A Printable for the New Year

The Christmas decorations have come down and it's time to start thinking about a little redecorating and organizing in our home.

I'm still totally lovin' this new printable craze, and I've been enjoying coming up with new ideas for the coming months. Like this Bible verse I saw over at Just Devine Style. I thought it would be a great quote for a new printable for the New Year.

"You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance." Psalm 65:11

My friend had just given me a beautiful Pottery Barn frame, and this printable was a perfect match.

I've been told by several people that I should start selling my printable art on etsy. I don't know, I kind of like offering them to others for free. You know, when you start getting paid for what you enjoy it starts to be not as fun. What do you think?

Since I'm not quite ready to open up an etsy shop just yet, I'm still offering the printable for anyone who might be interested. Just click to enlarge, then right click and save. Size is 8"x10".

 I hope you like it as much as I do.

Happy New Year!

Pottery Barn Inspired Empty Frame Art & Card Display

I think we have created a monster.

I picked up a paintbrush for the first time in years. And I liked it. a lot. In fact, I've been wandering the halls of my house warning the mismatched picture frames that they're next.

As soon as I saw the Pottery Barn catalog that came out a few weeks ago, I started ripping pictures from it, storing ideas of things I wanted to knock-off for Christmas decor. I shared some of those ideas here.

This was one of them:

source

But with a hefty $200 price tag, I knew it was something I would never own. Then I looked to my right and saw a picture frame hanging on the wall. Sure, it had a picture in it, but this frame was just begging to be transformed. So I did.

I am so excited about how this project turned out. It's the first "big" project I've taken on in a long time.

Here's the original 16" x 20" frame:

First I sanded it down, not wanting to completely lose the dark color.

Next, I painted the frame Cottage White. I used a couple coats of Behr's Primer Paint (I actually bought a sample size for $2.94) and it worked great!

Once it was dry, I distressed the frame using both coarse and medium sandpaper.

Then I was ready to attach the wires. I purchased a picture hook kit at Home Depot that included picture wire, sawtooth hangers, picture hooks, and screw eyes for around $4.

I screwed in the eyes evenly spaced on the back of the frame.

Then I doubled up the picture wire, looped it through the eye and twisted it to secure it, making sure to hold it as tight as possible.

I kept the original hanger, and just screwed it back into the frame high enough and tight enough that once it was hanging it wouldn't be seen.

I hung it on the wall, and stood back to admire my work!

The entire project cost me about $7 for the paint and the picture hook kit. That's $193 cheaper than Pottery Barn!!

My original intention was to use it to display Christmas cards.

But then I thought it might be a great thing to leave up year round to use as holiday decor throughout the seasons.

I think that my favorite idea though, is to just hang a few black & whites on it.

What would you display?

Make sure to check back on 11/11 when I'll be posting a GIVEAWAY for personalized printables!


Linking to these great parties!

Family Values Subway Art Printable

I'm a follower. Yes, I've jumped on the subway art bandwagon.

You might remember this post, where I made some inspirational art for my kitchen. I really am loving the simplicity of the written word in black and white as art.

Like everyone else out there in blogland, I've seen a lot of DIY Subway Art. I'm a printable kind of gal rather that a paint-it-yourself-er, so I sat down in front of my computer, played around in Publisher (my favorite program, btw) and came up with this.

I chose some phrases that I felt were important for our kids (and us) to remember. This is what it says:
Laugh Out Loud
Love One Another
Keep Your Promises
Help Others
Say Please and Thank You
Don't Whine
Work Hard
Say I Love You
Share
Be Grateful
Use Kind Words
Always Tell the Truth
Do Your Best

I stuck it in a frame that I had on hand, and there you go! Free art!

Here's the printable for you if you'd like. Just click on the image, right click and save. Size is 8x10.

What would your family values sign say?



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The Shabby Nest

New Inspiration for Homemade Artwork

I get tons of inspiration all over the web, but especially from blogs. I read a diverse variety of blogs about decorating, cooking & baking, mommyhood, adoption, infertility, photography and some written by friends. These are just a few of my favorites - take a look at my sidebar for some more great reads.

My most recent inspiration, was a post by Tara at Just Devine Style about some scripture printables that she made and used to decorate her mantel. I have been wanting to get some new artwork for my kitchen, and I love the written word as art, so after reading her idea, I decided to make my own!

I played around with some of my favorite scripture in Photoshop, found some great black frames that Rick made (too bad I only have 2), and voila! Beautiful new artwork for my kitchen!

It's simple and sweet just the way I envisioned it. I made an extra and gave it to a friend for her birthday, an idea I'm going to be tucking away and using again. For just the cost of a simple frame, you have a lovely and inexpensive gift.

Thanks, Tara, for the inspiration!