One More Thing for the Wall

By now you are probably all sick of reading about my gallery wall, but I did have one more project in the works that I decided to finish after posting about the wall. It is now finished and hung with all the others.

It all started, like so many things, with Pintrest. I saw this and completely fell in love.

Source: green-wedding.net via Heather on Pinterest

It's black, it's shiny, it's contemporary, and it sparkles. Basically, it's everything that I love in decor.

I had a necklace rack that I made about fifteen years ago, with my mom's help, that I wanted to repurpose as wall art. I had incorporated it in the original gallery wall layout, but didn't know how I wanted to decorate it. After seeing this centerpiece, I decided to do an interpretation of it on my old necklace rack.

I started by purchasing a length of crystal garland, some large crystal drops, jewelry chain, and a package of jumprings.

I attached the large drops to sections of the crystal garland and chain (this will make a lot more sense in pictures below), and I spray painted the necklace rack with black gloss spray paint left over from the canvas piece I did a couple of weeks ago. Once the paint was dry, I attached the lengths of crystal with jumprings.

It was looking mighty fine at this point, but was still a bit plain. I decided to try something that I had been pondering and Google searched about. I decided to try using contact paper to add some text to the piece. Ideally I would have used vinyl, but I'm working with what I got.

After settling on a font and size, I printed the word "Family" and taped it to my self-healing mat on top of a piece of white contact paper (also known as adhesive shelf liner). Then I got to work with my craft knife. (Have I mentioned that I want a Silhouette?)

After cutting out each letter, I tried a tip I had read about in blog land--using drywall tape in lieu of transfer tape. I cut a length of drywall tape and placed it over my whole cut piece, then carefully removed the pieces I didn't want (the outside pieces, if you will) so that the letters will still lined up straight. I flipped the whole thing over and removed the backing to expose the sticky side of the contact paper.

I stuck the whole thing on my painted former-necklace rack and thoroughly rubbed the whole thing to make sure it was good and stuck. Then carefully peeled back the drywall tape, making sure that I didn't pull up any contact paper with it, rubbed the letters again for good measure, and stepped back to admire my work.

I think it actually turned out very well. You can't even tell it isn't vinyl from a distance.

And with it hung on the wall as it is, no one is likely to take a close look at it; just stand there and admire it. Oh, am I the only one who does that?

Anyone have some brilliant (and cheaper) alternatives they would like to share? Any new crafts that you sit back and lovingly admire? Have you been inspired lately to reinterpret something you have seen and love to fit your needs?

PS. This project was updated on 1/13/2012 at Updates to "The Wall" with Cameo.

Gallery Wall: Part 4, Anniversary Calendar

I had an empty 8"x10" matted to a 5"x7" hanging on my wall without any idea what I was going to put in it. Then a few days ago, as I was traipsing along on Pintrest, I saw this:

Source: eggpress.com via Heather on Pinterest

What an interesting and unique way to display a special date! I had initially assumed that I would make something like "Nelson, Est. 2005" as we have seen so many times. I actually like those and wanted one, but I already had our family name represented on the wall and I didn't want to over do it. But with this calendar, I could take down two birds with one stone. Brilliant!

I got to work on my computer designing how this calendar would look. First off, let me say that deciding on a "perfect" design is a pain and hardly ever happens. This would be one of those times that I settled for "good enough." Second, I really wish that my printer was calibrated to my screen.

Anyway, after toying around with a few different options, I landed on this design.

After printing it out, I turned my attention to phase two--framing it.

The biggest thorn in my side about the calendar that I had designed was that it had no pattern. Ugh! But I wasn't willing to put in the extra effort to try to add some, so the pattern came into play in the mat. Inspiration at its finest here, folks. (Seriously, it's not me. After mauling over a problem for a while, ideas just pop into my head. I take no credit for them.)

I pulled out a piece of patterned cardstock (that I had initially intended to use for a background when framing Darin's Eagle, but had decided against) and cut it to the dimensions of the afore mentioned mat. Then I cut the inner rectangle slightly larger than the mat's opening. For a little artistic definition, I traced along the inside edge of the opening with a black marker. Patterned top mat: done.

Finally, I taped all of the layers in place and slipped the whole thing into the frame, and voilà. Here is the finished product.

Do you have another idea for a creative way to display a date? Are you longing for a "Family, Est. <Year>" sign? Do quirky ideas pop into your head from time to time?

PS. This project was updated on 1/13/2012 at Updates to "The Wall" with Cameo.

Gallery Wall: Part 3, Awesome, Free, Key Prints

I have a small love affair with skeleton keys. Do I own any? No. Do I wish I owned some? Heck, yes. Not only do they look cool, but they have historical significance, which is also cool. Not to mention all of the things keys can represent: home, love, priesthood. And in my world, symbolism = ♥.

I was so enthralled when I found these skeleton key prints on http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com via Pintrest. And they're free! Karen is my new favorite person. (You can download them, too, here and here.) Aren't they beautiful?

After downloading the graphics, I resized and positioned them in MS Word. Then I printed them on some patterned cardstock, cut them out, popped them in some 4"x6" frames, and hung them on the wall.

I really like how they turned out. So pretty.

Have you printed your own wall art? Are you obsessed with skeleton keys? What objects hold special meaning in your life?

Gallery Wall: Part 2, Small Items of Significance

Today we are going to take a look at some of the things I put together for my WIP (work-in-progress) gallery wall that I talked about yesterday.

1. A Silver Quarter

Significance: Darin had been checking quarters for years looking for one from 1964--the last year that they were minted in silver. One evening shortly after we were married, we went to the laundry mat, and Darin got some quarters from the change machine. True to form, he checked the dates on all of the quarters. And there it was. A quarter from 1960. Years of searching, and he had finally found one. It had been living in my jewelry box ever since--until now!

How I Framed It: I decided to put it in one of my 2.5"x3.5" frames. (Honestly, what else would I put in a frame so small? Certainly not a photo.) I cleaned the glass (always the first step in framing), cut a piece of flocked cardstock from my favorite paper pack to the right size, set the quarter in the middle of the glass, placed the cardstock over the top, and put the back on. That's right. No glue, tape or other type of adhesive keeping it in place. Just the good ol' normal force between the glass and the quarter. (You can read about normal force here.)

2. My Young Womanhood Medallion

Significance: It took five years for me to earn this award during my teen years. It's nearly equivalent to earning the BSA Eagle award. I am very proud to have succeeded in receiving it, but I never wear it because it is gold-toned. If it's not silver, I won't wear it. It was also wasting away in my jewelry box, so I decided to put it in the other 2.5"x3.5" frame.

How I Framed It: I cut another piece of the flocked cardstock I used when framing the quarter to the size of the frame. I then removed the ring that the medallion came on since it was to deep for the frame. I got out a needle and thread and stitched the medallion onto the cardstock by the little hole at the top. It was a little plain and looked odd without the ring at the top, so I made a little bow from a length of gray ribbon I found in my stash and stitched that on as well. With everything securely sewn in place, I placed it in the frame, made sure that the medallion was hanging straight, and put the back on. I think it turned about pretty spankin' cute.

3. Darin's Eagle Award

Significance: Are you kidding? It's a BSA Eagle Award! Heads of governments' secretaries send out letters congratulating young men on achieving such an award. I went hunting on Thursday and found it in a wooden chest from Darin's youth, under his space camp patch and next to his high school valedictorian medal. (I love that man. Smart and a geek. What more could a girl ask for?) Two days ago, it was pulled from the depths where it had been languishing, and this morning it made it onto the wall.

How I Framed It: I picked up a 5"x7" shadow box at Hobby Lobby, with a 40% off coupon, of course. I was a little worried about how I would mount the medal on the backing, but the backing is velvet over styrofoam, so I just had to push the pins on the back of the "Be Prepared" part into it and it was mounted. (Score!) Next I cut a piece of cardboard to act as a mat board. I printed off the chevron pattern on cardstock and wrapped it around the cardboard mat. I taped my improvised mat in place, put the back on, and hung it on the wall. I think it looks great!

So, what do you think? Do you have any sentimental items lying around, in jewelry boxes or the bottom of drawers that you would like to get up on your wall?

Gallery Wall: Part 1, Inception

About a year ago I started seeing gallery walls (aka memory walls) popping up all over the blogsphere, in shelter magazines and catalogs. It was the perfect thing for our stairwell. As you recall, it wasn't much to look at.

Before

On Tuesday, I found images like these on Pintrest.

Source: thebirdspapaya.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: nothingbutbonfires.com via Heather on Pinterest

Then I read this post on {twenty}something about her gallery wall.

I decided to be brave and see what frames I could pull together from around the house. I had some pieces lying around already, like Darin's father's lightning photo that used to hang over the piano (more on that later) and the letter photos piece that I wrote about here. They were just sitting on the parlor floor, making me nervous that one of the boys would ruin them. To add to the collection, I started pulling random pieces from other walls in my home and raiding the basement.

When I had everything together, I started cutting and taping grocery ads to use as templates for placement. Normally I would lay out my arrangement on the floor, use a sheet of wax paper to mark all of the nails, hang the wax paper on the wall, pound the nails in, tear off the wax paper and hang away; but that wouldn't have worked so well with the angle of the stairs. However, I did mark all of my templates with nail placements and a brief description of which piece they represented, which made hanging so much easier. Tuesday night I started hanging my templates on the wall.

I was really surprised by how many pieces I actually had. I thought it would takes months to get enough pieces to make a good size display.

I started putting up the largest template pieces first (per {twenty}something's advice), and noticed that I needed some smaller pieces to round out the collection and really pull it together. The smallest I had were 8"x10"s. (Seriously?!?)

I ended up at Target that night for something else, and I spotted this. A black, ten piece frame set for $25! That's only $2.50 a frame. Sure, the frames weren't high quality and the sizes ranged from 8"x10" to 2.5"x3.5", but it was perfect for what I needed. Needless to say, I bought them.

When I got home, I added my new little frames to my pile and took a step back. How on earth did I come up with so much stuff? I was impressed. (Sorry for the bad lighting, it was night.)

On Wednesday, I started driving nails. I was so glad that I had the templates to work with. As the frames slowly went up, I would rearrange the other templates until it was just right. It was a slow process of hanging the largest pieces at the bottom of the stairs, filling in the medium frames, hanging the largest pieces further up the stairs, hanging the smallest frames at the bottom of the stairs, putting up the medium frames around the larger ones further up the stairs... You get the idea. It was a lot of working my way up the stairs, going back down to put up another smaller piece, etc.

Half of the frames have pictures in them, the other half don't. I need to paint some things black, others I need to craft before framing. It's a work in progress (hence the "Part 1"). Thursday was consumed by finding and developing creative ways to frame some keepsakes, as well as printing off some pictures I found online that I really like.

Today, Friday, you guessed it, I'll be working some more on "The Wall."

Look forward to more details on what's going up. In the mean time, here is a sneak-peek at what it currently looks like.

A Curtain Conundrum

I was reading a guide on color and looking at my completely not-even-started dining room, and inspiration struck. I have a plan!

You would think I would be shouting 'eureka' or something, but there are always snags in any design. (Get used to it, Heather. Just get used to it.)

I was doing some online "window" shopping at Ikea (I mentioned I'm on a budget, right?) and I found these Henny Rand curtain panels.

They seemed absolutely perfect. The colors I wanted, grommet topped, and it even mimics the pattern of the curtains in the parlor. But, alas, there is always a catch.

My ceilings downstairs are 9' tall. These panels are only 98" long. (That's 8'2" for those of you without a calculator handy.) That is a whole ten inches of wall I would rather not see. Running one's curtains from ceiling to floor makes the space appear bigger and less closed in. People tend to enjoy larger spaces (or at least the illusion of one) because it feels more open and less like they are trapped in a tiny space.(My apologies to anyone with claustrophobia. I know, I'm one of them.)

So, back to my curtains. Do I shell out more for different curtains that are the appropriate 108" length from another store? Nope. I never spend money I don't have to. (Do you hear that, Dear?) I still intend to get these for the reasons mentioned above (i.e. price, color, pattern, style). Besides this could end up being a blessing in disguise.

Since I am putting these in a bay window, I needed a way of hanging them that would conform to the shape. That pretty much left me with making some custom rods, spending a lot on custom rods, or using Ikea's Dignitet system.

It may not look like much, but it seems to be working great for Javamom. (Click on the link to see pictures of her bay window and review of the Dignitet system.)

Are you wondering where the blessing in disguise part comes in? That extra ten inches from the top of the curtain panel to the ceiling could be just the excuse opportunity I need to try making a pelmet. Will I most likely end up with the curtains, wire hanging system, and ten inches of wall? Yes, but that is the beauty of being a home owner on a budget--there is always something more to do. If there wasn't, I'd have to find a new hobby. I'd really rather not do that.

I'm sure I'll keep you posted on what I end up doing, but I do like the option of dressing up my bay window for less than a hundred bucks. For now, I save my pennies and keep dreaming the dream. Sometimes I even get to live it. :)

Perfect Throw Pillows

Ever made your own throw pillow covers? It is probably the easiest sewing project there is. Okay, maybe not the easiest, but I'm drawing a blank while trying to think of something easier. That should count for something, right?

Today I am going to reveal to you all tips I have learned for making perfect throw pillows (close enough, anyway).

Tip #1: Use a pillow form
Using a pillow form leaves you with a smoother pillow than a stuffed one. In my experience, they keep their shape better, too. Not to mention that you can then make throw pillows with removable covers so that you can change the cover when your ready for something new--or when you need to wash them, as you do when you have kids.

I have found some really great deals online for pillow forms. I highly recommend looking there first.

Tip #2: Go for a snug fit
Ever wonder how the makers of pillows at the store get them to look so plump? Yes, you have probably already guessed that they used a good pillow form. But that is only about, mmm..., 30% of what makes a plump throw pillow. The real secret is in a snug fit.

For instance, say you are making a cover for an 18"x18" pillow form. Those of you who sew naturally assume that you would cut your fabric to 19"x19" or 20"x20" to leave room for your seam allowances. Resist the urge to leave seam allowances!

If you have an 18"x18" pillow, cut your fabric to 18"x18". This forces your pillow form to fill every cubic millimeter of the cover to make room for itself; leaving you with a gorgeously plump pillow. (Trust me, it will fit and you will love yourself for doing it.)

Tip #3: Round the corners
Avoid the dog-eared look on your pillows. Round the corners before sewing.

You can use a plate or can of stew as a template for your rounded corners, but if you really want to feel like a professional, I recommend using a template like the Pillow Corner Template by Dritz® Home. I think they explain it best:

"Create perfect knife edged pillows! This template is a guide to mark and trim excess corner fabric from pillows. Square-cut corners on knife edged pillows cannot be stuffed properly: they pucker and become "dog-eared". By following the curve of the template, the excess fabric is removed. The curve is not visible when stitched and pillows appear to be perfectly square."

 I love mine. You can pick one up at your local fabric store or online for less than $10.

And there you have it. My secrets (not really) to making perfectly plump, square cornered throw pillows.