Repainted Frames Before and After - Floating Photo Booth Art

I mentioned last week that I wanted to add some more personal art to our home.

Over the weekend I completed a quick and easy project: turning some old art pieces I snagged from my grandparents' house into floating framed photo booth art.

 I originally had different plans for these frames that included using some of the cards from the box of goodies I showed you last post. As I tend to always do, I changed my mind last minute and decided to use pictures from the wedding we went to last weekend.

In keeping with my Fall To-Do List, I spruced these old frames up and hung them in our dining room on either side of the windows. 

(Please excuse the dark picture. I have yet to master taking photos of windows during the daytime. This was after tweaking exposure a little, too. Anyone want to teach me a trick or two?)

We have some big changes coming to the dining room hopefully this weekend, which include a big furniture swap. We are giving my in-laws back their antique set and taking Jordan's smaller, more modern set from his old apartment at his parent's house. 

I'm pretty excited because the other set is darker and will look great with the wall color (Martha Stewart's 'Sharkey Grey') and the crown molding. I haven't given up on my dream dining room table, but this will be a good temporary fix that better suits us until we find or make the table we want. 

I will post a tutorial for the floating art tomorrow. 

Getting Personal

I can be quite sentimental. And although many people don't necessarily see that side of him, Jordan can be too. He is quite the romantic. He was born on Valentine's Day after all! He is a great gift-giver because he listens and remembers (like the jewelry box I was lusting after from PB and the watch I had been craving for almost a year). When we first started dating he did a number of sweet things like leaving flowers in my room while I was at class and making CDs of songs that made him think of me. A regular Romeo, right?

I have this shoebox.

 And in that shoebox I keep things that are meaningful to Jordan and me.

Maps from vacations we have taken; miscellaneous pictures from the beginning of our relationship; a receipt from a restaurant where Jordan worked and where I would visit him after we first met; the Banana Republic ring that he surprised me with when the one I bought myself lost a (fake) diamond (it's now too tarnished to wear); all the mixed CDs he made me in our first year of dating (the first one is still my favorite); cards from the flowers he sends me for my birthday, or our anniversary, or just because; table markers from weddings we've attended; little notes he has written to me; and all the cards Jordan has given to me while we've been together:

6 Christmases, 

6 Valentine's Days, 

6 Birthdays, 

1 Graduation,

1 Wedding Anniversary

1 Mother's Day

and many 'Just Because'

Some cards are simple and to the point,

others, he wrote from the heart.

I intentionally angled so you couldn't exactly read what he wrote, but you get the gist. :)

The cards are probably my favorite of all the things I've kept. 

Every once and a while I go through them and read Jordan's sweet words.

Anyway, back to the point of this post :)

I love and appreciate all things personal or sentimental.

I try to incorporate a lot of personal pieces into our home decor. 

Take the wood stained art I made for Jordan for our anniversary featuring the lyrics to our wedding song (Van Morrison's 'Crazy Love.').

 We hung it in our hallway as a symbol and reminder of our wedding.

Lucy's name hanger in her room with her first swimsuit.

Our subway sign has personal significance as it is the train route we take to travel to Boston each summer.

(Read how to make your own here.)

The gallery wall in Lucy's nursery showcases our hospital bracelets and the horoscope from the day Lucy was born.

I even mentioned before about my love for all things monogrammed.

And of course, what's more sentimental than a wall full of photos from our wedding?

We have an old mason jar that we use to store tickets from events we've attended together:

baseball games, basketball games, concerts, movies, and so on.

We probably each have tickets in our wallets, too, that we both have held onto after going somewhere. 

We sometimes forget to put them in the jar. 

Lately I've been wanting to add some personal art in our house.
I truly love all the personal items we have to date, so why not add more?
I have a few ideas in mind, but you all will just have to wait and see. 

Two Month Milestones

Yesterday marked Lucy's two month birthday! Today she had her two month appointment at the pediatrician which included two shots. I don't know who was more traumatized by the shots, Lucy or me. I'm going to say me since she is snoozing next to me as I type this and we just got back from the doctor. Nothing breaks your heart more than seeing your little baby crying in pain. And these were new cries that I had never heard before. Extra squeaky pathetic shrieks with big fat tears. Her little face would get so red when each cry started because she couldn't catch her breath. It took everything in me not to be a blubbering mom in the doctor's office. I only let myself shed 2 or 3 tears in the car afterwards. Ugh...

I didn't write a post like this at her one month mark, although I did write her milestones down in a notebook to later be put into her baby book (a big project I have yet to even think about taking on). It really is crazy and great to see the progress Lucy has made in the last month. She really is becoming her own little person and she makes us laugh every day.

The Stats:

Weight: 10 pounds, 7.4 ounces

Length: 23.75 inches 

(She is in the 90th percentile for length! She did not get her height from her parents)

• Sleeps around 13 hours each day (7 of them are straight at night, woohoo!)
• Eats 3-4 ounces every three hours (except at night). Eating strictly breast milk.
• Can hold her head steady when being held upright. Will sit in bumbo for 5 minute periods.
• WIll push off your chest when laying down on her belly.
• 'Talks' to us (mmm, umm, oh, ah, gah)
• Smiles a lot! Can now smile when she sees your smile. Before she only smiled when she heard it in your voice.
• She has giggled a handful of times. Both in her sleep and awake. Although I'm not convinced that I've seen a real one when she's awake. Jordan has, though. 
• Can focus on objects for an extended period of time. Mostly the turtles that dangle on her swing, the bees that hang on her activity mat. And of course on mommy and daddy's faces.
• She is starting to try to suck her thumb but that is the most when it comes to discovering her hands
• Likes being sung to (sung? sang? i don't know...)
• Blows bubbles
• Likes baths, although she does do some mean-muggin' when it's time to rinse off

That's our girl. :)

Weekend in Pictures: Wedding Fun

I am officially obsessed with photo booths!

We went to a wedding this weekend for my friend Matt and they had a photo booth.

It was nice because they printed two copies: one for a book where 

you wrote a message to the newlyweds and one you were able to keep.

They also put the pictures online so you can download for free!

I now want a photo booth at every function. 

My Life Through Instagram

 

Happy Friday!!

Have a great weekend.

xo, J