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We Interrupt this Post to Bring You Something HUGE!
We've had to keep this secret quiet for a while, but now we can dish. We were contacted by Proctor & Gamble about being the face of their home division. SCORE! The one catch… we're one of 4 bloggers in the running. Oh SNAP! So, today begins the voting on P&G's Facebook Page. We need you (and basically everyone you've ever met) to vote for Monica once a day now until October 4th. I know that the daily voting thing is a pain, but man, this opportunity would rock our world! So, pretty please, with a cherry on top- go vote for Monica (you'll even get to see our very cheesy entry video!)


You can VOTE once a day for the next 15 Days!!

Okay, now onto today's post. Thanks so much for voting!
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Probably the part of my Garage Mudroom Makeover that I got the most questions and comments about was the huge artwork of my crew (or at least their bottom half!) Staples Engineer prints aren't anything new to our blog (we use them all the time!), but every time I fall a little more in love!

If you missed the reveal of my makeover, you can check it out HERE. You can check out the Custom Painted Rug tutorial HERE

On our final Nate Show episode, we used a really large wooden frame with some cool fabric and skeleton keys. All the furniture from the show was shipped back to us, so I knew months ago what I had in mind for it.

I knew I wanted to frame a picture of my kiddos' feet and put it in the garage, I just had to wait until my garage was no longer a disaster! Once the mudroom makeover was underway, I immediate saw the perfect place for my artwork!

I gave the Nate Show frame (originally purchased at a thrift store) a quick coat of spray paint using Valspar's New Avocado. I recently used the same color on some chairs and I'm a pretty big fan of it.

Since we've done this kind of project a few times before I'm not going to go into the full tutorial, you can check out one tutorial HERE or the other HERE.
I know a few of you have had questions about what kind of print to ask for at Staples etc… I went in and talked to our store and got the low down on some details for ya.

I did make a few small tweaks this time around. Since the frame was empty, I needed to use foam core to mount my image and then staple it to the back of the frame.

I sort of underestimated the size of the frame- it's huge! So I just mounted the left and right sides and left the middle… shhh, no one would ever know.

The process was really simple, and would have been even easier if I hadn't run out of foam core. I actually caught my finger in my heavy duty staple gun and a month later, my nail is still purple. Ugh. Although, it doesn't compare to slamming your finger in a car door and cutting off the top of it while taping a TV show for Nate… not that I know anyone who did that: )

For $6.99 I'm over the moon excited about the impact that this art makes in my garage. I come in and out of this door a million times a day and it's pretty awesome to have something I love to look at.

So, what do you think of my Shoe Artwork? Are you ready to try a Staples Engineering Print in your home?

We're so excited to finally share this project with you. We wrote it for Infarrantly Creative last week, and now we can reveal it to you! We're going to give you an awesome, low cost way to frame a humongous photograph that will totally be a traffic-stopping scene-stealer! Not only that, this project is super easy and takes very little time. We were actually very surprised at how quickly it came together. You know when you have a creative idea, and you think it should be easy, but it almost never is? You won't have that problem here!

Here's our cast of characters:

1 Piece 4x9 Underlayment/Luan 24x36 Engineer Print (from Staples!) Spray paint Spray adhesive Modpodge Mini-projector (or a regular one will work too!) Picture hanging hardware

Luan, otherwise known as underlayment, is a type of plywood usually used in flooring. Not today, folks! It's ultra-light (I don't know maybe 5 pounds for the whole sheet?!), and so was the perfect medium for making a frame. We chose it because we were planning on hanging it high on a wall in Jess' entryway that has vaulted ceilings. We wanted something that would be light enough to stay put on the wall so that it didn't accidentally knock off one Jess' guests as they entered the house. Plus, because it's so thin, it was really easy to cut using a jigsaw (more on that later), and cost only $10 for the whole sheet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We recently introduced you to engineer prints from Staples? Remember Monica's Industrial Art?

Oh.My.Goodness. They have completely changed us for the better. Just wait, you'll feel the same way. Take your favorite picture into Staples and ask for an oversized print (they come in multiple sizes, but the largest is 3 feet by 4 feet. That's huge!) They'll make a copy right there for you, and the best part…it costs less than 5 bucks for a print! You're only able to get the picture in black and white, but who cares?! It's 5 bucks! The tricky thing is that the picture is printed on very thin paper, so you have to be careful not to bend it or mark it.

Here's where having a crafty best friend comes in: Monica has an adorable mini-projector that was perfect for this project. She brought it over and set it all up using the image of the shape we pulled off of Google images.

If you can't get your hands on a projector, We're pretty sure you can make your own using this fun little tip. Monica downloaded the image of the shape onto the projector (you just use"save as" to save any file format you'd like to the drive)

Then we turned out the lights, and voila!

The perfect shape to trace!

Then, we took that bad boy out to the garage and started cutting out the shape using our trusty jigsaw. We use this thing more than is normal for a pair of moms, but what can we say? We love this tool!

Make sure you take a cheesy picture of yourself holding the frame for posterity.

See what we mean about how thin the luan is? I would say it's about 1/2 inch thick.

The next step is to sand all the rough edges so it's smooth. We recommend using a sanding pad vs. an electric sander because of how fragile the underlayment is.

Because my framed picture is going to hang high on a wall, I wanted our faces to be large so you could see them, so I printed the picture as 3 feet by 4 feet, and then cut off the extra space using an Xacto knife. You could avoid this step by cropping your picture close before printing. Make sure you're using a high-quality photo so that it prints clear. Our photo was taken by the fabulous Salvatori Photography, so we knew it would turn out great! (Need pics? Totally check her out!)

We used Rustoleum Painter's Touch spray paint in Satin Lagoon. It's such a pretty shade of blue- almost like a peacock blue.

It took a few coats, but the underlayment takes the paint really well.

Before adhering the picture, Monica added the hardward to hang the frame. We didn't want the picture to get messed up, so we made sure to do this first. You should definitely use actual picture-hanging hardware, but this is what we had on hand and it worked well. We screwed them in about a 1/4 of the way down from the top of the frame and then threaded picture-hanging wire through.

After determining the placement of the photo on the frame, we marked the corners in case we had any slippage during this next step. Since the picture is so big, we decided to place one hand squarely in the middle of it, and fold one half back towards the middle, spray the spray adhesive all over wood on that half and then smooth outward from the middle. You can use a rolling pin to help get all of the air bubbles out, but we didn't find it necessary. Having a friend help you with this is very helpful, though!

Finally, we brushed matte Modpodge all over the picture to seal it and keep it from fading over time. It just makes it look more finished, too. The Modpodge should be applied in a really thin coat to avoid any bubbling. Actually, if it's going to be in a place where it won't be touched, you could skip this step.

Then it was time to hang our beauty up!

Told you it was high! I'm not sure how Monica got this job because she's afraid of heights, but hey! She did it like a good best friend.: )

We're so in love with it, and can't get over the beautiful pop of color it brings to the entryway.

The total cost for this project was exactly $20, and the impact it makes is HUGE!

So what do you think?
How many of you are heading to Staples ASAP?

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Linking up to: TT&J

I don't know about you, but I always forget how much fun it is to decorate a mantel for different seasons. Sometimes it feels like the seasons go so quickly that it's silly to decorate for such a short time. Am I the only one? And then I realize…man, it's fun to try out different arrangements and see what I can come up with. Plus, for the Fall season, decorating the mantel totally makes my room feel more cozy. Last year, I actually did two different mantels: one for early Fall/back to school and the other for late Fall. I know…crazy.

And here's what's going on this year on the ol' mantel:

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I knew that I definitely wanted to include a branch of the gorgeous leaves from my trees outside. I mean, just look at those colors!

The little owl candle came from CVS (yup, on clearance!) and the giant acorn is from Hobby Lobby.

The most fun part about this mantel is the large leaf print in the middle. I actually made this in Picmonkey (a free photo editing site) using free clip art and chalkboard background. Then I had it printed at Staples as an engineer print- it cost me all of $4.00. We luuuurrrrrvvvveee Staples engineer prints (we've done loads of projects with them- you can see them here, here and here ), because they are so easy to work with and inexpensive.

*Update: Several of you asked if I could make the leaf print available as a download. Well, your wish is my command! Download the fall leaf print here.
You gotta love the colors of Fall.

The silver vase is from a thrift store and the reddish gourd-shaped vase is another CVS clearance find.

All in all, it's looking pretty cute, although my leaves probably won't live to see another day…

Its been about a year and my Stenciled Faux Tile Fireplace is still one of my favorite projects to date! It's the perfect backdrop to all my mantel decorating craziness.: )
Do you decorate your mantel for the seasons?

This project was featured in an episode of our DIY show Knock It Off. To watch this episode online, click HERE.

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We’re going to let you in on one of our favorite trade secrets: giant, engineer-sized prints! If you're one of our fabulous blog readers, you already know that this is kind of our go-to trick for dressing up a wall.

Choose and order the pictures you want to use. You could go with family shots, favorite sayings or even printable artwork found online. We've even shared some of our very own free printables here, here and here. The giant geometric-looking heart in this gallery wall came from one of our favorite places for downloadable art: The Caravan Shoppe. Make sure your images are high-resolution for the clearest picture possible and take them to any office supply store. Ask them to create engineer prints- our pics were 4 feet by 3 feet and only cost about $5 a piece! You can only get them printed in black and white, but for a gallery wall this size, that’s perfect and looks really classy.

Now we’re going to mount the pictures to the “canvas”. We chose to use foam insulation panels because they’re inexpensive and easy to cut. Trim to the appropriate size. (If you want something already pre-cut, go with foam core from the office supply store. You’ll pay more, but won’t have to make cuts!) Cut your sheet of insulation so that your photo is 2 inches bigger all the way around.
Lay the engineer print over the cut insulation panel and fold back halfway. Spray with adhesive, lay it back down, smoothing out the wrinkles as you go. Do the same thing to the other half. Now wrap the canvas like a present! Fold the corner of one side in towards the middle of the panel and staple into place. Continue pulling the print around the entire insulation board and staple into place as you go.

A wall of gallery-wrapped canvases can be super pricey, but not if you do it our way! Honestly, this is one of our favorite insider tips…but shhhhh…let's let this trick be our little secret.: ) And seriously, if I looked that good, I would have engineer prints of myself all over my house!

We've used engineer prints in our own homes lots of times. These projects are some of our absolute favorites, and make a huge statement!
Jess' Giant, Shaped Frame with Engineer Prints

Monica's Ginormous Industrial Art

Don't forget to check out the other projects in the room here.

I'm excited to share one of my favorite projects from Kira's Room Makeover today! These faux canvases make an awesome impact on the room and man alive do they make me smile! Everyone knows that Jess and I are slightly obsessed with Staples' Engineering Prints and this project just added one more reason to love them!

Oh, and if you haven't seen the rest of the post for this room makeover, you can check them out here: Room Reveal & Video
Mosaic Accent Wall
Whiteboard Wall

This could perhaps be the easiest DIY on the planet and, I think I might have said that about a few projects before, but really it is! Here's What You'll Need: Staples' Engineer Prints Foam Core Scissors Tape The first thing I did was to edit and crop my pictures into squares. Next, Jess cut down the foam core into squares (we needed 4)

We placed the prints over the foam core and left plenty of extra on all sides so that we could basically wrap it like a present.

To hang these canvases, I nailed directly through the foam core into the wall. The nails barely show (I used really thin ones), but you could use chunky ones for an industrial look, or Command Strips for a more polished look.

Don't they look awesome? Kira LOVES them and I do too. The bottom picture is of KJ and her Papa while we were waiting for the gates to open at Disney World last year. The look on her face is priceless!

And oh.my.word- Those Converse with her skirt rock my world! This little girl has so much spunk and personality and I just love that this simple DIY project captures that.

You can check out some of our other Staples Prints Projects: Huge Family Art for Under $20

Garage Artwork for $6.99

Ginormous Family Art

So tell me, do you have a have a place in your home where these faux canvases would be an awesome addition?
P.S. Jess and I are pretty excited to spend the day FILMING something amazing on Monday. We are bursting at the seams to tell you all the details, but our lips are sealed… for now!!

The hubs and I had a little chat a few weeks ago… we were both pretty sick of having a semi-finished family room. We’ve had bare walls for pretty much ever. I just couldn’t decide what to do… stalking other blogs and design sites had me leaning a different direction every day. Finally, I decided to just do something!
Remember my fingerprint artwork? I still really love it, but decided it needed to be relocated to the other side of the room.

What, you might ask, did I have planned for the striped wall?
Welcome to my Ginormous $4.99 Family Art work

Pin It Right off the bat… YES, I know the picture comes beyond the frame, and I did do it on purpose. My kids have asked me about that about 214754 times in the past two weeks.
Here's how I made a 4x3 Ginormous piece of family art for only $4.99! I headed to the Bucks County Re-Store on Saturday afternoon without anything specific in mind. I just knew I hadn't done a project in forever and I needed some inspiration. I only bought one item, but it was $15 and just what I needed to spark a project idea!

Check out my new $15 mirror and my super-cool dance move! (Yes, I was doing that while taking the picture. Too cool for school, I know…)

This was how it came from ReStore and where my demo needed to begin.

I unscrewed the wooden boards from the back and then took a screwdriver to pry off the wooden backside. I just tapped it in with a hammer and then angled the screwdriver. I did this all around the edges until it came free.

I was left with a big mirror (still plotting what to do with it), the frame I needed, and a piece of wood that headed to the trash.

I primed the mirror first… do you know how rare it is that I take the time to prime? I was proud. After the primer I gave it two coats of Valspar's Navy spray paint.

Remember the awesome family pictures that the fabulous Stacy Salvatori took back in the fall? Well, I knew I was ready to have one blown up really, really big, but I didn't want to pay big bucks for a massive print. Thankfully, Staples will print huge black and white pictures. Just ask for an engineering print. They can go over 3 feet wide and really long. I just brought the jpeg on a flash drive and they uploaded and printed in about 5 minutes. The best part… It cost me $4.99!!

Do you recognize that black paper behind the photo? It's the infamous Nate Show Tar Paper! I was wicked excited to use it for another project!

I got out my trusty yet my nemesis spray adhesive and got to work sticking the pic to the tar paper.

The engineer prints aren't on heavy paper, they're on average copy weight paper, so I wanted to give it a bit more stability with the tar paper.

I adhered it, trimmed the edges with a utility knife and then got out my favorite new tool… my grommeter! I only had gold grommets, so I spray painted them a hammered metal first. I put one grommet on each side.

I had two copies of this framed print laying around back from my old homestaging days. I decided to ditch the boat and use the frames.

I also had about five of these frames laying around in my basement and decided to have them join the navy spray paint club as well.

Here's the arrangement as it looks now. I added gold chain to the grommets and I'm in search for the perfect doorknob to hang it from in the middle. I might need to head over to Architectural Antiques this weekend. I'm also going to add sketched artwork to the 4 empty frames.

All-in-all, I'm thrilled with how this completely inexpensive family artwork turned out. I love having my family's faces right in our main living space, and I love that it's a little quirky and unique.

Don't worry, I'll share the true finished product once I get a knob and artwork added. I was just too impatient not to share the family pic right away!
So, how many of you are running to Staples to BLOW-UP some Ginormous pics?

Let's face it, with Halloween on one end and Christmas on the other, Thanksgiving often gets a raw deal. I know that when the holiday season is in full force, being intentional with projects and decor gets really hard. I find it so easy to scoot right by Thanksgiving, without a second thought, and dive right into Christmas stuff, so I decided to tackle a project that would keep my family centered and focused on being grateful throughout November. A Thankful Tree that can be reused every year!

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

• Canvas (mine is 18in x 24in)
• 1/2 yard-3/4 yard of fabric
• Spray Adhesive
• Spraypaint
• Mod podge (not pictured)
• Baby clothespins (not pictured)

Step 2: Locate your tree image (there are tons of free clipart images listed in Google images) and enlarge it to fit your canvas. We love the engineer prints from Staples and use them all the time. Step 3: Use a sharp-edge razor to cut the tree out. Don't worry about all the little limbs, and focus on the larger ones. This seemed super daunting, but surprisingly went quickly and smoothly. I accidentally cut a branch that I wanted to keep on (doh!) but was easily able to use tape to fix it.  

Step 4: Lay your image down on the backside of the fabric and trace it with a pen.

Step 5: Spray the fabric tree with spray starch and iron it to make it stiff. This makes cutting it out with scissors a piece of cake. Step 6: Center the tree on the canvas. Starting at the trunk, lift small sections and lightly spray with adhesive. Smooth out all of the bubbles from the center out to the edges. A little spray adhesive may get on the canvas where you don't need it, but that's ok. We'll be taking care of that later.

Step 7: Place stencils on your canvas and stencil away! I used Martha Stewart's self-adhering stencils which are awesome because you don't have to worry about them moving around while you stencil. (Insider secret: This project was originally posted on U-Create, so there was a deadline involved. I was actually stenciling this bad boy in the car in between a shift at work and tennis practice. Pure craziness, I tell you #cantwasteevenoneminute.) 

Step 8: Mod Podge the entire canvas starting at the center of the tree and working out to the edges. This will seal the tree and make it more resistant to wear and fading. And remember that spray adhesive I mentioned before? The Mod Podge takes care of hiding that, too. Score! 

It's scary at first, but dries clear! 

Step 9: Spraypaint the clothespins and adhere them to the tree with hot glue. 

Step 10: Print out our fun"thankful" labels on card stock (download them here) and cut them out using scissors. Have your family write what they're thankful on each of the tags and then clip them to the canvas.

Voila! You're done and are left with an adorable, re-useable canvas that will help your family focus on what's really important in the next two weeks. Plus, it's super cute, so it's a win-win! 

 So, that's it! I love that I can use this every year. I plan on writing the year on the back of each tag and keeping them to look through each year. I'm hoping my son won't say that he's most thankful for Cinnamon Toast Crunch every year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aannnnnd since we've officially welcomed the holiday season here on the blog, we wanted to share something exciting with you! When we were looking around for cool Christmas vinyl options to share with you, we found very few that were modern and stylish. So, since we had several requests for the vinyl phrase we used on the front door last week, we decided to create a few just for you! A limited number of Be Merry Christmas decals are now for sale in our Etsy shop at a very reasonable price- only $8!! That's a whole lot cheaper than buying a new wreath, people. And we have a couple more coming this week, so be on the lookout. Get yours now!

Let the holiday craziness begin!