Gallery Wall: Children's Art Prints

In the Mac & Ink households, blank walls have definitely been a staple. But when Ink and I moved to our new places, gallery walls were on the top of our must have lists.

I've got a couple of them in mind for my place - and here's the first one:

Children’s Art Prints

Designing my daughter’s room, I wanted it to be bright and cheery, a happy and inviting place for the little girl to play and sleep in. While hunting for décor that fit the theme of the room, I found these adorable prints from Trafalgar’s Square on Etsy.  These animal prints are so cute they make me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Buying the prints was easy but actually framing them and getting them hung up was a bit (actually a lot) of a pain. A lot of effort went into getting end result I wanted.

Perfect fit or with a profile?

I wanted to have borders for these as I thought it would add some interest to the overall picture. 

Store bought or custom framed?

My first thought was to get them custom framed but  was a bit apprehensive about which framer to go to having a not so good experience with the framer a few years back. I also thought it would cost more. 

So on one of our Ikea runs, Ink convinced me to get ready-made frames and mount them myself. Unfortunately, the Ikea frames only came with a profile for A4 sized art but my prints were 8R and that put in an extra run to the stationary store and a solid hour of ‘crafting’.

In retrospect, it would have been much less effort and only a tad more expensive to have had them custom framed as I eventually found a reliable and reasonably priced framer.

Arrangement?

Having the framing out of the way, the next step was to decide on the layout of the gallery wall and its placement on the wall.  I planned how I wanted the layout of the gallery wall to look like by first trying out the arrangement on the floor. 

Satisfied with the arrangement, I measured the spacing of the frames and then transferred the measurements onto the wall by cutting out the shapes on pieces of tracing paper and sticking them on the wall first. This may look like wasted effort but I'm really glad I did because it made it all so easy for the hubby to measure the location of the nail. 

Make a hole in the wall?

The hubby and I agonised a little over this. No one wants holes in their walls, but in the end we decided safety came first and opted to go with nails as it would give us some peace of mind that the framed pictures would not fall, break and cause any injury to the little girl.

Finally…..

Here are the prints all framed up. Worth every bit of effort don’t you think?

Quote Of The Month: April 2015

BE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

WHILE WORKING FOR WHAT YOU WANT

 ~Helen Keller~             

                  

Tiny Budget, Big Ideas

So, back in November, I picked a quote about just plucking up the courage to do the things you want.

And then I went and did just that. 

So, amongst other exciting things this new year, I've got a new space to decorate! Yay!

The biggest thing I'd love to do with my space is to keep it as empty as I can.

Let's face it - I'm a messy person. And I need to have space for that mess to unfurl from my neatly packed moving boxes. Having way too much furniture is just going to make me feel really hemmed in. 

So here are my top 3 inspirations for planning my place:

1. As usual, Pinterest! 

Here's my board, called "the big move" where I'm constantly looking for creative ways to both fit all the stuff I have, and still feel like I've got a big airy space (when what I really have is the size of a closet).

Follow Ink's board .the big move. on Pinterest.

2. Ikea

I've been there so many times in the past couple of months, I think I've finally answered the question everyone I know has been asking for years - why the heck are there so many people there every freaking weekend?

But seriously, though. I've turned into one of those people who walk around with tape measure, and, well my phone instead of the cute little pencil and paper. Waaaay easier to keep track of all the ideas I get from walking around.

3. YouTube

Yeah so you knew to look there without me even telling you.

But anyways, me being me, I ended up watching most of the tutorials for fun instead of any actual instruction. Here were my favourites that just got me all pumped up about decorating my space.
Disclaimer: some of these videos are by Ikea as well.

Walk in closet - who doesn't need more space for clothes?

I've always fancied myself more of a lazy, clothes all over the place sort of person. But still, love this idea.

I really really love challenging the typical furniture up against the walls, TV on the opposite wall to the couch sort of living room arrangements. So this was a fun one to watch, although I don't think it'll come to this for me.

I've also always thought about all the different ways I could divide up my space. And after like a dozen "how to use a Billy bookcase to create a partition" videos (*blah*), this was really, really fun!

And just because I get distracted easily and end up watching stuff for fun

Quote of the Month: November 2014

There are times when one needs to be still to regroup and strategise. 

And then there are times when you've just got to pluck up the courage to get shit done!

Chalkboard Paint & Jam Jars

Hi, I'm Ink and I love glass jars. 

Who knew that all those glass jars Dad never threw out could be used in like a million awesome ways other than storing manageable portions of condiments?

And I also love chalkboard paint. 

. OMG something that can allow me to write on just about anything! Beware all surfaces in my personal space! To do lists for every room, here I come!

Here are just some of the awesome ways both can be used.

Image from Pinterest: http://goo.gl/uN10kc

From really pretty ways to serve dessert

Image fromn Pinterest: http://goo.gl/lchndY

To a very cute way to pack prezzies (or, you know, pack your own stuff, or the stuff you were supposed to buy as prezzies but decided you liked them foryourself). 

And chalkboard paint!

Image from Craft River: http://goo.gl/grMU1N

Oh, to be able to label everything!

Image also from Craft River

Really, I mean everything!

Another beautiful image from Craft River

And scrawl my to do lists and random ideas just about everywhere.

But I get ahead of myself. 

My first modest experiment with chalkboard paint: 

A bunch of old jam jars lying around the house.

Mac's can of chalkboard paint.

Some old newspapers. 

The pesky duo: Dog and Baby running around the house. 

The result:

 4 glass jars with lids ready for the scrawling on; one of which had to be re-painted.

One Baby who spent a good 20 minutes having paint rubbed off her palm with baby oil. Yes, Mac, that's your baby for you.

And a curious Dog circling the lids drying on the porch.

And here's one of them - finally a way I can store some of my scented tea lights..you know, other than in the partially opened packaging, on the bottom shelf.
To figure out next - how to actually write/draw anything on such a small space!

Quote of the Month : October 2014

My mantra of the month, I need to leave all that negativity behind!

Gifts: Time to Read

Three months ago, I had a couple of pretty harrowing conversations. 

One with the impressionable new intern who called me boss. At which point I responded that my boss is our boss. I'm just the one who has to guide him along the way.

And the other one with my boss, who told me here's my chance to learn how to be someone's boss. 

Gah.

I've always been the baby, the one being mentored, the one getting advice. 

What the hell am I supposed to do when I'm supposed to actually be a mentor?

Three months down the line, it's time to bid adieu to the intern who almost seems like a permanent part of the team.

And, as part of his farewell present. here's how I've framed up what I think is the most important piece of advice I'd given in the past couple of months:

Along with the book I'd been talking about which had gotten a blank stare along with the answer 

"I don't have time to read books". 

Here's the whole set of things.

In case you're wondering, the orange thing is a "keep calm and" notebook. Wish I'd had time to go have a "Keep calm and WRITE THAT DOWN!" notebook made. That would be the second most important thing I've said to him the entire time. 

And yes, if you think that top item looks a little familiar on this blog, you're spot on. 

I love that stuff. And so does he.

Don't judge us.