Oh man, we love a good giveaway. I mean, really, who doesn't like to win free things?! We've talked about our friend Stacy multiple times because we can't get enough of her photography. Just recently Salvatori Photography did an awesome story session of Monica and her family. Basically, she followed their family around one Saturday morning to capture their everyday moments and they turned out fabulous… (This is one of Monica's favorites from the session)
Last year, she captured our entire families and as a result, we have photos we will love for a lifetime.
One of her photos even graces my walls in an almost life-sized way- remember my huge shaped frame? And this picture of my kiddos (they were so little!) is just priceless.
And, well, it's pretty nice to have a great photo of me and my best friend.
For Mother's Day, we are so excited to be able to give away a photography session with Salvatori Photography!
Here are the prize details you need to know:
~ 1 hour Session in one location ~ Up to 5 people ~ Over a $300 Value ~ Must live within 25 miles of Perkasie PA ~ Can't not be redeemed for cash value -Must be redeemed by August 1, 2013 Isn't this AWESOME?!! Just think, one of you could surprise your mom, sister, grandma or wife with a photography session for Mother's Day! I would be over the moon with a gift like that (*hint hint, hubby!). **Please make sure you click to LIKE Salvatori Photography- don't just click I'm a fan, unless you already are. Thanks!** a Rafflecopter giveaway
We'll announce the lucky winner next Friday, April 19th! Good luck!: )
P.S, We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to a charity we love- Worthwhile Wear. 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. Thanks!!
We're so excited to finally share this project with you. We wrote it for Infarrantly Creative last week, and now we can reveal it to you! We're going to give you an awesome, low cost way to frame a humongous photograph that will totally be a traffic-stopping scene-stealer! Not only that, this project is super easy and takes very little time. We were actually very surprised at how quickly it came together. You know when you have a creative idea, and you think it should be easy, but it almost never is? You won't have that problem here!
Here's our cast of characters:
1 Piece 4x9 Underlayment/Luan 24x36 Engineer Print (from Staples!) Spray paint Spray adhesive Modpodge Mini-projector (or a regular one will work too!) Picture hanging hardware
Luan, otherwise known as underlayment, is a type of plywood usually used in flooring. Not today, folks! It's ultra-light (I don't know maybe 5 pounds for the whole sheet?!), and so was the perfect medium for making a frame. We chose it because we were planning on hanging it high on a wall in Jess' entryway that has vaulted ceilings. We wanted something that would be light enough to stay put on the wall so that it didn't accidentally knock off one Jess' guests as they entered the house. Plus, because it's so thin, it was really easy to cut using a jigsaw (more on that later), and cost only $10 for the whole sheet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We recently introduced you to engineer prints from Staples? Remember Monica's Industrial Art?
Oh.My.Goodness. They have completely changed us for the better. Just wait, you'll feel the same way. Take your favorite picture into Staples and ask for an oversized print (they come in multiple sizes, but the largest is 3 feet by 4 feet. That's huge!) They'll make a copy right there for you, and the best part…it costs less than 5 bucks for a print! You're only able to get the picture in black and white, but who cares?! It's 5 bucks! The tricky thing is that the picture is printed on very thin paper, so you have to be careful not to bend it or mark it.
Here's where having a crafty best friend comes in: Monica has an adorable mini-projector that was perfect for this project. She brought it over and set it all up using the image of the shape we pulled off of Google images.
If you can't get your hands on a projector, We're pretty sure you can make your own using this fun little tip. Monica downloaded the image of the shape onto the projector (you just use"save as" to save any file format you'd like to the drive)
Then we turned out the lights, and voila!
The perfect shape to trace!
Then, we took that bad boy out to the garage and started cutting out the shape using our trusty jigsaw. We use this thing more than is normal for a pair of moms, but what can we say? We love this tool!
Make sure you take a cheesy picture of yourself holding the frame for posterity.
See what we mean about how thin the luan is? I would say it's about 1/2 inch thick.
The next step is to sand all the rough edges so it's smooth. We recommend using a sanding pad vs. an electric sander because of how fragile the underlayment is.
Because my framed picture is going to hang high on a wall, I wanted our faces to be large so you could see them, so I printed the picture as 3 feet by 4 feet, and then cut off the extra space using an Xacto knife. You could avoid this step by cropping your picture close before printing. Make sure you're using a high-quality photo so that it prints clear. Our photo was taken by the fabulous Salvatori Photography, so we knew it would turn out great! (Need pics? Totally check her out!)
We used Rustoleum Painter's Touch spray paint in Satin Lagoon. It's such a pretty shade of blue- almost like a peacock blue.
It took a few coats, but the underlayment takes the paint really well.
Before adhering the picture, Monica added the hardward to hang the frame. We didn't want the picture to get messed up, so we made sure to do this first. You should definitely use actual picture-hanging hardware, but this is what we had on hand and it worked well. We screwed them in about a 1/4 of the way down from the top of the frame and then threaded picture-hanging wire through.
After determining the placement of the photo on the frame, we marked the corners in case we had any slippage during this next step. Since the picture is so big, we decided to place one hand squarely in the middle of it, and fold one half back towards the middle, spray the spray adhesive all over wood on that half and then smooth outward from the middle. You can use a rolling pin to help get all of the air bubbles out, but we didn't find it necessary. Having a friend help you with this is very helpful, though!
Finally, we brushed matte Modpodge all over the picture to seal it and keep it from fading over time. It just makes it look more finished, too. The Modpodge should be applied in a really thin coat to avoid any bubbling. Actually, if it's going to be in a place where it won't be touched, you could skip this step.
Then it was time to hang our beauty up!
Told you it was high! I'm not sure how Monica got this job because she's afraid of heights, but hey! She did it like a good best friend.: )
We're so in love with it, and can't get over the beautiful pop of color it brings to the entryway.
The total cost for this project was exactly $20, and the impact it makes is HUGE!
So what do you think? How many of you are heading to Staples ASAP?
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Trollheimen (home of Trolls) was the first mountainous area in Norway to be released from the grip of the last Ice Age, and archaeological finds from as long as 9,000 years ago indicate that this is where early Norwegians found their reindeer hunting-grounds.
Trollheimen lies south-west of Trondheim and east of Kristiansund
Over the last 2 million years glacial activity has shaped the landscape, resulting in a marked division between Trollheimen's mountains. Glacial arms and melt water torrents have created open U-shaped valleys in the east, and narrower V-shaped valleys in the west. Giant boulders broken loose by frost have crashed down into the chasms to form a harshly beautiful landscape. The western gneiss peaks are high and craggy; their eastern counterparts are composed of softer slate and limestone, more easily broken down to provide a rich, fertile soil. One of the remarkable relicts from this period is Litjhelvetet (Little Hell), beneath the peak of Trollhetta (Troll's hat), where a glacier has gouged a deep hollow. The little lake, now filled with clear water, is called Troll'yet (the Troll's Eye).
Sheep and cows find rich summer pasture on the hills but walkers may also spot less familiar beasts such as wolverine, lynx, arctic fox and otter.
Thank goodness it's Wednesday, folks! Monica and I have had a crazy week (which is why you haven't heard from us much lately on facebook or twitter). Most of my crazy came in the form of my first trip to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding. If ever there was a crazy place, it's Las Vegas, am I right? We had so much fun, and loved being with some great, old friends. Sarah, the bride, asked me to take some informal pictures for them throughout the evening of their wedding. Immediately, I told her "I am not a professional photographer", and I made sure to emphasize this over and over and over again (sorry Sarah!). But I was game and had a lot of fun snapping shots of the happy couple, and thought I would share a few of my favorite pics of the night. Note: All of you photographers out there, please be kind! Feel free to read the quote in bold as many times as you need.: )
First of all, isn't she gorgeous? And secondly, I am embarrassingly in love with that sparkly headband…and the fabulous jewels on her dress.
There's nothing like pre-wedding nerves and the rollercoaster of emotions you feel in that day.
Since it was a destination wedding, the number of guests was small, but that didn't matter. We had enough fun for 100 people- especially in the elevators!
I mean, you can't have a Vegas wedding without a picture of some sort of game (True story: I'm an idiot about gambling and don't have a clue what that big wheel is!) in the background.
After the ceremony, we hopped in a cab to go to the famous Vegas sign. The groom, whom we affectionately call Chewy, is one of my hubby's best friends from high school. One of the funniest guys I know, for sure.
Sarah and Chewy, we wish you the best of everything in life! Congratulations.: ) And just because I love him to pieces, I had to include one of my better half and me at the reception:
So, tell me…what's your favorite thing about Vegas? Have you ever been to a wedding there?
We Interrupt this Post to Bring You Something HUGE! We've had to keep this secret quiet for a while, but now we can dish. We were contacted by Proctor & Gamble about being the face of their home division. SCORE! The one catch… we're one of 4 bloggers in the running. Oh SNAP! So, today begins the voting on P&G's Facebook Page. We need you (and basically everyone you've ever met) to vote for Monica once a day now until October 4th. I know that the daily voting thing is a pain, but man, this opportunity would rock our world! So, pretty please, with a cherry on top- go vote for Monica (you'll even get to see our very cheesy entry video!)
You can VOTE once a day for the next 15 Days!!
Okay, now onto today's post. Thanks so much for voting! **************************************************************************
Probably the part of my Garage Mudroom Makeover that I got the most questions and comments about was the huge artwork of my crew (or at least their bottom half!) Staples Engineer prints aren't anything new to our blog (we use them all the time!), but every time I fall a little more in love!
If you missed the reveal of my makeover, you can check it out HERE. You can check out the Custom Painted Rug tutorial HERE
On our final Nate Show episode, we used a really large wooden frame with some cool fabric and skeleton keys. All the furniture from the show was shipped back to us, so I knew months ago what I had in mind for it.
I knew I wanted to frame a picture of my kiddos' feet and put it in the garage, I just had to wait until my garage was no longer a disaster! Once the mudroom makeover was underway, I immediate saw the perfect place for my artwork!
I gave the Nate Show frame (originally purchased at a thrift store) a quick coat of spray paint using Valspar's New Avocado. I recently used the same color on some chairs and I'm a pretty big fan of it.
Since we've done this kind of project a few times before I'm not going to go into the full tutorial, you can check out one tutorial HERE or the other HERE. I know a few of you have had questions about what kind of print to ask for at Staples etc… I went in and talked to our store and got the low down on some details for ya.
I did make a few small tweaks this time around. Since the frame was empty, I needed to use foam core to mount my image and then staple it to the back of the frame.
I sort of underestimated the size of the frame- it's huge! So I just mounted the left and right sides and left the middle… shhh, no one would ever know.
The process was really simple, and would have been even easier if I hadn't run out of foam core. I actually caught my finger in my heavy duty staple gun and a month later, my nail is still purple. Ugh. Although, it doesn't compare to slamming your finger in a car door and cutting off the top of it while taping a TV show for Nate… not that I know anyone who did that: )
For $6.99 I'm over the moon excited about the impact that this art makes in my garage. I come in and out of this door a million times a day and it's pretty awesome to have something I love to look at.
So, what do you think of my Shoe Artwork? Are you ready to try a Staples Engineering Print in your home?
