Execution: Plate Collage

So, this weekend was my first attempt at the execution of an idea that I've posted here - the plate collage. I finally got all the plate hangers that I needed and since we had a low-key weekend, decided to give it a shot. I used the technique that I read in the original article and cut paper templates of each plate, which I then taped to the wall. I also marked a dot where the hanger on each plate was so Dan would know where the nails should go (just above the dots). I would say this technique definitely made it a breeze to hang them; Dan just put the nail in right through the paper and then we tore it down, hung up the plates, and voila! I do like it; it doesn't have as much bold color as the picture I posted, but I love all these plates for one reason or another. The one with the red flower is from my France trip, and the rest were actually rescued from the post-garage sale trash down in Bloomington a couple years ago while we were on a walk with Christina. So, there you have it.

Next up for execution: Hall of Frames. :-)

The subject wall

Fiddling around with the arrangement

The paper templates

The manpower :-)

The templates on the wall

The finished product!

Etsy Cuteness

If you're looking to spend hours on end looking at cute and pretty things, Etsy is the place to go. I was browsing a little bit today and found this pretty jewelry:

And this super cute Happy Birthday banner...it would be nice to have something like this on hand to take out for birthdays. Of course, it seems more appropriate for feminine birthdays, but I still like it. I don't think the boys would mind if I used it to decorate for their birthdays. :-)

Inspiration Needed: Bathroom

When we first moved into our house three years ago, I really thought remodeling the bathroom was priority #1. However, three years later, I've realized that there were other priorities in "fixing up" our 100+ year old home....like a kitchen, a back roof, a fence, a downstairs bath, paint...the list goes on.

So here we are and I'm starting to daydream and hope that we might get to this early next year and I've been looking for ideas. All of these pics caught my eye in one way or another, so maybe our new bathroom will be some combination of them. I think the first is my favorite. If I didn't live with three boys, I would definitely paint my bathroom pink....maybe I still will (but not the Pepto Bismol pink it was when we moved in!). :-)

From dominomag.com:

From Pottery Barn:

From HGTV.com:

And just so you know what we're working with, this is a picture of the bathroom when we first moved in. And, quite frankly, not much has changed other than the border is gone and the bright pink is now a nice green. Eek!