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8 Rules for Creating the Perfect Gallery Wall

How to Hang the Perfect Gallery Wall following these 8 must-have rules!

8 Rules for Creating the Perfect Gallery Wall

I’ve got gallery walls on my mind. Since our recent move, we have no pictures on our walls in our new house instead they are in piles up in our attic. I am eager to see my old friends again! I do want to switch things around though with how I place the pictures on my wall. One thing is for certain is that we don’t have a lot of blank wall space, so I really need to get creative to get all of my artwork on the wall. In our old house we had a number of good gallery walls around the house that always stopped people to stop and enjoy the artwork of pictures. Here are my 10 rules for creating the perfect gallery wall:

8 Rules for Creating the Perfect Gallery Wall

Find the Perfect Blank Spot–The larger the wall space the better when creating the perfect gallery wall. Common spots are in a hallway, above a sofa or bed, above a dining room credenza, along the staircase. I have even done a small, narrow gallery wall in a corner section of a room with smaller framed pictures.
Measure your space–make sure to leave blank wall space around your perfect gallery wall. You want it to look clean and organized and not cluttered and forced.
Choose the Right Wall Layout--There are so many wall layout choices. You really have to consider what kind of framed pictures you have, the style you want to go with and again the size of your wall space. Consider also the design of your room and how the collection will add to it. Some gallery wall ideas are square block frames hanging in a grid, picture frames on a shelf, mix and match frames, or the tetris style similar to the gallery wall above. I also mixed and match the frames.
Gather your collection–Figure out what you want to showcase on in your gallery wall. You can make it a wall of all black and white framed pictures or go more eclectic and display keepsakes, prints, mementos, etc. One thing to remember is if you have similar frame pictures then go with a wall layout that is more symmetry. If you have random items than mix up the wall layout with an off-centered, collage style layout.
Share your Personality–I think every gallery wall needs to share something about you and the people who live in the home. Whether it is family pictures, a picture you drew, a childhood keepsake or your grandma’s painting, a gallery wall should display a little bit of personality and share a story. That’s what makes gallery walls so wonderful to have in the home.
Layout your framed pictures on the ground–Before you start hammering away, layout your gallery wall style on the ground to make sure the space and style would work. Take a picture of it for reference and measure the distance to compare to your wall space.
Trace, Cut and Hammer–Before hanging, trace each frame onto newspaper or butcher paper to make a paper mock-up. Cut it out and then play around with the paper mock-up taped to the wall. If you are doing a grid-style, measure the distance between the cut-outs. If you are doing a collage style, hang your biggest and largest cut-out pieces first then work the smaller pieces around them, copying your layout from the pictures on the ground. After, hammer your picture nails right over the cut outs, making sure to measure the distance from the edge to the center of where the picture will hang.
Enjoy and Share–sit back and relax and enjoy your gallery picture walls

Here are some gallery picture walls that can been feature on the site:

Some places to shop for cool pictures for a Gallery wall:

Minted–curated artist paintings
Framebridge–to frame your pictures
Etsy–budget-friendly pictures and paintings
Wayfair–variety of prints and styles
Artifact Uprising–framing prints
Society6–modern art prints

Milk Bath Recipe for Dry Skin

This Milk Bath recipe for Dry Skin is made with goats milk, which will leave your skin feeling so soft and smooth.

This winter has been brutal to my skin. The wind is blowing and the temperatures have dropped to single digits. Dry itchy, chafing skin has arrived on my legs and hands. I’ve been lathering up the lotion but it seems to only relief the pain for a bit. My arms have dry spots. Even my face has dry patches! Time to really focus on healing my skin during the winter months. After living in the South for seven years, I forgot how cold the Northeast can be! I pulled out all of my favorite winter must-haves, but my skin needs more attention and something to bring in moisture. Then I remembered my milk bath recipe for dry skin that I used to take every week during the winter months when we lived in Connecticut prior to our move to the Georgia. I would even draw up a bath for my babies to take a milk bath just to keep their baby skin soft and smooth.

What I love about this milk bath recipe for dry skin is that the primary ingredient is goat’s milk, not cow’s milk. I like to use powdered goat’s milk because usually I make a large batch and store it in a jar for longer shelf life and of course multiple milk baths. You can get powdered goat’s milk at any health store or through the link. Goat’s milk has wonderful benefits for the skin. Goat’s milk has a high content of alpha-hydroxy and lactic acid, which helps break down dry skin and brings new cells to the surface. It also has a high fat molecule content making it extremely moisturizing. In addition, it is packed with Vitamin C, D and E which all aids to making your skin younger and fresher.

The other thing I like about this recipe is that it has coconut oil and I did a whole post on the benefits of coconut oil and how wonderful it is for your skin. Also for added scent for also skin benefits, you use Lavender essential oil or Ylang Ylang essential oil. Lavender essential oil is great for the skin because it is antibacterial and can kill bacteria that penetrates the pores. I like to put Ylang Ylang essential oil in it also because it balances the emotions, which is great for relaxing during a hot milk bath.

Milk Bath Recipe for Dry Skin

1 cup powdered goat’s milk
1 cup epson salt
1/2 cup baking soda
4 tablespoons unfiltered, raw extra virgin coconut oil
Lavender Essential oil (few drops)
Ylang Ylang essential oil (optional)
Lavender buds (optional)

**Add fresh roses and flowers and make your milk bath for two this Valentine’s Days!**

Pour all of the ingredients in a jar that can seal. Store the the milk bath recipe for dry skin in a cool, dry cabinet along with your other bath products. This milk bath recipe for dry skin is great for a bath for two. Enjoy it this Valentine’s Day and make sure to add fresh cut roses and flowers to make it romantic!

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Outdoor Winter Birch Planters

How to make Outdoor Winter Planters with these step-by-step tutorial from Darling Darleen — outdoor winter birch planters

Outdoor Winter Birch Planters

Outdoor Winter Birch Planters seem to be available everywhere here in the Northeast, and are a traditional style of front porch decoration. You don’t see this style of winter planters in the South, so I was excited to make up these outdoor winter birch planters from the clippings of my Christmas tree. Birch branches are difficult to find in the South, but they are available at most stores in the North and priced well. These outdoor winter birch planters are easy to make and add a gorgeous statement to your winter outdoor decorating!

Supplies for making an Outdoor Winter Birch planters can be clippings from your Christmas tree, clippings from evergreen plants in your yard or greenery branches from your local flower shop. Like I said, these planters are very popular in the Northeast mostly because the many of the greenery can be found right in your backyard. But if you don’t leave in the Northeast, all of these clippings can be at your local flower shop.

Supplies:

Urn or large planter (filled with dirt)

Birch branches (cut down with varying heights)

Fir clippings

White Pine clippings

Seeded Eucalyptus

Juniper spray with berries

Boxwood Evergreen (could be found in your yard)

Curly branches

Pine cones (get the scented one for a new welcoming scent to your guests)

I picked up a couple of tiny fir trees for my other urns, but if you can’t find birch branches, then fir trees can be used as your center for the outdoor winter planters or anything that creates height.

Take three birch branches that are varying heights and poke them in the center of the pot, pushing them down into the soil.

Take your fir branch clipping and stick them around the birch branches. Place your juniper berry clipping on top of the fir.

Easy to Make Outdoor Winter Planters with these step-by-step tutorial from Darling Darleen

Seeded eucalyptus branches are floppy, and great to fill in under the fir branches that have open spots. They also are a different color of green and add a good variation of the planters and bring out the tiny blue berries on the juniper branches.

Take the boxwood clippings and continue to fill in empty spaces to make your outdoor winter planter full.

Finish it off with your curly branches placed in the middle of the planter. Then take your scented pine cones and scatter a few around the branches of your planters.

How to make Outdoor Winter Birch Planters with clippings from your tree via Darling Darleen

Enjoy your holiday porch with your new outdoor winter birch planters!

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DIY Pom Pom Shirt

DIY Pom Pom Shirt

Pom poms are everywhere, and I just want to keep this trending going. The round colorful fluffy embellishment is so fun and playful for summer time. We thought it would be fun to make DIY pom pom shirt so the girl cousins could match for the 4th of July, and we could all be pom pom’d out! After making DIY pom pom sandals and beach bag, this was an easy project and one that the girls could tackle themselves. This DIY pom pom shirt project works for just about any shirt you choose. Once all the materials are gathered, it takes less than 15 minutes to complete. Very easy DIY project and fun for the 4th of July!

The girls picked out which shirts they wanted and we kept the t-shirts under $10. I bought a yard of pom pom trim per shirt so the entire project per shirt was less than $15. If you plan to add pom pom around all the edges of the shirt, than plan to buy more than a yard of pom pom trim. We just added trim around the sleeves or the bottom, not both.

DIY Pom Pom Shirt

T-shirt (we bought $8 t-shirts)

Pom pom trim

Sewing machine

pins

Scissors

Instructions:

Take your shirt and turn it inside out. Take your pom pom trim and start at the seam and pin it along the edge all the way around. Sew it straight stitch. Or if you don’t know how to sew, use fabric glue to secure it to your top. After, turn your shirt right side out! Simple and completely changes the style of the shirt.

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Mother’s Day Mini Flower Bouquet

Mother’s Day Mini Flower Bouquet

Fresh flowers always sends a message of love! Giving a fresh flower bouquet to your mom, grandmother, mother in law or your favorite mom friend is pretty much mandatory for Mother’s Day. Of course they will be so happy to receive it! I know I would. Fresh flowers don’t have to be expensive. I always love to put together my own bouquet of flowers with either ones from my garden or the local flower market. But for this DIY Mother’s Day mini flower bouquet I turned to Blooms by Isabel to break down how she makes such beautiful mini hand-tied flower bouquets. They are always so gorgeous, and she has a great eye for floral colors, texture and flower combinations. She is sharing how she creates the perfect Mother’s Day Mini Flower Bouquet. She also tagged the bouquet with our FREE mother’s day gift tag printable, available at the end of the post.

Mother’s Day Mini Flower Bouquet

Flowers–choose a combination of large flowers, smaller flowers and fillers

Flower shears

Twine

Wrapping Paper

Ribbon

Mother’s Day gift tag labels (FREE printable below)

To begin making your Mother’s Day mini flower bouquet, head to your local floral shop. I usually have good luck with Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or Costco. You’ll want to find a combination of large flowers, smaller flowers and filler greenery. For larger flowers, roses are usually the best or lilies work good too. Spray rose flowers, tulips or ranunculus are the perfect smaller flower options. For fillers, baby breaths, eucalyptus or ruscus work great.

To begin making your bouquet, start with greenery as your base, then add in your small flowers, then your larger flowers. If you have any leftover filler flowers, then place those in the bunch and move flowers around until you are happy with where the flowers are placed. I usually do with while holding all the flowers in my hand. Then I take twine and tie the flowers together. For mini bouquets, cut the stems shorter and all the same length. Wrap them up with wrapping paper. We used an iridescent wrapping paper over white paper then tied with velvet ribbon.

Before you send these beautiful Mother’s Day mini flower bouquets off, tie on our FREE Mother’s Day gift tag printable that you can easily download and print! Make a few of these easy-to-make Mother’s Day mini flower bouquets!

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Valentine Emoji Pop Up Card

Valentine Emoji Pop-Up Card

Emojis are everywhere lately, and they are SO cool among the kids these days. We just had to do some kind of valentine emoji pop-up card for all the boys in my life…and in yours! I hope you had a chance to check out this year’s girl valentines using honeycomb balls to creating a pop-up effect. We thought it would be a good idea to staying with the honeycomb pop-up theme and create one for the boys. These emoji valentine cards create a fun wow factor. We decided to use the cool man emoji and a pirate emoji. It was hard a picking, but these designs worked best for big eyes.

Download the FREE VALENTINE EMOJI POP-Up Card after the jump.

If you need instructions on the how-to, please refer back over to the original honey-comb pop up card. The download for the Valentine Emoji Pop Up card is right below. Here is the link to the 2″ black honeycomb balls. Have so much fun putting these together!

>>>>>>>DOWNLOAD VALENTINE EMOJI POP UP CARD>>>>>>

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Heart Shape Flower Box

DIY Heart-Shape Flower Box

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and you know roses are the way to a girl’s heart and a sign of love and friendship. I’m such a sucker for flowers and always love receiving and giving them! So I was looking for something extra special to make to give to my love ones for Valentine’s Day. This DIY heart-shape flower box is just the one that I know my girls will love or even a friend who needs a little cheering up over the love holiday. If you are planning a Galentine’s breakfast or even just a romantic evening with your lover, these heart-shape flower box would also make a perfect centerpiece. So many fun ideas.

Supplies:

Heart Shape Box or Paper Mache box (spray paint for desired color)

floral wet foam

wax paper

fresh flowers

scissors

knife

Take your foam block, using your knife cut it about 1.5″ thick. Then use the bottom of the heart box to cut the foam in the shape of the heart. I had to use two 1.5″ foam blocks to get the entire shape of the heart. Don’t worry if it is not perfect. You just need a general heart shape.

2. Put your foam blocks in water and let it soak for a bit. While it is soaking, take wax paper and cut the width of the box. Gradually push it down to fully cover the bottom and the sides of the heart shape box, while making sure the paper doesn’t tear or rip. You may have some extra paper hanging over the sides. I just cut the paper with scissors around the shape.

3. Gently place the wet floral foam blocks in the heart-shape box, making sure the bottom is fully covered. You can add additional water in the box at this time.

4. Next is the fun part, adding the flowers. Simply trim and push the stems in the wet foam block. Start on the edge and work your way to the middle of the box. My boxes used about 10 stem roses. If you’d like put the top on the box, then make sure to cut the stems short so the flower heads are below the top of the box. I kept my longer because I am using them more for display and wanted the flower heads peeking out. If you are planning to give them away, add a ribbon around the box and flowers!

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Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards

Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards

There was this little grocery store near my house growing up that sold the cutest pop-up Victorian Valentine cards. They were so beautiful and intricate, and they had the honeycomb pom pom somewhere in the design. A small memory, but a happy lasting one. These Valentine’s printable honeycomb pop-up cards may not be as intricate and completely 3-D, but they have a happy pop that will bring a smile to a friend or classmate. I teamed up again with my girl Melissa, who is amazing at graphic design, and we came up with this cute design. Remember last year’s Valentine’s cards? One of my favorites, so we really had to up it this year with another fun concept. These Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-up cards are so easy to put together and perfect for your child to hand out at school or to give to a friend. The designs are fun even for older children. My teenage daughter is excited to give them to her friends. Using honeycomb balls to achieve the effect is so easy and time effective that you won’t have to spend a lot of time making these striking Valentines. In fact, I’m sure your child would want to get involved too.

Get the instructions and FREE printable after the jump.

Instructions for Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards:

Valentine’s Printable DOWNLOAD PDF

2″ Honeycomb Balls

Glue or adhesive dots (I prefer the dots)

Download the Valentine Honeycomb Pop-Up card printable (link above). Print on heavy cardstock paper. I printed mine at my local print shop so the color was bright. Cut down and then fold over with the words on the outside. The honeycomb balls will arrive flat. Unfold the ball and secure the honeycomb balls with glue or adhesive dots on the circle graphic on the printable. When delivering your card, use washi tape to secure the card to stay down and attach a fun lollipop or toy to it.

Stay tune for next week! I’ll be posting another similar Valentine’s for boys! Also head to the sidebar to see other FREE Valentine’s Printables.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath

Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath

Wreath making is one of my favorite Christmas crafts for decorating the home. You really can’t go wrong and the outcome is so beautiful. I can’t wait to show you the wreaths and garland I’ve been putting together. I’m hoping to get my Christmas holiday post up either tomorrow or Monday (fingers crossed). If you remember last month for Thanksgiving, I made these Modern Harvest Wreaths out of wire hangers and clippings from my yard. I love the fun wreath shapes you can make of circles, triangles and squares. It really puts a geometric, modern look on a simple wreath. Well, I just updated my modern harvest wreaths with a modern wire evergreen wreath so they look a little more holiday and goes with my Christmas tree and ornaments. This craft is so easy! Don’t throw out those wire hangers, craft them into something beautiful that can be used year after year.

Supplies for the Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath:

Wire hangers
Follow the instructions for the Modern Harvest Wreath for making the wire wreath.
floral wire
wire cutters
wire pliers
Christmas ribbon
leaves–magnolia, eucalyptus, boxwood, any kind of ever green leaves
Cotton stem
holiday berries from any craft store

Instructions for the Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath:

After you make the wire wreath, go out to your yard or a neighbors or even the woods or a park and clip evergreen plants. An evergreen plant is a plant that stays green all year round for example boxwood, cedar fir, Fraser fir, eucalyptus, magnolia. There are so many evergreen variety but I tend for find branches that remind me of a Christmas tree. You don’t need a lot but enough to cover the bottom half of the wreath. Then arrange the evergreen clips with the large, bushier branches behind and the thinner smaller leaves in front. Take your floral wire and wrap around the wire wreath. Once everything is secure, add your holiday berry branches under the floral wire. Pull out the cotton heads from the stem and place them also in floral wire. Add some ribbon and you are ready to hang.

These simple modern wire evergreen wreaths are best placed over a mirror or over the back of a chair. I also love the look over a fireplace mantle or switching out a picture over a console with one of these modern wire evergreen wreaths.

Modern Harvest Wreath

Modern Harvest Wreath

I don’t know about you, but it is hard to feel like it’s Fall when the weather outside is hot and steamy. Halfway through September, and I’m trying really hard to get into the mood of Fall so the best way to do so is with crafting Fall home decor. I love how these modern harvest wreaths came out, and they are the perfect crafting idea to get into Fall. These modern harvest wreaths are perfect to place over a mirror, hang off the back of a chair or decorate above a console table. Did I mention budget friendly? Except for a few berry branches, I pulled almost everything from my flower garden and around the house. And how can you not get over the geometric wreath style? It the best part of the modern harvest wreath! You may have seen similar modern harvest wreath styles on Pinterest, but these ones are made out of wire hangers!

A few of the items I used were magnolia leaves, eucalyptus leaves, wheat grasses, decorative berry branches and dyed dried natural berry branches. These modern harvest wreaths are made with real, natural flowers and leaves but using items that will completely dry beautifully and not wilt. They should be good the whole fall season!

Here’s the easy breakdown for the modern harvest wreath.

Materials for Modern Harvest Wreath

Three wire hangers to make a circle, square, triangle
metallic spray paint
floral wire
wire cutters
wire pliers
ribbon
leaves–magnolia, eucalyptus, boxwood, any kind of ever green leaves
natural dried dyed branches like wheat or berries
real flowers or berries that does not discolor or welt when dried

Instructions for Modern Harvest Wreath

To make the modern wire wreaths, I used a wire hanger and snipped off the hook part with wire cutters. Then I manipulated the wire into a geometric shape. You will need arm strength to bent and twist the wire ends around each other to hold the geometric shape. Use pliers to assist in the twisting and maybe another set of hands. Once the shape is secure with the wire hanger, don’t be surprised if the wire ends are pointing out. You will be covering that part with your flowers. Just make sure they aren’t pointing out too much that there is a concern with scratching a door or mirror. After you are happy with the shape of the wreath, spray paint both sides of the wreath with metallic spray paint. Let it dry.

Start with the leaves and then add three decorative flowers or berries. Cut the stems an inch from base. Wrap floral wire around the base of the flowers, then wrap the floral bunch around the base of the wire wreath, making sure it covers where the twist is located. Repeat about three more times. Hang the wire wreath with ribbon.

I love the look of hanging the wreath in other places other than a door. Get creative and have fun decorating your home with these modern harvest wreaths.

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8 Rules for Creating the Perfect Gallery Wall

How to Hang the Perfect Gallery Wall following these 8 must-have rules!

Milk Bath Recipe for Dry Skin

This Milk Bath recipe for Dry Skin is made with goats milk, which will leave your skin feeling so soft and smooth.

Outdoor Winter Birch Planters

Outdoor Winter Birch Planters

DIY Pom Pom Shirt

Mother’s Day Mini Flower Bouquet

Valentine Emoji Pop Up Card

Heart Shape Flower Box

Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards

Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath

Modern Harvest Wreath

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