eclectic entryway gallery wall.

i really love our entryway.

guests step off our front porch into this cozy little area of our house, with stone floors and light grey walls.  i have had a beautiful green buffet from my favorite antique store that i bought last summer, but it's been pretty empty other than that for the past few months.  over the summer i've been trying to finish it up!  i still have a few projects in the works, but i was eager to complete this one.

i have a thing for gallery walls (if you can't tell from my house).  i love, love, love them.  most of mine are full of pictures, but i wanted a really eclectic one for our entryway in a giant blank space we have above a little bench.  it was really important to me that it represented our family and all the things that we want our home to be about.  

i tried a few different things and hemmed and hawed over what i wanted it to look like.  i changed it a few times (ok: you guys do NOT want to know how many nail holes are in this wall...yikes) and ultimately came up with this:

and i just love it.  i wanted it to be full of things that say "us" as we welcome friends and family into our home.  i love color, words that are special to us, different textures and pictures, so this wall just really makes me so very happy.  here's a closer look at all of the pieces:

i knew from the beginning i wanted this verse displayed in our entryway; it is such an expression of our family and what is most important to us.  i've been wanting to try my hand at embroidery for a while now: yall, i used to faithfully cross-stitch when i was a little girl.  i think i started a million different ones and never actually finished any of them, but see?  i was a grandma at like age eight.  and i loved it.  so in an effort to return to my stitching roots, i ordered this pattern off of etsy, transferred it with dressmaking paper to the embroidery fabric and needled away.  it's definitely not perfect, but i love it.  and now i want a new embroidery project...definitely addicting!

this is one of my favorite parts of the whole wall.  i found these little typography porclein trays at nordstrom for ten bucks.  i seriously love them (and the "c" just happened to be yellow&turquoise...it was so meant to be).  i knew i wanted to put mine on this gallery wall, so i just glued a ribbon loop on the back so i could hang it in the middle of a frame. check them out; they're so cute!

there's my ikea kvill frame again; this baby is plastic and only like four dollars, but i love it and want one for every room.  this one displays one of my favorite family pics that was taken last fall by a great photographer here in maine (cait wilson photography; check her out!  she is awesome!)  i love how my coral sweater and bella's coral shoes match my "home sweet home" print.  i know; i'm such a nerd.

a while ago, i found this strip of wood in our garage in a scrap pile and i grabbed it as fast as i could.  i love how it looks weathered and the little knot hole in the end just adds character.  with just a coat of paint and some cursive writing in bright paint, i knew it was just perfect for my wall.  i thought and thought about a word that i wanted to describe the mission of our family and what captured us, and finally i landed on "love".  when i was single, if anyone asked me what i looked for in a man, i always said that i wanted to find someone who "loved jesus and loved others".  when i met nick, this was totally his heartbeat (and the verse he had on his myspace page... yes, myspace...i know, we are old!)  i want our home to be a place where people feel loved; not just our girls, but all who enter.  

i found this plate at tj's on clearance a couple of years ago for like three dollars: score.  it's perfect for the vintage-y theme of our home.  the photo above it is one of my favs taken by my dear friend of amanda kate photography; if you're in dallas, look her up!  you will not regret it, friends!!  i wanted to do something different, so i took the glass out and just used scotch tape to stick the photo to the wall in the middle of the frame.

if you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you know that i love lace and i love doilies.  i've refered to my decorating style as "funkified grandma"; it's totally true.  i love decorating with embroidery hoops to add pops of color and also some variation in shape and texture.

i'm in love with all things katie daisy and her etsy shop, the wheatfield.  i have a few of her prints in our home, and wanted this one for our entryway (for obvious reasons).  my sweet sister surprised me with it for my birthday last year, and i was so excited!  i love the color and cheerfulness that it gives this wall.

there you have it, guys.  an eclectic entryway gallery wall with so many things precious to my family's heart.  i love this sweet little display.  i am a firm believer in decorating with things you love, items that represent you and what makes you happy.  this is a perfect example of that for me.

because home should be sweet.

home tour {our master bedroom}.

let me just start off this post by saying: our room barely ever looks like this.  usually, the bed is unmade, piles of clean clothes are waiting to be put away and the girls blankets and dolls litter the floor.  

i do love our bedroom.  i have visions for a few things i'd like to change over the years... i found a tutorial for long, ruffled, white curtain panels i'd like to make for the windows.  our bedroom furniture (bedframe, nightstands and dressers) are from ikea.  they're too modern and dark for my taste, but it's what we have for now.  ideally i would love to find a scrolly, white antique wrought iron bedframe but i don't think they have them in a king size!  and i'd love to find nightstands and an old dresser at a yard sale to refinish myself.  someday.  there's also a large, empty wall to the right of our bed i can't wait to decorate.  i have several ideas in my head for a gallery wall filled with everything that encompasses nick&i.  but that is another project for another day.

nick told me yesterday that i'm obsessed with turquoise.  i really do love it.  and i also love the combination of turquoise and mustard yellow.  we bought our bedding at target years ago, and i love it.  i'd been trying to figure out for a few years what color i wanted to pair with it.  we decided to paint our walls a light grey (smooth stone by glidden).  the accents of turquoise in our room add extra punches of color throughout.

our bed is honestly the most comfortable place on earth.  i'm not even kidding.  we bought this pillow top king sized mattress from friends of ours who had just purchased it and didn't love it's softness.  i remember the first morning we woke up from a night's slumber on our new mattress.  nick said "we slept like a king and queen!"  it seriously is like sleeping on a cloud.  we used to look forward to staying in hotels to sleep in a king sized bed.  now i can't wait to get home and sleep in our bed.  i also love that on saturday mornings it is filled with two little girls, dolls and blankets.  we love bringing the girls in bed with us on weekends or snow days and all snuggling together.

view from the hallway

our bedding: dwell studio "foliage" for target

we bought a set of flannel sheets from target for extra warmth this winter!  love the turquoise ticking stripe

paper bag wreath and frame modpodged with paper doilies for texture

refinished lamp: spraypainted base and paper doilies modpodged to the shade

pretty pillows.  pom pom trim and fabric flowers: two of my true loves.

view into our half bath

yard sale table i refinished

i love the turquoise color, vintage accents and pretty crystal knobs

antique plates

an old shutter given from a friend, birds, thrifted frames and a pretty vase

turquoise accents

love our  bird & floral printed shower curtain: tj maxx

dresser and framed fabric

framed wedding photo and vintage creamer

love this vintage inspired photo of nick&i in this floral tj maxx frame

looking into the hall from our room

 there you have it.  our master bedroom/half bath.  i'll be sure to post updates of my gallery wall project and ruffled curtains whenever i get around to accomplishing those!

thanks for stopping by :)

* if you missed the first stop on our home tour, here is our living room and why i felt inspired to share our home.

a paris party.

we had a sweet little party for my two year old bella a few weeks ago. just a little shindig with family and a few close friends to celebrate my little pumpkin who exudes sweetness and all things girly.

it was so fun.

around christmastime, i was browsing through babygap when i stumbled upon this dress:

i know, riiiiight? adorable. my mom, sister and my sister's mother-in-law were with me and we all ooohed and ahhhed over how precious this dress was when i had the thought: how cute would it be for bella to wear this dress for her birthday and throw a paris-themed party to match? and there, a party theme was born.

i was super crunched for both time and energy this year planning her party with caring for a month old emmy and very little sleep. but i still wanted to make it special. the backdrop to the food table was the hugest time consumer. holy cow. for the main focal point of the party, i used decorative scrapbook paper to make several paper medallions (i used this tutorial to make these suckers). using scotch tape and yarn, i created this garland on our dining room hutch with the "ooh la la" swag to make it super paris-y. i love how it turned out!

i love displaying pictures at bella's birthday parties (and in about eleven months, emmy's!). i just love photographs, period, but also showing them throughout a year's span is so special to see just how much she's grown... and displaying special memories from the past twelve months. i printed several of my favorites and used them to create these garlands that i hung over each doorway into our dining room and living room. paired with eiffel tower playing cards and paper doilies, i loved this paris-y photo bunting!

i also found this paris plate at tj maxx for around five bucks. it used it to add to the decor on our dining room hutch since it served as the backdrop to the food table. i loved the simple black&white design.

my sister's mother-in-law (i really need a shorter name for her as she is like family to us!) lent me her cricut complete with a paris-themed cartridge, which was a huge lifesaver. i used it to create tiny paris-themed icons such as eiffel towers, poodles, high heeled shoes, purfume bottles, to make toppers for bella's chocolate cupcakes.

food for our guests included fruit trays, crackers and cheese and chocolate cupcakes. i also loaded up a pink basket with croissants and made a homemade honey butter that i served alongside strawberry jam.

one of bella's fav treats are chocolate donut holes from tim hortons. to make them look a bit more elegant, i stuck lollipop sticks in each one, and tied a knot from white ribbon on the end of each stick. the kids loved these; donuts as lollipops? what's not to love? i think bella and jude had about seven each before the party even started.

to label each of the foods, i created these food cards out of the scrapbook paper. using the cricut, i cut luggage tag shapes out of white cardstock and then glued a ribbon on the end of each (after all, paris requires traveling!)

nick's parents were in town which made bella's party *extra* special. i was so thankful for my sweet mother-in-law who helped me all morning pull things together. she helped glue cupcake toppers, tied lots of ribbon-knots and even made and frosted the cake for me! the cake mix was store bought chocolate, but i found this recipe which made the most scrumptious buttercream frosting! it was the talk of the party. i topped the cake with a doily, paper medallion and eiffel tower card that i glued to lollipop sticks. my cousin rachel (who photographed the party for me!) also lent me a gold eiffel tower figurine that i used as well.

bella had a great time at her party. the minute we put her dress on, she kept twirling and saying "look at my princess dress!" told you. such a girl. she got some great gifts; pajamas, cute dresses and skirts, books, a cash register toy, play pots, pans and dishes...

nick&i bought her this sweet vintage kitchen set that i'd been eyeing for almost a year! it's been a huge hit.

and meme got her this awesome playhouse that is perfect on our back deck. bella loves it! so do her friends...

it was such a special day for our little girl. i was exhausted when it was over, but my heart felt so *full*. bella is already blessed with so many people that love her and will forever be a part of her life.

happy birthday, bella grace! we love you so, so much.

(check out bella's vintage garden party from last year here)

this post was linked to these *lovely* blogs:

dyi by design

southern lovely

my girlish whims

shabby nest

love notes by lauryn

tatertots&jello

homemaker in heels

at the picket fence

shaken together
liz marie