Art Wall

Inexpensive DIY Plexi Frame

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:25:00 +0000

I felt super lucky when we moved into our home in 2007 and found the original blue prints had been left for us, by every previous owner. Thanks owners! There are about 10 pages total and my original thought was to frame them up and hang them going up the stairway. Ummm, have you ever had to frame 10 things? It is not cheap. No no, not cheap at all. I needed a budget-friendly option. I also wanted to pick something that would preserve the prints. One day I may move from this house, and I want to leave the prints for the next lucky family and take the frames with me. Enter this DIY plexiglass option.

I ordered 4 total pieces of .118"thick plexi from Midland Plastics here in Madison. They were recommended to me, but I'm sure each medium-ish to large city has a plastics shop like this. I made sure to put 2 pieces of the plexi together before I drilled the 4 corners, so that the holes would line up perfectly. I can't remember which size drill bit/screws I used but I do remember that took some thought and planning. Also, take note of the border size. Normally I love framing with HUGE mats. The bigger the better, but that does not hold true for this method. A border that is too big just looks weird. Learn from my mistake. The border here is 1.5 inches which I think is perfect. That's enough room for the print to breathe between the screws.

Each corner was fixed with a screw and a wing nut. You could also use a regular nut, but I liked the industrial feel of the wing nuts, especially with the architectural prints, it made sense to me. I did use a few little glue dots to secure each print to the plexi so they don't slip down over time. Now, if you're really on a budget, you could just use one sheet of plexi and actually screw it into the wall, though that seemed a little destructive and a bit too permanent for me. The final step is picture wire. Do I need to explain that? I'm horrible at instructions. You just kindof twist it around. How's that?

2 down, 8 to go. I am on a roll. Hello Katie in a white button down perched against the wall so the camera doesn't shake. How to photograph these? I did/do not know. I really wish I was a better photographer. It's probably the skill I would most like to improve at some point.

Thank you Mr & Mrs L.N. Trachte of Lakewood Blvd. Your name I do not know how to pronounce but your thoughtfulness I do know how to appreciate.

Also, I have two other posts about inexpensive framing options here and here.

The Vintage Dollhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:48:00 +0000

I'm so sad this blog has sat still for so long. I actually have a lot to share, but not a lot of time for documenting so I'll just do what I can, when I can. I'm honestly not sure I can remember how to insert and re-size the pictures correctly but here goes.

This post is about a dollhouse I made over for my girl's Christmas present. It's one of 2 dollhouses my dad made for my older sisters when they were little. Of course, I didn't take a before picture, but just envision a dirty white old dollhouse, still charming but in need of love.

Most of the furniture was re-used from the old set. A lot of it I painted and generally updated. I used a "fat quarter" of darling Liberty of London printed fabric for the window treatments and bedding. The prints are so cute and the scale was perfect. I did buy a new kitchen set with appliances and a dinette set (do people still say that? dinette?) Anyway...that purple chair/ottoman, side table and couch were handmade by my mom. I never stop being impressed by her skills. I spent a month updating this piece and my mom and dad spent a few weeks building/making/sewing everything pretty much from scratch (times two.) Impressed.

The living room is my favorite. Like I said, my mom made that couch, chair and ottoman. I re-covered the couch in the liberty print and re-painted the fire place (which she also made, I think) with chalkboard paint. The framed print is just a fabric scrap and I also made the matching drapes. The rugs in the house are grasscloth cut to fit and trimmed in ribbon. Yep, this family of orphans went custom. The only "people" are 2 babies, one school-aged child and a teenager. The mom and dad were headless. Not a fun thing to see on Christmas morning so I left them out.

I wanted to paint a few of the back walls, besides the attic playroom which went pale coral pink, all the walls are currently white. I planned to do the kitchen turquoise and the bathroom in the same bright coral pink from the front door and shutters. The roof and chimneys were originally red but I re-painted them in the dark grey chalkboard paint. I think I planned to draw on scalloped shingles but I forgot about that until just now while I was typing this.

Forgive some of the photography. These rooms were super hard to shoot. This room needs some paint on the wall, but I love the color the little curtains and picture added. The rug is made from Polly's old roman shades from her nursery. This liberty fabric was my favorite from the group.

The navy curtains and bedding are original to the home, circa 1970 with a simple addition of some new liberty accents. The bed is pretty messed-up, it has no legs. I was going to try to use screws instead and paint them white but I ran out of time. I should have painted the wardrobe a fun bright color but didn't work that out in the planning phase. This is the second custom grasscloth rug.

This young lady is the oldest child in the house. She's the responsible older sister. She reads the paper and eats cake for breakfast. How cute is that ruffled curtain? I made that, and my mom made the chairs and upholstered them.

Ha, the scale is a bit off between the cradle and the twin beds. The cradle is actually bigger than the beds. Oh well. The curtains in this room look a lot like Liberty but they are actually original. I added the little orange ball-trim. I always wanted an attic playroom as a kid. Something about them just seemed magical to me, I don't know. These kids got one and it's pretty cute, too.

Looking at these, I'm reminded of all the things I planned to do but didn't but I still think it turned out pretty cute. I try hard not to over-parent when she plays with it. I only cringe a little when she moves everything around, but I do always clean it up back to the way I like it when she's done. Merry Christmas, Poll doll. P.S. Happy March!

polaroid transfer

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:25:00 +0000

I really love the dreamy vintage look of polaroid transfer prints. I ordered my Daylab 200 on Ebay years ago after taking a class at Paper Source in Evanston, Illinois, and have decided that it's time to pass on this piece of historical technology as I organize and prepare for a big neighborhood garage sale. Since I knew the Daylab was leaving me, I decided to give it one last go and had fun making some prints from old family slides. I kept a few and gave some as gifts to family members, truly one-of-a-kind gifts. You can find polaroid transfers for sale on Etsy, but they are not always originals, sometimes they are prints of originals, which don't have the same luster as the real thing, in my opinion. I also found this shop which will make a polaroid transfer print for you if you send in a slide, how cool.

Come by the neighborhood garage sale on Saturday June 16th if you're interested, the set will be priced at $75 which is a steal from what I paid for the Daylab, the base, brayer and some watercolor paper. If it doesn't go, I'll list to Etsy.

diy wrapped rope necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Several months ago, I became obsessed with a certain very expensive wrapped rope necklace. I don't really feel right showing the particular brand I hacked because it is an original design, I didn't use all the same materials, so it's not an exact copy. If you're crafty, the coveted necklace is somewhere in my pinterest, probably in the style section. I actually waited to post this because I felt a bit bad about hacking it at first but then I saw a million other D.I.Y's, and some knock-off brands online so I didn't feel so bad. The original necklaces are in the $200-$500 range, and I'll admit this is definitely a step down BUT, it was a super easy, fun, inexpensive and rewarding project. I got the rope from the hardware store, and while I was there also found these brass "sleeves" used for plumbing projects. There are different sizes of rope and sleeves so make sure you get 2 that work together, the sleeves should fit snugly just over the rope.

Picking out the embroidery thread was the hardest part, I stood at the craft store for probably an hour putting different colors together, putting some back, taking more, putting more back, taking more, it's really easy for me to second-guess myself but I am happy with the combo I came up with. I made a necklace that can be worn long or shorter, so that I wouldn't have to make a clasp. The first step is putting the brass sleeves on the rope and attaching the ends together. I actually "burned" the ends of the rope then stuck them together using tinfoil to kindof smash it so I wouldn't burn my hands. Where the melon color meets the white you can see a larger "bump" where the seam is (below.) The next step would probably be planning for you type A's but I just went to town wrapping my necklace with the embroidery thread and switched colors as I pleased, tying knots under the brass sleeves. I love the texture that the rope gave the necklace, that wasn't planned but was a happy accident.
Sorry, describing processes is not my forte but anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them in the comments section. Let me know if you make one, I'd love to see!

doctored up old paintings and lauren moffatt

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Did any of you check out the April issue of Lucky Magazine featuring clothing designer Lauren Moffatt's home? I received this magazine in the mail in March and I haven't stopped thinking about Miss Moffat's "doctored" paintings, aren't they darling? She hit it on the mark with the colors and I love that she took something discarded and dated and made it fresh and so, so pretty. I have a lot of oldish original painted art in my home but I already like it all for different reasons so I was scared to try this with anything I already owned.

I found this diamond in the rough at St. Vinnie's on Saturday. I really liked the flowers, I think they're magnolias, but the black/red background was not doing it for me, and the leaves looked a little forest-y, so I decided to try my hand at customizing it to suit my tastes. It was under $10 so if I flubbed it up, it would just go right back to St. Vinnies and I could call it a double donation. I've been obsessing over the pinkish/orangish melon/coral color for the past year or so, and I've been wanting to incorporate it more into my home so I mixed up some acrylic paint and went to town.

It's definitely a step in the right direction but I'm not totally sure about it yet. My husband is on board, he likes the color, but it might be a little too "crazy lady" I think I may need to tone it down. I also might make the leaves more chartreuse, since that color works better with the coral than this forest-y greenery. This image from Martha Stewart might work as an inspiration. I painted the entire black background white first before the coral, I was afraid of painting directly on the dark. Even with those 2 steps, the whole project only took about an hour. The different shades of coral are actually a happy accident, I kept running out of paint and each time I re-mixed it, a new and different shade appeared, but I like the depth it adds.

Oh and by the way, I really love Lauren Moffatt's line. Check out her presentation for Fashion Week, it's not a runway show but an installation of sorts called The Old School for Wayward Girls. Look closely and you can see some of the paintings from Lauren's home hanging on the wall. This video was made by Jeff Hendricks. I was introduced to this brand in 2004 and have noticed over the last 8 years that her brand has a suuuuuuuper strong point of view, it's very vintage, pretty, detailed and feminine, with lots of muted colors and also bright colors paired with beiges and creams and pretty little prints, oh and lots of gold details like buttons and zippers. If you're interested in her collection, you can find it on her website, and also a cutie-pie feature on her at home with her daughter Stella on the Glow here.

newly painted dining room and upholstered shield back chairs

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:10:00 +0000

What have I been doing for the past three months? Painting my dining room...with an artist's brush, just a few tiny strokes per day. Actually, I've been working out of the home since the beginning of February but I did paint my dining room during my hiatus. I am in absolute love with the color. It's called Deep Sea Depths by Benjamin Moore. I had it color matched to Sherwin Williams Duration paint because I like it and I get a family employee discount there. My husband actually did most of the painting, it was his birthday present to me. He's a really great cutter-inner, much more patient than I am. Here's what it looked like before.

I've also been working on my dining room chairs. I bought them just a little over a year ago, I actually have two sets of shield-back chairs for a total of 11. I have 6 completed and plan to finish at least 2 more to flank the buffet. I'm not sure if I'll keep going after that or not, they're labor intensive, and I'm not convinced it's really worth all that work for the (very seldom) occasion that I have more than 8 people seated 'round my table. I may go into more detail about how I upholstered them (inspired by a Pure Design episode) if anyone is curious. I didn't take process photos but I could with the next few.

The balloon centerpiece and chinese lanterns are left over from a birthday dinner I threw for a few friends last weekend. Hosting the celebration was what helped me get in gear to finish up the chairs and paint, I work well with under pressure. Now I need a new deadline for my next round of to-do's. Anyone have a birthday or any other special occasion coming up?

vintage find: umbrella stand

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:06:00 +0000

Sometimes great vintage finds don't need to be relegated to thrift stores and yard sales. I popped into a local interiors shop Iconi last weekend and walked out with this awesome zinc and brass umbrella stand for under $50. I had been looking for one of these for my entry for a long, long time, years actually. Trolling garage sales, thrifts, Ebay and Etsy never lead me to anything special enough with the right price. When I spotted this little number locally, I thought for sure it would have a 3 digit price, so I was delighted when the tag read $48.

Now, can we talk about the elephant in the room? That golf umbrella, ugh. Functionally it is amazing, it has a 5 foot wingspan, 2 tiers and keeps your whole body (and your buddy's) dry. Stylistically it is...not so good. At one point in my life I owned several beautiful long handled umbrellas, my dad went through an umbrella-gifting phase while I was in college. Sadly, one by one, they've all been left in shops, restaurants, libraries or loaned away. I've rounded up some fun umbrellas for my wish list, along with some other great stands below:

I'm really into florals lately, I don't know what's come over me, I've never been an overly flowery girl

Clockwise from top left:

-The muted colors of this floral are so this moment $63.99, Amazon

-This purple and yellow vintage floral could go granny quick. Pair it with a kelly green rain coat and it's fresh again. $26, The American Homemaker, Etsy

-This colorful vintage pagoda style umbrella is so fun, I love its shape. $48, Atty's Vintage, Etsy

-And now for my favorite, I really love everything about this one, except perhaps the price: $134, Umbrellas.net

I really couldn't find many good umbrella stands online. Are these soon-to-be bygones? Nevertheless, here's 4 I did find:

-The cutest ceramic owl from two's company through Amazon, $119

-I'm not sure what this is really supposed to be (it has a lid) but the size would be perfect and I love the not-shiny gold color and diamond wire pattern, $139, Antiquarianone, Etsy

-Viva la Umbrellastand! Okay, viva is probably not the right word for this asian themed stand but wow, that color really screams "here I am!" Nobody would ever forget their umbrella at your place with this flasher in your entry. It really is the prettiest shade of green, but might be harder to work into your decor: $89.60, Ebay

-This is really what I thought I wanted: a white ceramic stand with a little something special in terms of texture. I still like this option but I'm so much happier with what I ended up with. $38.88, Ceramics by Alice, Etsy.
Clockwise from top left:

This ruffly black umbrella is from Amazon, $42.99

I dig the clear dome shaped umbrella, especially this one with the blue trim. It would look so special with a printed slicker. Price not listed, Caccessories.

I once spotted a fancy lady coming out of Neimen Marcus in Chicago in a tomato red trench with a sky blue umbrella. That pairing has stuck with me for probably 10 years, though I have yet to recreate it. Add this sassy red pagoda umbrella to a light blue coat and the color combo is yours, at a nice price, $27 from Amazon.

I've seen this red and white show stopper around the net a lot, but I couldn't leave it out, it's so pretty: Bella Umbrella Pagoda, $129, Umbrellas.net.

start with art: a map inspired big boy room

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:38:00 +0000

This edition of "start with art" is inspired by a soon-to-be-three year old boy giving up his nursery for the newest member of the family. The former guest room needs an upgrade to suit this rambunctious colorful boy. What better place to start than with the art, I love the colors of the World Map in Aqua by These are Things, $99. The rest of the items are sourced below

Clockwise from the top:

-Small globe, $27, Chirp, Etsy The one shown is sold out. Here is another.

-Map, $99, These are things

-Owl night light, $49, Fruitfly Pie, Etsy

-Orange Pattern Pillowcases $68/2, Anthropologie

Turquoise Sheet set, $54, Urban Outfitters

Map Pillow, $55, My Bearded Pigeon, Etsy

White Duvet, $103, West Elm

Orange Blanket (for the foot of bed) $98, Garnet Hill

Suitcase Set, $25, Land of Nod

Flor Tiles, total of 18, $216, Flor

Armchair, $199, Ikea

Yellow/White striped fabric for window treatments, $6/yard, Fabric.com

Pillow for armchair, $75, Plum Cushion on Etsy

Overhead light, $59, CB2

Dresser Lamp, $35, Land of Nod

Orange Dresser (image for inspiration) Sydney Barton Painted Furniture

a year's worth of cards, and some other goals

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

It's been a while but I'm back in business, this year at a slower pace. No, not slow as in...not posting for 7 months, slow as in...posting once per week. That's my goal, let's see if it sticks.

One goal that did stick was making a year's worth of cards. I've been working on this project for a week now and I'm pretty much done. A major January purge/de-stash has ensued and sadly my Gocco and supplies have got to go. I wanted to make the most of the little beauty before I said goodbye so I printed up about 150 cards with the most important sentiments: happy birthday, thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc etc. I left most of the cards empty with just the printed words but the birthday cards I actually finished up, addressed, stamped, enclosed and put in queue. I didn't actually write anything in them yet, I thought that would be a bit tacky, especially for the birthdays that are 11-12 months from now, but that part's easy. I'm usually late mailing birthday cards, if I get to it at all so I'm feeling great about being on top of it this year. I put together exactly 37 birthday cards for my closest friends and family, with a few leftovers for anyone I may have forgotten. Here's a little sampling:

It's hard for me to come up with designs that aren't too girly but I think I've got a few here. I still need to make one more round of cards before the Gocco goes bye-bye, but I'm happy to have gotten so much use out of it. I'm not going to list greeting cards to my Etsy store but if you're interested in any we can work it out another way.

Other intentions for the new year involve:

1) Organizing and de-cluttering (of course.)

2) Redoing my dining room--not a total redo, just painting the walls and reupholstering/refinishing the table and chairs set.

2) Panting all the trim in the house. It's time.

3) Improving photography. I think this one will forever be on the list.

4) Refinishing our deck. This might be one for the pro's, we'll see.

5) Continuing to improve with meal planning.

6) Devise and start to implement a new plan for Art Wall by the end of January.

my 2011 intentions, how am I doing?

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:05:00 +0000

Since we are one month away from being half done with 2011, I wanted to go through my year's intentions I think I'm doing pretty well...

1) Finish curtains for my girl's room, check

2) Answer my phone more, I'm doing much, much better with this and now I don't need to return nearly as many phone calls, what a bonus!

3) Weekly meal planning was going really well until the boy came along. It's on hold for now.

4) I did have a baby boy, a pretty cute one, I might add.

5) My painting projects are on-going. I did finish Polly's doors, her side table, the entryway and basement. I have yet to do her closet and rocking chair.

6) I've been lousy at tracking spending. I only did it one month and I think it depressed me too much. Maybe I'll resume it, but probably not.

7) I didn't really do much to enjoy the winter. Maybe next year.

8) I am listening to more music and enjoying it thoroughly.

9) So far I have printed out about a year and a half's worth of pictures. Only 9.5 more to go! It was pretty easy, actually, I just highlighted the images I wanted in iPhoto, then uploaded them to flickr as private, then chose to print them through snapfish (the two are linked.) So far, they are in order in a photobox.

10) I've been doing a good job of using the supplies that I have. Tucker's thank you cards were made out of old supplies and I'm doing his announcements using old A6 envelopes.

11) Photography progress: I bought and am reading Nicole's Photo 101 book, and it has been a great refresher and motivator. I want to take one of her classes, too, once I have a bit more time hands-free.

12) Party? Not yet. Still got 7 months for that one.

Images:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

I'm back, and my newest craigslist find

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:33:00 +0000

I'm baaaaaaack. For now, anyway. I had forgotten how hard it is to do anything with a newborn. This little guy is not a fan of being put down so my hands are tied approximately 15 hours per day. Fun!

I've discovered a great one-handed past time (via Marcy Davy of All Things Grow) called Craigs Easy. It allows you to search Craigslist in pictures vs. clicking on every link. If you haven't tried it yet, do it now. The image above is a screenshot of the site in action.

I had basically given up on Craigslist out of lack of time and patience unless I had something really specific I was looking for, but this new little discovery helped me find this new chair for my girl's room for $150.00. It is pretty much the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in and the upholstery is in perfect shape. I'm not sure how long it will stay in her room, though. My favorite part of the chair is the back, and it's not showcased (or even seen) in its current home.

I really liked the green chair I had in her room before, but it is 1/2 of a pair of chairs (also a craigslist find.) I've signed up for the next MATC upholstery class so I plan on finishing up the 2nd chair and putting them together in the living room. I really like pairs of chairs together.

I've got a few other little things going on but my boy is up now so I'll pop back later. Have a great Friday!

a son is born

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:22:00 +0000

If you haven't guessed it yet, my hiatus over the past few weeks is due to the birth of my boy, Tucker. He's perfectly healthy and we are so happy. We've been in adjustment mode so far and will probably continue in this gear for at least a few more weeks.

I'll be back with more frequent posts once the dust settles.

more inexpensive framing ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:58:00 +0000

last month my Lucky came with a bonus Lucky Kids Mag. I still have a hard time believing any new Conde Nast magazine is more worthwhile than Domino...seriously? But I looked it over and it had some great little worth-while features. I especially made note of their page on framing kids' art. Of course, all of these options will work for adult art, too...the point is that the options are affordable.

I'm sorry the photograph is not one of my best. My favorite option is listed at the top left: "Sleek metal bars that expand to any height and transform kindergarden scrawl into something gallery-worthy. Jorgen Moller 18" Aluminum Original Posterhanger, $16, Posterhanger.com."

I also liked the vertical wooden stacking bars towards the top right which "are totally customizable and create a cool column effect. Sabine Meyer postcard picture holder $38.00, Momastore.org."

Of course, I always go back to my old top 10 list of inexpensive framing options, which could probably use a bit of updating but is still pretty relevant.

mounting artwork on wood

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:02:00 +0000

Today's post is about an inexpensive option for displaying artwork. Recently, I had a lot of pieces to hang all at once (for the kiddos rooms) so I needed an option that wasn't going to break the bank. I found these wooden painting panels at a local art shop on campus. Each of them was less than $10 which worked into my budget wonderfully considering I had 13 pieces to hang.

I considered glueing them with PVA/methyl cellulose so that I could have a little extra drying time to make sure my mounts were properly placed. Because of the possible wrinkle factor with glue, I decided to dry mount them using my Xyron (best tool ever!) and just made sure I had a steady hand and focused eye. It was a little scary knowing I couldn't correct my work at all but I actually didn't make any mistakes that were too noticeable. Most of the pieces were just a teeny bit larger than the boards so I shaved off any excess with an Xacto after I had finished each mount.

I like the way they are elevated from the wall, I think it makes them seem a little more special. This is a great hanging option for anyone who loves buying prints but doesn't love paying for framing, but still wants their pieces to look great.

First image: mounted piece is from Bucks County Frames.

Second image: artwork is broken down in this post.

start with art: michelle armas

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:15:00 +0000

This edition of "Start with Art" is dedicated to...me. I've been thinking about redoing my dining room for a bit now. Not a total re-do but a freshening up. I've got way too much yellow going on right now and I'm over the terra cotta walls. I bought a new dining room set super cheap on Craig's. Actually, rewinding a bit, I bought a set of 5 shield-back chairs at a local antique store for $125. My plan was to buy 2 arm chairs to supplement the side chairs, but I found a set of 6 matching shield-back chairs and an oval table during my search for $250, which was less than I thought the 2 chairs would be. Needless to say, I now have 11 chairs and a table to refinish/rework. My normal limit of furniture I allow myself to keep en queue is one. Unfortunately, I already had one piece waiting before any of this craziness so now there's a total of 13 pieces in my basement waiting for love.

But don't fear, I have a plan.

-I've been pining after Michelle Armas's pieces for some time now and I've decided to use this piece as inspiration for the room. The colors are absolutely perfect. In real life, I will probably buy one of her prints, I'm not sure a $1400 painting is in my future but a girl can dream.

-The brown bambooish drapes, the light fixture, buffet, rug and mirror are here to stay.

-The current table and chairs are up for grabs.

-I've already found someone to sand and paint the chairs white for a reasonable price with a 10-day turn-around.

-My spring/summer project will be the table and upholstery.

-I'm thinking either the Imperial Trellis, Chiang Mai Dragon or a simple green/cream houndstooth fabric for the chairs.

-The brown and pink pillows will go on the bench I have in the room.

-I'm undecided about the walls still. (paint/wallpaper/stencil)

I think that covers everything. Anyone wanna buy a dining set?

the updated nursery

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:07:00 +0000

I just realized last night that a post I wrote last Monday about taking a blogging break to nest-up was never published, further proving the point that I needed to take said break. A friend of mine that was due to have her baby the day after me gave birth a week ago, which really made me feel like it was time to knock some things off my list while I still could. It was a good week.

I didn't really have to change that much in the nursery, all the bigger items stayed. It was fun to dress these shelves for a boy using stuff we had around the house already. That baseball mitt, I thought was my husband's, but he informed me it was from the 1940's or something like that and he couldn't remember how or when he got it. The chalk board belonged to his mom (it was a double hinged one that was falling apart.) You might notice it says "T" but don't start guessing yet, we really don't have a name picked out.

The tricycle photograph is by Sweet Eventide. It's in an Ikea Ribba frame, with a professional mat. The little bookshelves (inspired by this post) are Bevkam spice racks ($3.99 each) from Ikea. I used two here, one on the side of the glider and one on the changing table to house creams and wipes and such.

The bunting was left over from when this was my girl's nursery. I had to flip the pink/girly fabrics that were showing so that the assortment was more boyish. Ryan still thinks there's too many flowers on it but oh well. My mom helped me make the shades out of some sheets we were using in the former guest room. They're the "Max" pattern from Serena and Lily. She made the crib skirt out of the same material.

It's a bit hard to see the mobile in any of these photos, here's a closer shot. The wooden nursery rhyme-themed pieces were part of my baby mobile from the '70's. I updated it with a new, more modern mobile base.

The egg lamp was my biggest purchase for the room. It's more of a nightlight and casts a dreamy glow over the room at night.

The spice rack again, attached to the changing table.

I used a lot of art in the room from the Art Wall website. This little assortment features the other half of my MIL's chalk board, dressed with one of the nursery rhyme mobile parts and Shanna Murray's words. Next to that is an original by Papersparrow. There are two prints in the nursery by Gretchenmist. The photo is a limited edition metallic print by Jen Zahigian of Roadside Photographs. I made the embroidery piece with a sample Hable fabric.

The second Gretchenmist print connects the two little art clusters nicely. The "Small Mighty" photograph is the second Sweet Eventide piece in the room. The tree stump piece is a Gocco print by The Littlest Flower. The banana pinewood derby was made by my husband as a kid. I'm not sure who took the photo, someone with a nice lens (thank you.) The second embroidery piece/clock was also made by me. Most of the artwork was mounted using a Xyron onto wood painting panels, an easy and inexpensive option for framing. Tutorial to follow.

art wall fix from three red apples

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:36:00 +0000

What a beautiful and inviting space. It looked very European to me when I came across it on flickr, so I wasn't surprised to find that Annabelle from Three Red Apples is French and currently lives in the UK. It's interesting, if you look through the shop and flickr stream, you can see a very similar look and feel between the artwork she creates and the look she curates for her home. Beautiful feminine colors, lots of crisp whites and vintage pretties. It's hard to get a good gander at the art wall but I'm sure I see a few of her embroidery hoop creations there, along with some prints and a vintage mirror. Lovely.

help for japan

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:43:00 +0000

A few beautiful ways to help Japan. The most simple being a text to the Red Cross, just enter: REDCROSS to 90999

The minds behind W+K studio have come up with this very cool poster to help the cause. The suggested donation is $25.00 and all proceeds go to the red cross.

One of my favorite photographers Alicia Bock has created these limited edition fine art photographs for the cause. Proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan. Different sizes are different prices.

sweet p's toddler room is finally finished

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:39:00 +0000

It's actually been finished for a while now, it just took some time to snap the pictures. The room is on the smaller size, and has some weird angles as you'll see so it's hard to get a good perspective on it. I have the full set of room images on flickr, and also some before/after projects from the room.

I reupholstered the seat of this chair in a class I took a while back. It sat in my basement for 3 years, then I finally gave it to a pro to finish up for $150.00.

This was my bed growing up. I made a decal of sorts using regular text-weight paper, navy blue acrylic paint and adhered it with Xyron. I was going to paint it straight onto the bed but I got scared...and wise.

It's a little crowded with the table/chairs added but it's probably the thing that keeps her playing in here the longest. She loves to prepare meals and tea parties for her babies.

These shelves are made from the tops of doorways (not sure what they are called.) They came from a salvage yard in Illinois, and were from a University building at my alma mater: U of I. I had these for probably 6 years before I did anything with them. The other 2 are up for grabs, I'm not sure I can hold onto them for a another 6 years.

Painted table and chairs...one of the "to do" items on my 2011 intentions list, check!

A well-used reading nook with room for babies and kitties, too.

A very hard to find navy lampshade, etsy lamp, and vintage owl night light (also from etsy.)

The original inspiration board. The only thing I didn't do was include the pink bins. I didn't have a place for them once everything was in the room.

tuesday's top 12: spring things

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 04:44:00 +0000

This break in the cold is getting me so excited for spring. I can hear it, smell it and tonight, I tasted it (yummy fresh asparagus.) Here's 12 things I'm looking forward to this season:

1) Spring wreaths. This one is $50.00, by SaffronFields.

2) Easter eggs. Image

3) Spring gardens. Image

4) Opening up the windows. This photograph is available for $8.00, PublicBookStore.

5) Birds chirping image. 8x10 print, $30, NatureMandalas.

6) Flowering branches. 8x12 print, $40, HeyZee.

7) Ranunculus, my favorite flower, is available at the grocery store for a song. 8x12 print, $40, HeyZee.

8) Longer days!! Good Day Sunshine Print, $15, Colorbee.

9) Being able to make a posey from my own back yard. Image: Katie Stephenson

10) Green grass. This is wheat grass though, which I also love in the spring..planting some tomorrow. Image: Katie Stephenson

11) Delicious fresh asparagus at the grocery. Image

12) I really do like spring cleaning. Image

accepting scholarship submissions: gocco studio

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:02:00 +0000

It's time, folks, I need to get back to creating new pages on the Art Wall website, starting with the studio. I'll be accepting submissions on scholarship, which is a fancy way of saying it's free! Did you know that the studio was the jumping-off point for the entire Art Wall site? I wanted a nice way to showcase my favorite finds for Save Gocco-- a way to promote other artist's work using Gocco with no kick-backs or anything more than maybe simply a thank-you. For that reason, it feels only right to keep that room as simply promotional and gratis. So there you go, submit away. There's one condition, your work has to be Gocco'd and it has to be good, get it?

cuckoo clock installation from the land of wandawega

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:56:00 +0000

Okay, I'm still thinking about Camp Wandawega, remember my post from last Friday? I am in awe of Teresa Surratt's ability to put together collections using unexpected things.

This grouping of 5 cuckoo clocks was hunted, gathered, painted and installed by Teresa for her new baby daughter's nursery at the camp. I love that it's not all girly pink and yellow.

Darnit if they don't make me want to hit up ebay for some of my own, they look so charming.

I also included a few more shots of the nursery because it's that kind of room. Paint by numbers mural, vintage crib and light fixture, painted blue floors...check! Baby Charlie is going to love her trips to Wisconsin.

art wall fix from renee anne

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:55:00 +0000

Remember this sweet polaroid art wall from Renee Anne? Well, she's moved and has a new place to decorate! I recognize that geometric Michelle Armas print there on the right. I'm literally dreaming about those colors right now. Someone remind me that color trends are fleeting before I redecorate my whole house.

camp wandawega

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 20:30:00 +0000

Each summer we get together with a dispersed group of my husband's friends from college and their families in Wisconsin for a mini-vacation. I'm not sure the group would go for it (it's less than luxurious) but I'd love to check out Camp Wandawega some summer.

A former church camp, this Elkhorn, Wisconsin property has been lovingly restored, decorated and brought back to life by Chicago couple Teresa Surratt and her husband David Hernandez. The Camp offers 3 vintage boyscout tents, a 3, 2, and 1-bedroom cabin, and lots of room to roam, complete with an archery range, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, a campfire area, shuffleboard, horseshoe pit, private beach, pier and canoes, there is something for everyone. The information is vague on the shower/bathroom situation so this may be a destination for when the kiddos (most are aged 0-3 years at this point) get a bit older, but how fun would it be to spend time every summer in this charming spot? The one drawback I can see is the lake itself. A tourist would not expect that this lake is not exactly "resort-y" I think it is 5-feet deep at most so don't expect to bring your speed boat.

Check out Teresa's blog, where she talks about thrifting, curating and spiffing up the camp.

NOTE: The Brimfield Come Flea with Me group is teaming up with Camp Wandawega to offer a campy shopping event the weekend of May 15th. To learn more, visit comefleawithme.com, visit the Brimfield store or call 773-520-4338.

Images: Theresa Surratt

lost and found

noreply@blogger.com (Art Wall Katie) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:50:00 +0000

I've never been one for making impulse buys, especially with furniture. If you check in with my blog from time to time, you'll notice I have a little lust going on for the swinging rattan chair, as evidenced recently here, and also here. I saw one last week on a random trip I took through Westside Antique Mall priced at $100. I made a mental note of it and walked on, 99% sure I would buy it, just not that day. Fast-forward to today and of course, the swing was gone. Every other item seemed to still be living there but the swing chair is no more. I don't let things like that get me down too much, I just move on from them and look at the up side-at least I don't have to store anything in my basement before it gets dressed up (I try to allow myself only one piece of furniture "en queue" at a time. I have a cane chair waiting for me patiently so I'm already at my self-imposed limit.

I've been falling out of love with my dining room lately, remember this post? I haven't done anything with the room yet, but I found those shield-back chairs from the dining room post priced at $125 for 5 during today's trip! Ummmm, that's $25 each. Lesson learned, I promptly snatched the price tag and paid for them. I would prefer 6, but since I plan to upholster the "shield" part of the chair, I don't think it should be too hard to find one more. Another option would be to find 2 complimentary captain-style arm chairs, and just use 4 of the shield chairs, or I could substitute a bench on one side and do the four shield chairs. I'm rambling here. Now, what to do with the finish and upholstery?