fireplace picture gallery

as i hinted in a previous post, i hung some more pictures!  hooray for a few fewer (ha ha) things piled on the floor, and a few fewer (yep, did it again) frames in the bin. 

here's how it worked:
i didn't want to buy anything new to put over the fireplace because we have a LOT of pictures, and most of them are in frames i already like and want to use.  did a little bit of browsing for ideas, and this is what i decided to try:

pick your favorite thickness of painter's tape, and put it in a straight line.  i eyeballed this, but if you wanted to be awesome you could measure it.  problem is, houses never seem to be straight.  you can place the tape exactly the same distance from the ceiling, the mantle, the floor, or whatever you choose, but chances are it won't look straight when you're finished.  you could always use a level, too - but, i went with good ol' eyeballs.  i did measure when i got it where i liked it to make sure it wasn't a crazy ways off from the ceiling trim (just in case the husband was looking).

pick a spot off center and start hanging pictures that touch the tape.  leave the same amount of space between them.

hang a few, pick out a few more frames from the bin, and hang a few more.

decide you're happy with the arrangement. 

(i like things that are not exactly centered, and this works for me!)  

find some updated pictures so the 2 babies on the far left don't have to be sideways. 

open the mail, and find new pictures of the cousins!  thanks, amy!! 

realize that there are no pictures of your son, but 3 of your sister's wedding. 

consider that a project for another day.

mutter under your breath because project progress just makes new lists. 

frames hung.  check.

and, this pic is just to keep it real.  the pile on the right is a bunch of unpacked-but-nowhere-to-live stuff.  at least it's smaller than the other 3 piles we've had around, and now there's only one pile.

new list:

find a few other things from the already unpacked pile to live on the mantle.

change up the pictures in the frames.

move the right deer in just a tad.

sort junk pile.