My Creative Blog:
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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
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Sarah's unbelieveable bedroom transformation blew us away. The color combinations, details and style of the room were simply perfect and we fell in love immediately. She had a few awesome tutorials for her projects, so we decided to break them into two posts. Today, you'll see how she made that removeable accent wall that is a great solution for you renters out there, or those of you who have Design ADD like us!: )
When I heard that this week's theme was home decor I instantly knew that I wanted to do a bedroom feature wall and a dramatic headboard! With my amazing diy partner and husband, David, we got straight to work!

Living in a rental makes it nearly impossible to install classic wallpaper and nailhead, so we decided to build a separate feature wall! We wanted to incorporate two of my favorite materials, nailhead and grasscloth wallpaper. I love the texture of the wallpaper and the dimension of the nailhead!
Want to know how we built the wall? Here we go!

We purchased three sheets of plywood from Home Depot and had them cut to 7' high. Since the feature wall is 12' long, it would need to be built inside of the room. We designed it so that it could easily be dismantled into three pieces to be removed. We tied the seams together with 1x3s and built a frame on the back with 1x3s so it was extra sturdy and straight. We then flipped it over and primed it so that they wall paper adhesive wouldn't soak in.

Once dry, we cut the wallpaper to the correct height, placed it to the side and rolled wallpaper adhesive over the primer. We then used a wallpaper smoothing tool to remove any bubbles. The steps were repeated with 4 rows across, lining up the seams. It was helpful to have two people so that it could be adjusted as needed!

For the design, I was inspired by this fantastic headboard by Annie Selke. We created the design in Illustrator, and calculated the distance between the nailhead and printed it on two sheets of 11x17 which were taped together. We then punched little holes through the dots and used a felt tip pen to lay it out on the wallpaper.
Nailhead isn't the most fun thing to apply, but once you hit a rhythm you move pretty fast! Here are a few tips that I found helpful as I went.
1. To help protect my fingers from the hammer and to grab the nailhead more easily, I used rubber finger tips on my thumb and index finger (you know the ones that they sell in the office supply stores for sorting paper and such?) When I did hit my fingers, it hurt a lot less, and they weren't even sore when I was done!
2. If your wood is soft enough, push a few in with your finger first and then hammer. This saves time since you are putting the hammer up and down less frequently. Since our plywood was soft and hard in different spots, this wasn't always possible, but it helped when we could!
3. Lastly, this feature wall took about 2,250 nails. Wow, that's a lot of nails! So it was helpful to have two people or if you have the time, break it up over a few days. Total install time for the nailhead with two people was about 8 hrs.

It was helpful to install the trim (we painted first) before the nailhead reached the edge, so we knew exactly where to stop it. We used finish nails to secure the trim and then filled the holes with wood filler, sanded and painted once dry.
Next, we decided that we wanted the wall to sit just above the trim, so we cut legs to height out of a 1x12 and secured it to the back frame. We then installed a few cabinet anchors through the trim into the wall to make sure that it was firmly attached.
This wall was pretty massive! Almost the length of the room, but I LOVE the impact that it has on the space! Just because we are renting doesn't mean that without a little creative thinking we can't have a statement wall!

I mean, c'mon. That is genius, and we don't mind saying we wish we had done it first! Ha! Check out Sarah's fabulous blog, and then come back tomorrow to learn how to make that coral headboard!
Oh yeah! One more thing! Have you linked up your favorite home decor project yet? You can do that here for a chance to be featured on EC2 and win some great prizes. Fun for everyone!: )

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.

{If you didn't hear, The Real Housewives of Bucks County are now East Coast Creative (Get the story here). You'll still be getting all the DIY, Design, and Monica & Jess that you love, but change your favorites to www.eastcoastcreativeblog.com Thanks!}

You might remember that one of my 2012 goals was to make our family room reflect my style more this year. I still am convinced I don't really have a style… I more or less, just take lots of things I like and smush them all together, hoping it works out okay. Recently, I took one more step in the right direction for the room.

I was browsing on Etsy a few weeks back and came across a shop I loved! Project Type has so many graphic art prints that I immediately fell in love with. This one in particular caught my eye.

I had been toying around with the idea of vintage cameras in our family room and this picture was too cool to pass up. I contacted the artist to see if I could have a few custom tweaks made (it was vertical and I needed horizontal) and she said YES! I was so stinkin' excited when she agreed!
I ordered two prints and honestly even the packaging they came in was super cool! Now, you might remember what was on the wall already. My ginormous family picture with the smaller frame…

Well this time, I was going for the reverse. Tricky aren't I? Bigger frame smaller picture.
Once again I used my prized possession, AKA grommeter from Nate. I'll admit I was a tad nervous putting holes in fabulous artwork, but I wanted it to have the same feel as the large print.
Want to know how to use a Grommeter??

I keep my grommet tools in the little bin Nate gave me. Who knew one could love Tupperware?

Take one of the female grommets and determine your placement. I traced it with a pencil (a very fancy pencil I might add!)

Next place the cutting tool (might have an official name, but I don't know it) on your traced circle, and put the mini block of wood under it. The wood comes with your kit.

Give it a solid pounding with a hammer and you have a nice little circle cut-out

Pop the male piece through the opening. Make sure the pointy end is on the back of your artwork.

Now start stacking. Add the female part to the back…

Here' the order…The large metal ring goes on the bottom (part of the tool kit), then the male grommet, then paper, then female grommet, then the big mama tool (that's the really official term). Now Hammer, Hammer, Hammer. (Don't do it on your granite counter. I took mine outside in the garage)

Ta-da! Perfectly adorable grommet!

I took my art to the wall and hung it with plain nails. I'll use decorative ones to cover 'em up.

I added my chain, which again only cost me about $1.45 at Lowes

And vioila! I'm also going to add a fun door nob to the peak of the chain. I didn't quite get to Architectural Antiques this weekend as I planned to. Now, here's the question of the day… What should I put in the open gold frames??

Here's the room to give you the full picture…

Side note: Does anyone else have a weird husband that flips the cushions backwards? He does it when we don't have company over because the kids make a mess of the cushions. Sometimes I forget and then it's an awkward, mad rush as people are walking in the door. Weird. I know.
So let me know what you think of my retro camera art, and what I should do to finish off this wall!

That's right. In honor of our trips to Disney this week, we are highlighting our favorite things about this magical place. We had two totally different experiences here- Monica had no kids which meant sleeping in and staying out late and taking in all the"adult" rides and activities. I was with my family and some extended family which included 5 kids, so we were up early, getting home early and hitting up all the kid-friendly attractions. So, don't be jealous- just take some notes on things you do NOT want to miss next time you're in Disney World.: )
Jessica's Top Picks

1. Disney Photo Pass. This pass is ingenious! There are the usual photographers posted strategically around the parks (you know, in front of Cinderella's castle, with the characters etc.), but instead of having to go to a booth to pay for a picture and take it home with you, they scan your pictures onto the photopass card. You'll want to keep that card and have it handy any time you get your picture taken. When you get home, you can input the information into the photopass website, and all your pictures can be found in an album. From there, you can order and buy prints, or share the photos on facebook or through email, at no cost! We were told that if there are 9 or more prints that you love and want to have to use as you wish, ordering a CD of the prints is the easiest and cheapest way to go (however buying the CD will set you back $150!)

2. Disney Live Shows. Honestly, these shows are Broadway quality, but cost nothing (after you pay to enter the parks). The talent is amazing, the costumes and backdrops are so colorful and amazing, and the music is phenomenal! Our favorites include The Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom, Beauty & the Beast at Hollywood Studios, and Finding Nemo-the Musical at Animal Kingdom. Plus, the kids love all the colors and lights and music. It really is a fun-for-the-whole-family event!

3. Camp Minnie-Mickey at Animal Kingdom. If your kids are into meeting all the characters, this is the best place to do it! The three older kids in our group had autograph books and nearly filled them at Camp Minnie-Mickey. We met Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Pocahontas and a bunch more. Definitely get there as it opens at 9:00 AM to avoid the lines.

4. Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor at Magic Kingdom. This interactive show is hilarious and incorporates real people from the audience into the show. The technology truly is amazing- the characters (ie: Mike Wazowski) are animated, but somehow they can interact with the audience. The kids (and my husband) thought this was hysterical.

5. We used the book Birnbaum Guides: Walt Disney World 2011 to help us navigate the parks successfully with kids. It has a suggested game plan of action if you have kids which didn't steer us wrong. I highly recommend this book!
Monica's Top Picks

1. FastPass. Basically, the best thing at Disney since sliced bread! FastPass removes the one complaint people used to have about Disney… long lines. With this system, you can reserve a spot in line for a ride while you visit other areas of the park. You go to the ride, use the Fastpass ticketing area and are given a slip of paper which gives you a one hour window that you can return during to go on the ride with a very minimal wait (our longest was 10 mins max.) All of the most popular rides have FastPass, but if you're thinking of going early in the morning to get reserved spots for all of your favorites, think again. You're only allowed so many FastPasses within a certain amount of time, so you can get one and then your ticket will tell you when you can go and reserve another one elsewhere. It's just plain old awesomeness!

2. Test Track at Epcot is a high-speed vehicle-simulation ride that I loved! It's one of Disney's longest (5 mins) and fastest rides. It takes you through a series of driving simulations (heat, corrosion, anti-lock breaks, etc.) but, the fun starts when you head out onto the open road. The speed and smoothness of the ride is amazing. Definitely check out this ride and of course use a FastPass to avoid an eternal line.

3. IllumiNations at Epcot. Every night this show is done at 9pm and I think I just happened to catch it on the best night ever. It was a warm night with an almost full moon, and the music, lights, and fireworks made"Disney Magic" come to life. It's a 14 minute show and it's not overly loud if your little ones aren't huge fans of the crazy loud fireworks. I recommend dinner in China and then watching right outside of Japan for an amazing viewing spot.

4. Downtown Disney. I like this part of Disney for many reasons, but the top two are that 1. It's free and 2. It has great shops and restaurants and isn't grossly overpriced. Earl of Sandwich was perfect for a midday lunch and in my opinion rivaled Panera (which is impressive in my book.) The Lego store (and the amazing Lego displays outside), the huge Disney Store, and the specialized Disney Toy Store were my favorites.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Jess for dinner at Downtown Disney's Rainforest Cafe. We were laughing about the fact that we rarely get to go out for dinner just the two of us and had to go to Orlando to do it.

The famous hold the camera ourselves shot…

Do you see the size of that dessert?

Ahh…Vacation 
My favorites list is a little shorter, but that might be because one of my very favorite parts of this trip was just sitting poolside reading for hours! Being able to get through three books in five days was just a little bit of paradise for me.
So, we hope you enjoyed hearing our Disney Fab Finds. Now, do tell… what are your Disney Favorites?

Happy Friday to our favorite readers ever! I've been really excited to share this tutorial with you! I wanted to hang canvas prints of my kiddos in a unique way. Add some wire, screws, and clamps, and I think I came up with something pretty cool!

Industrial Faux Canvas Collage

Everyone loves gallery-wrapped canvases these days, and why wouldn't you? They're fabulous! Although, we don't know about you, but sometimes $60.00+ for one print is a wee bit hard for us to swallow. We were super excited to hear that WalMart came out with a faux canvas:

Now what, you ask, is a faux canvas? Well, we were wondering the same thing, so of course we tried it out. What they do is print your photo on heavy, dimpled paper (canvas look-alike) and then wrap it around a cardboard box. Sounds glamorous, huh? Let me tell you that for the price, we were thrilled!

And, of course, we didn't pay full price… and neither should you! We used a coupon that brought the total down to $9.96 each but… it's expired. BOO! Have no fear, we've got your back! Canvas People will give you a FREE 8x10 canvas and it's not even cardboard! lol. Just use this link to get the deal.

So, you should know by now that I have 4 kids, yup FOUR, and so we got prints of each of the kiddos. We thought it would be fun to add a little boys vs. girls flare, so, inspired by Mandi's Epic Room Makeover we made two graphic canvases as well. We just used some images we found online and Picnik to create them. Sadly, Picnik is actually closing (today in fact!) but PicMonkey is the perfect replacement!

The first step was to add the screw eyes to each canvas. Just measure to the center and screw them in. Since they're made of cardboard it was crazy simple to do. (Umm, please ignore my creepy monster looking hands)

Add screw eyes to the top and bottom of each canvas except for the one which will be at the bottom of your display. The bottom canvas will only get top screw eyes.

Next, add screw eyes to the ceiling. This will require a little measuring, but you'll want them to be even. My vaulted ceiling required some additional math, but we made it work.

Here's where it got a bit tricky. The nice man at Lowe's gave us these clamps to lock the wire in place. Have you ever felt like your hands were made of stone? It's very clear that we're not surgeons. It took about 30 minutes to clamp the first side. Ugh! The hubs finally got home and it took him 30 seconds. We were just happy to have it done!

Now for the fun part! Weave the wire through the screw eyes on the top, behind the back and out the bottom. Repeat for the remaining canvases. Ok, we're all about keeping it Real on our blog, so we'll be honest here too… This is a two person job and preferably with a person you really like, because it's a tad frustrating. The canvases tend to slip down a bit and did we mention our stone hands? We promise it's all worth it in the end.

Once your canvases are threaded through, you'll want to secure the bottom one first. We used a staple gun to hold the wire in place and then added some hot glue (because they were slipping and because Jess is slightly obsessed with the stuff!)

Determine how far apart you want your canvases and adjust them accordingly. The tension of the taut wire should keep the upper canvases in place, but if you want extra support you can add some glue to each one.

The end result is a unique, industrial-looking display that we love!

I couldn't be happier with this project and the unique way to share pictures of my kids! I have to give a shout out to our photographer and friend at Salvatori Photography. These pictures are SO my kids!
This was just the first project in my breakfast room makeover, we have lots more planned. I've switched out the light fixture (thankfully!) and this weekend I'm adding avocado chairs, stenciling my table top, and more! I hope to have more to reveal next week!

So, what do you think? Is the wire style workin' for you?

This guest blogger just so happens to be my personal favorite… I'm allowed to be a little biased because I think he has a crush on me, and I think he's kinda cute too. Make sure you leave a comment and like the post on Facebook because I need lots of positive feedback for this blogger!

This is Eric, husband of the oh-so-talented

Monica. I got word that Jess and

Monica would be having"guest bloggers" and I jokingly asked why I can't be a guest blogger. Well, she called my bluff and told me to put together a post.
Now the conundrum, I am not housewife and as my WHOLE family can vouch for, I am NOT crafty. So what can I post on?
Ah-ha… probably the most important thing (not living) in my whole house would be our photo books! And this is one quasi-crafty thing that I am totally in charge of. So here goes.
If all of you crazy blog-stalkers with kids are anything like my wife, you take thousands (if not millions) of pictures of your kids, your house, your family and really just your whole life. These pictures sit on your camera or computer, occasionally they get dropped into a blog or facebook, but for all intents and purposes, they sit – lost and wasted.
In 2007, I got tired of seeing

Monica take so many awesome pictures without ever doing anything with them. That's when we discovered Blurb. Ever heard of it? The beauty of Blurb is that they offer"book-store quality printing and binding" at incredibly reasonable prices.
Everyone I've talked to seems to get overwhelmed with idea of doing a photo book. But trust me, it's not hard. The longest, hardest, most time-consuming part is just sorting through the tens of thousands of pictures stored on your camera and computer and organizing a years worth of pictures. But… and this is a big but… it's so rewarding going through a full year, seeing all that you've done, re-living all the fun events, seeing how your family has grown over the course of a year.
Ok, so what I do, (and this is just preference), is I go month-by-month, sorting pictures mainly by events. I drop all pictures into folders on my desktop with a name of the even. For example, I'll have folders such as"snow fun,""baking with mommy,""bath-time,""field trip to the farm,""fun with playdough,""Kenzie's soccer," etc., and then I always have a folder for each kid with all the best pictures that we have for them. Then when it's time to actually put the book together, it really just flies!
The great thing about doing a photo book like this versus just printing photos and putting them in an album is that you get to tell stories, explain the events, and actually add personality to your photos. It's a great place to remember some of the crazy things your kids have said or done. With the craziness of moving over this summer, I got way behind on putting these books together. I sat down to do a book for the 2^nd half of 2009 a couple weeks ago and I was amazed at how much I forgot! I saw all these pictures and couldn't quite place where we were, or what we were doing, or some of the fun stories behind the pictures. My goal is to do 2 books per year as soon as that year is finished. There are so many types of books that you can do –

Monica scanned all of Kenzie's art work from a full year of school and made an art book, she made several small books documenting things such as birthday parties or Christmas. We've even given a book to my parents after a week on vacation with them (yes, these books make great presents for the grandparents!)
Enough talk. Here is what Blurb actually looks like (screen shot from our ancient desktop). You log in and all the Blurb books you've created are listed.

Once the book is created, I import all the pictures that I have from a given folder on my desktop (i.e. beach with the Motts). There are dozens of picture/text layouts to choose from and all you have to do is drag-and-drop your pictures wherever you want them and then add the text. The view below is during the editing process.

You can also preview your book to see how it will actually look once published.

I mentioned in the beginning that it's"book-store quality printing and binding" at incredibly reasonable prices. For a 200 page book, with a hard-bound cover, it's only $48.95. A 200 page book can easily hold 600-800 pictures. I know Blurb is not the only company doing this – it just happens to be the one we use. I searched for photo-book reviews and this website seems pretty accurate. It rated Blurb as 4 starts (out of 4) for quality, but lower scores for features and ease of use. Other sites have higher scores for ease of use/features but slightly lower scores for quality. I'm not looking for anything too crazy, so I'll sacrifice a little on the crazy layouts and customizability for quality.
That's it. Now if only I could find a way to do something similar to the hours upon hours of home-videos we have, I'd be all set! Any suggestions?
-Eric (Monica & Jess)
Linked Up to: The Stories of A2Z

I'm serious when I say that I think one of the best things about blogging and the internet is free printables! They add so much character to your home without having to spend lots of money. Thank you to all you who provide little ol' me with free stuff for my home! I've talked about a few different places you can find free printables here, but I decided that for my open shelves in the kitchen I wanted something specific and custom-matched to my color scheme. What's a DIYer to do? Why, make one herself!

I wanted to create something that was meaningful to me, but that also had some connection to eating and the kitchen. While searching around, I came across 1 Corinthians 10:31 and knew that it was perfect for this!

I found a pattern that I loved by Moo & Puppy (it's the morrocan trellis pattern that comes in a bajillion colors), uploaded it to Picnik and went to town. Why doesn't everyone buy digital paper? Seriously, there are SO many uses for it and it's so darn cheap! Plus, you can get 15% off if you use the code RHBC15. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Anyway, back to the printables. I have three identical frames in the kitchen that I spray-painted turquoise, and needed to fill them with something. I made this one using a great Julia Child saying…

…and printed this beautiful peacock from The Graphics Fairy!

Three cheap thrift store frames + free printables = one happy girl! And since I'm so happy, I decided to share the love. Free Eat, Drink, Glory of God Printable

It's a 5 x 7 print and you can choose from three different colors: mustard yellow, turquoise and lime green.

Click here to Download Printables I'm excited to finish accessorizing my open shelves, but you got a little glimpse today of how they're shaping up. What do you think?
Have you ever made your own printable? Do share! 

A few weekends ago, my younger sister, Chrissie, my mom and I had the pleasure of throwing my older sister a baby shower. She is due on May 16th and I can NOT wait to lay eyes on that sweet little baby girl. My big sis does not like surprises, so she knew about the whole thing. We kind of went with a"sugar and spice" theme, although not everything fit into that box.

The shower was held at The Lucky Cupcake Company in Plumsteadville. This little shop is just too cute, and they serve some delicious cupcakes! Actually, the owner, Joanne, was recently on the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. We were even more excited to throw the shower here because her whole store is decked out in our shower colors- pink and gray. Score one for us! That means less decorating.: )

She even had a sign that fit the theme perfectly!

I haven't yet shared my love for Produce Junction on this blog, but now is the time! I seriouly love this place for fresh flowers. I got two dozen pink antique-looking roses for $6.50, big white carnations and some other purple flower things (I am sooo not a florist, as you can tell). All for about $10! These made about 8 arrangements, which were absolutely beautiful.

We purchased simple mason jars at Giant and then worked the flowers into them until they looked pretty. The plates, silverware, cups and napkins came from Dollar General. I was really impressed with their huge selection and really cute designs.

Joanne from the Lucky Cupcake made us a 5 dozen cookies in different varieties for our cookie bar favors. She made sugar cookies shaped as onesies (for the sugar part) and chocolate chip and oatmeal spice cookies (for the spice part) and each guest took a bag and filled it with their choice of cookies.

Chrissie had two friends with her that helped us out with the cute frames. I explained to them how to easily decoupage the scrapbooking paper to the frames (tutorial on that to come late- so easy!). We made one to hold the cookie bar favor instrucations and one for the scrapbook instructions. My sister took them home and will be able to put them in the nursery! Adorable and easy.

We bought the favor bags from Michael's, as well as the labels. Once home I printed the labels that said"Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice- Baby W 5-16-11". Then I folded the top part of the bag, punched holes in the front flap (so they could open them and put the cookies in) and threaded a ribbon through the holes and tied them in a knot.

We requested Joanne to make her pink champagne cupcakes-which actually have champagne and real sliced strawberries in them!- and they were to die for. She also included some vanilla buttercream cupcakes as well.

Our friend, Stephie, made my sister this diaper cake. The top held some of the sweetest little white shoes I have ever seen.

Loved all the details!

Some of you may know that the Lucky Cupcake store is now in the space where the Dream Dinners strore my mom and I started was. This pendant light used to have the DD logo on it, but Joanne had it changed to include her logo. So resourceful!

My best friend and awesome party-throwing partner!

And how could I not include a picture of my beautiful niece, Leah. I just love that face. Everyone went so well and I think Rachel had a great time. Time to come out, Baby W!: )
And now for the $10 Chubby's Gift Card Winner:

Congratulations, Chrissie Duncan ! (I promise this is not rigged!: ) She wrote: My fav kind of icecream is PB Cup Perfection…Coldstone.: ) Or anything that is edible.
Have a great Monday!

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?

If we win, Homes.com will give Worthwhile Wear Five Thousand Buckaroos! For a new organization like theirs, that could be a major game changer and we really hope we can win it for them! (If you want to skip the project and just vote you can! lol Click HERE to Vote)
You can read all about our project first, but then you have to pinky promise to follow the voting directions at the bottom of the post okay? Ok! Thanks!
Wood Shim Wall Art I (Monica) have had this project in my mind for a few months now. It was inspired by a printed pattern I had seen in the window of a shop. I couldn't remember exactly where I saw it, but I was pretty sure it was a cool shop we had passed when we were in London in November. Great story right? Crafty DIY project inspired by a European city… Then, two weeks ago it hit me… It was JCrew at our local mall! I just about died laughing when I put it all together! Well, JCrew or London, I sure am glad it inspired me…
For under $20 we created the coolest DIY Wood Shim Wall Art

(You could go vote NOW since you've seen it! Click Here!)
I wanted something with BOLD color, and a modern feel, that married well with a bit of industrial flare!

How's that for a Before and After?
Who knew our dumpy oak piano could be such a show stopper?

Here's a peek at the details- the DIY light isn't my entry, but man I love how it works with the Wood Shim Art! (Light tutorial coming soon!)

(Or you could vote now?)

Want to know how we did it??
You've gotta head over to Homes.com for the full tutorial (but only after you've voted!)
Click HERE for the full tutorial

There were a lot of DIY elements around our Crafting for Charity project, and we'll post about all of them over the next week or so!

And now for the really important stuff! We're blogging for a charity that we love and are so proud to support. Worthwhile Wear was founded by our close friends Dan & Steph and they've committed their time and talents to make it their life's work.

Jess and I both have daughters and we couldn't imagine any of them having to endure human trafficking. We love Worthwhile Wear's mission…
Worthwhile Wear exists to rescue and restore girls from forced prostitution, and more importantly help prevent girls from ever entering it. We target highly trafficked areas both internationally and domestically, and offer women the opportunity to overcome two primary factors which are at the root of sex trafficking; poverty and lack of education. This solution is offered through vocational training centers which teach women how to make wears, such as jewelry, handbags, and clothing, which are sold to provide them employment. Additionally, the women are offered free education, a safe place to stay, and restorative programs geared toward encouraging personal growth and re-establishing self-worth.

We had the honor of working on the planning committee and doing all the decor and design for Worthwhile Wear's launch in 2012. The following images and statistics were used as artwork at the launch benefit-A Worthwhile Evening.

Those beautiful faces are not stock images. They're from Dan's last trip to India a few months back. The work Worthwhile wear is doing is critical and we hope you'll check out their site and follow along with them on Facebook.
Now it's Time to Vote!
There are 8 bloggers in this competition and some of them have a lot of followers, but none have the amazing fans we do! We know you guys have our back!
All voting will be done via Homes.com's Facebook Page
(On their Facebook Page, there's a little button that says Crafting for Charity. Click there)

Click HERE to Vote

A HUGE Thank You to Homes.com for sponsoring this awesome contest and for spreading the word about amazing charities like Worthwhile Wear. If you'd like more information about the organization and how you can help, click here.

Thanks so much!
Now, Go Get Your Vote On!

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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