semi-DIY picture framing

A few weeks ago, I started looking around the house at all the unframed art we have.  This particular poster has been sitting on top of books in the office for as long as I remember which is a shame because it's really cool!  I decided it was high time to put it in a frame, but since I'd just taken three of my grandmother's watercolor paintings to a proper frame shop (and paid the ouchie price), I wanted to find a cheaper option.  

It's an odd size, so buying a readymade frame wasn't an option.  I headed to Jerry's Artarama to see the frame pieces that you buy and assemble yourself.  They've got four frame styles and then you just choose the dimensions.  I did have the frame person at Jerry's cut the mat for me (about $14) and then I bought the 13" and 28" frame segments and the offset clips.  It was so easy to put together!

You just tap the piece of plastic into place with hammer!

Next, lay everything inside the frame (note: I have foamcore and the extra practice mat behind the picture)

I got 1/2" offset clips (the largest they had) and they weren't deep enough, so I stacked squares cut from extra mat board to make up the difference.  I drilled pilot holes, then screwed the clips in place

Looking good!  I cut a bit of the mat board out to go around the monkey's foot... this is why there's a practice one behind the picture - it didn't go well the first time!

A cheerful to-do board

I like LOVE lists!  I have a marker board on the wall in the hall that's a collage of lists.  I use a different color marker for one and they each start in their own little corner.  House projects, craft projects, groceries, errands, wish list, things to look up later... you name it and I've probably got a list for it.  I was inspired to combine my love for lists with my perpetual desire for a healthier and more organized life and made this totally cute to-do board.

Last year, a friend and I were talking about making permanent habits out of things we'd like to do (and should be doing) everyday... things like taking vitamins, flossing teeth (which has been a daily habit of mine for over 3 years now!), exercising, eating vegetables, etc...  basic things that a normal healthy productive adult should do anyways.

Some of us like to have lists to help accomplish goals, and so recently I decided to put a life tasks list on the wall too.  I chose a mildly embarrassing assortment of healthy habits and chores (I don't really plan on cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming every single day), and some like no tv and being in bed by midnight are just hopeful goals I rarely check off.

I spray painted a frame glossy white, placed some cute scrapbook paper inside, and drew an analog excel spreadsheet on it with a sharpie and a ruler.  Dry erase markers work on glass, and when you erase (gently) the sharpie stays behind.

I used 1" painters tape to edge the glass insert, freehanded straight(ish) lines with a sharpie and a cardstock home store coupon (quicker than finding a ruler), then wrote out a list

The painter's tape left a perfect little border

Now, when I do something as simple as walking the dog, I get to put a little check in a box.  Yippee!   I'm all set to improve my life with one checkbox at a time!

PAC-MAN! - Day 6

I am so excited to have finally gotten my Pac-Man project done!  Last fall, I bought these wall decals from the Land of Nod with the intention of putting them on the wall.  The product description said that it would be 27" x 27" laid out as shown in the picture on the website.  I excitedly opened it up and was shocked at the actual size.  The large Pac-Man is 17" across (he's on the other side of our fridge, not seen in my photos) and the ghosts and little Pac-Men are 6" across.  No way would this end up 27" x 27" and no way was I going to dedicate such a huge section of wall to this!  I rolled the decal sheet back up and let it sit in the office for months.  A few weeks ago, I got the brilliant idea to get a magnetic sheet and turn the wall decals into magnets, making a fun interactive art project for the refrigerator!  I fully admit that it's not very grown up, but our house is full of silly things.  I love it!

Next up for today is doing the homework for the draping class I'm taking.  This week it's draping a dress without a waist seam!

Taking a break: Days 4 and 5

After accomplishing so much in the first few days, I got pretty tired!  I didn't get much done yesterday or today, but people tell me that sometimes it's ok to do that (I tend to find it nearly impossible to sit down and relax).  I spent some time with friends I don't see too often, and that was really great.

Sunday's activities involved going to a few vintage furniture stores because a friend of mine is looking to furnish her new house!  She found some great things and I couldn't help looking with an eye towards our house.  My eyes and love of interesting furniture are SO MUCH BIGGER than our house is and I saw all kinds of neat stuff that I wish we could have... but there simply would be no place to put any of it.  I fell in love with one of the orange 70's round metal stand alone fireplaces (we'd have to get rid of the piano to fit something like that in the living room - and in case you're wondering, nope, neither of us is a piano player), a number of dressers (but I already love the ones we have), chairs, a couple of orange Panton Flower Pot lights, a gorgeous Heywood Wakefield vanity table (even though the table part is so low I cannot imagine actually sitting at it).

I was totally amazed to come across a buffet/credenza that exactly matches our bedroom set - this is remarkable because it's a vintage set of dressers and bed frame that belonged to my husband's grandparents up in Illinois.  It was hard trying to not want to take it home with me because I LOVE reuniting items that belong together!  I've been struggling for a few years with divesting our household of my husband's family's heirloom dining set (buffet, china cabinet, table and 6 chairs)... it's nice quality and solid wood but it's a little frilly for my taste and the table is a real knee-banger due to the extremely low and decoratively shaped apron.  I seem to have developed more of a sentimental attachment to it than anyone else in his family even though I don't love it and it has caused me extreme physical pain nearly every time I've sat down at it.  Realistically, I know that I can't start replacing the furniture pieces until I gear up to move the set along to another home (whenever that will be).  So the matching buffet to our dressers will have to stay at the store.  (the side note hypocritical confession here is that after Christmas I brought my grandmother's Danish modern round teak dining table into the dining room and the knee-banger table has been trying to hide behind the couch in the den ever since)(but that was free!)

I did bring home 3 things: a little mirror with an enamel flower pin stuck to it, a vintage Lifesavers metal trash can which is fun because I still have my Rainbow Brite one and Bob still has his 6 Million Dollar Man trashcan.  The naughty bit is that I also came home with a super cute coffee table for the den... which I have a pipe dream of redecorating like a Tiki room.  Don't worry Bob, your coffee table is still safely in the house, this one was just too cheap and too cool to leave at the store!

my new treasures with our two old trashcans.  and yes, that is actually a shell back green crushed velvet couch in the background.  i have finally embraced it, trying to think of it as tiki-tastic

Days 1 - 3

Despite being in full recovery mode from work and also trying to shake my wicked cocktail of flu and sinus infection, I dove straight into project after project on Day 1 of being a Housewife.  I didn't plan to do so many things, it just sort of happened as one success would inspire me to do something else!  I'm going to include the age of the projects as I list them out - I have some really old projects that I'm getting to!

Day 1:
I felt guilty about quitting my job and staying home, but also such an increasing sense of happiness and I felt the stress receding and tranquility and possibilities coming in!

I went to my first monthly neighborhood garden club meeting.  Several of the ladies asked if I was new to the neighborhood and I sheepishly admitted that we've been here for 6 years!  It was really fun and I'm looking forward to actually making some friends in the neighborhood.  I grew up in the woods with only a few neighbors, so I have no frame of reference for what it's like living in a neighborhood with lots of people.  Our neighborhood was built in the 50's and being at the garden club meeting (especially now officially being a housewife) gave me a real feeling of going back in time - though no one was wearing a nice dress and pearls : )

Projects:
- 4 years - dragged the extra roll of chain link fencing, roll of wire, and extra fence posts to the street... they were gone within minutes, and I wondered why I hadn't done it years ago! (I love the street fairies!)
- 3 years - dragged our old extra grill to the street with the extra propane tank.  The propane tank disappeared in minutes and the grill was gone within the hour.
- ongoing - weeded a flower bed in front of the house
- ongoing - got 4 paint samples for the shed which needs painting very badly
- 1 year - swept off the back patio area and got rid of all the broken pots and other trashy stuff

the patio afterwards, so pretty!

a close up of one of the tulip beds on the patio.  so cheerful!

Day 2:
Feeling great! (even though I'm still recovering from my illnesses)

Projects:
- new - planted petunias in my front porch flower boxes!
- 2 years - met with someone to see if they thought our lovely but falling apart pergola could be fixed up or was becoming unsafe and should be taken down.  He said that it could probably be fixed but we'd need to replace several columns and add more in the middle because the span is too much - he also was not pleased with the fact that it's held to the house with just 3 bolts attached to the fascia board (it's 20'x20')
- 1 month - ordered a magnetic sheet to put my giant pac man wall stickers on so they can become fun fridge magnets!
- 1 year - ordered a map and pins so I can put our travels on the map and laugh about all the places we've been to in the past few years (I know my dear husband will not want to see this project completed, he's tired of traveling)
- 2 years - screwed eyes into the frame of one of my grandmother's paintings and put wire on another, so I finally got to hang up two more of her watercolor miniatures!
- 3 years - finally shortened the living room curtains.  When I made them, I just folded some purchased curtains in half and sewed a casing and they've always been too long.
- 9 months - finally started the curtains for the master bath.  Last year we put pretty white and cobalt blue tiles on the floor and I've been wanting to replace the brown and orange curtains ever since!  I got one curtain done and left the other to do in the morning!

the living room curtains before and after... why didn't I bother to shorten them sooner?

Day 3:
I felt great as I soldiered on with the bathroom curtain project.  Curtains are SO BORING to make and I suppose that's why I never bother to do them right (until now).  I was really tired and I think that's from overdoing it on Thursday and Friday while still trying to recover from being sick.

Projects:
- new - started this blog!
- new - got pretty fabric to make covers for our ugly patio chair cushions!
- 1 month - sewed the button back on my knitted slippers (seems simple and not noteworthy, but I seem to never find the energy to do any sewing for myself, even as simple as sewing a button back on)
- new - got seed packets and trays and started lots of seeds... sunflowers, candytuft, shasta daisy, zinnias, sweet peas, and morning glory!
- ongoing - planted 5 new May Night Salvia plants with the two I already have
- 9 months - finished the bathroom curtains!

our bright and cheerful new curtains!