Getting Photos on the Walls and Other Foolishness

I haven't written about decorating much, but adding some simple photos really made huge difference to our bland walls and instantly changed the feeling of a room . It brightened up the guest bathroom space and made it more special, for very little money.

We started with a few, cheap 4 x 6 wooden frames, for about 4 bucks each and printed photos from an SD card on the instant-print machine at Target for ten cents apiece.

We decided to use photos I took on our summer trip to San Diego. We had so much fun watching the sea life that we thought we'd commemorate it in this one room.

I leveled up and evenly spaced three frames, sitting partially behind the door when it was open. It's a small room so the small photos don't overpower the space. Since people will be toweling off in the room, I added a small piece of double-sided tape to the bottom of each frame, to keep them from getting bumped out of place.

I can't tell you how many times I've bashed my head on that train rack.

This set includes a dolphin, a big sea lion, and a seagull with a chick. Of course, the baby seagull steals the show.

We also found a neat matted, triple hole frame at the mall for about $15. I placed it beside the door, centered on the switches.

For just a few bucks, we really brightened up and personalized the space. I'm not a professional photographer, more of a duffer, but I like how these particular photos worked out. If you are interested, here's the Flickr gallery of my photos from the beach that I chose the prints from, in their all of their hi-res glory: AZ DIY Guy's San Diego Sea Life Gallery 2014

I just love this one of the dolphin wave-surfing. I was lucky to snap it from a rooftop deck at my maximum zoom range of 300 mm.

We also put a jar of sand and shells we brought back into the vanity cabinet shelves. Nothing fancy, but a cheap, personalized nick-knack to make the space special.

I realize I've been away from the blog for a bit. It's been a busy start to Fall, with kids activities and stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. I assure you, I've certainly been up to stuff, but not blogging about it. Mostly because it's been more of the same, the never ending swimming pool fight problems, explosive weed growth in the yard, and various little repairs I've already written about. It just felt like time for a break from all the work of blogging to recharge my mojo.

BUT...

...it didn't keep me out of trouble. Therefore, my friends, I present: "Other Foolishness"

This Old House / This Old Apartment ran a series designed to get their beloved carpenter Norm Abram to participate on Twitter. He was the lone hold-out from the crew. They asked that people take selfie's with a cut-out of Norm's face and post them on Twitter with the hashtag: #SelfieWithNorm.

I didn't have access to a color printer, but I did have access to a library of AZ DIY Guy selfies shot with a remote trigger). I also had access to a twisted mind and some feeble Photoshop skills. As a long-time Norm fan, I had no choice but to dip my toe in the water with a #SelfieWithNotm tweet:

This repair is going to be a snap with my friendly, wall-dwelling carpenter-elf from @ThisOldHouse! #selfiewithnorm pic.twitter.com/crWNNVNeSH

— John @ AZ DIY Guy (@azdiyguy) September 13, 2014

Then, things just got out of hand.

Doesn't my favorite carpenter seem much taller on TV? @ThisOldHouse #SelfieWithNorm #WhereIsTheFlannel #CarpenterElf pic.twitter.com/JDbrIkTFW6

— John @ AZ DIY Guy (@azdiyguy) September 19, 2014

Hey @ThisOldHouse, whats a carpenter doing in there? I wouldn't be surprised by @thisoldplumber but #SelfieWithNorm? pic.twitter.com/oWWz5X455c

— John @ AZ DIY Guy (@azdiyguy) September 21, 2014

I thought I'd get @RogerCookTOH to help with the landscaping @ThisOldHouse, but I got it done with a #SelfieWithNorm pic.twitter.com/bLKFNjOIC3

— John @ AZ DIY Guy (@azdiyguy) September 21, 2014

Yep,.. out of hand,

Where's @thisoldplumber when you need him @ThisOldHouse? #SelfieWithNorm #CarpenterInTheTank #TheFlannelFlush pic.twitter.com/MKLvSq8SF2

— John @ AZ DIY Guy (@azdiyguy) September 30, 2014

Yard work without expert @RogerCookTOH again, but I do have some "help". #SelfieWithNorm #NormInACan @ThisOldHouse pic.twitter.com/jSmTR1zSES

— John @ AZ DIY Guy (@azdiyguy) September 30, 2014

And then, it was done. There were a lot of creative, funny #SelfieWithNorm tweets out there. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. It was great to get direct engagement from This Old House, Ask This Old House, Kevin O'Conner (Host) and Richard Trethewey (Plumber). I saw my creations on their Twitter feeds and Facebook throughout the campaign.