If you didn’t notice, radio silence hit hard here on the blog last week. Since we’ve had so much happening lately, it’s been challenging to keep up with everything that entails putting together a blog post to update you guys. There are days I have to throw in the towel and tell myself I can’t do it all.
In the past month, Robert and I have bought a house, traveled to Austin, Miami, and Chicago for several work-related events, and painted 5 rooms top-to-bottom. All I can say is thank God for grandparents who double as babysitters. Life in the fast-lane isn’t really our speed- total homebodies over here. We missed our little love bug so much in the midst of all the work we’ve been doing lately that we decided we needed to spend some good ol’ quality time with her for a little while.
As soon as we unpacked our suitcases from our very last trip last week, we were finally able to vacate my parents’ home and officially move into the new house to spend our first night here as a family just in time for my 30th birthday. It’s been absolutely glorious to have a home that’s really ours again.
The first thing I did upon moving in… made a gallery wall. Makes total sense, right? (Don’t most people unpack? I dunno.) Decorating just makes my heart happy.
This one is not nearly as complex as the gallery wall in our last house. Even better, the botany art I printed for it cost $3 per print. Boom!
I’ve always had a love affair for botanicals (even to go as far as rip it out of thrifted books); there’s an elegance to it, and it never fails to add warmth and to soften up a stark, rigid space like our living room has been lately. I tried to fight against it to try something “new”, but then I decided, if you really love something, don’t hold back. And I lurv me some botanicals so…
I ended up having to hang these 6 frames by myself while Robert was at work and Olivia was at preschool using this handy dandy trick that I’ve used for several years now. No measuring, no oopsie nail holes, no second pair of eyes needed. The secret: toothpaste.
It’s totally weird, right? I can’t believe I’ve never shared it before.
Supplies Used: (Some affiliate links are provided below for convenience.)
- 6 – 18″x24″ color engineer prints (I had mine printed at Staples.)
- 6 botany art files sized to 16″x20″ (You can download mine by clicking on the button to subscribe near the end of this post.)
- 6- 16″x20″ frames (I used these.)
- A tube of toothpaste
- Hanging nails and hammer
- Small level
(Scotch Mounting Tape works well too, if you don’t want to nail into your wall.)
I was able to find these frames for $11 each on Michaels.com by combining a really good sale with a 20% off coupon. They look so much like wood and glass in person, but they’re just plastic poster frames. I’ve debated dry-brushing or gray-washing the wood-look frames to break up all of the brown tones a bit, but Robert thinks we should leave them. What do you think?
Everywhere I looked online to buy botanical frame sets of 6, they were all over $200. My set is $84. Ha! Frames ain’t cheap, yo!
To hang them up, I just dab a little smaller than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on the nail hole on the back of the frame, place the frame on the wall where I want it to hang, and press.
It leaves that little bit of toothpaste on that spot on the wall so that I can drive a nail or a screw into it. Hang it up, and voila! Perfectly in place.
I originally found the prints online as public domain images. There are thousands upon thousands of high resolution free-for-public-use pictures out there, so if you ever want free wall decor, all it takes is a quick search.
I sized my files of these 6 botanical images at 16″x20″ to have printed on 18″x24″ color engineer prints at Staples.
So now we have this feminine touch of leaves and flowers above this masculine looking wagon bench, which I found a couple of years ago on Craigslist for $35. I loved it so much in the hallway of our last house that I couldn’t bare to part with it.
This spot is right beside our back door, so it will be great for putting on shoes before trudging through the backyard or dumping our bags after a long day. (Or a certain 4 year-old can pretend she’s driving a horse-drawn carriage… that kind of stuff.)
I’m sure I’ll change out the prints later this year once fall and winter arrive, but these are perfect for spring and summer.
Here are some of the rest of the sources I used in this little spot too:
- Baskets (I found mine for $7 each at Tuesday Morning. Score!)
- Striped throw blanket (Mine was $25 from T.J.Maxx)
- Artificial ZZ plant (also from T.J.Maxx for $50)
- Oblong cream pillow
- Square cream medallion pillow
- Bench ($35 on Craigslist but haven’t had any luck finding it anywhere else)
- Metallic Haurache sandals (just because they’re the comfiest/best summer shoes I’ve ever owned)
- Paint colors: (Walls- Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee, Trim- BM Simply White, Doors- BM Wrought Iron)
You can download these botany art prints from my subscriber printable library by clicking here or on the button below to sign up.
*If you’re already a subscriber, the downloadable prints are already in your email.
Between this and our breakfast nook banister wall planter, that makes 2 walls decorated out of about 100… so it seems. Got any ideas for the other 98? 
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The post Botany Printable Art and a Wall Decor Hanging Trick appeared first on Bless'er House.
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