The Cassa- Hall Gallery Wall

Well, it’s been awhile since you got an update on things over here at the Cass household (Cassa, if you will). One of my goals this year was to decorate with some of our wedding photos so that we could use those expensive things after all! And I really do love them, SO! Here’s the first gallery wall i did of our family wedding photos. What’s more interesting than the photos itself, is actually the quick and easy process I used to hang them straight, using wrapping paper! (I did not think of this, by the way, I saw it on Pinterest somewhere a few years ago.) Here’s how I did it!

The frames I bought are from Hobby Lobby if you are interested.

STEP ONE: Lay Out Frames on a Piece of GRID BACKED wrapping paper.

Lay out a roll of wrapping paper on a level surface. And here’s THE SECRET- You have to use wrapping paper that has a grid printed on the back (I get mine at Kohls). Lay the grid face up and arrange your frames on the grid however you would like them.

STEP TWO: Trace the outlines of your frames

Use a pen or a pencil to trace around the outsides of each frame, making sure to use the gridlines for guidance and keep everything straight. Mine frames were all laid out symmetrically because that is the way I wanted them, but this will also work if you are doing a gallery wall with frames that are more staggered instead of even.

STEP THREE: Mark Nail Holes on the paper

Turn each frame over and make an “x” where you’d like the nails to go for each frame. I slid my frame down a little bit from it’s outline so I could mark it best and used the center of the wall hanger as the guide for my nail holes. Remember to use the grid lines to help you keep all the nails aligned. WORD TO THE WISE- even if all of your frames are the same, measure each one individually. Some of your wall hangers may be slightly off than the rest.

STEP FOUR: Hang your sheet of wrapping paper on the wall.

Once you’ve marked the outlines of all of your frames and nail holes, take your sheet of wrapping paper and hang it on the wail where your frames will be hung. I used painter’s tape so it wouldn’t leave marks on the wall.

STEP FIVE: Put nails into the wall

Using the marks you made for your nail holes, hammer in your nails for each frame over the wrapping paper. My husband did this for me, but he said the wall template worked perfectly for him! Once all of your nails are hung, pull the wrapping paper off of the wall and TA=DA, you’re ready to hang your frames!

Super simple, right?? I mean, at least it’s waaaay easier than just guessing and hoping for the best. I’m really happy with how it turned out! I will be doing it again on a bigger gallery wall for our master bedroom, so stayed tuned for that! If you try out this tip, let me know how it works for you!

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

10 Things to Do Before Your Next Trip

Headed out on a trip or vacation this summer? Here’s my handy dandy checklist of everything you should remember to do before you leave on an extended trip:

1. Let Your Bank Know You Are Travelling: If you are travelling out of state- and ESPECIALLY- if you are travelling out of the country, you should alert your bank of the dates that you will be out of your normal area.(My bank had a feature for this online!)  To protect your account from theft, they could put a stop on your account if they see a bunch of unusual activity. And no one wants to deal with that when you’re just trying to get another margarita at the poolside bar.

2. Hold Your Mail: Help out your mail carrier and let the post office know to hold your mail ahead of your trip. He/she will thank you for saving them from stuffing a week’s worth of mail into your tiny mailbox. You can do it online-right from USPS.com. Simple and easy!

3. Refill Your Prescriptions: Plan ahead of time to have enough of your regular prescriptions to last you while you are away. You may need to contact your insurance if you need to get a prescription outside of your normal schedule, so make sure you do this two weeks ahead of time or so and don’t have to rush.

4. Share Your Travel Arrangements: Send digital copies of all of your travel arrangements to someone you trust. In the case of an emergency, someone back home should have all of your travel information, just in case. For bigger trips, be sure to include pictures of your ID and passport as well. I use good ol’ mom for this one if my husband and I are travelling together.  

5. Clear Off Your Devices: The last thing you need is to be posing for the typical tourist photo in front of the Eiffel Tower with  the stranger that you nervously asked to take your photo shouting from a distance; “It says you don’t have any more photo storage!” Cringe. Clean off your phone, camera, iPad, etc. before you leave so that you can take all of the vacation photos that you want with no problem.

6. Pack Your Carry-on: My strategy to packing my carry-on is essentially this: pack for the worst case scenario of your checked luggage getting lost. Anything that you couldn’t easily replace, like prescription glasses and meds, should be in your carry-on bag so that they don't get lost or damaged. I also pack a change of clothes, deodorant, my makeup and toiletries in my carry-on so that I can at least freshen up if I am without my checked bag for a day or two- which has LITERALLY happened to me- twice. Trust me on this one.

7. Close windows/doors: Before you leave the house for the last time, run a sweep through your entire space and lock your windows and doors. Be sure to check the garage and basement, too! Safety first!

8. Prevent Smells: No one wants to come home to a stinky mess after a long day of travel. Be sure to clear out your fridge, unload your dishwasher, and take out all of your trash so there’s nothing funky sitting alone in your house all week while you are gone.

9. Check Your Thermostat: Make sure that your thermostat is set to keep the house at room temperature while you are gone, otherwise your house could be overheating or freezing while you aren’t home to check it.

10. Wash Your Sheets: This one is definitely not necessary, but there’s something really comforting about coming home to a clean set of sheets on the first night you’ll be back in your own bed.  

Where are you headed this summer? Comment below!

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

How to Work With A Travel Agent

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! As we are currently planning an anniversary  trip to Ireland, this holiday seems like the perfect occasion to talk about our vacation and what we’ve been doing to plan for an overseas trip.

As much as I want to go on this trip, I was genuinely overwhelmed with planning for a trip in a foreign country I’ve never been to. I contacted a local travel agent to help do the leg work for us so we could focus our time on other things we have going on. Having her make the actual reservations and research took a huge list of to-dos off my plate. Here’s what you should know about working with a travel agent:

Most travel agents do not charge for the majority of their services; they earn money from the hotels, transportation services and tourist attractions that they book for you. Ours didn’t charge us to book our flights for us, though I’ve heard that some do. Our agent said that the only charges we could expect was if we needed to make changes to our reservations AFTER they were booked. Because of that, we spent a good amount of time going back and forth with her to get the itinerary just right before committing.

In my initial email to our agent, I tried to include as much information about us and how we like to travel as possible. My husband and I aren’t tourist attraction, group-tour, big tour bus kind of people. Though travel agents do work with group tour organizations, they can also create something custom for you as well, so don’t be afraid to venture off the traditional route if that’s what you want. We’re renting a car and planning to road trip through the country and instead of paying for hotel rooms, we’ve opted to buy vouchers for a network of bed and breakfasts throughout the country as they are much cheaper. We won’t be spending a ton of time in a room and we wanted the flexibility to plan out our route as we went.

Speaking of vouchers, I made sure we had a list of properties that the vouchers covered so I could be sure there were enough locations and availability for our trip. I also asked about any other fees that could be charged to us when using the vouchers so there wouldn’t be any surprises. We will still likely book the bed and breakfast reservations  ahead of time so that we aren’t in a bind at the last minute, but it was nice to lock in the rest of our trip without having to have our whole itinerary set in stone.

The first thing we bought was our flights and those had to be paid for at the time of purchase- I just gave our agent our card information over the phone and she handled the rest. For the car rental, hotel reservations and B&B vouchers, our agent quoted us one “package” price per person. We had to pay a deposit to reserve everything, and then she gave us a date when the rest of the balance was due.

Overall, it’s been really nice to outsource the logistics of planning the trip. It’s 100% something we could have done ourselves, but considering that it didn't cost us any extra money, it was great to not have to do all of the “paperwork” involved. Have you worked with a travel agent? What did you think? Where would you like to travel next?

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!