Filling the void ~ with PICTURES!

When we bought our house, I had originally decided to put the TV on the long wall in the family room

It didn't take long before I decided that I didn't like that - it felt too cramped and like there was no walking space. And it made the room seem SO small. So we mounted the TV and got rid of the entertainment center. 

And THAT created the void - that huge beautiful wall had nothing but a clock on it. And I have had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted to add to it, until a few weeks ago! I decided to put family pictures on the wall, and we recently had family pictures taken so I had recent pictures I could use! The only downside that I could think of was that I was worried about the wall being too bare with only pictures, so I have been looking for a phrase to put on the wall. And when I say look, I really have looked. From blogs to google to scriptures to Ensign articles - I have really scoured the recesses of my brain and every resource I could think of to find a phrase to put above our pictures. And then, it just kinda hit me - Life is Beautiful.

If you haven't seen "Life is Beautiful" you should! I was introduced to this movie in history class with Mr. Perkins my junior year of high school and it is just amazing. It is about a jewish family during World War II. The movie is in Italian and has English subtitles or you can listen to it dubbed in English. Listen to it in Italian - it is so beautiful and totally worth reading the subtitles the whole movie. One of my very favorite movies!

So once I had decided on a saying, I invited myself to my friend and co worker Tessa's house - she has a super amazing vinyl cutter! I bought the vinyl and transfer paper at Robert's and went over there yesterday. 8 hours later, I had my vinyl (I did a few sayings - as I hang them up I will make sure to post pictures). Thank you SO much Spencer & Tessa for letting me take your ENTIRE Saturday and for using your vinyl cutter!

Meanwhile, I debated for a while on which pictures to use, how many to have printed, etc. and finally made my decision last weekend. I ordered the pictures from Walmart.com and they arrived yesterday! I got them all framed and hung up today!

I LOVE how it turned out - the wall looks so good now! I also hung up another vinyl saying, in the same room, to the left, above the windows and door to the back yard. 

My mom has that saying in her dining room and I have always loved it - I am so happy I found a place to put it up! 

While I was ordering pictures from Wal Mart, I decided to order 6 4x6 prints to update the pictures on our shelf (also in the same room, opposite wall). We have the blocks that say "Family" and 6 different frames with pictures in them. Before, they all had pictures of us - mostly engagement pictures. Now they have pictures of our family in them! 

Left to right: Jake & I with his family, Jake & I with my family {Charlie's Angels baby!} & Jake & I at the Celtics game 

Left to right: Jake & I with my dad and sisters, Jake & I with his family & Jake & I with my family

I love having pictures in our house - I think they are the best way to decorate, and they are easy to keep up to date because you can just change the picture in them. Yay for doing some redecorating! Pictures to come soon of our house decorated for Christmas!!