Craft-tastical!

If I had to do it over, there are oodles of reasons why Evs and I would probably move in together for the eight months we both lived in Dallas before getting married (one of them being that looking for a house a month before your wedding does not a happy control-freak bride make!).  On the other hand, being able to decorate our little cottage together as opposed to me moving into his already-lived-in-for-a-year space is one of the reasons why I relish our decision to wait to cohabitate until after saying “I do!”

Our furniture fits nicely into our new home, and we now have many of the areas that began as blank slates boasting displays of photographs, art, books, and trinkets.  However, there are some spaces left that need some filling out and sprucing up, but we’ve had some trouble agreeing on a solution (”too girly” is Evs’ retort to many of my selections).  There are a few great pieces we both like but they always seem to be out of our price range.  So two weekends ago, I took matters into my own hands!

The first series (pictured below) is comprised of three 11×14 photographs taken on our trip to Greece.  I was hoping they would fit the bill over the couch in our living room but they just didn’t fill up the space like i wanted, so it was off to the hallway for them! I kind of prefer it this way because I can see them when I’m piddling around in the kitchen and they make me a happy chickadee!  An 11×14 print from Shutterfly is only $7.99… add some $9 glass and pegboard frames and pre-cut mats and viola: instant travel gallery!

For the mantle space, I blew up a photo of the cieling of la Casa de las Bellas Artes in Sevilla, Spain to 16×20 size ($17.99 at Shutterfly).  I was hoping to find a pre-cut mat with a 16×20 opening at Michael’s but, sadly, no dice.  So I settled on a 16×20 black wooden frame.  As I feared, the frame looked a little measly so instead of hanging it, I layered our newly arrived “Live What You Love” letterpressed print (framed in a pre-matted $24 frame from Michael’s) over it.  The duo filled the area between two framed engagement photos, our stack of reading for our England trip, and an pocket-watch-style clock from Pottery Barn.

In the words of Evs - “it looks all artsey and thrown-together… but… like you planned it that way!”

Just the look I was going for!

Total price tag? Around $175 - including 5 frames and 4 pre-cut mats, purchased at Michaels; 4 oversized photos, blown up by Shutterfly; and the print, by Etsy seller Hijirk.  A sweet deal when you consider the fact that one quality piece of art would have cost us at least that much!  Pretty pleased with myself … toot, toot (that’s my own horn)!

What home decor projects have you crafted lately?