Free Art on the Internet

Once I was describing to a friend where I’d gotten each of the pieces that compose the gallery wall in our master bedroom, and she asked me, “what do you mean, free printables?” So in case there are more of you who have yet to discover the world of royalty-free art on the World Wide Web, allow me to introduce you.

Most of the artwork displayed in my home was found online, printed on my own cheap Epson printer, and matted and/or framed with yard sale/Goodwill finds. Pinterest can be a great resource for beautiful prints, but not all of them are free! (Printing a copy of someone’s art that they are selling on Etsy is stealing!) Instead, try Google searches using terms like “free printables,” “free wall art,” or “royalty-free art.” To help you get started, here are a few collections I think you might love.

• 50+ Gorgeous & Free Wall Art Printables – curated by Fab ‘n’ Free
• 26 Free Printables To Hang On Your Gallery Walls – curated by Little Gold Pixel
• VintagePrintable.com
• 30 Fabulous Free Printables {For The Home} – curated by Burlap + Blue
• FreeVintagePosters.com
• Free Printables from The Painted Hive

I like to mat things with recycled cardboard cut from boxes that come containing things I’ve ordered online. And Goodwill is an excellent place to find beautiful frames for cheap. You can remove their original art or just cover it with your own. They’re easy to spray paint, or you can use Sharpies to give them a unique touch.

// The hexagon corkboard tiles were from Target and it doesn’t look like they sell them anymore, but you can get square ones here. Target does, however, still have an awesome selection of push pins! //

If you’ve found another great resource for (legal) free artwork, post a link in the comments! What are other ways you’ve found to decorate your walls for cheap?

Easy DIY Homemade Beard Oil

My husband’s beard is growing full and healthy these days, and I couldn’t love it more. I can’t say if I ever met a beard I didn’t like…I really do love me a good set of facial hair. It’s been a process though, talking Caleb into letting it get as long as it is. I understand that the growing-out process can be quite uncomfortable at the beginning…itchy, sensitive, and downright unpleasant.

A beard of such epic proportions necessitates dedicated maintenance and tender care. A soothing, moisturizing, cleansing concoction is key to any beard’s health, growth, and general well-being. I bought one online a couple years ago, and when it ran out recently, Caleb talked me into making one myself, using essential oils. I cleaned out the bottle he had been using and recycled that, but here’s a link to this type of bottle, if you want to buy empty ones. Lemon essential oil worked like magic for cleaning off the persistent residue from the original label after I peeled it off. (Seriously, if you haven’t tried lemon for this purpose yet, go find some stickiness on something somewhere right now — it’s that fun.)

And the recipe is this simple:

• 2 drop Lemon essential oil (for scent + purification)
• 6 drops Tea Tree essential oil (for healthy skin)
• 6 drops Lavender essential oil (for soothing, healing, and even an aphrodisiac)
• 12 drops Cedarwood essential oil (for cleansing + manly scent)
• grapeseed oil to fill the rest of a 2-oz. bottle (full of Vitamin E, sweet-smelling + non-greasy)

(Learn more about essential oils and sign up for a wholesale membership from Young Living, where I purchase mine, here.)

Graphic for your pinning convenience:

And there you have it! Long live great beards.

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On a completely unrelated side note, get ready for The Realization of Good‘s inaugural giveaway, coming soon! I love giveaways and am sure this will be the first of many. Stay tuned next week. 🙂

The Solution to a Closet-less Room: Easy DIY Industrial Hanging Clothing Rack

When Caleb and I moved into the rental house we currently call home nearly a year and a half ago, one of the upstairs bedrooms had just been completely stripped and remodeled. So even though it wasn’t the obvious choice for the master bedroom, we of course opted to take advantage of the brand-new drywall and windows and lovely rustic exposed-beam ceiling. The only problem was that a closet hadn’t been built back into the room. This forced us to get creative with a clothes storage solution, and I’ve been thankful ever since! I love this industrial-style hanging rack so much that I may not even want or use a real closet in our next house!

This may be one of the very easiest Pinterest-inspired DIY projects we’ve ever taken on. I searched for things like “closet alternative” and “closetless” and Caleb helped me form a vision for the super easy, super simple option we came up with. If I remember right, we were lying in bed the morning after we moved home from Florida, brainstorming, and ended up heading to Lowe’s first thing for our materials (some heavy-duty rope (similar), screw hooks, and 3/4″ galvanized pipe with threaded, capped ends). A few hours later, I had this beautiful rod and was hanging our clothes on it.

This rod holds our capsule wardrobes (yes, I finally got Caleb to finalize his own :)) and our belts/ties and the like hang on hooks on the back of the bedroom door. Our shoes are stored in an over-the-door pocket shoe holder on the other side of the door. This system works great for us — no clutter, and no room for things that don’t get worn!