Paint Swatch Wall

Happy Weekend! 

Kathryn Begle and I have completed another Pinterest inspired project for our apartment! 

Pinterest Inspiration: Paint Swatch Wall

I actually found this quite a few months back, but I just never thought of actually doing it. One day I yelled, "Kathryn, can I do this." She leans over to look at my Pinterest decor album and says, "Do it." So we became starving artists and made what is free art essentially.

It just takes a sneeky "theft" to successfully nab the entire rainbow of swatches from paint stores. I went to Lowes (3 times), Home Depot (2 times), and Mark's Paint Store (1 time). Keep grabbing swatches until you have a pretty impressive rainbow of each color. Tip: Don't forget the in between (blended colors) like yellow-green, blueish-purple, etc cause I had to go back again to get more. 

I copied the lady from the Pinterest picture and taped my floor with the dimensions of our wall. From there I was able to plan the layout of all the swatches (and see what I needed more of). I think if I tried winging it and immediately started taping the swatches to the wall, it would have been horrible. This step is very important. I tried doing a diagonal effect like the lady, but as you can see it didn't really go so perfectly, but I knew the TV would cover up a lot of the bottom. 

Progress!

To remember my spacing of each swatch, I took a picture of each color section from the layout on the floor. I put the pictures on my computer so I was able to reference them each time I taped a new one up. This is really a two person project. Kathryn nicely taped every swatch and handed them to me, one by one, as I taped them on the wall. The only expense of this project was the tape. I just bought a 4 pack of tape from Target, and we used about 3 of them. 

3 Hours Later...

(and a food break)

Ta Da!

My Celebrity Family Tree

Come on. We've all thought about what it would be like to have certain celebrities in our family. I for one, have wished Jim Carrey was my Uncle for a long time. So I got the idea of creating my Ultimate Celebrity Family Tree. 

My Parents
The Parent Trap was my favorite movie as a 10-12 year old. So I have to say, the movie has made an influence on who both of my parents would be. (Yes, I know Natasha Richardson is in Heaven, but she still wins the role of my Mother). How awesome would it be to have an English mom!? Dennis Quaid would be a great Dad. Atleast, he was to the mutated Lindsey Lohans in the movie.



My Sibings! 
I'd like Justin Long to be my older brother. First, because he gave the best advice from He's Just Not That Into You. Second, he's funny, and third, he has awesome friends like Drew Barrymore, Blake Lively, and Zooey Deschanel.
Jennifer Lawrence would be a pretty awesome younger sister. (She is younger than me, isn't that bizarre?!) She's already had 2 Oscar nominations. She's from Louisville, KY so we'd be familiar with everything when we'd visit home. She's really down to earth and makes weird faces like I do. And, she is freakin' Katniss. What more could you ask for in a younger sister?


My Grandparents 
I picked the number one celebrity that I would not know what to do if I were in their presence. I would stand their with my mouth a gape in pure awe. This lovely lady is, Julie Andrews. She is the most talented actress and singer I ever heard of. She stole my heart at a very young age when I saw The Sound of Music.
My Grandpa would be William Daniels, because...He's Mr. Feeny. 'nuff said.

My other grandmother (you can tell I like having English grandma's) would be Maggie Smith. My favorite character from Harry Potter is Professor McGonagall, because she is a badass.

My other grandpa would be Martin Scorsese, because he is Martin Scorsese. I gotta have a relative in the movie making industry! (Besides actors). I'd visit him on set on a regular basis, but more importantly I would be friends with his incredible editor Thelma Schoonmaker! I'd be HOOKED UP.

My Aunts and Uncles

Like I said above, I've always wished Jim Carrey were my Uncle. He is HILARIOUS. Funniest guy on Earth. (In my opinion). So yeah, just imagine having Uncle Jim over for Thanksgiving dinner. 

(I didn't put much thought into the PAIRINGS of these people). So look past the fact of how difficult it is for you to imagine Jim being married to Kate Winslet. She is the definition of glamourous.  Oh, and I gotta have an English Aunt too, so I can have English cousins! 

Robert.  Downey.  Jr.  (Just look at that smolder).

I had to make my favorite actress, Reese Witherspoon one of my aunts! I would be hitting her up for hair advice all day. I love what she stands for. Here is an example: 2011 MTV Awards Speech.

My Cousins

I have a lot more cousins in real life, but I had to stop somewhere.

First, Taylor Swift cause I could see us getting along quite well, and I'd like to go see her new concert tour.
Okay. Now I made a lot of effort to not put people I am attracted to in my family, cause that would just be weird. I am taking one for the team with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He is indeed fun to look at, but I put him as my cousin just so I can introduce him to Kathryn Begle (who will still be my best friend in this scenerio) so they can get married and live happily ever after. (She called dibs on him first). You're Welcome.
Now this is a very specific cousin that I want. I don't want Jonathan Lipnicki. No. I want Ray Boyd, the adorable kid from Jerry Macguire as my cousin. I'd take him to the zoo, and he can tell me how much the brain weights all day.
YAY English cousins! Emma Watson, duh. She's fabulous.
Sophia Grace and Rosie are already cousins, so why not make them cousins with me? I LOVE THEM!

Alright I know I am branching a little far from the Family tree limbs here...but I must. 

My Best Friend

Emma Stone is without a doubt my best friend in this scenario.  I'd go out and do dance dares with her all freakin' day. She is a great example of a woman that can be goofy, funny and beautiful. She represents the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. She rocks just about any hair color and has great taste in clothes. Her and her boyfriend Andrew Garfield are fantastic by using the paparazzi in a creative way to advertise charities. She's thheee bessssttt!

Family Friend

And of course, you have to have that one family friend that as always been around since the day you were born in the hospital. That DEFINITELY would be Ellen DeGeneres.

Tell me who would be in your Celebrity Family Tree! 

Magazine Frame

Ello Friends!

I've made a few magazine frames in my day. I included a few in a couple Christmas presents this past year. They are quite easy to make, but they do require a solid collection of magazines.

Example of the final product. 

I flip through many, many magazines to collect a rainbow of color choices. Colorful to Black and white pages with only words. More variety the better! It's important to look along the edges of the pages because that is what shows up once it is rolled. You may discover cool designs the pages create when they are rolled up. Be Creative! Have fun with it. All you need is scissors and glue. It takes a bit of practice to roll up the pages. Choose a corner and roll the page. I take a glue stick to the opposite corner and roll it up so the page stays rolled. 

I bought a plain black frame from Target for like 5 bucks. I like to buy ones with a thick frame so I can create a big colorful frame to surround my picture. I use a glue stick on the magazine paper and liquid glue on the picture frame itself. It's simple, choose the color you want to glue down next and press the magazine roll onto the frame. I continue working on different edges of the frame as it dries. 

Ta Da! 

Another example of the final product. 

You are guaranteed numerous compliments from all your friends.