Home Decor with Vinyl

Here's a quick post highlighting some fun I recently had with vinyl.

Dog Food Jars

I love these big pickle jars (picked up at Fred Meyer for less than $20) for keeping our dog food dry and accessible.  As Sawyer requires a $pecial diet, we have separate jars, but kids don't always pay attention as to which is which.  So I decorated them to avoid any further confusion.

Originally I wanted their pictures on the blank frame areas below, but as I do wash these out by hand, I hadn't thought of a good way to secure a laminated picture.  They're blank for now, but I will fill them in soon.

Carts:  Paper Pups, Art Nouveau, A Frightful Affair, Paper Lace

My baby girl, Kate.

My craft buddy, Sawyer.

 Cricut vinyl in Black and White.

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Wall Art

Next up is a Christmas gift I made for my husband this year - his passion is golf.  These photos were snapped on a golf outing with two of his boys, and on a trip to Pebble Beach with his dad.

I expected him to want to put this collection either in his office or downstairs by the golf closet, but he chose to have them more prominently displayed by our stairs - how sweet!

12x12" canvases from Craft Warehouse - $7.50 ea on sale.  Photos printed out at local FedEx (Kinko's) for just a few dollars.  They were trimmed to 11 1/2 x 11 1/2". 

Brown vinyl from Provo Craft.  Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain.  Photos edited in PSE 9 and Perfect Effects 4.

As you can see I love decorating with photographs in my home!  My hubby picked the spot and arranged the golf art just so.

I've used this fun cart for several projects - but truth be told, I mostly bought it because of the golf art.

Design was created on my Gypsy.  I broke the original art into 2, 11 1/2"mats, deleted some cuts, and stretched it to fit.

This is how the original artwork shows up. (Please excuse the glare, but just at that minute the sun peeked through!)

Thanks for stopping by!

I Love Decorating with Photographs!

Years ago I belonged to a book club dedicated to home decor, crafts, and improvements.  One of the books in that collection was called "Decorating with Family Photographs." This was back in the infancy of digital photography, and I didn't even own a real camera, only the disposable kind.  I liked the idea of a whole wall or staircase filled with pictures, especially vintage ones.  I just felt it "made" a home and was plain old interesting.  (Check out other ideas on my Pinterst board pinterest.com/bernadet/for-the-home/ )


You know what? As the single gal I just admired the concept, but never acted on the thought.  What was I going to have, a dozen pictures of my baby girl pug on the wall?  (Come to think of it that wouldn't have been all that bad!)  Well I finally got married at 38 and was so fortunate that my husband came with kids (voila, photo ops galore!), and a super-awesome family with a rich history of photos.  His mom was generous to loan me entire albums of their family to scan, even Jim's father's baby book from the 1930s, and "glamour" shots of both sets of grandparents back in the early days of the depression.  Wow, what a gift!

I already have several walls (that staircase wall is coming along) and multiple bookshelves with family photos on them.  While at HomeGoods recently (http://www.homegoods.com/ - great items at great prices found here) I picked up some items to decorate the top of a naked bureau in our entry.  I did buy candles for the candlesticks from another store, but I need something different, so I know there's still an element missing.

As I was arranging this new vignette, I had input from all the family members... what photos to go in the frames, how to arrange them, color schemes, ect.  (This photo makes them look a variety of colors from green to orange, but they really are mostly sepia toned.)  At one point, while getting the nod of approval from Jim, I hugged him and said, "I am so happy to have a wealth of family photos to decorate with, its something I've always wanted.  It makes me really feel a sense of family, and makes our house feel like a home - with interest and history!"  I love him for adding that texture to our lives!

Entry bureau.  Holds leashes and dog walking accessories; and homemade afghans and quilts for getting cuddly (with dogs) in front of the TV.

 I did have my grandparent's 1940 wedding photo on the bureau too, but decided it fit better here.  I figured I could periodically swap it with the other 8x10 on the bureau.

Etagere in the entry of our bedroom.  Opposite this is a bookcase jam packed with books and what else...?  More photos of course.

 I'm not much of a scrapbooker, but as my brother-in-law recently sent me a CD of family photos of their lives in Germany, I couldn't resist creating a layout featuring my nephew on horseback.  I pulled out an old LO of one of my favorite pix of Jim, framed them, and added a little wall vinyl courtesy of my "Word Collage" cart.  Instantly more photo decor in my office.

Office wall, above my desk.  Yes, I know, the "r" in "paper"  is AWOL.  I need to fix that.

My new L.O. featuring Dom and his first week ever of riding lessons in Austria.  AWESOME subject matter!

Here's a visual list of the photos profiled here.  Thanks for checking in to my blog.  Happy snapping!

Washington, 2008

North Dakota, 1940

North Dakota, 1948

Washington, 1963

Munich, Germany, 2010

Austria, 2010