Before and After

I love the flowers I bought for our Easter table.  Since then they have been stuck in a box in my closet.  Well, this weekend I got a "wild hair"  and thought I would convert them into a wreath for our front door. 

So, this...

(with a little creativity, hot glue and patience) became this...

What do you think?  Let me know...

Hanging the Oil Tapestry...Finally!

My husband bought me this hand painted oil tapestry at our local Junior League Nutcracker Market, not last year but the year before. Yes, since Christmas 2008 it has not been hanging in the place it was intented for, but rather in a random spot in our bedroom. Why, you may ask? Well, getting it hung in the place I envisioned it proved to be more than what I bargained for.

The wall along our curved staircase has been bare since we moved in and when I found this reasonably priced oil tapestry I thought immediately of how pretty it might look hanging there. So my husband bought it for me as an early Christmas gift and we brought it home and got ready to hang it.  We quickly realized an extension ladder would be needed and since ours was being borrowed by friends at the time we decided to do it after the holidays. So I hung it in our bedroom "temporarily"  where it has remained until today, more than a year later.  Better later than never, that's our motto!

Getting the tapestry to its final destination was no easy task. First, my husband had to find the stud close to the middle of the staircase wall.  Then, we had to decide how high to hang the tapestry.  After trying to use a tape measure and picture what it would look like at different heights we finally decided to get the ladder, lean it about in the middle of the wall and go from there. So we did and then it was time to get to the job of hanging.  Did I mention I was the lucky one who got to climb up the ladder or that I'm afraid of heights?  

Well, it's true and despite my initial refusal, I managed to overcome my fear and got the job done when we realized it would be safer for my husband to stand on the stairs and stabilize the ladder just in case it started sliding. My knees were shaking the entire time but I did it. I love how it looks, and believe me if I didn't I would make myself because I won't be climbing twenty feet on a ladder anytime soon!