"a thing of beauty is a joy forever"

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Who said decorating has to be expensive? The wall above my desk was bare, and I decided to fill it with something. I finally got it all up today! Read to the end to find out how much I spent…

Here is the end result followed by some closer shots:

Confession: I cleaned lots of books off my desk before I took this picture.

I painted this canvas before school started back. I’ve had this book of butterflies since I was in the 5th grade and have slowly but surely found uses for them in craft projects. I’d had the canvas awhile, waiting for inspiration, and already had all the paint. So I spent no money on this (although materials would probably cost around $8). The quote is an excerpt that really “spoke” from Donald Miller’s blog on 12/2/10.

On Snapfish I got 99 prints for $.99. I painted a frame I already had. So I only spent 3 cents on this project (and it was originally a $3 frame from Dollar General that was given to me by a friend).

I bought this wall calendar at Joseph Beth in Lexington on sale for around $13.oo. It is by Cavallini & Co. and the pictures are beautiful throughout. This is the first thing I got that inspired me to make the collage on the wall and the only thing I actually spent money on (other than the snapshots). I love that one week into a year, calendars are marked down 50%. Who needs a calendar for that first week anyway?
And here is a close up of a canvas I did about a year ago (free to me this month, but probably cost around $8) along with some of the prints I had made. So, 4 cents.

Project total, if I’d had to buy all the supplies now: $32 and some cents. But because I had most everything already, just $13.07. That is some pretty cheap decorating. I may keep adding to it, but am pleased for now and like having something nice to gaze at while I’m writing papers.

What you wouldn’t know (unless you were me) is that there are lots of good memories and stories on this wall. Photos are from last year’s Europe trip, flowers on my grandma’s deck and the woods behind her house, and a college spring break trip to Charleston. My heart is warm.

On a completely unrelated note, yesterday marks one year since my mom’s first big surgery. There have been two since then, but a year ago she took the first brave step in the fight against breast cancer. She is amazing, and I am thankful for her life and for the way she enriches mine. I am thankful for technology and early detection, for good doctors, good health, good family and friends, and mostly for faith… which covers the distance the previous in the list could not.

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