Hang 'em high, but not too high

I'm just going to say it.  Most people hang their pictures too high, in some cases way too high. When we were out looking at houses, it was amazing to me just how many people have no idea how to properly hang a picture.  There seems to be some notion out there that the picture/object for some reason should be centered on the wall to have the same distance between the ceiling and the object below.  No.  You don't need to fill up the space near the ceiling. Dissuade yourself from thinking that you need to fill up the wall.  You don't. No one cares about that space.The other one I hear is "I'm tall so of course my pictures are high" No. This should not be part of your criteria.... unless you are in fact, a giant, but if that were the case all your furniture would also be bigger and the same rules would apply.  So here is the rule.  The bottom of the frame or piece, should be NO MORE than 12 inches above the object it resides above.  Usually more like 6 or 8 looks about right.  It needs to be visually connected to the piece below otherwise it just looks disjointed.   So here are some examples from our house. 

12 inches above the couch

8 Inches on the Mirror, about 4 on the clock

A mere 3 inches

Examples of too high placement

Images via google images

The other part of this rule is when you aren't placing a picture above anything.  Here's a good rule of thumb.  The center of the picture or object should be about 60" high. 

Cheers!

Best Picture Showcase 2012 Part II

First thing you should know about Hugo, is that it's not really about Hugo.  It's about Martin Scorsese. If you aren't aware, Martin Scorsese's pet project is saving film from further decay.   If you know this, you can really see the message in the film.  Therefore the whole thing gets a big "eh" from me.  The self aggrandizing thing doesn't really do it for me, it really detracted from from my like of the film.  That aside, it was visually stunning.  Done in 3-D, it wasn't as distracting as it's been for me in the past, but I'm of the opinion that if the only thing you can say about something is that it wasn't distracting is that it was probably unnecessary. The visuals on their own were more than enough to carry it without using gimmicky 3-D. For more on that, I loved this article written by Roger Ebert on that subject.  I thought the actors were all well cast and did great in their roles. the story was entertaining for the most part, but I wanted much more of the father and son and far less of the godfather's past.   It was also probably a good half hour too long, I think if it had been more tightly cut, it would have gotten a lot better marks from me.  As is... eh.

The Help.  Based on the novel of the same name it's easily one of the best film adaptations of a book I've seen. While of course it lacked the detail of the book (it's a two hour movie) it perfectly captured the same feel and told the same story.  The casting was absolutely phenomenal.  It's really too bad the Oscars doesn't have a "Best Ensemble" category, because these ladies were all equally amazing.  Bryce Dallas Howard and Emma Stone deserved nominations not to mention Allyson Janney and Sissy Spacek, just a shame they didn't seem to get the recognition they deserved. I think the biggest reason this one didn't get more attention is that for some reason it has the reputation of being a "chick flick" I guess because the cast is almost solely women? I don't know, but it most definitely is not, it's about race relations in the 60's told from the perspective of women.  I think one of the reasons this book and movie have been so popular is the unique voice it has.  Definitely one of my favorites from this year's crop.

Excessively Loud and Increasingly Close.  Or the movie no one can get the name right.  Decent.  It told the story well and it wasn't boring BUT I didn't really connect with any of the characters and therefore didn't really have the emotions it wanted me to.  My heart didn't break for the boy as it should have, I didn't have the empathy I should have had for the Mother and I didn't hate the person I should have.  The whole thing just left me feeling really neutral. I think it could have benefited from better casting of the boy.  He really seemed to be "acting" in many of the scenes and therefore not really believable.  The best I can say is that it was o.k.

The Artist.  This was by far the one I was looking forward to the most.  I'm also fairly certain it's going to win the best picture Oscar is all the scuttlebutt is to be believed.  Does it deserve it? Hmmm... maybe.  It is absolutely, certainly unique. It's cute.  It's entertaining. It's sweet. I really, really liked it.  I think it's been been way too hyped though.  I think the ironic thing is that one message of the movie is that silent movies died out because it's all just "mugging" for the camera.  And what did the actors mostly do in this movie? Mug for the camera. I'd say go see it, but definitely, if possible see it on the big screen. I don't think it would have held my attention well enough otherwise.

Midnight in Paris.  I shamelessly loved it.  Such a fun story, one that really plays on the fantasy of many including myself. I felt really connected to Owen Wilson's character because of this and was really invested in his adventure.  I also shamelessly love Paris, even though I've never been, so seeing so many wonderful sights from my dream city was another big plus for me.  I thought OW really got his character just right.  The stunned disbelief even when he does believe it's all really happening was pitch perfect and he was really able to bring a new nuance to the traditional neurotic Woody Allen characters by being somehow mellow about his neurosis.  Wonderfully light movie to end on.  Loved it.  If you think you aren't a Woody Allen fan, this one might change your mind, then go back and watch one of my favorite movies of all time.  Annie Hall.

That's it! One other observation.  Every single movie this year ended on a mostly happy note.  Certainly NOT the case every year.

attempt number 472 to contain the kid crap

Gah! Toys, toys, everywhere toys! If you are like most parents of small children, you have approximately 11 billion toys and no where to put them. It's nearly impossible to contain them.  I have come up with a few strategies though, and here they are;

• Limit what you allow people to give.  *Warning Grandparents hate this one!* Our daughter never had a play kitchen, her own tepee or anything bigger than she was. She was not scarred by this, I promise. We live in a 1200 square foot house, we just don't have room for that.
• Edit constantly and liberally.  Although our daughter plays with all her toys, she is hardly ever really attached to anything.  She's a spoiled child of the 21st century... she knows more is on the way.  If you are really struggling with this one, you can always edit and keep them in the garage for say, a month.  If the children don't look for anything in the donation pile, out it goes with no guilt.
• Remember, it's your house! You are the one that goes to work to pay for it.  YOU get to dictate how it looks, not the kids.  

So over the 7 years we've had this kiddo, I've tried a bunch of "solutions" that haven't really worked.  Most are just plain old too small or not sturdy enough.   Most of the pictures you see of "toy storage" involve about 3 stuffed animals, some balls, some blocks and an olde timey train. Yeah right.

 

If that was the extent of our toys a lot of things would work.  It's like those pictures of closet organization where the person has three pairs of pants, five shirts, and two purses.  Totally disconnected from real life! Plus, if you are doing any sort of storage in say, the living room, it's still all out in the open.  And again, if our toys looked like the toys above, no problem, in real life though there is at least 3 shades of neon plastic, ponies with hair that will never be straight again, and at a minimum 20 books that have been read to tatters.

So what's our solution? The best thing I've ever found is a giant wicker trunk.  What I like best is that I can just throw everything in it and close the lid.  Outta sight, outta mind.

Open

Closed

The kitty gets to stay out because she's so cute and I don't mind having a few toys lying about. We DO have a child living with us and it's totally fine with me that she's represented by a few things, but the bulk needs to go away when she hits the hay.   Best part about the basket we have now, is that it was only $30 on sale at Cost Plus. So it it gets destroyed at some point, oh well.  If not, it'll be great at storage for other things as the daughter gets older and we have fewer and fewer toys.

Ta-Dah!

Finally! Violet's room is done.  Well... it's 98% done, there is still one thing left I want to do.  Violet had originally wanted an "Angry Birds" room.  Call me horrible, but no.  not going to happen. So this is my version of angry birds. They aren't terribly angry but they are beautiful!

The yellow bed came out perfectly.  It went beautifully with the bedding Violet and I agreed on, which is Spring Sparrow by Pottery Barn. I found the quilt which was just the right rusty red I was looking for at Target.  I thought I was never going to find anything that would work, but there it was, just waiting for me last weekend.

The other side of the room.  Violet's room is extremely small, only 8x10 so we did a few things to maximize the space we do have.  The boxes on the side of the dresser are part of that.

I've had these boxes kicking around the house forever, not knowing exactly what to do with them as we don't really have a great space on the wall for them.  They were absolutely perfect for this project.  One holds library books, one holds hair brushes and accessories and the one attached to her desk is basically a stand in for a night stand.  In such a small space there was no room for both (believe me, we tried!) so a sconce above the bed and this box are just right as as a "stand" in.

 Last thing the ruler growth chart! There are a million tutorials out there on how to do this, and it really couldn't be simpler.  Pick up a piece of wood at the lumber yard, stain it, and add numbers with a sharpie. I absolutely LOVE how it came out.  It's a really fun piece to have to measure everyone that comes over, even adults!


That's it! I'm hoping to take a few better pictures this weekend, but in the Pacific Northwest, who knows when we'll get enough sun to improve them so bear with me!

More Pinterest Hacks!

Pinterest Version

Here it is, the ruler that's been haunting me.  So I decided to incorporate it into Violet's room.  I enlisted my Dad to help me, as he's a civil engineer and really good at measuring things correctly.  Honestly, it was just as easy as it appears to be.  The only tricky part was getting the numbers right.  We went through several ideas of what the best way to transfer them to the wood.   Turns out this tutorial was right, only I didn't use the pencil on the back.  I just eyeballed it.  I love how it turned out.   I'll show the full version when I finally, finally, FINALLY post about Violet's finished room.  For now, here's a section.  Not bad for a $10 project.

My Version

Best Picture Showcase 2012 Part 1

Time to talk about my (our) other great love.  The movies.  Eric and I absolutely love movies.  In fact, we love them so much we had our reception at a converted movie theatre.  Since we've had our daughter, we don't get out to see the movies we want as often as we'd like so AMC made it easy for us by creating the The Best Picture Showcase. It's all of the movie nominated for best picture IN A ROW.  Since they changed it to being more like 10 movies they now do it over two weekends in our market, but if they had the 24 hour marathon we love the movies enough to do it.  Unfortunately, this year Eric had to work on the first weekend so I went with my Mom, another movie lover. Here's what we saw:

War Horse.  Let me start by saying that I really liked this movie a lot more than expected.  Generally Stephen Spielberg is not my favorite, but this one was actually good enough for me to roll my eyes a little bit less than normal.  I think it's partly because this wasn't his story, it was previously a broadway play. ,and prior to that a children's book. Regardless, it still gets the award for being the most typical movie of the bunch.  It's sweeping, it's epic, it's beautifully shot and it's heartbreakingly sad.  It also tells you exactly how to feel in every moment of the movie through music and mood.  I'm generally not above these emotions, I cried several times but there was one scene in particular in which I had to stifle laughter.  When the main character has been wounded in battle and has a bandage covering his eyes after being blinded, it was just sooo "Oscar Movie" stereotype, it stopped me from being entirely swept away by the story and brought me back to reality with a bit of a thud making it my least favorite movie of the day.

Next up.  Moneyball.  I think the movie poster says a lot by having "Brad Pitt" above everything else.  Brad IS the movie, he's in virtually every scene and is absolutely the heart and soul of the film.  So it's a good thing he's awesome.  A lot of people I've talked to are scared away from this movie because it revolves around baseball, but it's not really about baseball.  It's about everyone's struggle to do something greater, to leave a mark and to make things change.  It's about living up to your potential and being open to the possibility that you potential might not actually have anything to do with what you thought it might be.  This movie really took what seems like a boring subject, putting together baseball teams based on statistical fact, and turned it into something that everyone in the audience could care about and make their own.  Loved it.

Third: Tree of Life.  Oh my.  I think this movie is a little bit love it or hate it.  Although, we'd rented it on DVD and I HATED it.  I thought it was boring and sophomoric.  It seemed to be saying that it turns out our lives are somewhat meaningless in the scope of the universe.  Shocking.  However, as a movie lover I'll sit through anything and it's my opinion if you are going to do something like watch all the nominees... you do it.  Why not? You are already there.  I'm so glad I did.  It was astoundingly better the second time around.  Partly because I think it was played at the proper volume so we were able to hear all the little things going on in the background that I didn't pick up at home.  This really gave it another dimension for me.  I also gave it a lot more leeway and just watched without trying to understand.  I think that was really the key to the movie, and unlike WarHorse this movie doesn't tell you at all how to feel about any of it.  It just puts it out there and lets you interpret it any way you like.  That said, a lot of people left. LOL  LOTS of people were really glad it was over, but as a convert I suggest watching it more than once to really experience this one.

Fourth and Final for the Day, the Descendents. Loved it! The story and the performances were absolutely amazing. Who would have through Blair's boyfriend would be one of the greatest actors we have? The story followed a family that like many families is so busy with the business of living that we forget to actually connect with those that mean the most until a tragedy occurs that shocks everyone enough to remind them to pay attention.  Sounds like a typical movie plot, but it was done so well that you forget you may or may not have seen many movies with the same message.  The girl from "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" surely put in a surprising performance and after this, she'll likely be leaving that show in a New York minute.  Amazing movie, my favorite of the day. 

In case you are wondering, we were at the theater from 9:30 to 9:30.  My tips for getting through the day;  Stay hydrated, I drank 3 large sodas and 2 giant bottles of water.  Don't eat the theater food, it'll make you sleepy and you are inert for about 12 hours.  You don't need many calories to keep going. Go for a 5 minute brisk walk between the movies and stretch.  Wear something comfortable.  Bring a blanket.  Have fun!

Sneak Peak

I'm almost done with Violet's room, but I wanted to show how the bed turned out before I do the whole room. It's beautiful! It was so so worth the work.

It really goes with the bedding she chose perfectly.  It is beautifully set off by the wall color.  Hurrah! All that work paid off!

 Close up of what the brush strokes ended up looking like. Not bad.

Couple tips if you decided to do this project.
1. Sand the brass well
2. Spray the primer evenly
3. Painstaking, thin even coats is the only way to go
4. You only need about a teaspoon of paint when it's all said and done.  I bought a gallon and you can't even tell I used some.
5.Make sure your lighting is good so the coverage is even

That's it! Stayed tuned for the final reveal and how to make the most of an 8x10 bedroom.

Cheers!

Getting Purse-onal

Yeah, ouch that pun was bad.....

O.k. so I have a (not-so) secret obsession with being "perfectly packed" and this includes my purse I carry around everyday. Yes. I have some issues. I get asked a lot about "what all is in there" so I thought why not completely over-share?

Here's what I like to have with me in my purse.  These all get me through most any occasion without being completely overloaded.

• iPhone.  What would we do without the iPhone? It’s a camera, a notepad, a gps, a date planner, a movie player, an internet browser, a DS, a book…..  Basically anything you want it to, it can do.  It has to be one of the most amazing inventions ever. 
• Ear Buds love these cheapies.  They work great, especially for the price. 
• Cable Keeper another super invention.  Keeps those ear bud cords from making a huge tangled mess.
• Splitter love this for times when two people want to hear.  We use this a lot on road trips. 
• Flashlight not something everyone thinks to carry in their purse, but I use mine all the time.  Mainly to find things IN my purse!  I’ve used it in the movie theater to find dropped items (after the movie is over of course) in a power outage at work etc.  It comes in handy.
• Wipes can be used for the obvious or to clean any surface.  I use mine for public tables quite a bit.
• Wallet I like having one that can also be used as a clutch in case I don’t want to take my whole purse. I also almost always go with a red wallet.  I read years ago that having a red wallet will make it easier to find in your purse, seems true to me!  Plus if you pull it out as a clutch, red is surprisingly neutral.
• Pen Space pens are amazing, I recommend getting one in a bright color so it’s easy to find.
• Water. I keep one of those tiny Trader Joe’s bottles in my purse for an emergency drink, or more often for my daughter so we don’t have to track down a water fountain in the middle of the mall.
• Snack; keep yourself and your children from eating junk food by keeping a small snack on hand.
• First Aid Kit.  I love this little kit.  It’s just the right size for a few Band-Aids, gauze and antiseptic spray.  I also keep a few individually wrapped Advil and Tylenol packages for those random aches and pains, few safety pins and a book of matches too.
• Nail Clippers always a good idea to have these around, choose one with a built in file.
• Tide Pen; trust me, just get the 6 pack.  You’ll use it.
• Scissors another one that comes in handy quite often, especially when I’m with my daughter. Clipping tags off new toys, random threads, and emergency craft projects, etc.
• Wisps love these! A little on the wasteful side, but just great when you need a quick toothbrushing or have an unexpected overnight trip. 
• Floss for the obvious, or when you need a bit of string, floss works great!
• Crayons perfect for boredom.  Small manageable package and better than 4 pack of crayons most restaurants hand out.  These kind twist up so they never break and come in a nice little package which restrains them from getting all over everything else in your purse. 
• Coloring Book the 4x6 size are the perfect size to keep in your purse on a regular basis. 
• Business Card Holder you never know who you are going to meet! I keep both my business cards, and my Mom cards in there just in case.  I love my yummy butter yellow case too.
• Sniffs; a huge hit with most everyone that needs a tissue. 
• Chapstick of course!
• Handwarmers in the winter months SunScreen wipes in the summer months.  
• Notecards and Stamps; nicer than a post it, and you can mail it. 
• Hairbrush and Hair Elastics I like the brush because it folds away very compactly and has a built in mirror, and the clear bands because they appropriate for lots of hairstyles.
• Altoids and Gum a must.
• Sunglasses even for rainy Seattle, sunglasses are a necessity.
• Umbrella speaking of rainy Seattle, I’ve gotta have a small umbrella.   
• Lipgloss this is the only make-up I keep in my purse.
• Tampons because we’re girls. LOL  I carried these in my purse even when I was pregnant.  There is no one in the world more grateful than the random lady in the restroom in need and out of quarters. 
• Tape Measure you just wouldn't believe how often I use this.  Also for a decorating nut like myself, you never know when you are going to find the perfect thing yet wonder if it'll fit in the space you have in mind.
• $100 cash.  Enough for a small emergency, but be sure to save it for that emergency! Keep it in a tucked away pocket, not in your wallet. 
• $2 in quarters.  It’s fun to let your child be able to ride the horse in front of the grocery store every now and again; it’s even more fun to leave a couple quarters for another kid to ride.

Side Pockets

Main Compartment

Front Pockets

 So there you have it! Everything you need conveniently located in your purse.  What do you like to keep in your purse? Do you think this is too much? Is there something I've missed that you can't live without? I'd love to hear about it!

Cheers! (there may, or may not be a shot of crown hidden in there.....)

Location, location, location

Just like in real estate, location is everything when it comes to hanging things on the walls.  Get it wrong and it looks like your 5 year old decorated your home. So how do you get it right? Templates. Keep in mind this is going to take you a little extra time, but the result will be worth it.

All you have to do is take whatever object you are hanging on the wall and trace it with craft paper, or if you are feeling festive and have some lying around, wrapping paper. The other thing you'll want to do is mark where the hanging points on the paper.  That way, once you get the placement right, you can put the nails in over the paper templates thereby getting exactly the same placement as the template. this comes in handy when you are wanting to hang something in a grid or straight line and your frames don't have exactly the same hanging points.

In this case, I was hanging a scattering of barn stars above my bed and wanted to make sure I got the "Oh, I just randomly threw those up on the wall.  Don't they look fabulous? There was no effort at all" look.  Here are all the paper stars hung up with tape.

Paper Stars

Once I got the placement right, I hammered in the nails, ripped down the paper stars and hung the actual stars.

Actual Stars

That's it! It seems like a little more work, but it's so much easier to move tape than nails if you get it wrong the first time around and you can really play around with it to get the exact look you want.

Cheers!

Pinterest *Sigh*

Unless you've been living under a rock you may have heard of Pinterest.  It's nothing short of completely amazing.  Every idea you could ever think of, and a lot that would have never occurred to you live on that site. The sheer number of creative bloggers is astounding to say the least, and I'd like to blame Pinterest for taking up all of my spare time by either looking at the site, trying to replicate something I found or trying to track down some amazing item that I never knew I just had to have. This brings me to how I spent my weekend.  Look what I found.

Beautiful isn't it? 

GORGEOUS! Just stunning, and clearly, I have to have it for myself.  Well... not for myself exactly, for my very lucky daughter Violet.  O.k. she'd be lucky if she cared about it even a little.  So I found this on Craig's list:

Pretty close right?

Great! I'll take it.  I read the above blog and the bloggess explained how she'd sanded, primed and painted the bed.  Cool.  Sounds easy.  I can do it.  Have I ever done anything like this before? Heck no!

Sanding...
What?
What does your garage look like?

Sanding was a bit scary...  of course, what's the worst thing that could happen?  I'd have scratched up a bed I got for a bargain on Craig's list. Then I primed it using the metal Rustoleum spray paint.  Then I began painting, and painting, and painting! I'm on coat #3 and I think I need one more.  Wow.  That's a lot of painting. Even though this bed isn't ornate there more nooks and crannys that seem possible! I think one more coat ought to do it.  I surely hope so.  Here's a preview.  I do love how it looks so far, so hopefully it'll be worth an entire weekend's plus of work!

Preview of project yellow bed

So stay tuned for the final finished product.....

Cheers!