My Creative Blog [Search results for HTC OneX] 

 I have been living in the dark ages. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but trust me when I say that blogging without a smartphone is not easy! So when AT&T wrote to us asking if we would be willing to try out their brand new HTC OneX smartphone to see how it could help simplify doing projects and blogging, I didn't even give Monica a chance to say yes. I jumped all over it so fast, she didn't know what happened (Sorry Mo!) I've been moaning and complaining that blogging without a smartphone is difficult because you can't connect with your readers on Facebook, Twitter or through emails unless you're physically at the computer, which for me doesn't happen often. I mean, who wants to sit at a computer all day instead of playing and interacting with their kids?! Not me. Anyway, let's just say that when I received this package in the mail, I literally jumped up and down, clapping. 

Not only did they send this awesome phone, they included a gift card to use for a project to demonstrate how much this phone can help you get things done. Ummmm, yes, count me in, please. I can't wait to show you what project I did tomorrow and how this phone helped me along the way! AT&T's mottos is"It's what you do with what we do", and I can't even tell you how much I've been doing with what they do. However, I'll be honest, I don't know much about smartphones or technology in general, so I'd never heard of the HTC OneX, but I figured that I would take anything over my old-school cell.

This phone far exceeded my expectations! It is so sleek, has a huge screen (4.7 inches) and is easy to use. The only problem I've had so far, is that when I'm texting, the phone autocorrects in Spanish, which is pretty darn funny. Just ask Monica. By far, my favorite feature of the phone is the camera- it's 8MP (same as the iphone) so the pictures are clear, even in low light (which happens all the time when you do all your projects at night). Here's the proof:

Of course, I've put the camera to good use documenting projects and showcasing amazing stuff we found at Clover Market.

I can't even tell you how valuable the camera is to me, though, because of the amazing pictures I can take of my kids at a moment's notice. I mean, seriously, I would-and probably will!- hang these on my walls.

The camera is just one feature of the many things I love about this phone. It takes HD video, my kids love watching Veggie Tales on youtube on the big screen, and the Beats audio is incredible. I'm telling you, this phone is no joke. And want to know something cool? AT&T gave us an extra HTC One X smartphone to give away to one of you!

Yay! That's right. All you need to do to enter is leave us a comment telling us how technology helps you get stuff done. For extra entries, like us on facebook and twitter.: ) a Rafflecopter giveaway  This giveaway will be open until Sunday, September 30th, so make sure you tell all your friends! The winner will be announced Monday, October 1st. And don't forget to come on back tomorrow for a tutorial on one of my most favorite projects I've done to date! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And don't forget that we're in the running to be the New Face of Proctor & Gamble Home! Please head over and vote for Monica. You can vote once a day, now through October 3rd. We SO APPRECIATE you taking the time to vote each day! 

Good morning, everyone! I'm so excited to share this project with you today! I've been slowly working on making over our dining room which was sorely lacking in personality and style. You may remember that it looked like this back in the Fall of last year:

Then, I got tired of everything the way it was and removed the hutch from over the buffet, decided to refinish the table, and move everything around in the Spring:

I'm going to be sharing the reveal of my new coastal/cottage dining room sometime in the next two weeks, but I just had to show you what we've been up to so far. When AT&T sent me a new phone and a gift card and asked me to do a project to see how technology could help me out, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I've been a huge fan of Layla's dining room"wonder wall" and decided to come up with a way to duplicate the look of an older house inside my newer, 15 year old house.

So, with a little help from my phone, and a lot of help from my hubby, here's what I came up with:

Now, obviously, this picture is completely undecorated, but I wanted to save the final reveal for later when the room is finished, but isn't it fabulous?!! This accent wall is actually remarkably simple and cost only $100! Here's what I did:
1. Decide on a layout for your shelves and mark on the wall with chalk. This is absolutely not neccessary, but it helped me a ton with visualizing the layout. I took pictures of it, so that I could look back and see the placement after the planks went on the wall. The camera on my HTC OneX phone came in handy because I documented the whole process (and texted Monica loads of pictures!)…

 2. Choose your supplies! Thankfully, I got a coupon from Lowes the day before we headed out to pick up supplies, so with that and the visa gift card, I knew I could get what I needed.

The funniest thing happened at Lowes. Kevin and I were chatting about our options and got cold feet right before buying the stuff we needed because we thought we should research our options online more. Just as we were leaving, I remembered that my phone had internet capability (remember I was living in the dark ages!), and that I could look stuff up while we were there. I pulled up Pinterest and got to work.

Our friend, Shaunna, used faux wood planked paneling in her dining room, and since it seemed relatively easy and looked gorgeous, we headed to that section first. Lo and behold, we found this 4x8 sheet of coastal cedar lookalike paneling.

We only needed 4 sheets to cover the wall, so this was going to be the most cost effective way to plank the wall. I snapped pics of the paneling and the price, so that I could go home and make sure the colors would work in the room, and that I was getting the best price on the paneling. Plus, I knew my hubs could use the extra guidance so that when he went back with the truck to pick it up, he could have all the info he needed right on his phone.

We also got 12 2x2's for the wood"studs" and flat, white paint, as well. 3. Measure, measure, measure and cut. We held each section of paneling up the wall and made marks on it where we needed to cut it with chalk. This project would have been super easy had we not had to make cuts around the window. We took it out to the garage and set up a makeshift workstation.

We honestly did measure at least three times before making our first cut. We didn't want to have to buy more paneling because of a mistake!

It was dark and our garage doesn't have the best lighting, so we had to hold a flashlight while cutting with the jigsaw. Not the perfect working conditions, by any means! 

4, Hang the paneling on the wall. The paneling is incredibly easy to work with. It's thin and light, which makes putting it on the wall a piece of cake. Make sure you level each piece before nailing it into place.

We shot nails into the ends of the planks, just as you would with real wood to give it an authentic look. 

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There were some really tricky cuts around the window, but a jigsaw works wonders!

Once all the planking was up, I was soo excited! It was coming along just as I had envisioned. Now for the"stud" shevling. 5. Paint your studs. I chose to use a flat white paint for a rustic look. I laid them all of the 2x2's in a row and knocked them out in about 30 minutes.

6, Nail the studs into the wall, vertical ones first, then horizontal shelves. We used the nail gun again to hang the studs. We started with the studs in the corner, and worked our way in to the middle, evenly spacing them as we went. Level the studs so that they are completely straight before nailing them in place.

I really wanted these to feel rustic, so we kept the nail holes visible.

The space under the window presented a tricky situation, but my hubs angled the wood down from the sill, and it looked so much better! 

9. Caulk the seams and spaces around the window. Sorry! No pictures of this step, but I'm sure you know what to do.: )
I am so happy with the way it looks, and can't wait to show you them all styled!

This project really was an easy one, and I can't believe how different the room feels now that it's done. Much more cozy and warm. And, if you like it now, wait until I reveal the finished room with all the fun accessories. I want to thank AT&T for the amazing phone that made this project go so smoothly! I was able to research, document the process, and update you via facebook, instagram (follow us at eastcoastcreative and Jess_EC2blog) and twitter. Seriously, my blogging life got 100x easier with this phone! Don't forget that you can enter the contest to win your very own HTC OneX Smartphone here!

So, what do you think of my planked wall? Are you in love like I am? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh! And there's only a couple more days to vote for Monica in Proctor & Gamble's Great Try Out contest, so please take a minute and go vote!

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I don't know about you, but I'm itching to Fall-ify my home. You know that"let's get cozy, wear sweatshirts and bring out the pumpkins" feeling? Yeah, I have it. One of the major focal points for seasonal decor in our house is our fireplace and mantel, which I decided to give a little makeover before bringing out my Fall stuff. All it takes is chalk paint, a stencil and a lot of patience. I originally posted this project a few weeks ago over at Infarrantly Creative, but have been dying to share it with you! I can't believe how much I love my fireplace now, and I think you will too.

I'm not going to lie, this was not an easy project. In fact, it took me at least 6 hours of painting and stenciling, but it was so totally worth! Here'e what you need to do: 1. Prep your fireplace. Remember my peach marble tile fireplace surround that I hated? Yuk. I first painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint that I got from Shaunna who writes Perfectly Imperfect and sells AS paint, but before I did that, I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove and dirt, dust and soot.

2. Choose your paint. I used Annie Sloan's chalk paint in Pure White and French Linen. Man, I am in love with this stuff! It adheres to any surface- even marble!- with no trouble. Just a quick word about fire safety: we don't use our fireplace, so I wasn't worried about whether or not it was flammable, but be sure to check your paint if you have an active fireplace.

3. Brush your base coat onto the surround. I used Pure White and it took 2 coats to get even coverage. I recruited my hubs to do this part, since, let's be honest, painting trim is not my strong suit and I'll take help when I can get it!

4. Place your stencil in the upper corner of the surround. Adjust the stencil sheet and check to make sure it's level, then tape it in place with painters tape. If you want to use a spray adhesive (which I didn't), spray it on the back of the stencil and place it down evenly. I highly recommend using the adhesive for this job, because it took me a loooong time to get clean lines without it. (We have an awesome tutorial on stenciling must-haves if you need help with this!)

5. Begin stenciling. The trick to stenciling without any bleeding is to off-load your brush properly. After dipping into the paint, dab it onto absorbant paper towels, or cardboard until it there is very little paint on the brush. Both my stencil (Beehive Furniture Stencil) and brush are from Royal Design Studio, and they are excellent quality, which makes the job go much smoother.

I had to do two to three coats for every stencil to get the coverage I was looking for. Words can not express the excitement of pulling back that very first stencil. Go ahead- try it and tell me that's not true.

Once the paint is dry, realign the stencil, level it and keep on moving! You might want to turn on some music, because you'll be doing this for a while.: )

At the end of the first night, here's what I had accomplished. Ugh. I saved the hard parts for last. Yippee!

6, Cut your stencil to fit the corners and edges. Oh, this part is so hard, because as I was cutting my stencil, I was envisioning all the projects I could do with it go right down the drain. But, it's absolutely crucial to cut the stencil if you want clean, crisp lines all the way around.

7. Touch up any paint bleeds with a small fine-tipped paint brush…or toothpick, in my case. No matter how good you are at stenciling, there will always be some bleeding. It's easy to touch it up with the base paint color and a steady hand. No one will be the wiser!

8. Finally, wax it and you're done! You'll want to add some kind of protective finish, and I used Annie Sloan soft wax, which was formulated to work with chalk paint. After all that hard work, you'll want a force field surrounding this thing, but wax will have to do.

Step back, grab a drink and enjoy your pretty new fireplace surround!

I love love love it, and am already planning a room makeover based on this fireplace!

If you want a cheap project that will instantly give your room a facelift, this one is for you. Showstopping material, folks!
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In other news, if you follow us on facebook (if you don't, you totally should) you know that I finally entered the year 2012 and have a new HTC OneX smartphone. This thing is amazing and I can't wait to share with you how it has made my life soooo much easier, but for now I'm totally loving Instagram, and would be thrilled if you decided to follow me!

Monica has been on Instagram for quite a while now, but if you don't already follow her, add her to your list too!

We'll give you lots of sneak peeks at our current projects, as well as fun insights into our daily lives and what makes us tick. We promise.: )

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So, is your fireplace screaming for a makeover?
Would you ever paint it??
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