My Creative Blog:
The Nate Show

Oh, how I wish we had taken more pictures of the process and the final room reveal! But instead, you're forced to see it from a tv screen shot. Boo! We promise that we'll do better about that next time. Ha!: )

One thing that really stinks about doing short segments on a TV show is that we pour ourselves into loads of projects, spend a lot of hours working on them, and then they never even get mentioned. Don't get me wrong, it's not Nate's fault, it's just the nature of the beast. And all that hard work on the details is absolutely necessary in order to pull the room together and have it look polished, so it is what it is. Ok, enough of my pity party, on to the beverage cart! You probably thought we had lost our minds when we decided to purchase this thing:

Quite honestly, we kind of thought we did too. We both envisioned the same thing when we saw it (best friend brain's work like that, I guess), but getting there was a different story. We sort of put this cart off until, literally, the last minute, and tried a million different things until we were happy with the finished product. (I slammed my finger in the car door on one of our many trips to Lowe's for random supplies for it!)


The first thing we did was remove the wood shelves from the arms. and then used a hack saw to cut off the one side (yes, a hack saw will cut through metal!). Then we spray-painted the whole thing gold, and added a wooden dowel as a handlebar. On one of our trips to Lowe's we found inexpensive wooden slats in differing widths, so we bought them, painted them in complementary colors and used them to create the shelf. We HATED it. It just didn't feel right at all and we almost gave up on it. Not to mention, that I cut the wrong side off (see above) and so the wheels were at the opposite end that they should have been! Seriously, Monica's 9 year old daughter pointed that out before I even noticed! Oops! After doing some googling, I did discover that some bar carts have wheels on the handle side, so I redeemed myself a bit, but man, I felt dumb!: ) This is what it looked like after our first try:

 Blech! Anyway, we we ended up cutting more of the arms off and used a towel bar rod as the handle. We also added four gold castors because we couldn't stand those tractor tires! And guess what the shelf is? It's a pre-made shelf for a closet, (I think!) It ended up fitting perfectly, for which we are eternally grateful, because we were about to quit DIYing for good because of this thing! We mounted a wine glass rack to the underside of the shelf and called it a day. Phew! It was a close call, but I actually think it turned out pretty darn cute for all the grief it caused.

Here's a peak at the little details you didn't see on the show: 

(The scale, horse head and door knob all came from Architectural Antiques) We did find some pretty cool stuff at the thrift store. The tray on the bottom left is actually a picture frame that we sprayed with our favorite rust-colored paint and added fun, antique gold handles to. It's a great, inexpensive way to make a tray, and it ended up on top of our beverage cart on the show. We both were in love with the rust pillow with zipper detailing and were so bummed you couldn't see it on the show, and who doesn't love a houndstooth pillow with navy buttons?; )
Lastly, here is the final picture of us on The Nate Show. It has been such a fun ride, and we were totally flattered and blessed to have been a part of the show. Thanks, Nate!


Next week we have some fabulous stuff to share with you guys: updates to BOTH of our kitchens, two huge photo art pieces and more. Have a great weekend!


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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!

Today's a Seriously Important Day: Happy 30th Birthday Jess!

(Kev and Jess at the"decades" prom we went to last year- they looked awesome!) Let me just tell you that I officially have the best friend ever. Jess is hands down, my favorite person in the world. She's confident, strong, dedicated to her family, friends, and most importantly her faith and having her in my life for the last 13 years has made it all that much better. So here's to 30 Jess, I can't wait to see what this decade has in store for you. Love ya- have an awesome day! ***********************************************************************

So every once in a while I have a pretty cool, unique idea… trust me, it doesn’t happen all that often, but when it does I pretty much love it. The stenciled wall panels in our Nate Show room were one of those rare times. If you haven’t seen the room yet, here she is in all of her fuzzy, screen shot taken from a video glory.

We were walking through the thrift store and saw a roll of this black paper stuff. I didn’t know what it was at first, but then I thought way back when and remembered putting a new roof on my parents’ house with a high school boyfriend (ah, the crazy things teenage girls will do to impress boys. Eric couldn’t pay me enough to get on a roof now!)… Anyhow, I remembered it was like the paper that you put under shingles. Tar Paper it’s called.

This is where the random awesome idea part comes in… I immediately stopping seeing this as roofing material, and I saw it as a canvas-like material for some fabulous high-end-meets-industrial-art. Jess sort of wasn’t quite sure about my plan, but being the wonderful BFF that she is, she trusted me and encouraged me to go for it. Here’s how I turned this roll into art. We had just gotten the stencil in the mail from Royal Design Studio for Jess’ kitchen renovation. Remember, she used it here:

The first step was to simply figure out the size of my panels, I knew I wanted two stenciled images on each panel. Once I had them cut to size I rolled on two coats of semi-gloss navy paint. I was worried it wouldn’t take the paint well, but it worked like a charm. No primer needed- score one for the lazy DIYer! Once they were really dry, it was time to stencil. Stenciling 4 images was a cake-walk compared to Jess’ kitchen. It took me about 15 minutes to complete both panels. I used DecoArt metalic gold paint and it needed about two coats to really get the pop we wanted.

Did you notice all the gold on the stencil when Jess posted about her kitchen? It was a mini spoiler alert!

One additional thing I’m crushing on and could have added to my crush post are grommets. I have been using them as much as I can lately. I pretty much can make an argument that everything is better with grommets! We added them to this piece to give it a finished look and also play off of the industrial nature of the tar paper.

These are grommeting tools. The funny thing is that no matter how many times I use it, I have to think pretty hard to get it all lined up correctly. Once you do, it’s a piece of cake.

There she is… I’m pretty sure it’s the prettiest a piece of tar paper has ever looked. She’s like the Miss America of roofing materials. (It got a tad wrinkled when it was shipped back to us after the show, but it really does stay nice and flat on the wall)

I was really thrilled with how they looked in the room and wow, look what Nate was saying during this part of the show…

Oh, you didn’t hear him say that?… weird. Must have been a glitch with your TV. (hehe) The bottom line here is that ANYTHING, literally anything can be turned into art and it doesn’t need to cost a million bucks to be fabulous. This was $10 tar paper (for a whole roll, I could make about 50 more with what I have left) and it was beautiful enough for Nate Berkus.
So who’s going to their local roofing supply store today? Ha! Actually, next week I’ll share another awesome project I used tar paper for. It’s a pretty cool one and saved me a ton of moolah!

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,

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 ********************************************************************************
What a bittersweet day… we’re so excited that our fourth episode airs today, but we’re also bummed that our crazy Nate Show journey is coming to an end. It has been such an amazing ride! If you’ve missed any of our episodes, you can check out some clips here.
Since we spent a good amount of time in the studio this year, we really had a lot of work to do behind the scenes.

Haha! Kidding! We totally snuck these pictures in the control room when we were waiting for our mics. Yup, we’re dorks. Want to know the funniest thing ever? When we were taking these, there was another woman waiting to go on for her segment. We didn’t know until she was on that it was Christiane Lemieux, the founder of Dwell Studios! We LOVE Dwell! Can you imagine us taking these pictures while she was watching. OMW we’re Dorks!
Thrift a $250 room that looks like a Million bucks! This time Nate gave us a seriously tough challenge. $250 to design an entire room including furniture is insane! We never could have done it without an awesome thrift store. Liberty Thrift is a personal favorite and they have 5 locations in PA. We love the mission behind Liberty and it makes shopping there even better! They’re our newest blog sponsor, so if you’re in the area, go and check out one of their stores! Since you’ll get to see the finished product on the show, we’re going to highlight just a few of our favorite projects this week. We don’t have a ton of process pictures, because it was about 19 degrees in our work area and we were so tight on time, but we’ll try and give you the main gist. Here’s all the furniture pre-DIY… oh man it was in rough shape!

Our very favorite piece in the room was the Navy buffet. Something we love to do is to look at a piece of furniture and think of what we could turn it into. The minute I saw this dresser, I envisioned it as a fabulous buffet! When you’re working with thrifted pieces, don’t be afraid to try something a wee bit daring, the worst thing you can do is ruin it and have to head back to the thrift store to try again! Here’s the pretty darn dramatic before and after…

We don’t have process pics, but we do have some process video outtakes! WARNING: These are totally unedited and really goofy, but we’re all about keeping it Real and this lets you see just how the navy beauty came to be!
Step 1- The Game Plan!
Step 2- TV makes it seem easy!
Step 3- To Mold or not to Mold?
Step 4- Oops Still looks like a Dresser!
So you're getting the idea right? Good, because we don't have any more process shots! This picture shows all the changes we made. Isn't she pretty? We both were sooo thrilled with her makeover!

Now, when you go thrifting you can look at the rows and rows of dressers in a whole new light! And now, here's the cheesy End of the Night recap from day 2!
Tomorrow Jess is going to show you how two DIYers that have never upholstered a thing in their lives, decided to tackle a chair for Nate! We're crazy!
We hope you had fun watching our final episode, let us know what you thought of the room!

*** If you're wondering about the amazing stencil we used for our wall art, you can get it here. We love Royal Design Studios and their stencils are by far the best! *** >Linking up to: TT&J, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase, Saturday Night Special, Show & Tell Saturday,

This project is an oldie, but a goodie. We realized that we never posted about the amazing coffee table that Monica made for our first Nate Show, and that we now have listed for sale in our Etsy shop. We like to call this little beauty, our Barn meets Beach Coffee Table.

Luckily for us, my father-in-law supplies us with amazing barn wood from his barn in PA. but don't worry! We'll show you how to recreate that look if you don't happen to have piles of reclaimed wood laying around. Stop what you're thinking right now! We are NOT crazy, you just never know when a project might call for wood. Ha!

Are you ready for the DIY trick that makes this project sooooo easy? The base of our table is made of two adirondack tables! No extra assembly required, which, let's face it, is exactly what we like about this project! I bought ours for $12 each from Home Depot during an after-season sale (right now they're $29, but if you wait, they'll come down!), and had them laying around in my garage for when inspiration hit. (You should have seen the hoarding going on in our garages, just in case we needed something to impress Nate! )

We started by priming just the legs of the tables (you won't see the table tops once the barnwood top goes on) with Rustoleum's Ultra Cover in Gray.

We love the color of the primer so much that we often use it alone (true story: I have four frames in my basement that are painted with this primer!), but this table was going in my nautical/cottage style basement, so we went with a Valspar Spraypaint in Navy.

While the paint was curing, we got started on building our table top. We laid our wood down so we could move it around until we figured out the perfect arrangement. Isn't barn wood gorgeous?! Confession: the actual table top in the picture above was already assembled when my dad-in-law found it in his barn! All Monica had to do was place it on top of the adirondack tables she painted. How's that for good luck?! But since then, we've made them to sell, and follow this method for a very close match.

We measured 44 inches long and 33 inches wide, made marks, and cut the wood with a circular saw (you can use a chop saw, if you have one).

You may have noticed that our table has beautiful blue tones, and we can't take any credit for it because only years and the elements can create that, but we can fake that look pretty darn well, if you ask us.

So here's the break-down: We used a very dry brush to paint Benjamin Moore's Beach Glass on the wood. The key here is not to cover up all of the wood, just brush it on randomly. We are not aiming for perfect coverage here! Then, we wiped on Valspar's Translucent Color Glaze in Mocha, focusing on the cracks, bumps and holes in the wood. Let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe it away. Sand down any thick paint spots and then brush on one coat of a water-based polyurethane. We recommend water-based because it seals the wood (so a glass with condensation left on it won't ruin it!) and because it doesn't alter the color of the wood. Oh yeah, do the same treatment on the edges too, because they'll be visible!

Ta-da!

Just to prove it to you, here's the faux-barnwood next to the real thing:

Pretty close, wouldn't you say? We wanted it to look a bit more polished, but if you want a more rustic look, you can sand it down even more to reveal the wood beneath.
To build the support frame underneath, we took four 1x2's and cut them to size. The two end pieces were 33 inches, and the long sides were approximately 40 inches (make sure the ends butt up against each other.) Lay the boards face down and then place your support pieces along the edges and nail into place. Grab a friend to help with this because you want all the edges to be aligned, and the boards to stay in place.

We also added two bigger boards in the center as an extra support, and so it rests evenly on the adirondack tables.

Once the top is done, flip it over and place it squarely on top of the adirondack tables. If you want, you can screw the adirondack tables into the barnwood top, but we skipped this step! I loved being able to switch things up if I want, or create open space if I need it by folding up the adirondack tables and hiding the top!: ) This beaut is now residing in my basement and I couldn't love it any more than I do!

We're hoping this table inspires you to bring a little barn wood into your homes!

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

We're in the Big Apple today filming our last segments on The Nate Show (*Boo hoo. Sniff*.) We're crossing our fingers that all goes well, and that our room comes together like we envisioned. No matter what, we always LOVE being on the show and getting to see all the fun people who work there who have now become friends! Make sure you follow us on facebook for up-to-date info on the day's events! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ While we're away, we thought you might be interested in Lindsey's ah-mazing master bedroom makeover:

Source: livingwithlindsay.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Go Bold or Go home, right?; )
Head over to her blog to see this unbelieveable transformation.
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After our life settles down, (which it should at approximately 5:30 PM tonight when we finish taping) we will coming back at you with loads of great stuff. Monica will reveal the finished product of her granny frames, and I hope to make some fun progress (read: stencil!) in my kitchen over the weekend. Also, after posting about the oversize letter"J" I hung in my entryway, I was inspired to perk the whole space up with a mini-makeover. The wall leading into the kitchen will now be home to a big ol' gallery wall of white frames!

Plus, I made a little change to wall with the giant letter on it! Can't wait to show you it, so expect good things from us next week.: )
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What fun things are you guys working on these days?

P.S. Want to check out our past Nate Show episodes? You're in luck, because we've conveniently compiled them in one spot.: ) Just click here to see us in action!

As I write this, I am elevating my right hand after slamming it in a car door on one of our many trips to Lowes. Let me just tell you that shattering the bone in your pinky and nearly chopping off the tip of it (yes, that's right. Say goodbye nail!), is not only not fun, but also very inconvenient. Plus, Monica has been without a voice since Friday. She keeps saying it sounds like a 1-900 voice and is reciting over and over"Call 1-900-Craft-a-lot". We look and sound like we've been through some heavy duty boot camp or something, but nope, we're just doing some serious designing.

On the plus side, our projects for The Nate Show look fabulous and we're so proud of ourselves. Here's a sneak peek at what we've been working on for the past 5 days:

So, any guesses?: ) Let us know what you think we're up to! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh! And two big shout-outs before I go: First, our husbands are the best ever! They've been on single dad duty the last several days and we are ever so grateful. Thanks guys-we love you! And secondly, I just have to say a big thank you to Monica. Not only is she the queen of DIY who picked up the slack for me without complaining, but she also sat with me through some pretty gross procedures in the ER (with only a little nausea). I am so grateful for my talented and caring friend! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have a great Monday!

Happy 12th Day!! Can you believe we made it? Who would have thought 48 hours could have provided us with over two weeks of projects to post about!?! We've really loved sharing everything with you, although if you want us to be completely honest… since we've been seeing these rooms since OCTOBER, we're sort of glad to be done with all of it! Bad bloggers!
To finish off the final day I'm going to be sharing the itty bitty little details that don't quite deserve a post of their own, but do need a shout out at least!

One of the projects that was so simple it made me laugh, was the bracelet Christmas tree. Like most of my projects it came about by accident (and hey, so did Penicillin, so don't knock it!)

I was moving the bracelets onto my workspace and stacked them… Hmm, looks sorta like a tree. Could this be the World's Easiest DIY? And that's how it went down. It's a bit hard to see in the"After" pics, but in the room, the gold looks nice and shiny and kind of adds a funky element that I love.

Jess had this metal letter J floating around, but rather than thinking Jackson I was thinking Joy! I grabbed a black frame, printed out some holiday text and put it all together. I'm sooo bummed I can't figure out where I found the holiday text, but I know I googled something like"Holiday words typed" or something really obscure like that… did I mention I was short on time? Here's the picture I used. If you know the source let me know and I'll gladly add it!

For me, little details like these make such a huge difference. Even if they're never even seen on TV, I just couldn't do a room without them.
Ok, now for a whirlwind of final details…

This no sew gal was thrilled with how the sweater accent pillow turned out! My Epsom salt faux snow made me feel ready to hit the slopes. I'm a wrapping addict, so chunky stenciled presents were right up my alley. Seriously, who can have a horse without an ascot?? That would be just plain wrong! (hehe) And finally, I was inspired by this blog post to try a lighted felt garland.
Well there you have it! Thanks so much for hanging with us for these 12 days! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow! And can I just mention that I'm fairly certain I'm more excited than my kids about Christmas?? Only 5 more days!!!

P.S. Tonight Jess is hosting a"Favorite Things" party and we're both pretty excited about it. I can't wait to see what our gal pals' favorite things are! Have you ever been to one before?? We'll give you all the details later this week!

In case you didn't notice, we did TONS of projects in that short 48 hour period, so there's just too many to break down with tutorials, and I'll be honest, some were so easy that anyone can figure them out without me giving you the play by play. But, even so, the details are really fun, so I'll give you a glimpse of the little stuff that makes me happy.

I hung the silver chargers on the wall on either side of the fireplace to add some interest. I used a little trick to hang them that was super easy: I took a safety pin and hot glued it to the top of the center of the plate. Then all you have to do is hang it! It works awesome for things that aren't heavy, but I wouldn't recommend it for big pieces of art or picture frames. I loved how the metallic color added a modern contrast to the rustic accent branch and stones of the fireplace, and how it mirrored the circles in my modern snowflake garland.

One of the other fun things I did was to add whole cloves to limes in fun patterns for some of my mantel decor. I used to do this with oranges every year with my Grandma, and it's such a great memory. The limes add a pop of Christmas color, but they also smell amazing. Love this for easy decor!

I made two stockings out of burlap and hot glue. Ha! What I wouldn't be able to do without the help of my glue gun! Would you believe that Monica and I don't sew? We get around it pretty well, but man, you should have heard the Nate Show producers when we told them that we were DIYer's who didn't sew.: ) I didn't even use a pattern for the stockings, just drew a shape I was happy with and cut them out. I also made faux metal ornaments out of, wait for it…rolled cork! I used two different metallic spraypaints for the finish, and they turned out cute! Granted, they are soooo flimsy, but they worked perfectly for the show!

One of my absolute favorite additions to the room was the galvanized steel tub I used for holding the base of the tree. Unfortunately, the base of the tree didn't quite fit, so my hubs cut out the bottom of the tub with something (I just gave instructions and he made it happen. I didn't watch so I don't know how he did it! Sometimes that's better.; )

Because of the tub around the tree, I didn't have a ton of space for presents, so I used them as accents on the hearth. I love the simple look of kraft paper and traditional ribbon.

Ok, here's the truth. This pillow stinks. I was totally not thinking about the right way to make a pillow cover and so I folded, folded some more, and hot glued in place. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! But still, I like the sentiment of"Be Merry". However, Monica, feel free to rip that thing to shreds any ol' time.: )

These two are the pillows I made for the couch under the window. I took my time with these, so they're tons better! I can't get enough of the burlap against the green velvet- such a mix of textures!

Taking a cue from Monica's anti-wreath, I hung several pinecones from festive ribbon in a large frame. Even though it was super easy, I totally dig the pinecones. Actually, I adore pinecones now that we've used them in everything from placecard holders, ornaments and now art! They will be making a regular appearance in my Christmas decor from now on. Mark my words.

These two little frames make me smile. Nothing is easier than decoupaging a cheap wood frame from Michaels, and you already saw how simple it is to use artificial moss here. I lined the backs of the frames with burlap, took apart a necklace for the pearl tree on the left and a dismantled a few strange-looking earrings for the specimen art frame on the right. It's nothing if not non-traditional, and I think it's pretty darn cute.

This felt garland was a bear to make because it took forever! At least, it seemed that way. I like quick and easy projects, and this one was easy, but NOT quick! Lots of cutting squares, alternating colors and threading the squares with a car tire repair kit (yes,, you read that right. I didn't have a needle and thread, so I used what was on hand!) and then repeating a million and one times. The end result was so cool, so I guess it was {almost} worth it!
Tomorrow is the last day of our Nate DIY's, so don't forget to check back for all the little details from my basement family room. Thanks for stopping by today.: )

Want to hear a sad story? Jess and I were supposed to be in NYC this afternoon having lunch with the fabulous Mandy from Vintage Revivals and Emily, one of our favorite Nate Show producers, BUT… my oldest is really, really sick. I fear it might have turned into pneumonia, so we're headed to the pediatrician instead of the Big Apple. Boo! I'm bummed about our trip, but even more so I just want my little lady to feel better!

(Pic courtesy of Salvatori Photography)
Anyhow… Can you believe today marks the final weekend before Christmas? I seriously can't! I still have a few gifts to buy, some serious wrapping to do, and lots of fun holiday festivities to partake in!
I guess we should get on with it shouldn't we? Today the girl that can barely sew a button is going to blog about pillows. Oh boy, this should be fun! I saw this Pottery Barn Pillow and thought it was pretty adorable. I have no idea why it popped into my head during the challenge, but it did and I figured that I could DIY it without any sewing.

To be completely honest it was one of my LEAST favorite projects in the room and then good old Mr. Berkus had to talk on air about how much he liked it and how he wished he could buy one. All the while I'm thinking, Oh my word. It's a Pottery Barn knock off, just go to the mall, but I can't say that because we have to be super careful about using brand names! I was sweating it big time! They even asked me to write a tutorial for their website, so if you want the directions you can head over to Nate's site for the steps.
Here's my finished product, but don't look at it too long or you'll see some of the effects of only having a few hours to do a whole room (and yes, I know my stockings look more like hockey sticks!)

Ugh! It pains me to show you this! Ha! It's good to keep away the pride I guess!
Since it's Friday, I also have a Fab Find for you! Woohoo!

Fab Find Friday- Journey through Bethlehem

Living Hope Church in Dublin, PA hosts an amazing semi-annual event and it's this weekend! A huge field is transformed into the town of Bethlehem. It's an incredible experience for your whole family. 2 Christmases ago my kids went with their grandparents and they talked about it for weeks! It's an amazing way to remind ourselves about the true reason for Christmas. Here's the info directly from Living Hope's website

Come. Experience. A Journey through Bethlehem. Follow the path that Joseph & Mary walked in a dramatic outdoor presentation of the original Christmas Story.
Show start promptly* Fri, Dec 16 5 6:30 8pm Sat, Dec 17 5 6:30 8pm Sun, Dec 18 5 6:30pm *Dress appropriately for the weather. It is an outdoor 45 minute presentation.

Jess and I will be there with our families and friends on Sunday at 6:30pm.
We hope to see you there!

By far, the biggest challenge I had in decorating Monica's family room was filling it! It is one big space, and trying to get that cozy, holiday feel was very difficult. Part of my dilemma was the huge bay window that pretty much covers one whole wall. So I decided to create a modern take on a snowflake garland to fill in that blank space!

Here's the window before I attacked it with a wreath and scrapbook paper. {Gasp} That thing is GINORMOUS!

Although, once this started happening…

…and the power went out, I was super grateful for the light it gave me to finish working on projects! (By the way, we filmed this in October! I have lived here my entire life and do not remember it snowing in October EVER! Wierd things happen in TVland, I tell you!)
I tried to use as much stuff from the crate as possible, which included loads of scrapbook paper in various holiday colors, and although I would have preferred whites and silvers, I only had red, green and dark gray to work with. Of course, I have no photos of this project in process because during these 48 hour challenges I completely lose my head and only focus on one thing: gettin 'er done. (Blogger foul!)

Basically, all I did was search for 3 different size circle templates. I found plates that worked perfectly and traced about 50 circles (it felt like a million!), making sure I had an equal number of circles in each color and patterned paper. Then, believe it or not, I actually spray painted the backs of some of the paper in silver so they coordinated better. I would not recommend this because once they dried, they began to curl a bit, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I then laid them out on the floor to figure out the arrangement I liked best. I ended up with 3 strands on the two outside windows (I hung the grapevine wreath that I spraypainted silver and wrapped in plaid ribbon in the middle window). I alternated the number of circles on each strand, so that it looked random (5 circles on two of the strands, and four on the middle strand). Once I figured out how they were going to go, I cut an"x" at the top and bottom of each circle with an X-acto knife, so that I could run the twine through. Why did I cut an"x" and not punch a hole, you ask? I really didn't want the circles to slide down the twine at all, so the"x" allowed the twine to go through, but still held the circle in place. Finally, I simply hung them from the ceiling in varying lengths.

I really like how the garland added a pop of Christmas to an otherwise expansive, empty space. Plus, for the price of a few sheets of scrapbook paper and twine, you have an easy, big-impact project!
Hope this leaves you feeling inspired!

Before I could do any Christmas decorating, I had one major problem to take care of… the huge broken TV and the massive custom shelving built around it. It's funny because this was a HUGE part of my 48 hours, but because it wasn't just decorating, they hardly even mentioned it in the episode!

I knew that the TV was broken and the little one was being used temporarily, but I didn't know what to do with shelving that was made specifically for a ginormous box TV. I considered building shelving within the shelving and then remembered that I didn't have a clue how to do that and only had about 8 hours… onto plan B. One thing I did know how to do was build a pallet wall. Remember this project we recently finished?

I thought Jess and Kev wouldn't mind if I covered up the gaping hole in the wall with some cool pallets, and so I went to the garage to see how many they had sitting around and then sent the hubs on a little search for more pallets!
The first step was removing the molding all around the edges. (Oh, and removing the beast of a TV…good thing I'm super strong! hehe)

Next, we used 2x4s to create studs that we could nail the pallets into. This wasn't quite as easy as doing it on a normal wall because we had a lot of open space.

The process we used was exactly the same as our last pallet wall, so if you want all the directions head over to this post. My favorite part of this wall is the awesome pattern that some of the pieces of wood had. I feel like the circles are a great contrast with the natural tones of the wood.

I think the finished product is just a wee-bit better than before, don't you?

Once that little challenge was taken care of, I could breathe a sigh of relief and move on to some decorating!

I hope that seeing another fun wall 'o pallets is sparking your creativity! I think the two walls I've done have turned out to be some of my favorite DIYs in a while!
And just because it was too fun not to share… Tonight the hubs and I hosted a dinner and cookie decorating night. 35 of us had a blast eating, decorating, and spending time together. Jess and I are so thankful for the awesomely fun people in our lives!

They say great minds think alike, right? Well, we were definitely on the same page when it came to our vases. The Nate Crate had plain, glass vases in it and we both used the same DIY process, but achieved totally unique looks. We love how one idea can be done so many different ways!
Monica's Birch Vases

My vases were just intended to be a little accessory on Jess' shelves and I think they did just the trick. I love how using the tall, cylindrical vases gave the look of a real birch tree. They ended up being one of my hub's favorite projects in the room! I'd seen this DIY technique used tons of times before, but it was my first time trying it out and I was shocked at how simple it was!
The birch vase idea was actually a Plan B for me. Originally I planned to create sweater vases… they were all the rage in blog-land for a while. I just really didn't love them for this room. I might have liked them plain, but the red accents made me pretty much detest them. Thank heavens for Plan B's right?

Jess' Birch Vases

I thought it was hilarious that at the time I was making these vases, I was also saying to the camera that I wondered how many projects Monica and I were doing in the same way. And those camera guys totally knew too. Oh well, we do often have the same brain, so I guess it's not too surprising. These are admittedly less birch tree-like, and more frosty, winter-like because of their shape. These are the actual vases that came in the crate, and wouldn't you know it, I came prepared with loads of rubber bands in my supply kit (we're allowed to bring a few DIY tools of our own), just in case. The beauty of this is that a random placement of the rubber bands is key. There is no right way to do it! Yippee!!! I used plain, old white spray paint, but I've seen a bunch of people doing this with Krylon's Frosted Glass Finish. Pick your poison and get to work! Some of you might not have seen this project before, so here are the oh-so-simple steps…

Mark Montano, (TV host) has a tutorial on his blog for doing this same project, but using yarn. Check it out if that's what you have on hand.
So, talk about easy peasy huh? We love how different our vases are, and how both of them fit their rooms so nicely. We also love that they aren't holiday specific… I (Monica) will be keeping mine out all winter! So, grab some cheap vases and birch em up! ( Of course share pics with us if you do!)

Guess what we have for you today?? Another Video!! Just kidding! Hehe… We're joint posting and will be sharing all about our Nate Show ornaments with you.

In the midst of our 48 hour challenge, my ornaments were pretty much one of my last concerns. I was pretty focused on building a pallet wall (details coming soon), moving and rehanging Jess' long wall shelves, and some other BIG projects. I had the room 90% done and was like,"Hmm… I guess the tree needs ornaments??" So here are some insanely simple and quick ideas for you to try.

1. Wooden Ornaments: Jess loves bringing the outside in… (which is sort of funny because she hates outdoorsy stuff and camping and and every year on our annual friends and families camping trip, she brings her family for dinner and s'mores and then leaves! Hehe) Anyhow, enough secret insider info, onto the ornament. If you live in the suburbs (like us) or the country you can find wood I'm sure. Nate reminded me that he can't just grab some wood in NYC (ha! Totally didn't occur to me), but he gets his at Michael's. You'll need to use a chop saw or find a willing friend to help. Slice them about 1/4 inch thick, drill a hole, add ribbon. It's really that simple! I also used some of these as gift tags on the presents I wrapped and just wrote on them with a Sharpie.

2. Bracelet Ornaments: Time to admit something here… these kind of happened as an accident! We were spray painting some of the bracelets to get rid of the gold color and some of them got tangled. Wait… Could that look amazingly similar to a ball?? A few twists of the hand and we had ourselves bracelet ornaments! All we had to to was add ribbon!

3. Scrabble Ornaments: Crafty people all around the blogosphere have been using Scrabble tiles for all kinds of cool things! Jules shared some scrabble ornaments she had found at a boutique in one of her blog posts and it got me thinking that it was definitely something to DIY not BUY! All I did was take Scrabble letters and hot glue them onto popsicle sticks that were part of Nate's Crate.

I just snapped off the extra wood (with my crazy-strong muscles) and then used a little sand paper on the edges to smooth it out. Add your favorite ribbon and voila! I was wondering today, if I sanded the tiles down a bit, if I could whitewash them a fun color?? Hmm… Let us know if you try that!

4. Accent Decor Balls: You know those balls that people use in vases or bowls for filler decor? Well, we had a bag of them sitting around and I thought, Hmm… I have like no time left and a whole tree staring me down. Let's just use those bad boys as ornaments! All I had to do was jab some wire into them and they were done. I only have a picture of one of them, but it yielded about 12 ornaments in 4 different styles. So grab your filler balls and you have insta-ornaments!

5. Sweater Ball Ornaments: Okay Monica, behave. Don't write anything embarrassing. You're a grown adult. Please excuse my note-to-self. So, these balls were created just using styrofoam balls from the crate and an old knit sweater. I cut the sweater into strips, wrapped it around the ornament, and tied the top and bottom with twine. I also think it could be fun with some really bold colored sweaters. I might need to try that next year!

So there you have it, my easy-peasy ornaments! And just to set the record straight… I am not a neat person. The picture of my nice and neat supply table was a"Made for TV" display… Here's what it turned into…

I had a lot of fun coming up with several different ideas for ornaments. If you haven't figured it out yet, I was going for a natural and organic in my decor, and I'm so happy with the way each one complimented the other. You might remember (if you watched our crazy video) that I had never made an ornament before this show, but it was sooo much easier than I thought it would be! And even if they don't turn out exactly as you had envisioned, once you put the tree up and turn the lights no, no one notices the imperfections! So here's the breakdown:

1. Jewelry Ornament: This one is a combination of a chunky, metallic bracelet and a pair of really funky earrings, both from H & M. The earring sort of reminded me of a Christmas tree, so it worked. I simply spray-painted the bracelet in our favorite Valspar primer in Red Oxide. (Mo used the same color on her reindeer artwork)

Then, I altered the earrings until nearly unrecognizable and hot-glued the whole thing together. Add some jute twine and that's it!

2. Jute-Wrapped Ornament: This one is my favorite ornament of all! Although it takes a lot of patience, it really isn't difficult to do. You also need hands of steel, because trust me, they will get hot glue burns. I found that the easiest way to do this was to start wrapping at the middle of the ornament and wrap the jute around until you get to the top. Then start in the middle and work down the opposite way. Make sure to push the rows together as you go so you don't see the styrofoam, and use hot glue to secure the jute along the way.

3. Pinecone Ornament: This one wins the reward for easiest DIY ornament. Right now you can get a pack of scented pinecones at Michael's or Joann's for around $3.00, which means loads of cute ornaments for almost nothing! I brushed Mod Podge on the"petals' of the pinecone in a random pattern and then sprinkled epsom salt on top. Pretty and wintery (or is it wintry?)

4. Burlap Ornament: I love love love this ornament. It was inspired by the ornaments sold here on Esty. Cut the burlap in strips and hot glue around the styrofoam ball. I totally didn't measure the widths, but I figure the messier the better with burlap. And if you don't want to make your own, go ahead and buy them. No shame in that.: )

5. Scrapbook Paper Ornament: I used the same method as we used on our decoupaged pumpkin, and it worked great! Cut your scrapbook paper into thin strips (about 1/4" thick) and slap a generous amount of modpodge on the back of the strips and wrap them around the ball. Make sure your strips are long enough to go the entire way around the ornament. I also mentioned that I used glossy modpodge for these, and it gave it a really nice sheen- a little bit dresser, if you ask me. Side note: I had a few brown kraft-paper ornaments in my crate that worked a heck of a lot better for this than the styrofoam balls, so use those if you can!

6. Chalkboard Ornament: There aren't many things better than something you can change and customize year after year, depending on your mood or preferences. I used chalkboard paint on a round, flat, kraft-paper ornament, painted the edges with modpodge (what is this? An advertisement for modpodge? I promise you, we're not getting anything from them, I just use their stuff A LOT!), and rolled it in epsom salt. These are great ornaments, but you could also use them as gift tags for a super cute addition to your presents! Love that.
I'm sort of in love with the Christmas tree I decorated for Monica's living room (and Monica's isn't half-bad either. Hehe.) I hope this inspired you to try something new, use what you have, and think outside the box!
Well, there you have it! 2 Full trees of ornaments and not one from the store. DIY to the max! Now, it's your turn- we'd love to see what you come up with!

Welcome to Day 5 and have we got a show for you!! We thought we'd mix it up a bit and perhaps scare you away from our blog…forever… Friday we'll be sharing the how-to's but today, you're just getting a little sneak peek of the ornaments we made with some random Monica & Jess thrown in.
Moments of Awkwardness Not to Miss

• Can you see Monica or just a Heavenly glow?? (note to self, fix lighting next time)
• How many times can two girls say"balls" before it's really awkward (especially with their moms reading!)
• Did you know Monica's a magician?? Can you see her invisible ornaments?? (Darn lighting)
• Can you count how many times we slap our legs? How about Jess randomly clapping? And yes, Monica fidgeted 13947622 times.
• Martha Stewart came and decorated Monica's banister. Can't you tell?? It's REALLY fancy!
• Do your friends typically salute you?
• Monica really is tan, but it's overshadowed by the Heavenly glow.

So let's just call a spade a spade… today's post is definitely less of a tutorial and more of a tool for inspiration. I can own the fact that this projectwas not hard at all. It's also not something a person would normally think of doing as a part of Christmas decor, and it turned out to be my favorite part (and Monicas!) of the entire room, so it's worth talking about, for sure. What the heck am I talking about?
Accent Tree Branch

I'm such a fan of bringing the outdoors in because it's beautiful, but also because it's FREE. As soon as I heard that we were swapping houses and that I was decorating Monica's living room, I knew immediately that I wanted to incorporate a branch above the mantle, that would draw the eye upwards since they have high ceilings. I also knew that a branch would coordinate beautifully with their earthy, stone fireplace. I had seen branches used as decor in several magazines as well as a few ideas floating around in blogland. I'll be honest- this was my wildcard project. It had the potential to turn out awesome, but it also could make Nate Berkus laugh at me.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Kayleigh on Pinterest

My original thought was to hang a branch from the ceiling (I knew that the few holes I put in the ceiling could easily be repaired when they decided to remove the branch) using fishing line and something like this:

But then, my husband found the perfect branch ever in the yard and I realized that I might be able to avoid making Monica's hubby Eric angry putting loads of holes in the ceiling. Could it be that this branch was the right height with the right arch at the right angle to complete my mantle? Honestly this was too good to be true in a crazy fast, 48-hour challenge.

Yes, that is actually the way the room looked most of the time. Can you even believe I could get anything done with all that mess? I seriously spent about 3/4 of my time wandering around looking for scissors. And here, Monica, had laid out all of her supplies all pretty and organized…

To each, his own, I guess.: ) Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh yes, the branch. After much debate, (should we cut the branch and hang it from the ceiling? Should we lean the branch on the mantle? Should I throw the branch in the fire and burn it?), we decided on keeping the branch. From then on the branch was treated like gold. If anyone got near it, I gave them the stink eye and told them to stay away from it. My hubs accidentally stepped on it, and you should have heard the way I yelled his name. It had our camera crew rolling on the floor laughing. It's not every day that the perfect branch comes along to complete a Christmas mantle. C'mon, you know how it is.

In a 48-hour challenge, you have to think and act quickly. Being in someone else's house and trying to find supplies that will help with your project is tricky, so we had to be resourceful and creative. My hubs found two rake mount/wall holder/things in the garage and we figured out that the two arms could bend around the branch. The bottom of the branch is resting on one of the rake thingys, and the other one is hugging the branch tight to hold it in place. Lucky for me, one of the offshoots of the branch could rest right on the mantle holding a good bit of the weight.

Obviously, there are other ways of doing this, but we were in a hurry and were trying to make the least amount of repair work for them (aren't we sweet?). However, this method is still holding! To finish it off, I hung three ornaments I made (more on those to come!) on the end of the branch for a touch of Christmas whimsy.

All in all, this was a cheap and easy project that makes such a huge impact. I am totally in love, and have been looking for a place to hang a branch in my home ever since.
Would you ever hang a tree in your living room or am I the only crazy one?; )

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Santa's Reindeer Art Print
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I'm so excited to share this project today! It was by far my favorite project in the room! Lots of fabulous Nate Show viewers have contacted us over the last week asking when this tutorial was coming… well, the wait is over, here is is!

DIY Reindeer Artwork

First off, I want to give a shout out to a few bloggers that inspired this project. During a Nate Show Challenge we can't be browsing Pinterest or anything, but we do rely on remembering some cool ideas we've seen in the past and are ready to try. Check out Amber's project that she hand painted or this cool canvas on sale on Etsy for more inspiration.

Ok, now get ready, because this project is so simple that you might miss it if you blink! I didn't take any process pictures, and I really wanted to steal the artwork from Jess, so I made a new one for myself last night!

Start with a plain canvas. For Jess' I used an 11x17 and for mine I accidently bought 18x24. During the show, I quickly looked on Google images for a reindeer that I liked and found this picture.

I printed out the picture as an 8x11 and took it to Staples to blow it up for me. It cost all of $1.04! Score!

Have I mentioned that I seriously can't cut well with scissors? I actually had a"Needs Improvement" on my elementary report card for cutting…I still Need Improvement! So… instead, I cut it out using my handy, dandy, Xacto knife.

I used spray adhesive and spray paint.

First, flip your reindeer over and spray a thin layer of spray adhesive.

Position it onto your canvas and then pose for a cheesy picture. Okay, the posing is optional, but will make your hubs really happy, especially if you ask him to do it at 10:30pm!

Did I mention it was getting late? Perhaps all the fumes went to my head! Ugh!
After making sure that the template is pretty well sealed down, all you need to do is make a creepy face and spray!

Try to spray from directly above the artwork. Less paint will sneak through under the template. A little bleeding is okay and gives it a pretty cool look though.

I wanted to get the template off right away, so simply peel off to reveal your masterpiece!

Ta-Da! I'm totally in love!

Because I'm a blog slacker, my new artwork is still drying and not ready to be hung on the wall. I'll put some pictures on Facebook later.: ) Darn my procrastination!

So there you have it. Insanely simple artwork that makes a BIG impact!
Ta-Da!

We know lots of you plan to try this project. When you do, be sure to tag RHBC on Facebook so we can see your handiwork!

P.S. Confession Time: I may or may not have gotten totally sucked into my guilty pleasure (Gossip Girl) while writing this post. Feel free to email if you have any other questions. Bad blogger watching embarrassing shows!
P.S.S. How much do you love this awesome project I just found? Check out her blog and give her some RHBC love!

Isn't this so much fun? We LOVED doing these projects for our most recent Nate's Crate Challenge, and are so excited to be reliving our favorite projects here on RHBC! One of my favorite (and also one of the easiest!) projects from Monica's family room was the moss mongram I made for above her mantel. This is honestly a project anyone can do, so you have no excuse NOT to try this! Plus, this is one of those things that is perfect for Christmas decorating, but could very easily transition into other seasons- all you'd have to do is swap out the ribbon. Pottery Barn sells something similar to this…for 79 bucks! You can recreate this at home for less than $10, and I'm going to show you how.
DIY Moss Monogram

Step 1: Choose the letter you would like to use and place it backwards on the back of the sheet moss. Because I'm a bad blogger, I didn't take any pictures of the process for this during the Nate Show taping. Lucky for you, I wanted to make one for myself! I purchased the MDF letter for $3.00 at Michael's. The sheet moss can also be purchased there, and it literally comes on …wait for it…a sheet! For those of you who might be wondering, it is faux moss, which for me means no watering! Ha! The moss sheds a bit, so you'll want to lay down a drop cloth, or do the messy work outside.

Step 2: Trace the outline of the letter onto the sheet moss using a Sharpie (or any kind of) marker.

Step 3:  Cut along the outline using scissors or an X-acto knife. For Monica's monogram, I used scissors because that's what I had on hand. For my own monogram, I used an x-acto knife. Both work equally well.

Step 4: Turn the letter over and run hot glue along the outside edges. Immediately place the cut moss on top of the hot glue and press down. I don't have pictures of this, but you get the idea, right? Be careful! Some of the hot glue may seep through the moss.
Ok, so this is what the sides of my monogram letter look like:

I only put moss on the top of my letter because I'm lazy. However, if you want your entire letter to be covered in moss, just cut 1/4 inch (or whatever the thickness of your letter) extra of the moss all the way around. Then you'll wrap the letter with the moss and hot glue in place.
Step 5: Cut two equal lengths of coordinating ribbon and hot glue the ends 1-2 inches apart on the back of the letter. Depending on your letter, you may only want one length of ribbon (like I did with mine), so in that case, simply cut the length and hot glue straight down the back of the letter. For my letter, I also cut a piece of ribbon that I folded into a bow and then hot glued to the top of the ribbon. This gives it the effect of it being tied to the mirror.

Sorry! Cell phone pic…(Boo. Bad blogger strikes again!)
Hang that mossy bad boy up, and you're all set!

Beautiful, earthy and simple.

Sigh…Cue the Christmas music! 

Please do not judge the mantel decor by this picture- this was taken close to midnight in the midst of the 48 hour challenge, so it was faaaaaarrr from finished.
So that's it folks! Think you can handle it?; )

Psssst! Don't forget to check back tomorrow for all the deets on how to make your own modern reindeer artwork!

Hey there! We hope you all got to see our Nate Show episode yesterday. If not, no sweat, we've posted them here on the blog! Okay, now get ready for Day 1 of our 12 days!! We're super excited to share today's project with you because it didn't get much face time on the show, but is an awesome project that you'll want to try! Holiday Handwritten Lamp Shade

We love this DIY project because it's adorable, BUT it's also removable! No need to ruin a perfect lampshade just for the holidays. Come January 1st, you can say adios! Here's how I (Monica) did it… While shopping through Jess' house, I found these great lamps that Jess had thrifted and added IKEA shades to. I immediately thought they would look awesome in her Christmas basement!

The best thing about these IKEA shades is that the completely unroll! Score! (If your lamp doesn't unroll, don't fret, just wrap the fabric around it and then cut. A tiny bit more tricky, but good news! You have more than 48 hours to do it! I was in a bit of a rush!) For this project I actually used a khaki sheet from our first Nate Crate Challenge, but you can use any fabric or kraft paper for that matter. You want to trim your fabric so that there is about 1/4 inch excess on all sides.

Once the fabric is cut, use a glue gun or adhesive to attach the fabric to the inside of the shade. If using a glue gun, I promise you a few blisters. I think I still have two! Yikers! Do this step as neatly as you can because it will be slightly visible when the light shines through the shade.

The next step is to grab a Sharpie or fabric marker and write on the shade. I prefer a Sharpie, because the point is a bit sharper (duh, it's called a Sharpie! Sorry.cheesy, I know) For Jess' shade I wrote the first verse to Joy to the World, but you could write anything. A poem, quote, story etc… The only tip here is to stagger your words. I started the first line with"Joy to the World"… and the second line with wherever the first left off, unless it was too similar. And, If you're like me, you might hate seeing your own handwriting, but other people probably think it looks fine.

(Sorry about the frumpy shirt I borrowed from Jess' husband's dresser. It was about midnight at this point!) Once the writing is done, just reassemble your shade and admire your handiwork! It makes a cool impact, with a modern touch. If you like a more traditional feel, you could write in a more script fashion.

So what do you think? I pretty much love it! (and I think Jess does too!)

So, there you have it a simple Holiday Handwritten Lampshade! Now, how many of you are going to search through your house for just the right lamp??
Thanks again Nate for letting us share all the inside scoop of our Nate's Crate DIYs! Check back Monday for the fabulous accent branch Jess created for me!