blank walls to beautiful halls

Last year, we moved back to California and into a fairly new home. Love the house, but I wasn't a huge fan of all the big, blank, white walls. Those of you living in newer construction will understand. Even if you're not renting (which we are), the expense and effort required to paint cathedral ceilinged walls can be enormous. We know we're here for 2+ years, and I can't paint these big, white walls. But surely I can do something to beautify them a bit. The first space I tackled was the hallway up the stairs.

Here's the space BEFORE: massive and bland with zero natural light. Yikes.

Using picture frames we already had from Ikea (click HERE for the large frames), I dressed up the staircase and added a little sentimental value to our home. Here's the AFTER:

The large frames contain two collages I put together on the Walmart photo site. When I uploaded some photos to print, an option came up to create a collage. So easy. The photo at the top of the stairs is a 12 x 12 inch print of a snapshot from my pregnancy. To keep the wall looking clean and uniform, I opted for black and white photos and large-scale frames.

We move every couple of years for my husband's work, so the collages are made up of pictures from each of the last two places we lived. I inscribed the mat on each frame with the location and the dates.

Here's a close-up of the third photo. Scrapbook-sized prints like these can be ordered from Costco. Click HERE for the how-to, and click HERE for the square picture frame (also from Ikea).

I love how the hallway turned out in the end. It's simple, beautiful, and it's a major conversation piece. Such an easy fix for such a big space. Everyone who walks up those stairs (including me, multiple times a day!) stops to take a look at the photos. How are you tackling those blank walls in your home?

photo cards

There's a new product in our Etsy shop, and it's the perfect way to send your holiday host a thank you. These cards were inspired by snail mail I used to get from my older sister. She'd send me a 4 x 6 photo of my nieces with a post-it attached saying "hello" or "thanks for the visit" or "miss you!" I designed these cards with cheerful and graphic messages that can be used any time of year. They're intended to be "just because" cards, and the space on them is perfect for a 4 x 6 photo.

This is what the cards look like with a 4 x 6 photo attached.

The cards arrive to you without a photo, of course. The message on the orange card reads "Miss you more than words can say." They're available for purchase HERE.

There are three designs available. The blue version reads "Hoping you're as happy as can be."

And the green version is a Dr. Seuss quote: "These things are fun & fun is good." There's also a package which includes two of each of the designs. And of course there are matching plain white envelopes.

The directions on each card let you know what to do.

Check out our Etsy shop for more details or to purchase some for yourself. They're guaranteed to brighten any recipient's day!

simplify | new year's resolutions

I love New Year's Day. This year, I curled up in our family room with three of my favorite people: my younger sister and our husbands. With no Tournament of Roses parade to watch (it aired on January 2nd this year), we spent several hours talking about our resolutions for twenty twelve.

My husb and I brainstormed some new year's resolutions over sushi a couple weeks ago. This was the first time we've ever talked seriously about setting some goals for the year. I was pretty proud of the overarching goals we'd established: be intentional, follow through, simplify, get organized, be consistent, celebrate.

Ever the realist, my younger sister scolded us for setting resolutions that were too broad. What do those things mean? she asked. We'd identified some general goals, but without any specific plan, how would we hold ourselves accountable? How would we measure our success? How would we follow through? We needed to figure out what problems we were trying to solve with our vague resolutions.

After some reflection, I drew a few conclusions. I feel like I squander the little free time I have during the day, so I want to be intentional. We have too many things, so we need to simplify. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with everyday tasks (laundry, dishes, dinner) so I want to get organized. Celebrate attempts to resolve the issue of working too hard without taking time to stop and enjoy life.

Armed with some concrete ideas, my husband and I set specific, tangible goals for the year. I put one of my biggies into action this week. With a four-month old in the house, dinner often gets overlooked. The once-enjoyable time spent preparing dinner has often become a source of stress and chaos. But I love to cook, and I've missed the pleasure of putting together a delicious meal. So... get organized, simplify and be intentional have become the goal of planning meals and doing one big grocery shopping trip each week.

On Monday, I pulled out my favorite (somewhat dusty) cookbooks, and wrote a MEAL PLAN including breakfast, lunch and snack options. It's now posted on the side of our fridge.

Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to spend a little time designing a template, which you can view HERE. Even in this short period of time we've noticed a difference. We're eating dinner at the same time in the evenings, managing to have healthy meals for breakfast and lunch, and actually having some extra time together at night.

What problems did you identify last year? How have you resolved to fix them?

simplify memories | digital scrapbooking

Apparently, today is Digital Scrapbook Day so I thought I'd share how I've been doing more with less using this method of documenting memories.

I'm not a scrapbooker. It's an expensive, time-consuming hobby that requires lots of storage and work space. I also have a more minimalist approach to paper than what I have seen from the scrapbooking world. That said, I have always appreciated flipping through my mother-in-law's beautiful scrapbooks documenting my husband's childhood. The beauty of this digital age is that we can do more with less. I've personally begun pursuing this mantra in the area of preserving memories. Enter digital scrapbooking.

I'm currently working on a "digital scrapbook" documenting the three years we spent in Fallon, Nevada using layouts I purchased from Paislee Press. The digital album entitled "Curated" includes a "minimalist" and a "kitschy" collection.

Here's a 12 x 12 inch page using one of the "kitschy" layouts.

Here's another page using one of the "minimalist" layouts.

These are Photoshop files into which you drop your photos. You could then either print these as 12 inch by 12 inch photos and slide them into page protectors in a scrapbook-like album. OR, you could do what I'm planning to do and upload them onto Shutterfly and have them printed as a 12 x 12 inch photobook. Either way, there's so much less paper in the way of fewer photos printed and no random scraps of paper ending up in the trash. I'm not using any scissors or paper cutters or special tools and the time I spend on these layouts is negligible compared to what this would look like if I was creating a scrapbook.

In my book, this project is as simple, chic and unique as it is eco-friendly.

You can purchase these digital layouts HERE and find a tutorial for using them HERE. I can't wait to share the final product with you! Happy scrapping to you non-scrapbookers :) And happy Digital Scrapbook Day!

project life | extra photos

Last week, I wrote about how I got started with Project Life. The idea is that in lieu of a baby book, I'm documenting a week in the {first year of Ben's} life. However, sometimes it's necessary to deviate from the format. This week, I'm sharing a layout I did using a bunch of extra photos I had from the day Ben was born. Ben arrived at 5:51 am, so we had a full first day with him. My husband and my sister each shot hundreds of beautiful photos, so it was hard to limit myself to ONE from that day to include in his album. So I didn't! I created a two-page layout of just photos from that day. There are many more, so I'll probably do a digital photobook at some point. But for now, this is what we have.

Here's the full two-page spread.

On the left side, I included pictures of the few minutes after Ben was born, when just Nick and I were with him. Nick had set up a tripod, which is how we got the shot on the lower-right. He's holding the remote.

The journaling card documents the content of this page.

The photos on the right side page include shots of all of Ben's visitors that day.

Here he is nestled next to his future cousin, Baby vR.

This week, a whole slew of new Project Life products are now for sale on Amazon. Next week, I'll share how I print directly on the journaling cards. Happy documenting!

thanksgiving | tabletop 2010

I thought I'd kick off November with a little eye candy. These shots are from our Thanksgiving table last year. As I perused these photos (which were taken on an iPhone and are completely unedited - forgive me!), I was reminded of how much has changed since I set this table one year ago. It was our first Thanksgiving without my Dad, who passed away in early 2010. We've since moved to a different state. And this year we'll have two new additions to the table: our son, Ben, and his cousin, Baby V. For me, November is a time of reflection and preparation. It's also a time to give thanks for so many blessings.

I look forward to sharing lots of ideas for ways to celebrate this season, but we'll begin with the SOURCE LIST for this table. Enjoy!

 The view from my seat.

Close-up of the centerpieces: Villeroy and Boch bowls brimming with real and artificial pears, our old Pottery Barn hurricanes filled with river rocks, faux leaves and orange candles, amber tea light holders and 8-ounce mason jars holding white votives.

A trio of glittering pear place card holders.

trick-or-treat

Have a safe and happy holiday!