A New Day, A New Time- A Beginning

I have a wonderful life and a wonderful family. I am so appreciative of them. Yes, I have my moments. My moments of frustration and well, exhaustion.... and during those moments I surely don't appear appreciative- but I am. I know in my heart, even during those moments, that my life is pretty darn amazing- everything I always wanted. My dreams come true:) I have an amazing husband- who is truly a good person- a stand-up guy, a gentleman, a great Dad, a wonderful friend to many and a man of extreme Faith. An inspiration. And my girls, well I am so proud of them. They certainly are not perfect- but wow, to watch them grow and learn and experience life- to watch them figure life out and handle life lessons- that is truly a gift- and indescribable privilege that I get to be a part of- WOW. There is a few things I am disappointed in myself for (quite a few) but right now, I'm kicking myself, yet again- for not writing the experiences of our life down- for not keeping it all close to my heart. I want my girls to be able to look back and know the details, to know my thoughts during them, to see their lives as truly a masterpiece..... Soooooo- here we go. I just read a blog post from someone who use a website to turn their blog into a book. I've heard of these before- but now, I have one saved in my favorites.... Just waiting for me to do something about this disappointment- waiting for me to record our wonderful family memories so they can be treasured forever. So this is the beginning.....

Plate Wall

The work here is finally done! Actually it has been for quite awhile, I guess I have just got caught up in Life and haven't posted in quite some time. I guess the next post should be the updated pictures of all the repairs... um, I'll get right on that:)

In the meantime I've been thinking about accessorizing all my new spaces. I have gone back and forth on the dining room wall. I have thought about doing several small things, shelves, a big piece of art or possible an old door. I finally deciding after seeing many good blog posts that I wanted to hang white plates in there.

I had several of the white plates to begin with, but then I hit the jackpot while stopping in at one of my favorite thrift stores last week. I bought an entire box of mix match ironstone for $1.50- what a bargain! I've always kept my eyes open for ironstone- so I was thrilled when I found so many pieces in one location and for such a great deal!! happy times:)

OK- so I started with butcher paper taped up on the wall. I decided to use a template to avoid extra nail holes. Since all the new paint jobs I've been having a hard time putting holes in my pretty new walls!


I then marked the middle and also put a mark at the highest point I would want a plate and the lowest point....

Then I took down the paper and put it on the floor and began arranging the plates and platters in the order and design I wished.

After I was done with that I turned over the plates and traced them in the spots I had chosen. I primarily did this by eye- I didn't do much measuring....

Once that was finished I took paperclips, reshaped them and hot glued them on the back of the plates to make hooks. I used ribbon for some of the bigger platters - so I wouldn't have to use 2 paperclips and measure for two nails- that could get tricky.
Once they all had hooks and the glue dried, I measured where the nail would need to be and marked each plate tracing with a dot.

Then I put the paper back on the wall and put a hole through the paper (slightly hammering in a nail) where a nail would need to be. I then took off the paper and hammered nails in all the holes. Then I hung the plates, using the template as a guide....

Here is how it turned out!

I really like it! I hope to add some plates as time continues on... Hopefully I will find some of varying shapes and sizes..... Hope you enjoyed the tute:)

Stay tuned for some more accessorizing posts!