Plotting out the hallway

I haven’t figured out the best way to show y’all the new house yet…  do the whole before ~ progress shots??  A little as we go???  Decisions.  Decisions.  Well I can’t decide but I thought I might as well share with a little project I tried. 

In the past when I’ve hung artwork, I’m a “that looks good there” kind of girl.  I don’t spend a lot of time hemming and hawing – I either like or don’t.  It’s either too high or too low.  Too left or too right.  Just put a nail in the wall and call it done.  What can I say – the opposite of procrastination.  But I will say I look at some of these awesome “gallery walls” and think maybe all this planning and plotting makes sense. 

a great example of a mixed collection from Abode Love

Love this concept of playing off the horizontal line from Martha Stewart

How cool to have no space at all between each frame…  Lily Rose

So I attempted the plan…

    

I plotted out the size of the collage on the wall and a drop cloth.

Then placed all the pictures in the arrangement I liked.

Cut out paper for the size of each picture.

Measuring from the perimeter I placed the pieces of paper on the wall with thumbtacks where the actual nail would go.

And slowly but surely the walls were filled with photographs.

So…  the final question is… Was all that planning & plotting worth it?  For me… not so much.  I would have rather just started one and added on from there.  It’s a lot of steps.  I do like to plot out on the floor how things will layout but all that paper cutting and measuring just isn’t for me. 

At least one project done!  Only 124 left to go.

Change of Address...

With the recent move I knew I wanted to send out "Change of Address" cards.  Even though I know no one seems to use "snail" mail anymore there's something about getting a note in your mailbox.  And I want to make sure everyone knows how to find our mailbox!!  I can't miss out on Christmas cards this year, right!??!  So anyhoo... I was on the hunt for an inexpensive option.  Oh and of course cute.  

I went to my best friend a.k.a. Pinterest and started doing a little research.  I found this super cute link to a free printable.

Loved the image!  Also loved the colors but knew it would be more expensive to go with a color option and putting it in an envelope would also add to the cost (stamp and envelope).  So I decided to go the black/white post card route.  I used the image from the printable and put into a gray-scale image.  

Then for backside of the postcard I cropped the suitcases for a repetition of the theme, added our return address and a spot to fill out.

I made the document in Microsoft Publisher and sent it to OfficeMax to be printed.  They used a #110 paper in cream and then they cut into 4 postcards.  The total for the printing, cutting and paper was $4.42!!  Bargain!  Of course stamps added to my endeavor but totally worth it.

Yours should be in the mail - don't forget to update your address book so I get your uber cute Christmas card!!

So long Sheffield

This is what our world has consisted of for the last couple weeks. Packing up boxes. Moving the boxes. Unpacking said boxes. Lots of cardboard!! But with that cardboard comes the exciting news of a new home!! Yep that's right ~ we are no longer at Sheffield Drive. That sweet 1950's ranch is no longer ours. I think we've left her in good hands. The guy that bought our house really seemed to love her as much we did!!

Our new digs are pretty basically "move-in" ready. Of course there will be lots of additions to make it ours! I'll be sharing pictures soon!

Here's a little taste.