My Creative Blog:
Fabric

I recognize that DIY art projects are not for everyone. My love for custom art was born out of necessity (read: lack of funds). Creating my own artwork works for me, and I've found out why:
1. I don't worry about ruining something I already have. With the exception of a few things, everything I own was bought second-hand or for a low price. I don't fear repurposing things, because the originals cost me almost nothing!
2. I am not afraid of change. Actually, I crave it.

3. I am not a perfectionist. Little imperfections in my art/craft projects are endearing to me. They say"I was handmade, and therefore may be flawed, but a lot of thought and care went into making me". I'm not saying perfectionists can't create art (because I'm sure most real artists are perfectionists), it's just easier for me to say this picture is"good enough", than someone who wants everything to be perfect.
Ok, that's that. Recently I bought a yard of fabric for a project (stay tuned for more on that!) that I fell in love with. I ended up having some extra fabric left over that I wanted to use somewhere- anywhere!- in my house. I was feeling inspired by a gift bag in which my husband had wrapped my birthday present. I decided to combine my fabulous fabric, the cute bird, old frames, and some patterned scrapbooking paper into one art project!

First, I started with the bird stencil (the bag had a 3D bird on it, so I just ripped it off to use as a stencil). I laid it onto the back of the fabric in the opposite direction I wanted it to face, and then traced it. After that, I carefully cut along the line, flipped it over, and then mounted it to the scrapbook paper, using regular, old tape!

My husband insisted that this poor bird needed legs, so I drew two legs freehand and cut them out of the fabric, as well. Then I put the whole thing together and…

Voila!

I used the same method with my second art piece, but used the fabric as the background and the scrapbooking paper as the bird. I didn't have a smaller stencil, so I again, I freehanded the bird.

Then I had Kevin hang them on an empty wall in our living room. (I promise that these two pictures are level, it's just a wierd angle)

I love the way the pictures look as I enter the living room, and that I can see them from my kitchen table. Makes that room feel one step closer to completion, or until I'm ready to redo the entire room again for the third time.: ) I may not keep these pictures forever, but for now, they are a cheap solution. Below are some images from a few other bloggers of artwork they created using what they had on hand, or a few inexpensive items they purchased. Click on link under the image for specific instructions on how they made these beautiful pieces of art.

The Nester
The Nester simply scoured her home for items that would look good grouped together in a frame. This could easily be done finding stuff on a hike out in the woods, or on a trip to the beach.

Martha Stewart
These prints were made using memorabilia from trips (like tickets, maps, postcards etc) that were blown up and then framed.

Ashley Ann Photography This is not everyone's style, but these two canvas prints were made for a nursery, and were created using a canvas, scrapbook paper, mod podge (amazing stuff!), and a little paint. Adorable and easy!

Isabella & Max
This look is much more sophisticated and elegant. This piece of art hung above the couch was made using a canvas, paint and a few different paint brushes, and nail heads. My sister who regularly tells us that she is not creative, painted three canvases in varying shades of colors that now hang above her fireplace, that are similar to this one.

I mentioned Eric's Honey-Do list in my last post, so I thought I'd give a little project update. We made these bathroom hooks in our old house and I wanted to be sure that we added them to the new house as well. Here's how we did it…

You can buy these little wooden plaques at Michael's for about.99 each.

I used leftover dark brown paint (I'd recommend a different finish if you have one.) Once they were painted and dry, I used a clear spray paint sealant with a satin finish.

I picked up four hooks at Lowes for about $4.00 each. The installation was Eric's job, but he tells me that all he did was level the wood on the wall and use one screw in the middle. Then, he used the holes on the hook to add two more screws. Easy Peasy!

Four little hooks all ready for my kiddos wet towels and whatever else they stick there!

The towels looked good, but they were missing something…

I ordered the kids' names from Uppercase Living

They came horizontally, but I wanted to put them vertically, so the first thing I did was to cut the letters apart

These are my very professional tools… laser level (a must have for any DIYer), a wooden spoon from my kitchen, and scissors.

When working with vinyl decals, you first need to flip them over and rub the back so the letter temporarily adheres to the thin paper backing.

Now comes the high tech tools…

I found the centerpoint and then used chalk from Kaden's chalkboard to create a guide… I clearly was a little wobbly with my line, but I had the general idea.

The thin paper backing is sticky and you can position the letters and reposition them until you have it"almost perfect"

Then, I brought out the professional tools again and just rubbed the letters on the wall

The thin backing pulls off leaving the vinyl. Sometimes you have to do a little more rubbing on the corners.

Kenzie's… as I said,"almost perfect"… I didn't gett all crazy with measurements, I just eyeballed it.

And Kaden's…

UGH! My son's name is not K-A-D-N-E… I am a moron! Here I am taking pictures and thinking of blogging my project and I can't even spell his name. So, the moral of the story is… if I can DIY… ANYONE can!

I was able to peel off the N and E and fix his name. I'm happy with the finished product! Now, I just need to find a shower curtain. If you recall, Kira spilled an entire gallon of the yellow wall paint, and I had to throw out the curtain that I loved… Here's one option I found- what do you think?

While it makes me laugh, I think I'm gonna pass on this curtain. I did find one curtain I loved, but it had a hefty pricetag!

So much to Eric's dismay, I've added another DIY project to my list and I'm going to recruit Grandmom Bunney to help me make a patchwork curtain of fabrics I love. I can't wait! So what's on your Honey-Do list? What DIYs do you have up your sleve?

During my piano painting project, I knew I had to have the PERFECT fabric for the bench seat. I love big fabric stores, but my taste tends to be a bit more specific and I'll admit it… quirky. Spoonflower is my favorite source to get just the right fabrics! It's where I ordered my chair fabric for my foyer way back when (man, that was over two years ago! Time flies when you're a blogger!) It took all of about 5 seconds for me to find a plethora of fabrics I loved on Spoonflower. I went with Chevron White Stripe Tile

I love how it looks with the green piano and white keys!

Since I loved so many of the cool, trendy fabrics, I thought a little fabric round-up was in order!

#1 Bubblegum Triangles This one screams-"I'm tribal and I know it, but I really like the 80s too!" It comes in a lot of cool color varieties- I like the soft tans and pastels too!

#2- Wonderful Narwhal I don't even think this needs a comment. Narwhal= Awesome. Enough said.

#3-.a shot in water. I like how this takes a softer approach to the arrow craze. This is something I could so see in a room designed by Perfectly Imperfect

#4- Animal Constellations- dark teal I love the animals in this fabric. The fox is probably my favorite. I would love to just frame it and hang it.

#5- Vintage Cameras If you saw my knock off during CWTS, you may have noticed the huge camera art on the walls (post for that coming soon!). This fabric was obviously meant for me!

#6- Tribal Arrows Navy Maxi Yes, I'm totally on the arrow bandwagon… I like to think I'm one of the drivers because I love it so much. So this bold fabric seemed just perfect for a spring and summer full of the trend. Wouldn't some outdoor pillows look awesome with this?

#7,8,9,10 Modern Love Collection I love this entire collection. Some of my fabric choices above are seasonal or would be temporary, but theses could last a long time in the Mangin casa! I love having just a touch of quirkyness in every room, so the kangaroos are wicked cool. I like both chevrons (with and without feathers) and the modern graphic blue, would compliment them so nicely. If you're doing a space soon and needed an epic combo, here ya go!

#11- Zigzag Herringbone This has a more refined, mature feel to it (something you'd find at Jess' house) but I love the grey, orange, and brown together! Fall is my favorite season (although summer can't get here soon enough) and I think this fabric just might make an appearance in a few projects this autumn!

#12- hairpins Here's why I love it… A) it's quirky B) Bobby pin fabric ranks high on my awesome scale C) it's subtle enough that unless someone looked closely they wouldn't know just how cheeky your decor is.

So there you have it folks… some awesomely fun, trendy, and quirky fabrics! Now it's your turn… which one on my list is your fav?

Before we get into today's post, we want to announce the winner of the Mother's Day Giveaway from Salvatori Photography…

Congrats Holly! We know your session pics are going to be amazing! If you missed it, Wednesday I shared the awesome story session pics Salvatori Photography did for my family. Check it out here. Even if you didn't win, Stacy would love to take pics for you! Contact her before her schedule for late spring/summer is full! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't play the piano… well, that's not entirely true, I took lessons for about two years, so there are about 3 songs I can pluck out- Ode to Joy, Hey Jude (talk about random!), and one nameless song that is kind of my signature song. Long story short, I stink! Eric however, is an amazing pianist. I absolutely love listening to him play. Our kids have names for all the different songs,"The Angry Song" is a fast song and the kids run around our house like crazy people when he plays it. I love watching him play and it reminds me how crazy talented (in so many areas) my hubs is.
As much as I love the sound, I have never been a fan of the look of the oak piano. It's just so dated and not me…

Because the piano was so blah, I let two years go by with our front living room looking pretty much like this… no style, Eric's choice of colonial blue on the walls, and just an overall hot mess.

My living room is attached to my dining room, so the difference between the two rooms was pretty stark…

We finally decided to take the plunge and paint the piano! I knew I was going to for ages, but I didn't know what color, so I wanted until I was positive!

I decided on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antibes Green. I'm sure you know all about ASCP, but if you don't it's one of the coolest paint products out there! It is a chalk paint, but not chalkboard paint. Basically it adheres to all kinds of surfaces and wait for it… you don't have to sand!! Boyah!

Since I didn't have to waste time sanding, I got right to taping. I needed to make sure that I was super careful and no paint would damage the piano since the hubs actually uses it.

The prep work took me about 5 minutes and then it was time to paint. Eric was working on painting stripes on the ceiling for me (post coming on those soon) and we just put"Hit List" on Fios and got our painting groove on.

Yeah, I don't look too thrilled, but I promise I was…

How's that for a comparison… bye bye nasty oak!

I did two coats, but after the first I knew I was in love!

Chalk paint looks really uneven when it's drying, but have no fear- it looks nice and smooth once it's fully dry.

I used Annie Sloan dark wax to seal the piano and give it the darker, rich color I wanted. I'm not going to give you any tips on that part because I completely did it wrong! Apparently I was supposed to wax with clear wax and then dark… I just tell people, I was going for a more imperfect look! Ha!

The bench got ASCP on the legs, but to add a little awesomeness, I upholstered it with this fabric from Spoonflower.

Ahh! I love the fabric with the green!

So what do you think of the before and after? I hear so many people say,"but you can't paint it- it's REAL wood!" and I want to go on the record saying,"It can be REAL wood and still be REALLY ugly!" Don't be afraid to paint!!

And now for an onslaught of after pictures… I'm so happy to finally have a living room that I love!

And don't forget… We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to the charity of our choice! We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here (like their page and then click on the Crafting for Charity button on their FB page). Thank you!

And just because this absolutely made my night… look at the picture I found on my computer! I recently taught Kaden how to use PicMonkey and apparently he's having a good old time with it! I actually might frame this pic I love it so much…"ther is monsters"

Have a great weekend and watch out for those darn monsters!

My daughter turned four a few weeks ago, and as her gift, we promised that Daddy would build her a new playhouse loft bed, and then Mommy would decorate it. We love our girl and were more than thrilled with how excited she was about her new bed. Every day of the week we built it, she would ask us if it was done and could she sleep in the loft? My hubs could not be more proud of the work he did (he did a seriously amazing job!), and I'm so excited to share it with you today! Playhouse Loft Bed

This is not a tutorial, because we basically followed Ana White's plans word for word, although we did make some minor adjustments to the bars at the top of the bed. Check out her plans here for more information.

We cleared the bed out of Campbell's room in preparation for the building process. Because of the size of this bed, my hubs had to build it in pieces and assemble it right in the room because it wouldn't fit through the door.

Poor girl slept in a sleeping bag the entire week! (Find out more about the family tree mural here).

I can honestly say that I have the best in-laws ever. They willingly help out whenver they can and we so appreciate them! My hubs called in my father-in-law for reinforcements, and we were thankful for his expertise!

The biggest expense is obviously all the wood you need to build it. Since my hubs has such a limited amount of free time (he works 6 days a week!), we decided to have Home Depot make all the cuts for us to save some time. It worked perfectly- in about an hour, the really helpful Home Depot guy had all the cuts done, whereas we would have had to set up a work area, do all the measurements, make the cuts and clean-up which would have taken loads more time. They didn't charge us for any cuts since we bought so much wood (about $250 worth), so it was totally worth it.

Ana's plans are pretty extensive, but my hubs and father-in-law quickly threw them around on the floor in a haphazard manner. I'm not really sure how much they actually followed the directions, now that I think of it…

But after a few nights of building, a few more of painting and decorating, we had this:

Pretty adorable, right? One of my favorite parts of the house is the faux"siding" (which is pretty hard to see in pictures). We saved a bit of money on a couple sheets of plywood since we already had them on hand, so I splurged on two sheets of faux wood panelling ($24 each) that we hung horizontally on the outside walls. The guys used wood glue and clamps to hold it in place until it was secure. It adds such a cute touch and I'm so happy we decided to go for it.

The inside walls are painted an in-your-face pink that made it ridiculously hard to get a good picture. Note to self: 1) Turn off Christmas lights before taking pictures next time, 2) Straighten picture frames after the kids attack that area, 3) Don't try and take pictures with the kids around because they immediately mess things up. Ah well…life with kids!
I wanted a place for Campbell to play dress-up and also a spot to corral all her jewelry and makeup, so I created a little vanity area with a simple mirror from Walmart ($4) that I spray-painted and a shelf that was already in her room that I spray-painted white. The two little patterened boxes are from Walmart, as well, and were only $.99 cents each. Score!

I found the super-cute flower hook at Joann's on clearance for $2.00 and used two Ikea hooks I had on hand to create a place to hang her princess dresses. The flower hook was already blue, but I spraypainted the other guys a similar blue for a cohesive look.

My wonderful mom bought fabric from Joann's and whipped up some curtains for the windows and door. I still need to make some tiebacks, but I love the polka dots and sweet flower prints!

Our original plan was to build stairs, but we didn't have enough space, so Kevin built a ladder, which she actually loves. She did fall all the way down once, on her very first try, but she's gotten used to them, by now!

All in all, this playhouse loft bed made one little girl very happy, and that's just what we wanted. Woohoo!

Did you have an awesome play area when you were little? What was it like?

We all love Pinterest… there are so many ideas and cool people to be inspired by. I wish I took the time to do more of the projects I see, but honestly this lil' old blog takes a lot of time, so I don't do as many as I'd like to (sounds weird that a DIY blog would take time away from DIYing, but it's true!)

Today I'm excited to introduce you to two people I adore. Meet my adorable sister-in-law Kelly and my awesome brother-in-law Bryan. This cute couple lives in Ohio, so we miss them 24-7, but we have a blast when we're together.

I also have to introduce you to their little stud Jax. He's our one and only nephew and we think he's the best!

Okay, so why are we having this Mangin Family blog reunion?? Well, Kelly is not just a Pinterest addict, she actually does what she pins! {Gasp!}
On our recent visit to Ohio, I felt like I was walking through a Pinterest Museum. It was too awesome not to share. Kelly has some creative friends and family, and between them all they have done so many fun projects for her home. So without further ado… Welcome to Kelly's Pinteresting Home! State Artwork Kel is from OH and Bry is from PA.

Aqua Painted Pedestal Table Kel got her table and chairs at goodwill for $75 total. Add aqua and white paint and you have an awesome statement piece!

Funky Pendant Light This was one of the first changes Kelly made to her kitchen when she moved in!

Crossword Names Takes 2 seconds, but is so cute as an accessory. It's just a frame turned chalkboard.

Kitchen Office Space She removed the wall cabinets, added open shelving, and did some adorable accessorizing. Kelly claims she can't decorate, but I'm pretty sure you'd all beg to differ!

Spray Painted Faux Antlers Kel is super lucky to have a Hobby Lobby right around the corner. These beauties came from there and got a coral spraypaint treatment.

Simple Printables She doesn't just PIN free printables, she actually uses them… imagine that! A simple piece of twine, some clothespins, and voila!

Modern Painted Chandelier Bye Bye Brass, hello funky green. The circle bulbs are just right and add a cute modern flare.

Window Frame Kel found this awesome salvage shop in Springfield, OH. They have windows galore!

Family Rules and More Printables Kelly and Jess both have the Be Happy print. You can get it at Sprik Space.

Magazine Paper Frame & Vase These two were purchases, but I liked them too much not to include them. If you're patient enough you can make your own!

House Numbers and Hooks There are so many things you can do with frames, and digital paper. Our favorite site is Moo & Puppy!

Yarn Wreath You know I'm the"anti-wreath," but this one is really cute! I love the homemade pompoms

Paper Flowers Kelly's friend Amy made these for her and they match her aqua table so well. Jones Design Company has tons of paper flower tutorials!

Clip Hooks Are you seeing a clothes pin trend? They're affordable, easy to use, and cute!

Fabric Lined Shelves Kel took plain bookshelves from drab to fab with this blue fabric. Her shelves always look so cute! Her sister gave her the frame with the subway art and has it loaded up with a print for every season/holiday.

Unique Gallery Wall These cool rounded frames are from Ikea and the doorknob is from Hobby Lobby.

Growth Chart I love this growth chart that Kelly's sister made for her. It's exactly like this one from Miss Natalie. No time to make one? You can buy one on Etsy for $56.00.

Last but not least, check out this fabulous fabric choice for a DIY headboard!

What do you think? Are you inspired to go look at your pin boards and actually do a project? I know I have a list a mile long that I want to do now! I also have to tell you that Kel had no idea I was snooping around her house taking pictures, so none of this was staged or cleaned… this is real-deal, everyday life and I think it's great!
Have you turned a pin into a project? Share the link, we'd love to see!

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If you missed all the amazing projects of our first annual Creating with the Stars, be sure to check them out below!

Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects & Winners -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarah is back today with another awesome tutorial from the home decor project that won her the grand prize in Creating with the Stars. I love the way she built this headboard and broke it down for us- it makes any custom headboard within the realm of possibility! Plus, it looks unbelievable with that grasscloth and nailhead accent wall!

To complement the accent wall, we wanted to create a headboard that wouldn't compete yet wouldn't get lost against the nailhead and grasscloth.
We made a plan and gathered our supplies.
1/2" plywood (1 sheet cut to width of bed frame, ours was 62.5") 2x8" (x2) 1x8 (x2) 1x3 (x4) coral curtain panels from Target heat n' bond batting
I drew a few diagrams for the basic construction and dimensions of the headboard. See below for some the specifics on the upholstery. Measurements are for a queen bed frame. Note: make sure to measure your bed frame first, in case yours is different! You want to make sure that the frame will fit inside of the arms.

For the arms, we screwed a 1x8 and a 2x8 together, measured and drew the circle with a lid. We then followed the line with a jigsaw to cut it out (we did remove any screws that were in the way first!).

For the foam, we cut a 3" camping pad in half and attached to the plywood with spray adhesive.
Next we upholstered the back piece by wrapping in batting and then fabric. To make sure that the top was pulled evenly, we attached a thin strip of scrap wood and pulled tight. This made it much easier to get an even look!

Next, we cut the fabric to wrap around the entire arm, starting at the inner part of the arm, we put a few staples in (on the inside so it stays in place while you attach the arm), we cut little holes in the fabric at the pilot holes (where arms attach to the frame). We then installed the arms with heavy duty screws (we used cabinet anchors) and attached it to the 1x3 frame.
Then we finished upholstering! We pulled the fabric tight around the arm and stapled, leaving it loose at the top. We cut the angles, almost to the edge, but not close enough so that it frays to the side of the arm, pull tight and staple. It doesn't have to be pretty on the top because that will be covered next. We cut a band of fabric the total height of the arm (accounting for the bends) plus a few inches and the width (2.5") of the arm plus enough fabric to fold under (at least.5" on each side, so at least 3.5" total). We folded the raw edges under and pressed with a hot iron so that the edges were crisp and attached the band to the arm with no-sew adhesive (my preference is Heat n' Bond) and a hot iron, staple to secure the ends.
That's it!

I finished the bed off with a few DIY pillows. The euro pillow shams are made from a white table cloth and a scarf from World Market. Since the scarf was translucent, I doubled it up with the white table cloth. The throw pillows are white shams from Ikea, I then painted a border using painters tape and latex paint with fabric medium. The bolster pillow is a kitchen towel from World Market and the left over headboard fabric.

I love how the grasscloth slightly shimmers depending on the lighting.

The nightstand is from World Market, the sphere from TJ Maxx and I picked up little letters (to spell his and hers) from a local antique store. Books were wrapped in paper from the Paper Source.

Hydrangeas and Ranunculus are two of my favorite flowers!

This week was sponsored by Home Goods, and if you've read my blog, you probably know that I'm pretty obsessed with the Home Goods/TJ Maxx/Marshalls brand! I love the thrill of the hunt, designer names and the affordable prices!
I picked up a cute accent chair, fluffy white rug (my puppy love it too!) and the white sphere!

Finally, here's where we got everything!
Headboard: Fabric Coral drapery panel from Target (x2), Batting,

3" camping foam from Home Depot only $20!
Feature Wall: Grasscloth wallpaper,

Nailhead (we used about 2.25 boxes),

Trim- I found 2.5"wide synthetic trim from Home Depot on clearance for $4/8ft board
Accessories: Night stand (World Market — not on website), decorative sphere (TJ Maxx), His and Her letters (local antique shop), Throw pillow on chair, chair (TJ Maxx), lamp and lamp shade, duvet cover
I'm crazy about our new transformation and I hope you love it too!

We totally love it too! Well done, Sarah! We 're ready for you to make a trip to good ol' Bucks County to fix up our master bedrooms. Any time.: )

P.S Have you linked up yet?

If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners

We want to thank HomeGoods and Homes.com for partnering with us for this competition. They believed in this contest from the start and I'm positive the contestants have knocked their socks off! Since this is the Final Round, and we'll be crowning a CWTS 2013 Champion, we needed an awesome Grand Prize Package! The Grand Prize Winners -Contestant and Blog Star- will EACH receive:
$500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods
Project featured by HomeTalk

Also, for this round, HomeGoods provided each contestant a $100 HomeGood's gift card! Jess and I adore HomeGoods and just last week we picked up about 8 rolls of the best wrapping paper ever! You never know what awesomeness you'll score!

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Okay, now let's get to business! There are only 3 projects this week, so you're voting for your 1 and only favorite! We're so proud of each of these ladies and we know they've worked crazy hard the past month! As you're voting and commenting, please keep things positive & encouraging and just pick your favorite project. We've tried to keep things as anonymous as possible, so don't bother playing Sherlock Holmes.: )
Without further ado, We present to you… The Round 4- Grand Prize Projects

#1- Guest Room Makeover
For my final CWTS project, I chose to makeover a guest bedroom. I envisioned a guest room that was full of personality…fun pops of color and an interesting mix of textures and objects that feels comfortable, unique and welcoming to guests.

What do you make with an old fireplace mantel and a shower curtain? Create a headboard of course!
I loved the gorgeous detail in the border of the dark wood, in addition to the design of the shelf with the mirror and paneling. To complete the transformation to a headboard, I closed in the fireplace opening with plywood. and then I upholstered it with the blue and green ikat fabric---A.K.A a shower curtain from Target!

After I spent about an eternity installing bead board and chair rail, I felt like the room needed a really fun pop of color that would also work well with the headboard fabric. For balance, I purchased a white round side table at HomeGoods, and painted it with some fabulous emerald paint!
In selecting bedding, I chose to go with a crisp white duvet cover, so as not to overshadow the headboard fabric and pillows. Picking out pillows was super-fun and HomeGoods never lets me down when I am in need of a"new pillow fix." I fell in love with the vintage camera pillow (also from Home Goods) and felt it added an interesting and unique element to the room. The blue lamps added another great pop of color. My goal was to incorporate interesting objects with a mix of coordinating colors and textures into the room…the collage below shows all the details that I hope will make overnight guests feel cozy, comfortable and inspired.

Homegoods was the perfect sponsor for the home decor round. HomeGoods is one of those stores where you may go in with the intention"just to browse"…but never leave without something"you just had to have!"

#2- Colorful, Texture-filled Bedroom Makeover
The home decor challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to complete some of the projects I have wanted to try for a long time! Starting with a bare white room, I couldn't wait to add some color, pattern and texture

. To frame the bed, I created an accent wall covered with grasscloth wallpaper and used trim to frame the bed and nightstands. I love the touch of glamor that the nailhead adds to the space. While installing the nailhead, I tried a few new techniques that made it go surprisingly fast! Best of all, this wall is completely removable, renter or indecisive designer approved!
I added a few accessories from Homegoods. And customized a few pillows using scarves, napkins and paint.

I constructed the headboard from lumber and cut the detail in the arms with a jig saw. I then upholstered it with foam and a bright coral fabric. I love the simplicity of the headboard, but the curved detail and bright coral color make it extra special!

I love the subtle texture of the grasscloth, and how the nailhead adds a little extra detail.
I hope you enjoy this colorful, energetic transformation!

#3- Reading Room Makeover
When it was time for the Home Decor round, I waffled back and forth on what to do until I remembered that I had this nice (relatively) empty room in my house just waiting to be turned into something fun. After playing around with a few ideas, I decided I wanted a place to relax, read, and spend a little quality alone time…and the next thing I knew, the reading room was created.

I took regular ol' Ikea Billy bookcases and turned them into built-ins (thanks to some crown molding and a little DIY magic) and amped up the room a bit with trim and some paint in a traditional"library"-ish color. To make it more modern, I painted the back of the bookcases with some chunky gold stripes and tossed in a cozy chair and pouf, a DIY-ed tree stump table, and a ton of bright and colorful accessories.

When I was shopping for the room, one of the first places I wanted to hit up was HomeGoods — I'm obsessed with basically everything they carry and knew their store would be perfect for our bookcases. I managed to snag that gorgeous throw pillow for the chair, as well as several of the cute accessories you can see on the bookcases (including my personal favorite, the blue elephant up at the top)!

I'm so excited to have this space now, and I can't wait to settle in and start reading!

Now, it's time to Vote!

You can only vote once and only for one project. (the past weeks you could change your vote if you wanted. You might have thought you could cast multiple votes, but nope- it was just changing your vote- it was set to just one per IP. This week we didn't allow vote changes, so make sure you have your mind made up when you vote! Good Luck- it's a tough choice!!) In order to vote, you must first LIKE EC2 on Facebook.

During the years that I owned a homestaging business I became a master at hanging artwork quickly and getting it straight the first time. Since I'm no longer doing that as my job, I've gotten a little lazier with how I hang artwork and sometimes just take the one-nail, easy way out. Using one nail usually looks great at first, but eventually looks something like this…

Have No Fear… ZOTS will save the day! These little adhesive stickies were a homestager's dream come true and I still use them all the time! I've used them to hold curtains in place, keep pictures straight, put together little spa bathroom accessories, and more. Although they were originally created for crafting and scrapbooking, they are super-helpful around the house.

They come on a roll, and you just pull them off and stick them where you need something to stay put!

The end result is much better and I know these don't appear perfectly straight in this picture, but measurements and my level promises me they are. The shadows and colors on the edges make it seem off by a bit, but I'm trying not to obsess over them (I'm not as laid back about perfection as Jess is… I'm working on that! )

You can get ZOTS for about $3.00 at Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics. Add them to your home decorating supplies today!
Have a Great Weekend!

As you know, we're chatting about Spring Things on the blog. One thing that bloggers and DIYers seem to get all jazzed up about is mantles. Decorating a seasonal mantle is a must, or so it seems. Well, I have a confession… I really struggle with the whole seasonal mantle thing. My darn TV gets in the way and stunts my creativity. So… rather than focusing on my mantle, I've scoured the web for the BEST Spring Mantles Around! If you want to see oodles more, check out the always fabulous Layla, who's hosting a link up right now!

Actually, let's get started with The Lettered Cottage's Spring 2012 Mantle: What I love:-It looks effortless, like"Oh my mantle just sort of did this fabulous arrangement on it's own, and it was so pretty that these butterflies came through the window and joined without me knowing." -I love the pop of green in the basket. It's really cool and you know I love me some kelly green! What I wish:-I wish that when I put things on my mantle with the desire for it to look natural and organically arranged, it didn't look like I let my kids help decorate.

Source: theletteredcottage.net via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Two Thirty-Five Designs Spring 2012 Mantle:What I love:-I love, love, love (notice 3 loves means I REALLY love it) that it's non-traditional, but still has some tradtional elements. Notice, there are little robins egg-type vase filler, but it's not all"in your face over-the-top Easter Eggy" -I love that the colors and bright and make me feel like spring, but aren't pastel. What I Wish: I wish I could paint an awesome canvas like that. Yup, she actually painted it herself!

Source: twothirtyfivedesigns.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Remodelando la Casa's Spring 2012 Mantle What I love:-Again, loving that it's non-traditional… are you seeing a pattern here? _-Love that the simple, stark look of it totally reminds me of spring. I'm getting all English teacher-y on you here, but the empty frames and lots of negative space make me think about how during spring, I feel like my yard is empty and just waiting to be filled with all kinds of cool growing things. Then she was genius and put the branches again reminding me of what's to come. I have no clue what the G is for, but I'm going to go with Grow. Okay, enough lessons in symbolism. What I wish: -I wish my darn TV wasn't on the wall so I could do something just like this!

Source: remodelandolacasa.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Four Generations One Roof's Spring 2012 Mantle What I love:-I love the canvas panels! They are fabulous and want to know something awesome?? There are kids dump-truck artwork behind them! Yup! Talk about a good upcycle! -I also love the rope lamp bases. I know Jess would be diggin' them to! What I wish:I wish that I didn't have plans tonight so that I could do a quick, fabric wrap DIY project STAT! (Okay, I only semi-wish that, because I'm going on a big ole' group date out for dinner and to see The Hunger Games! I will have to DIY later!)

Source: fourgenerationsoneroof.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Last, but so not least… Christina's Adventures' Spring 2012 Mantle What I love:-I am so in love with the glazed, layered frames. If you want to glaze a frame, we wrote a great tutorial a while back. -I love that she just wrapped two books with fabric -Even though I'm not usually a tulip girl, or a fan of pink, the color combo here is just perfect. What I wish:-I really wish Christina would come here and do my mantle for me! -Oh and one more thing I love… look at that pitcher. The metal finish is so cool!

Source: christinasadventures.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

There's my wrap up… It almost makes me want to go decorate the dreaded TV mantle… hmm. And, we don't really do linky parties here at RHBC, but we'd love to see what your mantle or decorated shelf looks like. Leave us a link in the comments to your Spring Mantle!

Only following on the blog? You're missing out. Use the buttons below to join in on all the fun!

Ok, time for Round 2, and let's just say we're back and better than ever. Well, not us, but the contestants. Their knockoff projects are killer this week!

We can tell that they really want to win the awesome prizes from our fabulous sponsors this week! Let's just recap what they are, shall we?

1. $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio .
RDS is our go-to source for all of our stencil projects and our run on CWTS last year was where we were first introduced to them!

2. A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows
These pillows are hand-made and absolutely gorgeous. We're sorta jealous that we don't get them.

3. Project featured by HomeTalk , which, come on, is kind of a big deal.

These are pretty fabulous prizes, but let's not forget that one contestant and their star partner will win the Grand Prize at the end of these four weeks! Woohoo!

$500 from Homes.Com
$500 Gift Card to HomeGoods
Project featured by HomeTalk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are so impressed with how these ladies took these famous, really pricey items and put their own spin on them to make them unique and fabulous. Let's get this party started!

1. Anthro-inspired Wall Lamp

When I heard this week was knock-off week I knew immediately what I wanted to do. See, I've been seeing this lamp I wanted in the Anthropologie catalog. It makes my heart happy but…my budget doesn't allow for it. Well, could you afford $2800.00 for a lamp? I know, right?!? Ridiculous! So, I took it upon myself to figure out how to make this lamp accessible to mere peons. Or simply those that have a budget.

Granted, I had to change things up a bit. I used pipes more than wooden spindles. And Rub n Buff to achieve some of the finishes. I also wasn't about to do the whole thing in copper piping (have you seen the cost of copper pipes?) so I sprayed pvc pipe with copper paint and Rub n Buffed it to get a nice shiny look. All in all, I have to say that this ridiculously expensive lamp just got beat. Oh yeah Anthro…you hear me??…you are charging too much!

I'll agree that mine isn't exactly the same as Anthro's. True. But, let's see mine is…about 3% of the cost of their's. Okay, I'll make do with not exactly! Truthfully, I love this lamp. It's so quirky, fun, stylish, and feels like an art piece! I'm so glad this contest pushed me to create it, I'm in love with it!

2. Restoration Hardware-inspired Lighted Sign

When I think of knock off, I think copy cat (in a good way). I think of anything duplicated to the T, but is much less expensive. For this round, I chose not to duplicate, but rather I was inspired by this Restoration Hardware arrow and created something a little different. I'll tell ya… with the basic process, you can create just about anything you can imagine. A state, a letter, a number, a symbol, a phrase. It's totally up to you.

Perfect for outdoors.

Perfect for indoors.

3. Schumacher Zimba-inspired Drapes, Anthro-inspired bench and Cornice

I love designer fabric and furniture, but the high prices make it hard to justify (especially when I change my mind frequently!) I like to get a high end look at a fraction of the price by putting a little, time, effort, and creative thinking to work!

I've been obsessing over Schumacher Zimba fabric forever, it is absolute perfection for draperies! But, at about $100 a yard (that means about $300 just for ONE panel), it is definitely not in the budget. By creating my own stencil and buying pre-made white draperies from Ikea, I was able to get two panels for about $25!!

Ever since seeing one doubling as a window seat, I have been dying to build an upholstered bench ottoman. Inspired by Anthropologie's bench ottoman that costs $1,700, I built this ottoman for under $100. I cut costs by using an inexpensive comforter in lieu of foam, upholstry webbing as a top support, and a drapery panel for fabric. It's perfect for extra seating or a place to rest your feet.

Custom cornices can be very pricey especially when topping a large window. For this window, I wanted a 95" length which can cost over $850. I built this cornice using 1x12 and 1x6 to create the frame and a long tablecloth for fabric for under $25.

These three diy projects transformed this window area and cost me only $150. The time and effort was definitely worth it over paying over $3,000 for all of the originals! 4. Faux Chair Slipcover

It looks like a chair, but kinda like a slipcover too…
Well, that's because it's a chair covered by a slipcover! Who knew this chair had such high ambitions? I did, that's who!

I saw this faux chair cover on this Danish website and I knew these covers would be perfect for my house. I drew a template and took it to a copy center to have it enlarged. Then I cut it out and appliqued each individual piece to a plain chair cover to create a faux chair on a slipcover.

It's a fun easy project that takes an afternoon. And now all my other chairs are a little jealous!
I had fun making that plate wall, too. Just plates and a few vinyl birds. I think they're perfect with my"fancy, new" chairs!

5. Anthro-inspired Ikat Console

ANTHROPOLOGIE. I LOVE this store. I love the colors, the design, the textures, the ambiance, and inspiration that I always find there. When I saw this gorgeous ikat hand painted console, I knew it was the perfect piece of inspiration for my CWTS Knock off. (and at $1698--it's a great piece to knock off; )

Using a cabinet base from IKEA and an ikat stencil from Olive Leaf Stencils, I recreated the console, choosing a similar color palette, with some color adjustments to fit my own house and decor scheme.

They say"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Well, Anthro, you most certainly have mine. In honor of my love for this store, I styled the console using some Anthropologie treasures, in addition to some old wooden spools & candles, books and beautiful orange tulips. 6. Anthro-Inspired Sharpie Plate Art

Woo… week 2! After the crazy, hectic, eating-cereal-for-dinner kind of week last week was I was hoping for a"knockoff" project I could knockout quickly. Apparently, I don't know how to do that. I chose to knockoff Lost Arcadia By Molly Hatch sold by Anthropologie for $7,500! Since that's about $7,450 over my budget, I decided to see if it could be done on the cheap.

It's basically 30 plates hung together with a painted scene going across all the plates. At $7,500, that's $250 per plate. Luckily Dollar Tree sells white plates for a buck. And, since I was pretty sure painting freehand on the plates wasn't going to look all that great, I used a Sharpie and a projector. All you have to do is trace… easy.

I chose to trace a botanical print on my plates since I felt it looked a little more modern, but tried to keep the style and overall feel the same–very loose and all black and white. The plates are hung using Command Strips. At 5 feet wide and 6 feet tall, it makes quite the impact on the wall, not the bank account.

7. Horchow-inspired Mirrors

So, here we are at round 2 (Did you see all of the awesome projects in round 1?). This week's theme is Knock-Off, which I love. I'm cheap frugal, and just can't spend the money that some of the big name websites want for their stuff. Plus, I'm sure my husband would think I'm certifiably insane if I bought a $300 vase or $100 throw pillow. But just because I'm designing on a budget doesn't mean that I can't have nice things, right?

I saw these mirrors over at Horchow, and loved them. I'm one of those ladies that thinks that you can never have enough mirrors in your house. Mirrors to make your room look bigger. Mirrors to reflect light and brighten up your space. Mirrors to make sure you don't have food in your teeth. The more, the merrier. But $1095 shipped? Yikes. No thank you. But looking at them, I figured I could make them.
A quick stop at Hobby Lobby for the wooden plates and big mirror, a not so quick stop by Home Depot for the rope and other supplies, and a call and stop by the local mirror place for the smaller mirror size that I couldn't find pre-cut anywhere. Then it was time to go home to paint, sand and assemble.

I did have to get creative with the black caps that Horchow has on the ends of their ropes. My solution? PVC end caps, simply spray painted black. Some black BBQ & Stove spray paint on the metal (which is holding nicely as long as you don't bang around the metal) and voila! Drill a hole in the PVC, hot glue the hooks and rope, and BOOM.

Slightly smaller, slightly lighter in color, but perfectly me.
8. West Elm-inspired Wood Tile Dresser
It didn't take long for me to figure out what I wanted to do for this week's challenge. I've been lusting after this wood-tiled dresser from West Elm for months and months, but at a whopping $900, it just wasn't going to happen. So, this challenge gave me the perfect excuse to try and re-create it on my own! And I think it turned out pretty awesome.

I found this gorgeous antique dresser at a local flea market and knew it would be the perfect piece for this project. It's not quite as modern as the original, but it has some nice clean lines and wooden casters, which make me a little weak in the knees. With a fresh coat of paint, some DIY-ed hardware, and a whole bunch of whitewashed, hand-cut wood tiles it looks pretty dang close to the original.

Really, if I'm being honest, I like my version just a little bit better.; -) 9. Anthro-inspired Duvet When I first saw the Corin Duvet from Anthropologie, I fell in love with its details. Hand stitching, gathered fabric, pure gorgeousness. But it also came with a price tag that was way out of my league.

I wanted this look for our room but didn't want to spend $400 (and I didn't want to sew anything) so I bought a white duvet cover and a bottle of puffy paint. PUFFY PAINT?! Yes, I said puffy paint.

I used a picture of the original and a steady hand to paint the details onto my duvet.

But don't worry, the look is nothing like those cheesy tee shirts you used to make!; )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's time to vote! You guys have a ridiculously hard job- we don't envy you a bit! You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects. In order to vote, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook. Thanks!


Thanks for voting! Check back tomorrow to see Monica's Knockoff that saved her over $1500! Did you miss the Round 1 projects? You can see them all here. Want to know the results of Round 1? Click here!

Today is the last day of Round 1… That was an intense amount of DIY awesomeness for one week… One night this week, Jess and I had a text conversation that went something like this… Jess: Did you see all those awesome projects? Me: Yes! They're insane Jess: I think I'm mildly depressed from it all- these girls are amazing. Me: Yes, I believe I will quit blogging, go eat cookie dough, and mope around my house. Well, thankfully we didn't quit blogging, I didn't eat too much cookie dough, and we got over it, and are ready for Round 2 tomorrow! Before we say goodbye to Round 1, we are super excited to share our favorite Upcycle that was Linked Up this week!

Jessica blogs over at Dear Emmeline and we loved her Embroidery Hoop Pendant Light! We are definitely going to try this upcycle soon! Check out how she did it and don't forget to link up your favorite Knock off starting Tuesday! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever get inspired by someone else's work to create something similar yet so completely different?
When I saw View Along the Way's Dodecahedron Pendant Light I fell in love but I also knew that not only did I not have the tools to recreate it but it would be a TON of work.

Then I had the thought,"Is there anything I could use to create a pendant with a similar feel with a lot less work?"
A thought sprang to mind, and here is the result!

It took us about 30 minutes of actual work time to make this fixture!
If you want to make your own here's what you'll need:

2, 14" quilt hoops (we bought ours at Jo-ann Fabrics, original price $4.99 each) stain or paint 3/4" square dowel pendant light kit 7, 8-32 x 3/4 flat head Hillman knurled screws 7, 8-32 hex nuts drill wood glue clamps spray paint

Before we began assembling the fixture we gave the hoops and 3/4 dowel a coat of vinegar and steel wool oxidation stain to give them a weathered finish and used oil rubbed bronze spray paint to paint the cement colored part of the pendant fixture.

Next, line up the 3/4 dowel with the hoop connectors (outer piece of hoop) and mark a cut line. Drill a hole down the middle of the dowel. This will be the place that you feed the pendant cord through.

Remove the hoop fasteners and center your 3/4 dowel between the hoop tops. Glue and clamp each hoop to the dowel.

Feed the inner piece of each quilt hoop into the ball overlapping them to make an X shape.

Starting with the bottom, drill through each hoop overlap (there should be 7). Feed the screw through each hoop and fasten with a hex nut.

You could cut down the screws if you want the to end up being flush with the nut but we chose to leave them as is since the piece has an industrial look to it already.

I recommend drilling and fastening in the following order.

Feed the pendant cord through the 3/4 dowel and you're ready to hang it up!

We purchased an antique look filament bulb from Lowes to complete the look.

Isn't that such a creative idea? Amazing work Jessica! We can't wait to see what you link up this week!
Don't forget that voting on the Round 2 Projects starts bright and early tomorrow!

If you missed the announcement about which nine contestants made it through to Round 2 of Creating with the Stars, click here! We're dying to see what those ladies come up with for this week's Knockoff theme!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We didn't think it could get much cooler than Sarah's 80's Chandelier to Glass Mirror project, but man, were we wrong! This light fixture is a show-stopper and we were both completely in awe of Sarah's creative vision for old fluorescent light covers. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of this project, but I wish I did, because it's stinkin' awesome. Kudos to you, Sarah!

Walking through Habitat ReStore I spotted a few egg crate diffusers — you know those grates that cover fluorescent lights in basements across the country. It's the last lighting fixture I would consider for a project, but once I got around my thoughts of drop ceilings, I began thinking how neat it would be to use the grid to create any square geometric shape that I wanted. At $2 each, what could I lose?

Browsing Pinterest I found this amazing light, Lolita — Shine by SHO and fell in love with the arms. It's lines are simple, but make a big impact! Perfect for a statement piece!

Once we decided on the shape, we measured and marked the edges with a permanent marker. The egg crate diffuser was cut into the shape of the arms with small clippers (clipping as close to the edge as possible).

Next we taped the bottom with painters tape and filled with plaster of paris (mixing it on the thinner side so that it would level itself at the top). You want it as level as possible to reduce sanding. Any excess was leveled off with a spackle knife.

Once firm, they were placed in the sun to fully cure (I ended up letting it sit overnight)
Then excess was sanded off. Some of the squares fell out during sanding, so I used a little craft glue to get them back in place. Then I patched the imperfections with drywall spackle and sanded again once dry. This part was pretty messy — so I was definitely glad to be done with sanding!
We wanted a simple fixture so that it wouldn't compete with the arms. Looking through thrift shops, all we could find were ones with curves (very '80s) we needed something more mid-century modern. So we ended up building our own electrical housing out of old chandelier parts, PVC, and brass tubing.
Here's how we did it:

Honestly, this wasn't the easiest task, but definitely doable. It required modifying (mostly cutting holes in the PVC) so that all the parts would fit snugly.
To assemble all of the pieces we used Gorilla Glue Epoxy

We followed the directions by mixing equal parts of the resin and the hardener (in small batches so it wouldn't harden too fast). This stuff worked SO well! It set up fairly quickly and was SUPER strong!

All parts were lightly sanded to remove any gloss, and dust was removed with a microfiber cloth. Then it was primed, and painted with Sherwin William Rivulet (2 coats).

We finished it off with 2 coats of Krylon Lacquer to give it a super glossy finish.
Turning off the electricity first, we installed the light and held our breath as we flipped the switch.
Success! It works!

We also installed trim and painted 8" stripes on the ceiling to frame the fixture.

and a gallery wall with a few fun prints, paintings, and some fabric mixed in!

I love this fun addition to our office area!

Here's the price breakdown:
(2) Fluorescent diffusers: $4 (Habitat ReStore) Plaster of Paris: $5 (with coupon at Michaels) Gorilla Glue Epoxy: $5 Chandelier: $5 (Habitat ReStore) PVC parts: ~$3 (Home Depot) Brass parts: ~$10 (Ace Hardware)
Total = $32
Not bad for a statement piece! So next time you see a plastic diffuser don't just pass it by, think about what you can create with it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You guys, Sarah has unbelievably good taste and mad DIY skills. I was browsing her blog and this Fabric-wrapped parsons table just jumped out at me! Would you believe that she made that with hollow-core doors??

and take a look at this tufted headboard with nailhead trim. She had to have bought that, right? Nope! she made the entire thing. Gorgeous!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow because one of YOU might be featured here on EC2! We've picked our favorite upcycle project from the link party and will share the tutorial for that project! Get excited, peeps! Also, start thinking about which project you want to link up for Round 2's link party theme: Knock Off! Beginning Tuesday, you can link up any knock-off project you've done in the last year for the chance to win more prizes and a feature here on our little ol' blog!

Do you know what Pantone is? No, it's not a well-known shampoo. Pantone is the a leading authority on color and inspires fashion, home design, make up and graphic art trends. But we all know that what all I really care about is how Pantone impacts home design. This year, Pantone chose Tangering Tango as the color of the year, and this is why: “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
I'm really digging this color, as you may remember my recent admission of a design crush, and think it is a super fun way to brighten up your homes. Let's take a look, shall we?

Source: blog.hgtv.com via Jessica on Pinterest
I love that coral artwork, and look! It's paired with blue.: )

Source: hgtv.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Such a cute headboard!

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

How about a statement furniture piece?

Source: lonnymag.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: shelterness.com via Jessica on Pinterest I'm not a huge fan of this room, but I do like the pops of orange on the pillows and the chair. That chair has gorgeous lines. Just sayin'.

.
Source: redoitdesign.wordpress.com via Jessica on Pinterest There is so much to adore in this room, but did you notice the base of that lamp? Oh, it's just too much!

Source: mydreamtolife.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest Another fun idea is to use tangerine tango in your party decor. It would work so beautifully in Spring, Summer and Fall!

Source: etsy.com via Jessica on Pinterest Using this fabric on pillows would be fabulous!

Source: etsy.com via Jessica on Pinterest I can't get enough of this print, and might just have to incorporate somehow into my life. Not only is it cute, but isn't it so true??!
So, are you ready to Tango?

And now for the long awaited kitchen update…sort of. We're planning on finishing painting our cabinets sometime this decade because they need four coats each and are taking forever! this week in time for our daughter's 4th birthday party, but in the meantime, I made some progress on the lighting situation in our breakfast area. You may recall that this is what the light looked like before we made the big change.:

And now, for only $40, we have a gorgeous, huge, custom pendant light:

Pin It Adorable, isn't it? Our kitchen was in dire need of some color, and this baby does the trick! After looking around for affordable light fixtures, I wasn't thrilled with the selection and decided to come up with something on my own. I'm totally loving what we made and can't wait to bring in some of those fun, vibrant colors into the rest of the room. Here's how we did it:

I purchased this Ikea Jara Shade for $20, and Januari light kit to go with it.

Unfortunately, this light kit is intended to be plugged into the wall, but we knew that for only $10 we could make it work.

We consulted with my father-in-law who is an electrician and he told us that as long as the light kit was the same voltage as the existing wiring, we should be fine. The typical voltage of an outlet is 120W, and so was the light kit, so we were good to go. We measured the length of the wire that we needed and then my hubs snipped the wire. (If you want to be extra sure, check with an electrician before attempting this!)

Then, my husband used the nut/screw/thingy (?) from the old light fixture and threaded the wire through, separated the individual wires by color, and attached them to the existing wiring (white wire to white wire, black wire to black wire) with a wire nut.

We hung it just to be sure it worked:

Yay! I lived with it a few days just to see how I liked it, and decided that even though it made our space look soooo much better and a little more modern, it needed something. My plan is to thrift a round pedestal table and paint it, as well as, add a rug underneath it. I wasn't sure if I would paint the table a fun color, or add color and pattern on the shade and the rug and leave the table white. I decided on covering the shade with fabric, because it's an easier change than repainting a table several times. I knew I wanted to incorporate aqua or turquoise into the kitchen so Monica and I took a trip to JoAnn's, and found this super cool fabric that works perfectly!

Waverly Modern Essentials-Solar Flair in Lime & Indigo

I know, I know, it's bold, but I'm telling you the kitchen was feeling boring and beige without it. I bought 1 1/2 yards just to be sure I had enough and I did. I took my supplies to my mom's house because I had a feeling it would be a two-person job because of the size of the shade. I'm glad I did! I couldn't have done it without her.: ) I wanted the medallion to be centered on the front of the shade, so we measured the width of one,

and then measured the height of the shade to figure out the placement. In this case both were about 12 inches.

Janell at Isabella & Max Rooms has a great, in-depth tutorial on how to cover a tapered shade, and I pretty much followed that which made this easier. Basically, you want to place your shade on the center of your fabric (I placed mine on the medallion on the front of the shade across from the seam) and roll it out to the sides of the fabric.

Cut along the edge as you're rolling it, leaving about 2 inches of extra fabric.

You'll end up with a rounded edge that goes up on the ends. This will allow the fabric to lay flat, and the medallion to rest squarely on the front of the shade.

(Please ignore my abnormally skinny legs. Can you say no muscle tone? It's a genetic thing.) You'll want to iron the fabric at this point to be sure that it will lay completely flat.(Thanks for doing the dirty work, Mom!)

Place the fabric on the shade exactly as you want it (for me, the medallion on the front) and pull both sides around to the seam. Cut one side about 1/2 inch past the seam and tape in place. Then pull the other side snug so there are no gaps or bubbles and tape in place. (I marked my line with a pencil first.)

Because I didn't want to add any trim (ie:ribbon) along the top and bottom, I needed to make an exact cut along the top and bottom of the shade. So, I fold the extra fabric over the top of the shade, pull tight, and make small marks with a pencil along the edge of the shade. This will be the line you will cut to get an even edge.

Once you've made your cut, fold down about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch all the way around the top of the shade. Tuck it under and make sure it lines up evenly with the edge of the shade. Hot glue a thin line along the edge (Janell uses fabric glue, in case you were wondering!) and press the folded fabric down to create a finished edge. I suggest doing this in small sections at a time. I didn't want to see any hot glue, so I followed each section with a damp paper towel to get any hot glue that escaped the fold.

Create the seam on the back by cutting the fabric on the non-taped side about 2 inches longer than the seam, fold the fabric over and run a line of glue down the seam. Press to seal. (Sorry no pics of this step!) Finish the bottom edge in the same way as the top of the shade and you're done!

What?! You wouldn't celebrate by wearing the shade on your head? Shame on you! Covering the lamp shade took about 2 hours to do, so it was a bit time-consuming and a little tricky. Having four hands was definitely a huge help! Admittedly, there are some very minor imperfections in my shade, but I figure that it's pretty darn good for our first try!: ) And now for some more swoon-worthy shots:

Pin ItLove the way it looks lit up at night!

I love it, and my kids do too!: ) Now the question is, should I keep the brown curtain panels, or go with a different color, maybe navy blue? Thoughts, please!

If you aren't connected with us on Facebook, we'd love you to!

;
Linking up to: TT&J, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase, Saturday Night Special, Show & Tell Saturday,

We were really lucky to have had two major statement art pieces in our most recent Nate Show thrift store room makeover. Monica posted yesterday about the roofing material art using our Royal Design Studio stencil that I was absolutely 100% sure would be a fail confident would turn out amazing. Really, they were just so cool. But our other major piece of art was super easy and looked amazing above our dresser turned buffet.

If you see a big frame, BUY IT! There are so many things you can do with them, and large frames are hard to come by, for sure. We couldn't believe our good luck when we came across this huge frame at Liberty Thrift Store. At 25 bucks, it was definitely a splurge, but a frame this size would cost you 3 times that much (or more) at Michael's, and we knew it would help fill the empty wall space in our on-set white room. This is what it looked like at the store:

Eeeek!That thing was begging us to take it home and cover it up with fabric. I honestly can not EVER imagine hanging this scene up in my home (no offense to any of you who have something similar hanging on your walls!).

We purchased the fabric at Joann's because, well, we loved it, but also because it played nicely off of that mustard yellow couch (which, quite honestly, we hated! But you work with what you have and it was the best option at the thrift store that day.) This project took a little more than a yard of fabric, spray adhesive, spray paint, stain, hot glue and craft paper. We also came across three of the same kind of frame, which we immediately snatched up so no one else could get their hands on them. I mean that literally. Another tip: if you find three frames that are exactly the same, BUY THEM! You won't be sorry. And make sure you look past their color, and the picture in the frame- that can all be easily changed!

We started out by removing the picture and staining the frame a dark walnut. While that dried, we cut the fabric so there was about an inch or a little more extra all the way around. Then we sprayed the entire front of the existing picture with spray adhesive and gently laid the fabric down, making sure to smooth out the bubbles/wrinkles. If you're trying this with a frame, be sure to have an extra set of hands- it makes it so much easier! The extra fabric was stapled on the back side of the picture. In the meantime, we spraypainted the small frames in the same high gloss navy that we used on the dresser.

We were able to salvage the mats from the old pictures in the small frames, which saved us loads of time. Woohoo for the small things! We then lined the back of the mats with craft paper so that we'd have a nice solid background to highlight our antique skeleton keys.

I messed around with the layout of the keys for a loooooong time a few minutes before I settled on the perfect layout. Speaking of the keys…

…aren't they awesome? We actually had these keys from a previous shopping excursion at Architectural Antiques and were thrilled to use them in this project. They added so much character to this somewhat modern piece of art! Architectural Antiques is just one of the best places to find cool, old stuff in Bucks County. (If you're local, you HAVE to go there.)

From salvaged windows and doors, to old hardware and keys, to antique mantels and loads more, they have some incredible stuff! Anyway, we mounted the keys using our trusty hot glue done and voila! She was finished.

Pretty sweet, right? We sure think so! (And so did Nate!; )

*** Did you know that we share lots of other cool ideas over on our Facebook page? It's like little snippets of RHBC to get you through your day! So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and like us, we're going to post lots more Nate Show pics there later today!

Hey! If you're new around here- welcome! We're super glad you found us and we hope you'll stick around a while. Use the icons on the right to take the plunge and follow us. We love all things DIY and we'd love to share our projects with you! -Monica & Jess ******************************************************************************** Phew! The days that our segments on The Nate Show air are just so surreal. It's sort of like watching someone else there on the TV, you know? Even after four times on the show, it's still so strange. Plus, it's a shame we didn't lose any of our dorkiness over the past few months. We were so busy working our rear ends off to make the stuff look good, that we sort of forgot to play it cool. Anyway, if you missed yesterday's show, you can see the super-fun reveal segment below:

Isn't Nate the cutest? And he seriously could not have been nicer to us. Love him. This room gave us a run for our money, but it came together so beautifully. We love that it took us out of our design comfort zones, and also made us try a few things we'd never done before.

One of the things I'm most proud of is this ugly-$15-beat-up-leather-turned-handsome-houndstooth scene-stealer. Yes,, you got that right. One of our greatest strengths, especially as a team, is that we're not afraid to tackle any project, and this is proof! First of all, reupholstering usually means sewing a bit, and we don't sew. Secondly, we've never even attempted upholstering anything.at.all. So, why not give it a whirl for all of tvland and Nate Berkus to see? Ha! We're crazy.

I'm not even going to try to explain to you what we did in tutorial-fashion, because quite honestly, it was a whole lot of trial and error with some yanking and grunting thrown in. But I can tell you a few simple things that really helped the process go smoothly.

We were able to take the arms off of the chair, which made sanding and staining, not to mention reupholstering one hundred times easier to do. I sanded and sanded and sanded and then stained the arms and legs in a deep walnut. I followed that up with a coat of water-based poly to seal it all up. We used about 1 1/2 yards of fabric and two small boxes of nailheads, both of which we found at Joann's. We sort of viewed reupholstering the chair as wrapping a present, and got started on the least noticeable areas. Once we got going, the process got easier and easier.

It took us about 2 hours off and on to get it right, but we were so happy with the results. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close!

My favorite part, for sure, is the nail head detail along the back. Not only does it look awesome, but it covers the seam so well!

Isn't it lovely? Now, we have to decide who gets to keep it. You can be sure we'll be flipping a coin for it.: )

So, my recommendation to you is go ahead and give that project you're a little afraid of a shot! Sometimes it's worth the risk. Or, if you'd rather not, that's ok too. Let the pros do it for you- we highly recommend Jet Upholstery to get the job done for you. That way you can be sure it'll come out perfect, without having to stand in compromising positions next to your best friend (not that that happened to us!: )
What project are you hesitating to tackle for fear it might not turn out right?

>Linking up to: TT&J, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase, Saturday Night Special, Show & Tell Saturday,

Looking for the top 12 contestant announcement for Creating with the Stars? You can find them, the awesome projects that earned them a spot and their amazing blog star partners here. Don't forget to like us on facebook and follow us on Twitter @EC2blog for all the up-to-date info and juicy details!

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I'm so excited to show you guys the first step I took in making our living room jive with the attached dining room. This project is super simple, easy on the wallet and totally customizable! Love that.

We're both huge fans of Ikea. I mean, really, who doesn't love cheap, Swedish, hard-to-pronounce and even-harder-to-put-together furniture? I purchased this chair for the my living room, but the scale of it just wasn't right. It really needed something to help fill the space, and I thought an ottoman would do the trick nicely. While at IKEA, I came across this LACK side table which is only 10 bucks (depending on the finish you choose), and knew it would work as an ottoman that could fill the void in my living room. Round up the following supplies and let's get started!
Lack side table 1 1/2 yards of fabric 1 1/2 yards of quilt batting- Look for a coupon or a sale on this! Foam (mine is 2 inches thick)- Don't buy without a coupon! Staple Gun Spray adhesive Paint (optional) Chop saw (optional)

1. Lay the table top upside down on the foam and trace it using a Sharpie.

2. Cut the foam with an electric carving knife. I saw the girls at JoAnn's doing this, and let me tell you, the foam cuts like butter when you do it this way! If you don't have one, use an X-acto knife or razor.

3. Spray one side of the foam with adhesive and press it firmly onto the table top.

4. Grab your helper and lay the foam-covered table top onto the quilt batting and trim the excess. Make sure you leave enough batting around the edges to cover the sides of the table. (Adorable little helper is optional.)

5. Using your staple gun, fold one corner in towards the middle of the table and staple into place. Work your way around the table pulling tight on the batting and stapling as you go. Use a hammer to wack any stubborn staples into place. I've always wanted to use"wack" in a sentence. Check that off the bucket list.

6. Iron your fabric so you don't have to deal with any annoying wrinkles. Or ignore this step if wrinkles don't drive you nuts. If they don't, I envy you. Please tell me your secret.

7. Determine the placement of your fabric and trim the excess, but be generous with your cuts so that you have enough to go all the way around. Working the same way as with the batting, start with the corner and fold towards the middle. Staple in place. Work your way around, pulling the fabric tight. Every once in a while, flip the top over so you can make adjustments to the placement of the fabric if necessary (and it will be necessary, trust me!)

8. This step is completely optional, as well. I wanted the ottoman to be a bit lower than the height of the seat of the chair, so I used a chop saw to cut about 3 inches off of all four legs. Surprise! Ikea table legs are hollow! I guess that's how they keep the price at $10. *Wink*

9. To achieve a similar finish to the chair, I used two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk paint in French Linen, then lightly spray painted them with Valspar Satin in La Fonda.

That's it! For under $25, I have an adorable ottoman that helps ground the chair in my living room, adds additional seating (yes! You can sit on it!), and a comfy place to put your feet up at the end of the day. I call that a win-win.

I'm super happy with the finished product, and love that I can easily change the fabric when I get tired of this one. I mean, let's be honest, that WILL happen at some point, knowing me, and when it does, it won't break the bank to recover it! Woohoo!
To see these other projects in the living room, click below:

Planked Wall with Exposed Studs Stenciled Faux-Tile Fireplace
Have a happy Tuesday!

Confession: We have crushes. Yup, goofy, girl crushes. Now, we're not crushing on boys like we may or may not have in high school and college, but we're totally crushing on a few things we think you might want to crush on too!

1- Bicycle decor. This crush started a few month ago by seeing a bicycle pillow. Then, Mandy put some crazy cool bicycle art in her foyer, and I knew it was love. How great is this fabric? It's going to be making an appearance in my family room very soon!

A friend's family owns Bicycle Gift Hub and it's an online store of all things bikes! Now, it's a bit more for the seriously-in-love-with-the-sport type, but I did find these adorable book ends!

Want to know the funniest thing about this crush? I stink at riding a bike! Like seriously am awful. The phrase,"It's like riding a bicycle" has a very different connotation to me. My husband played college baseball and one time, when we were dating, I rode my bike across campus to meet him at the gym. The whole team had just finished up BP and I came riding up, looking all cool, didn't stop soon enough, hit the curb and went flying. Seriously, I was wishing the little accident had taken my life so I didn't have to face all those guys! Oh well, they must have found it endearing because most of them still came to our wedding the next year! 2- Industrial Eclectic courtesy of The Vow. First things first, I'm pretty sure"industrial eclectic" isn't real, but I sure love it as a style. I might have been one of the only women in America more smitten by the apartment in The Vow, than the likes of Channing Tatum (although, don't get me wrong, their chemistry was really sweet.) If you haven't seen the movie, I actually liked it and the hubs said it was really good for a"chick flick"
Now, onto the apartment. It was a little too urban loft for me, but soooo much of it I loved. These island light fixtures are calling my name. One of my favorite things was the sliding metal doors on the bookshelves. I need that in my world somehow!

I love all the color in the kitchen. I love the mismatched light fixtures. I love the clock. I love the island. Sensing a trend here?

Now this picture is a wee bit cluttered for me, but look at those metal doors in the back!

So the point of this rant is that I'm determined to find a way to make my so-far-from-a-New-York-loft house have an"industrial eclectic" feel.
3- Ladies Home Journal I'm crushing on LHJ for two reasons… #1- they've completely launched a new and improved magazine that's awesome. It's totally focused on the reader and what stories they want to see in the mag. #2- We're going to be collaborating with LHJ for DIY and design stories! We were in NYC on Monday meeting with the editor in chief and her whole staff. It was pretty amazing.
Lots more to come about LHJ, but for now, how about you go get or renew a subscription so you're sure not to miss any of our contributions. Just for a short time it's only $5.99/year! That's insanely cheap, so there's no excuses for not joining in on the fun! Head here to subscribe.

I'm most definitely crushing on brownies right now, but that's besides the point. I know you'd rather hear about my design crushes than my brownie addiction, so here goes:

1. Coral & Blue. Goodness, I'm in love. When I first saw that Ikea-hack buffet on the right, I was immediately mesmerized. Until then, the color coral never entered my mind for my dining/living room (I was going for more of a rust color), but now it's there in full-force. After an impulsive coral search on Pinterest, I found that amazing room from Southern Living on the left, and the Waverly Sea Scallop Coral Reef fabric that just sealed the deal. Expect a coral invasion into my home and onto this blog in the very near future.

2. DIY Furniture. In case you haven't heard, Ana White is the source for free furniture plans and I get sucked in just thinking of all the possibilities. I might have said to my husband tonight after seeing the apothecary console table,"Why would we ever buy anything ever again when we can just build it?", to which he replied,"You are an absolute madwoman." Ok, he didn't say that exactly, but I know he was thinking it. Anyway, my hubs and I have been scheming for months to build this playhouse loft bed for my daughter's 4th birthday coming up in a few weeks. One time I showed her this picture:

…and she hasn't stopped talking about it since! I can't wait to surprise her with it, and I'm also strangely excited about painting and decorating the little house. I'm hoping she doesn't have any ideas of what she wants it to look like (wishful thinking, I'm sure, because there is very little that my girl doesn't have an opinion about), because I've got the whole thing planned out in my mind already!
What things are YOU crushing on?

So, what comes to mind when you hear the word Wallpaper ? Is it something along the lines of this?

Well, guess what? Your grandma's wallpaper is gone and its been replaced with chic, stylish designs that can add major drama to a space. Still hesitant because of horror stories of hanging it, removing it, etc?? Maybe this post will change your mind…
Welcome to my foyer…

I knew I wanted something with BIG impact, but I was pretty set on stenciling the area… Well, after about five failed attempts at getting a crisp result, I started my hunt for the perfect paper. This search opened my eyes to the wonderful world of modern, trendy wallpaper.
Let me introduce you to Graham & Brown … the leader in AMAZING wallpaper. Thanks to this cutting edge company, my foyer now looks like this…

Although I'm not 100% finished with the space, I'm already completely in love with it! The wallpaper makes a statement that I never could have achieved with paint. It took about 2 hours to hang the paper and it was a two person job, but it was really simple and not nearly as hard as I had expected. Before

After

Check out some of these online wallpaper companies: Crown Wallpaper Design Your Wall Ferm Living Amy Butler, is known for fabrics, but came out with some amazing lines of wallpaper as well. These colors and styles are fresh, yet could still be subtle…

This wall doesn't even need art because of the dramatic paper

Used as an accent wall in a nursery

This paper has an Imperial Trellis feel and finishes the bedroom beautifully

contemporary bedroom design by new york photographer Alexander Johnson Photography
Still not sure you're ready for an entire wall? It can be used as an accent when hung and finished off with simple moulding.

The possibilities are endless. I pretty much want to paper my entire house, but I'm showing restraint and I'm only going to do a few rooms. This CRAZY paper is coming soon to an office near me…

I might add a punch of color (you can paint it, color it, etc.) and some black and white photos of my favorite little people.

So, I'm clearly a fan of wallpaper. How about you? What spaces could you envision some amazing paper going up in your home?