Madi's Wall- Take Three

Forgive me-this is my third attempt at posting this morning.  Apparently Blogger is too complicated for me after five days (and nights) with a sick baby.

I worked on a few projects this weekend.  The first project is one I've been meaning to do since I was about eight months pregnant.  Woot procrastination.  I "finished" her nursery about a week before she was born, but this poor wall stood blank.  I would show you a picture of the sad, lonely wall, but in my delirium I deleted the "before" pic this morning.  And it would just be too much work to go take the pictures off the wall.  Oops, I spoiled the surprise-scratch that last.  Anyhoo, imagine a very blank, very boring, green paneled wall....

HERE.

Isn't it sad?  Well, you'll never guess what I did with it this weekend.  Okay, maybe you will, but I'm gonna show you anyway (assuming you haven't already stopped reading my rambling post). 

I wanted to make it interesting, pretty, and personalized.  So I started with an "M" (for "Mommy", of course) from Walmart.  I painted it the same color as her dresser, a creamy white, and hung it with some mauve ribbon, also hailing from Walmart.  You may notice a trend.  Why, you ask, do almost all of our purchases come from Walmart?  There are two reasons: 

1.  We're cheap.  Really, really, cheap.
2. Have you ever seen King of the Hill?  We pretty much live in Arlen.  So when it comes to home decor, crafting, clothing (Walmart clothes almost never fit us correctly), tools, or small household appliances, it's Walmart or drive for thirty minutes to find a real store.  Walmart typically wins

Back to the topic at hand, I hung the "M":

 Piece of cake.  Then I hung a frame (also from Walmart)  that I had painted the same color.  In the frame I have scrapbook paper (can you guess where it's from?  Nope! Hobby Lobby!), the reverse side of a gift tag from some sweet friends (thanks Cecilly & Ryan), and a "2" (for 2 months) cut out of more scrapbook paper.  I used ribbon from a gift for Madison to hang the frame:

 Then I hung a shadowbox.  Actually, then I hung a shadowbox, the shadowbox almost fell off the wall, I bent the nail upward with some (rusty) needle nose pliers, and then rehung said shadowbox.

 

 I filled the shadowbox (from another "real" store, IKEA) with more scrapbook paper and one of Madison's hospital bracelets.  I can't believe her pudgy little hand was in this tiny bracelet 9 1/2 weeks ago!

(Not so) finished product:

BTW, Bella says "hello". 

So, after stepping back and taking a look, I thought the view was much improved.  I also thought that I need to add about four more items to make it feel "full" enough.  Madison agrees:

"Eh, it's alright, Mom.  I don't hate it."

 "M" (Walmart)-$1
Mauve Ribbon (Walmart)-$0.85
Frame (Walmart)-$3
Paint- already had it
White ribbon- already had it
Scrapbook paper (Hobby Lobby)- $1.10 for 2 sheets
Tag- already had it
Shadowbox (IKEA) - $9.99
Hospital Bracelet- $1954.54
Total Cost- $1970.48

What do you think?  Do you have any ideas for what else to hang?  Have you ever spent so much for one piece of art?  Do you have dreams about IKEA, Target, Hobby Lobby, HomeGoods, Lowes, Kohls, TGI Fridays, and Chick-Fil-A moving to your town?

-Kelli