Hanging Pictures 101

Here’s some basics that I’ve used for hanging pictures on your walls.

• First and foremost, DO NOT hang your pictures too high. The center of the grouping or the center of the picture should be just slightly above eye level. Some say 56 inches from center to floor.

• If your frames are different sizes, shapes, colors etc., make sure you group them in some kind of way where they have something in common. For example; group all gold frames together, group all black and white photos together or all colored photos together, or paint all frames the same color) 

Here’s a photo of my friend Ginger’s hall. I went over to her house and helped her paint her living room and hallway. I also helped her hang her family pictures back on her hallway wall. Notice how the larger pictures are in the center with the smaller ones on the outside and how the space between the pictures are approximately the same. We also put all the gold frames on one end and the pewter in the middle and the silver on the other end.

• Make sure that all your frames are approximately the same distance apart. Don’t have one three inches from another and one ½ inch from another.

• Keep larger frames toward the middle and smaller frames on the outside.

• There are several ways in which you can display artwork or photos. Gallery Style is one of them. (either on the wall or on a ledge or mantel) This works really well if all your pictures are the same size and the wall space is long and narrow horizontally.

• And because I’m cheap, you can frame things that you have around the house like your family pictures of course, your children’s artwork, pretty placemats, photos from calendars, pretty greeting cards or pictures from books, dried flowers or even part of a t-shirt (I decorated my daughter’s room in a New York/Broadway/Acting theme and cut out part of this T-Shirt to hang on her wall.  She didn't wear it because it was too small).

• Use mats when possible, this makes your photos stand out and gives them a more polished, more expensive looking appearance.

• Make sure the picture is well proportioned to the space where you are hanging it. For example, do not hang a small photo above a couch, make sure the photo is in proportion to the size of the sofa.

• And above all,  have fun with it. Hang what you like. I have a problem of thinking about it too hard and wondering if it suits my décor or if the colors are right….all of that is what you’re supposed to do, but if you really, really, really love something….Put it up and enjoy it!

My Earth Collection

Here is a great little project for someone who would love to travel but cannot because of physical, financial or other limitations. I cannot really take the credit for this one. I got this idea from my friend Glenn who says he got it from his sister Jill. He is awesome at finding and putting together things for his home that have deep meaning. Glenn's great at arranging accessories and/or furniture and he has a insightful blog called Living in the Spiral at http://www.glennsimmons.wordpress.com/  Our family always looks forward to his family’s Christmas cards each year because they are always custom, unique and special.

This project will include you asking your friends and relatives, who travel, to bring back a little bit of 'Earth' to you from their destination. You can politely ask them if they are willing to do this for you and then you can supply them with little plastic baggies before they leave. It’s a good idea to ask them to write the location on the baggie before bringing it home. You can supply them with a sharpie if you like. And it’s always a good idea to gently remind them before leaving. I think it was my father’s third trip to Jamaica before he actually remembered to bring back some dirt ( I mean, ‘Earth’).

My brother-n-law drives for a popular country group and my husband is a musician for a popular country artist as well.  They both travel all over the United States each year. My husband gets to travel to a few other countries at times like Venice and Norway. When he remembers he brings me back some 'Earth'.  I don’t get ‘Earth’ from every place, just only the places that are famous or special to me.

Glenn uses a variety of little glass bottles or containers to display his 'Earth' collection which, I think, makes his collection more interesting.  So far I've used Specialty Bottle Company online at http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp to order little glass vials with corks to put my ‘Earth’ in. This company is the same company from which I ordered my metal tins for my Spice Rack. (see previous post “Handmade Spice Rack” http://janlovesdecor.blogspot.com/2010/01/handmade-spice-rack.html )  The vials are really inexpensive and Specialty Bottle Co. has several sizes. I put a little of the ‘Earth’ in each vial and use my Label Maker to label the vial. I display my ‘Earth’ collection in my china cabinet which also contains our 'Native American' items.  (My husband is Lumbee)

Here are a few photos of my collection.

Here are a few of the locations for which I have a little piece of 'Earth’. The ones with an asterisks are the ones that I have been fortunate enough to collect myself.

• Central Park New York, NY *
• Las Vegas Strip *
• Panama City…from my first home after I was born *
• The Egyptian Pyramids
• The Dead Sea
• Mt. Sinai
• St. Elizabeth, Jamaica
• Magic Kingdom, Disney World Fl *
• Beach Sand from Destin, FL *
• Pensacola FL..from my husband’s first home after he was born *
• Venice Italy
• The US Capital (my brother-n-law had fun getting this ‘earth’)
• Our current address (this one is filled with rocks because the previous owners had rocks and gravel surrounding the house..uuughh) *

Here is a photo of Glenn’s collection. His is a little more interesting because of his natural ability for eye appeal.

It’s a lot of fun collecting from the many locations that I visit or my friends and family visit. Have fun with it and see how many you can collect. It’s a great project for travelers as well. I’d like to know in the future how well your collection is growing. Happy digging!

Handmade Spice Rack

          My husband and children can tell you that I AM NOT a cook.  I don't pretend to be and don't wish to be.  I hate being in the kitchen for a long amount of time.  However, I do like to decorate a kitchen. :)
          I reallly begin to get frustrated when our spice containers kept falling off the back of our stove.  We have limited storage space in our kitchen so we had decided to sit them up there instead of in the cabinet. 
          I was shopping in a local store one day and spotted a spice rack that used small metal containers with magnets on the back.  The spice rack had only 6 containers for spices and costs about $25.  Which, in my opinion, was a little too expensive for just 6 spices. It did, however, give me an idea to make my own metal/magnetic spice rack.
          I had previously used Special Bottle Company when ordering small glass vials for my 'earth' collection (I will blog about that maybe next time).  Specialty Bottle has a myriad of different types of containers including metal, glass and plastic.  You can click here to check out their selection: http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp   I ordered 30 of the 4oz Deep Tin Container w/ clear top cover ID # TCT4...These are .75 each.  (shipping is $13.25)
          Next, I went to Lowes and purchased a metal backsplash for about $37.  You might can find it cheaper elsewhere.  These backsplashes are standard size to fit behind your stove. They come with four screws, 1 for each corner.  I purchased some strong, small magnets at Lowes to glue on the back of each tin container.  I used a hot glue gun. (make sure you place the magnets on while the glue is hot...if the glue becomes the least bit cold the adherence will not be as strong).
          You can then use a label maker to put labels on the front of the containers or if you are good at hand writing or calligraphy you can choose to write on the clear tops.
          It took very little time to screw it into the wall, pour the spices into the containers, type the labels and glue on the magnets.  Allow approximately 2 hours for completion.
          If I had purchased 5 of the $25 dollar spice racks my total would have been $125 dollars vs. approximately $80 to build this beautiful backsplash. 
          Here is a photo of the way my project turned out.  You can arrange them in any pattern that you like.I love it and they don't fall off any more!