My Creative Blog [Search results for Children] 

W e met and fell in love in August. By May we were engaged and by October we were married. During our courtship, we talked of fixing up an old house in the country, of small town life and of children....lots of children.
Our wedding was six years ago this October. I was 33 and Mike was 35. We followed our dreams and moved to that small town, and even found that old house in the country. But the children, the children never came.
We started trying to have a baby before our first year wedding anniversary. Unknowingly, it was the beginning of our long path of infertility. My diagnosis came a few short months after we bought our old farmhouse, a house which was proving to require much more work than we had anticipated and to cause much more stress than we could have possibly imagined.
While we struggled to create a home that would provide peace and comfort, we were also going through intensive fertility treatments and procedures....all of which, month after month, year after year, proved to be unsuccessful.
The reality of what was happening caused us great sadness, and I personally felt an overwhelming sense of mourning....mourning for the woman I always thought I was, fertile, and mourning for the life I had dreamed of with my husband, with children.
I began this blog three years into our infertility journey because I desperately needed to find the calm in the storm and to celebrate all the good we had to be grateful for.
At a time when I started to retreat from friends and social gatherings, I found a new community with new friends from around the world. The days in which I couldn't bare to run into anyone in town, were days I found comfort in the words and warmth of bloggers near and far.
A year ago we returned once again to the fertility clinic in Portland. We've been going through various medical procedures since then, which ended up leading to an IVF procedure this past April.
So it is with great happiness that I share with you something I never thought possible....I am pregnant. We are due just before Christmas.
With twins.

Designed by Jones Design Company
One of the tasks we've taken on this year is to purposefully teach our three-year old daughter scripture. The Bible states that children are more than capable, actually they are uniquely qualified, to have a close relationship with God in ways that may be difficult as they age. This may be because of their lack of cynicism and their uninhibited joy and enthusiasm for the objects of their love that draw them to the God they cannot see. Luke 18:16-17 says,"Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it'." Needless to say, we are convinced that it extremely important for Campbell to learn about Jesus and to begin to memorize what He said and discover how it applies to her life.

Amazon
This book was recommended to me by a friend, and we are working through it with Campbell. Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding verse and a little story of the verse in action. First, I'll just say that the stories are lame and cheesey, but nevertheless, Cam loves them! My original intention was to learn one verse a week. I honestly thought it would take her that long to memorize them. Man, was I wrong! Campbell loved sitting down and reading the stories and repeating the verses after me so much that she is learning one new verse A DAY! We are currently up to letter"L", and it's been going great. We talk about the verse all day long, and they often come up in situations when she disobeys, and I'm able to redirect her using the verse. (You should hear how often the verse, "Do all things without complaining or disputing" is repeated in our house!) I can't say enough how proud of her I am, or how thrilled I am that she is hiding these important verses in her heart. We haven't sat down to do it every day- I need more self-discipline!- but it's a start. And one unexpected benefit of teaching her scripture is that I am relearning verses as well. As a result, I'm more aware of my own actions!

Obviously, not every child is going to love sitting down and memorizing scripture (my daughter is sort of a dork: ), but another great way to teach your child Bible verses is through music. We've already talked about Seeds Family Worship here. This music is awesome for older kids because they're catchy and fun to dance around to.

Hide 'Em in Your Heart by Steve Green is great for younger listeners (My nephew and daughter really love these songs), and each song is taken directly from select verses in the Bible.

Now this one is hysterical! Critter County, featuring Christine Wyrtzen, was made in 1984 and includes 24 verses (one for each letter of the alphabet) set to music. Each song is sung by a different animal that starts with that letter. I remember singing these songs when I was little, and now Campbell LOVES singing these songs, as well. These CD's are a little hard to find, but the link above had a few for sale. You could probably find a vinyl record or cassette tape of it, if you tried hard enough! Ha!; )
No matter how you decide to do it, the most important thing is that your child is learning Bible verses that will not only help them overcome and persevere through the trials and temptations that will inevitably come, but will also instruct them to seek God's heart and receive the promises and blessings He has for those who follow Him.

What am I missing? Do you have any tried and true methods for teaching scripture to kids?

I had lots of these books when I was little, I loved the characters, especially Mr. Tickle.

The books celebrate 40 years this year and are just as popular today as back when.

Charles Roger Hargreaves was born today, 76 years ago (9 May 1935 ' 11 September 1988). He was an English author and illustrator of children's books, notably the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, intended for very young readers. The books' simple and silly stories, with bright-coloured, boldly drawn illustrations, have been part of popular culture for over 25 years, with sales over 85 million worldwide in 20 languages.

Hargreaves grew up in Cleckheaton. He spent a year working in his father's laundry and dry-cleaning business before starting out in advertising. But his original ambition was to be a cartoonist; and, in 1971, while he was working as the creative director at a London firm, he wrote the first Mr. Men book, Mr. Tickle . He initially had difficulty finding a publisher; but, once he did, the books became an instant success, selling over one million copies within three years. In 1975 it spawned a BBC animated television series called Mr. Men Show, Mr Tickle being voiced by Arthur Lowe.

By 1976, Hargreaves had quit his day job. In 1981, the Little Miss series of books began to appear. It, too, was made into a television series in 1983, which was narrated by John Alderton, who, with Pauline Collins, voiced the Men and Misses, respectively. Although Hargreaves wrote many other children's stories, including the Timbuctoo series of twenty-five books, John Mouse, and the Roundy and Squary books, he is best known for his 46 Mr. Men books and 33 Little Miss books.

With his wife, Christine, Hargreaves had four children: Adam, Giles, and twins Sophie and Amelia. The first of the Mr. Men characters is reported to have been created when Adam asked his father what a tickle looked like: Hargreaves drew a figure with a round orange body and long, rubbery arms, which became Mr. Tickle.

After Hargreaves died of a sudden stroke in 1988, Adam continued writing and drawing the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters in new stories. However, in April 2004, Christine sold the rights to the Mr. Men characters to the UK entertainment group Chorion, for '28 million.

Here are an overview of the books.

Have you heard about this? It all started with a few kids who saw that their parents were getting involved with the organization called Sixty Feet that helps orphaned children in Uganda. They decided they would sell cupcakes and lemonade on their street corner, and they ended up doing extremely well. Now they've grown and are having a national sale this Saturday, April 16th. It's really an amazing fundraiser that and ALL the proceeds go to Sixty Feet.

There is a local cupcake sale being held at Planet Smoothie and Holly Hill Boutique from 12-4 PM tomorrow. The Lucky Cupcake Company is donating Chocolate Elvis cupcakes, and your kiddos will be able to decorate their own cupcakes, if they so choose.
Head on over there and help support an awesome cause that is helping to meet the most basic needs of children living in deplorable conditions. Happy Friday everyone!
*And don't forget to come back next week to meet our awesome guest bloggers!

It's amazing what you can get used to living with… take for instance my kids'"desk area"…

And it's amazing what one little call from a major television show can do to get a lady's butt in gear! Now, of course I would LOVE to have a massive room that is adorable and strictly purposed for unleashing my children's creativity, but in reality they get one corner of one room.: ) All the awesome rooms on Pinterest just depressed me, so I'm not spending much effort showing you their rooms. So there!

Source: livinglocurto.com via Janeny on Pinterest
Yeah, depressing isn't it?"Oh Children, did you remember to take time for some creative play in the loft?" BLAH!

Source: google.com via Amanda on Pinterest Ok, so here's my reality and it's semi-cute and works for us.

I wanted/needed a few things… 1- Place for the kids' computer 2- A place to hide store all my kid craft crap supplies 3- A space where more than one kiddo could sit 4- Storage for markers and crayons that they could open by themselves! 5- A place to display masterpieces
I shopped around for a lot of desks, but I really didn't want to spend a ton of money and I needed something really long… one word for ya… IKEA. They had a table top, that was just the right size. I bought $5.00 legs (which I plan to spray paint) and could assemble it without any help from the hubs!

Then came storage for all the junk! JoAnn's was having an awesome sale on these fabric bins, and even though they're black and don't match even the tiniest bit, I bought them. They hold a good amount of supplies in each one.

Where the bins are kinda blah, the paint cans make me go,"Ooohhh, Ahhhh"

You can get these plain cans at any paint store or HD or Lowes. I filled them with all of our little bottles of acrylic paints. They work perfectly and at least give this area a teeny bit of mama's style!
I needed chairs. I just wasn't feelin' the metal folding chairs. I looked at IKEA, but all they had were stark white chairs… Hmm… Let's do a little math…

Woo hoo! Navy-ish chairs to match. These puppies were made to spray paint… they took the paint so well!
One of the most important requirements I had was storage for markers and crayons that did NOT require me to help every single time someone wanted to color. I know that sounds like lame mommy, but with 4 kids, each one wants to color at least 2x a day… it gets old!

Walmart kitchen canisters to the rescue! I took the younger two shopping with me and they both proved they could open the containers. I love the clear look, so you can see the supplies and the metal works with the paint cans. SCORE!
Finally, I wanted to be able to display a few special pieces of artwork. I had a few fancy-schmancy ideas, but none of them fit in the narrow space I had. So, 99 cents later hanging clipboards won!

I like how the clear boards and metal clip works with the clear and metal canisters and they were oh-so-easy to hang. One nail…

So, it isn't super-amazing, or magazine worthy, but it works for us and I do like a few things about it. Our kids have been out there crafting and creating like crazy and really that was the goal all along!

So, now that I'm done with this project… what amazing ideas for kid craft storage have you used that I should have? Do share!

I can't figure out those parents buying expensive clothes for children who's growing out of them faster than the wind. H&M, for example has the cutest outfits and they are cheap as heck, so it's no problem getting new ones when they grow out of them. Have a look!

Today we're super excited to have Bethany from Blossom Bands guest blogging for us. We asked her to share her story of how she turned a hobby into an awesomely successful, work-from-home business. She's a super cool example of what moms can do! We know you'll love her story and her fabulous products as well (you just might win some)!!

Hi! My name is

Bethany and I am the owner of Blossom Bands! What started off as a hobby has truly become a great adventure that has introduced me into a whole new world of homemade goodies!

It feels like yesterday that I found out I was having a girl, and that was the very beginning of my little girl accessory obsession! I remember the ultrasound tech said “It’s a girl” and do you know the first thing I said was, “Thank God I don’t have to worry about a circumcision!” Ha, who says that!? Well, I guess, I do! Then, the thought settled in, a girl, a beautiful, perfect girl! I nstantly, I was beyond excited to fill her closet and drawers with everything girlie I could get my hands on …and so it started! The first thing I ever made for Calia was a navy blue organza blossom for Thanksgiving. It matched her dress perfectly! I knew it was cute, I was excited to make her more, but when people started commenting on how great it was, the real excitement grew! Before I knew it I was researching ideas, self teaching myself how to make everything I make now! I started dying bands myself, cutting everything by hand, and suffering many needle pricks and glue gun burns! I’m proud that I do everything on my own, I’m proud that I taught myself, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come since November 2010!

In January my website-savvy husband launched http://www.blossombands.com/ and we worked on setting up our Facebook account right after that. I worked and worked on inventory, creating close to 200 products ready to sell! They’re all long gone now, and everything is made to order. I’ve tried to add new items since then, introducing tutu’s and new designs and styles regularly.

I don’t know when I really noticed how successful my little venture was becoming, it seemed to happen overnight! I have people contact me frequently to carry Blossom Bands on their websites or in their stores. I’m in awe of the amazing photographers I’ve been blessed to have photograph my work, like Heidi Hope Photography or Melissa DeCastro Photography who were the first I reached out to. The day I got an email from Piggy Toes Photography to swap a free photo session for Blossom Band props I really got excited! Blossom Bands has grown so fast so quickly, and Facebook has played a huge part in that! Networking, who knew!? I didn’t!

I did this for Calia, because I wanted to make her fun accessories. My children are my world, and have been since I had my son in February of ’07. The one thing I find myself struggling with is time! I am not a sit around and watch TV all day Mom! I’m an “everybody up, everybody get dressed, everybody in the car” kind of Mom. I go places with them; the beach, the zoo, the park, picnics, sandbox adventures, and playdates weekly. It’s hard finding a balance between a business that now demands a lot of time, and being a stay at home Mom. When do I work?!? Nap time & bed time! It works for now! And I know that there is a chance of a third baby in my future which might slow me down a bit, but my number one priority is my family…and then I think, can you imagine how amazing Blossom Bands will be when they’re all in school!? It’s going to be huge, and I hope you stick around to watch Blossom Bands blossom, Ha! So, thanks for letting me share a little bit of my story with you. And, as I finish writing this, I look up to see my son wearing half his clothes and fairy wings and my daughter stomping blueberries into my white rug, and still I know, it’s going to be a good day!
Because Bethany Rocks, she's giving away a Custom Blossom Band to one of our readers!! To enter to win,"Like" The Real Housewives of Bucks County and Blossom Bands on Facebook by clicking HERE and HERE. Then, leave a comment here on the blog letting us know you did!
The winner will be announced Friday morning, with our Fab Find! Good Luck!

We might have come up with a way to ensure that your house is the coolest on the block this Halloween… At least it would get my kids' vote!

The Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" is SO NOT your Mama's Candy Bowl! It's a fun way for trick or treaters to choose their own candy or a treat- If they can get past our silly monsters!
Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" Tutorial
We were quick to respond YES when Martha Stewart Crafts asked if we wanted to be part of a creative Halloween Team. We love Martha and her products, so it was a no-brainer. Then we had to come up with a creative idea and honestly this one just popped into my head. I was at dinner, so I ran the idea by my board of trustees (AKA my 4 kids) and got their seal of approval.

The fun thing about this project is that you can totally customize it any way you'd like to, but I'll give you the 411 on how I did things.
I started on the chalkboard wooden labels first since they'd need to dry.

I used Martha's Multi-Surface Pearl paint on the wooden plaques that I picked up at Michael's for 79 cents. I'm not making this up, I really was amazed at how smooth the paint was. It probably was a combo of a good brush and good paint, but I actually begged the hubs to come look at how smooth this paint is! Shockingly, he wasn't nearly as excited as I was.
I then used chalkboard paint on the mini wood tags that I also grabbed at Michael's for 29 cents. Score!

Once everything was dry, I used hot glue to attach the two together. I planned to use chalk to label the plaques, but for pictures a paint pen worked better.
Next, it was time to make my monster mouths on the presentation board.

I bought a foam core presentation board because I think it's easier to work with than the cardboard ones. I traced my circles with a bowl and then cut them out using a utility knife (that manly hand is not mine, the hubs was my helper on this project- just FYI!)
Once we had holes, it was time to bring my monsters to life.

I went with really big googly eyes so that Mr.Monster looked fun and silly and not creepo for little kids. I bought a sheet of foam for the teeth and varied between pointy fangs and chunky square teeth. (The teeth were Jess' brilliant idea when I was brainstorming my project with her! It's awesome to have such a creative BFF.) I used hot glue to adhere the eyes and the teeth were also hot glued, but to the backside of the board.
Martha has an awesome collection of cardboard stencils and as soon as I saw the triangle, I knew we needed a pennant banner.

I traced and hand cut the pennants onto cardstock. I used our Silhouette to cut out my letters and just used some good old Elmer's to put it together. I knew from the start that I wanted to have fun, white lights illuminating my Monsters! I was talking to my hubs about a time (a long time ago) when I used a display board with lights to write him a love message and he totally was like,"Umm that must have been some other husband. I don't remember it at all!" Ha! Glad it made such an impact on him. In his defense, I do think it was about 10 years ago.

To add lights, we just predrilled holes for each light bulb. We had to try a few bit sizes before getting one that was just right. You want it big enough to fit the light, but tight enough to hold it in place. Once your holes are ready, just pop the lights through the back side.
Then we were ready to fancy it up a bit…

I used more of Martha's stencils and paint to add a skinny chevron at the bottom. I also added some fun details to my monsters accessories. The neon green paint is such a fun color and my kids told me it was cool. (Cool mom points for me!)
And what would a candy"bowl" be without candy??

I divided up my candy and hot glued the bags to the back of each monster mouth. In retrospect, I might swap them out for larger, brown bags so I don't have to refill it 24-7, but this let you see what was in the bags. I've had my kids try this out and it's really simple to get your hand in and out with your loot. The glue is holding up well too. I made sure we banged it around a bit as a trial.
While I was planning this project I started thinking about what choices to give kiddos. I went with 3 traditional candies and then added glow stick bracelets and one mystery choice, which is actually little plastic spiders (from Target dollar bin. $2.50 for 250).
My kids don't have allergies, but so many children do, so I thought this was a thoughtful alternative.

I hope our Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" inspires you to try something new this year. We had so much fun working with Martha Stewart Crafts to make this and we're counting down the days until we can use it!

I'd love to know what you think of our idea? Would your kiddos think it's cool?

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Recently, I was asked by the amazing woman who runs our children's ministry at our church if I would be willing to help make over the kid's church room. It is sadly void of all color, and let's face it, is a little prison-like! Carolyn has a great vision for the program and wants the room to represent that and be a place where kids are excited to come and learn. Monica and I are committed to using our gifts and talents to bless other people as much as possible, which is why we started Design it Forward, and helped makeover a few rooms at the women's recovery center. Of course, I told her, I would be more than happy to help!
So here's the situation:

It doesn't scream"Welcome Kids!", does it?
And here's my plan of attack:

My first step was to figure out my color scheme, so I headed to Joann's Fabric for some inspiration.

I decided to go with classic colors instead of something really trendy so that the room/colors would always be in style and appropriate for kids. I was kind of wishing I could keep the fabric on the right, because it's adorable! I actually switched out the yellow fabric for one that is a little bit more goldenrod-looking because it matches better, and because the yellow polka-dot fabric was out of stock!

I pulled the paint colors straight out of my favorite fabric,

bought a few fun accessories,

and it's off we go! (I don't know why my crazy self thought painting stripes on a cinderblock wall would be a good idea. Crisp, clean lines are almost impossible! Bah!)
We're hoping to finish this room by Sunday and I can't wait to show you the big reveal.: )

After being inspired by Hayley, I hosted a Favorite Things party with 7 of my best girl friends last night. I asked each of them to find their favorite thing under $10 and wrap it up; one for each girl, as well as a favorite appetizer or dessert to share. We had so much fun that I completely forgot to take any pictures of my friends, but of course, we got a few of the goods!: )

Both of us had fun wrapping our gifts up pretty. I printed my adorable {free}tags from Jones Design Company and they were the perfect addition to my gift. Can you guess what our favorite things were based on the packages?

There was such a wide variety of favorite things, which made it that much more fun! Each girl wrote what she thought the other one brought and then we revealed our guesses just before we opened each gift. Some guesses were really accurate, and others were waaaaayyyy off. (Based on the packaging, I guessed that one of my friends brought trash cans, but really it was a tub of popcorn!) So what were our fav things? (Clockwise from top left corner.)
1. Homemade Iced Coffee with the fixin's & a Starbucks gift card. Jane used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and let me tell you: it was awesome! And that's coming from a non-coffee drinker.

2. Mrs. Meyer's Basil Hand Soap. If you guessed that this was mine, you were right! I've already gone on and on about my love for Mrs. Meyer's, so I'll stop now. 3. A thermal"sippy cup" for adults. Don't call it anything else or Jane might bite your head off. 4. Popcorn in a Christmas tin. Man, we used to get loads of these from my dad's co-workers etc. and so this brought back memories of eating more popcorn than is legally allowed. 5. J.Crew t-shirt and Land O' Lakes Mint Hot Cocoa. Yes, it's good to have friends with good taste, folks. 6. Spelt Flour. A bit unusual, but my friend Steph is unusually passionate about the stuff. 7. My sis made her famous Puppy Chow, because, duh, it's peanutbutter, chocolate and powdered sugar. Everyone's favorite mix! 8. Monica's gift was chocolate chip cookie dough and a pair of tight-fitting ankle socks. She actually buys the children's sizes because she's so particular about the fit. And you wouldn't believe how much cookie dough we consume in a year. It would probably break a record.
Of course, we had great food too! A yummy hot chocolate bar:

And I also made Cheddar Bacon Ranch Bread (aka Crack Bread) that is absolutely to die for. I'm sorry, but if you don't like this, your taste buds must not be functioning correctly. This has been my go-to appetizer lately. No joke- I've made this 3 times in the last 4 days, and it never fails to please.

I'm so thankful for good friends and sharing the little things that make us happy. I'm adding this to my list of annual traditions!

'My fantasy is endless.'

'Today I want to hug someone I like, for a long time.'

'The most magic star in the sky is me.'

These canvases can be bought at ' Kreativ Insikt '.

Ok, you moms know how difficult it is to take good pics of your little ones and their squirmy, high-energy selves, right? Well, we are thrilled to have Stacy from Salvatori Photography guest posting for us today! We met her at a boot camp we were both attending, and one thing led to another, and here she is today sharing her top tips for taking great pictures of kids! Stacy is truly a talent. She captures everything from the excitement of a bride waiting to see her groom, to a family having a total blast together. Head on over to her website to check out her amazing work. But for now, stay here and read on.: ) You won't be disappointed.
“Momographer” Tips From Stacy Salvatori
1. Change your perspective. Sometimes as Moms we get locked into patterns, this is not a bad thing all. But when it comes to capturing some fun images of your Little Ones it never hurts to get out of the ‘norm’ and change up your perspective a little. Often times we pull out the camera and do the same old face shot from 3 feet away. Ever thought about lying on the floor and looking up at them? Maybe climbing up on the swing set? Switch it up a little. You might be pleasantly surprised to see something new!

2. Play. Everyone has a different opinion and everyone has a different vision of what they may want their pictures to turn out like. I personally love, love, love when I get candid’s of my children laughing and playing and enjoying life! It’s those little in-between moments that tend to move my heartstrings. A Daddy, Aunt, or Grandma also comes in handy for this one! Get them running, swinging, playing and best off all laughing their little hearts out!

3. Wait. Often we like to pose our kids, and tell them sit just ‘like this’ or ‘move over here’ like that. I’ve found that their patience level runs low when I do that, and they tend to look a lot less ‘real’ and at ease. More times than not, just waiting and watching is the best trick. I can be lounging in my lawn chair watching them play or draw with chalk on the sidewalk… and then BAM! I see the perfect opportunity!

4. Set up different scenarios. One of the most fun things you can do is set up new and fun situations that might produce super original and creative pictures! So, for instance, rather than just tossing them in the back yard and hoping for something to happen… create a new scenario! Get out the bubble machine and capture them running through the bubbles. Turn on the sprinkler. Get out colorful paint or shaving cream… and let ‘em at it!! Play dress up. Get your daughter dolled up like a ballerina, or maybe your son is really into being a Pirate or a Fireman! Just have fun with it!

Wow, Stacy, those pictures are inspiring! I can't wait to get out there and if give those tips a try on my two little loves. Thanks so much for being here!
And because Stacy is AWESOME, she is giving away a ONE HOUR TUTORIAL PHOTO SHOOT
WITH YOUR KIDS
(including 10 awesome images from that session!)* WOW!

Here's how you enter to win:
1."Like" Salvatori Photography on facebook HERE.
2. Leave us a comment telling us that you became a fan, and why you desperately need this photo shoot tutorial.
3. For an extra entry:"Like" The Real Housewives of Bucks County on facebook HERE, and leave us a separate comment telling us you did it.
4. For another extra entry: Become a Follower of The Real Housewives of Bucks County Blog. Use the button on our sidebar and then leave us a separate comment telling us you did. **That's 4 entries for you! Yippee!** Ok, now go and enter!

*Photo shoot tutorial is good for use in Eastern PA, unless you want to pay for travel.: ) Which, by the way, would totally be worth it.

Vintage Halloween postcards
....turned into unique jewelry

Pendant necklaces made from vintage Halloween postcards

Pendant necklace made from vintage Halloween postcard

I love the change in season from summer to fall. It's early September and already our local grocery store has Halloween candy on display! Is it a bit too early for that? Maybe, but the lure of Halloween is one that I' ve always found charming. I'm especially fond of vintage Halloween items. Decorations, masks, costumes and postcards from years past have quite a different charm than those we see today.

The nostalgia of yesteryear is apparent in these vintage collectibles, and for many, brings back memories of childhood fun and games, costumes and trick-or-treating.

Halloween truly is a timeless holiday. What other time of year allows us to be something we are not, to fully use our imagination and allow reality to slip away, even if just for one night?

Halloween Postcards

Pendant necklace made from vintage Halloween postcard
It's amazing to think that at one time (around the late 1800's and on) Halloween postcards were once as popular as Christmas cards!

Pendant necklace made from vintage Halloween postcard
Be sure to check out my Halloween Postcard Jewelry. Each of my postcard pendant necklaces is reversible, with a different vintage Halloween image on each side.

Pendant necklace made from vintage Halloween postcard
I' ve been making jewelry from antique and vintage postcards for a number of years now, and in my opinion, the Halloween images are the most intriguing than those of any other holiday. (Aside from Halloween I also make them with Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day postcards) 'And don't worry, no original postcards are harmed in the process!

Pendant necklace made from vintage Halloween postcard

Pendant necklaces made from vintage Halloween postcards
What do you think?

You probably remember (or at least we hope you do) our pallet wall room for my son Callen… If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE, but today I wanted to focus on the Wooden memo board we made.

We had the room about 95% done and we realized that there wasn't anything over the bed… The original plan for the room was to put the bed on the pallet wall and then use pallet wood to create a platform-style base with all kinds of cool built-ins. It sounded amazing in theory, and looked great when we arranged it that way… BUT I had terrible thoughts of Cal falling out of the window (and it's way up high- Yikes!).

So, safety over design! We switched the layout and now needed something on the left wall… Hmm… Jess and I had this piece of barnwood sitting in my garage for a while, just waiting for some inspiration… I don't know that either of us really had visions of it being in a toddler's bedroom, but for CWTS, it was totally worth it.

The first step was to give it the same sort of whitewash we used on the wall, so that the wood tones matched. As you can see, I made about a 50% attempt to cover up my granite countertop… (the hubs wasn't around to see! hehe) See how much a simple whitewash can change the look of the wood?

Since this was an afterthought project, I used all supplies I already had on hand. This one quart has done so many projects. This one, this one, and this one! I decided one half would be a chalk board for the little man.

I really lightly sanded down the inside wood and then just slapped it on. It wasn't perfectly smooth, but chalkboard paint is pretty thick and covers a multitude of sins!

Then I had to come up with something for the other side… I had a leftover roll of cork in the basement, and thankfully it was JUST long enough! Phew!

I did this the lazy blogger way… I pressed the cork in, made a crease at the sides and then roughly cut it. I DON'T recommend doing it that way… it was really wobbly and way far from perfect. I used my staple gun to attach the cork to the wood. to

See, you end up with yucky, uneven sides. Now I had to cover the edges up.

I had this leftover Halloween ribbon, but clearly orange polka-dot wasn't going to match. Have no fear, I'm willing to spraypaint anything and everything! I grabbed some metalic silver paint and went to town (sorry, no pic of that process… I really thought I took one??)

Originally, I planned on being finished once the ribbon was added, but just before we brought it into the room, we walked past the Anthro knock off dresser and thought adding some stenciling to this piece would be the perfect finishing touch!

I got these simple stencils at Lowes for under $4! Sweet!!

Of course I didn't plan out how far in the alphabet I'd get, so we just started and ended where it ended. My hubs thought that was weird, but Jess and I had no problem with it.

Isn't it super cool? Seriously, I hope this kid understands how awesome his room is. A 2 year old has my favorite pallet wall, our Anthro dresser, AND this wooden memo board! Ah, to be a toddler again…(actually, there is zero part of me that wants to be two, but it just kind of finished the paragraph)

So there you have it! I think it was the perfect accent for over the bed, and now I don't have nightmares of little children falling from windows! Creepy!

I wanted to mention, that if you didn't happen to have this exact piece of barnwood floating around (which I'm kind of thinking most of you don't…) you could use some plywood and pallets to trim around the edges and make the divider. It would be easy peasy and then totally match the wall.
So, how many of you have awesome kids' bedrooms, and blah master bedrooms? (I know my master is still builder white with no furniture!)

P.S. Jess and I both had family pictures taken last night by the Amazing Stacy Salvatori and we're so stinkin' excited to see all the pics! Here's a sneak peek that we got last night! My oldest (and yes, she's only 9!)

And Jess' insanely adorable little family. Love those kiddos!

Jewelry made from antique broken calendar plates...

Antique calendar plate from 1909 with lots of damage
I have a great love for these old advertising calendar plates....they seem to be one of those things that combine everything that I love in one package: it's a plate, it's old, it's got a beautiful floral transferware design on it....but most especially, it marks a certain point in time. In this case, 1909.
Let's see....in 1909 a newspaper cost 1 cent, coffee was 20 cents a pound, (tea was $1 for 2 lbs, by the way), and a pair of children's shoes cost about $1.50! Hershey bars were 2 cents, but they were a lot smaller than today's 1.65 oz, weighing in at 9/16 oz! To put things a bit more into perspective, the average wage was 22 cents per hour, and the average worker made about $350 a year. We can only wonder what things will be like 100 years from now...

Cracked antique calendar plate from 1909
William Carlos Williams published his first book of poetry in 1909, and Pablo Picasso first began dabbling in cubism...

Necklace that I hand crafted from a broken 1909 calendar plate (sold)

Pin brooch I handcrafted from 1909 calendar plate (sold)
Here are a few necklaces that I just made from the broken plate shown above:

September 1909 available here

September 1909 available here

November 1909 necklace available here

November 1909 necklace available here
What do you think? Do you like these?

Okay, so two years ago Vista Print entered my life… yes, it sounds dramatic, but man, it Rocked My World! Maybe you've heard of Vista, and maybe you know you can get FREE pens and oodles of business cards, but that really doesn't excite nor apply to you. Well, I'm hoping that some of these ideas will get you almost as sold on Vista as I am (and no, I don't get commission- lol.)
Ok, so with Vista Print, you sign up for their emails (and yes, you'll get a lot, so don't use your everyday email address unless you want to. I have one email account for all my"junk" emails I subscribe to and one"real" account that I use daily) Every few days, Vista will send you FREE products you can order- you only pay shipping. There are 3 shipping options, so the price is decent and totally worth all the products you'll be getting for free!

Now onto the fun part… what you can create in Vista! The suggestions I'm giving in this post were all made without using Photoshop or any professional design programs. Vista has designs to choose from or you can create your own and upload a completed design. I do a lot of both. Idea # 1- Mommy Cards These little cards are perfect for the playdate lovin' mom. Keep them in your purse and when your child makes a friend at the local park, you can give new friend's mommy one of your super-cool cards so that you can meet up again. If you're like me, you've jotted down a mom's cell number on a scrap of paper, only to completely lose it and then feel awful that you never called. 250 Mommy Cards Printed as business cards = FREE!

Idea # 2- Shower Invitations You don't need to pay insane prices for cool, trendy invitations. Get ideas online and then design your own! Baby Lucas (after Luke Skywalker) was due to arrive last summer and of course we needed fabulous Star Wars invitations for our Star Wars themed Shower. The pictures were simply pulled from Google Images and the font was free online. 50 Invites Printed as Oversized Postcards = FREE!

(sorry for the blurry parts, but I wanted to get rid of the personal info) Have I mentioned I have the best, most super-fun friends ever?

Idea # 3- Children's Birthday Parties I haven't bought an invitation in two years. Small postcards, large postcards, notecards, or invitations can all be used to create your invites in Vista. This is Kenzie's Spa Party invite. She had so much fun helping me design it! This one was one-sided, but the back can be personalized as well. We put them in 5x 7 envelopes and voila! I only needed 10 invites, but 100 were Free, so we have lots to use as scrap cardstock. 100 Party Invitations = FREE!

Idea # 4- Christmas Cards Can you believe how much Christmas cards have changed in the last few years? Gone are the days of the painted, snowy scene cards and in are awesome photo cards and more! The only problem is that it can cost a small fortune to send the nice photo cards to everyone. These were our Christmas Cards from 2009. I used Picnik (free editing software) to edit our pics, create a collage, and add some bling; and then I uploaded it onto the oversized 5 x 7 postcards.

I think my favorite part was that I could fully customize the back and had plenty of space to say exactly what we wanted to share. Another bonus was that I could mail them as postcards and didn't need envelopes. Score! 100 Christmas Cards (2 orders of 50) = FREE!

Idea # 5- Kids Pretend Supplies Last Christmas I used Vista to put together a Vet Kit for Kenzie. She loves animals and loved playing vet, but she was getting a little"old" for typical pretend play. So, we made pretend"cool" again by giving her a present of real vet supplies. Her vet supplies included: a Pet Vet Poster, a personal stamp, business cards, a personalized pen, a tote bag, stationary and printed forms (I went online and grabbed a basic vet form.) She LOVED it and had so much fun playing vet again, since now it seemed a bit more grown up. You could do this for anything your child is into… Doctor, Builder, Photographer, Ballerina, etc. Oodles of Pretend Play Supplies = FREE! Pet Vet Poster

Personal Stamp

Idea # 6- Totes for Everything I mean everything! Every time I put in an order I add a tote (umm they're free, why not!) Here are some ideas: Library Book Tote, Sports Tote (the one below was for Kenzie's cleats, shinguards, and water bottle for soccer.) Books for the Car, Snacks for on-the-go, Sleepover Bag (sized just right for one night and you could write something cute on it), Pretend Shopping Bag. What ideas do you have? Share them and I'm sure I'll order one! Everything Tote Bag = FREE!

Idea # 7- Gift Tags These are just business cards repurposed into gift tags. I used these for Christmas presents and they matched so well. I used a hole punch in the corner and attached them with coordinating ribbon. You could also make some non-holiday tags to have on hand. You could even make a set from each child for all the class birthday parties. My kids love when I have things personalized. To: _____ From: Kaden. I haven't done that yet, but I will be soon! 250 Gift Tags printed as Business Cards = FREE!

Idea # 8- Teacher Gifts Want a great, personal gift for a teacher? How about giving them a collection of coordinating, personalized supplies? Hit up Target's dollar bin for a cute container and your gift will be the talk of the teacher's lounge! Here are some items that you could include: notepads, sticky notes, pens, postcards, notecards, and more! I plan to do this for my kids' teachers this spring, so I won't give all my ideas away, but stay tuned for some inspiration! Personal, Thoughtful Teacher Gifts = FREE Notepad with magnet on the back

Matching sticky notes

Phew… that was a long post, but hopefully at least one of these ideas made you ready to jump in and give VistaPrint a try. I promise you'll be hooked! Use this link to sign up for Vista today and be sure to share your creations with us!

Friday night we had the awesome privilege of being the special guests at Calvary Church of Souderton's Ladies Night Out. We were asked to come up with something involving DIYing and be super entertaining while 450 women looked on… yikers, no small task right?

We chatted about it a bit and then decided we were up for another White Box Challenge!! If you missed our first one with Nate Berkus, you can check it out HERE. We set up a Plain Jane, Ho-Hum room, talked through each project, starting it on stage in front of everyone, and then had 30 minutes during intermission to actually transform the room. Yes, we know we're completely insane!!

We wish all of you across the country could have come to the event- it was SUPER fun, but since you couldn't- we thought we'd share some of the fun with you!!
One of the first things we talked about was using what you've got. We've all got"mad skillz" but my skillz are probably pretty different than yours. Rather than feeling like you've got to fit into a perfect mold, instead, find a way to use what you're good at- and what you most likely love- to help others. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we need to serve in the traditional ways i.e. church nursery, ushering at church, helping at a food bank- and while all of those are awesome and perfect for some people, God might have gifted you in a different way, to do different things. For some weird reason, I can make rooms look pretty… not your typical serving"gift", but Jess and I have been able to use it in awesome ways- decorating the women's recovery center, Jess did the children's room at her house, our Design It Forward projects etc… Bottom line: Use what you've got, don't try and fit into someone else's mold- God wants to use YOU with the cool talents he's given you.

Then, we talked about using what you've got in your home!! We all have rooms in our houses that we'd like to change, but odds are we don't need to go out and start from scratch- so we explored ideas for making generic items awesome!! The biggest things to remember hear are #1- Don't be afraid to try something!! Working on Knock It Off, we're now 100% convinced that fear is what holds peeps back from making their home exactly how they want it! #2- Your home should reflect YOU! It doesn't need to look like a Pottery Barn catalog (although those are pretty)- it should be a place that YOU love. If that means a green piano, then go for it. If it means neutral, planked walls, then have at it! Whatever you do, just make sure it feels right for you and your family.

So, here's where our room started off… (We actually struggled to make it look"bad" Jess kept staging things nicely and I would go through and mess them up on purpose!)

The space was fine, but kind of blah- no real personality at all… Now, please forgive me… this is a blogger foul, but the after pic is from a different spot- you don't get the full room. There were 450 ladies in the room at the end and I couldn't get off stage to get a good pic. My bad!
BUT…Here's the room after our 30 minute makeover!

Just a wee bit better eh? Here's a bit of a before and after all you can eat buffet, and we'll be back later this week with more project how-to info!
Ikea RAST dressers are under $40 and you can do so many things with them! Here it is BEFORE…

And AFTER… We combined two to make a fun, color blocked buffet.

And in case you didn't notice… we found the biggest shade this side of the border!! We picked up this baby at a thrift shop…

We knew it had potential, it was just being hidden by a 10 foot shade… it was like a"shade-nado" Ok, bad, lame joke sorry!
With some fun orange spray paint and a new shade trimmed with ribbon, it looked much better!

My official survey showed that 8/10 households has at some point owned an Ikea LACK side table. I mean at $7.99 it's almost impossible not to buy one. The problem is that it SCREAMS Ikea more than any other piece.

The good news… it's one of the easiest Ikea pieces to hack! We turned ours into a tufted ottoman with this gorgeous Ikat fabric (we got it at Joann- use a coupon to get the great price we paid!)

Another common Ikea piece is this chair… Again, so cheap, but sadly, looks it.

We added nail head detailing and paint dipped the legs in the same orange as the lamp. Added a fun pillow and suddenly this Ikea chair isn't so generic anymore!

Art can be expensive and unless to want to unload tons of cash, it's usually pretty generic. This is just blah artwork you could find at Target, Kohls, etc…

We used letters cut on paper, some spray adhesive, and spray paint to make our own custom art. The options are endless with this project.

How 'bout that for some fun before and afters?!? And honestly, every project was started live on-stage and then we finished all of them, painted the top of the wall, and added chair rail in 30 minutes! It was insanity and oh, so awesome all at once.
We couldn't have done it without the help of some awesome volunteers!! Our blog readers rock and 3 awesome ladies worked behind the scenes to have all the projects ready to go for intermission. Dana, Beth, and Donna were great to work with and plus, we love meeting readers in real life!! Thanks again ladies!!
Also, our carpenter and friend Matt made our entire white box before the event and then installed a chair rail and painted the teal walls during intermission in about 5 minutes flat! Matt's in the Philly area and does amazing contracting work! If you need a project done- he's our #1 recommendation! You can reach him at mattvapps@hotmail.com Tell him we sent you!!

So, all-in-all we felt like the event was a success. We loved the challenge and thrill of doing a room live, but more importantly- we LOVED being able to challenge so many women to use what they've got in their homes and also in their lives. We're honored and feel pretty darn blessed to have been given this opportunity.
Check back later this week for project how-to's and other inspiration ideas for these pieces! If you were at the event… what'd you think? Are you ready to try some DIY in your own home?

We thought we'd start the week off with the results of our 2013 Blog Reader Survey! You guys get to learn about us daily here on the blog and by watching Knock It Off, but we rarely get the inside scoop on you, so reader surveys really excite us!

Alrighty then… let's get started shall we?

We were thrilled to see that so many of you have stuck around for a while!! So, if you're new here, you totally should keep visiting, all the cool kids are doing it!

Okay, so maybe we added the flirty part, but… we think it's true! It's actually still kinda weird to me that we're in the 30-45 range too! 31 is like really grown up!

So, not the Al Bundy, Married with Children demographic, but the cute little family with kids kind.

We definitely still want to appeal to the masses, but it's good to know that kid-friendly decor ideas, kid crafts, and family stuff works with you guys! To be completely honest, I read a lot of blogs and there are a few I LOVE and sometimes I want to emulate some of their style, but then I remember I have 4 kids and my house needs to be livable. So, we think it's a good thing that you guys are cool with kid-friendly!

Okay, so this made us laugh! We know that we have about 98% girl power readers, but I know at least 10 guys that read and comment. So, we're just going to assume men aren't fans of surveys (on a somewhat girly blog) Trust us, we gave our husbands a hard time for not completing the survey! The Nerve!!

Now for the MOST important part… What you want more of from EC2. 1- We had lots of requests for videos- we're cool with that! We think they're fun to make, usually they involve a lot of laughing and ridiculous jokes that only we think are funny! Sidenote: Anytime you want to watch us, go and watch some episodes of our TV show Knock It Off by clicking HERE- lol! We know that's not completely the same, but if you need an MJ (Monica/Jess) fix, it'll do. We're going to try to do some home tour videos too! The only tricky part is getting our homes clean enough to show you!
2- DIY Home Projects- well, the good news is that we're a home DIY blog, so yup, we've got that one covered! We plan to deliver a solid amount of our home projects, and sometimes we'll just put KIO tutorials on our DIY page, so we don't have constant show tutorials. Some upcoming rooms we'll be sharing are Baby Bennett's Room, My"new" Living Room, My Playroom Makeover, and Jess' porch!
3- LOTS of Posting! Did you notice we posted like 6 times last week?? It was semi- accidental, but still awesome! Our goal will be no less than 4x a week- sometimes 5, but that will just be a surprise! We're glad you like regular posting, because we like having regular readers!
4- Letting you into our Brains! This was an interesting request that came through many times… You guys want to know what the process looks like as we plan and work through a room. We love that idea!! Although, this weekend my planning process involved me walking around my house, going to the pantry for a snack and staring because I didn't know what I wanted, walking more around the house, and then back to the pantry. Repeat 10x. But seriously, we're excited to share inspiration boards and ideas with you- thanks for the suggestion!!
We gathered lots more info, but this post might actually put you to sleep if I keep going. The bottom line is that, knowing more about YOU guys helps us to make this blog the best it can be! So thank you, thank you, thank you, for helping us out!!
Here's a peek at what we have coming up for ya this week… Bennett's Room Update A Perfect for Fall Chicken Chili Recipe and More!!

A beanbag with the traditional Norwegian Marius pattern. So cool!

The pattern was designed in 1953, by Unn S'iland and named after the Norwegian Alpine skier Marius Eriksen. Today it is the most sold and knitted pattern in the world.

Source: Pur Norsk

And here are some other photos of 'Marius'. The original is black, white and red and is often confused with the red, white and blue. The latter was designed the year before.