Wall Hangings

We're pretty bad about putting things up on the walls in our house.  This doesn't mean I don't love to decorate...I DO!  Let me explain why I hate putting things up on the walls:

1) Putting things on the walls makes it...permanent?  I move things around too much, and I hate covering up holes.  That means if I don't have something else to cover it with, I have to spackle, then I have to paint.  And I hate to spackle and paint, so don't even get me started. 

2) When hanging things, I have Kyle help me (otherwise it won't get done) but things end up crooked.  I think Kyle might have some visual-spatial issues when it comes to making sure some things are level.  And when it's not absolutely perfect, I become disappointed, which makes for an unhappy husband, which upsets me, and then the whole afternoon usually goes to seed.

3) We don't have much wall space at all since our house is pretty little and it's fairly open, so I don't buy many wall things.  I usually just buy things to set out and around.

Well, today I got some ambition and got out a couple of things to hang up.  Kyle felt in a "straight and level" mood and did an awesome job...no mess ups today on either of our parts!  I'll show you pictures, but one of the things is a collage picture frame for which I have no photos...yet.  I've been Facebooking family members to get them to email them to me so I can make prints, but since it's up (and empty and looking kind of stupid), I figure that will give me even more motivation.

First up, bedroom:

Now that it's up, I love it!

Cute, right?

So my mom and dad got us the star to hang up at Christmas.  Christmas 2010, that is.  I've had the star for a year and a half and hadn't put it up yet!  Can you believe that?  I think I got the Dream sign a couple of months afterward from Hobby Lobby.  They've both just been sitting in our attic all this time collecting dust.  That's such a shame!  I love the colors together, and Kyle did a pro job at getting this one just right.  You might not be able to tell, though, since I stood a little lopsided to take this picture.

Next up, hallway:

These are the same frames that are sitting on the opposite side of the hallway with our wedding/engagement pictures in them.  I've got big plans for each of those photo openings, let me tell you!  I've messaged my mom, my mother-in-law, and my sister for pictures, so hopefully they come soon (hint, hint)!  I had some sconces I was going to put up on either side, but then it looked too cluttered :(

And, my absolute favorite thing about this arrangement:

 

See it?!  See the Proclamation?!  For those of you who don't know, I'm referring to "The Family:  A Proclamation to the World."  This is a church document that is very important in our faith that helps us to understand the importance and roles of families in our lives on earth and in eternity.  We are encouraged to have a copy in our home and on display to remind us of these values.  For more information, check out on our views on family or read a PDF of the document.  We've been needing to put this up FOREVER!  

Okay, so when I took the frames out of the Kohl's bag (stuck to the back wall in our coat closet), the receipt was dated about 6 months after our wedding.  That means we've had these frames for TWO YEARS and not put them up.  When we got the frames, we had already ordered the Proclamation but it hadn't come to our house yet.  We got the Proclamation in the mail some time later and I kept it in the envelope and stuck it in the drawer full of things we still need to put up (yes, there's even more...but I don't feel bad about those because I haven't found a place for them yet).

So I'm thinking that just having the Proclamation displayed with pictures of our family might make for a more spiritual environment at home.  It certainly did after we put up our wedding pictures (which took about a year and a half, I think.  Don't judge me!).  Our wedding pictures have been wonderful to have because sometimes in my mind I remember how awful my hair was behaving that day or how annoying the cold was and that's all I'll focus on.  Occasionally, however, I'll stop in our hallway when I make my way to bed and just look at our pictures.  When I do, I always remember how wonderful that day really was because it was the day that I was married to my sweetheart for time and eternity.  Despite the cold and my hair and the other small things that went wrong, it was still the best day of my life and I've got proof of our happiness on that day right here on our walls to look at all the time. 

This makes me feel like probably I'll stop and look at the pictures of our family every once in awhile too.  And then, I'll remember just how blessed I really am :)