Focal Wall gets French Facelift

I've been wanting to do a fun wall collage for a while, and finally got around to doing it!

This is my "Crafty Creations" post for this week because it's proof that you can create fun wall art for your home, with a collage of items that you already have.

Items I used:

-Black scrolly frame - Ikea
-Letter 'S' - Hobby Lobby
-Various frames - garage sales/thrift stores ( spray painted)
-Candleabra and Paris Subway Art - TJMaxx (LOVE that store!)
-"Love" picture - wedding gift
-Picture of my hubby and I - thanks to Eden Photography (frame a garage sale find!)
-Decorative mirrors - can't remember ;-)
(framing my thermostat is just an added bonus)

Begin by arranging your items on the floor - you want the items to all go together but avoid being too "matchy matchy". You want them to all relate, or have some coordinating element but be random enough to be interesting. I chose to use items with a French flair (they also go with other decor in my room, like a gorgeous lamp I'll show you in another post)

A wall collage tends to be like a puzzle, as you're trying to create balance in an effort to achieve a look that you're happy with. Don't get frustrated, the end result is fabulous!

My bare focal wall is now adorned with a fun, French inspired collage that I am beyond pleased with! It has just the right amount of wimsy, style, and love to make this girl happy.

What have you created today?

~Lauren

Oh, Pinterest -How We Love Thee!

No, as much as we love Pinterest -it isn't the cause of our lack of blogging. It would be a huge understatement to say that Page & I have been busy. We're both prego mamas with photography businesses and homes to take care of. Summer just happens to be peak season for us, so we've not had much time at all to blog. We miss all of you and are looking forward to getting back into the swing of things soon! Thanks for your patience!

In any case, we have discovered a wonderful addiction...ahem...website that truly appeals to us and those of you who love all things creative. In actuality it appeals to anyone who loves good recipes, crafty ideas, fashion sense, brilliant concepts....need I go on? We can't stress enough how neat this site is, we've gleaned so many great ideas!! We wanted to share it with all of our readers so you too can become addicted....I mean, INSPIRED! ;-D

Many people wonder what it is exactly. By it's own definition:

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.

Simply put, it's a great place to gain inspiration and organize your ideas accordingly so that when you're "ready" to try that idea, you can easily find it by locating your "pinboard" (place to neatly compile your ideas).

Here are a few "pins" that we've found that we thought we'd share with you on this Crafty Creations Friday....

Avocado Chicken Salad

Creative Cookie Tins - (we're thinkin' Christmas!)

Newspaper Nails!

No Heat Curls

DIY Roman Shades

Ruffled Tshirt

Porch Swing - made from a door!

These are just a FEW of the many neat ideas you can find on Pinterest. Simply link it to your Facebook account and follow friends and their pinboards too if you wish. *Just like any public site, there are bound to be inappropriate pictures/pins - thankfully we've not come across many ourselves, but just be aware when searching.*

We hope this inspires YOU to get creative this weekend!

~Lauren & Page

Baby Nursery {Part III- My Artsy Changing Table Redo}

As I was planning my nursery, I shopped around for various pieces for my nursery that fit my taste AND my budget. That's tough to do because I have expensive taste yet I'm super frugal.
I was SO excited to find this changing table on my local online yard sale site for a steal of a deal- $20!!! Most of you probably would've liked it just the way it was, as it really wasn't too bad. However, I wanted something unique, with character that was fun, artsy and colorful. I bought a $15 quart of Sherwin William's paint (on sale) and for a total cost of $35 (plus my brother's time) -I now have a changing table that was totally what I envisioned! My bro did such a great job, he made the ordinary into extraordinary!! I LOVE how this piece turned out!!

Now, I'm gonna blame it on the prego brain, but I failed to take a good "Before" picture. :-P Forgive me!! Please use your imagination and pretend like the drawers are still in place.



My brother removed all the drawers and hardware and did some light sanding to it, but because of the awesome primer we used (see pic below), it really required no sanding (my favorite kind of project!)



The key to good priming is to have a lot of fun.... oh and to cover all areas that you'll be painting. :-)


Once primed, we let it dry and then began to apply the 1st coat of paint - in my accent color, Sherwin William's Refresh - once that dried, we (meaning my brother) applied a 2nd coat.



As you can see, it's looking good but doesn't have any real dimension to it yet. Some people MIGHT be ok with this as it is, but not me! ;-)



My brother then proceeded with the "fun" part. He used several tools to distress it. When doing this - try to think of places that would naturally be distressed. Don't forget the drawers! It's the details that really gives a piece that extra "wow factor".




Afterwards, we went down to the basement and found some dark wood stain in my collection of paints. Using a rag, he dipped part of it into the stain rubbed it in the cracks and edges of the piece, wiping off the excess. This is where your creative, artistic side comes into play. You can apply however much you'd like, but the goal is for it to look natural and not overdone. Rubbing the stain into the grain of the wood and cracks really gives it that distressed look. Be careful not to apply too much! You must wipe the excess off!


Once we were satisfied with how much "distressing" had been done, he put the hardware back on and drawers back into place. Thankfully I liked the original hardware and didn't have to do a thing to it!


Here is Baby Shaffer's super artsy and one of a kind changing table, refinished with love by his Uncle Caleb.





I hope this inspires you to look past the outward appearance of a piece of furniture, and envision creating it into something you love. Don't be afraid to take a piece and transform it to your liking, it really isn't that hard (especially when your brother does it for you! haha) With a little bit of effort, you can transform "junk" into something AMAZING!

~Lauren

Baby Nursery {Part II- the Transformation & Book Page Wall}

No, I haven't forgotten about my Baby Nursery blogging - however, I have been super busy finishing up this darling room for our little boy. Now that I just have the finishing touches left to do, I feel much more comfortable in taking the time to catch everyone up on the progress made so far. :-)

In case you missed my first post, you can go here to view "my inspiration" for the color palette and overall feel of the space.

I chose these three paint colors based on my inspiration fabric seen in my first post. I used Sherwin Williams Embellished Blue for the walls, Refresh as the accent color used to transform my changing table (stay tuned!) and Alabaster for the trim and doors.

Here is the Nursery - BEFORE we even began the transformation. Notice the light pink walls (eek!).
And here it is getting it's beautiful coat of Embellished Blue by my beautiful decorating crew!


We live in a charming 1920's home, I really do love it - however, the walls are a bit different in our upstairs bedrooms (as you can see from the above pic)- making it kinda difficult for any type of creative paint job, mural, etc. That's ok though, because I was feeling lazy and totally unmotivated to do anything too extreme. :-P

Instead, I decided to do an infamous "Book Page Wall". Many of you have probably seen this idea on countless blogs, and I'm telling you - it is SO fun and SO easy!

Sean & I both loved to read as kids (still do!) and hope our little guy will enjoy it just as much. Yes, we were those naughty kids that stayed up reading with a flashlight underneath our covers well after our parents told us lights out (because the book was THAT good). So....that's part of what led me to create this "Book Page Wall". I knew it would be artsy, fun, totally unique, and reflect our love of reading.

I used these classic storybooks to give it a vintage vibe. I purchased them for 50 cents each at a thrift store and since the binding wasn't in the greatest shape, I didn't feel so bad tearing out all the pages.


Once torn out, I simply had my lovely crew apply a *strong* spray adhesive to the back of the pages and randomly place them on the wall. We learned the hard way that it must NOT be a flexible hold, but a strong hold (best purchased at a craft store vs a hardware store). That's why this is considered** Decoupage (or découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on.**

With true decoupage you apply a sealer on top, but I didn't want to make my pages THAT permanent. As it is, these pages are perfectly adhered to the wall and if one or two pages should try to escape, I still have my spray adhesive and can easily reattach - so far so good! Definitely make sure you use a strong adhesive spray, found at most craft stores - my fav being, Hobby Lobby. :-)

As you can see, these randomly placed book pages create a lovely accent wall that is truly artistic, unique, vintage inspired and an incredible point of interest, as seen here in my nursery. It turned out soooo perfectly!



**A special thanks to my sister, Heidi, friend, Morgan, brother, Caleb, and last but not least - my hubby, Sean for all the hard work you put into this wonderful nursery!! I couldn't have done it without you!!

Stay tuned for the final stages of the nursery transformation and the Grand Reveal coming SOON!!

~Lauren

Baby Nursery {Part I- The Inspiration}

Baby Nursery Part I :- The Inspiration


Ahh yes, I'm going on 32 weeks pregnant and have been brainstorming about our baby boy's nursery since day 1! I'm SUPER excited that my "painting crew" aka friends and family will be beginning the nursery transformation the 1st wknd of June! Yay! I will be sure to take pictures and share with all of you.

As I began thinking about what kind of nursery I wanted for our little guy, several adjectives came to mind - artsy, eclectic, vintage, unique, light and airy, fresh, and still baby appropriate. I have very expensive taste, but just like many of you - I had no intention of spending tons of $$ on this decorating excursion. In fact, I find GREAT satisfaction in finding exactly what I want for a steal of a deal or making it myself. I guess that's the treasure hunter in me, maybe I'm part pirate? Argghhh, matey. Ok, lame....anyway....I am thrilled to report that I've found exactly what I envisioned at the exact cost I envisioned. I'll be blogging about these various stages of the nursery decorating and hope you enjoy the transformation.

This is a "Crafty Creations" post because my inspiration fabric just happens to be a tablecloth! Yes, you heard right! How cool is that? It's just the right material, fits precisely with my color scheme, and exactly what I could NOT find in the fabric stores. This tablecloth is the inspiration fabric that the rest of the nursery will be designed around. Enjoy this sneak peek and stay tuned for "Crafty Creation" posts of the work in progress. I guarantee there will be lots of creativity going into this space. Turning a tablecloth into crib bedding is just ONE of the many ideas.

Be inspired by what you see around you and don't hesitate to turn the ordinary into extraordinary!

Stay tuned for more Baby Nursery posts in the coming weeks!!

~Lauren

Make Your Momma Happy!

Do you realize that Mother's Day is just a scant week away (actually less than that -yikes!!)?? The official count-down has begun, so my question is - do you have that perfect gift for Mom taken care of yet??

Sometimes I really struggle with finding that "perfect gift". Perhaps I over-think, or just over-complicate things, but I really like to give a gift that's meaningful, practical and something the person will really love.
Here's a wonderful gift idea for the Mom that loves jewelry (what girl doesn't?)- a custom Jewelry Organizer! Now, I made my sister one of these for Christmas and my Mom one for her birthday and I have to tell you that they were a HUGE hit! My Mom LOVES having a beautiful place to neatly store all of her "bling". She enjoys being able to display it in such a way that she doesn't have to dig through a jewelry box, only to realize that she can't find that other earring. I'm sure you've seen several tutorials done on various blogs about the infamous framed jewelry organizer, but this is one I especially love because it has ample space for earrings!!

Jewelry Organizer Tutorial

What you will need:
-Frame of your choice - spray painted to your liking (optional)
-Crafter's board to attach to the back of frame (and fasten fabric to)
-Fabric of choice, enough to cover the size of your board
-Glue gun
-Heavy Duty Staple Gun
-Hooks for top of organizer (optional)
-Chicken wire - 1/2" mesh
-Hanging bracket hardware


Now I will tell you that I did not exactly plan too well for this craft. This was completely a "fly by the seat of your pants" craft, and my husband was the one to save the day. However, despite my lack of planning, the results were wonderful. These organizers turned out exactly how I envisioned. Yes, sometimes I'm a better visionary than I am a crafter. :-P

This craft can really be as inexpensive or expensive as you'd like it to be, it really depends on what kind of frame and fabric you choose to use. I purchased two oak frames at a garage sale for $.25 cents each and opted to spray paint them a beautiful glossy black. I used fabric that I already had for one, and purchased the other piece of remnant fabric at Hobby Lobby. This really helped to keep the cost down!

I purchased my chicken wire at my local home improvement store, be sure to wear gloves and have some kind of metal snips to cut the wire - it will hurt you otherwise!! I think the chicken wire was the most frustrating to work with, but if you're careful it definitely adds a special touch and a place to organize countless pairs of earrings! (totally worth it in my book)

To Assemble:


Take an ugly frame and spray paint it! (optional)


Cut your board to fit snugly inside your frame, you will need enough room to fit the board with fabric AND chicken wire and still fit it inside your frame. It takes a bit of measuring, eye-balling, and tweaking to get it right. This is the part that my hunky hubby really came in handy. ;-) I could never have safely cut this board on my rug without totally destroying it. Ha!

Take your fabric and cut enough to overlap around the board, securing with hot glue.
(sorry, no pic - should be pretty self-explanatory)

Cut the chicken wire large enough to fold over the edges of the board. WEAR GLOVES and use wire snips that stuff is sharp.

Take your fabric covered board and carefully wrap with chicken wire (remember to wear gloves!!). Now firmly fit your fabric and wired board into the frame. Staple edges to frame to secure. This chicken wire is a PAIN to work with, but is SO worth it to provide place for all those earrings! It's so convenient.


Screw hooks for necklaces and bracelets along the top. If needed, spray paint them to match your frame, or purchase in the color of your choice.

*Attach a hanging bracket to the back of the frame to hang it on the wall.

The end result will be unique, functional, and beautiful! Take it a step further and buy your Mom some new jewelry to display on her new organizer!



Head over to my Etsy shop for beautiful handcrafted jewelry and take advantage of the Mother's Day special going on now. FREE SHIPPING and 10% off when you enter the promo code MOTHERSDAY2011. You have until Sunday, May 8th to take advantage of this special offer!




Let's celebrate Mom and let her know how important she truly is!

~Lauren

CC: Cute Hand Print Ornament for Kids!

This Christmas has definitely been one of the best Christmases ever... Biggest reason being: Little Red!

He has been so much fun this year! His big, blue eyes just light up over all things Christmas... We spot every Christmas tree and decoration as we're driving. He asks to stop at Lowe's to see the "Kipimees" (Christmas Trees) and marvels over of those big, "blow up in your front yard" things. He asks to turn our tree lights on anytime we're at home. And he loves Rudolph...

Presents this year should be a blast! : D

(Last year was more about eating the paper...)

Anyways, this year was his first time in his class at church to get to make his own, handmade ornaments. I'm. So. Excited!

So, in the spirit of being crazy about Christmas ornaments (which you'll get to see in an up-coming post), I wanted to share an idea I got from a very, incredibly, creative gal at our church who passed on this ornament idea to me, either for your tree or as gifts (of which I did both...)

Here's what you'll need:

*Plain, 3 1/4" or bigger sphere ornament(s)

(I got a box of 4, glass ornaments at Hobby Lobby for $2.50)

*Craft paint that is safe on skin

*paint brushes

*your kids hand

*and maybe an extra set of your own hands...

Step 1: Wrangle down your child.

Step 2: Practice where you'd like to put their hand print. Be quick, because this will only be interesting to your child for about 5 seconds.

Step 3: Release child temporarily.

Step 4: Get your paint ready. I did a very light blue, almost white color.

Step 5: Repeat step 1.

Step 6: While gently holding child's wrist, paint very wiggly child's hand. Asking very lovingly for them to be still. They will like this part.

Step 7: In one fail swoop--while never loosing the painted hand, put down your brush--grab an ornament quickly--and gently place the painted hand on the ornament (try to keep fingers slightly spaced) where you had practiced in Step 2.

Step 8: Press on fingers slightly to make sure the little print made it completely.

Step 9: Remove hand from ornament.

Step 10: Again, while never loosing the still-painted hand, put down the newly--extremely cute hand printed ornament to dry, and grab the brush.

Repeat Steps 6-10 for as many ornaments as you plan to do. (We did one for us, and some for grandparents.)

Step 11: When hand prints are completed--all while still holding the wet, painted hand--rush to the bathroom, wash and rinse hand thoroughly.

Step 12: Sigh of relief. The hardest part is now over.

Step 13: When handprint is dry, paint on the snow men effects. And maybe a "to" and "from". Definitely a name and year.

And here is what you'll end up with:

Snow can be added with a paint brush, or flicked on with a tooth brush. I think I might add a spritz of spray glitter? Just considering it...

I just love these ornaments! I love his little hand print. I can't wait to give them to the grandparents!

Let me know how your ornaments (and/or experiences) go! ; )

~Page