House+Shop Updates {photo gallery wall}

::A house update...
*I have been wanting to make a photo wall foreeeevvvveeeerrrr and finally had the time to do it this summer with the help of my handy husband. I already had the frames bought because I used them at our wedding to display pictures of our parents and grandparents on their wedding day so it was all about finding the right pieces to put in them and figuring out how/where to hang them.

I wanted the wall to be a mixture of artwork and pictures and I wanted it to be fun and eclectic so the first piece I knew I had to use was a caricature of Drew and I. After I chose that one the rest were easy to pick. I laid them all out on the floor and moved them around to see what arrangement I liked best.

Outside frames are from Kohl's, Middle frame is from Michael's, Renner frame was gifted

When it came to actually hanging the pictures, I used tips from Young House Love of course. They recommend cutting out paper in the sizes of your frames and hanging them up in the way you want them to be hung. Then they are easy to move around if needed.

After I had the placement right my husband worked on hanging them making sure they were level and equally spaced out. I'm not a whiz when it comes to math so I left that to him!

Here's an up close look at some Italian artwork from my sister in laws travels that I incorporated into our photo wall. What, you didn't know I liked cats?  

And here is the photo wall completed!! I love it!

::Shop update...
I sent out a few banners from my shop to be reviewed and photographed and the lovely Kristen featured two of my banners on her blog, Ella Claire a few weeks ago. Here is a sneak peak at my newest creation. I adore Polka dots!

Have you made any updates to your house lately? I'd love to hear about them!
Linking up with Shanna for Random Wednesday.

*Today is the last day to enter to win a necklace from Noonday Collection! Click here to enter.
*Tomorrow is the first Hello, Goodbye Link-up!

The couple that Pinterests together...

"The couple that Pinterests together, stays together." -Jena Roach

Jena sent me this quote the other day after I posted about Drew helping me with a project and I laughed out loud because it has to be true right? The project I'm sharing with you today was 95% completed by my sweet husband because I'm no good with accurate measurements or a table saw. I am however awesome with a paint brush! This has to be my favorite project to date...wooden ladder turned shelf!

We have a corner in our house where our Christmas tree always goes, but when the tree is put away it always feels empty and I have been searching for the perfect thing to fill it. I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess and saw this amazing project to turn a ladder into a shelf. What?! Cheap...check, My style...check, Handy Husband with power tools...check.

We started by finding a wooden ladder then Drew started measuring and sketching away. Once he figured out how wide and how long each board needed to be for each shelf he got out the table saw and some old ply wood from the shed and started cutting. I helped by taking action shots. Oh and I painted an old chest the same color as the ladder too, see I did something. If you attempt this project for yourself just know that the rungs of the ladder are not level and will require you to glue some extra pieces of wood to make them even. We used Gorilla Wood Glue to attach the pieces.

My house is very rustic and I love incorporating nature any way I can (old flower pots, an old watering can, leaf fabric on the seat cushions, Moss covered letters, etc.) I can't wait to "style" my new shelves with some plants and old treasures! Who knew a ladder could be turned into a shelf? Talk about a re-purposing project...I love it! What do you think?

Original pin found here.
Check out my boards on Pinterest here.

Kitchen updates...I have counter space!

A few weeks ago our very handy dandy friend Alex decided it was time to knock the wall out between our kitchen and dining room and I am forever thankful! Our house was built in the 60's when an open  layout and hardwood floors were just not in style. Our now hardwood floors were covered by shag carpet for too long and the layout of the house was very closed off. Whenever we had a large group of people over we would all end up spread out in different rooms or crammed in the kitchen by all the food...those days are over!

Before:

During: Thumbs up for that wall being gone. It makes our little house seem 10 times bigger!

We also took down that old school fan hanging behind us and added 4 can lights to upgrade the lighting

After: We took out our small kitchen table that we never used and upgraded to a nice sitting area.

Cabinets: Home Depot
Counter top: Custom made
Bar stools: Overstock.com

We still need to add handles to the cabinets and pendant lights above our new eating space, but I'd say this was a huge improvement! Now I just need some kitchen storage tips...what goes where? Any of you read any good articles or have any tips?? Send them my way!

My new craft table!!!

Ever since I started my Etsy shop I've been drooling over crafting spaces. Like this one and this one. As I got busier and busier with orders the hassle of setting up my stuff on the dining room table and then taking it down again got old reeeeeaaaaaal fast. A few weeks ago I decided I had made enough money to treat myself to a real crafting space. My Aunt is an amazing carpenter so I called her up with a few ideas for a craft table and being the wonderful aunt that she is, she got started right away.  We used two cube shelves from Lowe's for the ends, my Aunt crafted the piece underneath and she polyurethaned the top wood piece so any paint or Mod podge spills can be wiped off easily.

My crafting room is a work in progress, but what a difference already! I am so excited to spruce up my space and then live work in it.

You can check out my Pinterest board for some of my other craft room ideas! I'm going to go sit at my craft table now just because I can.