CRAFT :: School Memories Book

School Memories Book

by Wendy

Hello everyone, it’s Wendy here from Scrappy Bags!  Happy Spring and believe it or not, the end of school is almost upon us.

My daughter has had a wonderful teacher this year for fourth grade and I was privileged to be one of her room moms for the year, so I wanted to do something extra special for her teacher.

I came up with putting together a scrapbook featuring each child on a page.  One beautiful spring day, I got my clearance from school principal and went in to recess to get a picture of each child.   I was lucky — they all cooperated and gave me great big smiles.   Got it done in one visit!

I printed all of the pics out in a 2 x 3 size. I already knew that I was going to use a SN@P binder from Simple Stories for this project.  The binder is a simple 6x8 three ring binder.  Very easy to work with!  I also picked up the Smarty Pants line of scrapbook paper by Simple Stories.  I love their paper and this was perfect for school memories!

For each child, I have the picture and I also added a small piece of paper for journaling.  Each child will jot down their favorite memory from this year.  This is all in the works at the moment.  Hope you enjoy some pics of what I’ve completed so far.  Enjoy!

Until next time. Wendy

 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Guest Contributor: Wendy Diem

Wendy is a stay at home mom living in Hershey, Pennsylvania, also know as the sweetest place on earth!  

She loves creating memory books and cards and would spend my whole day scrapbooking, but I do need to make time to take care of my family.  You know, those fun things like laundry, cleaning the house, etc.  

 

In March, 2012, she had the privilege of going to NYC as part of Martha Stewart’s Dreamers into Doers to attend some workshops and the live taping of her show.  She enjoyed meeting lots of wonderful entrepreneurial women. 

You can follow Wendy

flickr | artfire | pinterest | Facebook

 

HOME | MADE :: How To Create a Gallery Wall

Hello! Today I am sharing with you how easy and fun it can be creating a gallery wall in your home. It's part of my series that I started called "Home|MADE" that features room renovations MADE into nicer living spaces and all of the things used to get her there, plus the supplies used and all the DIY details to go along with it! All so you can make your house a HOME. I am so very thankful I can (finally) get back to adding more to this series.

If you missed any of the posts from this series, you can catch it here:
"Creating a CHALKBOARD DOOR".
"Creating a Mudroom"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

 

So just a reminder, I am living in a condo (for now) and am looking to make better use of the space I have all while making our lives more organized in the process. I have been wanting to do something with this space for awhile and finally settled on the perfect "style" of gallery wall as it needed something BIG to command the space because as you can clearly see from this "before" shot below, it certainly wasn't commanding much of anything! ;)
 
The condo I live in is 3 stories and in the shot below this is a huge wall that you see as you are walking up the steps from the walkout basement/ garage area and heading into the living room so it soooooo needed something, wouldn't you agree, as these two pitiful framed pieces were NOT cutting it. lol

So this is the "before" shot:

and here is my list to accomplish JUST with this space:
- design and purchase all items for gallery wall
- print photos for frames
- paint this entire area (but has to wait as it's shared with the living room)
- paint the ceiling
- paint all of the trim WHITE
- paint the banisters
- hang shelves, picture frames, artwork in this area
- remove everything else
- replace door stops

Step 1: the first step to creating the perfect gallery wall is determining how much space you have to work with. Ask yourself, do you want the design to go from floor to ceiling? Side to side? Or just fill a certain space above a piece of furniture? Measure this area out to determine what you have to work with before getting started. Next design a "color scheme". Mine was easy since this gallery wall is technically in the living room, I decided to match everything with my living room decor. Our living room is black and white with a touch of spring green. So I decided to have all of the photos printed in black n' white and put them all in black or white frames.

Mix it up a bit too and feel free to add other items like mirrors, shelves, art prints or whatever you have and like to give it some variety and keep it interesting.

Before attempting to put everything you have purchased, had printed or bought on the wall, I would HIGHLY SUGGEST you do yourself a favor & lay it all out on the floor to decide on a layout that will look amazing. This step seems like the hardest but it allows you to try out different scenarios to your layout before you get the perfect one.

 

Step 2: Clear the wall area that everything is to go on. Remove anything that can get in your way, take out old nails, screws, etc. until you have a bare wall staring back at you.

Step 3: This step is the MOST IMPORTANT! And trust me, you are glancing down at these pics and saying to yourself . . . "oh hell no am I going to do all of THAT!" . . . but yes you are! Wanna know why? It's simple, you can change your mind as often as you like by simply re-arranging the paper. So first part of this step is after you figure out an arrangement from (step 1) take some old newspaper, newsprint - anything you have and trace & cut out each thing you are going to want to hang in your gallery wall layout. AND label them accordingly.

I would suggest starting in the upper left hand corner and work your way across and then back to the left side and work on the middle and so on. This way if you need to re-adjust as you go, you can simply move the paper instead of having to re-hammer a nail into the wall. I used some washi tape to hold the paper in place as I stepped back and looked at my layout. It keeps everything in place until you are ready to get the hammer out. Trust me you do NOT want your wall to look like swiss cheese when you are done with fifty billion nail holes because you couldn't make up your mind or you miscalculated something. Trust me - go grab some newsprint & get tracin & a cuttin. You will THANK me later. ;)

 

Step 4: It's time to hang!!! Start in the upper left hand corner and before you hang up each item, look at where the hook is on the back and mark it on the newsprint paper hanging on the wall. Then go ahead and hammer in the nail before you take the newsprint down, this way you are getting a pretty accurate placement of the nails/ screws used to hang up everything the proper way. Once in place rip down the newsprint & hang your frame/ art. Repeat this process going from left to right, top to bottom.

So what do you all think of THIS piece in the above photo? It's a hand painted embellished canvas wall art piece that is available in my other shop: Skylar Raine.

One of my favorite DIY projects for this wall was the "FAMILY" artwork letters I did for this wall. It was such an easy project and I will be sharing how to make one for yourself in the coming week.

And just so you can see the IMPACT of designing a wall like this, here is the token "before & after photo for your enjoyment . . .

So what do YOU think? Pretty sweet huh? I love it and have gotten sooooo many compliments on it, so I guess that means it's a keeper. ;) I still need to do some major painting in this area but it feels good to have gotten this done for now.

Gallery Wall AREA "to-do" LIST:
- design and purchase all items for gallery wall
- print photos for frames
- paint this entire area (but has to wait as it's shared with the living room)
- paint the ceiling
- paint all of the trim WHITE
- paint the banisters
- hang shelves, picture frames, artwork in this area
- remove everything else

Well it's a start but it looks like I have a whole lotta painting to do next. ;)

I really hope you are enjoying this series on home DIY.
I would LOVE to hear if you have ever designed a gallery wall for a spot in your home? Did you use the tips I provided here? Do you have any additional tips that worked well for you? Do you think you will try a gallery wall yourself?

Please comment below with your thoughts as I would love to hear from you! 

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop!  
Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

I would love for you to connect with me by email or become a blog follower too! {on the right sidebar}  Looking forward to seeing you again! :)