{diy: guestroom collage & revolving guest frame}

happy monday!

The weekend is over and now it’s back to the grind. This weekend was a fun one! Our wonderful friend Giselle was in town for her first visit to Atlanta and of course we showed her a grand time. This was also an especially hot weekend! It was really sad at night when we were out dancing and would go from the sweaty dance floor to the outdoor deck---and there was no change in temperature! Ack! I hope these super hot summer nights are few and far between.

Today’s post is about two diy projects I worked on last week and finished last night (at 4AM!---I’m kind of a night owl). I’m so happy with the end results; they’re beautiful additions to our home.

First I’ll share the guestroom collage. In our guestroom there is a wall next to the bed that was bare for months. I would always stare at it and think of several different ideas for it. I had tons of frames and paintings I could put up but nothing really seemed to inspire me. Last week I decided it was time to make a decision already and just play around with what I had. I also searched around the net for some inspirations which helped quite a bit.

I decided to create a collage with matching color frames and a mix of diy prints and photos. I also came up with a cool idea for the collage to personalize the room for our guests---more on that later.

First, I laid out all my frames on the floor and moved them around until I found a set-up I really liked. I also had to spray paint two of the frames to match all of the other black frames.

 

Next, I laid out my prints and photos on top of the frames to get an idea of what the collage would look like. I wanted a good mix to make it more interesting.

This included:

instagram headshots of the hubs and I

a wooden “E” for Ellis with painted chevron

 subway art of some important places & dates

our wedding invite and rsvp card

 a piece of fabric with a little 3D detail

interesting printed stock paper

photos of some special people

My collage had a blend of matted and non-matted photos. I also wanted to include snippets of our guestroom colors: green, blue, grey, and white. I can never pick just one or two colors...haha.

After I was done moving prints and photos around I was ready to hang my collage up. Now, I hang frames by eyeballing where I want everything to be. It usually works out and I make very few errors. However, I found a great tutorial over at Young House Love for those of you who want to make extra sure that your collage comes out perfect.

It came out pretty nicely, don’t you think? I’m super happy with it. Of course some things will be rotated out overtime.

And now for the coolest part of the whole collage; the revolving guest frame.

I’m all about making memorable experiences, especially for any visitors we get our way. One idea I thought of was to display photos of our guests in the guestroom so they can feel special when they come over. However, we have tons of friends and family, but not enough frames. At first I thought of rotating out photos of our guests in the frames, however, that would have been time consuming and I don’t think our IKEA frames could’ve handled it (the tabs closing in the photos are kind of weak). But then I remembered the idea we used for displaying childhood photos at our wedding---clipping photos to string in an empty frame. It was perfect and fit in very nicely in the collage. Basically, I took a large empty frame, added eye screws to the sides, and strung twine from one side to the other. I used teeny clothesline clips to attach the photos to the twine.

Whenever guests come over, we’ll clip in photos of them and print out duplicates as a little souvenir. It’s just a small detail to make our guests feel extra special when they stay with us. If you look closely you can get a sneak peek of who’s coming to visit nextJ

And that’s all. What do you do to make your guests feel welcome? I always love hearing new ideas.

So long for now,

The Mrs.

{collages and chevron on my mind}

Hello! Hello!

It’s the beginning of a new week. Stay positive, the weekend is right around the corner, and if you can’t wait, there is always happy hour! This week is sure to be a busy one. I have a few crazy projects in store and we’re preparing for a special house guest this weekend. The hub’s birthday is also this week which is super exciting. We’re actually celebrating two weekends in a row---he’s sure to feel special.

 There are two projects that have been sitting on the back burner for months and months. They’re not terribly difficult; I just haven’t had the time to tackle them. I want to put up a picture/frame collage in our guest room and finish a chevron canvas painting for the kitchen. I’ve been looking all over for inspiration.

Here are a few that stood out to me:

{same colored frames & diy prints}

{various frame shapes & fun layers}

{pops of color & a letter detail}

{empty frames of varying shapes & sizes}

 

{same color frames with b&w photos}

{a mix of photos, prints, & sentimental details}

{various canvas & different colored chevron}

{a bird silhouette on top}

{glitter chevron}

{odd colored stripes}

{a 3D detail}

{or get crazy with mis-matched chevron}

I do love projects. I’ll be sure to post updates as soon as they’re complete!

 

So long for now,

 

The Mrs.

{nifty housewife: diy kitchen makeover}

{aren’t they cute? they were a wedding present from my wonderful cousin Sheren}

In the spirit of the New Year I decided to makeover our little kitchen. This project has been weighing on my mind for a long time, (I would even go to bed every night thinking about it, wishing I had started it already), so I finally decided to put on my paint clothes and jump right in.

When we moved in, the kitchen was my least favorite part of the house which didn’t work for me because that’s where I like to spend most of my time. It had this old granny wallpaper (sorry grandma) and creamy yellow cabinets. It is tiny with minimal storage—which we have been able to work with--and because of the décor scheme, it felt so much smaller of a space than it really was. The house was built in the early 90’s and the kitchen most likely had not been updated since then; it was in desperate need of a facelift.

For the new color scheme I decided to go with light gray walls and white cabinets and trim; I figured this would really brighten up and open the room. I also decided to paint over the wallpaper, which can be tricky and is not always advisable in every situation. If it is at all possible to remove your paper do that, but in some cases it’s impossible without damaging your walls. I had to do some research to make sure that I did this correctly and I suggest you do the same. Painting the cabinets was also a task but again, after researching tips I felt more confident about my ability to do this successfully. The whole project, walls and cabinets took me four days total to complete. Below are some tips for painting over your wallpaper, a tutorial for painting your cabinets, and of course, before and after pictures of our kitchen!

Tips for painting over wallpaper:

- Research! There are lots of great sites out there with tips and tutorials

- Check the quality of your wallpaper to see if you’re able to paint over it

— If it is really dirty wipe it down with warm soapy water before you begin

- If it’s peeling in spots, re-glue it down

- Fill in the seams so they don’t show when you paint over it

- Prime the walls with an oil-based primer---you don’t have to use oil-based paint for your main color

Painting your kitchen cabinets:

Step 1: Remove the drawers, cabinet doors, and all hardware from the doors. You might be tempted to tape over the hardware, however some of it can be very expensive to replace if damaged. If you want to speed up the process, use an electric screwdriver (they are awesome!).

Step 2: Wipe down the cabinet frames and doors with warm soapy water. Then tape-off the cabinet edges so you don’t get paint on your walls.

Step 3: Lightly sand your surfaces to help the paint stick better.

Step 4: Depending on your current cabinet color, you may or may not need to prime your cabinets. I didn’t, but it took me three coats of the white paint to cover the old color.

Step 5: Paint your cabinet frames. Paint one coat, let dry for about an hour, and then paint the next coat. After each coat check your work in good light to see if it needs another coat.

Step 6: After you’ve painted the last coat on your cabinet frames let it dry overnight, then carefully re-insert the drawers (make sure you’ve removed the knobs). Clean and sand the fronts, then paint them using the same method you used to paint the frames. Keep the drawers pulled out while you paint and as they dry.

Step 7: Lay your cabinet doors (front side down) in an area where they can stay laid out for a few days while they dry. Make sure all the hardware is taken off and that you keep it all together in one spot (so you don’t lose any of it). Also make sure you notice how it is put together (take a picture even) so you know how to put it all back later.

Step 8: Paint the first coat on your doors, wait an hour, then paint the next coat, repeat if necessary. I suggest painting the backsides first. If you flip them too early and they get a little smudged, they won’t really be seen until you open your cabinets.

Step 9: Let the backsides dry overnight, then check them the next day to see how dry they are. If they are still a little sticky to the touch, let them dry longer, if they are nice and dry carefully flip them and paint the fronts of your cabinet doors using the same method in Step 8.

Step 10: Let your doors, drawers, and cabinet frames dry for a few days. This is important because if you attach all the doors back to the frames while they are still tacky, your hardware will get stuck to the paint (making them hard to remove the next time you want to paint) and you will end up scratching off the new paint in several places requiring you to do quite a bit of touch-up.

Step 11: After about 3 – 5 days of drying time, re-attach all of the hardware and doors back to their frames.

Easy peasy…kind of.

Now, for the part you’ve all been waiting for…

{kitchen before}

{during the process}

Now for the finished product, drumroll please...

{kitchen after}

Yay! I love it and am so proud of my handiwork! It’s just new paint, but man doesn’t it completely change the overall look and feel?

Now all that’s left is to install dark rustic wood floors and change out a few appliances.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope I’ve inspired you to tackle your own kitchen makeover.

- Mrs. E.

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{christmas fun: decorating!}

Hello again!

We had such a great weekend here at the Ellis house; full of baking, cooking, decorating, and a fun visit to Stone Mountain Christmas!

The weekend started early as we picked out our Christmas tree on Thursday night and brought it home. We opted for a real tree again this year and hopefully we will keep up the tradition as it makes the house smell wonderful (as long as I keep it watered which is not quite my forte…haha). Growing up my family always had a fake tree and Jesse’s had a real one. While the fake one is more economical, it’s fun to pick out a real one and it doesn’t take much set-up. Plus, if you pick out a good one, it has no gaps and looks nice and full! I made my family buy a real tree one year, but my mom still put up the fake one as well…old habits die hard I guess.

{Jesse testing out the durability of the tree}

{the winner!}

That night we took out all of our décor, put on the She & Him Christmas album and put everything up. It was fun to fill our home with Christmas spirit and get pumped for the rest of the season. Christmas was always a big deal in my house growing up, especially because of my mother. She was raised in the Dominican Republic which is pretty warm all year round, yet even though it was always too hot to make it feel like the Christmas season, she still filled her family home with decorations she made with her siblings. She even wrapped their tree (or “palito”) with cotton to mimic snow. She carried her joy for the season into our family and now I am bringing it to my own.

I still have a couple more décor projects I have to finish (i.e. stockings and a fun banner) which I will hopefully be able to work on this week. Below are some pictures of what we’ve put up. The little wire tree with Christmas balls on it is the first Christmas décor item Jesse and I were given for our home. The first year Jesse and I lived together, I remember complaining to Mom Ellis that I didn’t feel very spirited because we didn’t have any Christmas décor up nor could we afford any as we were watching every dime and cent. That Christmas, one of my gifts was that little tree and it fit just perfectly in our home. It’s funny how things can hold so much meaning. One day I hope to pass it along to one of my kids for their first home.

{♪♫it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas♫♪}

I did complete a fun project the previous Sunday with my neighbor Nicole. I got to make my first real Christmas wreath! Nicole went to the dumpsters by the Christmas tree lots to grab leftover tree shavings and apparently she was not the only one with the same idea. She said it was like “Black Friday” at the tree dumpster with ladies everywhere grabbing as much as they could as quickly as they could. So…if you are thinking about attempting this project, make sure you camp out the night before!

It was a fun project, although it took quite a bit of time to finish. We went to the craft store to buy a frame as well as additional elements to decorate our wreaths. After that, all we needed was some wire/twine (to tie the tree shavings to the frame) and a trusty glue gun!

{the finished product}

{& a close-up of the little kissing birds, some rosettes I made with ribbon, & an “e” for ellis}

I hope all of your homes are filled with just as much joy!

Love,

Mrs. E

{our wedding: decor highlights}

Hello again!

Just thought I would share some highlights from our wedding. We still haven’t received our photographer’s pics yet, however we had plenty of friends and family with cameras who were eager to share what they captured.

I will share in segments as there is a lot to cover. This will be the first part of “our wedding mini-series” and will go over the wedding décor. It was fun to make everything and I would never have been able to finish it all without the help of my sweet husband and trusty maid-of-honor Giselle. When I first started picturing the design for our wedding I obsessed over it day and night, oftentimes waking up in the middle of the night with new ideas. I had post-it notes and index cards galore filled with ideas and to-do lists (I love lists!!!). Although she never showed any signs of it, I know I must’ve driven Giselle crazy every time I would jump around in conversation with some new idea. I felt so blessed to have her as my MOH and highly doubt that she can be beat! She did everything possible to make sure that our wedding day was truly everything we dreamed…and boy was it! Her only demand was that we did not make poms…haha.

We worked on several items throughout the months leading up to the wedding, but really focused the week before in a craft frenzy. Luckily I took off of work that week because I don’t know that it would’ve all been done in time if I hadn’t. We were in the process of moving at the time as well—--I know we’re crazy right?---so the apartment was empty and full of wedding/craft stuff, oh yea and a leaky air mattress (which luckily was replaced by a loaner mattress from our wonderful friends next door). It was a rough week to say the least but with a wonderful ending, our wedding day!

So to start off,

{our lovely reception hall,

http://byronssouthend.com/}

I was asked several times to describe the “theme” of our wedding and I could never land on anything in particular. All I knew was that I wanted it to be fun, whimsical, and showcase plenty of mustaches…ha! So maybe the theme was “Funny Whimsical Men?”—-maybe not.

But on a more serious note…I focused on some very small details because I feel like they are often overlooked but can sometimes be the most memorable. I mean tiny cut-out Hunger Games mockingjays seem purposeless but actually made beautiful confetti on our cake table and at the same time paid tribute to one of the greatest book series I’ve read in a long time. You can get some of your own here. I even found cut-out atlas birds that looked lovely dispersed around our centerpieces.

Then there was our photo spotlight. It was one of the first things our guests saw when they walked into the reception hall. It showcased pictures of Jesse and me through the years as a couple, and as individuals. I found this really neat framing idea on pinterest (one of my all-time favorite sites) and put Jesse to work! He did a wonderful job and the frames looked so beautiful at our entrance holding our childhood pictures. I also surprised my parents and grandmother with some pictures of them on their wedding day. At that same spot we had our guestbook which I believe is really unique---more details on that in a future post!

I wanted to make sure that there was fun for all ages and personalities. I babysit a lot and wanted my favorite little munchkins to have a blast---I even consulted them on music for the wedding. Giselle and I went to the party store, reached down and let out our inner kiddos, and picked out plenty of fun toys and treats to pimp out the kids table. From what I heard, the whoopie cushion we sneakily laid out, was a huge hit! We also set out cornhole boards (constructed by my handy hubby) for those interested in a little competition.

One of the projects I was most proud of was our cake topper. I knew I wanted a silly little bird topper for our cake but practically every one I had found was over $100---a little out of my budget. So I realized that this was a craft project I would have to save for my crafty hands. I searched everywhere for little birds which were surprisingly very hard to find, and eventually found some in a craft store by accident. I think it was about two days before the wedding; I sat down (on the floor, as we had no furniture, and at one of the cornhole boards which was my table) with my glue gun, little birds, and miscellaneous craft supplies. I began working and before I knew it I created my little masterpiece. I don’t mind boasting because it is something I am incredibly proud to show-off and better than some of the ones I was looking at. Total cost: $10. Woo!

{our favor tables}

Giselle thought I was a little looney, however I love treats and wanted to treat our guests very generously; it was a joyous celebration after all!

We had:

·         Mustache Lollipops: “I mustache you a ?”

·         Lip Lollipops in our wedding blues & greens: “Kiss me baby”

·         Rock Candy (Jesse’s favorite!): “Rock My World”

·         S’more Treat Bags: “No We Love You S’more”

·         A J&K Wedding Soundtrack featuring songs from key moments of the day: “J&K Greatest Hits”

·         Hand rolled Dominican cigars, a gift from one of my aunties: “Fancy a Smoke”

·         Personalized Team Jesse, Team Katie, (and for those preferring both) J+K, pin buttons: “J vs K, Choose!”

Okay…maybe a little extra. They came out wonderful however and everyone seemed to enjoy them very much (we had nothing left!).

Pheew! That was a mouthful.

Well, that’s all for today. Look out for the next part of our wedding mini-series, coming soon to a blog near you!

Love, Love, Love