Gallery Wall in my Family Room

This was the first wall completed in my newly redecorated family room. And I love it. I love it because of the meaning behind a lot of the items. We call it our "favorite things" wall. And the best part is the kids got to help :)

 Here is a break down of why I chose the items and what they are.

I have always wanted to try to grow wheat grass. I heard it grew fast and I thought it would be fun for my kids to see it grow. My two youngest helped me plant the seeds. The grass lasts about 3-4 weeks before it outgrows the planter. We just replanted for the third time. Eventually we will plant something different but they still think it is fun to watch and they love to squirt it with a spray bottle.

I have a picture of the temple my husband and I were married in. We have wedding pictures in other areas of our home but I thought it would be another fun reminder to have a picture of the beautiful place where we said "I do." I bought this print online from a local photographer.

The butterfly was another online find. I had a butterfly net growing up and for about 3 years in a row the only thing I did was collect bugs and butterflies to study. Now that I have four little boys that also love to catch them, I thought it was a fun thing to add.

I built this simple shadow box out of old fence pickets just like I built the cupboard to hide the light switch. I let my kids decide what would go in there. At first they wanted hot wheel cars and Lego figurines. But once I explained that it was more about memories and things that represented things we did, then they came up with these.

A sand dollar from our trip to the Oregon coast to represent our love of the beach.

There is a crystal because my husband and I both collected rocks growing up and now our boys do.

The bundle of sticks is because my boys are obsessed with them.  They collect them, make things out of them and I find them all over the place. When we moved to Las Vegas when my oldest was 2 years old he would look out the window and cry. He would say "Where are the sticks momma?" There was just gravel. My sister even sent him a care package with sticks in it. I have never seen a happier boy :)

The jar of buttons I helped come up with. My mom had a small antique box full of buttons when I was growing up. I use to sort them, play with them, and practice sewing with them. When I got married I bought a large jar and started collecting them. My kids LOVE to play with them too. We glue them to school projects, use them to learn to count to 100, and many other things.

I also put a small frame with the word "Service" in it. It is my word of the year/one word goal and I want our family to focus more on it this year. I also framed my favorite quote. It is something I want to teach my children and it serves as a good reminder for me as well.

I also added a door knob that is original to our home. Plus I ADORE door knobs :)

When I was all done with the wall my five year old told me that  this was his favorite wall in the whole house and that he was going to stare at it every time he walked in the room.

I think that means it is a success :)

This next photo I meant to add to the reveal post but forgot about it until I went back in to edit the rest of the photos. This is what my kitchen looked like for those days I was trying to do a photo shoot for the family room. I think it is pretty obvious it was neglected and used as the dumping grounds for everthing during the shoot. A bag of potting soil for the plants I put in the family room, paint cans for last minute touch ups, air compressor from the very last project, a tote full of decor items from the old room that need to go to the garage, and so much other STUFF!

Just keepin' it real :P

 

On Monday I will be posting the tutorial for the card catalog I made for my front room. So check back for that! Have a fabulous weekend!!!