Not All Who Wander Are Lost

August 25, 2017August 24, 20172 Comments

Hello! Welcome back to the blog! I hope that have all had a wonderful week and have awesome plans for the weekend?

This project was a lot of fun for me to work on. Even though it is very simple, it was a still a blast to work on.

As you may have seen the gallery wall that I am working on in my living room. You know, the one with all of the maps. Anyway, I wanted something to add to the wall that didn’t scream MAPS!

So while meandering through Michaels one day I came across a bunch of letters. They were in the spring clearance, but I didn’t have enough letters to make any great words. So, I went to the wood section and found all the letters that I wanted for my wall. I then made my way to scrapbooking where I picked out my paper.

So here are my supplies! I decided to go with the word Wander because it has to do with adventures and traveling, but it’s not 100% travel. And the paper is so cute! I love the wood with the little bit of pink in it. So all you need is the paper you like, letters, glue, a pencil, and a pair of scissors.

First, you need to trace you letters. If you are tracing on the backside of the paper, remember to lay your letters down backwards to the print is correct! After you do that, it’s time to cut.

I double checked to make sure the paper fits correctly on the letters. And then the gluing started. I put the glue down and used a paintbrush to make the glue even across the letter. I then laid the paper down and smoothed it out so there were no bubbles.

I then took the paper with the hearts (that had maps in them mind you) and cut out some of the hearts that had a lot of pink on them. They were placed on the letters and glued down to add extra flair on the letters.

And then it was done!

Now, I only have the letters sitting on top of my middle map until I can enough command strips, but I love it! I really like the look of the letters and I think that it fits really well with the travel/adventure theme. I also really like the small hearts on each letter; it adds a bit of femininity.

I can’t wait to actually mount these letters on the wall and keep the gallery wall going!

Travel Theme Entryway

August 21, 2017August 20, 20171 Comment

Good morning! I’m glad to be back this week! Last week was a little tough..we dropped Haley off at college! We had 2 car loads of her things to take. Thankfully, the school had big bins on wheels that we could load up and take to the rooms. I’m not sure how many trips we would have had to take up and down stairs without that bin! Sure glad we didn’t have to find out!

I am so not ready for summer to end! I like fall too, but I just love the relaxed feeling of summer. I wish we had been able to do more traveling this summer, but instead I decorated my entryway with some California signs and other travel items. I pulled out a variety of things and then made a vignette on my door beverage table which I have placed in my entry. It’s the perfect thing to decorate for the seasons!

I cut out the CA from some maps I had, the same maps Lauren used for her Travel Sign. I used a little tape to attach them to the window. Lauren sent me the Seattle postcard when she went on her road trip.

I love these signs! I ordered them from Groupon a while back and love the vintage look they have. I placed them in some black frames I already had and hung them above my hat and California tote bag.

I cut the hole in the globe to make a hanging light, but so far I haven’t gotten around to it. Instead, I rolled up a USA map and placed it inside. When the girls were younger, I placed stars on the different states we had visited. After it’s done here in the entry, I think I have finally found another spot for it.

A bucket and some starfish remind me of the beach. Some California gardening books and a nautical book are more hints to summer.

I found this big basket at a thrift store and love the colors! It’s the perfect thing to take a picnic in at the park or the beach. A giant conch shell and a Welcome sign invite everyone in.

Hopefully this brings back lots of good summer memories! I think this is the last of the summer decorating. Bring on autumn!!

From Black Lace to Turquoise Beachy

August 14, 2017August 12, 20178 Comments

Hello! Sorry about missing last week Monday! Between being gone two weekends in a row, getting stuff done at school, working at the animal shelter, and just life, a post didn’t get written! Just the way it goes sometimes. This week we take Haley to college. Wah! How did it come to this!? I’m going to miss her greatly, but I am also excited to see where this takes her and to see everything I know she is capable of accomplishing!

Remember when Lauren painted these bar stools? After moving this summer, she decided she didn’t need them at her new apartment. So guess where they end up? That’s right…mom’s house! They don’t really fit in my decor with the black and white, so I went with a more beachy look.

I sanded down the top first, not completely down to the wood, but just to get most of the black off. I kept a bit of it because I knew I wanted to sand down whatever I painted and let some of the black show through. The next step was primer. I used my favorite Kilz Primer.

I used my Benjamin Moore Simply White over the whole stool. After the paint dried, I used painters tape to make stripes on the seat of the stool. I’m not very good at measuring things out, so I just eyeballed it, trying to keep my lines as straight as possible. I actually did pretty well!

I pressed down the edges of the tape really well and then I used the same ‘unknown paint color’ that I used in my bedroom and the front door. You can see it here.

After the paint dried a bit, I peeled off the tape. The lines look pretty good!

I used an orbital sander over the seat and around the edges. I sanded down to the black in some places and to the wood in other places.

Here it is in the bathroom. You can still see some of the black showing through.

I also used one in my entryway. It’s the perfect place to take off your shoes or leave a bag for a moment.

So what do you think? I love how these turned out! I have two more and I am thinking about painting them the same. I’m so glad I got this project done! On to the next project!

*Here are some of the products that are similar to what I used. This is a sponsored post.*

Here are a few other previous posts you might enjoy!

How to Use an Old Atlas for New Decor

August 11, 2017August 9, 20175 Comments

Hello everyone! I hope you have all had a wonderful week so far and are ready for the weekend. Anyone have any awesome plans?

Well this weeks project was originally seen when I was in Seattle on my trip. I saw this and knew that I could make it myself. So with a small bit of help from my mom for the main supply, I am bringing you a wonderful DIY.

Supplies You Will Need

An old atlas or maps (mom found hers at a thrift store)

Glue

Paperclips

A pencil

A frame

Chip letters

Step 1

Decide how big you want your pieces. There was actually a pre-cut piece in the atlas that I used as my sizer. I would paperclip my sizer to the atlas and cut around it until I had the two pieces. I tried to use pages with a lot of blue so I ended up using a log of pages with the ocean or lakes as my pieces.

Step 2

Roll you pieces. I would put a small line of glue on the edge of the paper before I rolled it around the pencil. And at the end I would put more glue to secure the edge. I would then use two paperclips to hold it down to try to dry. That way the roll didn’t lose its shape and the glue could dry.

Step 3

Measure out your frame. I bought a 5×7 frame from Dollar Tree and took the glass out of the front of it. I turned the paper over so it was white and laid the atlas rolls out in a pattern. I found a few spaces that needed to be filled in with smaller rolls. After using some Elmer’s glue, I was able to move on to the final step.

Step 4

Attach your chip letters. Since I used atlases, I decided to make the word travel. And I felt like it was fitting since I saw this while I was traveling. So after a lot of gluing and drying, here is the finished product!

I love how it turned out. And I definitely plan on hanging this on my map gallery wall in my living room when I finally get around to it. I hope this you enjoyed this DIY and if you have any questions please let me know!

What I Learned about Myself in a Month

August 4, 2017August 2, 2017Leave a comment

Hello! Today, I am proud to say that I have been living by myself for a whole month! Hooray! I haven’t died yet, or maybe I did and my ghost is writing this.

But during this month I came to realize some things about myself. Things that I had assumed but didn’t fully come to know until now.

1. I actually don’t mind cooking.

I know! I have always said that I don’t like to cook. But, I think that I didn’t like to cook because I was afraid of people judging how I was cooking. And so if I did something wrong or burned something, I would be humiliated. But now that I live alone, no one can judge me! So I actually don’t mind cooking for myself.

2. My bed is my favorite place to sit.

In all actuality, I am sitting on my bed typing out this blog. Funny right? I think I enjoy it so much because I am still not used to living by myself and don’t have to keep to my room. I could go sit on the couch, but I have found myself happier sitting in my bedroom and watching YouTube on my laptop rather than on the TV. I’m sure that I will move more toward the couch as I live here longer, but for now my bed is my favorite.

3. I can expand on my love of glitter because the apartment is all mine!

I have never been able to decorate the whole house since I have always moved in with people. So now that I had the chance to decorate with my stuff, I have gone a little glitter crazy! My blingy pictures are hung up and there is tons of pink sparkly items. Huzzah!

4. I blame all random noises on my cats.

Yep…I mean…I think everyone does this at least once. But I hear something fall over or something that I can’t see be moved…it’s definitely Target or Amelia, not the ghost. Am I the only one who does this?

5. I have used all of my possible weapons as decoration.

Okay so maybe I like decorating a little too much, but I realized I have nothing to protect myself in an easy spot. My frying pans are all hidden away in cupboards and my knitting needles are hid away in the corner. My trusty heavy candlesticks…covered with mason jars and flowers. Yep…maybe I need to redecorate.

6. I absolutely love being by myself.

I was very skeptical about living alone, but I have realized that it is perfect for me. I don’t have to worry about being considerate to anyone else in the house and I could walk around naked if I wanted.

No…I don’t do that. Never have, never will.

But in all seriousness, I love being by myself. It is scary at night sometimes knowing that I will be alone and my cats probably won’t protect me. But I still like it.

If you enjoyed this post and LOVE the pictures, click on them and they will take you to past blog posts. And I am curious. Did anyone have these same kinds of experiences when they first lived by themselves? Let me know in the comments!