Some random things

So first off, hey.  It's been awhile.  But to me, it doesn't feel like it's been that long.  The past few weeks have been non stop.  Between Halloween, House-sitting for a week, being out of town, and school.... Well I forgot about blogging. Until Tom said "You haven't blogged in forever. You should probably blog." Right. So, there you go. I would like to thank Tom, my blogging policeman for making this post happen.

Sitting on the couch one night and Stella comes up, sits next to me, and flops backwards onto my lap so she's on her back and I'm holding her like a baby. (you can see all 4 feet in the air above^)  This isn't the first time this has happened.

And then she proceeded to snore for the next while.  Kid at heart, I tell you.

We carved pumpkins with some of our friends.  Guess which one is mine.

Hint: It's the simple one. ;)

Halloween costume 1.  The party was zombie themed and so much fun!

Costume 2.  I put this together day of.  Because I'm on top of things like that.

(shark and swimmer)

Costume 3.  This was on Halloween night and these were the things we found in Tom's parents closet. Put together 20 min before our friends were over.

(bikers)

So... this year, I didn't really plan our costumes out, which we ended up wearing 3 different ones.  Next year, I'm planning it out.  Because 3 costumes was ridiculous. (even though they all took little to no effort)

Stella loves watching me do my makeup.  So the other day, I drew some eyebrows on her with white eyeliner so she could participate.   haha I thought it was hilarious.

Thrifting with my mom.  I was in LOVE with this brass coffee table.  It was super heavy and the good, expensive kind of brass.  It would have needed to be shined up and fixed a little but I wanted it... Oh if only we had the space.

6 years ago we went out to visit my sis and bro in law when they lived in D.C.  My parents bought these copies of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights to frame. Well... last week we finally made that happen.  We found 2 identical frames at the thrift store for $3, sprayed them and the mats black and then mounted them.  Since they are different and odd sizes my mom wasn't sure how to mount them or if she should get mats specially cut (hence the 6 year waiting period) but I said nay, just mount them on top of the mats and there we had them. $6 and 10 minutes later.

Found this thrifting the other day and I'm wishing I would have bought it.  It was huge and so pretty.

My parents recently renovated their office... You should see the before.  I have been spending some time thrifting with my mom and helping them put the finishing touches on it.  They still need a desk but it's coming along!  I helped her hang a gallery wall last week.

I laid everything out on the floor to get an idea of how it would look.  I made sure to measure the wall before so the layout would fit.  We found 4 van Gogh prints at the DI for $4 each!!! I was soo excited.  They were already framed in these pretty gold frames so it was perfect.  We sort of centered her wall around 2 of them. I have learned that the key to a good gallery wall is simple frames and lots of different sizes, shapes and orientations. If you stick with black, white, gold and some silver for the frames they won't take away from your artwork or look too busy. Also hanging some landscape, some portrait, and having some square really helps.  I tried to just balance it out so there wasn't a clump of white frames and a clump of black frames but they were all mixed in.  Otherwise it could end up looking awkwardly heavy in some parts. 

Here it is hung up.  We still need to add a row or 2 to the bottom because I want it to be floor to ceiling but doesn't it just add SO much to the room? Almost all frames were thrifted (a few she had on hand and we sprayed them to fit in) We did a mix of art and family pictures so that it would have sentimental value.  I will do a separate post with close ups once it is done.  

What do you think?  I have done a few gallery walls and this one is my favorite by far.

Can't wait to show you all the office once it's complete!!

We just need to get her a desk and style her book shelves.

(Thrifting all of the items takes time!)

Ps... I didn't really measure.  I measured the top row all out so it would be evenly spaced to each edge but the rest I just held up and marked with a pencil where the nail should go and hammered away.   It worked out well and I didn't have to move any nails around like I thought I might.