diy cheap and easy artwork

I am all about artwork in a home but REAL artwork ya know like from a real artist can be expensive. So when we moved into our townhouse and I saw a huge wall in our kitchen that I needed to fill I figured I would just go to homegoods and try and find something. Well, once I started looking I realized that even going this route was going to be way to expensive for my budget. I had remembered seeing an article in a magazine {sorry, forgot the source!} where they took images from an old book and framed them in inexpensive frames for artwork.

I found this book at Barnes n Noble on sale for $20.00 and went to Ikea and purchased these frames in white and went to work. I wanted a more streamline look which is why I went with the same frames but how cool would it be to find ornate frames at thrift stores and hang them together on a wall.

Here is the finished product. {yikes - please ignore that some are slanted. Obviously I did not have time to stage this}

The total cost of this project was $100.00 and I love that I can switch out the "art" whenever I want a different look. I am already feeling a change {they have been up for about a year now} and I recently asked Dave if I could put black and white photos of Will in the existing frames and he told me that I was obsessed and needed to get out more :) I know, I am so in love but seriously can you blame me with this face?! I took this pic last night before our little date - I think he looks so grown-up! Not sure what is going on with his mouth. His new favorite thing is to mess with his lips so this was the best "smile" I could get.

I will keep you posted as the art work changes!

no peeking pictures

I realized recently that I don't have too many pictures of Will smiling. Every time I put the camera up to my face he stops and same goes for the video camera. It is like he knows I am trying to capture it :) So last week I got out the camera and took some pictures not looking through the lens and snapping them with the camera by my hip. Does that make sense? I have done this a few times before and I always love how the pictures turn out. Here are a few of my favorites from last week.

 So thankful for this cute little face that hangs out with me every day :)

random friday

Recently my family has been enjoying delicious summer fruits. Don't you just love the summer! Yesterday I decided to be productive and go ahead and cut all of the strawberries I bought so that Dave and I could easily snack on these instead of crackers or chips, ya know the unhealthy stuff.

While my intentions were pure obviously I must have been hungry because this is what I was left with. Can we say portion control!

In other news Will has been holding his own bottle recently which has made my life a lot easier. He still lets me hold him and feed him but when I prop him up and let him do it on his own he does a great job. The below picture cracks me up because yesterday when I gave him his bottle he had been playing but quickly dropped his toy to eat. I started doing the dishes and when I turned around this is what I saw. I guess he had trouble deciding which one he would rather have in his mouth :)

Ever since we found out we were having a boy people have been telling me to get ready because boys can definitely keep you on your toes. While Will is still young and really a good baby I am starting to see where that might be true. Usually when Will is done with his bottle he just leaves it next to him but yesterday when he was done eating he threw his bottle on the ground! This is the second time this week that he has done that so while this might be a coincidence I am beginning to think I might have a troublemaker on my hands.

Doesn't he even look like he knows he has been a little naughty!

I love listening to music while cooking and washing bottle after bottle and recently this has been my station on pandora and I am loving it! I am trying to get Will to love country music at a young age :)

While I am not busy taking care of the little monkey I have been sanding sanding sanding. I am excited to say that the banisters are done so hopefully by the end of next week they will have been painted. Miley really wanted to join for the picture.

And lastly when I am not covered in sawdust I have been locked away on my workroom trying to finish up pillow orders. If your name is Emily and you live in Cali these are yours! I am off to the post office today to mail them to you!

Only 18 more days until vacation. Bring it!

Dr. Seuss

Last weekend my husband and I had a romantic date to Lumber Liquidators and Target while Grammy babysat for us {thanks Kay!}. While Dave went around Target to get necessities for Will I browsed the dollar section and I found adorable Dr. Seuss themed items that they had just stocked in their dollar bins. If your child loves Dr. Seuss or you need ideas for a birthday party I suggest taking a trip to Target. I came home with these three "bins" to organize Will's sock/pacifier drawer but the ideas are endless. I think they would make adorable favors for a birthday party. Just stick some kids stuff in there {you know candy} and call it a day! They even have handles so the kids could carry them around while they rot their teeth out :)

Did I mention that they were only a dollar :)

banister ideas

We hit a little snag in our staircase remodel so while we wait and get advice on how to proceed I decided to start tackling the banisters. No matter what happens with the stairs {carpet or hardwood} the banisters are in need of an update. I have been searching pinterest for ideas and here are a few of my favorites.

#1

Love this all white banister

 #2

 The frames on the stairs, the stained railings and the dark wood floors... LOVE

 

#3

I think I am going to try and recreate this gallery wall in my stairway leading to the bedrooms. This is beautiful!

 #4 

This is from Sarah Richardson's portfolio. I LOVE her style. Another beautiful white banister.

#5

If I could redo my spindles this would definitely be in the running!

 

What do you all think? Do you have a favorite? I am leaning towards all white since again we are not sure if we are doing carpet or hardwood on the stairs and since our space is small I think this might look the best but I am open to suggestions!

staircase chronicles - part 1

Dave and I are about to embark on an exciting, long awaited project in our townhouse. We are finally getting all new floors! Cue the angels singing :)

Since we live in a townhouse our initial plan was to put hardwood on the 2nd level {kitchen, dining room and living room} and the rest of the house {media room, 2 sets of stairs, 1 small hallway and the bedrooms} was going to get new carpet. We have been living with old, dirty, nasty, worn carpet for a year now and there was not a day that went by that I was not "spot cleaning" the carpet. Combine our dog Miley plus the 11 years of different homeowners and these carpets need to go! Since Will is going to be crawling soon and we finally got our tax refund {baby + new house all in 2010 = nice 2011 refund} we decided to bite the bullet and spend the most money we have ever spent besides buying a house.

So on Sunday Dave and I began the process by ripping up the carpet on the stairs since we are going to try and do as much as we can ourselves to save money. As the carpet came out we discovered the most exciting thing... we have unfinished hardwood stairs! So now the plan is changing and I am so excited! I had initially wanted to do hardwood stairs but it was out of our price range to start from scratch but now that we don't have to the stairs are a go! We still need to rip up the carpet on the stairs to the bedrooms but if that looks as great as the other set of stairs then the new plan is for me to sand, paint and stain both staircases to match the hardwood we are installing on the 2nd level and the bedrooms/media room will still get carpet. Did you follow all of that?! Here are some pictures of the stairs as is. They need A LOT of sanding!

 {Can you tell how dirty the carpet was? Those are stains all next to Dave's arm!}

 {getting started}

{image looking down the stairs to the bottom level. The graffiti parts are the landings that will get hardwood.}

I am going to start a new series called the staircase chronicles where I can document all of the different steps {no pun intended} and tips I learn as I go. I am nervous about taking on this big of a project {the banisters will also need a new coat of white paint since they are currently oak} but I know the end result will be worth it!

for the love of mason jars

If you have been reading this blog long enough you might have noticed a trend in a few of my blog posts. I have a little obsession with mason jars. I have been using them around my house for the past few years as flower vases, craft supply holders and yes even to drink from so I am so excited to of found a new way to use them... canning! haha. Yes, I know this is their original purpose but I have never been brave enough to do this. I have recently been making baby food for Will and have loved doing this so I was thinking a good way to preserve all of these wonderful summer fruits and veggies for Will to eat this winter would be to can them. These are the cute little jars I got to store baby food in. I found them at Walmart and I LOVE them! On a side note - wouldn't votives looks so cute in them as a tablescape idea.

Last weekend when my family and I were on our way back from Butler we stopped at an antique store and my mom and I stumbled upon the largest selection of mason jars we have ever seen. They had just gotten a lot of HUGE white antique jars and my mom and I went crazy. After much deliberation I settled on these three jars.

I am not sure their age but am assuming they are older since I have never seen these designs. Anyone know their history? I will not be using these for canning :) but cannot wait to put some of my daises from my garden in them! Do you notice something else about them. They even have lids!

Here is a close up of all of their designs.

In other news my baby is growing up to quickly and no longer needs his bassinet. I got this adorable bassinet in Deep Creek, MD last summer when I was on vacation with my husband's family. We knew we were pregnant and I had been looking at flea markets/antique stores for something similar and was so excited when I saw this on sale for $30.00. I will be sad to pack it away!

I am off to work on my living room curtains. I started making them a few weeks ago and the curtain color is just to close to the wall color so I am thinking of putting them in my kitchen. I have always heard designers say decorating their own home was harder then decorating their clients home and I can now officially say I completely agree with that statement :)