enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

starting a home decor minibook.

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As mentioned a million and one times, I would like to get our house a little less big box store and a little more interesting and unique and us. I am going to be chronicling this never-ending journey on the blog, but I also wanted a book to keep photos, paint swatches, scraps & receipts. I started this album this morning and here is the progress so far. Keep in mind there are a lot of things that still need to be added to the first couple pages (and maybe re-arranged now that I look at it again) plus it will expand as we make changes to our home.

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The book measures 8.5×5.5 and the covers are Hambly clearly heavy overlays. I printed everything so far at home on Office Depot brand Matte photo paper. The kraft paper is from Kraft Outlet. The black pen is American Crafts and the envelope and bracket stamp are from Paper Source.

Those last two pages are of the coffee table Paul and I are building today. I hope to finish it tonight and share photos soon.

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24 responses to “starting a home decor minibook.”

  1. Libbi M. Avatar
    Libbi M.

    love it! thank you for sharing. i was going into mini-book-withdrawals because you haven’t posted one lately.

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  2. Kara Avatar
    Kara

    Ikea really is addicting – love your book! Did you do the photo strips in your last picture using iPhoto? I think I remember you blogging about it before but I can’t remember which post/how to do it. 🙂

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  3. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    yep, just printed an iPhoto contact sheet.

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  4. Nat Avatar
    Nat

    Best of luck to you on this! We’ve lived in our place for just about a year and we’re still trying to figure things out. It’s very slowly coming together and like you, we decided with this move to try more “grown up” stuff. Almost have the living room where I where I want it by designing/building the wall art, finally kicking the $10 ikea lamps to the curb, and buying our very first “new” couch. We found that furniture warehouses are great places to visit to get good ideas and prices!

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  5. Alexandra Avatar
    Alexandra

    Simple and gorgeous. I love the kraft paper, and the quote on the kraft paper, cut into 2 pages.
    It looks great!

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  6. kristen Avatar
    kristen

    Awesome! Can’t wait to see the coffee table 🙂

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  7. Megan P Avatar
    Megan P

    Hello,
    I just wanted to say i LOVED your college video, it gives me a little reassurance that anything could happen, and to not worry so much! I just finished my first year (today actually). I was wondering if you could do a video on opening a shop, or advice you have ect. I am seriouslly considering opening a shop this summer, and i would love some advice before i dive head first into it!
    PS i would love any kind of Marketing advice you have for marketing a shop, how did you get yours so well known and popular?
    Thanks,
    Megan

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  8. amy t schubert Avatar
    amy t schubert

    LOVE this …. Need to start one of my own!
    We got our current couch at this great little local shop in North Hollywood … and they told us all about how the Mad Men design crew ordered furniture from them for the show and used the same fabric we ordered!
    Obviously, that story needs to be scrapbooked 🙂
    xo

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  9. Michelle*Gauthier Avatar
    Michelle*Gauthier

    Wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing this one…

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  10. LittleMissPip Avatar
    LittleMissPip

    I think I will have to do something like this for my decoration plans for when I move.
    I always think I should start a little journal and then end up just blogging about it instead. I should really find a way to combine the two!
    Thanks for sharing this with us all 🙂

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  11. jodi Avatar
    jodi

    fun!

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  12. deborah Avatar
    deborah

    Looks great! I’m excited to see the table — saw a similar project somewhere and it turned out really well.
    Did you use a journaling stamp on one of the pages where you journaled? Where did you get it?
    Thanks!

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  13. Jess Lonett Avatar
    Jess Lonett

    i’m excited to see more of your house transformations! i’ve recently become obsessed with unique interior design items. i’m moving this summer to a one bedroom attic apartment and will finally be able to customize it with personality instead of the generic blahs of a shared living space in a cookie cutter apartment. plus the move will help get rid of the things that i have no use for and aren’t beautiful! (love that quote you used!)

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  14. Brianna Avatar
    Brianna

    What a cool idea. I so wish I had a house to decorate.

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  15. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    I actually printed that page with the light blue dots for journaling. 🙂

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  16. Lana Avatar
    Lana

    Oh, nothing makes my heart flutter quite like seeing one of your minis and talking about home decor! 🙂

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  17. jennie Avatar
    jennie

    i am right there with you when it comes to making the easier, and least expensive choice. can’t wait to see more of what happens with your four walls, and hoping i can follow suit!

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  18. Jill Avatar
    Jill

    Ikea is a great mixer with found items 🙂 Are you still keeping up with your “this is home” minibook you had in your shop last year?

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  19. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    nope, that one actually just ended up being for our Maryland apartment. But maybe when we leave this one, Ill update it! Thanks for asking.

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  20. Ashley Marie Avatar
    Ashley Marie

    I love a lot of the details of this book and the mark of our summer has been marked by a huge relocation and decor changes. Now that I am working on a Summer 2011 mini book, I was wondering how you made the pages with the William Morris quote on it. Did you simply print it on a whole sheet and cut it to fit the pages of the book? Or was it more in depth than that?

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  21. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    hi Ashley, yep! I just printed it full size and cut it in half. 🙂 elise

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  22. Jessica Marie Avatar
    Jessica Marie

    I love the font that you printed it out in, may I ask what it is? I’m such a font newbie 🙂

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  23. elise blaha Avatar
    elise blaha

    its called Nouvelle Vague. 🙂

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  24. door panels Avatar
    door panels

    I always think I should begin a little publication and then end up just writing a blog about it instead. I should really discover a way to merge the two!

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