across the street.

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I hung it with some fishing wire so that it appears to be “floating”. (Nope, that’s a lie, it is the only type of string I have in the house!)  What was a surprise to this first-time crafter was what I saw when I walked away from the door…

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YUCK! White Styrofoam! All on display for my neighbors with the gorgeous wreath to see! I’m not gonna lie, despite my horror, I left it like this for a few weeks.  I picked up some ribbon at Michael’s and wrapped it around the outside and inside of the wreath, using some hot glue every couple of inches.

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The ribbon was 2 ½ inches wide so there was excess, as you can see, so I just snipped it off.

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I couldn’t do much about the back, which you can kind of see from the inside of my door.  I guess in hind sight I could have wrapped the whole wreath in ribbon before I put on the flowers…maybe my sister wants a wreath… I’ll try that on hers!

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I think Fallon did a great job and has inspired me for a project down the line.  My front door is sadly lacking in the beauty department and I can’t handle the high price tags on these wreaths either.  Challenge accepted, Fallon!  I love when inspiration hits like that – bam! She didn’t set out to make a wreath, but make it she did!  It looks great!  Any other takers for this DIY? Anyone ever create something on the fly, in a similar scenario and have it turn out just as great?

How To: An Asymmetrical Gallery Wall

14 Jun

Instead of being inspired today, I thought I’d share the how-to from where my inspiration took me…

So when I decided I wanted to get all of our fun paintings/pictures/quotes up on the wall above our couch, I knew I wanted to follow the stand-by gallery wall idea: different sized frames, spaced out.  What I also knew I wanted was something that didn’t adhere to our typical standard of even/matched/symmetry above the couch.  Our previous frames were two rectangular ones, evenly spaced next to the centered-above-couch collage frame.  I liked it at the time, but decided it was time for a change.  Happily, JD agreed to help me out.  He’s totally the Al Borland to my Tim Taylor…but without a beard. Or the flannel.  And I guess in this scenario I’d hope to say I come closer to resembling Heidi as opposed to Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor.  But I digress.  You get my point.

I totally prepared for this one, as I knew, that when both babies napped, we really only had one shot at getting this right, or we would have to come back to it at a later time/day, which didn’t feel like an option.  We are both impatient enough to want to get projects like this finished and carry on with the rest of our lives.

So, here were my steps:

1. Practice, Practice I did a gallery mock up on the floor, moving frames and items around to see what we liked best.  We decided to use the entire wall, not just the centered space above the couch.  In hindsight, it kind of feels like the wall is bigger and a little bit more grand, if that makes sense.  (Note: It’s really not that big of a wall – but it feels different now.)

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2. Templates I traced the frames with brown craft paper, and cut the paper to size, so we could tape them up to the wall to see what looked best.

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3.  Measure Less  We chose a layout we liked and JD was able to measure the placement of the hook on the frame, on the paper taped to the wall, and put the nail where we needed it to go.

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4. Level It Out We made sure everything was level as we went and at the very end, took the paper down and were left with a placement we really like.

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We didn’t measure that often, as opposed to other hanging projects where we measured everything sixty two times, so that the space between the frames would be even, and they would all be the same distance from the ceiling, etc etc.  We just put everything where we wanted it to go and bam! It was more about eye-balling or approximating, which seemed to make the project go faster and less complex.  The paper cutouts were very helpful for that – I would use this little system again! It may not be everyone’s jam, but it was fairly easy to complete and we really like how it turned out.

Here’s hoping everyone has a nice weekend!

Living Room Art: An Asymmetrical Gallery Wall

13 Jun

Hello, dear readers!  I hope everyone is having a great week and gearing up for some nice weekend plans.  I wanted to report in on the continuing project that has become our living room.  And I say that with pride – I seem to have tunnel vision on this one, which is not typical for me – my brain is usually scattering off to the next project or task that I want/need to do somewhere else.  I’m really looking to finish up all of the small details here and be finished with it, so that it is actually finished. Done.  (Somewhere at a desk, in a building in Manhattan, there is a husband reading this article on his smart phone and silently cheering.)

So this past weekend, along that train of thought, JD and I got to creating a gallery wall above our couch, in what is unusual for us, in a non-symmetrical or gridded pattern.  We have our bedroom’s art wall here, and other framing projects in our family room that are all measured off, following the symmetrical and identical patterns we love best.  So we went a little crazy (yeah, I read what I wrote…lack of symmetry and order is crazy for us…sigh) and changed some things up.  We are very happy with the results.

Here is where we started, before we painted the living room:

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The pictures above the couch were a combination of floating pictures and a collage frame.  We had housed some great photos there, but decided it was time for a change.  Here’s what we came up with:

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In line with trying to make sure things were meaningful, the quote is from Pride and Prejudice and part of its words are engraved on my wedding band.  I love that quote.  The little yellow postcard is an advertisement from the production of Henry IV Pt. 2 we saw while in London.  It recalls a happy memory.  The Celtic cross was a gift from my aunt and uncle, and is a nod to our faith and our ancestry.  The flowers? Yeah, I’m working on filling that one with a more meaningful pic.  Maybe a family photo where I haven’t just had a baby four days prior….because that’s the photo that could have gone in there. ;)

Living Room Art

The sketch of the Empire State Building I got on clearance on Crate and Barrel’s website and is a definite, not so subtle wink and smile to our statehood pride – we are New Yorkers, through and through.  The illustration of Prague recalls other special memories, and the elephants are becoming part of our family’s tradition and fun – both CJ and Emmett seem to be given them, in some form or another, in abundance.  It was only appropriate to purchase the cardstock art when we found it at Ikea recently.

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And in the center of it all, of course, the initial of our family’s last name and the wonderful painting of the 59th Street Bridge from our bridal party 5 years ago.  That’s the piece of art that started so many things.

Living Room Art

I know, I know – it’s organized chaos on a wall!  How did JD ever let me get that wacky with frame-placement? My compulsive tendencies only backed off a little, clearly, as I’ve still got all of the frames in the same color and connected content within each frame.  Haha.  We are who we are.

All joking aside, what I do like about this layout is that it does leave some room, so we can always add some more frames or items within the open spaces.  (Don’t worry, JD, not any time too soon.)

Any updates of your own to share?  Any fun weekend plans?  Here’s hoping the weather isn’t a wash – I love a good rainy day, don’t get me wrong, but the weekends were made for sunshine.

Chic at Home: Downsized Bathroom Storage

11 Jun

Hello and happy Tuesday to everyone! Today, we have a guest blogger, my cousin, Kate.  She’s a master-organizer, who has had the opportunity to reinvent her systems with a couple of moves she and her family have made.  Here she is to tell her tale and show her amazingly organized linen closet.  

What do you get when you move from a four bedroom, two and half bath house into a teeny-but-close-to-family two bedroom apartment?!  No, I’m not trying to tell a joke.  This is for real!

I always thought our rental home in Potomac, MD was organized-especially our bathrooms.  Bathrooms had plenty of room for extra shampoos, toilet paper, towels, etc.  Each bathroom even had its own designated cleaning supplies stored underneath the sink.  Life was easy and grand.

When we began our search for apartments in Long Island, we weren’t finding a gem that fit all of our requirements….and in our price range.  We really were spoiled in Maryland .   We ended up signing the lease with an older complex, but updated apartment.  We knew it was small, but we would be super close to family and that’s what mattered most!

Days before our move from Maryland, we were having a phone conversation with the management company of our complex.  “Does the apartment have a dishwasher?” was just one of our questions. We were in such a rush to find a place in a short amount of time that we neglected to check some of our must-haves.  Dishwasher and storage to name a few!

Rewind to Maryland:  We thought we would help packers a bit and decided to organize our bathrooms.  Who knew that we had 5 deodorants, 8 shampoos/conditioners, and 4 Clorox toilet bowl cleaners?  Where would we ever store these things?!  I decided to go out and buy clear bins to organize and better locate things.  I headed to the dollar store and picked up 8.  They aren’t the best quality, but they get the job done for now.

When we moved into our apartment we had two places to store our bathroom “stuff.”  One was the linen closet across from the bathroom, and the other was within the bathroom itself.  We have some storage vanity in our bathroom, but with a pipe underneath the vanity, things didn’t fit so well.  The glass mirror in the bathroom stores things, too but the shelving wasn’t deep enough for many things.  Here is a pic of our bathroom storage unit:

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I spy a blue whale tub that we “hide” in our shower!

The linen closet is clutch; however, organization is a must.  In our linen closet, we house our extra sheets and beach towels…all of our organized bins, toilet paper, paper towel, hand towels, facecloths, too.  Who knew such a teeny closet could fit all of our things!  Oh, and how could I forget that it also is storage for all of our cleaning supplies!  Here are some pics:

Linen closet

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Bins, hairdryer, toilet paper, extra soap, light bulbs

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Cleaning supplies

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Bedding, beach, paper towels, face and hand towels

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We originally had our bath towels in the closet, but decided they would fit nicely in a wicker basket in our bathroom.  Here is what we ended up with:

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Yes, I am standing on the toilet to take the picture….and that’s our “emergency towel” in the frame as my brother in laws call it.  All you need is something to break the glass to get to it!

And there you have it!  We did it! We were able to find a spot for each of our bathroom, etc. needs!  Hooray for bins, and Erin’s inspirational organization tips!

I think Kate did a great job of getting everything into an organized and systematic space!  I love the towels in the bathroom basket and love that everything is labeled.  Such a smart idea to keep it all tidy and accessible.

Any bathroom organizing tips to add to Kate’s?  Do share!

Inspired Friday: Project Peek

7 Jun

Hello and happy Friday to all! Thankfully, the weekend is almost here.

I just wanted to quickly share a peek at an upcoming project for the living room – fabric for some pillows and whatever else may come up.

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Probably not going to get it done this weekend, but it’s inspiring me to get it done soon!  I’m in love with the fabrics and hope that I can tackle the sewing well enough to make it all work!

Anyone else have any projects on the horizon?  Anyone ever sew a pillow case and have some advice to offer?  Please, fill me in on some tips and tricks!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Meaning On the Mantel

6 Jun

Good morning to all!  I hope everyone is having a nice and stress-free week.  Personally, this has been a tough week of loss – learning, yet again, what I truly love about my life: the people in it.  And while not really getting into it, as this isn’t the forum for it, I am reminded of what matters most.

With those thoughts in mind, I felt it appropriate to share some of the meaning and significance that I had started my home inspiration with last week and perhaps share exactly why the items on my bookshelves/mantel area are so important to my family, why we cherish them so much, and what they do for us each time we see them.

Tea Cup, Books & Towers

IMG_6728The teacup pictured here is one I purchased for myself a few years ago, not too long before I found out I was expecting CJ, as an addition to the (intentionally) mismatched set I was given at my bridal shower.  Each cup and saucer in my set is from one of the strong and wonderful women that has been with me on my journey from girl to woman, and also part of JD’s journey from boy to man: our mothers, our grandmothers and our Godmothers.  As an aunt has said in the past, in our family, a cup of tea has always figured into the equation.  Whether lingering over a cup during conversations, serious or subdued, sharing stories, advice or just listening, these tea cups have silently been a part of the stuff that life is made of. I plan to rotate the cups on the mantel every once and a while, to keep that idea in mind, and think of their givers with gratitude.

The books on the mantel are definitely more personal to me than to JD, but they garnered a place up there anyways.  The top book is my Godmother’s copy of Little Women, that she gave to me on my 16th birthday.  The Louisa May Alcott classic has always resonated deeply with me – as I’m sure it has with many many people – and I reread it every year or two to remind myself of many things – but mostly to remind myself that love, kindness, and doing right are the things that are necessary to life.

The small-scale Eiffel Tower is something I found at Goodwill, while on a field trip with Christine.  I’m pretty sure it cost 8 big ones and I got it after our trip to France.  I thought it would be nice to have it in the house to remind us of our great trip to France.  I always think of how we wandered the different levels and climbed up and down those steps, soaking it in.  It’s one of those things that people talk up and you hope it won’t disappoint and, in the end, it doesn’t.

Pictures & More Books 

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While JD and I have pictures of our families all over the place, there are a couple that we have in the living room that are daily reminders of loved ones that are gone, but not forgotten.  Unfortunately, neither of us got to know our maternal grandfathers well, as they both passed when we were very young.  But what we do know about them, that has been told or discovered, can also be encapsulated by the fact that they were members of the Greatest Generation and soldiers in the U.S. Army.  So even the books behind the bottom photo, (of JD’s grandpa), relate to that time period, as they are Winston Churchill’s memoirs. It’s the little things like this that help provide us with the history and context in which our grandfathers enlisted and fought in World War II, giving us just a small and distant connection to these two great men.

The stack of books are from one of the best gifts I’ve ever received – it’s a 50 volume set of the nearly century old Harvard Classics.  JD bought them for me on Ebay a few years ago as a Christmas gift.  It was the same year I bought him the six volume set of Winston Churchill’s memoirs.  Haha – can you tell we’re book nerds over here?  I’ve mentioned them before – but they are so special to me, in all their leather-bound-glory. I’m still a fan of the traditional book, as opposed to the convenience and ease of an E-reader.  I know, I know, I’m so behind the times and inefficient!  But these books kind of represent it all – history, tradition, knowledge and growth.  I love picking them up and working through one occasionally, although these days I’m lucky to make my way through a newspaper. ;)

So those are just some of the things that are full of meaning around this little area of the room.  I just wanted to share why they are significant to us – because I know very little about actually decorating “by the book,” and am one to try to sure that the things around me and in our home, actually have some  sort of significance/symbolism/meaning to them.  Although we have plenty of things that probably don’t fulfill those qualifications.

How about you, dear readers?  What items mean the most to you and why?  Any items that have accumulated meaning over time, because they’ve been with you for so long and through so much?  Do share!

Mirror, Mirror, That Was Supposed to Go On The Wall

4 Jun

Hellooo and happy day to you all!  I hope everyone enjoyed a great weekend.  Things here on the homestead are well and I have some updates to get to, so without further ado…

As I spoke about on Friday, here, I wanted to spend a little time finishing up the mantel and bookshelves that were left vacant after our painting weekend, as discussed here. I even showed you some inspiring photos I had found online, particularly one of the new mirror we had purchased, in all its daring wood-toned finish, a first for us.  Here’s that pretty mirror we found:

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Here’s the thing about this mirror…it didn’t look like that in real life.  It came out of the box looking dusty and dark and something, more or less, like this:

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(Sorry, didn’t get a chance to take a picture).  Now, don’t get me wrong – it would have gone beautifully in a different room, with different colors and a different feel.  It would have made some other gal very happy, in all it’s dark-stained all over goodness…but I had really been banking on the variety of the other. The blond wood with the “lowlights,” if you will, was what I kept envisioning.  I didn’t love it and the price tag was not going to accommodate, “eh, it’s okay.”  It had to go back.

To add to the story here, I should also mention that we ordered this mirror awhile ago…like, in March.  I should also fully disclose to you that Saturday morning was the first time we had opened the box to see what was actually in there.  Clearly, lesson learned on this one: open things up when they are delivered, don’t just stack them in the garage with all of the other stuff you have.  Lord help us when we actually open the chandelier that we bought two years ago that’s been sitting in the garage!  Yikes all around.  Happily, Pier 1 was very accommodating, although the woman did scold me for believing the coloring of items on my computer screen.  For the record, the mirror she had in stock in the store looked nothing like the image that came up on her screen either.

So what to do?  Well, first I ran to Home Goods to see what I could see.  I found the following:

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Nice foot, right?

Nice foot, right?

I liked them both, but they just weren’t giving off the “Take Me Home” vibe – even with their fun styles and discounted prices.  I wasn’t in love.

JD sensed my disappointment and suggested a family outing to our favorite feel-good browsing location, Ikea.  Ah, yes, the Swedes truly know how to make a girl feel better, what with their affordable home furnishings and staged living spaces to roam about in.  Besides, I needed some curtains and a poster frame, so we might as well make the trip.  Low and behold, while there, we stumbled upon this little guy and after a look – it twas love.

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And I went from there, to attempt to finish the task I had assigned myself for the weekend.  Here is what I finally came up with, after shopping around the house for knick-knacks, vases, books and candles to make it pretty:

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So here’s a before of the mantel, with blue walls, painting, etc:

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And here is an after:

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I really like the finish on the mirror, as well as the similar finish on the large frame, and the pearls on the smaller, 4×6 frames – they all seem to coordinate well.  And the dark Eiffel Tower and the dark lanterns are favorites, but aren’t overbearing.  I just feel like everything got lightened up a bit -it’s more airy upon the mantel and I really like it.  I’m sure I will change things again, but I’m enjoying it now – family photos, books, Buddha and a tea cup and saucer – perfectly meaningful for us and nicely situated up there.  Not getting the mirror I wanted might have turned out pretty well for our living room and mantel.  Who knew?

Anyone else ever have a happy accident switch things up on you, for the better, whether in life or home decor?  ;) Do share!

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