blank walls

I have a confession to make - for the last five, almost six years of living in our home ... I've hardly put any artwork on the walls. And honestly for me, it's a travesty! Okay, maybe not that tragic, but you know what I'm saying. Can I even call myself remotely creative when I have nothing on my walls? Okay, save for a photo print of trees that someone gave us for a wedding gift and a photo rope filled with baby announcements and wedding save-the-dates in the kitchen. A friend from college once said "blank walls are the sign of a blank mind," a statement that I don't necessarily agree with, but it sure does make for some boring decor!

So lately I've been pinning artwork on one of my Pinterest boards to try to nail down a style or look that I like, and I realize why my walls have been so blank all these years! I have a fear of commitment - "print commitment" if you will. A hilarious concept, really. I'm afraid that what I put up there is going to be there forever and an inaccurate representation of who we are. And I think I just need to bite the bullet and get hammering! These photo hanging strips will help me with my commitment-phobia so I can change things out more easily if that Magritte/Super Mario print doesn't tickle my fancy anymore (which in fact, it doesn't!).

Here are a few art prints I've been eyeing:

This first one is from the American Cancer Society and is by Andrew Bannecker. It's called "Wish."

It is a great tribute to the fight against cancer, which I'm all for.

I love the rustic wood type print and colors in this next print by normatstudio and I'd love to create something like this with another saying.

This print has a great sentiment and I love the hand drawn words.

My summer project will be to get some art and photography up on the walls, and hopefully in the coming posts you'll see the final layout. Whether or not these works of art will make it, well, that's another story!

simple slip ons

My search for the perfect slip-on sneaker continues, I must be mourning the old days of Keds. I was reminded of the comfy shoe search when this ad popped into my mailbox. J.Crew is carrying these sweet Bensimons for the under 12 set. Aren't these great? The colors are perfect! Modern, minimalist, and fun.

image via jcrew

japanese inspiration

Fun fun fun - the last two days the hubs and I have been on a mission - to find journals for his Sunday School class for church. We wanted something affordable, portable (about Bible-sized) and cool. So where did we go? Daiso, of course! The store where you can find anything and everything under the sun. Lots of little things, tons of cutesy things, but loads of treasures to be had! Lucky for us there are two that are nearby, so we hit both to find what we needed. I purchased one beautiful pink textured rice bowl as a catch-all for my nightstand, some gray felt (for a future project), and then exercised restraint! But I was still inspired by quite a few goodies, see some ideas below.

Take a look at those wavy white bowls they'd be great to hold jewelry, serve a lovely dessert (a custard perhaps?), or even as a candle holder. And the two graphic notebooks with screen printed stripes on kraft paper? Awww yeah, talk about happy note taking! Almost couldn't hold myself together on those guys, but I reminded myself that I have more than enough (free real estate) notepads at home. A few other great ideas struck me as I was browsing, so I jotted them down in my notebook:

Lace paper doilies (10 pack) - would be neat at a table setting on individual plates, or used on a canvas with decoupage and paint for a one-of-a-kind art piece

Pearlized wrapping paper in pastel shades - wrapping glam gifts for a wedding or shower or lining clothing drawers

Tiny glass jars with cork stoppers - curio jars filled with collections of buttons, beads, sand, or used to store q-tips or cotton balls for the bathroom, mini terrariums

White gingham patterned cellophane muffin cups (a mouthful!) (4 pack) - serve muffins for a sweet brunch in individual servings, fill with cherries and place in a cello bag for favors (tie with jute string)

Thin canvas board and paints - express yourself and go wild, make yourself an art piece for home on the cheap

And the best part about all this goodness? Most everything mentioned is a mere $1.50! Sweet! You gotta love the Japanese. And yes, we did find some cool journals for the hubba.