My Creative Blog [Search results for Stacy Salvatori] 

Ok, you moms know how difficult it is to take good pics of your little ones and their squirmy, high-energy selves, right? Well, we are thrilled to have Stacy from Salvatori Photography guest posting for us today! We met her at a boot camp we were both attending, and one thing led to another, and here she is today sharing her top tips for taking great pictures of kids! Stacy is truly a talent. She captures everything from the excitement of a bride waiting to see her groom, to a family having a total blast together. Head on over to her website to check out her amazing work. But for now, stay here and read on.: ) You won't be disappointed.
“Momographer” Tips From Stacy Salvatori
1. Change your perspective. Sometimes as Moms we get locked into patterns, this is not a bad thing all. But when it comes to capturing some fun images of your Little Ones it never hurts to get out of the ‘norm’ and change up your perspective a little. Often times we pull out the camera and do the same old face shot from 3 feet away. Ever thought about lying on the floor and looking up at them? Maybe climbing up on the swing set? Switch it up a little. You might be pleasantly surprised to see something new!

2. Play. Everyone has a different opinion and everyone has a different vision of what they may want their pictures to turn out like. I personally love, love, love when I get candid’s of my children laughing and playing and enjoying life! It’s those little in-between moments that tend to move my heartstrings. A Daddy, Aunt, or Grandma also comes in handy for this one! Get them running, swinging, playing and best off all laughing their little hearts out!

3. Wait. Often we like to pose our kids, and tell them sit just ‘like this’ or ‘move over here’ like that. I’ve found that their patience level runs low when I do that, and they tend to look a lot less ‘real’ and at ease. More times than not, just waiting and watching is the best trick. I can be lounging in my lawn chair watching them play or draw with chalk on the sidewalk… and then BAM! I see the perfect opportunity!

4. Set up different scenarios. One of the most fun things you can do is set up new and fun situations that might produce super original and creative pictures! So, for instance, rather than just tossing them in the back yard and hoping for something to happen… create a new scenario! Get out the bubble machine and capture them running through the bubbles. Turn on the sprinkler. Get out colorful paint or shaving cream… and let ‘em at it!! Play dress up. Get your daughter dolled up like a ballerina, or maybe your son is really into being a Pirate or a Fireman! Just have fun with it!

Wow, Stacy, those pictures are inspiring! I can't wait to get out there and if give those tips a try on my two little loves. Thanks so much for being here!
And because Stacy is AWESOME, she is giving away a ONE HOUR TUTORIAL PHOTO SHOOT
WITH YOUR KIDS
(including 10 awesome images from that session!)* WOW!

Here's how you enter to win:
1."Like" Salvatori Photography on facebook HERE.
2. Leave us a comment telling us that you became a fan, and why you desperately need this photo shoot tutorial.
3. For an extra entry:"Like" The Real Housewives of Bucks County on facebook HERE, and leave us a separate comment telling us you did it.
4. For another extra entry: Become a Follower of The Real Housewives of Bucks County Blog. Use the button on our sidebar and then leave us a separate comment telling us you did. **That's 4 entries for you! Yippee!** Ok, now go and enter!

*Photo shoot tutorial is good for use in Eastern PA, unless you want to pay for travel.: ) Which, by the way, would totally be worth it.

You guys get to see my home all the time in projects, you get to read my ramblings here on the blog daily, but today I'm sharing something a little more personal… my family and my life behind the scenes. Our photographer Stacy of Stacy Salvatori Photography spent a Saturday with our family capturing pictures of our real life. No coordinated outfits, no posing, just capturing how we roll. I can't tell you how much I love the pictures and I can't wait to make a big ol' display with them!
(Don't forget that Stacy is giving away a FREE Session for Mother's Day and you can enter until Midnight tonight! Click here to enter!)

Here's how Stacy describes these awesome story sessions… I wanted to try something new. Something real. I’ve seen a few photographers that I admire and whose work I simply love, start a new journey. One of capturing people’s stories… their real life moments. And I kind of dig it. I like the notion of no posing, no planned outfits, and location? Well, how about your own home. The place you feel most you. I still love doing Family Portrait Sessions, and I always will. But there’s something unique, and something raw about snapping those in-between moments of life. The moments that truly define who we are, and that when we look back on, well, they will help us feel what we did all over again. I had the joy of capturing the Mangin Family’s ‘Story’. Them in their beautiful home, laughing, fighting, playing, and crying… living their life in front of the lens. Here’s a few snapshots of their life. What’s your story?
I hope you enjoy this peek into my life… If you would have told me ten years ago that I'd have 4 kids, own a dog, cat, and two ducks, I'd have laughed hard enough to possibly pee my pants. God has some crazy plans up his sleeve and I'm so thankful for this crazy life that's ours.

One of my very favorite pictures!

Hard to see, but if you look closely you can see my crazy hubs was throwing an ax up in the air and catching it while it was spinning. Did I mention our life is a tad crazy?

I hope you've enjoyed peeking into my world. If you're local, you should definitely call Stacy about setting up a story session. Tell her EC2 sent you and she'll give you the VIP treatment! (I completely made that up, but she's always super nice, so we can pretend it's VIP just for you!)
Later this week I'll be sharing more projects from the Wood Shim Wall Art projects!

P.S. We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to the charity of our choice! We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here (click on the Crafting for Charity button on their FB page). Thank you!

Jess and I are super excited to share today's post! Back in the fall, we had a fun double photo shoot with both of our families. Choosing a photographer is a big decision. It's an investment and you want to be sure that whoever is taking the pictures will really capture your family as they truly are.
This is where Stacy comes in. I might have broken some laws, but I used my snipping tool to steal her picture from her website! Stacy is crazy talented, I'm a snooper and so I kept looking at her pictures SOOC (straight out of the camera) and they looked amazing. I'm jealous of her skills, but thankfully have her around to take pictures of my family!

Stacy is super laid back, which is a must for someone with kids. Her fun approach to a session made it really enjoyable and not like my JCPenney torture experiences of the past. My kids played in the leaves, ran around the park, climbed fences, and lived life just as we would on any old day (although dressed in semi-coordinating outfits-ha!) Now for a peek at her incredible work with one of the cutest families I know.
The Jackson Family… Since I'm writing this post, I get to add comments, in where I want, so I have to tell you a funny story. See the picture on the left? Jess used one really similar to it for her Christmas card… well, about half the world, saw the"waiting room" and thought she was prego! HA! I was loving it. They were really at a train station, but apparently"waiting room" is code for"we're announcing we're pregnant!"

Miss Campbell has the most amazing eyes ever.

Charlie or Charlie-man as we always call him is beyond adorable.

cute couple alert!

The Mangin Clan… Apparently a family of 6 is a clan in my mind… Eric and I had never had family pictures taken. Can you believe that? 10 years and this was our first full family session.

Boys vs. Girls

I totally snagged this idea from my blogger pal Beth. It could be one of my favorite pics ever! E and I aren't touchy feely people, so this pic is just perfect!

I'm a sucker for a good shoe pic. I'm thinking this is going to be blown up very, very large and put in my bedroom. I have to tell you that Kira (far left) calls those shoes her"Pumped up Kicks" My kids make me laugh.

Thank you Stacy for this picture. It's worth so much more than I can explain!

Of course we had to have some blogger pics… Did we mention we're total dorks? And how did I end up on the bottom!

Jess and I never had pictures of us together before this blog came along. I'm so glad we do now.

I'm now a huge believer in family pictures and I will be calling Stacy this summer for another session! If you want someone that's talented, great with your family, and reasonably priced Stacy is your girl!
Go check out her website and then contact her to get some pics done! Make sure you let her know we sent you, then she'll know to take extra good care of you!
Have an awesome weekend!

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 man, we love a good giveaway. I mean, really, who doesn't like to win free things?! We've talked about our friend Stacy multiple times because we can't get enough of her photography. Just recently Salvatori Photography did an awesome story session of Monica and her family. Basically, she followed their family around one Saturday morning to capture their everyday moments and they turned out fabulous…
(This is one of Monica's favorites from the session)

Last year, she captured our entire families and as a result, we have photos we will love for a lifetime.

One of her photos even graces my walls in an almost life-sized way- remember my huge shaped frame? And this picture of my kiddos (they were so little!) is just priceless.

And, well, it's pretty nice to have a great photo of me and my best friend.

For Mother's Day, we are so excited to be able to give away a photography session with Salvatori Photography!

Here are the prize details you need to know:

~ 1 hour Session in one location ~ Up to 5 people ~ Over a $300 Value ~ Must live within 25 miles of Perkasie PA ~ Can't not be redeemed for cash value -Must be redeemed by August 1, 2013
Isn't this AWESOME?!! Just think, one of you could surprise your mom, sister, grandma or wife with a photography session for Mother's Day! I would be over the moon with a gift like that (*hint hint, hubby!).
**Please make sure you click to LIKE Salvatori Photography- don't just click I'm a fan, unless you already are. Thanks!**
a Rafflecopter giveaway

We'll announce the lucky winner next Friday, April 19th! Good luck!: )

P.S, We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to a charity we love- Worthwhile Wear. We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here. Thanks!!

I'm not a huge fan of spring, mainly because I LOVE summer and get a tad impatient for the hot pool-weather days. However, I do love seeing all the new spring trends, products, and ideas. Today we're sharing a few Spring Must Haves from our fabulous sponsors. We so appreciate our sponsors. They make this blog possible and we're so grateful for that! Make sure you check them out and tell them RHBC sent you! ********************************************************************************** Remember the awesome artwork we made for Jess' house? Well, it wouldn't have looked half as amazing without the mad-photo-skills of Stacy Salvatori. She's local to Bucks County and would be a great choice for your family pictures or next big event. Visit Stacy's Website

I'm love with the Just for Girls Collection from Red Letter Words. How fun and springy are these prints? I plan to order a few for Kenzie's room in the next few weeks. I love art that looks cool and will also daily encourage my tween (holy cow that is the first time I've written that. I can't believe I have a ten year old!) Visit Red Letter Words

#1- Make 5 Dinners in One Hour… that's NO JOKE! These crazy affordable meal plans with shopping lists and directions will rock your world. Head over to their Facebook page to try one week for FREE!

#2- We're so glad that 31 Gifts jumped on the Grey & Yellow bandwagon and came out with this adorable line! I'd love an organizing utility tote in this pattern! Contact Mandy to get yours (you can get me one too!)

#3- Have you visited My Best Friend's Hair yet? You definitely need to. If you have a stylist you love, go let the world know by leaving a review or if you have yet to find the right stylist for you, head to their site to read other users reviews and find yourself a rockin' stylist today!

#4- I require a perfect spring candle in my kitchen this time of year. CJ's EcoChic Candles smell amazing, and because they're soy they last forever! (ok, not literally, but figuratively). They best part… you're not going to pay $25 like you would at the big chain stores and you're supporting a great small business.

#5-This is a spoiler alert! Remember the SuperFab room makeover we're currently working on? Well, we have Royal Design Studios to thank for one of the amazing design elements in the room. They have the best stencil selection around! Check out their new and improved website and they have an idea blog with all kinds of inspiration. Guess who was featured there for our Nate Show stencil project? Visit their new website!

#6- Kotton Pickin' Kute is more than just hats! For Spring you need to check out the fun headbands she offers. Seriously, that baby is adorable!

#7- Guess what?? Liberty Thrift listened to its shoppers and extended their hours! Woohoo! It's now open M-Sat 9-7pm. We have a fun outing in the works with Liberty and can't wait to share the details with you!

#8- Moo & Puppy is our favorite digital scrapbook company out there! We love the preppy look of this madras paper pack. (I'll confess that in the 90s I loved and wore lots of Abercrombie before they went all half-naked. But man, I do love me some preppy styles!) Moo & Puppy is giving you 15% off with the code RHBC15.

#9- Jet Upholstery is more than just chairs and cushions! Look at that amazing bed! Even for these DIYers some projects are better left to the pros! Visit Jet's Website for more info!

Those links should keep you busy for a while! I actually have about 15 tabs open on my computer right now, because I want to place a ton of orders! Thanks again to our sponsors! You're the best!

Well, it's been two awesome (and far too quick) weeks since our little man arrived, so I thought I would give you a glimpse of the tiny person who has stolen our hearts. He surprised us by making his appearance almost four weeks early, but he's healthy and growing like a weed! You might remember that when I announced this pregnancy, I had mixed emotions. But those days seem long gone because I can't imagine life with out our new addition.
This is Bennett:

Of course, I had to call in my friend Stacy from Salvatori Photography to snap some pictures of my baby before he grew out of that fleeting newborn phase. Stacy is also the one who set up an awesome gender reveal photo shoot for us.

This girl does not disappoint! Photographing newborns is no joke- it involves a lot of patient waiting, a space heater, and four adults trying to position a floppy head. I gotta say, though, she had a pretty cute subject to work with!

I seriously can't get enough of these pictures! If you need ANY kind of special event photographed and are in the area, you need to call Stacy. You won't regret it! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since Bennett came so early, I didn't have the chance to finish his nursery, but in the last few weeks we've made some progress. I should be able to reveal it to you later this week, but here's a sneak peek of what we have going on…

Can't wait! A big thank you to all of you who have wished us well and congratulated us on our new baby- we are so grateful and feel so loved. This blogging community is seriously the best. <3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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**

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**

You probably remember (or at least we hope you do) our pallet wall room for my son Callen… If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE, but today I wanted to focus on the Wooden memo board we made.

We had the room about 95% done and we realized that there wasn't anything over the bed… The original plan for the room was to put the bed on the pallet wall and then use pallet wood to create a platform-style base with all kinds of cool built-ins. It sounded amazing in theory, and looked great when we arranged it that way… BUT I had terrible thoughts of Cal falling out of the window (and it's way up high- Yikes!).

So, safety over design! We switched the layout and now needed something on the left wall… Hmm… Jess and I had this piece of barnwood sitting in my garage for a while, just waiting for some inspiration… I don't know that either of us really had visions of it being in a toddler's bedroom, but for CWTS, it was totally worth it.

The first step was to give it the same sort of whitewash we used on the wall, so that the wood tones matched. As you can see, I made about a 50% attempt to cover up my granite countertop… (the hubs wasn't around to see! hehe) See how much a simple whitewash can change the look of the wood?

Since this was an afterthought project, I used all supplies I already had on hand. This one quart has done so many projects. This one, this one, and this one! I decided one half would be a chalk board for the little man.

I really lightly sanded down the inside wood and then just slapped it on. It wasn't perfectly smooth, but chalkboard paint is pretty thick and covers a multitude of sins!

Then I had to come up with something for the other side… I had a leftover roll of cork in the basement, and thankfully it was JUST long enough! Phew!

I did this the lazy blogger way… I pressed the cork in, made a crease at the sides and then roughly cut it. I DON'T recommend doing it that way… it was really wobbly and way far from perfect. I used my staple gun to attach the cork to the wood. to

See, you end up with yucky, uneven sides. Now I had to cover the edges up.

I had this leftover Halloween ribbon, but clearly orange polka-dot wasn't going to match. Have no fear, I'm willing to spraypaint anything and everything! I grabbed some metalic silver paint and went to town (sorry, no pic of that process… I really thought I took one??)

Originally, I planned on being finished once the ribbon was added, but just before we brought it into the room, we walked past the Anthro knock off dresser and thought adding some stenciling to this piece would be the perfect finishing touch!

I got these simple stencils at Lowes for under $4! Sweet!!

Of course I didn't plan out how far in the alphabet I'd get, so we just started and ended where it ended. My hubs thought that was weird, but Jess and I had no problem with it.

Isn't it super cool? Seriously, I hope this kid understands how awesome his room is. A 2 year old has my favorite pallet wall, our Anthro dresser, AND this wooden memo board! Ah, to be a toddler again…(actually, there is zero part of me that wants to be two, but it just kind of finished the paragraph)

So there you have it! I think it was the perfect accent for over the bed, and now I don't have nightmares of little children falling from windows! Creepy!

I wanted to mention, that if you didn't happen to have this exact piece of barnwood floating around (which I'm kind of thinking most of you don't…) you could use some plywood and pallets to trim around the edges and make the divider. It would be easy peasy and then totally match the wall.
So, how many of you have awesome kids' bedrooms, and blah master bedrooms? (I know my master is still builder white with no furniture!)

P.S. Jess and I both had family pictures taken last night by the Amazing Stacy Salvatori and we're so stinkin' excited to see all the pics! Here's a sneak peek that we got last night! My oldest (and yes, she's only 9!)

And Jess' insanely adorable little family. Love those kiddos!

HGTV Magazine is one of my very favorite things to read- I get so much inspiration in each issue… and now… wait for it… My freakin' piano is featured!! AHHHH!!! Who knew painting my piano green would be our golden ticket to the HGTV train?!?

If you haven't picked up the October issue, you really should. Then you should frame page 54… and then maybe put it above your bed. Hmm, too much?

The editors at HGTV Mag called and asked me all about my color choice for the piano. I love that they included my quote about"spunk"… In 7th grade I was given the nickname"Spunky" from one of my teachers. I guess it hasn't gone away!!

If you missed all the fun details of my piano makeover and DIY Wood Shim Wall Art, click HERE for the full post with all the info!

Okay, now I have to mention the light sconce. Our blog sponsor Brad from Lucent Lampworks custom made it for me! I explained my vision and then the two of us built it together (I kind just smiled and Brad did all the work)

Brad is so creative and amazing at his craft! If you want lights that go far beyond the run of the mill, in-stock options check out Lucent!

I also have to thank our friend Stacy from Salvatori Photography. She came over to help me take pictures of my piano- and man that lady takes awesome pics! If you're in the PA area give her a call! Salvatori Photography

Alright, I've got to go run around the block or do something to burn off all this excited energy!! (If you know me well, you know there's about a 2.7% chance of me running-ha!)
We're so excited and thankful for this awesome feature and are just feelin' pretty darn blessed by all of you and your support! Thanks a million guys!!

Before we get into today's post, we want to announce the winner of the Mother's Day Giveaway from Salvatori Photography…

Congrats Holly! We know your session pics are going to be amazing! If you missed it, Wednesday I shared the awesome story session pics Salvatori Photography did for my family. Check it out here. Even if you didn't win, Stacy would love to take pics for you! Contact her before her schedule for late spring/summer is full! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't play the piano… well, that's not entirely true, I took lessons for about two years, so there are about 3 songs I can pluck out- Ode to Joy, Hey Jude (talk about random!), and one nameless song that is kind of my signature song. Long story short, I stink! Eric however, is an amazing pianist. I absolutely love listening to him play. Our kids have names for all the different songs,"The Angry Song" is a fast song and the kids run around our house like crazy people when he plays it. I love watching him play and it reminds me how crazy talented (in so many areas) my hubs is.
As much as I love the sound, I have never been a fan of the look of the oak piano. It's just so dated and not me…

Because the piano was so blah, I let two years go by with our front living room looking pretty much like this… no style, Eric's choice of colonial blue on the walls, and just an overall hot mess.

My living room is attached to my dining room, so the difference between the two rooms was pretty stark…

We finally decided to take the plunge and paint the piano! I knew I was going to for ages, but I didn't know what color, so I wanted until I was positive!

I decided on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antibes Green. I'm sure you know all about ASCP, but if you don't it's one of the coolest paint products out there! It is a chalk paint, but not chalkboard paint. Basically it adheres to all kinds of surfaces and wait for it… you don't have to sand!! Boyah!

Since I didn't have to waste time sanding, I got right to taping. I needed to make sure that I was super careful and no paint would damage the piano since the hubs actually uses it.

The prep work took me about 5 minutes and then it was time to paint. Eric was working on painting stripes on the ceiling for me (post coming on those soon) and we just put"Hit List" on Fios and got our painting groove on.

Yeah, I don't look too thrilled, but I promise I was…

How's that for a comparison… bye bye nasty oak!

I did two coats, but after the first I knew I was in love!

Chalk paint looks really uneven when it's drying, but have no fear- it looks nice and smooth once it's fully dry.

I used Annie Sloan dark wax to seal the piano and give it the darker, rich color I wanted. I'm not going to give you any tips on that part because I completely did it wrong! Apparently I was supposed to wax with clear wax and then dark… I just tell people, I was going for a more imperfect look! Ha!

The bench got ASCP on the legs, but to add a little awesomeness, I upholstered it with this fabric from Spoonflower.

Ahh! I love the fabric with the green!

So what do you think of the before and after? I hear so many people say,"but you can't paint it- it's REAL wood!" and I want to go on the record saying,"It can be REAL wood and still be REALLY ugly!" Don't be afraid to paint!!

And now for an onslaught of after pictures… I'm so happy to finally have a living room that I love!

And don't forget… We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to the charity of our choice! We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here (like their page and then click on the Crafting for Charity button on their FB page). Thank you!

And just because this absolutely made my night… look at the picture I found on my computer! I recently taught Kaden how to use PicMonkey and apparently he's having a good old time with it! I actually might frame this pic I love it so much…"ther is monsters"

Have a great weekend and watch out for those darn monsters!

We absolutely could not do what we do without the support of some amazing people and businesses! As we head into Fall, we wanted to share a few of our Fall favs from some of our favorite people, Be sure to take notice of the coupon codes and special deals going on right now!

1. You know I've got baby boys on the brain, so I'm totally loving htis Joshua 1:9 Boys Print from Red Letter Words.
2. This adorable Dearborn Orange paper pack includes the perfect colors for Fall and with all those amazing patterns, you can create some really cute stuff! Use the discount code EC2blog20 for 20% off your order. Also, for a limited time, pay only $50 for 50 different paper packs - that's amazing! You can see what we do with our printable scrapbook paper here. Seriously…endless possibilities!

   

3. If you're local and need some professional design advice or just help getting started, Bare Root Designs is the place to go! Great design classes and rekindling the art and love to sewing are just a few of the things offered1 Make sure you check for upcoming events and classes on their website.
4. I actually almost squealed when I saw this Wall lighting with Opal Glass Shade from Lucent Lampworks. We can testify first-hand that Brad's lights are legit- gorgeous AND well-made (we've even used a couple custom lights on Knock It Off!) Save 10% off your order with the code EC2tenoff.

   

5. We are all about stenciling walls, but have you thought of stenciling furniture? This trendy-cool Small Step Up Triangle Stencil from Royal Design Studio is the perfect size for that boring piece of furniture you have sitting around that you just didn't know what to do with! Use the code ECC10 to get 10% off your order.
6. Window films from Artscape are such a great way to gain privacy or to add style to a plain window. They're easy to adhere and are non-permanent, plus there are some really cool designes like this New Leaf Design.

   

7. Again with the orange, but this time it's on something you can wear! This Tangerine Braided Headband from Henle Headbands is sweet and simple, but a little punchy with that orange color. I'm digging this color for Fall, for sure! And be on the lookout- I wore a Henle headband in one of our episodes and it was so cute and really comfortable!
8. Of course, along with a baby comes the need for a diaper bag! I've never been disappointed with Thirty-One gift bags and kind of think this Casual Cargo Purse is just the diaper bag for me! And if you hurry, you can c hoose any purse for 50% off when you spend $35 dollars in August! Done and done.: )

   

9. Welcome to our newest sponsor, Misty with Stella & Dot! Stella & Dot sells gorgeous jewelry, bags, scarves and more. And f or every $50 spent on Stella and Dot website before tax and shipping between NOW and September 9th, you will receive AN ENTRY TO WIN the gorgeous Frida Necklace Hello, color and more color. A fashion forward statement piece that brightens up any look and outlook. Wear it with a t-shirt and jeans or wear it out for an evening on the town. The Frida is 17" long with 2" extender, hematite plating, and lead and nickel safe.
10. Have you read Smart, Blonde & Crafty, yet? The completely FREE August & September edition has a great question & answer article with Karianne from Thistlewood Farms, lots of creative kids snacks for back-to-school and fun game ideas for your little ones. You're sure to find loads of inspiration on every page.
11. Fall is my favorite time of year to burn candles! We cant get enough of CJS Eco Chic's Heirloom Candles in scents like Brown Sugar & Fig, Apple Cider, Amaretto Spice and Cranberry Apple Marmalade. And get this: A l arge 16 oz candle is only $13!! Plus, because these candles are soy, they last a really long time!

12. Our favorite thrift store, Liberty Thrift is having their 15th Anniversary Sales through the month of August at all five locations! Check out the specials page. to see what they have going on this week!

13. And finally, we have to give a shout out to our favorite photographer, Stacy from Salvatori Photography. If you're in need of amazing photos and are in the area, you need to call her! She took family photos of us as we revealed the gender of baby #3 and this one of my son is a total gem that I will love forever. She's totally booked for Fall, but it's never too early to schedule your session for Spring! This girl is busy, so get on it, people!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now is the time to think Christmas presents, people! It will be here before you know it, and trust me, you can't go wrong with ANY of these incredible items. And remember- this is just a sampling of what they offer. Head over to their sites and give them all some EC2 love!: )

Happy Monday, guys! We've had a busy weekend filming back to back episodes for Knock It Off, but we wanted to pop in and give you a round-up of our favorite summer items from some of our favorite companies! These wonderfully talented people make this blog possible, and we've gotta say, they're stuff is stinkin' awesome! Check them out, show them some love and don't forget to look for special coupon codes just for you!

1. I am LOVING this Tangerine Braid Headband from Henle Headbands- that color just calls my name!
2. Monica is obsessed with these Slim Cool Salmon flip-flops from Havaianas that come in lots of cool colors.
3.Isn't this Flower Leather Cuff Bracelet from Belmonili super cute? You ALWAYS get free shipping within continental US. Use the code BelmoniliECC for 10% off your order!

4. Our absolute favorite thrift store is having a 50% off sale on all media items at Liberty Thrift Stores, which- need we remind you?- includes books! Thrift stores are treasure troves of books with great covers, perfect for styling your home. (Picture Source)
5. Guys, you know we love a good DIY project, but some of you complain you don't where to begin or even what to do once you start. You have no excuse anymore because Bareroot Design Studios offers Design Workshops that will teach you how to get the look you want for your home. For all you locals, Bareroot Design Studio is hosting an OPEN HOUSE on Saturday, June 15th from 1-3pm. You do not want to miss this!

6. We have shared our love for Lucent Lampworks over and over again, but this Cylinder Glass Shade with Antique Bronze Down Rod just made us fall in love all over again. Save 10% when you use the code EC2tenoff.

7. I love the simple design of this Blessings Carafe from Blessings Unlimited. What a beautiful way to dress up your summer table.
8. This Affection Small Art Print from Red Letter Words is such a thoughtful and stylish gift for all of those graduates in your life. With lots of different saying, you'll be able to find the perfect one for that baby shower, wedding or graduation gift and you know what the best part is? They're only $19 each!
9. We love our phrases from 163 Design Company (see them here and here) and now they've come out with these NEST Chalkboard painted letter s, which are awesome. So cool just as they are, but even cooler that you can doodle all over them!

10. For a non-green-person like me, this Garden Planning Kit from Clean Mama Printables is clutch. This baby will help you achieve the garden you've always wanted It includes: *Planter Planner *Garden Plan Grid *Plant Record (keep track of all your plants in one place — glue on a large envelope and keep your receipts and plant info to keep track of plants that need to be returned or relocated) *Garden Plans — This Year + Next Year *Yearly Annuals, Perennials, and Trees + Shrubs Tracker *Yearly Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs Tracker 11. I know it says"Spring" in the title, but this Riley Spring Paper Pack from Moo & Puppy screams summer to me! Are you making a summer bucket list this year? Use this paper as a background for your big list of activities for your family! Use EC215 for 15% off your order!
12. Don't forget to check out the c urrent issue of Smart, Blonde and Craft y for loads of fun and creative DIY ideas to fill your summer and it's totally FREE! Also, make sure you take a look at all the fun blogs listed- you might come across one you've never heard of before!

13. I'm sorry but these Typewriter Key Bracelet from Junxtaposition are just so dang fun. Choose your design or pick one out as a one-of-a-kind gift for a friend.
14. I love the smell of citrus in the summer, and the NEW! Wood Wick Candles from CJS EcoChic are soy so that sweet smell will last a loooooong time.
15. Remember that faux stained glass window I made two years ago? I used this Artscape Window Film. It adheres to any window, is easy to customize and is a breeze to install. This stuff makes a HUGE statement without working hard for it. Plus, it can add some privacy and style where there is none!

16. I got this XXL Utility tote from Thirty-One Gifts and it is fabulous! It can hold so much stuff, and it easily collapses when I'm ready to put it away. I'm a huge fan of the nautical look, so the navy and white just stole my heart.: ) My bag holds a lot of the typical summer items you need when you're a mom of two little ones: towels, swimmies, suntan lotion, toys, but still looks good! C heck out Mandy's guest post HERE to hear more about her story and how she was able to leave her full-time job when she joined 31! Go ahead and contact Mandy at hajelfamily@yahoo.com or check out her website for more info.

17. We've recently found the DIYers solution to dirty, nasty nails. Gel manicures at Oasis Salon. Monica has been telling the entire world that her polish is lasting over 3 weeks! I have to admit, they do look awesome even with all our DIYing. If you're local you HAVE to try out their amazing pedicures and gel manicures. We can't get enough. Visit Oasis, tell them EC2 sent you and get 10% OFF one visit!

18. Ahhhh, how amazing is this Herringbone Shuffle Stencil from Royal Design Studio? I've been wracking my brain trying to find a place for it in my house. Think the baby would like it? Use the code ECC10 for 10% off your order.

19. And last, but not least, our favorite family photographer (and the official photographer of EC2. Ha!) Stacy of Salvatori Photography. This girl is seriously talented and has a fun personality to boot! She just did our gender reveal photo shoot and a few months ago, photographed Monica's family doing their thing on a Saturday morning. Make sure you like her facebook page because she's always running fun contests. We promise that you will LOVE working with Stacy and will have fabulous photos that will last forever!
Ok, folks, time to shop! Have fun.: )

My Billy Bookcase that is!

Source: ikea.com via Ashley on Pinterest
I honestly think about 90% of people have had an IKEA bookshelf in their home at some point. I'm pretty sure you can find four in mine right now. The problem I have with the Billy bookshelves is that they don't have anything unique or cool about them. They're just functional. So, I decided to"Pimp my Billy" and bring on the DIY. I didn't go too crazy, but fabric was a definite must! I did this pre-blog, so I don't have step-by-step pictures, but here's the after shot.

The fabric totally works with the accent chairs in the room…

but, try as I may to like it… I don't!

I reluctantly let was thrilled to have the hubs pick out the paint color in this room and I think it's way too dark enjoy the challenges this color brings!: ) The fabric however is just blah and doesn't pop at all.

So, here's the new fabric…

I think It's gonna do the trick! This week I have to go away on a work trip, but it's the first project I plan to tackle when I get home!
Once we heard about The Nate Show coming to our house to tape, I went into high speed to get the house semi-ready. One area that was pretty weak-sauce were these bookshelves. I feel like I threw random books and stuff on and went"Ta-da!" So, this week I went on a hunt for new accessories and armed myself with oodles of spray paint!

I honestly adore my little Mr. and Mrs, but I love them even more in their new colors. Check back tomorrow to see what fun you can have with just a little paint!

**PS. Today is your LAST chance to enter our giveaway to win two tickets to see our live Nate Berkus Show taping in NYC on September 1st. Click here for all the details.

**PSS. If you missed Friday's awesome post by our guest blogger, Stacy, of Salvatori Photography, and her AMAZING giveaway (1 hour photography lesson plus 10 of her best photos of your kids), today is your lucky day. We're extending the giveaway until Thursday and will announce the winner on Friday.
GO ENTER NOW!

This Fab Find is kind of silly, but is truly knock-your-socks-off delicious.

Many of you grow your own veggies and may be looking for something to do with all those ripe tomatoes and cucumbers, or many of you, like me, may hit up your local roadside stand to help them get rid of all those ripe tomatoes and cucumbers. This recipe from my mother-in-law is so simple, but I managed to cut and eat 5 tomatoes and 3 big cucumbers in 2 days because of it. Are you ready? Here it is:

Just add enough blush wine vinaigrette (I used Brianna's which is to die for, but any blush wine vinaigrette will do) to cover the veggies and let marinate a few hours in the fridge. And voila! A refreshing, delicious salad to enjoy on these last few summer evenings…or afternoons. Probably most of you won't eat it in the morning like I did. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, we have a winner of the Salvatori Photography giveaway:
Congratulations, Amy Z!

Just email us, Amy, and we'll hook you up with Stacy so you can schedule your"momography" tutorial (no, that's not mamography, for those of you who were wondering. Do you really think we'd give away one of those?!! True, it could save your life, but really…). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And finally, announcing…

Come back next week to get yourself in the back-to-school spirit!
Have a FABULOUS weekend!