Memory Board

Poor hubbster. He's sicker than sick with a nasty head cold and his whole body hurts. And today was supposed to be our first big day off together in a long time. Phoey.We had all sorts of plans that we needed to cancel last minute - but I have a feeling he might power through the yuckiness for one quick run to the goodwill :)

Quiet moments before the craziness of a day.

In order to let him sleep a bit longer today, I got up extra early (for a Saturday) and snuck out to the living room to craft for a bit. That way the sound of the shower won't rudely awaken him for a while longer. I know, I know... how sweet am I? {no need to mention that I really wanted to craft too} {{grin}}

This morning seemed to be a great time to rearrange the magnetic memory board that hangs in the entryway. Since Valentines day is quickly approaching, what better theme than love and memories. I started with a blank slate. (yes, it looks like it's just a wall inside the frame, but there is actualy a  fabric board mounted behind the frame.)

These were the cute magnets I had to work with. The "N" was from a gorgeous resort and spa in Washington. Every time I see it I am reminded of the wonderful time we spent there on the waterfront.

After rounding up all the fun photos and doo-dads to work with, I just began placing layers of scrapbook paper, photos, sayings, etc till I liked it.

The words "Memories, Love & Kisses" -

printed on plain printer paper and freehand cut into mini banners.

“If you live to be one-hundred years old,

I want to live to be one-hundred minus one day.

That way I never have to live a day without you.”

~ Winnie the Pooh

Metal quote from dollar store - pack of four words:

"Smile, Santa, Laugh, & Faith"

Tissue paper flower made for me by a sweet girl in my church.

Total cost of project - $0

Total Satisfaction - acheived!

And then after that I had a cookie - for breakfast. Yep, so far this Saturday is turning out to be pretty good.

Are you crafting some great way to display a memory? or are you and your family out making memories on another family adventure?
Feel free to share in the coments below -I'd love to know what fun plans you have up your sleeve for today!

The Dreaded Blank Wall

So while this may only seem like a decorating post, I am adding it to Chatting at the Sky's Tuesdays Unwrapped. And here's why: my design dilemma of filling an empty wall turned into a walk down memory lane, reliving the 14 magical days spent on vacation with my amazing family. Today, I am unwrapping memories and then wrapping my wall in them! Head on over to see what other people are unwrapping today.

Every home has one... the dreaded blank wall that no matter what you do you just can't seem to find the right design element that will fit the room's scale and decor. Here's my dreaded wall:

It's one of the walls in my bedroom. And to make maters worse, it's the first thing we see when we wake up in the morning. The only decoration on that wall is this iron work vase. I absolutely LOVE it. It matches the old world, tropical theme is our master bedroom, plus it holds the dried buds from two of the bouquets by dear hubby gave me. Their colors of the buds are a lot more vibrant in person - I tried to fiddle around with the camera settings to capture it better, but am still feeling a little woozy from the bronchitis and called it quits after a few minutes.

But you can kind of see it and get the idea, right? So here is the reason that I never placed anything else on the wall to accompany it: I was waiting for that one perfect painting or wall hanging. Every other wall in the room is just right. I love the way the pictures and sconces look around the rest of our room. But as this was the last wall to tackle, I realized that I needed to put something on it that would balance out the room a bit and tie in the different old world, jungle and palm tree prints.

So I waited for that perfect piece...for six years.

And yesterday (after watching too many hours of HGTV, one of the nice parts of being sick), I decided: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

I am ready to take the plunge and place some art on that wall. There are only two requirements:

1. It must be inexpensive. That way I can swap it out if at some point we grow tired of it, or if it simply does not tie in with the rest of the room.

2. It needs to be BIG in scale, but not necessarily in actual photo size. Keep reading, I'll explain.

For too long, I have held out for one BIG piece. But today I decided to take 4 or 6 prints from our last two Mexico vacations, enlarge them to at least 5x7 (maybe 8x10), and frame them with a chunky, textured mat. That way each photo is still a medium size, but the visual impact of grouping them together will say BIG! And that is what I need to fill up my last little empty bedroom wall.

(the turtle is a lot clearer in photoshop)

So I'm posting some of the potential candidates for these new art pieces. All of the photos you see on this post are from our last two trips, and I'm asking you for some help in picking out your favorites.


Not only will I be completing a project that I have put off for too many years, but I will be preserving a few more memories in a practical, beautiful way.

So take a look and let me know in the comments which two,

or four,

or six,

or eight I should use.

And what size do you think they should be?

5x7

8x10

mixture of both?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and solutions for this master bedroom dilemma. Thanks for stopping by... and check back soon to see the unveiling.

And don't forget to head on over to Tuesdays Unwrapped.

Being Bold

Question for ya: If you see a beautiful arrangement or decor idea, are you bold enough to take photo so you'll remember? Or does the embarrassment of taking photos in awkward places keep you from documenting your ideas and inspiration?

My mother is an amazing woman. And when it comes to photos, She is fearless! See the beautiful photo above? That lovely arrangement of floating petals was in the bathroom of a cruise ship we were on

Yes you heard right. The Bathroom.

Talk about taking photos is awkward places! Well the story goes like this:

We were standing around waiting for lunch to start and I decided to run to the restroom real quick before we were escorted down the hall. A few seconds later, I heard someone walk in and wash their hands. Then I hear the sound of a camera shutter opening. And then click...flash.

I knew instantly that it was my mom!

"Mom?" I said.

She burst out laughing, "I thought I was alone in here!"

"You just took a photo of that petal bowl, didn't you?"

"How did you know?"

Now I'm laughing so hard, the tears are rolling.

Yes indeed, that lovely photo would have never been unless she was brave enough snap a pic in an awkward place.

(note: she REALLY did think she was alone in there. Neither of us would ever take a photo in such a taboo place unless alone. just sayin.)

Just for fun, here's a couple shots of my honey and dad pretending to be excited about their dainty salads at the lunch that day. My mom and I thought they were kinda cute. They saw it as a two bite nibblet. My hubby's exact words, "This is the salad? This is ridiculous!" We laughed a lot that day!

So here's to being bold, fearless and making memories. What memories are you reminiscing about today? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

Happy Saturday!