Foster Wall of Fame

This is a collection of pictures featuring some of our fosters from the last 3 years.

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty proud of the fact that we don't even have room to showcase all of our foster dogs, even with 20 frames.

This project was really inexpensive and easy to do.  I bought all of these picture frames at the dollar store, Ikea and Hobby Lobby and didn't pay more than $3 for any of them - most were only $1.  I got no more than two of any one frame and didn't really pay attention to the color of the frames because a can of spray paint solved that problem.

To get all of the frames to hang neatly on the wall and avoid putting a thousand holes in the wall, I carefully laid out a pattern.  I traced each picture frame on a piece of paper, marked where a nail would go to hang the frame and labelled it so I would know which was which.

Using painter's tape to hold them in place, I took all of the paper cut out frames and laid them out on my dining room table, rearranging until I came up with a pattern I liked.  I measured the size of the rectangle the frames created all together.

Using a level, yard stick and more painters tape I marked the edges of the large rectangle on the wall.  Then I moved all of the cut outs from my dining room table to the wall.  I put the nails where I had marked on the cut outs and then put the frames up - this is easiest if you put in all the nails through the cut outs and then remove/replace the cut outs/frames one by one so you don't get confused about what goes where.  I think I only ended up having to fix one or two of the placements when it was all said and done - not bad if you ask me!  I put all of the extra pictures I had printed in a photo album to keep on the entryway table (which you can sort of see in this less than stellar photograph).

I like seeing all the fun pictures and adorable faces.  And I think it looks great on the wall and is a nice conversation piece, too.

Decoration Inspiration

The other day I finally decided on a color scheme for our guest room.  Something that has plagued me since we moved in 2.5 years ago.

Anyway, I happened to find myself at Home Goods just a few days later and as I was walking around I saw some bedding that I liked.  I took a picture with my phone so I could keep it in mind.

Then I found an awesome vase that complemented the bedding.  I had to have it.  It spoke to me.  It said, "Carolyn, I am awesome.  And there is only one of me.  If you leave me, I might not be here when you return, and you might regret it forever.  Seize the moment and put me in your cart!".  So I did.

With vase in cart I made a decision.  I was going to redecorate the guest room right.now.  I scurried back to the bedding and put it in my cart.  Of course, I would want some other accessories besides the vase.  I found 2 fun picture frames and into the cart they went. 

It would be nice to have a lamp by the bed for reading.  Several trips up and down the lamp aisles later I found the perfect one, hiding behind two other lamps in a corner.  I even found some cool art to hang on the wall that goes with my idea for a collection that I've been thinking about for quite some time now.

Thomas and I decided that if I was going to go to the effort of redecorating the whole guest room, we should really put in a queen sized bed.  The twin is fine when our guests are flying solo, but often they come in pairs...kind of like clown fish...

The twin bed we have now has a ton of storage underneath it, which I am not about to give up.  I'm eyeing this storage bed from Ikea.

photos from Ikea's website

Tons of space to put stuff under the bed.  And the headboard has shelves and the top is really wide, so the cats can still have a perch to look out the window (yes, I am a crazy person who chooses furniture based on her animals' hobbies).  I might paint the whole thing brown so it will sort of match the dressers we already have in the guest room, which we plan on keeping there.  Not 100% decided on that yet though.

I'm hoping to have the room mostly done for when my parents come visit in the middle of March, and totally done by the end of the month.  So we'll see how that goes!

* * * BONUS! * * *

I also found this a-freaking-dorable cat bowl at Home Goods.  Lenny and Waldo don't really have their own water bowls, we just use some bowls from an old set of dinnerware.  I had to get this for them.  Two, actually.  I mean, come on, it looks just like them - how could I not?  And at $4 a piece it seemed like a deal to me!

Winter Trees

This post may seem a little late, but I'm a fan of winter time decorations, not just stuff that I have to take down after Christmas or else it will look out of place.  Although I will readily admit that my tiny fake Christmas tree is still proudly displayed by our window.  What?  It's festive and happy looking!  You can never get enough of that here in the gloomy days of winter.

I've been seeing all these cute ornament trees on the interwebs and wanted something similar for myself.  The only problem is that those ornaments are usually breakable, and breakable doesn't fly well in this household.  I swear, we're not going to have to do anything to baby proof the house when we have kids after all of the animal proofing we've done.

Back to non-breakable stuff.  Right around Christmas I was in Michael's and saw they had beaded garland on super clearance; I think it was 80¢ for a 6' length or something like that.  The idea popped in my head that I could use this to decorate the trees; it's shiny and not breakable, which were basically my only requirements. 

I snagged a handful of the garland in silver and green, picked up 3 different size styrofoam cones (paper mache would be better but they didn't have any at this store and I was all excited to get started) and made my way to the register.

I started by covering the cones with paper using Mod Podge to give myself a better surface to adhere things to and to make the tops a little taller and pointier.

After that dried I painted them silver since you would be able to see some spaces between the beads.

When that dried I busted out my hot glue gun and got to work.  I started at the bottom and worked my way around and up.  I recommend putting a strip of hot glue and then sticking on the beads for the entire thing.  I tried to do a short cut on my smallest tree and only glue the strands on one side of the cone and it turned out a little wonky and didn't feel very sturdy afterward.  I made sure each bead was glued down on the bigger trees and it turned out much neater and feels very solid.  Later I filled in the gaps on the smaller tree with hot glue to make sure everything was held in place.

So that's it!  My shiny winter trees in pretty winter colors.

I've been framed!

I got the supplies for this project months ago but just never got around to it.  The other night I was feeling a little restless and wanted to do something productive (without doing housework) and thought this would be perfect.  The plan is to make some picture frames to put up in our main bathroom.

I started with some plain picture frames with raw wood.  I got these from Hobby Lobby for $3 each.  I wanted to create some texture on them, so I cut up some strips of paper using my paper cutter (totally could have used scissors or even just ripped the paper, but I love my paper cutter and will take any excuse to use it).  To put it all together I used Mod Podge.

Getting started

I mixed Mod Podge and water at a 1:1 ratio in a large container.  There was probably 1/8 cup of Mod Podge, but I just eyeballed it, and ended up adding a little bit more later.  It doesn't need to be perfect.  I stirred it up and then added the strips of paper.  I scrunched each one before tossing it in the bowl so they wouldn't be so totally stuck together.

 
Then I mixed it all around the make sure the paper was totally coated.

Take a strip, scrunch it a little and place it on the frame.  Keep going until the whole thing is covered (don't forget about the inside and outside edges!).  Let it dry.

Apply a coat of Mod Podge using a paint brush (don't add any water this time) over the whole thing to seal the paper and make sure it's all stuck together.

 
After that dried (you'll know it's dry because the Mod Podge will be clear) I flipped the frame over to trim some of the edges that I had folded underneath so the glass will fit properly when I put it all back together.

See how sloppy it is?

I used my rotary cutter (thanks Mom and Dad!), but a utility razor or exacto knife would work equally well to get the job done.

Now it's neat and clean

Now it's time to paint!  I picked a metallic silver paint. I ended up doing 3 coats, rotating the frame each time to make sure all of the nooks and crannies were nicely painted.

My original plan was to put some pictures of the hubs and I getting ready for our wedding in these frames (there's a great picture of me flossing and one of Thomas adjusting his tie in a mirror).  But since this bathroom is the main one for the house I was told this could be weird for people who aren't us, so instead I used some cute note cards. 

Ta-da!  Adds a little pizazz to the room, don't you think?