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Voting is closed! To see the winners of Round 1, click here. Check back next Monday, March 18th for Round 2 projects and voting!
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Welcome to Creating with the Stars 2013! Let the contest officially begin! This season of CWTS is going to be Epic and these Round 1 projects are a clear indication of the insane talent of these contestants! Just a few reminders before we get to the voting…
Round 1 Challenge:

Round 1 Prize Package: We have the Best Sponsors for CWTS2013 and here's a reminder of what our Contestants are playing for this week…
$50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twysted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design (who designed all the CWTS logos!) Project featured by HomeTalk We also want to thank Homes.com for being the Official Grand Sponsor of Creating with the Stars!

Without Further Ado… In No Particular Order, Here are the Round 1 Projects… #1- Dresser Turned Modern Sandbox This dresser had no hope. It was in extremely poor shape. I mostly bought it for the legs, but after learning I was in CWTS, I thought I could do something with it. I decided to turn it into a sandbox filled with sand and dirt. What kid does not like sand or dirt?!
The issue I have with sand tables is how much of an eye sore they can be. After cutting off an entire level of drawers that brought it down to kid/side table height, I placed sand and dirt inside the top two drawers. When guests come over, I simply place the dresser's top back on covering up the dirt and sand. It is an easy solution that is modern and stylish. Using a friendly exterior paint protects the furniture from the elements. Placing the dresser top on when not in use protects the sand and dirt. The two bottom drawers are functional and can be used for outdoor storage like small plant pots, garden tools, and kid toys. I used a couple of rabbit knobs for fun and green paint for a punch of color.

#2- Little League Lounger I love taking old, crappy stuff and turning it into something that I will actually use! I found an ugly outdoor folding chair at my local thrift store, and knew it would be perfect for my upcycle project. Now, I have a completely re-done"little league lounger" to use at all my boys' baseball games this summer!

Here's what the chair looked like before I worked my magic:

I added all new cream-colored webbing {with a navy pin stripe}, updated the arm rests by re-purposing an old wooden baseball bat, and made a baseball stitch pillow from an old table runner. I love how it all came together!

I can't wait for baseball season to get started so I can use my new chair!

#3- Floor Board Kitchen Island

I love our kitchen, but I've always wanted a big kitchen island where we could hang out. I wanted to take this unused space in our family room and add a table or counter. I had no idea what to use, but all of a sudden, a light bulb went off in my head. I remembered some old floor boards hidden in the basement rafters. They were dusty and worn and perfect. BAM — perfect for an old rustic island! We washed and sanded the boards, and got to work building our new favorite spot.

Add in some painted stools and we now have a space just off the kitchen that is perfect for parties, eating, hanging out, or working on crafts.

#4- Man Chairs Often the"dreaming up" of a new project can be done in my sleep, literally. But execution can feel like a trip to the dentist, one in which I go in for a routine cleaning and find I need a double root canal. The trick to any DIY project is COMMITMENT. Commit to your goal and don't let up no matter how many coats of paint are applied in vain. These previously drab, brown, faux-leather club chairs were purchased on sale for $12 each at a local thrift shop.

A bit of auto upholstery paint, steal tacks, metal coating paint, a couple patinas for good measure and some tough new casters and this thrift store find is ready for"the man".

#5- Tin Tile Mirror So, I'm still totally in shock that I was chosen to be a part of Creating with the Stars. With the first theme being"Upcycle", I wanted to do something a little different. I hit up a local flea market, hoping to find something that screamed my name, and when I saw these vintage tin ceiling tiles, I knew these were it. The fun color that looks so much like patina, the rust, the texture, the scuffed parts revealing the silvery color underneath. LOVE! They were marked $6 a piece, but I offered her $5, and she accepted. So $40 for all 8. Score!

The next stop was Home Depot for wood, and I built a simple frame. Each tile was approx 12x12, so the finished size is 36x36. Not all of the tile sides matched up when I nailed them in, so I'm going to blame the tiles and say that they're wonky, rather than my measuring (which is probably more true). A little paint matching, painting in the gaps, building a frame for a mirror that I picked up at Michaels, attaching the mirror and frame with some glue, and we're almost done.

I had the perfect spot in my hallway that was just begging for some oomph. For under $60, it's a huge statement piece that fits perfectly. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

#6- Television Stand Upcycled to a Bar When I saw this ugly, 80’s style television stand at our local Goodwill for a whopping $30, my mind immediately started churning with ideas. I’ve been wanting to set up a bar area in our house, and I knew this would be the perfect piece to turn into a bar. It just needed a little (or, um, a LOT) of love!

I added legs and a little stand at the bottom to make it a bit taller, and gave it a few coats of navy paint (and, of course, a stencil to add some fun). I turned the drawers on either side that used to be used for VHS storage into the perfect place to stash a few bottles. And, since most alcohol bottles are all different sizes and shapes, I poured our frequently used ones into uniform glass bottles that I etched with the name – that way I can be sure the bottles fit and they look pretty to boot!

Finally, for a last little touch, I dipped some of our glasses in gold paint to make things a little more sparkly and fun. I’m so happy with how it turned out and I’m loving the extra storage! I can’t wait to put this thing to good use!

#7- Trash Pile Tire Made Trendy Table Early Saturday morning, still bra-less and in my PJs, I drove to a neighbor's house and hurled an old tire from their curb-side trash pile into the back of my car. My plan for the filthy tire was still foggy… as was my pre-coffee brain, but I was determined to turn it into something cool. After a day of deliberation, trial, and error, I determined side table was to be its fate. Let's get upcycling.

I started by giving the tire a scrub with some dish soap. Next, I tried to figure out what to use for legs. Since this tire still has the (very!) heavy rim attached, I needed something sturdy. After contemplating many possibilities, I decided to cut them out of a piece of pine left in my garage from another project. The legs were stained and attached to a plywood circle I cut for the base. Then, I glued the tire on top of that with construction adhesive, and added a smaller circle to the top of the tire to act as the table top.

I covered the entire tire in rope using Liquid Nails and"dipped" the legs in a bright citrus-ey yellow paint. I'm pretty jazzed with how it came out and can't wait to tell people I have an old tire in my living room. Ha!

#8- Vertical Blinds Headboard Why is it that bedrooms are always the last rooms to get decorated? This room had no artwork, no matching furniture, and a mattress sadly sitting on a cheap bed frame. The only good thing about it was that it was prime for a makeover!

When my parents upgraded their patio doors from vertical blinds to curtains, my mom saved the blinds for me thinking I could “make something with them.” Does this happen to all creative types? But Mom was right, those old vertical blinds were the perfect material to make an over sized woven headboard for the bedroom.

A sleek wooden frame hangs so that the headboard almost reaches our 8 foot ceilings, and two spray painted clamp lights provide adjustable lighting for bedtime reading.

Similar, but smaller, woven headboards can cost over $700, but since I re-purposed my materials, this statement-making headboard cost less than 1/10th that much. No more sad, bland bedroom for us!
#9- Bicycle Wheel Clock

There are clocks. And then…there are clocks. There are clocks that tick and tock and ring and jingle and tell time underwater and sound an alarm. And then there are clocks made from a bicycle wheel with yardstick ruler hands perched on a chalkboard surrounded by roman numerals above a table strategically styled with a bicycle seat. That is one fine clock.

And the best part? I got the bicycle wheel for free. Can you even believe it? I walked into a bicycle shop and randomly explained to the resident bike expert that I wanted to make a clock and I needed a cute bike wheel that had preferably been around the block a time or two. Wordlessly he stared at me. I don't really know why. I'm sure they get that request all the time.

And then he went to the back where they keep all the spare wheels for people who come in with clock requests and he handed me this bicycle wheel. I totally wish he could see his wheel now. He'd probably charge me for it.: )

#10 Statement Piece Light Fixture

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 cornered geometric shape that I wanted. At $2 each, what could I lose?

Browsing Pinterest I found this amazing light and fell in love with the arms. It's lines are simple, but make a big impact! Perfect for a statement piece!
The egg crate diffuser was cut into the shape of the arms, filled with plaster of paris, sanded and painted. So that the wiring and housing wouldn't compete with the outer arms, I made a simple fixture out of metal tubing, PVC plumbing parts, and a few parts from an existing chandelier. After wiring it (and being elated that it worked!) I installed trim on the ceiling to frame the chandelier, and added a little more interest by painting alternating stripes in ivory and a light gray. Finally, I installed a gallery wall with a few fun pieces!

From a designer's nightmare to an energetic statement piece, this diffuser has come a long way!
#11- Lab Station Turned Dining Room Buffet

servin' it up old school… The story of how a lonely old science lab station gained new life as an industrial-style dining room buffet.
Once upon a time…on an unusually warm and sunny spring day, I was leisurely browsing a flea market when I spotted this piece and was immediately drawn to it…the color, the rust & patina, it's industrial style, and the fact that it was old and had great visual evidence of it's previous life--lots of it. As I looked closely at the butcher-block top complete with bunsen burner stains, student-carvings (i.e."jennie-loves-alex") and distress-marks galore, I knew that I had to have it--for something, but what that something was, wasn't clear to me at the time. We just had"chemistry"--I could feel it.; ) Luckily, the kind gentleman who I was buying this (very heavy) treasure from was willing to help me get it into my truck…and let me tell you: it. weighs. a. ton. Chapter Two: Fast forward to Project One CWTS: Upcycle. I knew instantly that this sad science lab station was about to have a major career change. I tossed around a few ideas, but pretty quickly decided it would be a fabulous, industrial-style dining room buffet. The hardest part was this: while I love the"vintage-industrial-rusty-patina" look and eagerly welcome it into my house, this was looking a bit too"raw" for my dining room. Well, try googling"how to tone down rust on metal, yet keep just the right amount of color and patina". If there is a tutorial for this…I didn't find it!

Chapter Three: So, I did a little DIY-science-experimenting and discovered a technique to get just the look I was hoping for. After this process I added the casters, the door knobs, stenciled on the quote and stained the butcher-block top.
Add some wine, grapes, cheese…and this"new" buffet is all ready to help you eat, drink and be merry.; )

…and she lived happily ever after in my dining room.

#12-From Frumpy to On Fire, Fireplace! When I was told that the first week of Creating With the Stars theme was upcycle I was over the moon excited. Upcycling is my thing. It’s where I get my groove on. And so, it wasn’t a matter of finding something to upcycle; it was a matter of deciding which thing to upcycle. So, I took a tour of my house and gazed at all of the items that needed some good loving. And then, I sat and thought about what I wanted in my home. And, it came to me. Hmm… could I? Would it be possible? Yes… yes, it could!!

I’ve wanted a fireplace forever and ever. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But, you get the gist. And, while this fireplace/bookcase might not be the real thing it fits the bill quite nicely. I was able to create my “fireplace” from an old bookcase that was sitting in my laundry room, a mirror frame that was on it’s way to the trash, and an antique footboard that had lost it’s headboard (poor thing). The bookcase is the most important element; the mirror and footboard helped create awesome and turn the bookcase/fireplace into something spectacular.

I cut the footboard down to size and used it as the “mantel” as well as give the fireplace/bookcase a skirt at the bottom. Scrapbooking chipboard embellishments gilded, painted, and antiqued look like beautiful wood cutouts on the mantel. The trim on the sides of the fireplace/bookcase are pieces of the mirror cut down to size. A chimney that runs the length of my 12 foot wall was created with a simple frame covered in tin. The back of the bookcase was covered in that same tin for added charm. I must say this project exceeded my expectations and far surpassed the image of awesome I had for this project when I started out. I love walking into my home and seeing this and am so pleased waiting forever and ever is over!

Can You Believe That Talent? It's Time to Vote! You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects. Before voting, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook. Thanks! If you're having trouble viewing the voting box, click HERE to vote.
Don't forget that tomorrow it's your turn to link up your own upcycle project! Thanks for playing along!!

As you know, we're chatting about Spring Things on the blog. One thing that bloggers and DIYers seem to get all jazzed up about is mantles. Decorating a seasonal mantle is a must, or so it seems. Well, I have a confession… I really struggle with the whole seasonal mantle thing. My darn TV gets in the way and stunts my creativity. So… rather than focusing on my mantle, I've scoured the web for the BEST Spring Mantles Around! If you want to see oodles more, check out the always fabulous Layla, who's hosting a link up right now!

Actually, let's get started with The Lettered Cottage's Spring 2012 Mantle: What I love:-It looks effortless, like"Oh my mantle just sort of did this fabulous arrangement on it's own, and it was so pretty that these butterflies came through the window and joined without me knowing." -I love the pop of green in the basket. It's really cool and you know I love me some kelly green! What I wish:-I wish that when I put things on my mantle with the desire for it to look natural and organically arranged, it didn't look like I let my kids help decorate.

Source: theletteredcottage.net via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Two Thirty-Five Designs Spring 2012 Mantle:What I love:-I love, love, love (notice 3 loves means I REALLY love it) that it's non-traditional, but still has some tradtional elements. Notice, there are little robins egg-type vase filler, but it's not all"in your face over-the-top Easter Eggy" -I love that the colors and bright and make me feel like spring, but aren't pastel. What I Wish: I wish I could paint an awesome canvas like that. Yup, she actually painted it herself!

Source: twothirtyfivedesigns.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Remodelando la Casa's Spring 2012 Mantle What I love:-Again, loving that it's non-traditional… are you seeing a pattern here? _-Love that the simple, stark look of it totally reminds me of spring. I'm getting all English teacher-y on you here, but the empty frames and lots of negative space make me think about how during spring, I feel like my yard is empty and just waiting to be filled with all kinds of cool growing things. Then she was genius and put the branches again reminding me of what's to come. I have no clue what the G is for, but I'm going to go with Grow. Okay, enough lessons in symbolism. What I wish: -I wish my darn TV wasn't on the wall so I could do something just like this!

Source: remodelandolacasa.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Four Generations One Roof's Spring 2012 Mantle What I love:-I love the canvas panels! They are fabulous and want to know something awesome?? There are kids dump-truck artwork behind them! Yup! Talk about a good upcycle! -I also love the rope lamp bases. I know Jess would be diggin' them to! What I wish:I wish that I didn't have plans tonight so that I could do a quick, fabric wrap DIY project STAT! (Okay, I only semi-wish that, because I'm going on a big ole' group date out for dinner and to see The Hunger Games! I will have to DIY later!)

Source: fourgenerationsoneroof.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Last, but so not least… Christina's Adventures' Spring 2012 Mantle What I love:-I am so in love with the glazed, layered frames. If you want to glaze a frame, we wrote a great tutorial a while back. -I love that she just wrapped two books with fabric -Even though I'm not usually a tulip girl, or a fan of pink, the color combo here is just perfect. What I wish:-I really wish Christina would come here and do my mantle for me! -Oh and one more thing I love… look at that pitcher. The metal finish is so cool!

Source: christinasadventures.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

There's my wrap up… It almost makes me want to go decorate the dreaded TV mantle… hmm. And, we don't really do linky parties here at RHBC, but we'd love to see what your mantle or decorated shelf looks like. Leave us a link in the comments to your Spring Mantle!

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Oooh, I so wish you could see my hallway bathroom right now. It is coming along exactly how I had envisioned. Mostly because I finally found the perfect piece of furniture for my new custom vanity. This vanity earned us a spot in Round 3 of Crafting with the Stars over at Sew Dang Cute, and although she's pretty darn cute in pictures, she's absolutely gorgeous in real life. So, here's the breakdown of the transformation this little table underwent:
Antiquated to Awesome Table Transformation While browsing one of our local antique stores, I stumbled across this table in an out-of-the-way-spot covered in loads of other stuff.

Now, she doesn't look like anything special, but I could see through her battered, yellowing self to see the potential in her simple lines and aged charm. My initial thought was to sand the yellowish tones off to hopefully reveal a distressed white/wood look. After what seemed like an eternity of sanding with two palm sanders, I realized that this piece probably really was an antique and that the paint had mostly likely been there forever. I hesitate to reveal this information for fear of the antique-lovers out there giving me a hard time about sanding such an old piece, but hey, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

So anyway, the chippy paint look I was going for totally didn't happen because sanding it made the paint appear the color of a peach and that just was not at all the look I was going for.

So, on to plan B. Monica came over to help out and she brought the custom gray stain they used on their farmhouse table and also a mahogany stain she had. We had some walnut stain left over from when we originally stained our kitchen cabinets, so we tested all three on the top of the piece. We knew we could always sand out the stains we didn't like, but we made sure to place the sample stains in the middle where the vessel sink would go, anyway.

In the end, we decided on doing a custom mix of walnut and gray stains.

I brushed on the walnut stain first in long even strokes.

After about a minute, Monica wiped the stain off with a staining pad.

Even with just the walnut stain, it was absolutely beautiful, but I knew that the addition of the gray stain would make it match the colors in the bathroom even better, so again, I brushed the gray stain overtop of the walnut in long even strokes.

After wiping it off, we had this:

Note to self: Do not stain a piece of furniture in your kitchen. If you're not careful, stain will get everywhere leaving you in a slight panic and making lots of extra work for yourself.

Ahh! Let me stop here to point out how crazy our work environment was that evening:

How we got anything done is a mystery to me. Monica and I work very quickly and as a result, leave a trail of disaster in our wakes. We were simultaneously working on the table, painting a custom destination sign with coordinates for a customer, planning our posts for the next few weeks and drinking our favorite Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino from Wawa. Craziness, I tell you. But I digress… on with the project:

After the hours of sanding the top, I really REALLY didn't want to sand the legs, so we came up with the idea of doing a whitewash treatment. Basically, whitewashing is a combination of paint mixed with water that creates a translucent glaze of color.

You can see that adding the whitewash took away the yellow tones, but kept all that yummy aged character of the piece.

Finally, we broke out the power tools and got ready to make our holes for the new sink and faucet. This is a lot easier than you probably think it is. After measuring the center of the table where the sink would go, we used a drill with a 1 1/2" circle bit to make a hole for the pipes to run through.

This creates a lot of sawdust which for us was a problem. DESIGN BLOGGER FOUL! We should have drilled the holes FIRST before we stained!

Brushing off the saw dust on stain that hadn't dried yet gave us a minor heart attack, but we recovered after restained the parts that needed it. Phew! No big deal. (But if you attempt this project, drill first, stain second!)

We added the sink that we bought at Lowes so we could determine the placement of the hole for the faucet. We didn't use any scientific method here; we simply placed the faucet next to the sink and eyeballed where it should go. Remember folks, I don't claim to be a perfectionist.: )

In pictures, the faucet looks kind of goldish, but in reality it has a brushed nickel finish that adds just a touch of modern that is perfect.

We wanted to add some detailing to the piece to make it more unique, so I picked up some oil-rubbed bronze knobs from Lowe's. Monica pre-drilled a few holes, and then we screwed them right in. They look so cool and give the affect of a drawer on the front.

So, at the end of night one, this is how the table looked. Pretty sweet, huh? But the fun part was putting it all together the next day after I (and my mom who wanted to save me some time while I was coaching my tennis team) added 6-7 layers of a water-based polyurethane to the top to prevent water damage that may occur from my very messy wonderful family. We went with a water-based poly because it doesn't change the color of the wood tones. I'm not 100% sure this will be enough protection, and I'm paranoid about anything marring the surface of this beauty, so I'm going to be doing a bit more research on protecting the wood before we use it. Any suggestions?
So now that all is said and done, this is how my beautiful vanity looks:

I am so in love with this table, and am thrilled to death that it turned out just like I was hoping. It looks amazing in the bathroom, and pictures just don't do it justice. Next week, I'll be showing you the final reveal of our hallway bathroom after I add some finishing touches and I can't wait!
What do you think of my table-turned-vanity? Have you ever turned a thrift or antique store find into something fabulous?

Now, on to Round 3!

Linking up to: TT & J, Show & Tell Saturday, Tips & Tutorials Tip Me Tuesday, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 fell in love with Karianne's clock the moment we laid eyes on it. It's so orignal and creative, not to mention perfectly placed on that chalkboard wall. *Swoon* I'm already brainstorming how I can use this idea somewhere-anywhere- in my house. Because Karianne took the number one spot, this project is going to be featured on Hometalk and Homes.com. Woohoo! Take it away, Karianne!

There are clocks. And then…there are clocks. There are clocks that tick and tock and ring and jingle and tell time underwater and sound an alarm. And then there are clocks made from a bicycle wheel with yardstick ruler hands perched on a chalkboard surrounded by roman numerals above a table strategically styled with a bicycle seat. That is one fine clock. And the best part?

I got the bicycle wheel for free. Can you even believe it? I walked into a bicycle shop and randomly explained to the resident bike expert that I wanted to make a clock and I needed a cute bike wheel that had preferably been around the block a time or two. Wordlessly he stared at me. I don't really know why. I'm sure they get that request all the time. And then he went to the back where they keep all the spare wheels for people who come in with clock requests and he handed me this bicycle wheel. I totally wish he could see his wheel now. He'd probably charge me for it.: )

Bicycle Wheel Clock with Yardstick Hands

Step 1: Purchase a kit from any craft store specifically designed to power big hands. Remove torque, insert a AA battery and attach to center of bicycle wheel using wire or adhesive tape.

Step 2: Drill a hole in the center of a paint can lid. The hole should be large enough to fit over the center mechanism of the torque. Place over center spoke of torque.

When you are done it should look something like this.

Step 3: Cut out yardstick hands I used a vintage yardstick. Cut longer hand 16" and shorter hand 8" long. You may need to adjust length depending on size of bike wheel. Notch out the end of each hand to resemble and arrow and cut small triangles of yardstick and attach to the other end of the yardstick hand to form an arrow.

Step 4: Drill holes in yardstick and attach parts of clock hands Drill a hole 5 1/2 inches from the notched end of the longer hand. Drill a hole 1 inch from the notched end of the shorter hand. Cut circles from the hands of the clock kit and hot glue around the holes that you just drilled.

Step 5: Attach yardstick hands to the center spoke of torque The center spoke on the torque is designed to have a space between the two hands. This is critical to make sure the hands turn properly. Make sure there is a space as shown in the picture. Attach the washer from the kit to the very top of the center spoke of the torque. Tighten the washer until hands are fastened securely. Depending on the thickness of your yardstick, you may have to countersink the washer to ensure everything fits properly on the center spoke.

Step 6: Attach weights to the back of the longer hand Hot glue washers to the back of the longer hand until the hand is balanced properly on the center spoke. We attached four washers, but you may need more or less depending on the weight of your clock hands.

Step 7: Adjust your hands to the right time using the tiny dial on the torque. Hang on a chalkboard and chalk in some roman numerals. Telling time has never been so fun! PS Monica and Jess…thank you so much for hosting such a fun contest and a big shout out to the amazing creativity of all the contestants! If you have any questions about this project be sure and e-mail me at thistlewoodfarms@yahoo.com!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isn't that awesome?! And that bike tire was FREE! That makes this project even better, in our humble opinions. Have you seen Karianne's blog? If not, you definitely should. It's chock full of awesome projects like this Herringbone Paint Stick Table…

And this Butler's Pantry. We're sorry, but we can't stop drooling over it. We are embarassed about the drool, but we just can't stop.

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Karianne! Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see how Sarah made that awesome trendy tire table. Also, do you want to be a part of Creating with the Stars yourself? You can link up your favorite upcycle project right here until Friday evening for a chance to win a great prize package and be featured on EC2!

Yesterday, I shared my daughter Kira's Colorful Bedroom Makeover with all of you. Check it out here if you missed it. It's interesting when you're doing a room for a little person… there's this part of me that wants to go all crazy blogger-designer-nutso on the space, and then there's the realistic mom side that reminds me that her room will be a disaster of toys in about 3 minutes flat and that I don't need to go over the top to make her happy. Honestly, I'd kind of be going over the top just for my own self-interest. So, with that being said, the mommy voice won out and I went with a fun, yet practical room makeover. I'll guess I'll save up the glitz and glam for the master bedroom (if I ever do tackle it!).

Today I'm going to share with you the focal point of the room… The Mosaic Accent Wall!

I'm a total sucker for an accent wall. Honestly, since I was a junior in high school I've been whipping them up! My very first was a blue feather dusted wall in my parents' house. Then, I did a pretty cool square grid wall (again at the 'rents house) when I was a senior. Kenzie's first bedroom had vertical stripes and stars, then I changed to a fun magenta gingham. We had an argyle bedroom too! I wish I had pictures of all of those, but it was in the film day and age- boo! Enough of the trip down memory lane, let's get going with the tutorial! How to Create a Mosaic Accent Wall Since this is the room of my 5 year old, I asked her what she wanted, and she told me LOTS of colors."Mommy, I want purple, blue, green, orange…" and the list went on and on. I thought about it and finally decided, I could give Kira exactly what she asked for- lots of color!

I bought a sample size of each color and a gallon of white paint to use as my base and for all the other walls. One word of caution, Valspar sample paints do not have the normal bonding agents that regular paint has. It will require more coats for solid coverage. Just keep that in mind when you're planning a project. For me, buying 8 quarts wasn't an option (this was a makeover on a budget) and I'd rather have to do a few extra coats of paint. I had JUST enough- it was close, but we stretched the samples far enough.

This unfortunate event occurred as soon as we got home with the paint. Grrr… I was sort of hoping Hurricane Sandy would wash some of the stain away a few weeks ago- No.Such.Luck!
Blogger Fail!

Here's my supply list: Valspar® Sample Paints Base coat paint Purdy® Paint Brush Chalk-line (a DIYer Must Have!) Tape Measure Pencil Frog Tape® Mini Rollers Paint Trays

I had to get rid of that BRIGHT aqua color and amazingly, the Valspar white paint & primer in one did the trick! I was left with a blank"canvas" and two weirdos (the hubs and my oldest)!

There are all kinds of approaches to getting perfectly straight painted lines, but I really think we use the BEST method. I'll tell ya about it, and then you can be the judge…
1- Measure out your stripes and put tick marks on both sides of the wall.

2- Use a Chalk-line to get Perfect Guide Lines- Simply, put the string directly on the tick marks on both sides of the wall, pull the string taut, and snap that baby! It is so much MORE accurate and FASTER than using a level and a pencil. Let me remind you of something… you've seen how awkward I am at dancing… would you trust me to use a level on wall stripes? I think not.

These bad boys are crisp, straight and ready for some Frog Tape!

3- Use Frog Tape to Divide your Stripes. When I'm working on an accent wall, I know it's going to be the main focus of the room, so I have to have crisp, perfect lines (yes, perfectionist tendencies admitted).

My hubs uses a few pieces per stripe, but I'm a one stripe wonder. I definitely prefer to do the entire stripe with one piece to make sure there aren't any uneven seams. Also, make sure you tape off the two side walls.

I love me some stripes!

After all my horizontal stripes were finished, I randomly placed my vertical dividers. I toyed with using a mini level to get them perfect, but then decided I could do it well enough by eye. Please ignore the epitome of frumpy DIY clothes, no shower, and tape on the leg.

Whenever I'm working on a project like this I rip off a bunch of pieces the length I need and keep them on the wall so I can get to them quickly, if I'm not using that method, I keep the roll of tape on my arm. Works like a charm.

4- Paint the Edge of your tape with your Base Color. It's one extra step, but it's the MAGIC INGREDIENT to perfect, crisp lines. Frog Tape alone is excellent, but on an accent wall like this, I had to be sure everything would be perfect. Just take your base coat color (whatever color is under the stripes) and with an semi-dry brush (not dry, but not sopping wet either) paint over every edge. I don't recommend using a roller for this step, I always use a paint brush.

It makes the wall look a little scary, but it will all work out in the end! Allow it to dry- I gave it about 40 minutes before putting color over it.

I had a tray and roller for each color. I wanted to work in a random pattern and that meant making decisions as I went along- no time for washing rollers and brushes.

Finally, it was time to put some color on the walls!

If you want a random look (like mine) I'd recommend working in one section at a time, mixing your colors as you go.

Because of the sample paints, it took 3 coats per square. It was a tad scary at first, but by the second coat, I was confident the coverage would be good.

Jimniy Cricket- Even before I removed the tape I knew I was in love!

Now, for the Moment of Truth-Removing the tape…
Once again Frog Tape & the Mangin Method = Perfection!
Seriously, I do a cheesy dance (you can picture it) every time I remove tape from a project!
I do recommend removing the tape as soon as you're done-I don't wait for the paint to dry, and I remove it VERY slowly and evenly.

Here's the finished product!
It was so simple and took me and Eric about 4 hours from start to finish.

Here's a before and after…

It's a lot of color (as requested by Kira), but I like the extreme contrast that the white walls bring. I also could totally picture doing this with muted tones or even all in one color with an ombre effect!

Almost every morning, I find KJ hunkered down reading books in her PJs… She loves her new room!

Tomorrow, I'll be giving you all the details on the whiteboard wall and Wednesday one of our favorite things… DIY faux canvases with Staples prints! Make sure you check it out!
What do you think of the accent wall? Have you ever tried something bold with paint?

Yesterday, Jess posted about her fun gender reveal photoshoot with Stacy Salvatori Photography- if you don't know what she's having yet, head HERE to find out!
I was the lucky one tasked with preparing for the gender reveal photoshoot, which means I was the ONLY one to know what they were having! Mwahaha!
I knew Jess wanted to do the whole balloons in a box reveal, so I set out to create one cute gender reveal box! I'd seen some on pinterest, but usually it was just a cardboard box with some pink and blue or a little question mark or something…

Source I decided right away that we needed a box that had some style!

How to Make a Stylin' Gender Reveal Box 1- Visit your local Lowes or Home Depot and sweetly ask if they have an appliance box you could have (aka free!). They also sell wardrobe boxes at HD that would work, but I much prefer the price of free! I brought along a little friend to help with the sweet-talkin' (sidenote- kids go through such weird smiling phases! It cracks me up!)

A word to the wise, make sure you plan ahead vehicle wise… Appliance boxes are BIG and luckily I had all the seats down in my van.
We got our big ole box home and it was time to decorate it!

2- Decorate the Box- Did you know HomeGoods has the coolest wrapping paper ever? Yup, my favorites are the peacock feather paper and the faux bois paper!

For this project, we wanted something fun, yet classy to fit in with the pictures. It would be sad to have an adorable family, with cute outfits, and then this big old brown box (and yes, I'm aware that sentence sounds slightly dramatic- it's hyperbole people! lol) I simply wrapped 3 sides of the box with Homegoods navy, chevron wrapping paper (knowing you'd never see the 4th side). I also made sure that if you were looking at the box straight on, that the back inside wall was covered.

I also didn't want just the navy chevron, or people would assume boy, so I added a band of yellow fabric so it screamed classy and neutral, not baby boy! (Sorry, I hadn't ironed the fabric yet in the pic above- bad blogger!)
#3- Buy lots and lots of balloons! Jess wanted both pink and blue for some of the family shots, but I definitely bought more of the color I needed. I think I got about 30 balloons in all- better to be prepared!

It took me about 30 minutes to go from boring and blah to stylin' and ready for the big reveal!

Now, not all of you know me personally, but I'm assuming you can tell from the blog, that I have a bit of sass in me and I like to give Jess a hard time. For weeks leading up to the reveal I joked that I was going to put the wrong colors in the box, get all green and yellow etc… Since we'd joked about those things, they were out of the question, but then an idea came to me…

I noticed that the box was big enough to hold a person… and that person should be me! Here's how it went down… I called Jess on the way and told her that with the crazy schedule we'd had filming for Knock It Off that week, that I wanted to prep the photoshoot and head home to have dinner with my fam, rather than stick around for the pics. She was fine with that, and I got there, got everything prepped while they waited inside, and then drove my car out of the driveway and parked it out of site…
Then, with the help of Stacy (the photographer) I climbed into the box…

I hadn't fully thought about how long I'd need to squat in there… it ended up being about ten minutes and let me tell you, I could feel the burn! I was in there waiting as the whole family came down for the big reveal…

Look at this cute, unsuspecting family… yup, I'm in the box for this pic…

I snapped this selfie while crouched inside, waiting for the surprise!

Finally, it was time!! With excited anticipation they took off the lid…

And found out they were having… A MONICA!!!

I SO badly wish you could have seen the look on Jess' face! I scared her to death and it was awesome! I love how Cam and Charlie are looking up like,"Umm what's going on"
My legs were sore for about two days, but it was well worth it for the laughs we all had!

After the fun, I re-prepped the box with the real gender reveal and then we got to celebrate this new little baby!
So just a word to the wise… choose wisely who your Best Friends are… you never know when one will be creepin' inside your gender reveal box!

Oh, how I wish we had taken more pictures of the process and the final room reveal! But instead, you're forced to see it from a tv screen shot. Boo! We promise that we'll do better about that next time. Ha!: )

One thing that really stinks about doing short segments on a TV show is that we pour ourselves into loads of projects, spend a lot of hours working on them, and then they never even get mentioned. Don't get me wrong, it's not Nate's fault, it's just the nature of the beast. And all that hard work on the details is absolutely necessary in order to pull the room together and have it look polished, so it is what it is. Ok, enough of my pity party, on to the beverage cart! You probably thought we had lost our minds when we decided to purchase this thing:

Quite honestly, we kind of thought we did too. We both envisioned the same thing when we saw it (best friend brain's work like that, I guess), but getting there was a different story. We sort of put this cart off until, literally, the last minute, and tried a million different things until we were happy with the finished product. (I slammed my finger in the car door on one of our many trips to Lowe's for random supplies for it!)


The first thing we did was remove the wood shelves from the arms. and then used a hack saw to cut off the one side (yes, a hack saw will cut through metal!). Then we spray-painted the whole thing gold, and added a wooden dowel as a handlebar. On one of our trips to Lowe's we found inexpensive wooden slats in differing widths, so we bought them, painted them in complementary colors and used them to create the shelf. We HATED it. It just didn't feel right at all and we almost gave up on it. Not to mention, that I cut the wrong side off (see above) and so the wheels were at the opposite end that they should have been! Seriously, Monica's 9 year old daughter pointed that out before I even noticed! Oops! After doing some googling, I did discover that some bar carts have wheels on the handle side, so I redeemed myself a bit, but man, I felt dumb!: ) This is what it looked like after our first try:

 Blech! Anyway, we we ended up cutting more of the arms off and used a towel bar rod as the handle. We also added four gold castors because we couldn't stand those tractor tires! And guess what the shelf is? It's a pre-made shelf for a closet, (I think!) It ended up fitting perfectly, for which we are eternally grateful, because we were about to quit DIYing for good because of this thing! We mounted a wine glass rack to the underside of the shelf and called it a day. Phew! It was a close call, but I actually think it turned out pretty darn cute for all the grief it caused.

Here's a peak at the little details you didn't see on the show: 

(The scale, horse head and door knob all came from Architectural Antiques) We did find some pretty cool stuff at the thrift store. The tray on the bottom left is actually a picture frame that we sprayed with our favorite rust-colored paint and added fun, antique gold handles to. It's a great, inexpensive way to make a tray, and it ended up on top of our beverage cart on the show. We both were in love with the rust pillow with zipper detailing and were so bummed you couldn't see it on the show, and who doesn't love a houndstooth pillow with navy buttons?; )
Lastly, here is the final picture of us on The Nate Show. It has been such a fun ride, and we were totally flattered and blessed to have been a part of the show. Thanks, Nate!


Next week we have some fabulous stuff to share with you guys: updates to BOTH of our kitchens, two huge photo art pieces and more. Have a great weekend!


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We love getting together each year to have a DIY night dedicated to pumpkin decorating. We love seeing the pumpkin trends for each year and then coming up with some of our own fun twists! (Click here to see what we did last year) Here's what our 2012 pumpkins look like!

Sadly for us, most of our DIYing is done after 9pm… in this case we didn't start until around 10:15pm, so our apologies about the picture quality.

I had this glossy green paint leftover from my Distressed Frames project from last year. I thought it was perfect for Mr. Frankenstein!

I didn't pre-drill holes for the bolts, I just tipped it on it's side and banged it right in. I got these big bolts at Lowes for about $1.00 each.

I found it was easiest to take some felt, cut a small X in the middle, place it over the stem, and then cut him so franken-awesome hair.

I'd recommend keeping your plant"hair" in it's pot, because then you can water your"hair" and keep it nice and healthy!

Every girl needs a little trim, so I gave her some cute, angled bangs.

We used felt to make a headband and accessories, buttons for eyes, and nail heads for a goofy grin. We were stuck on what would be the perfect nose…

Then, we remembered that we had some mini, baby gourds that Monica's kids had grown.

We cut one in half

Straightened out a paper clip and used it to poke the nose in place.

Jess picked up this fun mask at the dollar store- we have a really good Dollar General near us!

We found it helped to trace out our lines with pencil and then Jess used her mad artistry skills to create our little masterpiece.

Have your tried Martha's new stencils? They're reusable, but sticky on the one side. It made working on a round pumpkin a breeze! We highly recommend you make an EC2 pumpkin as well! Ha!

We love a gilded pumpkin! Have you tried gilding liquid? If you haven't, you should- it rocks our socks! Within 30 seconds and can take your pumpkins from drab to fab! We also had some left over nail heads, so we accented with them. We kind of think they look like mini chocolate chips!

We've loved seeing so many cool, paint dipped pumpkins this year, so we had to jump in and try our own. We're all about keeping it real, and we'll be honest, we love the look of these, but they were a little bit of a pain. You need to have containers that are wide and deep enough and then you need to prop them up on a cup or something where it can balance and drip dry. In the end, we love them enough that the slight hassle was worth it, but just know ahead of time that it might take a little patience.

There's our happy little crew for 2012!

We love getting together as friends to do fun things like decorating pumpkins, and we want to encourage YOU to do the same. It's so easy to get busy as moms, wives, or even college students (oh, how I wish!) that we don't take time to have fun and connect with women. Heck, even if you start at 10pm (like we do!) with only a friend or two, you'll still have a blast!
You can use the invitation template below to customize your own Pumpkin Decorating Girls' Night Out Invitation! A huge Thank You to Moo & Puppy Digital Paper for letting us use her paper. Head over and check out all the fun Halloween and Fall papers she has and you can even design your own invite. To use this template, click HERE to download and then add your own text in the box using any software you'd like. We love Picmonkey because it's quick and free!

We hope you're inspired to try some new ideas with your pumpkins this fall! How many of you will commit to a Pumpkin Decorating GNO? (Can we be invited?!?)
And don't forget that we're in the running to be the New Face of Proctor & Gamble Home! There are only a FEW DAYS LEFT to vote for Monica. You can vote once a day, now through October 3rd. We SO APPRECIATE you taking the time to vote each day!

Let's be honest. We're in the life stage where dates don't happen very often. But, we're making an effort to change that…before we go crazy! My hubs and I are lucky enough to have my sister and her family live only 10 minutes away. They're in the same stage we are (except they have 3 kids three and under!), so we're giving the babysitting swap thing a try. Basically, one weekend we'll watch their kids and the next, they will watch ours. It's a wonderful thing that you could totally do with friends or neighbors or whatever. Last weekend, my sister, her husband and their kids came over while we went out, and I decided to make their"night in" watching our kids a little bit more fun. I mean, come on, they're giving up their precious time to help us get out, so they should be rewarded, right?

In the name of keeping things real, I just made them a dessert out of a box… (Confession: I am not much of a dessert girl, but I will never turn down a brownie!)

…bought a bottle of Moscato, set out two wine glasses, left a couple of bags of popcorn and a little handwritten note. Nothing fancy or difficult, but they were excited when they discovered it!

I wish I had thought to make a cute printable card for them, but it was such a spur-of-the-moment idea, that I didn't. But I did for you! Just right-click on the image and save to your computer. When you're ready, print it out on cardstock and you'll be all set.

Now, a night babysitting will be something to look forward to! How do you make time for dates? Have you ever tried a babysitting swap?

Even though gold jewelry is back in style, a dated, brassy fireplace can put a major damper on the style of a room! Updating your fireplace can seem overwhelming, but let me tell you it's not as hard as it seems and if you're really determined (like me) you can get it done less than 24 hours!

Here's the story behind this makeover… One of my best gal pals was moving into a new house, so I trucked on down to Maryland to help move and to try to tackle a few fun projects. The fireplace wasn't even something they had thought of me working on, but the moment I walked in, it was SCREAMING for some DIY love from me.

Here's the order of my steps: 1- Whitewashed the brick2- Painted the mantle and built-ins3- Painted the brass surround****************************************** How to Whitewash Brick:

Whitewashing brick is really simple! You'll need an inexpensive paint brush, a plastic container, a rag, water, and paint. I mixed the paint and water with a ratio of 1 part paint to 3 parts water. If you want more coverage, increase your paint and for less coverage increase the water.

Start in one corner and work in small sections. Your paint mix will be really thin, so you'll want the rag in hand to catch any drips. Brush your paint mix on a 1x1 area and then immediately use your rag to rub it deeply into the brick and then remove any excess. The process goes really quickly, but I'll warn you it's a little messy. The grout can be a tad sandy, so you'll definitely need to vacuum when you're done. The whole fireplace and hearth took me less than 30 minutes. The difference in color is awesome!

After whitewashing and painting the shelves and mantle, it was time to get rid of that brass! My exact words to my gal pal Mandy were,"Do you trust me?" and I'm so glad she did! How to spray paint a brass fireplace surround: There are some key items you'll need to do this project right: Frog tape, craft paper, disposable plastic drop cloth, and Rust-oleum High Heat Ultra Spray Paint

We started off by taping off the brick right around the surround. Make sure that you get it as close as possible. We were lucky enough that the tape could slip behind the surround, so there was no chance of bleeding through. Once the edges are take care of, you'll want to use the craft paper and tape to make sure all of the brick is covered. It's sorta like wrapping a really big, awkward present!

Once the brick was covered, we cut a section from the plastic drop cloth and wrapped the mantle in it. We were really careful to make sure we'd taped it tightly, so no paint could sneak in.

For the glass doors, we used more tape and paper. I found that if I used a spatula, I could get the tape really close to the edges for a perfect, crisp look.

Now it was time for a little craziness… Making a spray paint cocoon! Since we were spraying in the house, we needed to seal off everything. Basically, I got in, and we sealed the drop cloth all around me. WARNING: the fumes will be very strong. I recommend a face mask. I didn't have one, so we used a towel.

Thankfully, this paint is awesome and doesn't require more than one solid coat. I, on the other hand, required about 3 showers before all the black paint was off my face and hands! It was totally worth it though!

Here's the finished product. Doesn't it look so much better?

I'd love to show you a perfectly styled mantle, and all the doors on, but we were on a tight time schedule, and I had to get back to PA. So this was DIY on the fly!

I was so pleased with the update and loved that the entire project took about 4 hours of work time and cost less than $30.00! If you have a fireplace that you were wishing you could change, I totally recommend doing it yourself! The impact it can have on a space is incredible! And if you missed it, Jess transformed her fireplace with some paint and a stencil this past summer. Two updates= no excuses not to get rid of those dated fireplaces, people!

And, I just have to add, that only only is Mandy one of my very favorite people in the entire world, she's all a rockin' sponsor of this very blog!! She's our Thirty-One Gift's Consultant and hooks up our readers for all kinds of giveaways and deals! Christmas is coming people, head over to Mandy's website HERE and check out the awesome products they have in the current catalog! I'm so loving the new Metro bags! Tell me, do you or someone you love have an outdated fireplace that's in need of an intervention?
**UPDATE 7/13/13: Due to the popularity of this post and lots of reader questions, I thought I'd answer a few of the common questions here.Q: What kind of paint did you use on the brick? A: We just used white paint we had on hand. It was eggshell and worked fine. I really think any finish would work okay because you're watering it down anyhow.
Q: What color did you use on the mantle and shelves? A: Ahh! I wish I knew! I am calling my friend now and will see if she still has the can. I do know it was from Lowes: )

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bed Bath & Beyond. All opinions are 100% mine.

You know that around here we pretty much dance to our own beat and love to decorate with a fun, out of the box style…have you seen my Fabric Christmas Tree post or my new mid-century modern fireplace? So when Bed Bath & Beyond asked us to help them celebrate"Holiday Your Way", we knew it was a perfect fit.

Not only do they have helpful tips for how to decorate and prepare your home for the holiday season, but they also have great advice on making houseguests happy. We're all about entertaining and making sure our guests are having a good time, and have a cozy place to sleep and relax as well. Remember our friends guestroom we helped give a face lift to…

Now, not everyone has the time or space to do an entire room makeover. So, that's why Bed Bath & Beyond is here to help you figure out what you do need for your guests with the space you have with their guest room checklist. Of course you first want to welcome them with love and a cool door mat like this one from BB&B, which is actually made from recycled rubber tires!

I only wish I had come across their Holiday Your Way articles before hosting a huge crew for Thanksgiving. We had 12 people sleeping at our house, we hosted friends and family for dinner & games on Wed. night- 27 people, and hosted Thanksgiving for 17. It was awesome!! But, to make Christmas hosting ever better I've rounded up some ideas from Bed Bath & Beyond for ya!

One way to make your guests comfortable if you don't have a spare bed is with an air mattress, which BB&B has a great selection of. This AeroBed has a really nice pillow top and I can vouch for it's comfort because my in-laws own it and I've slept on it before.

I especially love their tip about color coordinating your guests' bath towels, this will come in handy if you have a packed house and would like your guests to keep track of which towel they are using. This set of Lasting Color Cotton Towels by WestPoint Home look so soft… and I'd love you to share if you have any tips for keeping/getting your towels extra soft. My cousin Jacqui has such soft towels every time we stay there. This past Thanksgiving when she was down visiting I actually re-washed about 10 towels, just to try and get them to seem extra soft right before she arrived. I think I'll be making a BB&B trip soon for new guest towels. So if you have any tips, send them my way.

When you have guests over it's not just about a cozy air mattress to sleep on and soft towels to use, but about keeping them entertained as well. Bed Bath & Beyond has a smart tip about making sure your guests have your WiFi password so they can use their own tablets or laptops, as well as showing them how to use and turn on your entertainment consoles. Our pal Ann Marie from White House Black Shutters made a super fun Wi-fi artwork so guests could look over and have the code, but strangers would never know what it was! Genius I tell ya! I could have used this over the holiday, because I think I gave out the wi-fi 30 times.

One other guest must-have is a Keurig; it's the best way to make sure everyone has the drink they like, how they like it. Eric loves pumpkin coffee, my mom decaf, my aunt tea, the kids cocoa… you get the idea. Did you know there's a Keurig espresso machine?

Isn't she pretty! I like my k-cup Keurig machine, but if you enjoy a nice cup of Italian espresso every now and then, why not!

Bed Bath & Beyond is a great place to go for tips to survive the holiday season if you're expecting a house full of guests. Stop by their Holiday Entertaining section for more advice on important things to know and prepare for like guests' food allergies, activities for the kids, and more. I was pleasantly surprised how fun and helpful their articles were!

So tell us, what are some surviving and enjoying the holiday tips you've learned throughout the years?

I love entertaining, but I'm always looking for ways to improve!

After 14 years of waiting for my ugly kitchen to give out our renovation of it is finally complete! The blinds are hung, decoration in place and everything is new and clean. It wasn't without some tears, the husbands not mine, think cost, but it was a hard fought battle and I wouldn't go back for anything. The dust left a bit to be desired along with the noise and I don't mind saying the shock of seeing my kitchen gutted down to dirt took my breath away!

My wish list was mostly met, wish list, but with a room only 16' x 14', six openings with doors and windows, and a wood stove that had to stay for warmth my grandeur ideas of clean open spaces was bumped off immediately. But that's OK I was happy to work within my limitations.
Those aren't the same cabinets just the same simple shaker style. We thought we would be able to keep the old cabinets since they were nice but when our contractors started taking them down they completely fell apart. Nice fronts but the rest were cheaply put together obviously to save on cost along the way.

Before

After
With such a small kitchen we wanted to keep everything simple so as not to overwhelm the space such as using clear pendent lights so the eye travels through. We went with the wolf stove /sub zero refrigerator package because we liked that the refrigerator is in the same line as the cabinets, it doesn't bump out into the room by a couple of inches like most refrigerators. This is where the husbands' tears came into play since showrooms don't place price tags on these appliances for a reason!
While I would have preferred an antique tiered console/table as my kitchen island I hate seeing microwave ovens and all the things that go with cooking out in the open let alone they get dusty. This island is perfect to hide all those things and gives me more working counter space.

We went with soapstone tile since it's durable enough for an eighty pound bouncing golden retriever. The slightest scratch is simply sanded out with a piece of fine sandpaper but so far that hasn't been needed. Laying the floor tiles in a long straight stretch helped to make the room look more elongated to the eye. The floor couldn't be sealed since it changes the color from shades of gray to black but it cleans up beautifully. We put radiant heat underneath that I love but the dog, not so much!

Before

After
Since our kitchen has the lowest ceiling in our home of 8' 2' we wanted to make the room seem taller. We did that by playing with perspectives and tricking the eye into thinking the ceiling was higher so we played with the different height of cabinets to make the room seem more expansive. We were able to do that because the refrigerator was so tall, the sink window sash goes right to the ceiling and the small pantry on the other end is tall. We had to keep the same configuration because of all the openings but hey it works.

I absolutely love my new bridge faucet from American Standard here since it reaches into the middle of the sink unlike the one that originally came with this kitchen and it has a sprayer!

Before

After
Our kitchen really came down to the use of materials to give it a new look. Since we had enough of the black soapstone, used on the counters, we used a slab for the hearth under the wood stove. We pile wood in an antique copper bin during the winter and used to ding the old walls so we thought it would be a great idea to pull the flooring tiles up on the lower part of the wall around the wood stove giving it a European flavor. That's a 16th century Italian wine vessel hanging over in that corner that I purchased from Michael Trapp here. I love green and tried to use touches of it throughout our kitchen.

After table and chairs
Gone are the antique table and chairs and in its place a small more solid table from restoration hardware that unfortunately they no longer sell. This table was actually sold as a hall table and is only 30' in diameter, plenty of room for two people to have dinner. The chairs from pottery barn here were kept open to let light pass through. Thankfully gone are the fabric roman shades from the windows and in their place custom made bamboo blinds from Smith and Noble here that are much easier to keep clean.

Before

After
I love this dishwasher from Fisher Paykel that has two drawers! It simply makes sense for us since we're a two people family, dog bowls don't go in there. I don't like dirty dishes hanging about for a week and since the drawers run independently from one another that is no longer an issue.
I've added a few antique pieces, a cappuccino machine and voile, new kitchen! Gone is the clutter and somebody else's design ideas. Absolutely everything in our kitchen is new right down to the wood stove. After all these years I've made my kitchen my own and the ride has been so worth it!

Hey all! We're back from our trip to Haven in Atlanta! We learned so much and met so many great people, so while we collect all of our thoughts about it to share with you tomorrow, I thought I'd show you a project I did recently to spruce up my kitchen and entryway. I'm super excited about this because it opens up a whole world of possibilities for us DIYers who would rather make something custom than buy it at the store. Did you know you can make a floor cloth (basically a floor mat) out of fabric? You totally can. Hallelujah! Plus, it's so ridiculously easy you'll want to make one for every room of your house! Let's get right down to business, shall we?

Step 1: Gather your materials. Fabric: the amount depends on the size of your mat. I used about 3/4 yard for my kitchen mat, and
1 1/2 yards for my entryway mat) Rubber Mat Runner: I've seen similar floor mats made with vinyl flooring remnants (check out Diane's floor mat from In My Own Style!), but I wanted something sturdy with traction and this fit the bill! Found at Home Depot in the flooring section. Spray Adhesive Water-based Polyurethane Scissors Duct Tape

Step 2: Using your scissors, cut your rubber mat to size. I wanted an octagonal shape for my kitchen so I measured the angles and then cut accordingly.

3. Measure and cut your fabric to size. Leave approximately 2-3 inches all the way around your rubber mat, because you'll be wrapping the fabric around it later. Don't forget to iron your fabric before moving to the next step! I used two different fabrics for two different mats. I had extra fabric from the pendant light I made for my kitchen. It's called Waverly Solar Flair in Lime & Indigo, and it's fabulous. I can't remember the name of the other fabric- sorry! But I love.them.to.pieces. (I realize that loving fabric that much is wierd, but I'm ok with that)

4. Determine your fabric placement. Then fold the fabric back about halfway and spray the rubber mat with spray adhesive. Fold the fabric back down, smoothing out the bubbles and wrinkles as you go. Lift the other side of fabric up and repeat that method. The fabric should stick well to the rubber mat.

Don't mind me…just loving on my fabric while smoothing out the wrinkles.

5. Brush a water-based polyurethane on to your fabric. Make sure it's water-based so that your fabric doesn't yellow! This will seal your fabric and protect it from water. You'll also be able to wipe the mat down should anything spill on it (let's be honest, I wish I could poly every surface in my house for this reason). I did 3 coats of poly, letting it dry completely in between coats.

6. Once the final coat has dried, lay your mat fabric-side down on the ground. Begin folding the edges of the fabric towards the center of the rubber mat. Spray each edge with adhesive and press down until it sticks. Then take your duct tape and run it along the edges to create a seal. No one will see the underside of your mat and you'll want the extra security the duct table provides!

To create perfect corners, just follow these simple steps: 1. Grab the corner and fold up towards the center of the mat. 2. Fold one side up flush against the edge of the rubber mat to create a straight line. 3. Fold the opposite side up in the same way until both sides meet in the middle.

Once you've finished duct taping, you're done! Lay your floor cloth down and admire your handiwork. So easy, and so cute! Here's the one I made for the entryway (It's 4 feet by 2 feet, if you were wondering):

And the one for my kitchen:

Because this mat already has traction, it doesn't slide around really at all. However, if you wanted extra stay-put-ability, just run a line of caulk around the edges where the fabric is, and it will better grip the floor. Ok, be honest, who's going to dig through their fabric stash today or run to Joann's to give this project a try?!; )

While my hubs finishes up the stuff I don't know how to do (ie: drywalling, adding corner bead etc) in our kitchen, I've been busy trying to make myself feel better about the disaster inside my house (see kitchen demo post here) by prettifying my entry way! My sweet mother-in-law gave me a gift card to Home Goods for Christmas, which is heaven on earth for a girl like me. No joke- I've been there three times in the last week and a half. Anyway, I was so torn about what I should get with that precious gift card- because you know there are at least a million things in that store that were calling my name- but kept coming back to tihs gigantic letter"J". Our last name begins with"J", in case you were wondering. So, finally, today I went ahead and bought it, thinking it would be perfect for the wall in my entry that housed my advent calendar in December.

This bad boy is made of some kind of metal substance but had a cherry, wood-grain finish that I did NOT like, but I knew I could spraypaint it and all would be well with the world. (What can't you improve with spray paint and hot glue, I ask you?)

See how large it is in comparison with my hand?

I picked up two metallic spraypaint finishes from Lowes (right before my son face-planted on the floor and received a nice, fat lip and bloody nose. Picture me trying to clean him up in the drywall isle full of construction-type men). I sprayed it first with the dark bronze paint, and then lightly sprayed it with the copper paint in concentrated areas. Then I went back over it with the dark bronze to make it a bit more authentic.I was trying to achieve a rusty, architectural letter look, and I think I achieved it!

I wish you could see it in person, because it's has a lot of depth that just isn't showing right in pictures, but you get the idea. Then, using the hardware provided, I hung it on the wall facing the front door. Don't worry- it actually is level, it just tricks the eye with that curved shape!

Right away, I felt like it was missing something, don't you?

I love the letter, but really think it needs something to make it pop. (Ugh, just ignore that mess of a kitchen back there) I'm thinking I could do stripes on just that wall like this:

Source: alittlelovelyblog.blogspot.com via Cassandra on Pinterest
or do a stencil on that wall like this:

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Stfn on Pinterest
Except a lot less bold, because you know, I'm the queen of neutral. This one is a lot more up my alley:

Source: isabellaandmaxrooms.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest
I've also thought about doing a gallery wall of family pictures around it, stenciling our names in a very subtle color around the"J", framing it with chunky trim and the list goes on.
Help a girl out! Any ideas for me?

No, 1st dibs didn't make a new record selling anything, at least I don't think they did? Congratulate me, this is the first time I have ever made it through the entire new listings on 1st Dibs in one day. As anyone knows that's not an easy feat considering there are typically 18 pages of mouth watering, eye dropping, goodies galore to peruse! Such fabulous stuff and I can't afford a single thing! Then again my birthday is coming up in September and for those of you needing some gift ideas I've gone ahead and chosen a few morsels'''

offered by Alexander Westerhoff Here
These 17th century Baroque Marble Corbels would look perfect on either side of my fireplace and who doesn't love angels? But then again I'll need a nicer fireplace surround to go with the corbels so toss this in too please. Then again my ceilings will need to be raised but that's what a wish list is for huh?

offered by M. Naeve Here
Love stone fireplace surrounds and this 18th centry French job fills the bill, in fact maybe I should ask for two of these, the other would look amazing in a bathroom!

offered by Karla Katz Here Italian gilt Lantern
My entry hall fixture really needs some serious help and I thought this would be the perfect fix!

offered by William Laman Here
I just love this Swedish Baroque table it would go perfectly in the entry way as well, I need to find a mirror to go over it and oh yeah, I need a bigger entry hall!

offered by Lotus Gallery Here
This Empire silk velvet pillow is right up my alley, anyone who knows me knows how much I love anything orange! Throw in some metallic anything and I'm yours!

offered by Watkins Culver Here
I will always accept fabulous 18th century paintings with angels but when they come with an outstanding frame, Perfection!
To round things out I think I should pick a little something for the outdoors but then again these urns are stunning and might look great in my dining room.

offered by Rose Uniacke Here
I was utterly amazed to have noticed I made it thru all the new listings and then I looked at the time and wasn't to pleased with myself since I didn't get a single thing done today. But it was a nice rainy day here in New Hampshire and we haven't seen rain in two months so I think I'll count this as my celebration for the rain. What do you wish for on rainy days?

Well hey there! Want to know something about me? I find something I like and then stick to it. I have only ever ordered one meal at The Olive Garden for about 14 years straight (Chicken con Broccoli and FYI they took it off the menu, so I don't go there anymore! Ha!) I wish jeans, sneaks, and a sweater with an oxford underneath was still as cool now, as it was when I was in high school. So basically, I don't do much in the way of mixing things up (except for in my decor and design, which is weird, but who knows…). This month some of that changed! Hello Bangs and Glasses!

A few things happened to bring about these changes… #1 I spent 8 days in London and Paris surrounded by people that had more style in their pinky finger than I will in my entire lifetime. #2. I was given an opportunity from Firmoo Glasses to try a pair of glasses for free #3. I got a zit on my forehead (I'll explain later)
So, here's what we ended up with… Awesomely geeky glasses that I completely adore (plus, I can see better!) and blunt bangs! I know I'm completely wild and crazy aren't I?

Let me tell you a little about Firmoo and the glasses first, then we'll get onto the bangs. Firmoo is the largest online retailer of glasses (who knew right?!). For years I'd been going to my eye doctor and ordering the uber expensive glasses they had. None of them were super cool, so I only wore them when I really needed to. Well now, I know that there is a HUGE world of glasses out there at like 80% less! And guess what peeps?? They give you your first pair FREE! Seriously doesn't get much better than that! (If you're the type that hears FREE and now is all distracted, here's the link to get your own free pair right away Firmoo Free Glasses)
**Oh, and lots of people asked which style I got, they're #ZS8024 **

I knew I needed to post pics of myself (not my fav thing to do), so I added fun quotes I like to distract you! Is it working? Okay, back to Firmoo… Check out their website and make sure you try out their cool virtual try-on system. You can upload a picture of yourself and try glasses on. It's like paper dolls of the future. I made a quick call to my eye doctor and got my prescription info and just typed it in when ordering. If you don't have vision issues, that's okay- they make clear lenses too! Jess' hubs Kev, calls them his placebos and I LOVE that name! Glasses are definitely an accessory, not just a necessity anymore.
A few day later, I got my glasses in the mail and it was love at first sight (Get it? Sight? Sorry, I can't resist a cheesy joke). They were step one in my mini Monica makeover. Then, I started toying with the idea of bangs… I love the look on other people, but I was a little worried because of my curly, unruly mop. Then, last week I was at the salon getting Kaden a hair cut and noticed this annoying zit on my forehead- suddenly I had my solution…bangs! If you can't beat em, hide em! Kaden gave me the go-ahead and I had one of my favorite hair stylists cut them for me! I couldn't be happier!! (If you're local, Rachel is awesome! Here's their FB page call her if you need a new do!)

I have to tell you, I am amazed that it took me so long to try something a little more daring with my"style"… I think it's a lot more"me" even. And just in case you're wondering, I'll still be ordering all the same foods at restaurants-I'm not that changed!!
Here are all the details you need to get your first pair free from Firmoo… Firmoo Website Firmoo on Facebook (head over and let them know EC2 sent ya!)
Just check out their site, choose a pair you love, and have them in about a week! (There are a few designer pairs that are excluded, but I found tons that I liked that were included)
So are you going to get a free pair? Any other"stuck-in-a-rut" readers out there?
** A huge shout out to our favorite photographer Stacy Salvatori for taking these pictures of me. She is a Bucks County local and does amazing family, portrait, and wedding pics. Check out her site and let her know EC2 sent you!! **I wasn't compensated for writing this post. I got a free pair of glasses from Firmoo (like you can) and was thrilled to review them for you guys. All opinions are 100% mine**

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever! It's nice to be back… well, honestly if you told me I could jump on a plane now, I'd grab my suit and be gone in an instant. Mexico was insanely awesome. I'm going to do a whole post on it next Monday!
So we're supposed to be giving interesting statistics this week… I've got a good one for ya!

The Disappearing Giveaway.. If you've followed us since the very beginning you might remember a post about our Design Challeng{ed} contest… Or maybe you don't remember because not one single person entered. Ha! We'd only been blogging about two months and it was a major flop! It sure makes us laugh though!

Famous Angelina… Jess wrote a cute post about Cam's 3rd birthday party last year. It was a cute Angelina Ballerina theme. The post is fine, but nothing over the top. We didn't have great lighting and all the pictures are so-so… however, thanks to the post's title it was in our top 15 posts for landing pages! So many people have Googled Angelina Ballerina and found us! Ha!

So maybe we laugh a lot and blush a little over these silly posts, but it reminds us of the amazing road this blog has taken. We can't wait to look back next year and see what 2012 had for us!
Now, get ready for some stinkin' awesome giveaways! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have three awesome giveaways for you today! The giveaways are separate entities (in other words, if you win, you don't win them all, but you can enter all three!) Please let us know which giveaways you're gunning for in your comments.
My Best Friend's Hair Giveaway My Best Friend's Hair is our most recent sponsor and it's the coolest concept! Their site can help you find the best stylists all over the country and get ratings and reviews. Want to find the best stylist in your area that can deal with insanely thick, unruly hair (that would be my wish)? They can help you with that! They also have tons of info about the hottest cuts and styles- so fun! Today they're giving away a Neuma Beauty Hair Products gift set. I don't know about you, but I love using high quality hair products, and getting them for free is even better!

To enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
1-Like My Best Friend's Hair Facebook Page and leave us a comment letting us know.
2-For an additional chance to win, head over to the My Best Friend's Hair website and either search for a stylist in your area or leave a review of your stylist and then leave a comment letting us know you did.

Scentsy Giveaway I must have been living under a rock for a while, because I had never tried Scentsy until Breanne joined our blog last fall. Honestly, I wake up, walk down stairs, and turn my warmer on immediately, my kids take turns picking out the scents we should use. It's awesome! Breanne is giving away one warmer and scentsy bar of your choice!

To enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
1- Go to Breanne's Scentsy website and then tell us in a comment what scent you'd love to try.
2-For an additional chance to win Follow RHBC on Twitter and leave us a comment letting us know.

Kotton Pickin' Kute Hat My poor kids were all born well before the world thought to make amazingly cute hats- boo! I honestly don't think there's anything cuter than a baby with a sock monkey hat! Krista hand knits all of her hats and lucky for us, she's giving one away! Don't have an itty bitty baby? No worries, she can make them in child and even adult sizes. I just might buy the hubs a sock monkey hat… actually, I won't because I could possibly die of laughter.

To enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
1- Go to Kotton Pickin Kute's Etsy Store and then tell us in a comment what hat you love!
2-For an additional chance to win like Kotton Pickin' Kute on Facebookand leave us a comment letting us know.

Giving things away is so darn fun! I can't wait to announce the winners tomorrow! Hope you're enjoying our week of giveaways just as much as we are!

AND NOW FOR THE WINNERS FROM YESTERDAY!

The winner of the Thirty-one Gifts giveaway is: Dwell Wool Knits! Congratulations!

The winner of the Dream Dinners meals is: Whitney! (and I promise I didn't cheat just because she's having her first baby! Congrats Whitney!)

(email us your address so we can get you your prizes!)

Well hey there! Want to know something about me? I find something I like and then stick to it. I have only ever ordered one meal at The Olive Garden for about 14 years straight (Chicken con Broccoli and FYI they took it off the menu, so I don't go there anymore! Ha!) I wish jeans, sneaks, and a sweater with an oxford underneath was still as cool now, as it was when I was in high school. So basically, I don't do much in the way of mixing things up (except for in my decor and design, which is weird, but who knows…). This month some of that changed! Hello Bangs and Glasses!

A few things happened to bring about these changes… #1 I spent 8 days in London and Paris surrounded by people that had more style in their pinky finger than I will in my entire lifetime. #2. I was given an opportunity from Firmoo Glasses to try a pair of glasses for free #3. I got a zit on my forehead (I'll explain later)
So, here's what we ended up with… Awesomely geeky glasses that I completely adore (plus, I can see better!) and blunt bangs! I know I'm completely wild and crazy aren't I?

Let me tell you a little about Firmoo and the glasses first, then we'll get onto the bangs. Firmoo is the largest online retailer of glasses (who knew right?!). For years I'd been going to my eye doctor and ordering the uber expensive glasses they had. None of them were super cool, so I only wore them when I really needed to. Well now, I know that there is a HUGE world of glasses out there at like 80% less! And guess what peeps?? They give you your first pair FREE! Seriously doesn't get much better than that! (If you're the type that hears FREE and now is all distracted, here's the link to get your own free pair right away Firmoo Free Glasses)
**Oh, and lots of people asked which style I got, they're #ZS8024 **

I knew I needed to post pics of myself (not my fav thing to do), so I added fun quotes I like to distract you! Is it working? Okay, back to Firmoo… Check out their website and make sure you try out their cool virtual try-on system. You can upload a picture of yourself and try glasses on. It's like paper dolls of the future. I made a quick call to my eye doctor and got my prescription info and just typed it in when ordering. If you don't have vision issues, that's okay- they make clear lenses too! Jess' hubs Kev, calls them his placebos and I LOVE that name! Glasses are definitely an accessory, not just a necessity anymore.
A few day later, I got my glasses in the mail and it was love at first sight (Get it? Sight? Sorry, I can't resist a cheesy joke). They were step one in my mini Monica makeover. Then, I started toying with the idea of bangs… I love the look on other people, but I was a little worried because of my curly, unruly mop. Then, last week I was at the salon getting Kaden a hair cut and noticed this annoying zit on my forehead - suddenly I had my solution…bangs! If you can't beat em, hide em! Kaden gave me the go-ahead and I had one of my favorite hair stylists cut them for me! I couldn't be happier!! (If you're local, Rachel is awesome! Here's their FB page call her if you need a new do!)

I have to tell you, I am amazed that it took me so long to try something a little more daring with my"style"… I think it's a lot more"me" even. And just in case you're wondering, I'll still be ordering all the same foods at restaurants-I'm not that changed!!
Here are all the details you need to get your first pair free from Firmoo… Firmoo Website Firmoo on Facebook (head over and let them know EC2 sent ya!)
Just check out their site, choose a pair you love, and have them in about a week! (There are a few designer pairs that are excluded, but I found tons that I liked that were included)
So are you going to get a free pair? Any other"stuck-in-a-rut" readers out there?
** A huge shout out to our favorite photographer Stacy Salvatori for taking these pictures of me. She is a Bucks County local and does amazing family, portrait, and wedding pics. Check out her site and let her know EC2 sent you!! **I wasn't compensated for writing this post. I got a free pair of glasses from Firmoo (like you can) and was thrilled to review them for you guys. All opinions are 100% mine**

Maybe you noticed something missing from our Fall Lovers Series… Pumpkins! We’re not haters and we didn’t forget… we were saving them for this special pumpkin post! We had the pleasure of sharing some fabulous, non-traditional pumpkin ideas for the 69 News in Allentown, PA and now you’ll get to see the inside scoop on how to make your own.

We got together this week to have a pumpkin party of sorts… it included lots of pumpkins, a large bowl of uncooked cookie dough (yum!) and a big old mess!

I Can’t think of a better way to spend time with a BFF can you? Tac Pumpkins

This is a Horchow knockoff and we’re thrilled with how cool it looks. Jess said it looks like a “biker chick pumpkin!” Simply spray paint your pumpkin (we used Oil Rubbed Bronze) and when it’s dry, simply push the tacks in a cool pattern. This literally took about 5 minutes.

Sticker Pumpkins If you have kids, they’ll love to help with this one. We used simple “teacher stars,” but you can use any sticker shape. Make sure your pumpkin is clean and totally dry, add the stickers, and then spray paint. When the paint is pretty much dry, remove the stickers and reveal the awesomeness!

Ribbon Jack Be Littles These guys would look great in a big, black wooden bowl. It doesn’t get any easier than this folks… Simply wrap the ribbon and hold in place with a thumbtack.

Mr. Pumpkin Head If you've seen Toy Story 3, the you know that Mr. Potato head works even on a pancake, so why not try pumpkin? If you have little ones that are a tad young for real pumpkin decorating or carving, this is the idea for you!

No pumpkins were harmed in the making of this tutorial! You do need to poke the holes with a pen so that the pieces stay put. I promise I used Novocain before starting the procedure.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box (cliche, but oh so true) and use fun items you already own!

Sexy Lady Pumpkin Vera Wang might want to hunt us down after this post, but we love the look. We took some sexy tights and believe it or not, squeezed a pumpkin in! It was really quite hysterical and I almost wish we had it on video.

It’s definitely a two person job!

We cut the bottom end and then wrapped the stem with the other.

I think Vera might be proud!

Decoupage Pumpkin The key to this funky-punky is cutting thin strips of paper. Simply take scrapbook paper or fabric and cut it into ½ -1 inch strips. This was a small pumpkin, so we used ½ inch. Apply modpodge heavily to the back of each strip and start wrapping the pumpkin. When it’s completely covered give the outside a coat of modpodge as well. This one is to go with Monica’s Poe Inspired mantle.

Modpodge goes on white, but don’t worry… it dries clear.

By about this time in our pumpkin party, here’s what the kitchen looked like. We never claimed to be neat crafters did we?

Crackle Paint Pumpkins
This project was inspired by Beth who was inspired by Jane… don’t you love the sharing of ideas in the blog world? We sure do! For these you’ll need some cheapo dollar store pumpkins… and man, they’re ugly at first.

First, spray a base coat. We used flat, black that we already owned.

We had a little spray paint station outside. The hubs loves our multi-colored grass! Then, apply the crackle medium. We bought Martha’s brand from Michaels. We patiently waited grabbed the blow drier to pick up the pace and once it was totally almost dry we brushed on the top color. The key here is long, even strokes. Crackle paint can be a tad fussy.

Let the top coat dry and watch as the cracks magically appear. It’s pretty cool!

House # Pumpkin Another simple idea, but one that would look adorable on your front porch.
We picked up these numbers at Lowes and then used a mallet (a hammer would work too, but there’s just something fun about a mallet) to bang in the screws. Presto- Chango… house # pumpkin!

Cookie Cutter Pumpkin Since we're committed to being the REAL housewives of Bucks County, we're sharing once again another FAIL with you! We were inspired to try banging cookie cutters into pumpkins. Sounds simple enough right? Well, it would have been simple if the pumpkin wasn't thicker than the cookie cutter. I do think it would have worked on a smaller pumpkin… Instead, it broke the cutter and we had to do quite a bit of work to get it out.

You can barely even tell it's a bat. Drats!

If you've tried this and it worked, let us know and give us some tips!
So there you have it… some non-traditional pumpkin ideas to try in 2011. If you want to see us in action, we'll be posting the clip to the 69 morning show soon. Be sure you"like" us on Facebook, because we'll link it there.

Happy Wednesday, thanks for pumpkin partying with us!

Linking to: iheartnaptime Under the Table and Dreaming, Tutorials & Tips, Tip Me Tuesday