Photo Wall

I know you have been anxiously awaiting my mini photo gallery wall. I love looking up from the computer or when I am cooking dinner and seeing all these precious little mug shots. And though it is not huge, it does span right around 65", so it fits perfectly on 70ish" wall.


This was also done on the cheap, like right under $20.

I bought the "S", the "2003" and the chalkboard thing (though it did not look like that when I bought it... it looked like this :) I knew that I wanted a little chalkboard on the wall and I had every intention of just getting an old frame, fitting it with a board and then spray painting the board with chalkboard paint, but I found this for $2 and that was FAR cheaper than the paint so went with it.

I already had all the frames that have photos in them, however none of them are in their original state. One was pink and silver, one was an obnoxious, cheap white, one was a clearance silver frame covered in scratches, and one was a pretty wood frame with gold highlights (I really hated to spray the last one), and then of course the chalkboard.

The picture with the pear I already had and it was a good fit.

Everything that was not already black got a good dose of black spray paint.... some in a gloss and some in a matte.

Over a year ago, I saw this cool idea to make your own silhouettes on another blog. I stored it in the back of my head and went searching for it once I did not dining room re-do as I knew that it would be perfect. I got the boys profiles shots, made a copy, cut it out, traced it on black cardstock, cut the black cardstock out and then glued it onto a soft white cardstock.... wah la! I will eventually re-do Ash's because I cropped his head in too much and Hunter' eyelashes need a bit of work, but I think they turned out pretty durn cute.

Here are a couple close ups.
The Sillouettes

Dining Room

Up until Thursday morning, the thought had not crossed my mind to paint my eat in kitchen/ dining room.

Thursday morning while the boys were finishing breakfast I was piddling on the computer and somehow came across this blog. I thought, "isnt that neat?" She got the idea from this blog. This is when I thought, "where can I do this?"

I went into my bedroom and thought I might try it in there. As I was walking back into the kitchen and I saw this wall.... bare and screaming for some type of facelift.

BEFORE

AFTER

The best part it cost me NOTHING... Yep, nada, zilch, zero dollars. I used 4 items. Cardboard that I had in the garage, a pencil, white paint that was in the garage, and a child' paintbrush that I found in my laundry room. My materials.

I copied and cut out the stencil and transferred it onto cardboard. I started tracing away. I traced and traced and traced and traced. I then painted and painted and painted and painted. Total time from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon was probably 8ish hours.

The tracing

The pattern

Lessons I learned.

1- Space the stencil further apart then you think you might want. It gives you some wiggle room for mistakes. Below are examples.

Too close
- this was the first section I did and it is laden with mistakes. Oh well, not doing it over again.

Though still not as perfect as the blogs above, it shows that even not perfect- still works nicely. But notice that further apart looks a ton better.

2- Go ahead and buy a real paintbrush. Once I started with the boy's kid paintbrush, I didnt want to have two different looks. If you look at the blogs I references above, their lines are super crisp, mine are sooo not.... I attribute that to the brush (plus I am not a good detail painter).

3- The pencil will show through the paint so trace lightly.

4- Make sure your stencil is straight, it will make the corners a whole lot easier. Here is the first corner, I had to free hand the bottom because I had slightly slanted earlier.


5- View the vertical section as one solid column and not a bunch of individual stencils, it makes a smoother paint line (less choppy).

6- If you can, practice this technique before you start or start at a spot that is not visible. I didnt not have the luxury of having a hidden wall so you can definitely tell where I started.

7- Most mistakes are not going to show up... the pattern is intricate enough that mistakes will get hidden.

I think my imperfect wall is perfect, flaws and all. It gives this whole space a new look and transitions beautifully from the new stripes in the living room.

I am working on a photo gallery wall in here too, but I will not get the pictures until Monday or Tuesday but be on the look out for the total finished product.

Eucharisteo Part 8

204- Shiny, freshly mopped floors

205- Boys getting along long enough for me to vacuum

206- Hand me downs

207- Smell of clean clothes

208- Belated birthday presents

209- Tulips bursting open

210- New growth

211- Summer scarves

212- Quick trips to Greenville

213- Husband that just smiles when I mention yet another project

214- Having just enough ink in the cartridge

215- Projects that cost absolutely nothing

216- Molly crunching on her food in the middle of the night

217- Picking up without being told

218- Automatic focus when I dont want to mess with manual

219- Chuckling as I read the Bible and hear God's sense of humor

220- Bedtime prayers

221- Memory verses

222- Covenant child of the King of Kings

223- Watching as the boys each take small steps to independence

224- Rarely feeling rushed

Pottery Barn Knock Off Number 2

I hearted this wreath when I saw it in "Potty" Barn. I knew that it was to be my Easter/ spring wreath this year.

Knowing that I was not about to spend $50, I set out on a search of items that I had in my yard.

I had to buy a couple things.
1- The actual wreath. Bought for $2.50 at Hobby Lobby. This is a picture of another wreath, the one I bought was a bit more full than this one but same idea.


2- The Easter Eggs. Bought a bag of 14 for $2.00 at H.L.


3- The moss. Bought a bag (not on sale) for $5.00 at H.L. (used less than half a bag)


Things I got in my yard.

1- Magnolia leaves

2- The materials to make the mini bird's nest (some straw like stuff and flexible/ small sticks)... This was a bit of challenge, I dont know how birds make a nest without hot glue at their fingertips.

3- dried leaves

Finished Product = LOVE

Saturday Fun

Can't believe it is already time for T-ball to start up again. Hunter is playing in our church's league this year instead of the "Y". He knows all the kids on his team and I am sure he will have a blast.
Here are some pics of his practice.... didnt take many since I had Shep and Ash with me (and Chad was away from Friday to Sunday at a coaching clinic).

Fielding a ground ball

Getting ready to bat

Good hit!

Then, kind of last minute, we decided to head over to Mantis and Queenie's house. Since I had no adult interaction, I figured, my parents would fill that void nicely. The weather was gorgeous and the boys had a blast. We took both their power wheels over (gotta love a van) and they made laps around the yard. Mom and I made cookies. Dad grilled hot dogs and worked on his seedlings (he is quite the gardener these days). Then we all went to the lake to walk the dogs. Of course, the boys wanted to get in... I said they could get their feet wet. You can tell by the pictures that they did a bit more than that. Since we got a back to their house a bit late, we decided to stay the night.

This has got to be one of the best pictures of all times. It is one of those that just makes me laugh!

Ashton losing his pants

Obviously the water was COLD... I dont know how they could stand it.

Another series of pictures that cracks me up.

Molly also loves to swim and eat waves

Eddy is a beautiful swimmer... Abby just wades.

*** And for the record... my mother told me not to take her picture. So mom, no complaints that your beautifoo face isnt on here. :)

Love these kind of days.

Today was also great. Went to Sunday School and church and then Chad got back from his clinic and met us for lunch. He then had boy duty while I piddled around at Lowes and then got to work on my fire pit area (cant wait to get it finished and show what I have done. More on that later though ;)

Eucharisteo Part 7

179- Eagerness to learn

180- Bubble of condensation on the windows in the morning

181- Finding Bible verses the fit just right

182- Cold glass of lemonade

183- Iris' waiting to bloom

184- Seeing projects so close to being finished

185- Growing boys

186- My dad

187- Fall off the bone ribs

188- Safe travel to and from California

189- A boy and his dogs

190- Water streaming gently over smooth rocks

191- 3 year old finding the perfect stone in the creek and then throwing back in

192- Risking to get wet food to find that perfect rock

193- Shirtless painting (the boys... not me... haha)

194- 29!!!

195- So many sweet birthday wishes!

196- Olive Garden leftovers

197- Yellow notebook paper with a sweet birthday note

198- Ashton's little lisp

199- Dinner outside

200- Putting up winter coats

201- Chocolate smeared faces

202- Watching the boys run around with their daddy

203- Daylight savings time leading to the boys sleeping 40 minutes later in the morning :)

Weekend in Pictures.

Well, ya cant ask for a more gorgeous weekend than this one.

Saturday was Mantis' and Abby's (one of their dogs) birthdays so he and Nolan came over (Queenie is in California) to celebrate. Chad cooked/ grilled. I made a homemade carrot cake.. yum!

My awesome dad!

The boys each made silly faces

*** I counted this as Shep's silly face

Sunday, after church, we went up to PapaHub and Grandma's house to celebrate an early birthday for me :) Hub made his ribs... yum again!
We then went and the kids painted individual pictures that will be framed and hung in Grandma's bathroom. The pictures turned out really cute.

This "cracks" me up!!! :)

Hunter painted a train and it was amazing! He is growing up so fast- they all are- but, man, you really notice it with your first.

Shep's artwork was rather abstract and messy but he had fun

Then it was down to the creek for the kids to play and for me to try and work on my photog skills (had a lot of blurry pictures)
Hunter


Ashton



Shepherd



Cousin Charlee

Poor Charlee took a tumble into the water.

Ashton and Charlee loved to get the rocks and throw them in the water.... thus Charlee getting a bit too brave and falling into the creek.

The group shot failed miserably. I messed up the first series and the second- they wouldnt smile/ listen/ look at me... Oh well, we will try again later.
This was one of the best ones :(