Martha Stewart and Holes (Family Tree Artwork)

Until Martha Stewart went to jail, she was my home decor hero. After she went to jail, I no longer had a sliver of respect for her who am I kidding she's still fabulous when it comes to the home front. She does need to stay out of the finance side of things and avoid insider trading and all other illegal activity, but other than that she's golden. I mean when people say the name Martha Stewart they think about trading pillows not trading stock, so I think she's done a good job in repairing her damaged reputation. I mean she had a pretty big hole to fill, and she inspired me to fill a big hole of my own. (That was a pretty nice transition from Martha to holes, wasn't it!?)

Remember, the big hole in the entry way wall? I think it's made to hang a fancy picture. It also has an outlet in the middle of the hole so that you can illuminate said fancy picture with it's own light. There's even a separate wall switch for that outlet. You can see the fancy picture hole with the outlet on the left hand side of the picture below. 

When we were having the house painted, the original plan was to fill this hole in with drywall. Then I was gonna hang my big Pottery Barn Inspired Numbers Artwork there. The fancy picture hole is 4 foot by 4 foot, 1 inch (yes, they never get it just right do they?) and my painting is 4 feet wide, so it didn't look right inside the hole. Then when it came time to actually filling in the hole, I chickened. My lovely mother-in-law had been telling me all along, "I would NEVER fill that in. I would put a mirror in it with a little table in front of that with flowers on it." Well, I already had a table and flowers in the entryway....and I am too cheap to change the table and too sentimental to change the flowers (they're our wedding centerpiece). But apparently her words about filling in the hole did stick and I couldn't do it. I listened and left the hole. Now I had to fill it.

Then a few weeks ago, my DIY bestie, Gabby and I paid the local Habitat to Humanity ReStore a visit. We found a Lenny's Sub Shop sign, lots of hazmat suits, some church columns, a lot of dirty commodes (If you're not  from the South, a commode is a toilet) and a Red Lobster fisherman. Yes, a life size fisherman and he's creepy and pretty dirty considering when you remove the fisherman's net then he has his hands in a sexual position. It's wrong on so many levels, but true. The ReStore, however, rocks and we will totally be visiting there every chance we get. We did find this beauty in there along with the dirty fisherman.

(apologies for the bad pic...I got lazy, took this at night, and didn't care enough to photoshop.)

A 3 foot by 3 foot  picture with a great frame and a neutral matting. Check out the original price tag.

(again apologies for the bad pic...I got lazy, took this at night & upside down, and didn't care enough to photoshop.)

Crazy price, huh!? Real smart people pay that price too. I paid $25. The actual picture itself did not matter, because I was gonna do away with it anyhow. I like my artwork to mean something and to be made by me (generally). So this is where Martha comes back in the picture. On Martha Stewart Living, I had seen an idea and template for a family tree. I took this idea and came up with my own family tree in photoshop. Here's a close up of how it turned out:

The middle circle is me and the hubs. The second circle is our parents. The third ring is our grandparents. The fourth circle is our great-grandparents. The fifth is our great-great grandparents, and the sixth is our great-great-great grandparents. Husbands and Wives have a dotted line between them. I think it's groovy, ingenious, and no one can have one just like mine. 

Here's a few details of where and how everything came into being:

- The frame is from ReStore for $25.

- I made the family tree in photoshop.   

- Staples printed it as a 2 foot by 2 foot engineering print that cost by $3.59 tax and all.

- I filled in a few scratches on the frame with a brown crayon and you'd never know unless you read it here.

And here's a look at my entryway with my fancy picture hole filled with artwork inspired by Martha. 

I also gotta give a shout out to my hubs for his mad picture hangin' skillz. How center is that square inside a sqaure!? Also this thing isn't moving. It's probably about 30 lbs, but is hanging on two 50 lb mirror hangers that are both in studs. I could swing from it.....well, not really. I am over 100 lbs, but you get the point.

TUESDAY LINKY PARTIES

Coastal Charms- Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
New Nostalgia's- Anti Procrastination Tuesday
Lady Bug Blessings- Handmade Tuesdays
SugarBeeCrafts- Take a Look Tuesdays

Affiliate Links