Putting that Pocket Fire Out

I don't think it will come as a surprise to any of you, but I happen to love Ikea. But you might be shocked to find out that we still had three Ikea gift cards from Christmas that needed to be used. They were definitely burning a hole in my pocket (Do you get the title now? I know, I'm like a dad, my humor just can't be stopped).

So off we went on Saturday. We actually got in and out with all three littles and home by a little past noon just in time for naps. Miracle! Then the fun part - putting stuff together and hanging pictures. Okay, this wasn't Craig's favorite part but he was the one who wanted the gallery wall so he couldn't even blame this on my and my ideas this time.

Here's the before. These wood shelves are the first woodworking project I did myself and I still love them but they were a bit too short from the start and then we got a wider couch and it only made it worse. But I'll be reusing them in my room, minus a couple frames I stole to keep in here.

Norah helping me try out different frame arrangements. 

I love cute helpers, even if they are the not actually helpful kind. 

Almost there Craig!

Close ups of my favorites:

Silhouettes! I've wanted to make silhouettes of the kids for a long time. Having never made them before, I was a bit worried they'd look like generic kids but I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much of their own looks shown through.

One of my favorite watercolors of Lucy's. I included a drawing of Jonah's too but he's just now starting to draw recognizable animals and people so I'd love to swap it out for a family portrait as soon as he can draw one.

A free vintage printable. Craig and I both knew it had to be included as soon as we spotted the St. Louis on the bottom. 

Another free printable which I would link to if I could figure out where it came from. I love succulents. I tend to kill real ones but these should survive even my black thumb. 

A birthday card I received last month.And it's proof that you don't have to spend a lot of money to fill up a gallery wall. In fact, since we used gift cards for the frames, we only spent about $18. $10 to get some new photos printed and another $8 to buy command adhesive strips for a few of the older frames. They don't work with ikea frames but I love using them whenever I can. 

And the final result:

I'm happy with it. Or I will be once fill in a couple nails holes, touch up paint and put a cute picture of Norah in that empty frame but if I waited that long to take a picture, I'd forget about it. So not bad for a half a weekend's work. More on the second half soon.