Did you ever have one of those"Ah-ha!" moments? I tend to have them in two places… the shower (one of the only places a mom of 4 is ever alone) and church. About a month ago during an"Ah-ha" moment, I came up with an idea that has turned into what we're calling Real Housewives: Design it Forward. We're pretty excited about it and we have a feeling you will be too! So daily we blog about cool finds, amazing projects, and what we're doing on our homes… sometimes we find ourselves pausing and wanting to look and do something outside of ourselves. We thank God each day for our families and that our needs are provided for. So what do we do from here? We design it forward…
We're committing to using our time, talents, and treasures to help someone else. We want to make someone feel extra special, cared-about, valued, and loved. Here's our vision… quarterly, we want to find a family, a single mom or dad, or just someone who could use a little TLC and do some surprise design for them. We're hoping you'll want to join in and help us and then we're going to challenge you to find someone in your area to Design it Forward for as well (think link party). We love this little old blog, but you know what?? We're called to love people even more, so here goes… Real Housewives: Design it Forward! Porch Perk Up Through the help of Calvary Church of Souderton, we found a single mom that could use a little extra TLC. Since we adore all things fall, we thought we should do a little porch perk up. How cool would it be to come home and have a porch all prettied up for Halloween and Thanksgiving?
http://www.bhg.com/
Shhh… don't tell, but here's our master plan…
So, how do I help? We'd love to have some hands-on help on the 25th as we perk up the porch, but we know our readers are from all over. So here's our Plan B… Since this is a single mom, we thought it would be cool to accept donations related to # of children. Either the ones you have or how many were in your family growing up. For example, I could donate $4.00 because I have four kids (still shocks me to type that) or $2.00 because I was one of two kids growing up. Your money will go directly towards perking up the porch, we promise not to go get pedicures or anything shady like that! If we collect enough money, we have a second and third family lined up and we'll just do more porch perking! Wouldn't that be awesome! And BTW… if anyone knows the Duggars, have them read this post, because that would be like a Twenty-something donation!: ) Just click the little donate button to donate… Thanks!
If you thought Round 1 was impressive, what do you think of these Round 2 Knockoffs? If you haven't already, stop everything and click here to vote for your favorite 3 knockoffs! We aren't exaggerating when we say we were blown away this round. And… lucky me, I get to share my knockoff today… no pressure right! Ha!
Before I share mine, let's enjoy a Blast from the Past and look at the Knockoff that won us Round 2 of Creating with the Stars in 2012. It appears that Anthro is DIYers favorite store to knockoff. Last year we tackled their Ordinal Dresser (you can see the full tutorial here)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, onto my little ol' knockoff project…
I really wanted Anthro's Woodcut Print, but at ahem $1600… are you kidding me?? At that price, it had better grow into a money tree!! I'll take my $6.99 version thank you very much.
Here's how I made mine… it took about 5 minutes. I searched Google images for a woodcut picture I liked. It was black and white, but I wanted a red tone similar to the original. I brought it into PicMonkey (love that site) and used the tint effect to choose a new color. The options are endless as you can see from my screen shot below.
If I wanted a smaller size this project would have been FREE, but I needed a 12x12, so I printed it at Staples for $6.99. It's not an earth shattering knockoff, but I saved $1593.01- Woohoo! Jess and I love getting a high end look for less… Why pay full price, when you can just Knock-it-Off? The woodcut art is part of my new Kid Friendly Gallery Wall! Every single item on this wall is plastic, wood, or just plain paper. With 4 kids, and after about 7 broken frames I knew I needed a plan B!
I'll be posting more about this wall after CWTS, but here are a few pics for you to enjoy…
And yes, those prints are just paper, framed in washi tape. Break proof!
That metal print is SO us! Eric and I might be a wee bit sarcastic… It says,"National Sarcasm Society… Like we need your support"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, enough about me, let's talk about you! Are you ready to link up your favorite Knockoff project?
The winner of Round 2's link up will receive an awesome prize package from Belmonili and Perfectly Imperfect Shop, and we promise you're going to love it!
This link party will be open until Friday, March 22nd at 10 PM EST. Jess and I are going to be choosing our absolute favorite knockoff project and revealing the tutorial for it on Sunday! If you win this week, we'll be contacting you sometime on Saturday for the tutorial, so be ready! Please remember a few things before linking up: 1. Before linking, please LIKE us on Facebook (Thanks!)
2. Make sure you link back to us in your post. Only those linking back will be eligible for the prize! 3. Only one submission per person. 4. Choose a project that you've done in the last 12 months. Want to see all the amazing Upcycle projects that were linked up last week?Click here!The Round 1 Link Up Winner was thisawesome light fixture!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects Before we do anything else, we want to say thank you to all of our sponsors! This fabulous contest was made possible by them and we are ever so grateful! Also, a HUGE shout out to Homes.com and HomeGoods for sponsoring the Grand Prize round this week! You guys are the best! The Grand Prize Winning Team will EACH receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
We just can't keep you guys waiting in suspense any longer! Without further ado… The Grand Prize Winner of The 1st Annual Creating with the Stars Contest is…
1. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty }
(Sarah, her hubs, and cute pup!) Colorful, Texture-filled Bedroom Makeover
Congratulations Sarah and Brooke! Sarah has delivered such amazing projects throughout this contest. Let's take a look back, shall we? Round 1: Statement Light Fixture
Round 2: Custom Cornice, Drapes and Bench
Round 3: Painted Secretary Desk and Accent Wall
We have LOVED having Sarah in the contest and have been continually inspired by her. Well done, girl! Make sure you keep up with all of Sarah's DIY awesomeness- Follow her on Facebook!
Melissa and Amanda have been awesome competitors too! They worked hard, stretched their DIY limits and came up with some super fun and stylish projects. Thanks for being a part of the contest, ladies! We also want to thank Beckie and Sherry for being amazing blog stars! Their partners loved working with them, and we already love them (duh!)
2. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love } Guest Room Makeover
3. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } Reading Room Makeover
Here's the official vote tally…
This contest has been absolutely amazing and we're so thankful to all of you for playing along! Tomorrow we'll share how Sarah put her room together and then Friday we have a fun wrap up post for ya… think David Letterman top ten meets Monica and Jess. We know… you can hardly wait right?!? We'll also be sharing our favorite home decor project from the link up party (you have until Friday at 10 PM EST to link up right here). The good stuff just keeps on coming!: )
If you missed the announcement about which nine contestants made it through to Round 2 of Creating with the Stars,click here! We're dying to see what those ladies come up with for this week's Knockoff theme!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We didn't think it could get much cooler than Sarah's 80's Chandelier to Glass Mirror project, but man, were we wrong! This light fixture is a show-stopper and we were both completely in awe of Sarah's creative vision for old fluorescent light covers. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of this project, but I wish I did, because it's stinkin' awesome. Kudos to you, Sarah!
Walking through Habitat ReStore I spotted a few egg crate diffusers — you know those grates that cover fluorescent lights in basements across the country. It's the last lighting fixture I would consider for a project, but once I got around my thoughts of drop ceilings, I began thinking how neat it would be to use the grid to create any square geometric shape that I wanted. At $2 each, what could I lose?
Browsing Pinterest I found this amazing light, Lolita — Shine by SHO and fell in love with the arms. It's lines are simple, but make a big impact! Perfect for a statement piece!
Once we decided on the shape, we measured and marked the edges with a permanent marker. The egg crate diffuser was cut into the shape of the arms with small clippers (clipping as close to the edge as possible).
Next we taped the bottom with painters tape and filled with plaster of paris (mixing it on the thinner side so that it would level itself at the top). You want it as level as possible to reduce sanding. Any excess was leveled off with a spackle knife.
Once firm, they were placed in the sun to fully cure (I ended up letting it sit overnight) Then excess was sanded off. Some of the squares fell out during sanding, so I used a little craft glue to get them back in place. Then I patched the imperfections with drywall spackle and sanded again once dry. This part was pretty messy — so I was definitely glad to be done with sanding! We wanted a simple fixture so that it wouldn't compete with the arms. Looking through thrift shops, all we could find were ones with curves (very '80s) we needed something more mid-century modern. So we ended up building our own electrical housing out of old chandelier parts, PVC, and brass tubing. Here's how we did it:
Honestly, this wasn't the easiest task, but definitely doable. It required modifying (mostly cutting holes in the PVC) so that all the parts would fit snugly. To assemble all of the pieces we used Gorilla Glue Epoxy
We followed the directions by mixing equal parts of the resin and the hardener (in small batches so it wouldn't harden too fast). This stuff worked SO well! It set up fairly quickly and was SUPER strong!
All parts were lightly sanded to remove any gloss, and dust was removed with a microfiber cloth. Then it was primed, and painted with Sherwin William Rivulet (2 coats).
We finished it off with 2 coats of Krylon Lacquer to give it a super glossy finish. Turning off the electricity first, we installed the light and held our breath as we flipped the switch. Success! It works!
We also installed trim and painted 8" stripes on the ceiling to frame the fixture.
and a gallery wall with a few fun prints, paintings, and some fabric mixed in!
I love this fun addition to our office area!
Here's the price breakdown: (2) Fluorescent diffusers: $4 (Habitat ReStore) Plaster of Paris: $5 (with coupon at Michaels) Gorilla Glue Epoxy: $5 Chandelier: $5 (Habitat ReStore) PVC parts: ~$3 (Home Depot) Brass parts: ~$10 (Ace Hardware) Total = $32 Not bad for a statement piece! So next time you see a plastic diffuser don't just pass it by, think about what you can create with it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You guys, Sarah has unbelievably good taste and mad DIY skills. I was browsing her blog and this Fabric-wrapped parsons table just jumped out at me! Would you believe that she made that with hollow-core doors??
and take a look at this tufted headboard with nailhead trim. She had to have bought that, right? Nope! she made the entire thing. Gorgeous!
Don't forget to check back tomorrow because one of YOU might be featured here on EC2! We've picked our favorite upcycle project from the link party and will share the tutorial for that project! Get excited, peeps! Also, start thinking about which project you want to link up for Round 2's link party theme: Knock Off! Beginning Tuesday, you can link up any knock-off project you've done in the last year for the chance to win more prizes and a feature here on our little ol' blog!
The day is finally here! Submissions for Creating with the Stars are Open! We are so excited to see all of your submission projects!
This group of blog stars is pretty epic! One of them could be your new partner in crime! 1- Sherry from Young House Love 2- Whitney & Ashley from Shanty 2 Chic 3- Brooke from All Things Thrifty 4- Jane from Tatertots and Jello 5- Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick 6- Beckie from Infarrantly Creative 7- Mandi from Vintage Revivials 8- Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime 9- Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect 10- Beth from Home Stories A to Z 11- Kari from U Create 12- Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let's just recap CWTS a bit and then we'll get onto the How To details!If you missed the announcement post with ALL the details, click hereYou can submit one project that shows everyone your best stuff into the linky party below. Projects must have been made October 1, 2011 or laterand must be your own work. You have until February 21st to enter your submission. From those entries, 11 will be chosen by the blog stars and us as contestants and will be randomly paired up to work one-on-one with a Blog Star, to duke it out in a four-week competition to see who's the most creative. The Star will give suggestions, ideas, encouragement, and help so you can come up with the best project possible. Each round will have a theme and the bottom three will be eliminated based on reader votes. Once the contest is started, weekly projects are anonymous, so big blogger or rookie, everyone's on the same, even playing field! Find your favorite project to link up and be prepared to put your best foot forward if you want to survive!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Enter CWTS:1.Link Up your Project. Use the Linky below to submit your project entry *Reminder: Be sure to link to the actual project page, and not just your homepage. 2. Grab a Button. You need to add a link back to EC2 in your submission post. Even if it's an old post, just grab the button code below and paste it into the post.
3. Follow EC2 on Facebook. Make sure you LIKE East Coast Creative so you get all the updates and info we'll be sharing there as well. (This step is a requirement to your entry- sorry to be big, bad, rule enforcers- We promise we aren't mean!)
4. Start Spreading the Word! The first 11 contestants will be chosen by the Blog Stars and East Coast Creative, but #12 will be chosen by popularity in the link party. Get your readers to come over and give your thumbnail a click- yours could be the most viewed!! (Just don't act like some weird robot and click on your own entry a million times, that's lame-o!)
And, as if you need any more motivation to enter, we have the BEST.SPONSORS.EVER!! The 2013 CWTS Prize packages Total over $4100!! A special thanks to Homes.com, HomeGoods, HomeTalk, and Home Depot for their generous sponsorship of CWTS.nWe're so honored to have them! The Grand Prize Winners (Contestant and Blog Star) will each receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
All contestants that make it to Week 4 will be given a $100 Giftcard to HomeGoods to use during the week 4 home decor challenge! The Semi-Finals Winner will receive: $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
The Week 2 Winner will receive: $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk
The Week 1 Winner will receive: $50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twtsted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design Project featured by HomeTalk
Okay, enough talking, let's get submitting! We're so excited to have each and every one of you!! Good Luck and May the Oddsbeever in your Favor (sorry, two Hunger Games lovers here!)
Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of 2011 I set a goal to give our hideous powder room a face lift… well, 2012 came and went and I'm here to apologize to anyone that had to do their business in my ugly bathroom. My bad! This isn't a full, makeover so let's just call it a"pick me up" (I thought about calling it a poop-me-up or something like that, but Jess hates jokes like that. Ha! I think I might need to hang out with Katie Bower or something!)
Part of the reason I waited so long is that this bathroom is Weird, with a capital W… I actually got on the floor to take a picture of the ceiling, so you can see the wonky shape of the room…
Yeah, it's straight up weird, but I finally got over it and got to business! Here's what we did for our Powder Room Pick Me Up…
The pear colored paint, stayed the same, but we added a birch stencil that made it so much cooler (and almost aged me by about 15 years… really, who decides to stencil the one wall that has the light, toilet, and sink!Ahhh!)
I recycled some old frames and added some super inexpensive Ikea prints The mirror was another freebie! I used a piece of wood that was an old wagon side- Jess hooked me up with the wood. BFF with barnwood hookups = Awesome! Tutorial coming later this week!
I said ADIOS to the builder grade light fixture…
And fell in LOVE with this outdoor light from Lowes! It was under $40!
I recycled an old, ugly piece of art into a custom piece with one of my favorite verses from an old hymn. I love how the words are subtle, but man, do they speak to my heart every time I read them. I've got a full tutorial coming your way on this baby. The before and after is crazy different!
And if you don't know by know, I can't really have a room without a touch of my sense of humor, so in direct contrast from the hymn artwork… let me introduce you to POTTY TALK!
It's just a little ol' chalkboard where you can leave a note while you… well… ya know… We told our kids that bad words excluded, anything goes on the Potty Talk wall. The first week we had a lot of #1 and #2 notes, but since then it's been pretty entertaining. I'll also mention that Uncle Bry and Daddy are responsible for the potty poems. Those guys make me laugh! Last, but not least, I added a rug from Target and called it a day.
The entire room cost me under $60 and now it's a decent space, with a bit of personality! I love when I can switch things up for almost no money! Check back later this week for the mirror and artwork tutorials! What do you think of this Powder Room Pick Me Up? Would you be willing to do your business here??
Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you guys heard of The Inspiration Board? It's a new fun tool created by our friend Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime. (She's a real sweetie and an awesome star in Creating with the Stars. Woot woot!) Have you ever seen those mood boards or room design inspiration boards that real designers create? Usually you have to know how to use Photoshop to make a really good one, but not anymore! Now you can take all those pins you've been saving up and put them onto one style board that you can share with the public or save for your own reference! Plus, they're not only functional, they're super cute with loads of features that allow you to customize the board to your preference.
Jamielyn asked us if we would create a board and since we have CWTS on the brain, we just had to whip one up using the details from the contest:
We love the little details like the fun washi tape, paper clips and push pins! It's a really cool way to add some style to your pins and we hope you'll give it a try. And even if you don't want to make your own, there are tons of other boards for you to browse through for inspiration. Jamielyn is hosting a launch party with loads of incredible prizes, so head on over and join the party! Have a great day!
**Update:Submissions are NOW open! Click here to enter! You'd better be sitting down ladies and gents, because we're thrilled to announce that we are hosting the BEST, MOST AWESOME contest in all of blogland!! Remember that contest we won last year? Crafting with the Stars? Well, not only did we win it, but we also bought it! Tam, from Sew Dang Cute, took a leave from blogging and we jumped at the chance to run the contest that helped jump-start our blogging careers. We're hoping that we can help one of YOU jump start or boost your blogging career, too! Welcome to the new home of Creating with the Stars! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're super excited because it's bigger, badder and better than it has ever been. In case you didn't notice, we've renamed it Creating with the Stars, which means no limits to the incredible stuff you can create. It's not just crafts anymore, people.
What the heck is Creating with the Stars, you ask? CWTS is the ultimate creative DIY competition that pairs 12 contestants with 12 of blogland's biggest stars to duke it out over 4 weeks. Only one team will make it to the end to claim the Grand Prize. The best part? You, the readers, choose the winners! Here's a peek into our projects from the 2012 season…
One of our favorite parts of this competition is that contestants are paired with a super famous, awesome Blog Star! We've rounded up the best of the best and we know you all would LOVE a chance to work 1:1 with any of these bloggers!
Introducing the 2013 Creating with the Stars Blog Stars!
1- Sherry from Young House Love 2- Whitney & Ashley from Shanty 2 Chic 3- Brooke from All Things Thrifty 4- Jane from Tatertots and Jello 5- Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick 6- Beckie from Infarrantly Creative 7- Mandi from Vintage Revivials 8- Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime 9- Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect 10- Beth from Home Stories A to Z 11- Kari from U Create 12- Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl That's some serious talent all in one place! And let me tell you, some of these bloggers are in it to win it-they're all about the competition!! Wouldn't it be so awesome to be paired up with one of them?!?
We also have some ridiculously awesome sponsors, who are chomping at the bit to give you some great prizes! The 2013 CWTS Prize packages Total over $4100!! A special thanks to Homes.com, HomeGoods, and Home Depot for their generous sponsorship of CWTS! We're so honored to have them! The Grand Prize Winners (Contestant and Blog Star) will each receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
All contestants that make it to Week 4 will be given a $100 Giftcard to HomeGoods to use during the week 4 home decor challenge! The Semi-Finals Winner will receive: $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
The Week 2 Winner will receive: $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk
The Week 1 Winner will receive: $50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twtsted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design Project featured by HomeTalk
Here's how it all works: Submit one project that shows everyone your best stuff into the linky party here on East Coast Creative that will begin on February 5th. Projects must have been made October 1, 2011 or laterand must be your own work. You have until February 21st to enter. From those entries, 12 of you will be chosen by the blog stars and us as contestants and will be randomly paired up to work one-on-one with a Blog Star, to duke it out in a four-week competition to see who's the most creative. The Star will give suggestions, ideas, encouragement, and help so you can come up with the best project possible. Each round will have a theme and the bottom three will be eliminated based on reader votes. Once the contest is started, weekly projects are anonymous, so big blogger or rookie, everyone's on the same, even playing field! Find your favorite project to link up and be prepared to put your best foot forward if you want to survive!
What to do Now! Submissions are NOW open! Click here to enter! Be sure to Like East Coast Creative on Facebook. We're going to be messaging reminders, sneak peeks, and lots of contest info via Facebook, so you don't want to miss out! Also, start deciding what one project you want to submit for your chance to be a contestant! The sky is the limit and we're so excited to see all the amazing project submissions! Anytime you tweet about the contest, make sure you use #cwts2013 to stay in the loop and see what everyone else is saying about the contest!
If you have any questions about the contest, please email us at CWTScontest{at}gmail.com
We're so excited about our 1st season hosting CWTS and we hope you are too!! Spread the word, because it's going to be one awesome ride!
Good morning, everyone! Before we get into today's post, stop everything and GO VOTE if you haven't already! The ladies did not disappoint with their Round 1 Projects. You just have to see the creative upcycle projects they came up with. These contestants and their stars are gunning for amazing prizes and they need your help to get there! Upcycling is kind of one of our favorite things to do. Last year for the contest, we turned an ugly, beat-up antique table into this:
Now that that's out of the way, it's time to check out our upcycle project this week. We have to say that it feels quite lovely to get to do the projects without all that extra pressure. We just get to do projects that we've been wanting to do in our homes! So, here we go!
Isn't that so fun? Unfortunately, the lighting in our basement is atrocious and my limited photography skills don't do this space justice. It's so cute and fits right in with the nautical basement makeover Monica gave me during our first Nate Show episode. We were originally going to use this door as a headboard in our Superfab Guestroom Makeover, but it just didn't work in the space.This door is over a hundred years old and has a beautiful, chippy, blue-green patina. It's been sitting in my garage waiting for it's new home and it finally found it! I could not believe that this door fit so perfectly in the nook under the stairs. It was most definitely meant to be!
This was a super-simple upcycle. We already had one filing cabinet on hand, and purchased another at Walmart for only $30. My hubs and I painted both with Valspar Paint + Primer in Beach Glass (a Benjamin Moore color we had color-matched).
The new filing cabinet was an inch shorter than our existing cabinet so Kevin built a base for it using leftover wood from our stash.
Once the filing cabinet was placed on the base, you don't even notice the difference!
We placed the door on top of the filing cabinets and might eventually *wink* actually screw it in to the cabinets, but for now it rests securely right on top. I couldn't stand the thought of making any holes in that gorgeous door.
I love that it blends so perfectly with the nautical lounge behind it!
Let's take a peek at the dramatic before and after, shall we?
Woohoo! That's quite the difference and I'm really happy with it.: ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now it's YOUR turn! We are so excited to see what you guys have come up with!
The winner will receive an awesome prize package from Belmonili and Perfectly Imperfect Shop, and we promise you're going to love it! This link party will be open until Friday, March 15th at 10 PM EST. Monica and I are going to be choosing our absolute favorite upcycle project and revealing the tutorial for it on Sunday! If you win this week, we'll be contacting you sometime on Friday for the tutorial, so be ready! Please remember a few things before linking up: 1. Like us on facebook!
2. Make sure you link back to us in your post. Only those linking back will be eligible for the prize! 3. Only one submission per person. 4. Choose a project that you've done in the last 12 months. Ok, let's see what you've got!
We weren't lying when we said we were floored by the all of the talent that showed up in our Creating with the Stars submissions post. Seriously, you all made us feel a little bad about ourselves.; ) Every single one of the stars said they had a terrible time narrowing their favorites down to the top 11, and we agreed wholeheartedly! So, while there are only 12 contestants vying for the CWTS title this year (you can see them here!), we thought it would be fun to highlight a few of our favorite submissions that didn't quite make the cut. DIY Chunky Floating Shelves by Desert Domicile These babies are gorgeous, and just look at how beautifully they're styled!! We're definitely taking some notes.
Beaded Chandelier by My Simple Obsession Ack, the time and patience that must have gone into this amazing chandelier! Will you make us one…please?
Custom Painted French Provencal Dresser by J.Rox Designs Hot pink, curvy furniture? Never thought I'd say this, but sign me up! I loooooove this dresser.
Painted Dresser (and that fabulous pallet wall!) by Cape 27 You know we love a good pallet wall, and this one is no exception. Plus, that dresser reminds us of Monica's outdoor furniture upcycle, and we're totally digging the fun art!
.and because we apparently have a thing for painted dressers, this Woodland Dresser makeover by The DIY Village is so sweet and woodsy that it caught our eye right away.
We just didn't want all the fun and inspiration to end for all of you talented bloggers out there that didn't make it as contestants this year, so we're hosting a weekly linkup party throughout the entire contest. Basically, that means you get to play along and win great prizes!
Here's how it will work: Every Tuesday Monica and I will be revealing our project for that week's theme. Woohoo! We have some good projects up our sleeves.: ) That same day you can submit your own project that meets the criteria for that week (For example, week one is Upcycle, so anything that you've given new life or repurposed in some way in the last year is game). The winner will receive an awesome prize package from Belmonili and Perfectly Imperfect Shop! So fun! We can't wait to be inspired by your creativity each week.; ) Don't forget to mark your calendars for these important dates next week when things really get moving!
Have an awesome weekend! Want more EC2? Use the icons below to follow us!
Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.
======================================================================== So, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that some of you are procrastinators like me. My hubs and I are celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend, but I still have no clue what we are going to do (and my hubs is not much of a planner, so I'm thinking it's kind of up to me!) So I went, looking for some fun and exciting date night ideas to celebrate all that love you've got going on with your special someone. 1. Progressive Dinner. Let me tell you that this is SO up my alley. I love to eat and I love to eat out, so this is a perfect combination. This one would be so much fun because you have a lot of time to chat, the night is a bit longer and you get such great variety! I already know where my hubs and I would choose to go:
2. Compete Against Each Other! This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but man, I love a good competition and so does my hubs. One of my favorite things to do is to go to Dave & Buster's and play all the games (I especially love the basketball games!). Whoever gets the most tickets, wins something of his/her choice. Or, if you don't have a huge arcade near you, try go-karting, bowling, tennis etc…something to get your heart pumping! 3. Play the Tourist I've lived in Bucks County almost all of of my life (minus the college years), and absolutely love it here, but I'm always amazed at what things I've never tried, shops I've never gone to and activities I've never done right in our area. Take some time to research different travel sites to see what you might be missing. Try a restaurant you've never tried before too! 4. Instagram It! I kind of love the idea of an instagram scavenger hunt, since, you know, I can't get enough of the whole IG thing. Make a list of fun activities/places and go to every single one and Instagram a selfie pic in front of whatever it is. You could totally customize the list to fit the two of you as a couple, but here are a few fun ones we thought of: -Favorite Restaurant -Best spot to see the skyline -Funniest sign in town -Best place to grab a drink -Favorite place to listen to music/read books -and my husband insists this one is awesome: take a pic with a farm animal in the background. So strange, people, so strange.; )
Once you've checked off everything on your list, reward your hubby with good ol' number 5… 5. Game of Love (Original OR Travel) I'm not going to go into tons of detail about this one (you can check out all the juicy details on how to play here), but trust me, this is one date night that will not be soon forgotten.
Want to give the travel version a try, even if you're not travelling? It's still super fun and easy to play!
Ok, now it's your time to spill. What's your favorite date night activity? We want to know!! Happy Valentine's Day! We sure do love that you take time to stop and read our nonsense everyday!
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!
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!
Okay, so two years ago Vista Print entered my life… yes, it sounds dramatic, but man, it Rocked My World! Maybe you've heard of Vista, and maybe you know you can get FREE pens and oodles of business cards, but that really doesn't excite nor apply to you. Well, I'm hoping that some of these ideas will get you almost as sold on Vista as I am (and no, I don't get commission- lol.) Ok, so with Vista Print, you sign up for their emails (and yes, you'll get a lot, so don't use your everyday email address unless you want to. I have one email account for all my"junk" emails I subscribe to and one"real" account that I use daily) Every few days, Vista will send you FREE products you can order- you only pay shipping. There are 3 shipping options, so the price is decent and totally worth all the products you'll be getting for free!
Now onto the fun part… what you can create in Vista! The suggestions I'm giving in this post were all made without using Photoshop or any professional design programs. Vista has designs to choose from or you can create your own and upload a completed design. I do a lot of both. Idea # 1- Mommy Cards These little cards are perfect for the playdate lovin' mom. Keep them in your purse and when your child makes a friend at the local park, you can give new friend's mommy one of your super-cool cards so that you can meet up again. If you're like me, you've jotted down a mom's cell number on a scrap of paper, only to completely lose it and then feel awful that you never called. 250 Mommy Cards Printed as business cards = FREE!
Idea # 2- Shower Invitations You don't need to pay insane prices for cool, trendy invitations. Get ideas online and then design your own! Baby Lucas (after Luke Skywalker) was due to arrive last summer and of course we needed fabulous Star Wars invitations for our Star Wars themed Shower. The pictures were simply pulled from Google Images and the font was free online. 50 Invites Printed as Oversized Postcards = FREE!
(sorry for the blurry parts, but I wanted to get rid of the personal info) Have I mentioned I have the best, most super-fun friends ever?
Idea # 3- Children's Birthday Parties I haven't bought an invitation in two years. Small postcards, large postcards, notecards, or invitations can all be used to create your invites in Vista. This is Kenzie's Spa Party invite. She had so much fun helping me design it! This one was one-sided, but the back can be personalized as well. We put them in 5x 7 envelopes and voila! I only needed 10 invites, but 100 were Free, so we have lots to use as scrap cardstock. 100 Party Invitations = FREE!
Idea # 4- Christmas Cards Can you believe how much Christmas cards have changed in the last few years? Gone are the days of the painted, snowy scene cards and in are awesome photo cards and more! The only problem is that it can cost a small fortune to send the nice photo cards to everyone. These were our Christmas Cards from 2009. I used Picnik (free editing software) to edit our pics, create a collage, and add some bling; and then I uploaded it onto the oversized 5 x 7 postcards.
I think my favorite part was that I could fully customize the back and had plenty of space to say exactly what we wanted to share. Another bonus was that I could mail them as postcards and didn't need envelopes. Score! 100 Christmas Cards (2 orders of 50) = FREE!
Idea # 5- Kids Pretend Supplies Last Christmas I used Vista to put together a Vet Kit for Kenzie. She loves animals and loved playing vet, but she was getting a little"old" for typical pretend play. So, we made pretend"cool" again by giving her a present of real vet supplies. Her vet supplies included: a Pet Vet Poster, a personal stamp, business cards, a personalized pen, a tote bag, stationary and printed forms (I went online and grabbed a basic vet form.) She LOVED it and had so much fun playing vet again, since now it seemed a bit more grown up. You could do this for anything your child is into… Doctor, Builder, Photographer, Ballerina, etc. Oodles of Pretend Play Supplies = FREE! Pet Vet Poster
Personal Stamp
Idea # 6- Totes for Everything I mean everything! Every time I put in an order I add a tote (umm they're free, why not!) Here are some ideas: Library Book Tote, Sports Tote (the one below was for Kenzie's cleats, shinguards, and water bottle for soccer.) Books for the Car, Snacks for on-the-go, Sleepover Bag (sized just right for one night and you could write something cute on it), Pretend Shopping Bag. What ideas do you have? Share them and I'm sure I'll order one! Everything Tote Bag = FREE!
Idea # 7- Gift Tags These are just business cards repurposed into gift tags. I used these for Christmas presents and they matched so well. I used a hole punch in the corner and attached them with coordinating ribbon. You could also make some non-holiday tags to have on hand. You could even make a set from each child for all the class birthday parties. My kids love when I have things personalized. To: _____ From: Kaden. I haven't done that yet, but I will be soon! 250 Gift Tags printed as Business Cards = FREE!
Idea # 8- Teacher Gifts Want a great, personal gift for a teacher? How about giving them a collection of coordinating, personalized supplies? Hit up Target's dollar bin for a cute container and your gift will be the talk of the teacher's lounge! Here are some items that you could include: notepads, sticky notes, pens, postcards, notecards, and more! I plan to do this for my kids' teachers this spring, so I won't give all my ideas away, but stay tuned for some inspiration! Personal, Thoughtful Teacher Gifts = FREE Notepad with magnet on the back
Matching sticky notes
Phew… that was a long post, but hopefully at least one of these ideas made you ready to jump in and give VistaPrint a try. I promise you'll be hooked! Use this link to sign up for Vista today and be sure to share your creations with us!
Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We've had some just for adults Valentine's Day ideas on the blog (here and here), but today we're keeping it PG! (I always give Jess a heart attack when I venture into PG-13 land! lol) With 4 kids this year I had 79 valentines to prepare. Thanks to Pinterest, I spent some 1:1 time with each kiddo, browsing for ideas, and then making each of their cards. I gave them each the option to buy, but they were feeling crafty I guess. Kira went with Arrows and Pencils with kind of a Brave theme. We got the free printables here.
Callen wanted Superheros…and again we found a Free Printable! (noticing a trend here?!?)
Little Bit Funky blog has an awesome tutorial using felt with these printables. Did you notice that I didn't perfectly coordinate paper or add extra fancy ribbon? I've made it a goal that kid projects (even if being blogged) don't get bogged down by mommy details. It's all about the fun and that boy sure looks like he's having fun! hahah! He actually said,"Mom, look how happy I am… {INSERT CHEESY SMILE}. See, that happy!" My kids kill me.
Kaden is 8 and it's one of those ages where you have to decide if Valentines are cool or lame. Thanks to Minecraft, he decided they were cool!
We just made them together using Google Images and two Minecraft Fonts (find them here and here). Sweet"Cool", Simple, & fun for me and my guy to make together!
Last, but not least was Kenzie… at almost 11, valentines are almost a thing of the past, but since school still does them, they had to be Epic (at least in her mind). Eric and I don't let the kids have Facebook accounts or anything, but we did let Kenz get an Instagram account (set to private). You might see her commenting on my pictures 24-7: ) Anyhow, Instagram is very cool in her class this year, so we made Instagram Valentine's… but wait, there's more… we also added a scratch off element! Booyah! (Haha, sorry, I got a tad excited)
I'll warn you… all these pics were taken with my phone, that's another part of kid crafting,"No annoying Mom pictures"… Here's how we made them… We started off with a picture Kenzie took on Instagram (Fried Egg A-la-Kenzie). Using my I phone, I took a screen shot.
We saved the picture and pulled it into Picmonkey where we covered the eggs with a little Valentine's note. We put a few different comments in the area below the picture…
We printed our design out on plain computer paper. Kenz liked the scratch off idea we saw on Pinterest, so… we added that too! First, take a clear (or white if you don't have clear- we didn't) crayon and color over the area to scratch off.
Then we mixed together silver paint and dish washing soap. We used about 2 parts paint to one part soap. Then you just paint it over the colored area. (Let it dry a full 24 hours before moving them around. They need to really cure, so they don't wipe off too easily)
Blogger mommy might have suggested we make the scratch off area in a fun shape or something, but plain old mommy bit her tongue: ) We attached the Instagram print onto cardstock- and of course, we did it in happy face fashion…
And then it occurred to me that most 5th graders don't carry coins, so we used a little washi to attach a penny on the back of each card. Kenz and I both liked this little touch!
It took us about an hour to make all 27 pretty awesome Instagram-Scratch-Off Valentines. It might be the last year we get to make them together (who knows what middle school will bring), so it was an hour very well spent!
So, 79 Valentines later, I had one really fun afternoon of crafting with my kids and 4 sets of pretty cool Valentines. What kind of cards are your kids giving this year?
When we opened submissions for Creating with the Stars on February 4th, we had no idea how how incredibly amazing the submissions would be. Really, we knew we'd get some good ones, but this was out of control! You guys made choosing so.incredibly.hard! We want to thank all 361 of you that took the time to enter. It has already been a great start to our first season!
Without further ado, let's get down to business… Introducing the Contestants for CWTS2013 (In no particular order)
1. Janel
#23 Boys Bedroom Makeover on a Budgetand her Blog Star is… Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl!
2. Jourdan & Ashley
#33 DIY Barndoor Headboard
and their blog star is… Beth from Home Stories A to Z!
3. Sarah
#48 80's Chandelier to Glass Mirror
and her blog star is… Brooke from All Things Thrifty!
4. Jane
#75 DIY Plank Wall
and her blog Star is… Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime!
5. Amanda & Corey
#131 Handmade Dining Room Light
and their blog star is… Beckie from Infarrantly Creative!
6. Nancy
# 137 Owen's Nursery Makeover
and her blog Star partner is… Kari from U-Create!
7. Jessica
#164 Anthro-Inspired Inventor's Bell Jar Lamp
and her star is… Mandi from Vintage Revivals!
8. Sarah
#223 Herringbone Metallic Artwork
and her blog Star is… Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick!
9. KariAnne
#243 Shutter Wall
and her blog stars are… Ashley and Whitney from Shanty 2 Chic!
10. Nat & Holly
#281 Living Room Makeover
and their blog star is… Jane from Tatertots & Jello!
11. Ann Marie
#344 Mom Cave Makeover
and her blog star is… Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect!
12. Melissa
#345 Bedroom Reading Corner
and her blog star is… Sherry from Young House Love!
Aren't those projects amazing? It's going to an incredible season! The first week's challenge is a fun one. Week 1: UPCYCLE
You Can Play Along with CWTS Too! Now, if we could have chosen all of you, we would have. We still want to showcase all of your talent and project. For every weekly challenge, we're going to have a link party where you can link up one of your favorite projects that fit in with the weekly theme. We'll pick our favorite project each week and we'll feature our favorite here on EC2. Get your Upcycle DIY projects ready for week one, starting next week! And we're sure don't need reminding, but just incase… we have an EPIC prize package! The 2013 CWTS Prize packages Total over $4100!! A special thanks to Homes.com, HomeGoods, HomeTalk, and Home Depot for their generous sponsorship of CWTS. We're so honored to have them!
The Grand Prize Winners (Contestant and Blog Star) will each receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
All contestants that make it to Week 4 will be given a $100 Giftcard to HomeGoods to use during the week 4 home decor challenge!
The Semi-Finals Winner will receive: $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lamp works Project featured by HomeTalk
The Week 2 Winner will receive: $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk
The Week 1 Winner will receive: $50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twysted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design Project featured by HomeTalk
Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED* Wow, two awesome giveaways in one week! We love it when that happens! A while ago I posted about my Instagram frame and a few other options to display your favorite IG photos. Nate emailed me shortly after asking me if I had ever heard of InstaThis, a brand new company that takes your Instagram photos and prints them directly onto wood or acrylic for a really unique piece of art. We checked it out immediately and thought it was so cool. What better way to introduce you to a new awesome company than to do a giveaway?!!
Of course, we never like to do giveaways unless we personally have tried the product so that we know we're promoting good stuff to you guys. It's important to us that the products we introduce to you are quality, and let me tell you I was thrilled with this one.
I ordered one of my fav pics of the hubs and me and decided on the wood option and it turned out beautifully. The photo is printed directly onto the birch wood so that you can still see the grain of the wood. It creates a really awesome effect that looks much more like a piece of art, instead of just a plain old picture.
It also comes with all the mounting hardware you need and a custom slot in the back that allows for easy adjusting and hanging. I love that feature.
I'm super happy with my print and love that it gives me just one more way to use my instagram photos in my home. I haven't decided where I'm going to hang it but for now, it's sitting pretty in my dining room.
One lucky reader will win (one) 12x12 print from InstaThis! The giveaway will be open until midnight on Monday, February 11th. The winner will be revealed on Tuesday, February 12th. To enter: 1."Like" us on facebook! 2."Like" InstaThis on Facebook 3.Leave a comment telling us what photo you would print and why! All three of these are mandatory. Thanks!
*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED* Use the code ECC15 for 15% off your order! Offer is valid until March 1, 2013 And oh yeah, we'd LOVE for you to follow along on our Instagram journeys, Eastcoastcreative and Jess_EC2blog. We promise, it's pretty darn fun.; )
One last thing! Thanks to everyone who entered the In or Out Media giveaway earlier this week! We have a winner.: )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This post was sponsored byInstaThis, who provided us with our wooden prints and whose concept and mission we love. All thoughts and opinions were our own and we'd like to thanks InstaThis for providing a special discount code for our EC2 readers!
Happy Monday, everyone! I'm back from my weekend trip to West Palm Beach, Florida (more on that later!) with a round-up of our favorite summer picnic foods and drinks! Whether you're hosting a big 4th of July party, or taking something to a friend's house, these are the perfect recipes for you! ------------------------------------------------------------------ I originally shared this recipe a little less than a year ago, but since no one read our blog then, I thought it was worth mentioning again.; ) This recipe is soooo simple, but looks and tastes fantastic!
All you need are a few home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers (or go ahead and get them at the store) and a blush wine vinaigrette (I used Brianna's which is to die for, but any blush wine vinaigrette will do). Just add enough vinaigrette to cover the veggies and let marinate a few hours in the fridge. If you're really feeling crazy, add some cut red onion to the mix, as well. And voila! A refreshing, delicious salad to enjoy as we celebrate our great country! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monica and I had a blast making and taste-testing our favorite Summertime Drinks, which include Stars & Stripe Sangria, Lime Rickeys and Pineapple Planter's Punch. They're all delicious and can be made kid-friendly (except for the sangria!) or spiced up a bit for the adults.
Make sure you go see our favorite drinks collection here ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And finally, these Mozzarella & Basil Tomato Pockets are a crowd-pleaser and a scene-stealer. Easy to make, adorable to look at, and so delicious.
Now it's your turn. What are your favorite things to serve on July 4th? Share the link in your comment!
Today we're excited to be a part of Layla's summer mantle link party!
Our new home has two wood burning fireplaces. One in the main family room, and one in what was intended to be a library, but we use a playroom. (It took me a while to finally convince the builder that we were not in the"library" stage of life and that it would be a playroom for 4 messy kiddos!) My children adore the beach. They ask me all the time,"When are we going to the beach,"… even in the dead of winter! So, we thought it would only be fitting to have a beachy playroom. Since it is a playroom, I resisted my urge for lots of white, and cool faded blues, and instead took color inspiration from these bright pictures of my kiddos.
Remember the black-turned-yellow mirror project? Well, it makes a big impact on the brown wall and I love it so much more than the boring, old black. So here's the mantle, photo collage, and fun curtains…
First, I thought I'd stand on a stool and take some pics straight on… Oops! There I am! The one fun thing about this picture is that you can see my family room mantle in the mirror on the left! See, my lack of photography ability actually got a 2 for 1 mantle picture! Score!
Here's my boat conundrum… love the boats, but wasn't feelin' the boats on this mantle…
What do you think? In the end, I went with no boats… partially because everything in this room has a very high potential of being destroyed by a small child!
The cool blue bottle, and jar were scored at the same flea market we've been posting about, and I got them for under $5.00!
I had bought the white starfish, and was on the hunt for coral, but man it's way overpriced! Thanks to the awesomeness of blogland, I got the suggestion to just buy some cheap fishtank coral and spray paint it! That's totally up my alley! Who knew Pets Plus could be a crafting resource?
It definitely needed some paint… the pink was blech!
Much better!
I also ordered two more of my favorite beach pics from Canvas People but as much as I love them, I can't seem to find a home for them in the room. They definitely don't work on the mantle… hmmm
This will give you a peek of the room… (I did not clean, as proved by the train table, because it's the kids' job and I was sticking to my guns… blog or no blog!)
I just bought a fairly bright green sofa for the room, but need to go and pick it up. It will go on this side with my favorite little people recliners!
So, there you have it… my summer playroom mantle! I think it works and the kids don't even notice like it a lot! One final picture… I realized the blue jars looked awful on the right side of the life preserver, so I moved them back to the left. Much better now!
Thanks for letting me share my mantle and let me know what you think and also if you know where to buy a really inexpensive oar! I think that's all that I'm missing!
**One sidenote… I don't know what's up with the color in these pictures… some are really faded out and for some reason only look that way on the blog. Sorry, if the drab colors are depressing you!: ) **
Hey y'all… How funny does that sound coming from me? Well, today we're taking some time to show you some amazing projects that some of our blogger buddies have been working on and one of them happens to have the sweetest southern accent, so I though I'd give the old y'all a try. I'm thinking it should never come out of the mouth of a Boston raised, Philly transplant (and yes, I had to Google it to even see how y'all was spelled! Ha!) Anyhow, onto business. We want to introduce you to some crazy talented ladies that we're lucky enough to have met through blogging. If you don't already follow their blogs, you're missing out, but here are some of our favorite projects we've seen recently. Kim @ Sand and Sisal Kim's posts are so dang pretty. Her pictures are amazing and this project is no exception. These glass vases can be made from paint and nail polish remover?!? I know right? I was amazed at the tutorial and will be going to the dollar store for vases STAT! Check out her tutorial! Painted Glass Vases
Shaunna @ Perfectly Imperfect This is the lady that says y'all and it sounds just lovely! Shaunna (in my opinion) knows her style and how to achieve it better than anyone in blogland (and yes, I know that's a BIG statement). If her rooms don't make you a tad jealous, than you're a better woman than I am! It might not even be my style, but the ability to take a room and pull it together so well is something to strive for. You have to check out all of her home before and afters. And funny side note… we were both on Nate the same day and didn't even know it! Jess and I were working like crazy on the 24hr backstage challenge! Home Tour Before and Afters
And I had to include this picture, because it's Jess' personal favorite of Shaunna's.
Brook @ Being Brook I think Brook is the next Ana White! Seriously, she has built so many awesome projects and this picnic table was just one of her recent masterpieces. Doesn't this whole set-up make you want to be invited over for a picnic? She also just made super cool wooden planters that would have cost big bucks from a store. Check out her blog for other DIY projects and to see all the details of this amazing table!
DIY Picnik Table
Allison @ House of Hepworths I've been following Allison's blog for ages now. It's awesome that I've actually gotten to know her! This project is really simple, but looks like something she bought at a high end store. I love Allison's ability to take something average and make it awesome. Check out how she added the awesome pop of color to these bowls and then turned them into art! (Allison also has a great link party each week it you're looking for a good one to join!)Color Backed Decor Bowls
Janena @ SAS Interiors Do any of you have"real designer" friends? Janena is my"real designer" friend and when she says a room I've done looks good, it's like a compliment x10! If you want to learn about styling bookshelves, or arranging a room, she is your girl, but she also does some great DIYs and this one spread like wildfire in blogland. Shower curtains are crazy expensive for cool ones, so Janena figured out how to use any curtain as one! Her steps are simple and will make it last, so check it out! Turn Any Curtain into a Shower Curtain
Now why do I want you to meet our blog pals?? I thought I'd introduce you to them # 1 because I think they're awesome and #2 because we've started a combined Pinterest Board called"Creative Minds" where you can keep up with some awesome DIY and decor projects. The 6 of us will all be pinning to it, to bring you one very awesome inspiration board! Make sure you're following on Pinterest and get ready to see some awesome projects coming your way over the next few days!
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