Apr 17
In so many aspects of life, it’s important to find a way to balance past and present – whether in your relationships, your wardrobe (still waiting for the right moment to break out my scardigan), or your home.
Our house is a few months shy of being a centurion, so I try to respect its age while maintaining a semi-modern style. This very easy $15/15 minute DIY art piece is a great example of how past and present can be a perfect pair.
Here’s what I did…
With the onslaught of holidays approaching, it can be a little daunting to think of all the decor, dinners, presents, and parties. So, I thought I’d start off with something simple to get me into the first of many holiday mini-projects. And, it doesn’t get much simpler than a girl with some gourds, glue and glitter.
{simple & sparkling}
I found this piano bench at my local consignment shop, Phantastic Phinds, for $15. It had been sitting there for a couple of months, which is hard to believe because there are so many nice details in the wood. I like this piece because it’s a multi-tasker – extra seating when we have people over, a foot stool when we don’t, and with a tray on top it makes a nice side table.
Reupholstering this bench was so simple. It took 15 minutes and $4.
I was looking for some art work to put on the long wall in my guest bedroom, but everything I found was either too expensive or felt too impersonal. Then, I remembered that my husband took this great panoramic picture of where we got engaged and I thought it would be perfect for the space.
{the original picture}
The first thing I did was go to Ikea for the frames. If you’re creating a photo wall and have control over how big the prints are going to be, I strongly recommend getting your frames before printing – it’ll save you money and time. I got four 12″x18″ frames and I chose a very clean design because I didn’t want anything to take away from the individual pictures connecting to one another. Then, I edited the photo to make it all one hue and took it to Kinko’s where I had it printed on four sheets. This whole project took a couple hours and $80.
The final result is something that not only balances the space nicely; but every time I go into the room, it reminds me of a fantastic day.
Jun 6
Last night I had a serious hankering for some omega-3s. While I’m much like a bear in that I can eat salmon in most any form, at most any time, for most any meal, my husband has a normal human-level of interest in salmon and was frankly getting bored with our standard “salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil slathered slab of salmon.” So, I did what I usually do when I’m looking for a new recipe that I don’t have time to tinker with – I googled “Ina Garten (insert main ingredient here.)” If ever I am looking for a sure fire recipe on short notice, Ina rarely lets me down.
So Pretty is as Pretty Does. 