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Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall

By Christy 2 Comments

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you! You should know, I did receive product from Canvas on the Cheap in exchange for this post, but all opinions are my own!

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

We bought our house 2.5 years ago. I haven’t decorated much. You see, since the minute we moved in, we’ve had different house guests “living” with us for different lengths of time. It seemed pointless to decorate. I mean, there was crap in every corner, always, and it was all I could do to stay up on the vacuuming, toilet scrubbing, cooking, kitchen cleaning, laundry, etc. But about a month ago, the last of our guests moved out and my house is mine again. I’ve (we’ve) resolved to not have any long-term house guests “visit” anymore, so it was time to make this place my own!

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

Are your walls in need of a makeover on the cheap?

Prior to now, my walls were PIT-I-FUL! Although I think my family is beautiful, I realize that a spattering of three family photos on a large wall (quite serious photos at that) didn’t do much to say who we are. This wall was boring, we looked staged (we were), and it just doesn’t show our fun side. This is the wall people see when I meet for work. This wall had to be reworked. Bah-bye, boring wall! I had so many (FUN!) family photos, I knew exactly what to do. I turned to Canvas on the Cheap for a budget-friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We needed to show our fun side, and show our fun side we did!

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

I placed my order and I was shocked at the prices! I just knew this was going to be crap when the package arrived. I chose two photos from a family shoot gone wrong (thank goodness it did) for my gallery wall. When the packages arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see the personalization involved. Thank you, Kaylee, for caring enough about my family memories to package these memories with care!

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

Packaged nice and tidy and clear as a bell, my canvases arrived in about a week and I was ready to make my wall magic happen!

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

The babies each chose their favorites and they were excited to see our gallery wall come to life as well!

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

I am very impressed with the quality of the prints. The edges look almost hand folded although I doubt they are – unless Kaylee did that too! They are very similar in quality to the smaller prints you see on my wall that I had purchased from a different online vendor a year or so ago.

The one true difference is affordability! The 8×8 prints I got from the other vendor cost about $22 each (tax and shipping included, so the order for four 8×8 prints was $85). The price of the 16×20 prints from Canvas on the Cheap is $17.60 right now with their summer special, so they were a total of $35 each (with tax and shipping for full disclosure for those of you on a budget). I did order the two 16×20 prints separately so the shipping cost is a little higher – be smarter than me and think ahead and place your entire order at once to keep shipping down.

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

Once you add in some totally cheap signs from Ross or Marshall’s, you’ve got yourself a gallery wall. Easy, peasy, cheap, and impressive on a budget.

Spruce up your living space with a Budget-Friendly DIY Gallery Wall. We took our living room from ho-hum to hey-hon with some cheap canvas prints and budget plaques in no time at all. So can you!

Need canvas prints of your family photos?

If you are in need of a budget-friendly wall makeover, turn to Canvas on the Cheap for help! They’re constantly running amazing sales and they offer a variety of sizes and different finishing options. I, for one, couldn’t be more thrilled with my gallery wall and I was so proud to show it off in a meeting yesterday. Finally, a little touch of my personality in my living room. Now to go look around the house to see what else I can spruce up!

Filed Under: DIY, Family, Galveston, Island Living, Things I Love Tagged With: affordable home decor, canvas, diy home decor, family, pictures

Family Fun at iT’Z Pizza Pasadena TX

By Christy 1 Comment

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT’Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it’s at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT’z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Endless Food at iT’Z Family Food & Fun

The minute you walk in the door, you’re greeted by a friendly staff where you can check in or buy your tickets for the day. Once the business-like stuff is over, it’s time to dive in…to endless food! Literally, endless pizza, salad, pasta, chicken, mashed potatoes, desserts, and more. It’s all buffet style, it’s replenished regularly, and even with my picky bunch (I’m probably the worst!), there’s plenty for everyone to eat.

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Just so you know, I’m a pizza snob. A snob, I say. Growing up in upstate New York will do that to a person. That said, I like the pizza at iT’Z. It’s fresh, cheesy, plenty of toppings, and if they don’t have what you like, they’ll make you whatever you want (as long as they have the ingredients – don’t go all psycho on the topping choices!). I was super hungry so I got excited to see that they had a veggie pizza (my fave) with marinara. I have no clue why most pizza buffets use Alfredo for veggie pizzas. Duh, we’re vegetarians, we absolutely do like tomatoes! But I digress…

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Of course, they have the meat lovers covered too. There were literally about 20 varieties of pizzas out at any given moment and all were fresh. You don’t get that over at the place with the mouse!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

The salad is FRESH and there are so many options, from the lettuce to the toppings to the dressing. Soooo good! You can’t eat pizza without salad. It’s a scientific fact. I’m glad the folks at iT’Z gets that.

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Can we just talk about this hummus for a sec? Creamy, rich, roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips. If you have an addictive personality, stay away from this hummus.

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Just in case I haven’t talked about food enough (you’d think a 95-pound grown up woman could think of something else to talk about), there’s dessert. All the dessert. So many desserts. And did I mention it’s endless? That’s right. If you buy the Biggest Deal Package for just $28.99 each, you get unlimited video games, mini bowling, laser tag, and more, plus you get one free game of regular bowling with shoe rental AND unlimited food and fountain drinks….for the whole day. The whole day, people!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

The fun starts here!

OK, sorry about all of the food talk, this girl was hangry when we got there, but the real fun starts here!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Why iT’Z Pasadena TX for us?

Well, here’s the thing. We live on an island, a tourist town, and although there is a lot to do in Galveston, we’ve pretty much done it all and sometimes we need a change of scenery. We don’t want to break the bank and we need to find something that two adults, a brassy tween cheerleader, and an elementary school straight A student can all enjoy. That’s a hefty task, but iT’Z offers us that. We can all have fun; together, alone, and in pairs. It’s a beautiful thing!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Eyes on the prize!

The straight A student is a serious gamer. Like, we all believe we’ll be living in wings of his mansion when he grows up. When he’s playing for tickets, it’s eyes on the prize, baby…EYES ON THE PRIZE! Note: If you buy the Biggest Deal Package, you get a $5 fun card which equals 20 points to play the ticket games.

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

The fun goes on forever. Air hockey, anyone?

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Bubby would literally spend ALL DAY at laser tag. Well, he kinda did, but that’s OK because he had fun!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Bumper cars? You betcha!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Kylee loves hitting things, so the bumper cars are therapeutic for her.

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

Regular bowling is very colorful at iT’Z Pasadena TX.

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

But if handling 10-lb balls isn’t your thing (yes, I really said that), they have mini bowling too!

Looking for family fun in the Houston area? iT'Z Pizza Pasadena TX is where it's at. Endless pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and more, plus video games, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and even a bar. iT'z the affordable place to be in Houston!

What’s in it for the adults?

For us, lots of shoot-em-up video games (don’t judge) are great. Stress relievers are fun and I oddly find shooting dinosaurs amazing! Also, at the end of the day, if you have a DD, there’s an adults-only bar outside of the bowling alley that you might want to stop by. Looks like a lot of fun!

Grab the deal and have some fun!

Not in the Pasadena TX area so you’re a little bummed about missing this deals and fun? They have locations in Euless TX and Willowbrook (Houston) TX too and you can take advantage of the fun and BOGO Biggest Deal savings right now at any of their locations. Buy one Biggest Deal at regular price ($28.99 plus tax) and get one Biggest Deal Free! All day food, fun, and family together time. It doesn’t get much better than that, so what are you waiting for?

Disclosure: I received a family 4-pack to iT’Z Family Food & Fun through a partnership with US Family Guide, however, all opinions are my own. 

Filed Under: Family, Family Meals, Family Traditions, Galveston, Life, Parenting, Texas

Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath Tutorial

By Christy Leave a Comment

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons! Just so you know, I did receive fun decor from Oriental Trading® to facilitate this post, but all opinions are entirely my own.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps.

For once in my life, I’m not going to talk too much (I probably will). I’m going to let this bad a$$ Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath speak for itself and just tell you how to make it. It’s easy, it’s affordable, and it’s so much better than anything you can find at your local big box store. Plus, you can use this ribbon wreath tutorial to make wreaths for all of the special occasions you want to celebrate. Are y’all ready for this? Seriously, if I can make this, YOU can make this. I’m just not that crafty, so here goes.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps.

Supples to make a Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Wreath:

  • 18″ Wire Wreath Frame
  • Purple Mesh Tube Ribbon
  • Green Chenille Stems
  • Gold Mesh Deco Roll (I used 20″ by 10 yards, but have a lot of length left over for other projects)
  • Mask of Choice (I used smaller masquerade masks for one wreath and a large jester mask for the other – both shown here.)
  • Large string of Mardi Gras Beads
  • Various embellishments like peacock feathers or clip ons

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Making your Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Wreath

Cut your mesh tubing to the size of your chenille stems and thread the stem through the tubing. I used eight on the inside ring and eight on the outside ring, but you can adjust that for the fluff factor you’d like.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Simply tie the ribbon-covered stems around the inside wire where you want them, then repeat for the outside wire. It’ll look something like this, but I did remove some of the outside stems before weaving in the deco mesh because I felt like there were too many. Use your creative judgement as you move along. You’ll see!

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Once you’re satisfied with the number and placement of your stems, get ready to start adding your deco mesh. Start by gathering the end of the mesh in your hand as shown.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Using the attached stems, tie the end of the mesh to the first one, bunch the mesh as fluffy or flat as you’d like, and tie it down into the next stem. Continue that until the entire inner ring is covered, fluffing as you go.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Once you’re done with the inner ring, repeat those steps for the outer ring. When you’re done with both, your base deco mesh ribbon wreath is done. Time to decorate for the occasion…in this case, Mardi Gras!

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Here’s where you gather your masks, beads, peacock feathers, whatever you’ve decided will make this wreath uniquely yours.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

First, start with your string of beads (or tinsel if you prefer) and, using the same stems, tie them down in the pattern you prefer. If you’re using beads, make sure the heavy ones are on the bottom, of course!

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Now, take the ends of the stems and twirl them around the end of a pencil, remove them from the pencil, and fan them how you’d like. Those stems are a super integral part of this wreath. Not only did they hold everything together, but they’re decorative items all on their own.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Last, but certainly not least, decide how you want your masks and other embellishments to fit into the pretty picture. For one, I chose smaller masks to give a simple and festive look. You can use a little hot glue to tack the masks on, or you can tie them down with the ribbons. Either way works great.

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

Since we live in Galveston, Mardi Gras decor is pretty much abundant and I found the coolest jester mask at a local drug store and eatery. I knew this had to be my centerpiece for my main wreath. It’s pretty bad a$$, dontchathink?

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps. Very forgiving, this DIY wreath tutorial is your new best friend for all of the seasons!

There’s a little piece of ribbon attached to the back of this mask so we simply attached it to the wire wreath frame with a small piece of wire. I clipped on a couple of sparkly peacock feathers…and done. I love the outcome and how shiny and festive the whole thing is!

Pin this Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath for later!

Make your door the envy of the neighborhood for Mardi Gras when you put this DIY Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath together in just 11 super-simple steps.

This whole project is really forgiving and simple to make. Once it’s all put together, all of those little imperfections mean nothing. NOT A THING…do you hear me? The outcome is nothing short of breathtaking and you can make this for a fraction of the price (literally, about $50 bucks as opposed to HUNDREDS at specialty stores, Etsy, or even the big box stores) and you have bragging rights this way, so there’s that.

For this Mardi Gras Deco Mesh Ribbon Wreath, I got 90% of my supplies through  Oriental Trading® like I always do and you can too! Think it’s too late for a Mardi Gras Wreath (not really, we still have a FULL WEEK)? That’s OK too because this same, simple tutorial can help you build your Easter wreath, welcome spring wreath (seriously, hurry up spring!), or whatever other wreath you can image! What are you waiting for? Let’s get to crafting! Happy Mardi Gras, Y’all!

Filed Under: Crafting, DIY, Family Traditions, Galveston, Holidays, Island Living, My Happy Life, Oriental Trading Tagged With: deco mesh ribbon wreath, diy deco mesh wreath, galveston mardi gras, Mardi Gras, mardi gras wreath, Oriental Trading, ribbon wreath

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Welcome to the asylum!

Hey y'all! I'm Christy and I'm glad you could stop by. Have a seat, grab a drink or a straight jacket, and join me as I share heart-healthy recipes, stories and life lessons about my insanely large family, and whatever else pops into my hot mess of a mind! Read More…

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