A Girl and Her Shelf

This past December I started a DIY project while the kids were with my mom.  To my great surprise, I finished without any assistance from the hubby.  And I'm telling you, if I can do it, so can you!

It started with a desire for a place to display my girls' beloved trophies and to hang their bags.  I wasn't able to find anything store-bought that was big enough.

I stumbled upon this photo on Pinterest from the blog Our Vintage Home Love and it was my inspiration for the project:

The project began with a trip to Lowe's.  I purchased white paint, a small paint tray, painter's caulk, regular nails, finishing nails, (I'm still not sure what the difference is.) screws, and satin nickel hooks (I returned to the hooks to Lowe's after a trip to Hobby Lobby, but that's a story for later.):

I had the patient employees at Lowe's cut the wood and crown molding to size: (The employees were true gentlemen and really held my hand through the project.)

First, I painted the wood and the crown white:

Once I glued and nailed all the pieces together like the Lowe's employees showed me, then I brought it inside to dry: 

I attached these beautiful hooks from Hobby Lobby:

Because I didn't know of anyone experienced with a miter saw, I wasn't able to finish the edges with the crown the way I would have liked to.  I now know of someone that can do that.  I'll be asking him for a huge favor if I ever need to make something like this in the future. 

And here is the finished product (with not so great lighting):

Centerpiece Ideas

Looking for a new idea for a centerpiece? Look no further. The Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine has a Centerpiece of the Month section. There are some fabulous ideas and they are archived on the RR mag website.

How High is Too High?

An interior designer told me years ago to always hang wall art or pictures at eye level. I never noticed before how much better it looks but now I seem to notice when art seems like it's hovering around the ceiling. Since most of us have different "eye levels" you should shoot for 57" off the floor. If you didn't know and your pics are too high, lower one and see how much better it looks!