DIY Gallery Walls

A few years after re-doing our living room with a new coat of paint, new sofa, and a fabulous floral rug*, we finally made a commitment to get some of our favorite artwork** framed. Believe you me, custom-framing is expensive! 

After a few months of budgeting/planning we finally had a collection of pieces framed and ready to go up on the wall, the question was how to display them most easily? We decided on ledges. The process of figuring out the spacing was...well... it was a process.

First I started by laying the pieces out on the floor (thanks for the help Mom- this was a genius idea!). This allowed us to see how everything would look together.

Fall Gardening: Planting Tulip Bulbs

Tulip Montreaux bulbs

My tulips from Holland just arrived! 200 bulbs of the Mount Tacoma and Montreaux varieties made their way over from VanEngelen.com. They arrived in beautiful condition, ready to get their little booties in the ground.

Got my gardening gear on!

These little guys need to be planted about 6" deep. I used a small shovel to dig 6" holes, then grouped the tulips in clusters of 2-5. The goal is to create a big patch of white and blush pink blooms come late April. Now that these babies are in the ground, I'm even more anxious for winter to come and go so I can see them blooming!! 

Gardening: End of season round up

It's official- summer is over. A killing frost came to my neck of the woods about two weeks ago and destroyed all that was left of my garden. Now it's time to round up the season. What went well? What gardening advice do I need to remember for 2013?

The tomato harvest was insane. They just kept coming. Four plants may have been too much for me. I could probably do just fine with two or three. 

I planted two rounds of beets. They were great (a personal favorite with goat cheese...mmmm baby). However, I need to remember to thin them out after the first 3 weeks. The sprouts are tiny and get all clumped together when you plant them. Since I didn't thin them out, it just made for smaller beets when it came time to harvest.

Thailand

It has been a month since I've posted. But forgive me- I've been a busy bee!! And I have PROOF! I went on a little trip to Bangkok a few weeks ago. Behold some of my favorite moments from the trip.

Floating Marketing: Bangkok, Thailand

Elephants...

And Elephant Rides!

Mangosteen and other Exotic Fruits at the Floating Market, Thailand

Enjoying fresh coconut water with my brother, Collie