Affordable Balloon Photography Prints

Pin It now! I've been trying to find some art to go over our console in the living room.  Right now it's a couple of frames with decorative paper.  It's ok, but a little too small - it would be better if the scale of the piece was correct.  I've been struggling with what I want exactly, but I think I might have found something that I might like for more than two seconds.  I saw this photo print by Youngna Park in 20x200, but a larger print is $1,200!

WAY out of budget.  I found a few alternatives from Art.com though that might just work.  My favorite so far is the first one, but which one do you like best?

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Loving Lately

Pin It now! Just a few things that I've been loving lately.  A giant spoon print in a London triplex and a ridiculously gorgeous citrus cake (inspired by Stella McCartney).  I can't get over how wonderfully designed the cake is with the different citrus slices.

desire to inspire

apollinas via the lovely cupboard

I Love This Print

Pin It now! Perfect for Valentine's Day. Perfect for the bedroom, but let's see if Michael agrees and doesn't think it's too cheesy. Ooh, how I love cheese.

You can find it at 20x200 (by Dylan Fareed) but hurry, there's only a few left.

Quick Re-Canvas DIY

Pin It now! When I bought the canvas art for our living room from Overstock the first time, the canvas was torn and some of the stretchers were broken.  It must have been crushed during shipping because it was pretty bad shape. 

Overstock sent a new one and let me keep the broken one rather than have me return it since they couldn't resell it.  So now we've had an extra oversized canvas that's been sitting in our storage unit waiting to be tended to.  We couldn't paint over it since the bottom corner had a substantial tear.  I decided to instead cover it up and repurpose it into a bright and cheery art piece for the hallway.  I had extra fabric I bought from Parons Fabrics awhile ago and stapled the fabric over the canvas.  I didn't fix the broken canvas stretcher and although I don't see the difference, M does and he suggests replacing the stretcher so it's not lopsided on one side.  We'll see...

If you're doing something similar, here are some tips:
- Iron the fabric before stretching it over the canvas.
- Staple the top first, then the bottom (pulling the
   fabric as tight as possible), finish by stapling the
   sides.
-  Fold the ends and corners as if you're wrapping
   a present to make it nice and neat.

Seriously, this is the easiest DIY project you can do.  I was able to finish it in less than an hour.  And yes, I did this on our staycation.  You're supposed to do what you want on a staycation, right?

Our First Place: Living Room Art Update

Pin It now! I was trying to get creative (key words "trying to") and be resourceful with the art in our living room.  The art and framed prints I saw in C&B and WE were upwards of $250 so I figured I would try to recreate some pieces and save myself a few bucks.  I saw gorgeous turquoise and gold paper at Lee's Art Shop on sale a few weeks ago and wanted to make a framed two-part art piece to hang above the couch.  I had two silver IKEA frames to use, but unfortunately the combination of colors was off.  Mixing the silver in the frame and the gold in the paper wasn't working.  I also didn't like how the black or white frame looked with the paper, and I don't think a natural wood frame matches either, so I'm at loss with options.  I'm going to save the paper for some later use, use the frames for our Buddha card and Brooklyn scenes (photos coming soon), and just give in and buy art for our walls.  'Sigh'  I imagine myself as this fabulous DIY-er with fabulous DIY and interior decorating skills.  In the meantime, I'm ordering these two pieces to decorate the walls.

I want the living room to be neutral with pops of turquoise blue, yellow and green.  Since the den is red and brown, I wanted a different color scheme for this room and make it really bright and cheery.  The sideboard we bought from C&B and that we're using as a bar and buffet will be delivered next week, so once that and the art pieces are set up, the room will be mostly done and ready for entertaining.  It'll still need a side table, side chair(s) and a rug.  I'm eyeing this nightstand from cb2 as the side table, although it might be too much blue with the artwork:

Here's the runner up that almost made it to our walls.  I'll share photos of the near finished LR with y'all next week.

The Weekend

Pin It now! Busy weekend, and on top of that, the boiler in our building is broken so we haven't had hot water for the entire weekend.  Getting used to cold showers is not my idea of fun.  Anyway, my cousin was one of the leads in his high school musical Godspell and my sister and I headed up to the Upper West Side to see him perform on Friday night.  I didn't even know this kid could sing!  He was fantastic.  I babysat this kid when he was little and now he's on staging performing - yes, it makes me feel old(er).

On Saturday, the French invited me to a friend's art studio opening in Williamsburg.  J has a couple of Stefano Di Cicco's paintings in her own apartment, and she said that this collection was a lot more aggressive than his previous pieces. 

After the opening, the highlight of the night was heading over to Dram for drinks.  I had read about this place a while ago and was really excited to get drinks there.  It definitely didn't disappoint.  The drinks were delicious.  I'm not a drinker especially with harder alcohol, but I could have had ten of their Viceroy Daisies (gin, pineapple and orange juice, vermouth...).  Don't worry I didn't - I just had one.  Their chorizo tortilla was also delicious - perfectly seasoned and lots of pieces of chorizo.  We were impressed by the wood paneling in the entire place, including the ceilings.  It looked a like a cross between a speakeasy and Swedish sauna.  Who wants to join me there again this week?

Photo by Jackie Neale Chadwick via jackiephoto.com

Sheep on Broadway

Pin It now! Have you checked out Kyu Seok Oh's "Counting Sheep" on the Broadway Plaza at 46th Street in Times Square?  They're there through Monday!

Blue Moon

Pin It now! M found this on a phonebooth. we drink blue moon all the time and i love how it can be turned into art.