Christmas Projects! Take One!

I love working on projects while I'm home for Christmas!  First, it's nice to do something creative besides writing for school (and let's be real... law school writing creativity is not ideal-Catie-writing-creativity), and second, I like to help out around the house if I can.  Project Numero Uno at my parents Homestead including taking a blank wall and making a gallery style picture extravaganza!

I believe I've used so many adjectives in describing my project that I was not very clear about what I actually did -- I hung pictures.  It sounded much more grandiose above.

My mom had a pack of 15 wall hangings and a blank wall and told me to go crazy.  First, I laid out all the picture frames and tried to figure out how I wanted them to look.  I took up the hallway and did a scaled down version of what it would look like on the wall.

 Second, I took pieces of tissue paper and laid them over each of the picture frames.  Third, I taped the tissue paper on the wall and arranged and rearranged until I liked what I saw!
It's a little tough to see in the pictures, but this is the wall that goes up to the second floor of my parents house.  Fourth, I hammered in a nail about an inch from the top and in the middle of the tissue paper.  Once I tore the tissue paper away, all I had to do was hang the frame!

 Of course, because I was hanging these pictures over a staircase, I had to be a little creative with how I hung the frames!  All mothers reading this blog might want to avert your eyes to save yourselves from heart palpitations!

 Blake might also want to avert his eyes.  He and my dad were chatting downstairs and didn't catch me being a spider monkey until the very end :)

 Seriously... readers be warned.  And kids, don't try this at home!  The house I grew up in had lots of railings, so I like to think I've grown up with these skills.

They're shorts, not a skirt, just in case you thought I was being risque ;)

 Finally, I reached maximum capacity of stretching, and I had to get some taller menfolk to help with the last two.  Thanks to my tissue paper construction, it took about two minutes to nail it in and hang the frame!

I wanted the picture frames to be even across the top but then drop down and stair-step up.  I was pretty excited with the end product!

 And then here it is with pictures in all but the one 8x10 in the corner!

Some oldies but goodies got framed

Wedding picture that has been lying on the ground for the past year and a half is finally getting some face time!

Ben has changed so much from 2008 when this picture was taken!

I also hung some other pictures Mom asked me to around the house.  Nothing else involved such feats as the 15-pack above the stairs.  I don't know if my mom could handle the stress!! Haha
--Catie