Framing a Milestone

Greeting cards…from birthdays, from showers, from graduations, stacked high in boxes, in the closet, in the garage, or not.  Maybe they collect for a day or so and then find themselves in the trash bin.  Yes, we have all done it with maybe just a little bit of guilt, or not.

cardscutouts-26The first Milestone Frame I ever did was after our wedding. This project lent itself nicely to this time as we had just celebrated a major moment in our lives and were beginning to build our home.  The same goes for baby showers and first birthdays as the parents I know are always looking for ways to decorate the walls of the nursery.  This current project is from the cards from Julie’s baby shower.
cardscutouts-2cardscutouts-6After gathering all of the cards from the occasion, I used a heart shaped punch to highlight certain pictures or patterns that I thought were interesting and in this case, cute!  Sometimes, I find entire pieces of a card to incorporate, like the letters, the bear, and the duckie.
cardscutouts-13The best part about getting a card is the message inside.  Before closing up the back, I wanted to make sure to preserve and include these well wishes.

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cardscutouts-composite1In this piece, the hearts took a very organic shape around the letters.  In others, I have used a more structured form.  On a side note, my favorite place to buy frames is IKEA.  This is the Viserum, but I also love the Ribba and the Sondrum.  The frames are classy, modern, come with matte board and are unbeatable in price!

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For my nephew’s room from the baby shower.
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For a first birthday.

As a gift or something you do for yourself, with happy occasions or even ones with grief, these Milestone Frames can serve as a constant reminder of all the love and support around you.

INSPIRED PEACE

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Guest Peace: Boxes for Form and Function

393197_10100930939217166_496989639_nLauren and I have been best friends for over 20 years and she is my “go to” person for any and all things crafty. Her technical mind mixed with a love of design makes for a beautiful and easy execution of whatever she decides to create. It only makes sense that she would be my first “Guest Peace”.  I’m sure you will be hearing a lot more from her here!

 About a year ago I finally decided to invest in a few of the brightly colored lacquer boxes and trays that I was seeing on all of the interior design blogs and magazines. But after looking around I realized that I could make them myself — in the colors and shapes I wanted and at a much better price! I had two small unfinished wooden boxes that I had saved from some of those lotion and body wash gift baskets that used to be popular, and I found another larger box at Michael’s. A few coats of spray paint and a couple more of clear coat transformed them into exactly what I was looking for.
LivingRoomThe hardest part was choosing the colors! I decided on a deep blue for my living room where I wanted a pop of color but something that could shift with my mood and the seasons.
Kitchen1 I chose black for the two small boxes. I knew I wanted one in my black and turquoise bathroom, and while I didn’t have an immediate plan for the other one, it’s found the perfect home sitting on my lime green vintage stove.
Bathroom2Even though I wanted the boxes as a decorative touch, they help me stay organized and corral bottles that would otherwise end up all over my kitchen and bathroom counters. They would make great housewarming gifts filled with new dish towels and fancy dish soap to make washing dishes a little more luxurious, or even a bottle of wine and cheese. The possibilities are endless!

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5 Minute Frame

A dear friend and colleague of mine will be a first-time grandmother to not one,  BUT THREE grandchildren this year!  I had been keeping an eye out to find frames to showcase all 3 grandbabies in her office.  Nothing was striking me, and so, I decided that I should start with something simple and elaborate on it.

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My original ideas were to cover the entire matte board in some sort of print or cut out large paper flowers and put in the corners of the frame.  Going through my expansive collection of scrapbook paper to find inspiration, I came across a geometric pattern which happened to have wording applicable to the occassion.

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I used the outline of the geometric shapes to cut out interesting patterns that could be glued right onto the matte board.

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With minimal time or effort, this is a fantastic way to add a personal touch to your gifting.

 

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Embroidery Hoops

Mixing lace and fabrics of different texture, I created a very economical and beautiful showcase of embroidery hoops for the entryway. Simply stretch your fabric across the hoop and tighten with the second ring.

 

   To create dimension, I embroidered our initial with metallic thread and made wool felt flowers.

Embroidery Hoops


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