FIREPLACE MANTLE + GREATEST LABELS

I've finally decorated my fireplace mantle after trying out lots of different things and looking at lots of photos. I've always known what I wanted and had seen photos of beautiful ideas, but I didn't want to have to buy anything. I just wanted to use stuff I already had around the house and I just couldn't make it quite work. This weekend I did some garage sale shopping - I went to one street that was full of garage sales (maybe 15-20) complete with lemonade stands, cookie tables and even corn on the cob! Aubrey and I spent a good chunk of the day walking the whole street (which wasn't short!) and playing and eating. I found some old hardcover books, some fabric and a frame. I wish I had have found it earlier in the morning to make some great finds. I saw two people walking down the street with 2 great metal industrial stools and I got the garage sale shopper envy!

 I'll have to change out the photo in the frame sometime though - as it's not even Aubrey! It was in my old studio and is one of my favorite newborn photos. The color just suites it so well, I just can't decide what to replace it with!

I bought the faux succulent from Ross for $5 and the top 2 books are my garage sale finds - note: The Fondue Party Cookbook - how could I pass up that vintage find?

 Another area I finally (well, almost) finished was the last section of our entry way's gallery wall.

I have 3 things to finish: 1. replace the photo, 2. embroider something for this hoop and 3. paint this frame maybe?

 I printed off a bunch of my favorite Instagram photos in a grid at Staples along with the maps and keep calm poster for super cheap. I used photoshop's contact sheet batch to quickly align all the Instagram photos in a grid.

 I found this idea on Pinterest and made my own. I printed the Trip Fund heading onto a transperency and then cut out a slit (can't see it in this photo) to drop the money in. It was easier to cut it out here then cut it out of the top of the frame, and I can reuse the frame when I'm done. I just set the map closer to the back of the frame and taped it into place to create a shadow box.

 I bought some adhesive cork at Hobby Lobby and doubled it up so the pins had more thickness to go into. I bought the shortest pins for Joann's I could find and glued the little city flags on them.

If the whole thing was a lot larger it probably would be better and less concentrated in spots!

This is a great use of a frame that might have broken glass (which is my case).

 I've been looking for a frame to put this owl watercolor+ink painting my mom did and gave me, in but I couldn't find a square frame with matting for cheap anywhere. So I took this existing frame I had and used some poster board to make my own custom size mat. The mat could have been a slight color to create a contrast, but for now it's fine.

 This is the frame I bought at a garage sale, I was looking for a basic cheap frame without glass that I could spray paint (white gloss) to hang around this photo canvas.

I have to go off on a small rant at how great the Martha Stewart for Avery labels are!

I have used these 3 kinds so far and the templates available for download online make it super easy to use and they look soooo much better then regular labels.

I was printing out labels on cardstock, then rounding out the corners and gluing them on to my photo tins, so this is way better and looks better too. The little kraft flourish squares simply dress up this little baby shower gift box.

And what's in the box? This is what I made today for a shower tomorrow:

A little set of crocheted hat, shoes and tie. The tie was an experiment, but I think it's a cute novelty.

Sometimes baby boy clothes and accessories aren't so cute, so I thought I'd spend the extra time to make something special.