Easy & Inexpensive Photo Mattes

Hi there!  We are just getting over a looong weekend with Scott being home for a few days and family visiting.  It was great but went by too quickly! 

So for awhile now, I have been meaning to share this quick and easy trick I use to make photos a little more interesting - the title says "inexpensive" but really it's free...unless you buy the magazine....but still!

I don't know about you, but I get a million catalogs and magazines every month.  Normally, I end up looking through both quickly for design inspiration so they just end up in the recycling bin by the end of the day.  But a few years ago I started noticing how pretty some the pages in both catalogs and magazine ads or editorial shoots were framed or bordered.  And they were the perfect size for small or large picture frames.

This page from a Mini Boden catalog (which has the loveliest artwork) works perfectly with an Instagram photo!

And this cut down page from another Boden catalog makes the perfect border for this 4x6 photo!

Sometimes I use the pages without a frame at all! 
Here, I layered a small plain white matte over another Mini Boden catalog page. 

I use larger pages as backgrounds for Etsy item photoshoots too! 

Above, I  used a floral Dior ad to highlight these beautiful brass pulls currently for sale in my shop!

Have a great day!!
xo!
Kendra Pin It

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Yarn Wrapped Vase

Hi! No wishlist for today instead I thought I'd share an easy little vase makeover inspired by my always inspiring and amazingly creative friend Jenny.  When she sent me the pic below of a glass vase she wrapped in chunky yarn I knew I had to give it a try!

 

 

 

 

I had a bunch of regular yarn on hand from all of my front door wreath and pom projects so I chose a coral one to highlight the lavender hydrangea we have growing around our house.

Just a little bit of wrapping around an empty glass peanut butter jar (which still had a little glue residue left on it - making the wrapping much easier) and that's it!  A cute jar update to brighten up our kitchen. Pin It

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Pinterest Challenge Friday - Lemon Seed Plant

Hi!  So I was really intrigued by this pin about growing a lemon leaf plant from the seeds of lemons.  The pin mentioned that it smelled great (like lemons - surprise) and we had a bunch of lemons in the house so I thought I would give it a try.  I followed the instructions and used a pretty french jam jar as the planter.  The first sprout popped up about 2 weeks later!! Success!

Two weeks after planting.

Two months after planting!!

I love the way this little plant looks in the jar but I have to say it doesn't smell like lemons or anything else...oh well!  Pretty proud of myself anyway: )
Have a happy weekend!
xo!
Kendra Pin It

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Wislist Wednesday - Our Family Summer Wishlist

Hello! So I totally stole borrowed this idea after seeing it on this amazing house tour but I was planning to make a checklist for us this summer to keep us motivated and out of the house - seeing this list just gave me the extra push I needed to get the girls involved. 

So literally, seconds after seeing it the three of us were in the garage coming up with things the Damiecki family will (hopefully) be doing this Summer!  A few of these are a stretch (firetruck ride?) and others we've already done since our summer started when Layla got out of school, but I decided anything we do after the official start of summer (June 21) will count!

Can't wait to start checking these off!!

Happy Wednesday!
xo!
Kendra Pin It

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A Fun Father's Day Recap

Good Morning! We had an awesome weekend here at casa Damiecki filled with rocket balloons, bubbles and visiting family celebrating father's day together.  The aftermath, not so much fun though, catching up on all those neglected things like laundry and cleaning...borrring!  So I thought I would take a break from the mundane and share what the girls and I put together for Scott on his big day!

The tent (which is totally cozy) is currently taking over in our front living room - for now: )

For the past two months Layla has talked non-stop about camping. So I thought getting a tent, airbed and a few other camping necessities might motivate Scott to take her (and eventually Hadley) on a little outdoor adventure - even if it meant just starting on our deck!

Layla has a bunch of these nature booklets from Target's dollar section - they're easy for her to reference while exploring with binoculars!  The cute field journal, from Michaels, is where she'll be able to keep "notes" about all her findings and check off the animals tracks she encounters!





I found the telescope at a yard sale a few weeks ago ($5!) and the girls have been really excited to try it out.  My parents gave Scott few books about planets and space for Father's Day so he'll be able to teach them a little about the stars and constellations while they're using the telescope or laying in the tent looking up at the night sky.




 

Layla and Hadley love the great outdoors especially the treats that come with it...so the makings for smores was definitely on the top of their list!  So excited for the first camping experience and so is Layla!!

 

A good day for a great daddy!!

 

 

Have a lovely day!

xo!

Kendra

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Making a List Was on My List - So I Made One!

Mornings...I am not a morning person in any way, shape or form but since having kids I have become more "cheery" at 7am than I used to be.  I am especially not a person of the morning when it looks like this outside:

Rainy, dark and all around gross.

Scott does the majority of the grocery shopping for our family - I am a terrible meal planner and even worse in the grocery store.  If I went shopping I'd come home with a few of the staples (milk and fruit) and then a bunch of hummus, wasabi peas and Greek yogurt - good for me but not for everyone.

So when I noticed this on the counter (once I was fully awake and one coffee deep) I decided it was time to make a list that could be added too throughout the week and not sit on the counter until Saturday - one of my organizational pet peeves.

The beginning of what will soon become an epic shopping list!

By now it's almost 8am and I decided that it would be the perfect time to get out the old chalkboard paint and make the inside of our pantry door into an easy to use (and not see) shopping list.

Pantry door before.

Paint leftover from the garage makeover and an cheap paintbrush.

After taping off the middle section of the door to create a frame around the list I added three coats of the chalkboard paint - letting it dry for about 20 minutes in between each coat.

By 9:30am the tape was ready to come off and the sun was out!  After removing the tape and doing a quickly priming the painted section by rubbing a piece of chalk all over it then wiping it away my morning project was complete!

I attached one of Scott's old matchbox trucks (one that opens in the back) to the door with a 3M strip to hold extra pieces of chalk. 

Happy Thursday!
Kendra
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Cute "Catch All" Part 2

Hi!  So after Tuesday's post I noticed a had a few other unique storage solutions in our kitchen. 

I use a little pail (left over from our wedding) to store all the girls', barrettes and ponytail holders.  And a berry carton to hold everything from receipts, lip balm and other stuff that doesn't have a place to go.
 

What about you?  Do you have any "unique" storage solutions?

xxoo!
Kendra Pin It

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Repurposed Anthropologie Sack

Two purchases I made recently from Anthropologie arrived in adorable zippered pouches.  They were way too cute to discard, but I really couldn't think of a use for them until I remembered how my little Layla and Hadley like to carry their "special treasures."  The perfect solution ~ little personalized carry bags for the girls. 
Today I am going to show what I did for Hadley; next week I will feature Layla's little bag.

My shower curtain arrived in this white pouch ~

I decided that a few pink flowers would brighten it.  I cut petals from solid pink and pink polka dotted cotton.  I was able to just fold in the bottom edges of the solid pink.

Since I wanted to be sure that the polka dots showed, I pinched the bottom of the remaining petals.

And pressed all of the petals so that they would remain folded.  Since the original petals on the bag were frayed, I kept mine the same.

I began randomly inserting the petals into the top of the existing flower.

Then I added the middle petals.  When I was satisfied with the placement, I hand tacked each petal at the top and bottom.

The middle still looked a little plain, so I decided to add a fabric covered button.

To make the bag special for Hadley, I appliqued an "H" using the technique I used for my Halloween place mats.

Hope my little girl finds lots of special stuff to store in her little bag!

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An Instagram Display

Like everyone else in the free world (or my world) I am obsessed with Instagram.  After using the app for the last 4 months I finally fully boarded the Instagram train and had some cute little 4x4 photos printed out.

I had seen a lot of bloggers writing about their experience with the app Mpix but after doing a little research (aka being cheap) I found that the app PostalPix  charged less for shipping and had a 20% off coupon code.  So for about $4.50 I purchased 19 prints - odd number but that's how many favorites I had!

Do you recognize the frame they are hanging from?!  Yup, it's the same set up I used for our Advent calendar.  After the holidays, I took the frame down and the wall just looked empty and sad after having something so large up there for the last month so in came the Instagram solution.

Now I can switch these out or add more as I take more photos.

 

 

 

 

One of the photos hanging is not from my order though.  It is an actual Polaroid from the 1970's of my beautiful, fashionable Aunt Margie.  She is really my great aunt (my Mom's aunt) but we always called her Aunt Margie even though she was more like a grandmother to my brother, sister and I.  And more like a mother to my Mom. 

 

The above photo of her makes me smile every time I look at it and makes me remember her the way I hope I always do - energetic, full of life and wit.  She is almost 90 years old now and is suffering from dementia/Alzheimer's and doesn't remember or like much any more.  I miss her and I'm sad Layla and Hadley will never know her.  But seeing this photo of her from happier times next to my beautiful girls is a daily reminder for me to enjoy every moment I have with them.  

 

 

xo!

Kendra (kdamiecki on Instagram in case you're interested!)







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Pretty Plates on a Wall

A few weeks ago, I took advantage of the rare occurrence of Anthropologie offering free shipping on any order (blogged about here) and ordered three plates that are quirky and weird yet somehow fancy and charming at the same time.  The colors I choose were a perfect match to the hues in our front entry so I thought they would look great on an empty upper wall leading into the kitchen. 

My only fear was hanging them.  Then I found these little guys for super cheap ($1.99 + 40% off one) and less than $2 for shipping - sold!

Three plates +

 

three 3" Disc plate hangers =

 

super easy hanging (just wet backing and let Disc adhere to plate overnight)!

 

LOVE!

 

 

 

COLORS!

 

 



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A New Look for an Old Lamp-

I wanted a new lamp for our newly painted family room but just could not find exactly the color what I wanted.  Then I remembered a pink ginger jar lamp sitting in our attic ~ just a little spray paint later, and I have my "new" lamp!!



The steps we took to refinishing the lamp:

the pink lamp ready for a new look

we cover all the electrical parts and the cord

the spraying began

first coat looked pretty good

second coat ~ even better!



add a new lampshade ~ just perfect (:

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