Keepsakes on display!

I love looking at all the things people usually have displayed around their home.  Each picture could be a conversation starter, and everything people hang up says a lot about who they are.


There are several ideas on Pinterest that show what you could do with family heirlooms, recipes, photos, and so much more! So who wants to keep their special items in boxes that never get opened and in picture books that never get looked at?  Not this girl!


I've pinned several ideas on my boards that I want to try and I haven't quite gotten around to everything yet, but there are several I have tried and I love them!


 Let's start with the photo ideas!


I had seen this idea floating around Pinterest and was dying to try it.  The idea, is when you go on vacation, take a photo with your significant other/spouse and cut it out in the shape of the state you were in.





My first challenge was trying to find a map to use.  The pinner found hers at an office supply store and any map will work as long as it is the size you'd like it to be.  Helpful hint: if the map is too small, you probably won't be able to make a picture fit into the smaller states.  The bonus for me was that my Grandma had a US map she was wanting to give away at Easter.  Score! I always love free things, especially when it is something my Grandma used to own! Who doesn't?


The next challenge was how to hang it.  I couldn't frame it because if you do that, you have to take the map out of the frame every time you want to add a picture from a different state.  I bought a tri-fold poster board from Target and duct taped the folds on the back side so it doesn't fold up.  Since the board is a bit thick, I was able to nail it up on the wall right through the board and use push pins to attach the pictures. 


Once all that was done, it was time to trace the states and print the pictures!  I started by laying computer paper over the map and tracing the state I wanted to fill and then I cut it out.  I laid that over the picture, traced and cut again.  Then I put a dab of hot glue on the head of the push pin and attached it to the photo.  All that was left to do was pin it onto the map and Voilà.


Here is my version!





I can't wait to go to another state!  A 5 X 7 picture worked for Nebraska and Kansas but an 8X10 picture was needed for California and Texas. Since Hawaii was too small on the map for a good picture, and even if I tried to make it the same size as it was on the map, there wasn't a good picture to fit each individual island so I cut the picture out in the shape of Maui, which was the only island we actually visited so far, but I made it bigger and pinned it right over the area it was printed on the map. I used a 4 X 6 photo for Hawaii.


Another idea was framing the key to your first house together.  Here was the inspiration pin.



I liked the idea of putting a quote or the definition of Home or something along those lines behind the key, but I decided I'd rather have a picture of our house behind it.


Here is my version.





I'm still thinking about painting the key so it stands out more on the picture, I just need to decide on a color.


Now we venture into the kitchen.  What better to have displayed in your kitchen than old family recipes?  Here was my inspiration on this one.

Here is my version.





This is a recipe hand written by both my Grandmothers and my Mom.  I love having that personal touch with me in the kitchen. 


While we are in the kitchen and on the topic of baking, I recently claimed the apron I used to wear while helping my mom bake cookies when I was little (back when it was way too big for me). I didn't really have an inspiration pin for this one but I still love this idea!

And just to top it off, I framed a picture of myself wearing the apron while I was little and hung it right by the actual apron.  LOVE!


Last (for this post at least) is an old key idea that my mom had.  My Great-Grandpa used to collect any and all old keys he would find.


Here is our inspiration.



And Here is what my mom came up with.



There were a few more keys that she didn't frame and I strung them on a ribbon and hung them on my full length mirror in my bedroom.





Of course there are all kinds of ways to display things that you love in your home and I have so many more ideas that I need to bring to reality.  What kinds of things have you displayed around your home?

Print your heart out

There are so many cute signs out there with nice little sayings that probably cost a pretty penny.  I have quite a few things pinned on my boards that I'd love to hang throughout my house.


There are quotes like this that people hang in their laundry rooms for spare pocket change.

Of course that would involve finding a jar, a piece of wood that matches the size of the jar, the clamp and hardware to mount the jar, and the stencil to put the quote on the wood.  If you ask me, that is too much work.


I found a much simpler and easier way to bring this pin to life! Use a word document!


Just choose the font you like, insert clip art if desired, print, back with cardstock, and frame.  When you're all said and done it looks something like this





Now this isn't in my laundry room because my laundry room is unfinished and gross, so I sort laundry in our master bedroom and I keep the spare change jar right on our dresser.


You can do this with almost quote/saying you would like around the house.


Some more I have done are:


Inspiration

Reality





Inspiration

Reality

For the Be Our Guest sign, I searched for the pretty corners in clip art and I had to rotate one to mirror the other but it was still easy peasy!


Inspiration

Reality

I love this one! Take turns with your hubby or family members filling in the blank. You write with dry erase markers right on the glass and it just wipes off when someone else wants to write something!  Of course if your husband doesn't write things as often as you do, the writing can be on a little too long and you have to use a little windex to get the writing completely off.


Inspiration

Reality



And finally:


Inspiration

Reality



Hope this inspires you to open up word and play around with fonts and clip art! Don't forget to share your creations!

Fun with Frames

Hello again!  While I was making the letter "I" initial for my friend's baby shower I also made a cute headband frame for her to hang all the adorable headbands for her little girl.  My friends and I actually threw her shower and had a headband making station like this one we found on Pinterest:

So here is the frame I ended up making to display the ones made at her shower and that she could take home and put in Isabel's room!

Super cute right? And it was pretty cheap to make.  I already had the frame, it was an old one that my mom had which had seen better days and was a weird shape for photos.  I painted it with a small bottle of craft paint that I bought at Hobby Lobby (where else?), and I hot glued the flower in the corner, which I had from a hair clip I made in high school.


For the wire I used some left over from my wedding (originally bought from Hobby Lobby) and secured them to the back of the frame (in the groove where the glass would go) with thumb tacks and twisted the wire with needle nose pliers so it would wrap around the tacks.  Then I hung the head bands with teeny tiny clothes pins from Hobby Lobby.


This little project was so cute, I just had to do more with frames.  So I ventured into the world of Pinterest yet again to find my next frame project and I found it! My sister has an awesome walk in closet in her apartment and at the back she has a full size mirror and a jewelry station top of her wood shoe rack.  I decided her sunglasses needed a cute home after I saw this:













And here is our version!





My sister and I painted the frame (another of my mom's old ones), and attached black ribbon to the back of the frame with thumb tacks as well.  I'm hoping to find some sort of drawer organizer and frame to make a nail polish holder to put in the closet with this but so far no such luck.  Stay tuned for that.




The last project I did with frames is for the dogs.  Everyone meet Buster!



He's a 2 year old full grown "pit-bull terrier"? We think... Anyway he loves going on walks and I want to keep his leash by the door but didn't want anything to look too cluttered or random.  For a while I just had his leash hanging on a nail....not attractive.  But then I came up with this situation:

Just a frame painted blue with paint that was left at our house after we bought it and the same foam letters from the two initial projects I did and a scrapbook sticker of a paw print in the corner.  Then I put a brushed nickel command hook underneath to hang the leash and voilà, I had myself a good looking dog walking station!  He gets so excited when I walk over and take the leash off the hook.


Hope you enjoyed my fun with frames and don't forget to share your frame projects with me.
Anyone know of any good, shallow, cheap drawer organizers around for the nail polish idea?