Are you ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics? Are your kids into it at all? Hopefully this Olympic craft idea will begin to get them in the spirit of the games! Do you have time for a short story? My 4th grade year of school was an Olympic year and my teacher did all kinds of crafts and activities to help us get into the spirit of the Olympics and it rocked! I was SO into the games, the medal counts, and learning about the countries. So, thanks to Mrs. Hanson, here's our first Olympic Craft Idea!
How cool is that canvas? My hubs was telling Kaden that people pay big bucks for cool art like this! I even love the blue paint spill and I love even more that Kade is so laid back that he didn't even mind or think it"ruined" his artwork! (And just so you know, every pic in this post was taken with my iPhone, because it was really just going to be a mommy-Kaden craft, not a blog post, but it turned out too cool not to share!)
Materials: Blank Canvas (paper would work too) Red, Green, Blue, Black, and Yellow paint (any type works- we had an assortment!) 5 Dixie Cups Now for my disclaimer. I nabbed this idea from pinterest, but I didn't have toilet paper rolls, so just as I was about to unroll 5 rolls of TP, the brilliant idea of Dixie Cups hit me! Same shape, and no need to unroll my precious toilet paper! (Anyone else find it so annoying that TP is expensive?)
Since this craft is for the kiddos, there's really no instruction needed. Dip, Spin, do whatever to get paint on the cups and then go to town!
Kaden loves to craft. He loves gym etc. at school, but he told me that secretly, art class is his favorite. <3 Just don't tell all of his friends okay? I told him art is cool and he doesn't need to worry about it, his secret is safe with me!
I love how he spaced out his circles and didn't"over-do" them. I promise, I didn't even go into pushy, mom-thinks-you-should-do-this mode. This was all him.
This project was super simple, didn't take much time or prep, and my little man loved it. I guess you could say this Olympic craft is kid-tested and mother approved. What are you doing to make the Olympics Special for your kids?
**Oh and check back tomorrow, because I have an awesome Olympic Printable that my kids freaked out over! **
We have another one of our Haven Conference pals visiting today! Story time: Jess and I were at Haven and noticed one of the cutest girls ever. We're talking adorable outfit, super no-fuss look, but yet perfectly put together. Then we both had a discussion about how I probably should go change my outfit because I tend to lean towards the overly casual side of fashion (what? My Phillies tee wasn't a good choice?). Anyhow, the adorable girl ended up being even cooler once we met her. Let us introduce you to Jamie! Jamie has some awesome projects on her blog, but recently she hit a major home run with this cool kitchen organizer.
It is modern, awesome, and was featured by Design Sponge. Yup, we're talking the real-deal folks! So without further ado… Welcome to EC2 Jamie! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I blog over at C.R.A.F.T., where I Create Really Awesome (mostly) Free Things (it's a nifty little acronym) for your home (junk drawer organzier), wardrobe (pillow case skirt), kitchen (jalapeno hummus), and kids (dot painting)! I 'm super excited to be guest posting on East Coast Creative today… I met these awesome ladies in real life at Haven in July. I like them and their blog even more now: ) Today's tutorial is a great summer time craft since it is fun for kids and adults… It's a puzzle cube!
You'll need:
wood glue
q-tips
paint
wooden cubes
Each pack of cubes has 72 individual cubes, each 3x3 cube needs 27 individual cubes. (insert nerd voice) According to my calculations, if you bought 3 packs (72 x 3= 216 and 216/27=8) you could make 8 cubes! A few more calculations tell us that each 3 x 3 cube costs only $1.12 a piece to make.
You can get these at Hobby Lobby or any local craft store: Here's what I did to make my cube puzzle…
Let me explain:
Step 1: Count out 27 cubes
Step 2: Build your 3x3 cube so you have something visual to work with…
Step 3: Use a q-tip to carefully start gluing your cubes together. It gets kind of tricky.
Step 4: A few times I glued only 2 cubes together so I could keep the 3x3 cube shape, and better see what I'm working with.
Now, it's time to paint… I picked an Americano theme only because those are the Plaid paints I had on hand. I don't suggest painting with q-tips… I tried since the Q-tips were out and I didn't want to dirty a paint brush… trust me on this one, it's not worth it: ) Not to mention, why I tried to paint and glue on a magazine, another dumb move… I could have at least opened the magazine up for more surface area!
I used sand paper after the cubes dried because a few pieces were clumpy. I like how it turned out. Take a few pictures like the ones below so that you can remember how the pieces go back together!
Fun and easy, right? If you like the puzzle cube, check out more C.R.A.F.T. projects to keep you and kiddos happy, entertained, and creatively inspired this summer! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks so much Jamie! I think this would look really cool as an accessory in my family room. It's functional and trendy looking. My ten year old now has a project to keep her busy this weekend! Thanks Again!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below! Round 1 Projects & WinnersRound 2 Projects & WinnersRo und 3 Projects & Winners
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We love when someone takes a current trend and puts their own unique spin on it! This interactive wall by Melissa scores major points with us for creativity and major points with her kids for hours of fun! I don't even want to show my kids these pictures because I know for sure that they'd think Melissa is a much cooler mom than I am!
Our basement is better known as"the kid cave." When we arranged it, we set it up in"stations"--kitchen area, dress-up area, puppet theater, arts & craft studio and a"school room"for my future teacher. I love the way chalkboard paint looks and although it is not a new concept, I have always wanted to use it in our basement. The wall I chose for this project is approximately 21 feet long and I thought it would be neat to create an interactive chalkboard wall.
First, I painted the wall using Rustoleum Black Chalkboard Paint. While it recommends two coats of paint, I went ahead and gave it three coats, as the wall seemed to really soak in the first coat. In designing the chalkboard wall, I knew I wanted lots of space for the kids to draw and create, but I also wanted to put some things that would be permanent, instead of just having a 21 foot chalkboard. I decided to include a map of the U.S.A…I love the way it looks and will be fun to track the different states we go to as a family. I printed a map of the U.S. onto an overhead transparency and used an overhead projector to trace the map onto the wall. I used a permanent white paint sharpie marker to trace the map.
I also wanted to have some fun and whimsical frames on the wall as well. So using the same method as the U.S.A. map, I chose the following"hanging doodle frames" from PrintCandee.com:
Next, I designed a large interactive tic-tac-toe board. Similar to the map and frames, I traced the board onto the wall. Here is the board I used…you can download the template here.
I bought five"X's" and five"O's" from the craft store…you may have to go to a few craft stores--they have plenty of"O's" but don't stock many"X's"! Also at the craft store, I bought self-adhesive magnet strips. At Home Depot, I bought nine two-inch washers. After painting the"X's" and"O's", I super-glued the washers onto the letters, and fastened the magnet strips onto the wall.
For the title of the game and the map, I created stencils on my Cameo. Here is a great tip for stenciling… once you get the stencil arranged onto the wall (or wood, object, etc.), before stenciling with the color(s) you want the word/objects to be…first paint a light coat of the background color…in this case I used the black chalkboard paint. This creates a seal with the stencil and I have found that it prevents bleeding of the paint--making your stencil look very crisp.
(I forgot to take picture of painting on the red and blue! Sorry!)
Speaking of paint…it was a blast picking out all the fun paint colors at Home Depot! Because I was using so many colors and didn't need a gallon of each color…Home Depot made my day when they told me that they can mix any color in a small, 7.5 oz jar…perfect!!
I picked the step-stools up at IKEA and painted them in fun colors…
Not only are they great for setting the game pieces and chalk on, but they are extremely sturdy stools and perfect for giving little kids a boost for drawing and playing on the wall. I have always adored these giraffe and elephant hooks from Anthropologie…and I love the way they add a fun (and helpful!) detail to the chalkboard wall:
Finally I added some framed artwork courtesy of the kids…they were so excited to help with this project!
Mom of the year, folks!: ) If you haven't stopped over to say hello to Melissa, what are you waiting for? She's got a bunch of cute things going on over there on her blog including this adorable"Wizard of Oz" subway art she made for her daughter:
Don't forget to link up your favorite paint projects right here until 10 PM EST tonight! Also, Sarah will be here tomorrow sharing how she completely transformed that chunky bookshelf into an awesome functional and beautiful secretary desk- you won't want to miss it! Happy weekend!
Good morning, everyone! It's very rare to meet other blogging duos in this blogland, so when we met Ashley and Whitney of Shanty-2-Chic at Haven last summer, we were thrilled! True story: when we were checking in to the hotel in Atlanta, we were told they didn't have a room for us. So we were sitting like total dorks in the lobby (we were even dressed in scrubby outfits!), waiting for a room, when two gorgeous, personable, cheerful girls entered the lobby. We were clueless as to who they were (what? Were we living under a rock?), but it turns out they were the Shanty girls! These two are the sweetest and prettiest women you'll ever see wielding power tools. Super-talented, down-to-earth. and uber-wecoming to the two of us newbie bloggers. If you haven't been to their site, please do so immediately (after reading about their awesome project!) and you won't be disappointed. Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey guys! We are the Shanty Sisters, and we are so excited to be blog swapping with the ECC girls today! We had the pleasure of meeting them in Georgia last year, and we hit it off from the start! They are sweet girls, and we love that they are a blogging duo just like us!; -)
With Christmas just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to share a quick DIY gift idea! I love photo gifts. This is a super simple, cheap and cute way to display photos. It cost me under $3 a piece to make these… Woohoo! It makes a great gift for friends and family. Here is how mine turned out…
And, here is how I made it!
For those of you that don’t have a saw… This is one you need to have. You can EASILY cut this project and so many others on our site using this. Cheap and easy… Promise! That’s a stocking stuffer gals! Come on… You will thank me! This is a perfect ‘craft’ saw, and you would be shocked at how many projects you can do with it! You can also have the hardware store cut the wood for you. HD has a handsaw just like this one in the wood section at all times.
That's it for the building part! Now you are ready for the printable! I made a few printables for this project. Today I am sharing the 'So Very Blessed' printable. To print it, just click the photo below. Once it opens, just click print from your top browser bar. I printed mine on cream colored cardstock. I like the weight of cardstock paper for this project, and you can get it super cheap at any craft store.
I chose to use upholstery tacks to hold my paper in place. These can be found at any craft or hardware store. They are really cheap and cute. They are also really easy to remove by using a small screwdriver under the head of the nail. This makes changing out your printable really easy!
Your final step is adding photos! I like to print my photos out on photo paper at home. This saves me lots of money, and keeps me from dragging my 5 kiddos to Walmart to pick up photos… Win win! I cut my photos out, put them on the display and I was DONE. So quick, so cheap, but still so cute! My kind of project! And… Did I mention I made these babies for under $3 a piece?? Just making sure! Today I shared the 'So Very Blessed' Printable, but be sure to come visit Ash and I over at Shanty2Chic where I will be sharing the other 3 printables for this project! Here are a few more shots…
A little bit more about the Shanty Sisters…
We are 2 sisters sharing how we transform our homes on a budget! With 8 kiddos between the two of us, we put every naptime to good use; -)! From building projects like this $65 farmhouse table…
To transforming things like this $15 mirror made from a Walmart mirror…
And even offering free printables like our latest free alphabet banner!
We would love for you to come check us out anytime at our site, Shanty-2-Chic.com!
You can also follow us on Facebook! And keep up with all of our posts by following us on Pinterest!
Thanks so much again for having us girls! We are honored; -)!! ~Whitney & Ashley -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seriously, isn't that adorable?! We love us some cheap projects and this is one of the best ideas we've seen this year! Thanks so much for being here, girls!
A few months back I partnered with 3M Scotch Blue to work on a fun project. I had to wait to share it with you guys, but I finally can spill the beans and show you the coolest planters ever! Now that it's summer, it matches with my outdoor decor and the flowers are thriving!! Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We had a 60 degree day this weekend and it totally put me in the mood to get ready for Spring! It was perfect timing because I teamed up with 3M ScotchBlue and had a super simple, and fun project to work on.
Southwest decor is all the rage this year, so I wanted to bring a touch of this trendy style to my outdoor living space this Spring. Here's what you need to make your own: 2-3 Planters in a variety of sizes 3M ScotchBlue tape Craft Knife Spray Paint Dirt Flowers or Plants I found these planters at my local Target and immediately thought the colors went perfectly with my outdoor cushions.
See the red, aqua, and grey? It was like a match made in Heaven!
Step 1- Cover the surface of your planters where you plan to add your Southwestern flair. I totally knew ScotchBlue tape would seal tightly and prevent any dripping.
Step 2- Trace your pattern. I printed out a steer head and traced it with a pen, so I could see where to cut. It doesn't actually make a clear line, but more of an indent in the tape, that you can see.
I used the exact same process for the arrows on the other planter.
Step 3- Use a craft knife to cut the outline of your shape.
Step 4- Remove the shape cutout. Use the edge of your craft knife to get under the tape and peel away only the inside of your shape.
You'll be left with perfectly crisp lines ready for some paint!
Step 5- Spray paint your shape. Now, make sure you tape off any area that might get paint on it. See the top there… it would be blue, if I didn't tape it off.
ScotchBlue tape is the perfect seal while you paint. Use two thin coats of spray paint and then allow it to dry for about 30 minutes before removing the tape.
To add a little more color, I popped the bottoms off the planters and gave them two coats of spray paint as well.
Step 6- Plant & Enjoy! After everything has dried for 24 hours, you can plant and stack your planters. Just remember to leave enough space to stack the upper planter on top, as you plant the lower one.
I'm hoping for plenty more warm days ahead, so I can enjoy hanging outside and relaxing near my super-cute Southwest planters!
Apparently I have a thing for cool planters- if you missed my original tiered planters you can check them out HERE. (They were featured by Apartment Therapy last month- So exciting! woohoo!!!)
So are you digging the southwest trend or are you ready for it to take a hike??
**This post was sponsored by 3M, but all opinions belong 100% to yours truly! **
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!
We're pulling a Young House Love and are double-posting today. It's kind of fitting since Melissa is Sherry's partner!. If you missed the Round 2 projects, you can see all of themright here. To see the bloggers you chose to move on to Round 3,. We're sure these girls are already working hard on their Paint challenge this week- ack! We're loving the suspense.: )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If any knockoff was a bear to tackle, this one is it! All that detail-oriented stenciling makes us tired just looking at it. We love that Melissa took the design and changed it up so that it is unique and matches her home. Take it away, Melissa!
Anthropologie is my very favorite store. I love all the colors, the design, the textures, the ambience and inspiration that I always find there. When I saw this gorgeous ikat hand painted console, I knew it was the perfect piece of inspiration for CWTS Project #2: Knock Off. (and at $1698--it's a great piece to knock off; )
1. I bought a similar looking cabinet base from IKEA. In looking for the right piece of furniture to use for this project, the most important thing was to have flat doors with plenty of space for the ikat stencil design.
2. In order to achieve a wood-like look similar to the anthro console, I did some research on painting IKEA furniture. Leaving the cabinet in pieces, I spray-painted them with three coats of Zinsser BIN shellac-based primer. In between each coat of primer, I sanded very lightly. This stuff is amazing and allowed me to paint right over it with no problems. After letting the primer dry, I painted the cabinet pieces with two coats of paint which I had left over from other projects. I painted all pieces with BM Wheeling Neutral, with the exception of the cabinet doors, which I painted BM Linen White.
3. The next step included a bit of experimenting, but ended up turning out great. On top of the painted cabinet pieces, I used a soft dry cloth and applied a light layer of Annie Sloan Dark Wax. I wasn't sure how this wax would take to the paint, but it worked wonderfully and gave the piece a great look. In the second picture below, you can see the difference between the boards (before wax on the left and waxed on the right). After all the pieces of the cabinet were waxed and dry, I put the cabinet together, minus the front doors.
4. I ordered the ikat stencil ("ikat pattern #1 repeating stencil") online from Olive Leaf Stencils. Next up was choosing paint colors. I went to the paint store and pulled paint chips to match the anthropologie console. I knew their color palette worked well but I wanted to create a similar palette that would work better in my own home. I played around with paint chips in my hand to create my palette. Then I took the paint chips to the craft store and matched them to acrylic craft paint. (While at the craft store, I also purchased Elmer's Spray Adhesive to help keep the stencil in place while I painted.)
5. I put the cabinet doors on top of the kitchen counter and put the six different paint colors onto paper plates. I measured and marked the various spots where I would need to line up the stencil. Next, I sprayed the back of the stencil with the Elmer's Spray Adhesive and let it sit for about 2 minutes before placing it on the cabinet door. (Waiting the 1-2 minutes helps the spray to be more temporary, and easier to remove. I did not have any problems removing the stencil-and the paint on the doors did not peel off at all.)
6. After I had my stencil in place, I began painting. You really only need to use a small amount of paint for stenciling, this helps to prevent bleeding of the paint. I used a soft jabbing motion to get the effect I was wanting and found that a small firm paint brush worked well. I had sketched the stencil out on cardboard and planned which colors were going where…this was especially helpful. It took me about three hours to stencil the cabinet doors.
7. I let the doors dry overnight and in the morning I used a very small brush and linen white paint to touch up the few spots where little bits of paint had bled.
8. Last, I applied a layer of Annie Sloan Clear Wax over the top of each door, which darkened the colors very slightly and gave it a nice smooth finish.
9. After the wax was dry, I put the doors onto the cabinet base. I styled the console using some of my"real" anthropologie treasures: ) in addition to two old flea market wooden spools with candles, some favorite books and beautiful orange tulips.
It's such an amazing piece and it's going to be a conversation starter, for sure! We snooped around Melissa's blog and found this adorable Secretary makeover. Love that color blue!
You know we love us some reclaimed wood and this barnwood jewelry display is super cute!
Check back tomorrow for our favorite knockoff from the link party this week! There were some great entries, and you all are NOT making our jobs easy.: ) And don't forget that you can begin voting for Round 3 midnight on Monday!
Source: strictlysimplestyle.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest No, I really don't have anything to sell, but I have sold two houses really quickly and helped hundreds of other people sell theirs. Okay, now before you tune out and think,"I'm not moving anytime soon… no need to read this post." give me a second! There's two reasons to keep reading… # 1- You probably know someone that's struggling to sell a home in this market #2- People love their homes right before they sell because it's in the best shape ever. You could follow a few of these tips and love your house even more! Ready? Here are my first 5 tips! Get it Sold… The Mangin Way! (Part 1) (these aren't new ideas…but done right, they really work)
1.Declutter. Pack half of your stuff. Seriously, I actually mean half of everything. It's a pain, but you'll have to pack it anyway. This will make your house seem like it has sufficient storage and room to grow. It's tough to want to move into someone's home that seems jam packed! (FYI- don't do this if you're not selling… that would just be crazy!)
2. Depersonalize. Your kids are adorable… I get it, but now get rid of their pics. We don't want potential buyers looking at your vacation pics and thinking they really need to get back to the Outer Banks and totally not noticing your recessed lighting. Now, don't get too crazy… we didn't get rid of 100% of our pics, but honestly we replaced a lot with generic art from Homegoods and Marshalls. The second part of depersonalization is STYLE. If you're reading a DIY and design blog you either have great style or are style challenged! LOL… make sure the style of your house would appeal to the masses. Not too modern, too country, too plain, too bold. Purple.Tone it down a bit.
Source: yakal.net via Hannah on Pinterest 3. Declutter. Wait, she already said that!! Lame post! Nope, I don't have short term memory loss… now we're talking Pantries, Closets, Garages, Storage areas. You need to keep feeding your family, but you also need to show off the space you have. Donate, eat, or toss HALF of what you have stored. You don't need six cans of cream of chicken soup. Keep two. (House of Smiths weren't selling, but man they have a rockin' pantry before and after)
Same applies to closets… anything you won't wear in the next month should be packed up. If you're near a change of season, just box and store at your BFF's house. That's what friends are for! (We have about 20 boxes of friend's stuff in our basement right now because they're selling). Any place that you would usually hide your junk needs to be super neat and spacious. 4. Give it a Purpose. This is a simple stager's rule. Every room should have a purpose. You want a buyer to see a value in each space. If you have a toy/craft/tv/junk room but already have a playroom, and family room with tv… well what are they paying for the random room for? Choose a purpose. Make it a specific craft/sewing room etc. 5. Clean. I'm not talking lived in clean… I'm talking Martha Stewart clean. A clean house gives the impression of a well cared for, well maintained house. You don't want anything creeping out buyers. Maybe dirty baseboards are just a part of life, but they're not a part of a buyer's dream home. Seriously, who dreams of a kinda dirty, lived in dream house? Does Pottery Barn have gross toilet rings in the Bed & Bath issue? We've done it two ways… once we did an insane deep clean and for our second house we hired someone to do it. Either way is fine, just get it done and then maintain it. Make a little pre-showing, last minute cleaning list. It was a huge help to me!
Source: marthastewart.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest Ok, so 5 simple, totally FREE steps so far… Nothing too revolutionary, but things that really make a difference. Last spring we sold our home in less than 3 weeks… the market was struggling, we didn't know what to expect, but we believed it was the right time for our family and so we busted our tails to get the house ready. Now, you're armed with part one… either share the post with a friend that might find it helpful, or take a look at your own home. Part two is a little more design friendly and exciting, but first you've gotta get through the dirty work of steps 1-5. I'll be back Wednesday with more!
P.S. I bought paint tonight for a super-fun family room project. I can't wait to share it with you! P.P.S. Did you know that we're only 3 people away from 100 followers? We know way more of you read the blog… let's make it official! Let's take our relationship to the next step? And if you're really into us, you could like us on Facebook too! Imagine that! It's like going steady!
So, you all remember that little ol' magazine we were in last month? You know…HGTV magazine? Umm, yeah, it was a really big deal for us. You can find us on page 92 of the October 2012 issue sharing a super practical idea that your guests for Thanksgiving are really going to appreciate!
Even though the photo they used was awesome, we didn't get to style the products ourselves for the magazine, so we wanted to show you how WE would put together an awesome Thanksgiving leftovers station. One major advantage to hosting Thanksgiving dinner is that you end up with TONS of leftovers! One major disadvantage to not hosting, is NOT having any leftovers to make a turkey sandwich with! So, we came up with the idea of setting up a little leftovers station for thanksgiving guests – think of it as self-serve take out!
Here's the idea… Before guests arrive have an area designated as the leftover station. You'll need it to be in or near the kitchen, and have enough space for packaging containers and 1-2 food bowls at a time. How to Create a Leftovers Station: Step 1- Gather fun containers to hold food for your guests. There are so many cute take-out boxes available at craft stores these days. We plan to pop a plastic sandwich bag inside each one so we don't have any messy leaks.
Step 2- Provide labels and markers. Your guest can put both their name and the contents of the container on labels. It drives us crazy when we order Chinese food and then have to open every container to find what we're looking for. Labels are helpful and to be honest, we think they look so cute! We're loving the mix of plain, functional and decorative labels.
Step 3- Have serving utensils available. Guest will be scooping all kinds of yummy leftovers, so just make sure you have utensils handy for them.
Step 4-Provide stuff for quick cleanup. Leftovers can get messy so make sure to have something on hand for easy clean up. We gave our roll of paper towels a fun look by suspending them from a basket using a tree branch. Now our guests can clean up in style!
STEP 5- Provide bags to hold each family's leftovers. Our plan is to let each family pack what they want and then put their containers into a bag, and we'll keep them on a shelf in the garage where they can stay cold until guests leave. Inexpensive brown bags from the craft store work great look awesome when stenciled with fun messages.
I'm really excited to try out the leftover station and we;re hoping it's one of those projects that our guests love AND one that makes the day even easier and stress free!
Will you be trying out a left over station this year? Have you ever done something similar for your guests?
Hey Everyone! I'm so excited that I can finally share my Christmas Countdown with all of you! I had to wait until P&G was ready for it on their pgtryit.com site, so I'm sure you've already created yours for 2012, but hey, Pin it for next year! Tomorrow is Jess' Christmas home tour and I don't know about you, but I'm really super excited (okay, yes I've seen it all, but not in pictures!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope your Thanksgiving was awesome and you're ready for the crazy holiday marathon that is the next few weeks! I don't know about you, but the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is probably the most exciting time of the year for my family. It's also really easy to get so busy that we miss taking time to do some of the things we love! As the Trend Trio Home Expert from P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? I'm going to share with you a fun craft that you can make to ensure the month doesn't pass you by!
Christmas Countdown Tutorial Christmas Countdown Tutorial This is not yo mama's countdown where you just get a little piece of candy that most likely was packaged last year… This is an interactive family activity that I know your family will love. The best part is that it will ensure that none of the special activities and traditions slip through the cracks. Step 1- Start with a plain Jane piece of plywood. I'd recommend looking for one that has really cool patterns in the grain like this one does!
Step 2- Lightly spray paint. I gave the wood the lightest possible coat of white spray paint. Keep the can far back and move it back and forth very quickly. The spray paint got rid of the warm brown tones and began to highlight the grain. Step 3- Paint the grain to highlight the details. I used about 1 part paint to 3 parts water to paint over the awesome grain! I dipped my brush in the mixture and then dabbed it dry on some paper towels. I used a really light hand and tried to feather the paint on, so that it looked natural.
Step4- Use Stencils to title your board. I used a simple, industrial font and stencils that are adhesive backed. They make my crafting life so much easier.
Step 5- Spray paint 25 wooden clothes pins. I picked a cool-toned grey blue color that would pop on the white-washed plywood.
One tip about spray painting- have an old drop cloth handy. I use this piece of plastic when I need to paint in my garage so that I don't get it all over the floor.
Step 6- Choose some washi tape colors. Washi tape comes in almost every pattern imaginable these days. You can order from a huge selection online, but I actually got these colors at my local craft store. Washi tape is really versatile and can be used on all kinds of surfaces.
Accent each mini envelope with your washi tape and then either hand write or stamp your countdown numbers.
Step 7- Measure, Place & Hot Glue your clothes pins. The easiest way to do this is to just lay it out on the wood and then measure your spacing to keep it consistent in each row.
I just love the end result!
Step 8-Plan 25 Awesome Family Activities. Write down 25 things that you want to do. Each day you will open an envelope and do what's written inside. I recommend using a calendar to plan out your activities before putting one inside each envelope.
Our activities range from something as simple as reading a holiday story as a family to going out to see all the Christmas lights in our neighborhood.
I hope your 2012 holiday season is super special and that your family enjoys all the awesome activities you plan for them!
The countdown is on! What kinds of activities will you choose for your family to do this month?
Make sure you check back to keep up with all of the Trend Trio videos, blog posts, and product tips to help make this holiday season the best one yet!
One of my very favorite projects in our Rustic Industrial bedroom makeover, actually got very little face time in the episode. A 1/2 hour show is really only 21 minutes long (commercials get it to 30) and it's super hard to fit everything in! Using inexpensive plywood, a vinyl world map sticker, and some white craft paint, we created some pretty cool art!
We started out with a simple piece of plywood- it cost about $26 at Lowe's. I looked for a piece that was nice and grainy- the wood grain is part of the art in this case!
There were a few black lines on the piece, so we lightly sanded them off. Then, it was time to paint!! We used simple white craft paint with a dab of water added to accentuate the wood grain! Anywhere there was light wood, we painted with white paint. It doesn't have to be completely exact, you can just kind of feather it on and it looks great!
Sorry this pic is totally blown out- it was a really sunny day! But, you get the idea… After the plywood was dry, it was time to attach the vinyl world map. There are lots of Etsy shops that carry fun world maps- here are a few of my favs…
source
source
source But the one we ended up going with was a bit more traditional…
It was a typical peel and stick vinyl, all we had to do was make sure we were level when we applied it! We attached the plywood piece directly into the wall studs (this baby was heavy!) I personally couldn't love this piece any more than I do! It's graphic, bold, huge, and just plain old awesome!
Check out all the other projects in the room by clicking HERE to see the intro post! You can watch the full episode HERE.
What do you think of our take on a world map? Do you dig it as much as we do?
Man, it feels so great to be back writing a tutorial of my own this week! I've been on a mission to finish the living room/dining room on our first floor and this project got me one step closer. I'm absolutely in love with the way this came out, and I have to say, I'm pretty thrilled with the sentiment, too- I have been so blessed!
I'm a big fan of mixing in some industrial elements in my home. Since I just added these lights to my dining room that connects to the living room, I thought it would be fun to mimic the tone of the lights somewhere in the living room.
I had ordered this phrase from one of our favorite shops, 163 Design Company, and had originally painted them three different shades of yellow before finally decided that yellow was going to be the death of me. Thankfully, having a best friend with a good eye (*ahem, Monica) came in handy when she suggested trying a metallic look. Since I didn't want just a flat metal look, I decided to try my hand at faking that awesome, full-of-character industrial look. Here's what you need to do to bring some metal into your life: 1. Lay your letters on a drop cloth and spraypaint them in Krylon's Stainless Steel. It took about 3 light, even coats to cover all that hideous yellow. (Sidenote: I'm a huge fan of using spraypaint whenever possible, since it's fast and easy and I'm lazy. )
2. Using Valspar Brown Velvet Spraypaint, lightly spray the letters from a good distance. You don't want to be up real close to the letters when you do this. Splotchy and imperfect are the looks we're going for here! This step takes away a bit of the shine from the stainless steel.
3. Using a makeup sponge or paint applicator, dab black acrylic craft paint on the edges and corners of each letter. There is no exact science to this. I just dabbed it on, rubbed it in and on some occasions, used a damp cloth to wipe it down. If you'd like to add a rust effect, use Burnt Sienna craft paint on the corners and areas that would naturally rust. I didn't do this as it made it a bit too warm for me. That's it!
To hang my letters, I used picture hanging command strips. After measuring, leveling and measuring some more (that's a whole OTHER tutorial), I was finally happy with the arrangement!
I'm loving the look of my new"old" metal letters. Other surfaces in my house, better watch out! I'm on an industrial metal rampage!
Monica used 163 Design Company to create a unique statement in her entryway, too!
So now, what will YOU give this industrial metal look to? P.S, We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to the charity of our choice! We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here. Thank you!
I know there are all kinds of seasons in life and I'm cool with that, but this season of our life could possibly be entitled"On the Brink of Insanity." I've been keeping up a pretty intense pace the last few weeks and felt pulled in so many directions. Thankfully, things are simmering down, but when they were at their peak, Eric and I talked about making sure we're both being intentional with doing special things with our kids. We spend tons of time as a family, but my"thing" is crafty things with the kids. Eric pointed out that I had been letting my busyness get in the way of my"thing". So, I did what any good mom would do… GOT ON PINTEREST! Ha! Here's what I found and what's on my To-Do List: 10 Fall Kids' Crafts My Kids Will Love! (and yours will too!)
1- Felt Animals My oldest daughter and her BFF are obsessed with making little felt animals. They've made some adorable cats, penguins, and giraffes! I can't wait to make some cute woodland creatures with the girls!
Red Marionette 2- Felt Garland Since we have a lot of felt around, I thought this project would be fun and simple to make for the kids' playroom. We have a cool, stone fireplace in there, and I think it will look so cute with a pop of handmade color. I am 100% aware that my kiddos' cutting and stitching won't be perfect, and I'm totally fine with that!
A Beautiful Mess 3- Painted Pine Cone Swag I like this project idea because first we'll be able to go on a hunt through the woods to find pine cones.
Family Fun 4- Leaf Doodles Seriously, could this idea get any cuter? I can only imagine how cute my kiddos' drawings will be. I'm picturing a cute family portrait of leaf people! My younger daughter will LOVE this activity.
Family Fun
5- Spooky Candy Tree I'll be honest, I am not a licorice fan (I think it tastes like plastic), but it's perfect for these trees! This is a perfect activity for after dinner and homework!
Red Hat Society Store 6- Painted Pumpkin Seed Art We've carved most of our pumpkins, but we saved a few for this week. I'll definitely be roasting 1/2 the seeds and saving the other 1/2 for this adorable project. I'm planning to let the kids watercolor the seeds.
Our Little Nature Nest 7- Styrofoam Felt Owls These are felt animals on steroids- I love them! The inside is a Styrofoam ball and then we can just layer on the awesomeness with craft glue. I envision a few of these babies around for Thanksgiving for sure!
Factory Direct Craft 8- Apple Print Banner I know I'm a tad behind on the apple crafts bandwagon, but I love this and I think we'll try it in some orange and brown colors. My youngest has been learning all about apples in school and this project just might make me even cooler to him than his teacher (maybe, but not likely!)
Multiples and More 9- Marshmallow Shooter I have an (almost) 8 year old son… he will LOVE this project. Although, I have a little tweak for fall- I think we're going to collect acorns and shoot those babies instead. They're going to go so stinkin' far- it'll be awesome!
Come Together Kids 10- Twig Trees So simple, but really cool. We have tons of trees around our house (we live in the woods) so we'll find just the right sticks and then I'll give my kiddos a choice between using either fabric, fun patterned paper, or buttons.
Blog ZuiAs a working mom, it's not always easy keeping everything balanced and under control, but I'm thankful for a husband who can loving tell me when I'm letting something important slide. Today was the first day of"Intentional Mommy" and the leaf rubbings we made were a great start. I love looking at each of these projects knowing that each one will be quality time spent with my kids. How do you wear all your hats and keep a balance? What's your special"thing" with your kids?
We were really lucky to have had two major statement art pieces in our most recent Nate Show thrift store room makeover. Monica posted yesterday about the roofing material art using our Royal Design Studio stencil that I was absolutely 100% sure would be a fail confident would turn out amazing. Really, they were just so cool. But our other major piece of art was super easy and looked amazing above our dresser turned buffet.
If you see a big frame, BUY IT! There are so many things you can do with them, and large frames are hard to come by, for sure. We couldn't believe our good luck when we came across this huge frame at Liberty Thrift Store. At 25 bucks, it was definitely a splurge, but a frame this size would cost you 3 times that much (or more) at Michael's, and we knew it would help fill the empty wall space in our on-set white room. This is what it looked like at the store:
Eeeek!That thing was begging us to take it home and cover it up with fabric. I honestly can not EVER imagine hanging this scene up in my home (no offense to any of you who have something similar hanging on your walls!).
We purchased the fabric at Joann's because, well, we loved it, but also because it played nicely off of that mustard yellow couch (which, quite honestly, we hated! But you work with what you have and it was the best option at the thrift store that day.) This project took a little more than a yard of fabric, spray adhesive, spray paint, stain, hot glue and craft paper. We also came across three of the same kind of frame, which we immediately snatched up so no one else could get their hands on them. I mean that literally. Another tip: if you find three frames that are exactly the same, BUY THEM! You won't be sorry. And make sure you look past their color, and the picture in the frame- that can all be easily changed!
We started out by removing the picture and staining the frame a dark walnut. While that dried, we cut the fabric so there was about an inch or a little more extra all the way around. Then we sprayed the entire front of the existing picture with spray adhesive and gently laid the fabric down, making sure to smooth out the bubbles/wrinkles. If you're trying this with a frame, be sure to have an extra set of hands- it makes it so much easier! The extra fabric was stapled on the back side of the picture. In the meantime, we spraypainted the small frames in the same high gloss navy that we used on the dresser.
We were able to salvage the mats from the old pictures in the small frames, which saved us loads of time. Woohoo for the small things! We then lined the back of the mats with craft paper so that we'd have a nice solid background to highlight our antique skeleton keys.
I messed around with the layout of the keys for a loooooong time a few minutes before I settled on the perfect layout. Speaking of the keys…
…aren't they awesome? We actually had these keys from a previous shopping excursion at Architectural Antiques and were thrilled to use them in this project. They added so much character to this somewhat modern piece of art! Architectural Antiques is just one of the best places to find cool, old stuff in Bucks County. (If you're local, you HAVE to go there.)
From salvaged windows and doors, to old hardware and keys, to antique mantels and loads more, they have some incredible stuff! Anyway, we mounted the keys using our trusty hot glue done and voila! She was finished.
Pretty sweet, right? We sure think so! (And so did Nate!; )
*** Did you know that we share lots of other cool ideas over on our Facebook page? It's like little snippets of RHBC to get you through your day! So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and like us, we're going to post lots more Nate Show pics there later today!
Even though gold jewelry is back in style, a dated, brassy fireplace can put a major damper on the style of a room! Updating your fireplace can seem overwhelming, but let me tell you it's not as hard as it seems and if you're really determined (like me) you can get it done less than 24 hours!
Here's the story behind this makeover… One of my best gal pals was moving into a new house, so I trucked on down to Maryland to help move and to try to tackle a few fun projects. The fireplace wasn't even something they had thought of me working on, but the moment I walked in, it was SCREAMING for some DIY love from me.
Here's the order of my steps: 1- Whitewashed the brick2- Painted the mantle and built-ins3- Painted the brass surround****************************************** How to Whitewash Brick:
Whitewashing brick is really simple! You'll need an inexpensive paint brush, a plastic container, a rag, water, and paint. I mixed the paint and water with a ratio of 1 part paint to 3 parts water. If you want more coverage, increase your paint and for less coverage increase the water.
Start in one corner and work in small sections. Your paint mix will be really thin, so you'll want the rag in hand to catch any drips. Brush your paint mix on a 1x1 area and then immediately use your rag to rub it deeply into the brick and then remove any excess. The process goes really quickly, but I'll warn you it's a little messy. The grout can be a tad sandy, so you'll definitely need to vacuum when you're done. The whole fireplace and hearth took me less than 30 minutes. The difference in color is awesome!
After whitewashing and painting the shelves and mantle, it was time to get rid of that brass! My exact words to my gal pal Mandy were,"Do you trust me?" and I'm so glad she did! How to spray paint a brass fireplace surround: There are some key items you'll need to do this project right: Frog tape, craft paper, disposable plastic drop cloth, and Rust-oleum High Heat Ultra Spray Paint
We started off by taping off the brick right around the surround. Make sure that you get it as close as possible. We were lucky enough that the tape could slip behind the surround, so there was no chance of bleeding through. Once the edges are take care of, you'll want to use the craft paper and tape to make sure all of the brick is covered. It's sorta like wrapping a really big, awkward present!
Once the brick was covered, we cut a section from the plastic drop cloth and wrapped the mantle in it. We were really careful to make sure we'd taped it tightly, so no paint could sneak in.
For the glass doors, we used more tape and paper. I found that if I used a spatula, I could get the tape really close to the edges for a perfect, crisp look.
Now it was time for a little craziness… Making a spray paint cocoon! Since we were spraying in the house, we needed to seal off everything. Basically, I got in, and we sealed the drop cloth all around me. WARNING: the fumes will be very strong. I recommend a face mask. I didn't have one, so we used a towel.
Thankfully, this paint is awesome and doesn't require more than one solid coat. I, on the other hand, required about 3 showers before all the black paint was off my face and hands! It was totally worth it though!
Here's the finished product. Doesn't it look so much better?
I'd love to show you a perfectly styled mantle, and all the doors on, but we were on a tight time schedule, and I had to get back to PA. So this was DIY on the fly!
I was so pleased with the update and loved that the entire project took about 4 hours of work time and cost less than $30.00! If you have a fireplace that you were wishing you could change, I totally recommend doing it yourself! The impact it can have on a space is incredible! And if you missed it, Jess transformed her fireplace with some paint and a stencil this past summer. Two updates= no excuses not to get rid of those dated fireplaces, people!
And, I just have to add, that only only is Mandy one of my very favorite people in the entire world, she's all a rockin' sponsor of this very blog!! She's our Thirty-One Gift's Consultant and hooks up our readers for all kinds of giveaways and deals! Christmas is coming people, head over to Mandy's website HERE and check out the awesome products they have in the current catalog! I'm so loving the new Metro bags! Tell me, do you or someone you love have an outdated fireplace that's in need of an intervention? **UPDATE 7/13/13: Due to the popularity of this post and lots of reader questions, I thought I'd answer a few of the common questions here.Q: What kind of paint did you use on the brick? A: We just used white paint we had on hand. It was eggshell and worked fine. I really think any finish would work okay because you're watering it down anyhow. Q: What color did you use on the mantle and shelves? A: Ahh! I wish I knew! I am calling my friend now and will see if she still has the can. I do know it was from Lowes: )
One of the most fun parts of the CWTS contest is getting to see the fun projects linked up in our weekly link party! The girls in this contest are seriously talented, but guess what?! So are YOU! If you want to get a burst of inspiration, check out the fab upcycle projects that were linked up right here.
We were immediately drawn to this end table when we saw it in the party since we're both HUGE fans of rustic industrial style furniture. Allison from The Golden Sycamore put some serious effort and time into this piece and it tells! It's absolutely gorgeous! Well done, girl.; )
As I mentioned a few weeks ago on my blog, I'm really into the industrial look right now. I seriously can't get enough of it! While I was playing around online one day, showing my husband all these cool industrial tables, he got an idea in his head: Why not build one ourselves? One thing led to another and now we have our own custom industrial end table for our living room! (You can see the reveal post {here}). This was our inspiration for the table …
My husband and I are really happy with how our table turned out and I'm excited to share this project with you, but I want to warn you, this particular DIY project is not for the faint of heart. This project is a bit of a process and can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and aren't careful. PLEASE do not attempt this unless you feel very confident in your abilities. Please be sure you take all safety precautions when using a power tool or dangerous chemicals or objects and read the instruction manuals before using them. I am not a trained professional. If you are uncertain, please consult an expert before attempting this or any projects on this blog. I will not be responsible for any injuries or damages caused by any attempts to recreate this or any projects posted on this blog.
Alright, now that that's out of the way, onto the tutorial. Aging Galvanized Metal
SUPPLIES: 8 — 3/4" x 10" galvanized pipe ($29.60) 16 — galvanized floor flanges ($116.16) 48 — 1/4" x 1" galvanized lag screws ($22.08) HCl / toilet bowl cleaner Plastic container Small map gas torch ($41.97) Heat safe gloves ($4.46) Vegetable oil Beeswax Metal pan Metal pliers PROCEDURE: Start by putting your galvanized metal plumbing supplies in a plastic container. Add enough HCl / toilet bowl cleaner to cover all the metal and let sit for 2-3 hours. This process will remove the zinc coating off the galvanized metal. **DO THIS PART OUTSIDE OR IN A VERY WELL VENTILATED AREA — YOU DON'T WANT TO BE BREATHING THESE CHEMICALS IN!! (This is a picture of the screws in toilet bowl cleaner. We did them separately, but you can just put everything together.)
After a few hours, rinse all your metal pieces off. Pour some vegetable oil in a metal container. Wearing heat safe gloves and holding your piece of metal with a pliers, heat metal with torch until it is hot enough that it turns orange. Once it is thoroughly heated, dip in vegetable oil. Then reheat the piece of metal to orange hot. Once it is hot enough, set in oil to cool for about 30 seconds. **AGAIN — USE CAUTION. DO THIS PART IN A SAFE AREA AND HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER NEAR BY IN CASE OF FIRE!!
The metal will still be very hot, so take the piece of metal out of the oil with a pliers.
Cool the metal with water.
Once it's cool to the touch, scrub off burned oil residue with water and a wire brush.
Lightly heat metal again with torch (about 30 seconds) and coat with beeswax. Once coated, rub with cotton rag while still warm.
Let cool before handling. Metal will still be hot for a while.
And that's it! Haha! I know the process is intense, but if you really want the aged look, it's worth it! Here is what your finished product should look like. Repeat process for all your pieces of metal.
Now onto the wood shelves.
SUPPLIES: 1 — IKEA Numerar oak butcher block countertop ($129.00) — we used a little over half the length, so the cost of what was used was roughly $70 Tape measure and pencil Circular saw Straight edge clamp Router Orbital sander and sand paper Stain Silhouette Cameo and stencil Paint and paint brush Mineral oil PROCEDURE: Start by measuring your Numerar butcher block to the size you want your shelves and mark where to cut. Our shelves measure 19.5" wide x 24" deep.
Set up your straight edge clamp so that your saw will cut on your measured line. You'll probably have to set it to about a half inch over to allow for the width of the saw.
Cut butcher block with circular saw. Repeat this process for second shelf.
Run orbital sander along the edges to ensure a smooth finish. Then router the edges of each shelf — remember to do the top and bottom sides to keep the look cohesive.
With your orbital sander, sand the finish off the top and bottom of both shelves.
Using Minwax Dark Walnut stain, wipe on stain and immediately wipe off to get a slightly darker color, but not too much penetration. If you desire a darker stain color, either leave the stain on longer before wiping off or apply more layers of stain to darken it.
I don't have pictures of this part, but if you wish to add numbers to your top shelf, here's how to do it. Choose the style and size of numbers you want and cut them out using your Silhouette Cameo. If you don't have a Cameo, you can always print numbers out on your printer and then cut them out by hand. Once you have your numbers, arrange them on the shelf the way you want them and then trace around them using a white or black colored pencil. Once your numbers are traced, use craft paint and a small paint brush to paint inside the lines. Let paint dry and sand lightly with sand paper to desired distressed look.
Once you are done with your numbers (or if you skipped that step) wipe both shelves with mineral oil (or some other sealant like wax or polyurethane) to seal the shelves.
Now to put it all together. SUPPLIES: Drill Wrench or impact driver All your metal pieces Both shelves Level PROCEDURE: Drill pilot holes in each shelf. You'll drill four holes per flange. Drill holes in the bottom of the top shelf. The bottom shelf will get holes drilled in both sides — top and bottom. Make sure to stagger your holes on the bottom shelf so that they don't meet up with each other through the wood. Using your wrench or impact driver, on the bottom shelf, attach 4 flanges with your lag screws on the top side of the shelf. Screw pipe into the four flanges. Attach flanges to the bottom of the top shelf with lag screws. Screw those flanges to the pipe that is already attached to the bottom shelf. Attach flanges to the bottom side of the bottom shelf. Screw pipe into flanges and screw final flanges to the bottom of the pipe — these are the table's"feet". Check to make sure the table is level. If it isn't, screw or unscrew pipes until the table is level.
Alright, if you've made it to the end of this post, I applaud you! I told you it was intense! I definitely can see why our inspiration piece was almost $700! Not only are the materials relatively expensive, but it is also quite labor intensive! In the reveal post, I said that the table cost us about $300 to make. We had a lot of the tools on hand, but we had to purchase most of the supplies. In this post I've added up the supplies we bought and calculated our total cost (using about half the countertop cost since we can use the remainder of the countertop for another project). The total came to $284.27. If you add MI tax, it comes to $301 and some change. That's a pretty good estimate on our part, if you ask me!: ) If I didn't explain something well enough or you have any questions, PLEASE feel free to ask! I'll do my best to help you out! Thanks so much for reading my loooong tutorial!: ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isn't that incredible?! Seriously, so good. Thanks for linking up, Allison! Don't forget to check back at midnight tonight to see the Contestants Round 3 projects!
You might have noticed that once in a while we start a project here on the blog and then pretty much never mention it again… leaving you hanging. Sorta like the awesome guy on a date that never calls again. We don't want to be"that guy," so today I'm doing a little blast from the past update! Remember my family room last January? I was getting ready to stencil some wall panels…
So I painted them and then decided they just weren't working. Far too much going on…
Since I loved the stencil pattern (just not on that wall), I used it on my outdoor rug!
BUT… I left ya hanging with my family room! What happened to the walls?
Here's what we've got going on now… I had these two pieces of art in my completely mishmashed piano/craft room, and thought the colors would work in the family room. It took me a few weeks to decide if they worked or not, but I decided I think they do.
Let me be honest with you for a second… I HATE decorating around my TV! (Although, I am thankful for the TV) I'm constantly grumbling about it in my head. There's only so much you can do around it and to be really honest, I sort of just put together semi-lame mantles because of it. At least I have Jess' super awesome mantles to drool over!
Even with my semi-lame mantles, I usually manage to find one or two things that I like… This season my light-bulb-meets-lantern is enough to keep me happy!
So, as of right now, my family room is feeling 95% finished. I'm pretty sure that as a mom of four kids, I'm never going to get to 100% and I think I'm okay with that. We play soccer, make Wipeout obstacle courses, and of course make cool forts in there all the time. I never want my design plans to get in the way of that! So what do you think of the family room walls? Think the art works alright?
Welcome to my Christmas House Tour! Last year our homes were decked out for all of America to see on Nate Berkus, but this year it's just for my family to enjoy. Sometimes in the blogging world it can feel like there's a lot of pressure to have an HGTV worthy home, but guess what? This mom of four, that works a full-time job, is not going to cave under the pressure. I proudly present to you, our Very Merry & Realistic Christmas Decorating for 2012!
(it's going to be a picture heavy post, so get ready and Pin it if you like it!)
I'm still loving my Grinch Front Door. Last week I gave the full tutorial.
Before and After- LOVE it!
Welcome to my foyer and my favorite Christmas tree of all time…
I follow Urban on Instagram, and saw that they had put staff pics on a tree at one of their NYC store locations. I was smitten! I got a Fuji Mini (which all the kids call the"Magic Camera") and snapped a ton of fun pictures of our family and some special friends. I added spray painted bicycle ornaments (from Target), some orange ribbon, brown ornament balls, gold lights, and leftover fabric to create the coolest tree ever!
Even the tree has the shabby look I was going for, do you want to know how I achieved that look? I cut the tree on October 5th and it's been sitting in my house ever since! Ha! It's dead as a door nail and I love it! (I needed it for some P&G videos- coming soon!) Fuji Mini Pics
Brown ornaments
Bicycle ornaments- I spray painted gold
Added hooks to each picture using a finishing nail
Ready for the tree
Best.Husband.Ever
This tree make me really, really happy!
Directly off the foyer is our formal living room/kids' craft room. It's the most unfinished room in our house (it's a hot mess), but I still did one little vignette in front of the window.
I love the chalkboard printable, and you can get it (and many others) free here. I also love my little yellow bird, and while she's not super Christmasy I think she looks mighty fine!
Here's the whole thing together
Even though we're no longer"The Real Housewives of Bucks County," I'm still gonna keep it real for you… here's what the rest of the room looked like. I'm showing this to you, so you remember that we're totally normal girls with messy houses, crazy kids, and so not perfect. Hopefully, you can relate! (The Christmas boxes and decor are still there, but they're on my TO DO list tomorrow to put them all away!)
Okay, enough reality, back to the pretty stuff… This is on the console table in my family room. I love that crazy picture of all of us!
Here's the wood grain Christmas Countdown I made this year. I LOVE plywood projects where the wood grain is highlighted. You can check out the tutorial here
We have 3 trees- #1 Family Tree (below) #2 Mommy's Tree (foyer) #3 Kid's Tree (not shown) Here's the"Family Tree." We decorate this one together as a family and it looks pretty much identical every year. Some traditions are too important to change for the sake of decor: )
Did you notice the stinkin' awesome lighted silhouette artwork? We'll be posting the full tutorial on Infarrantly Creative on Dec 13th. Jess and I love it and it was so simple to make!
Of course Charles loves hanging out in our tree sometimes
It seems that I have a thing for pictures on trees. We got these ornaments at Crate and Barrel about 6 or 7 years ago. The picture on the left is our ultimate favorite Christmas picture ever. It was taken of Kaden when he was 3 (he's now 8).
This year I'm proud to say that we have 4 kids on the NICE list… Last year the eldest might have made the NAUGHTY list. Oh Snap!
My mantle is Lame with a capital L… The dang TV always limits me, but it is what it is…
This year I was into the traditional nutcrackers with primary red and blue
This little guy rocks. I picture him talking with a Russian accent- don't ask me why!
I've had these stocking holders for 9 years, but this year I hit them with a tiny bit of white paint, so they popped a bit more. They were originally dark brown and got lost on the mantle.
Target had this cute stockings this year and they totally worked with my red and blue nutcrackers.
Michael's had some really fun graphic words in their dollar bin and I picked up a few.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into my home. It's definitely not perfect, but we're pretty darn happy here. I mean, just look at us, don't we look happy??: )
I'd love to know what's your favorite part of my Christmas Decor? Leave me a comment and let me know!
We had so much fun working on this kids' playroom/school room and one of the unique projects that the homeowner loved was the Bicycle Wheel Clock! It's quirky, unique, and Awesome!!
In early 2013 we hosted the BEST DIY Competition in blog land…Creating with the Stars, and our wheel clock was a kid-friendly version of one our amazingly talented friend Karrianne made for her winning Round 1 project. You can check out Karrianne's blog HERE and find her tutorial HERE.
Our homeowner, Shannon, really wanted this space to be super kid-friendly, so we needed to make our bicycle wheel clock a tad more whimsical. We decided on a bright yellow yard stick as our clock hands to add a pop of color.
To read the full step-by-step for this project, head over to Thistlewood Farm, but here are a few tips… You want to use a small hand saw to make your ruler cuts- a large chop saw can really easily crack thin wood. We got our yard stick at a salvage shop, so we knew it was pretty old!
The clock mechanism gets attached to a paint can lid- most likely you don't have a clean one laying around, but good news… you can buy new, empty paint cans from any home improvement store for about $3.
One final thing to remember- you need a clock mechanism that can handle large hands, so look for one that says"heavy torque" we had to visit two craft stores before we found the right one, but they're definitely available.
We LOVED how Karrianne used roman numerals on her clock, it was so classy and a fun juxtaposition to the old wheel, but since ours was a kid space, we opted for simple numbers. We love that this project could work in a
Ladies-and the approximately 1% of readers who are dudes-, we have awesome sponsors. They are the ones who make the rest of our posts and projects possible. Not only do they support us, but they have some pretty cool stuff in their stores. We've rounded up some of favorite items for a cozy Fall season. Make sure you don't miss the discount codes and special promotions!
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11.Liberty Thrift Store is hands-down our go-to thrift store. Did you know that we found the chair we reupholstered for the Nate Show there? You never know what you'll find thrifting, but it's always fun! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wait, one more thing! We're happy to announce that we're accepting new sponsors! We have a few openings that we would love to fill, so if you have a business that you think we'll love and can help you promote, send us an email at eastcoastcreativeblog@gmail.com! Seriously, what better way to sell your stuff than to have two loud, passionate, crazy women on your side?! For all the nitty-gritty info about our sponsorship opportunities, click here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have a great day, and be sure to stop over and say hi to our wonderful sponsors!
