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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'll be quite honest, unless it's something I can wear on my finger or as a dress, I'm not all that into things that glitter. However, Tulip sent us some products from their Tulip Shimmer line to try out. I DO love all sorts of metallics at Christmas, so I knew that I could come up with something and maybe fall in love with glitter in the process. Well, mission accomplished!

Luckily for me, I scored two white placemats at the thrift store for a dollar a piece. Woohoo! That makes me excited. You can probably find something similar at Target or Walmart for a few bucks, as well. So with my two placemats, plus a box full of Tulip Shimmer products, I was ready to get going!

I love getting packages like these in the mail! For this project, I decided to use the Fashion Glitter, Fashion Glitter bond, and a few cling stencils. (Haha, all that glitter it makes laugh)

Here's how to make your own: 1. Decide on your design. For the first placemat, I used the sewn blue border as a guide, and then placed stencils that said"merry" and"bright" near the bottom.

For the second placemat, I placed painters tape at random increments to create a few irregular stripes (a la Williams-Sonoma). Be sure to press the edges of the tape down so that the glitter doesn't bleed underneath.

2. Brush the bonding glue on with a small paint brush where you're planning on placing the glitter. The glue is permanent and washable, which makes it perfect for any project that includes fabric.

3. Sprinkle the glitter liberally on the glue and let it dry for 2 hours. At this point, I was really thinking this was going to turn out horribly. I mean, just look at it!

4. Remove the stencils and tape. There's nothing more satisfying- and frightening!- than peeling back painters tape or stencils. I dare you to disagree.

5. Shake the glitter off of the placemats and breathe a deep sigh of relief that your placemats are so chic!

Please excuse me now while I hit you with a whole bunch of"after" shots of these beauties.

Don't you think a set of these would make a great Christmas gift? 

I was super happy with how crisp the lines came out!

Don't worry, we'll share those cute wooden tag ornaments with you next week. You can see loads of other project ideas and helpful tips when you follow Tulip here: Web: http://www.ilovetocreate.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovetocreate
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ilovetocreate
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ilovetocreate/
I'm officially a glitter-loving fool! What about you?!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Also, don't forget that our sponsors are running a whole bunch of awesome sales today through this weekend! Happy shopping!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Linking up to: Tutorials & Tips

Ok, this is the last thing I'll write about Charlie's 2nd birthday party- I promise!: ) We were super excited when we were asked to do a project using the new Tulip Tie Dye Kit. True story: when I first met Monica she wore a lot of tie dye t-shirts. For a Bucks County girl like me, that was really strange, but all that tie dye know-how came in pretty handy for this project!

This kit is really cool. Instead of the old-fashioned method, they provide you with five squeeze bottles so you can place the dye exactly where you want it. Of course, we didn't use it that way. We're rebels like that. We used a dropcloth for the pennant banner and the sign because we thought it would give this project an aged look, plus it's cheap! Lay down the plastic cover over the surface you're going to be working on.

Make sure you wear protective gear…

…and dress the part. You don't want to get this dye everywhere. (Not that we did, or anything Nope, not us. We're clean project-doers.)

Create a template for your pennant and trace it onto the dropcloth. We cut out about 10 triangles.

It was really easy to mix the dye because you just add water to the powder in the squeeze bottles provided. No mess…at least, at first.

We decided on dip-dying our pennants, so we poured the dye into bowls and dipped the tips into the dye. We held it there until it was sufficiently saturated, pulled it out and wrung it out a bit.

Then we laid them out to dry before we dipped the other ends. (Note the towel we destroyed in this process in the right hand corner.)

They got this great blue jean and weathered red color almost immediately and we were so excited! The colors were perfect for my All-American boy themed party.

For the sign, we measured a 2x3 piece of dropcloth and cut it out.

Monica used the traditional method of twisting and tying random sections with rubber bands,

and then dipping them in the dye. After the drop cloth was dyed, we wrapped it in a plastic bag and let it soak in over night (just follow the directions on the box and you can't mess up!)

The next day, we hot-glued rope to the backs of the pennants right along the seam of the dropcloth. That made it easy to glue on a straight line!

We left a lot of rope at either end so we could tie our pennant banner up when we hung it.

You're supposed to wash these after your done, but we didn't think they would get a lot of wear and tear, so we skipped this step. We just ironed it a bit before writing"Happy Birthday Charlie!" on it with sharpie.


We hung them up at the party and were thrilled with the way they look!

I have plans to hang the pennant banner in Charlie's new reading nook, but that will have to wait until after vacation next week.

This was a fun project (albeit, very messy!) For tons more tie dye inspiration and how-to's check out Tulip Tie Dye at these places:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ilovetocreate (@ilovetocreate) Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ilovetocreate and http://www.facebook.com/ILoveTulipFashionArt Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ilovetocreate When was the last time, you tie dyed? Did you ever consider trying it out for home decor?

* Tie Dye Kits are available at Walmart, Walmart Canada, Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics, and Meijer. Tulip Tie Dye Kit contents and colors may vary by store. *Disclosure: I was provided with the Tulip Tie Dye Kit and Surface Cover for this project. I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with iLoveToCreate.com and Blueprint Social. All opinions and photographs are mine.

Can you guys believe Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! Holy Cow, I seriously can't believe it! You might know this already, but Eric and I are headed to Europe (just the two of us!) for 8 days over Thanksgiving. I am beyond excited, but one little thing has me a bit sad… I'm going to miss Black Friday and Cyber Monday! If you know me well, you know this is a major bummer- I'm fairly hard core about it.
So, when Consumer Crafts offered to send us some products to help promote their amazing Cyber Monday deals- we were completely on board. It was kind of like replacement Black Friday for me. Here's how it all went down… (click on the little gear and change the quality to HD before you watch!)
You shouldn't be surprised by anything in that video- you already knew we're total nerd-balls! Anyhow, we're super excited about all the products we got and we have some fun projects planned for this Holiday Season! If your planning on some fun crafting and DIYs you've got to get in on Consumer Crafts Cyber Monday Deal!

They also have some doorbuster deals starting Black Friday and continuing through the weekend (while supplies last). This was our first time using Consumer Crafts and we'll definitely be using it again- they have the products we love, awesome prices, crazy low shipping and let's be honest… we could all use more"Little Tiny Canvases" in our lives! Ha!

Visit Consumer Crafts here:


Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ConsumerCrafts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/consumer_crafts


Crafts Unleashed blog (for inspiration): http://www.craftsunleashed.com
Disclosure

Welcome to my spooktacular Halloween foyer! I can't even type that without laughing. My kids adore Halloween- I have no idea how it happened, but it's one of their favorite days of the whole year. I usually only decorate my mantle for the holiday, but this year I thought I'd take it up a notch with a mini foyer makeover.

Just for comparison's sake, here's my foyer most days…

Jess and I were asked to review a new product called Scrapbook Attitude. Neither of us do paper scrapbooking anymore, but their printable scrapbooking film is really versatile. It makes image transfers a breeze. No more printing on paper and then killing myself to perfectly cut out my image. The film is clear, so only what you want to be seen will. Score!

We worked together on a little image transfer accent pillow and the whole process took us about 15 minutes. I love a quick and easy DIY!

The process for getting the image transfer onto the pillow was really simple. Actually slip covering the pillow…not so much (we really need to take a sewing class!)
I went to one of my favorite graphics websites The Graphics Fairy to find a vintage Halloween image. As soon as I saw this skull with all the anatomical labels, I knew I'd found a winner. I'm not into all the scary creepo stuff of Halloween, but something about the juxtaposition of this skull and my fun orange polka dot fabric just worked for me.
Once I had my image, I added a black background in Picmonkey and then printed it onto the Scrapbook Attitude paper (print on the shiny side). If you're printing words, like I did, make sure you set your printer to Mirror Image.

I had this small bird pillow that no longer works with my daughter's bedroom, but I don't think the bird-skull thing was working out. Ha! I needed a slip cover.

While the fabric was still flat, I adhered the image using good old Elmer's Glue.

I used a dry towel to help flatten out the image and rub out any clumps of glue.

To set the image more permanently, I used my iron on medium heat (with no steam) and ironed through a towel. It sealed it really well.

At first you will notice some unevenness like this, but don't worry, as the glue dries and the image cools, it all smooths out. Man, I was relieved!

Then it was time to wrap my pillow. Yes, I totally know sewing this would have been so much easier, and looked better, but A. My sewing skills stink and B. I had done the wrap trick before on one of our Nate Show episodes and it worked like a charm that time.

I basically just wrapped it like a present and used some hot glue to attach the orange fabric to itself. I'm not going to show you the back of my pillow (blush) but Jess may or may not have posted an embarrassing picture on our Facebook page. Check it out if you want the real, behind the scenes look!
I'm pretty jazzed up about my little foyer makeover and my kids actually think It's pretty cool to have a blogger for a mom (for once!)

What do you think of my Spooktacular Foyer?
(Ha! There's the cheese again!)
And, any interest in giving us sewing lessons!?!

To learn more about Scrapbooking Attitude check them out here:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scrapbookingattitude
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/Scrap_Attitude
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/scrapbookingattitude

We might have come up with a way to ensure that your house is the coolest on the block this Halloween… At least it would get my kids' vote!

The Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" is SO NOT your Mama's Candy Bowl! It's a fun way for trick or treaters to choose their own candy or a treat- If they can get past our silly monsters!
Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" Tutorial
We were quick to respond YES when Martha Stewart Crafts asked if we wanted to be part of a creative Halloween Team. We love Martha and her products, so it was a no-brainer. Then we had to come up with a creative idea and honestly this one just popped into my head. I was at dinner, so I ran the idea by my board of trustees (AKA my 4 kids) and got their seal of approval.

The fun thing about this project is that you can totally customize it any way you'd like to, but I'll give you the 411 on how I did things.
I started on the chalkboard wooden labels first since they'd need to dry.

I used Martha's Multi-Surface Pearl paint on the wooden plaques that I picked up at Michael's for 79 cents. I'm not making this up, I really was amazed at how smooth the paint was. It probably was a combo of a good brush and good paint, but I actually begged the hubs to come look at how smooth this paint is! Shockingly, he wasn't nearly as excited as I was.
I then used chalkboard paint on the mini wood tags that I also grabbed at Michael's for 29 cents. Score!

Once everything was dry, I used hot glue to attach the two together. I planned to use chalk to label the plaques, but for pictures a paint pen worked better.
Next, it was time to make my monster mouths on the presentation board.

I bought a foam core presentation board because I think it's easier to work with than the cardboard ones. I traced my circles with a bowl and then cut them out using a utility knife (that manly hand is not mine, the hubs was my helper on this project- just FYI!)
Once we had holes, it was time to bring my monsters to life.

I went with really big googly eyes so that Mr.Monster looked fun and silly and not creepo for little kids. I bought a sheet of foam for the teeth and varied between pointy fangs and chunky square teeth. (The teeth were Jess' brilliant idea when I was brainstorming my project with her! It's awesome to have such a creative BFF.) I used hot glue to adhere the eyes and the teeth were also hot glued, but to the backside of the board.
Martha has an awesome collection of cardboard stencils and as soon as I saw the triangle, I knew we needed a pennant banner.

I traced and hand cut the pennants onto cardstock. I used our Silhouette to cut out my letters and just used some good old Elmer's to put it together. I knew from the start that I wanted to have fun, white lights illuminating my Monsters! I was talking to my hubs about a time (a long time ago) when I used a display board with lights to write him a love message and he totally was like,"Umm that must have been some other husband. I don't remember it at all!" Ha! Glad it made such an impact on him. In his defense, I do think it was about 10 years ago.

To add lights, we just predrilled holes for each light bulb. We had to try a few bit sizes before getting one that was just right. You want it big enough to fit the light, but tight enough to hold it in place. Once your holes are ready, just pop the lights through the back side.
Then we were ready to fancy it up a bit…

I used more of Martha's stencils and paint to add a skinny chevron at the bottom. I also added some fun details to my monsters accessories. The neon green paint is such a fun color and my kids told me it was cool. (Cool mom points for me!)
And what would a candy"bowl" be without candy??

I divided up my candy and hot glued the bags to the back of each monster mouth. In retrospect, I might swap them out for larger, brown bags so I don't have to refill it 24-7, but this let you see what was in the bags. I've had my kids try this out and it's really simple to get your hand in and out with your loot. The glue is holding up well too. I made sure we banged it around a bit as a trial.
While I was planning this project I started thinking about what choices to give kiddos. I went with 3 traditional candies and then added glow stick bracelets and one mystery choice, which is actually little plastic spiders (from Target dollar bin. $2.50 for 250).
My kids don't have allergies, but so many children do, so I thought this was a thoughtful alternative.

I hope our Monster Mash Candy"Bowl" inspires you to try something new this year. We had so much fun working with Martha Stewart Crafts to make this and we're counting down the days until we can use it!

I'd love to know what you think of our idea? Would your kiddos think it's cool?

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/InspiredByPlaid
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PlaidCrafts
• Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.c o m/PlaidCrafts

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Duck Brand provided by ShurTech Brands, LLC. All opinions are 100% mine.

Thursday night we're hosting a fun cookie decorating party for some friends and their families. Even though we're in the middle of filming two episodes of"Knock It Off" I still want to do all of the fun holiday festivities that we normally do… I just don't have a lot of time to do things like umm… decorate! LOL. I just needed to remind myself that hosting a Christmas or holiday party doesn't have to take a ton of time, and it doesn't have to cost a lot! I decided that I would make it my goal to decorate for the party with Duck Brand® holiday design duck tape. With just one roll of their fun little penguin holiday design tape, I took care of place cards, candy containers, cookie take-out bags, and a fun little pennant banner. Not too shabby for just some tape 'eh?

Here’s how it all went down…

I have plain white bowls, that I accented with tape and then I’ll toss all the various cookie decorating toppings into them. Easy Peasy Right?

I liked the colors in the penguin pattern tape, but Duck Brand® has a great selection to choose from if you’re still putting together some holiday DIY projects; there are holiday bows, a snowman print, a candy cane stripe, seasonal sweets and pretty holiday colors to pick from as well.

For the place cards, I used an ornament ball, leftover card stock, and then accented the side of each with Duck® Tape. Here’s a trick… if you need to get your ornaments to stand straight on a flat surface, all you need to do is put a glob of hot glue on the bottom and then press it down onto some scrap paper. The glue will harden flat and then you can pull it off and then you’ve got a flat-bottomed ornament.

Since we’re having the kids decorate cookies, I needed to think about take-out bags. I mean we’ll definitely sugar them up, but we don’t need them eating all of the cookies! I had a bunch of plain white bags leftover, but wanted to fancy them up a bit.

I cut the tape in varying lengths and then tiered them like a Christmas tree. It’s nothing fancy, but perfect for quick party decor!

Finally, I wanted to make a little backdrop so I tried my hand at a Duck Tape® pennant banner.

Here’s what I needed:

Baker’s Twine

Duck® Tape

Scissors

Cut a 4″ length of tape and place the sting in the middle of the tape.

Lastly, just use scissors to cut it into a triangle shape. I can’t believe I haven’t tried this project before. It was SO stink in’ easy!

I set out to prove to myself that I could keep it simple, not spend a ton of cash, and decorate for this party just by using one roll of Duck Brand® holiday design tape! And I think that it worked! I’m super excited about our party Thursday and am pretty relieved that I have everything pretty much good to go!

For more ideas of what you can create this holiday season check out Duck Brand® on Twitter and pin your own crafts using the hashtag #DuckTheHalls!

So, how will you Duck the Halls this holiday season for last minute, easy peasy DIY projects?

This post brought to you by FrogTape brand painter’s tape. All opinions are 100% mine. So cutting hair isn't our normal post topic here on East Coast Creative, but when it involves Frog Tape® and a rockin' hair style… well, I think it's just right for EC2! Cutting a mohawk isn't easy business- do you have any idea how many crooked mohawks there are in the world? A lot let me tell you! (and yes, that claim is purely fictional, but I'm 99% sure I'm right!) Thanks to my ingenious husband (or maybe it's just DIY overkill that made him think of it) we created the easiest way to cut a straight, perfect, and rockin' mohawk!

And let me shed a little light on the old 'hawk before I tell you how to do it. Callen (my youngest) has my husband's hair- which means pouffy awfulness. It's okay, Eric owns it (aka shaves it all off!) It's just really bushy and we can't do anything with Cal's hair style-wise. EXCEPT… for an awesome mohawk! It's the best style because his hair is going to poof out and stick up anyhow, so it's just making the mohawk styling that much easier! Eric and I often chat about which of our son's hair styles the grandparents hate more… Cal's mohawk or Kade's super long shaggy mop. I still think the long hair gets to them the most!: ) (And no, we're not cutting the mohawk off before school starts next week. We get asked that a lot. Why would we get rid of his swagga just in time for him to meet all the little ladies??)
Alright, so let me tell you how to cut the perfect mohawk so that your kids' grandparents can think you're nuts too!
#1- Determine how wide you want the 'hawk to be. We liked a pretty thick one, so we used about 2 widths of Frog Tape®. Now, we were asked to share a project we'd done with Frog Tape®- they said it's multi-surface tape- good for a variety of materials. I had already cut Cal's mohawk and was like,"how's this for a unique material!" So, while Frog Tape® wasn't made with the mohawk in mind… it works like a charm!!

#2- Place the tape down on your kiddo's head exactly where you want the hair to remain. Make sure it's straight from front to back AND side to side. Remember… crooked mohawks just aren't cool! Don't worry about pressing the tape down too hard, the edge will serve as more of a guide for your buzzers, not an paint lock like we usually use Frog Tape® for.

I wonder if this little guy has any clue that this process isn't quite the norm… Such is the life of a blogger's kid! (Also, ignore the pile of clothes and messy bathroom. This is real life here people! )

#3- Use your buzzers to shave along the edge of the Frog Tape®. Don't press into the side too much, you don't want a wonky line. Any buzzers will do, but we've always used this Wahl kit.

#4- This is just a preference, but we always have our boys sit on a stool in the shower while we buzz. It's so much easier for clean up. We use a hand vac to get as much of the hair up as we can, and then the rest just gets rinsed down the drain. Easy peasy!

I couldn't love Cal's hair any more than I do. It's definintely my favorite and it's sticking around for a long time! Since cutting it in for the first time, we've trimmed the sides 3 or 4 times, so now the middle section is nice and long and big boy mohawk-ish!

If you're thinking of embarking on the mohawk journey, I definitely recommend this method to get the perfect mohawk! A little outside the box, but this straight mohawk just wouldn't have happened without FrogTape painter’s tape.
We really do love Frog Tape® and have done a lot of cool projects using it. Last year when we were at the Haven Blogger Conference, we got to meet our friends from Frog Tape® and we learned a lot more about its paint lock technology. Basically it seals the edge of the tape so the paint doesn't bleed through! That's huge for me because I have some perfectionist tendencies. Did you know that FrogTape painter’s tape also recently came out with Shape Tape®? It is patterned tape, so you can get waves, chevron, etc… without measuring! We think it's pretty cool! Check out a few other projects we've one

Check out a few other projects we've done using Frog Tape®! My Chevron Accent Wall

Mosaic Accent Wall

Fireplace Makeover

If you haven't tried FrogTape painter’s tape yet, what are you waiting for? I mean you can try it on an awesome DIY project for fall OR for the most epic of all mohawks! Frog Tape is also on Twitter @Frogtape- give them a shout out and share your fall projects!

Looking for the top 12 contestant announcement for Creating with the Stars? You can find them, the awesome projects that earned them a spot and their amazing blog star partners here. Don't forget to like us on facebook and follow us on Twitter @EC2blog for all the up-to-date info and juicy details!

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I'm so excited to show you guys the first step I took in making our living room jive with the attached dining room. This project is super simple, easy on the wallet and totally customizable! Love that.

We're both huge fans of Ikea. I mean, really, who doesn't love cheap, Swedish, hard-to-pronounce and even-harder-to-put-together furniture? I purchased this chair for the my living room, but the scale of it just wasn't right. It really needed something to help fill the space, and I thought an ottoman would do the trick nicely. While at IKEA, I came across this LACK side table which is only 10 bucks (depending on the finish you choose), and knew it would work as an ottoman that could fill the void in my living room. Round up the following supplies and let's get started!
Lack side table 1 1/2 yards of fabric 1 1/2 yards of quilt batting- Look for a coupon or a sale on this! Foam (mine is 2 inches thick)- Don't buy without a coupon! Staple Gun Spray adhesive Paint (optional) Chop saw (optional)

1. Lay the table top upside down on the foam and trace it using a Sharpie.

2. Cut the foam with an electric carving knife. I saw the girls at JoAnn's doing this, and let me tell you, the foam cuts like butter when you do it this way! If you don't have one, use an X-acto knife or razor.

3. Spray one side of the foam with adhesive and press it firmly onto the table top.

4. Grab your helper and lay the foam-covered table top onto the quilt batting and trim the excess. Make sure you leave enough batting around the edges to cover the sides of the table. (Adorable little helper is optional.)

5. Using your staple gun, fold one corner in towards the middle of the table and staple into place. Work your way around the table pulling tight on the batting and stapling as you go. Use a hammer to wack any stubborn staples into place. I've always wanted to use"wack" in a sentence. Check that off the bucket list.

6. Iron your fabric so you don't have to deal with any annoying wrinkles. Or ignore this step if wrinkles don't drive you nuts. If they don't, I envy you. Please tell me your secret.

7. Determine the placement of your fabric and trim the excess, but be generous with your cuts so that you have enough to go all the way around. Working the same way as with the batting, start with the corner and fold towards the middle. Staple in place. Work your way around, pulling the fabric tight. Every once in a while, flip the top over so you can make adjustments to the placement of the fabric if necessary (and it will be necessary, trust me!)

8. This step is completely optional, as well. I wanted the ottoman to be a bit lower than the height of the seat of the chair, so I used a chop saw to cut about 3 inches off of all four legs. Surprise! Ikea table legs are hollow! I guess that's how they keep the price at $10. *Wink*

9. To achieve a similar finish to the chair, I used two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk paint in French Linen, then lightly spray painted them with Valspar Satin in La Fonda.

That's it! For under $25, I have an adorable ottoman that helps ground the chair in my living room, adds additional seating (yes! You can sit on it!), and a comfy place to put your feet up at the end of the day. I call that a win-win.

I'm super happy with the finished product, and love that I can easily change the fabric when I get tired of this one. I mean, let's be honest, that WILL happen at some point, knowing me, and when it does, it won't break the bank to recover it! Woohoo!
To see these other projects in the living room, click below:

Planked Wall with Exposed Studs Stenciled Faux-Tile Fireplace
Have a happy Tuesday!

Because we're always slightly afraid you'll get bored of our crazy antics, we have a treat for you today in the form of a guest blogger! If you don't already know her, Sarah from The Ugly Duckling House is stinkin' hilarious and super talented. We love the design of her blog (which she did herself), the adorable pics of her splattered with paint, and her magical touch with liquid gilding. Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi there! I'm Sarah from The Ugly Duckling House, and I'm thrilled to be guest posting today on East Coast Creative! I met Monica and Jess at the Haven conference earlier this year, and I think they come up with some of the most amazing projects!

A little more about me: I'm awkward. I can't cook. I hate cleaning. But I love tearing my house apart and putting it back together again. I've been working on my"Ugg-Duck" for nearly three years now, and I'm determined — hissy fits and all — to turn my 1980s eyesore into a home I can be proud of. DIY-ing on my own isn't easy (especially with a full-time job and grad school on my plate), and I have had my fair share of weird stories with my house — like finding fingernails in my fridge. Or 4 A.M. catfights. Or freaking out that I had a water leak in my brand new powder room… and realizing it was (possibly) a guest missing my toilet. Yes, that happened.
Right now, I'm working on remodeling my bathroom. But at any given moment, I have at least five other unfinished projects around the house. Sometimes when I'm in the middle of finishing up a full renovation, I use that momentum to give myself an extra push and do something smaller that I might otherwise put off — like my master bedroom jewelry organizer.

I've been spotting a lot of creative jewelry organization ideas on Pinterest, and even though I've been storing my jewelry neatly in a drawer in my closet, I realized I forget to throw on accessories when rushing off to work. These Rationell inserts from Ikea are meant to add storage space to pantries and other cabinets, but I saw the decorative pattern on top and thought it could really look snazzy (& functional, too!) as a jewelry holder.

It was so easy, I could even (sort of) hold my camera steady while putting the project together with one hand. Ha. I just measured…

Marked (simply pushing the tip of the screw into the wall will save you extra pencil marks)…

… and sunk the first screw into place.

And this is where I realized I'd forgotten my level in the bathroom! Ugh. Thankfully, I had a nifty iPhone app with a level that I could use to make sure I kept things straight and even.

By placing the organizer in between my remodeled master bedroom closet and the master bath, I have a great new spot for my jewelry — and less of an excuse to bypass the accessories in the morning!

There you have it — a simple and inexpensive way to get your jewelry in a prime notice me and wear me spot.
Thank you so much to Jess and Monica for letting me stop by, and I hope you visit me (and whatever current mess I'm making) over at The Ugly Duckling House soon! Sarah Psst: Want more? I love to post sneak peeks on Facebook and Instagram. You can also find me on Hometalk and Twitter at uglyducklingDIY.
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Thanks so much for visiting, Sarah! You're welcome back in our houses anytime.: )

You guys, it was time. Remember that I added some much needed curb appeal to the front of my house by painting the front door and shutters a gorgeous blue and gray last summer? That made a huge improvement, but it was still sadly lacking…mainly because of the ugly, stained concrete slab that we call our front porch. Well, you can't call it ugly now!

When 3M Tekk Protection asked if I wanted to do a project that added some curb appeal to my house in time for the Fourth of July, I knew immediately that it was time to tackle this concrete mess.

Ugh. I decided that since removing the concrete wasn't a possibility, I would paint it with what else? Stripes! Painting concrete is not difficult, but you need to make sure you prep the surface well and get the right materials.
Here's what you'll need to paint your concrete step: - Concrete Primer -Patio and Porch Paint in your desired colors (I got mine from Home Depot) -Scotchblue Edge Lock Painters Tape
-Paint Odor Valved Respirator -Paint brush -Paint Tray -Roller -Broom -Hose

I hadn't ever tried this painters tape with edge-lock but had heard good things, so I was excited to give it a try!

I'm not usually one who worries about painting while pregnant, but I have been doing so much more painting than usual for Knock It Off that I've been super careful and have been wearing a mask. I really like this one from 3M TEKK Protection- it's comfy and light and does the trick, especially with the special epoxy primer needed for concrete.

I love that I can actually breathe through the special valve, instead of feeling like I'm suffocating.

Cute, huh? Anyhow, let's get started:
1. The first thing you need to do is prep the surface. Make sure you sweep away all dirt and debris from the step and then spray down with soapy water. Let dry completely,
2. Roll the primer onto the step, making sure to cover the entire surface. Concrete primer is really thin, so keep this in mind as you roll it on. It's designed to soak into the concrete, not sit on top, which actually helps the paint to adhere to the concrete better. I actually poured the primer right onto the step and rolled it out instead of putting it in a tray. Less mess! Don't skip this step! Trust me. Otherwise you'll be scraping paint off the concrete instead of enjoying your pretty new front porch. (Not that that happened to me or anything…)
3. Roll your base color onto the step. Repeat with a second coat, if necessary.

4. Determine the width and placement of your stripes and place the Scotchblue tape in the appropriate places. I liked the look of the stripes coming out from the door, but horizontal stripes would have been fun too! Run a credit card along the edges of the tape to create a nice seal. Then, using a paint brush, paint the edges of the tape with the base color (in my case, white) so that if any paint bleeds under the tape, it will be the color that's already there. This is our fail-safe way to get perfect stripes every time!

5. Roll your second color over your pre-taped areas. Repeat as necessary. Then pull that tape back at an angle and take a look at those crisp lines! I'm telling you, there is no better feeling out there.

Finally, I added some new house numbers, a DIY wreath, a chalkboard American flag and some pretty potted plants to complete my porch makeover.

I made a little video for you guys to explain the whole process for you and show you the end result. Three things to note: 1) I'm huge and I know it. I still have 3 months to go and it looks like I could pop any day! Be kind. 2) It was buggy and I couldn't stop itching! 3) Clearly the camera should have been turned the other way. Sorry, folks!

Oh my. Well, my legs are still skinny.; )

I'll share the tutorial for this rope-wrapped wreath later this week so stay tuned!

I'm thrilled with the way it all looks, but still have one more ummmm, kind of big, item on my house exterior to-do list: paint the siding! I've never loved the yellowish siding and would really like to go with a darker color (maybe gray?) and white shutters, but my hubs is not quite on board. Don't worry, though, I'll convince him soon enough!; )

How about a little before and after action for you?

I'm so relieved that our guests don't have to look at that ugly concrete anymore when they come to my front door. Now they get a taste of what the rest of my house looks like!
.

For lots more DIY inspiration and information, following along on the 3M DIY Twitter page and Facebook page!

*This post is a collaboration with 3M™ TEKK Protection™ Brand, but all words and opinions and extra baby weight are my own.

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!)

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FrogTape brand painter’s tape. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sometimes it can be a little intimidating to paint an object like a lampshade, paint is permanent so you really don't want to mess up your design. But, fear not FrogTape® Shape Tape™ is here to the rescue! You don't need to be a creative genius to use it, the design is already pre-cut into the tape. It comes in three shapes; chevron, wave, which we used, and scallop. Here's a look at what I did, let me know what you think.

Supplies:

White lamp shade (this one's from Ikea!)

Paint

FrogTape® Shape Tape™ in Wave

Foam paint brush

Instructions are incredibly easy…

1. Cut the FrogTape® in small sections. Because I didn't use this on a wall, but on a circular item, I cut the tape into small segments so that it wrapped around the shade more evenly.

2. Peel one side of backing away and align the Shape Tape™ where you want it. Peel the rest of the backing off and tape in place.

3. Adhere the tape to the shade, beginning at the seam. You'll need to make adjustments as you go around the shade, so there might be some creases in your tape. That's no big deal- as long as the bottom of the tape is secure (where you'll be painting), you're golden!

4. Continue all the way around the shade and seal the edges with your fingers. The great thing about the FrogTape® Shape Tape™ is the PaintBlock® Technology, which is an absorbent polymer that helps to prevent your paint from bleeding.

5. With a foam brush, apply the paint, making sure to off-load the excess paint before starting. Also, brush away from the edge of the tape, not towards it! Be patient- you'll need to do several coats of paint so that when the light shines through, you don't see any splotches.

Ahh…crisp lines. There is nothing better!

I love the ease of using the FrogTape® Shape Tape™ to turn my boring lamp shade into a chic piece that can now be used to dress up any room in the house. It compliments the decor in this space and adds to my rustic beachy theme. To see more creative ideas using this product, follow the makers of Shape Tape™ on Twitter @FrogTape.

Let me tell you, it is so bizarre to actually have a post about something I did at my own house these days. The last little project we tackled was our front porch makeover and I was so inspired by that, that I decided to add some backyard appeal to my deck. There are many issues with this deck, but let's just start with this one little area:

First of all that window is in desperate need of love and attention. Secondly, there is absolutely no style to this area of the deck and thirdly, man, that deck needs power washing! Even though I knew I couldn't squeeze in power-washing, I had some pretty cute ideas to spruce this spot up and make at least one area of the deck look nice! Feast your eyes on this area now…

This is a two-step project: the shutters and the window box. I'll break each one down for you. Neither of them are difficult- you should be able to do this in only one day! Here's what you need:
For shutters: (6) 1x4 pine boards Liquid Nails (8) 4 inch decking screws (8) 1.25 inch nails Chop saw 3M Wood Filler 3M Sandblaster Bare Surfaces Sanding pad Exterior Paint
For Window Box: (1) 1x10 board (3) terra cotta pots ScotchBlue Painters Tape Drill Jigsaw (2) wooden brackets Spraypaint Exterior paint 3M Sandblaster Bare Surfaces Sanding Pad ScotchBlue™ Non-Slip Dropcloth

DIY Window Shutters Ok, let's start with those pretty shutters, shall we? I already mentioned that I bought six pine 1x4 boards. This should be enough for the vertical slats and the short horizontal cross pieces for your shutters, but check your measurements before you buy these in case your window size is different from mine.

1. Measure the height of your window and make sure to include any trim or framework around it. My shutters are the same exact height of the window- no more and no less.

2. Cut wood to size using a chop saw. My hubs tried out these Digital Worktunes Hearing Protectors from 3M and was in love. He's such a music guy and the fact that he could listen to his mp3 player while working made the fact that I was making him work after a 12 hour car ride home from vacation a little more bearable.: ) Oh yeah, my boards were 36 3/4 long, but again, measure your window first! I liked the look of three boards across, so I measured the width of those three boards to determine the width of my cross piece. It ended up being 10.5 inches, so he cut those too.

Looking pretty good so far!

3. Attach the three vertical boards together by running liquid nails along the sides. Clamp together and let dry.
4. Measure the distance of the cross pieces from the top and bottom. I liked the look of 4 inches, so we made a mark on each side.

5. Put liquid nails on the back of your cross piece and attach to boards. Clamp and let dry.

6. Because we didn't want to see any pesky nails, we decided to nail the cross piece in from the back. Once your liquid nails has dried enough, you should be able to easily flip it over and hammer in a few nails to make the entire shutter secure.

7. Paint them your desired color. We painted the shutters the same color that we used on the shutters on the front of the house. (Sorry no picture of this! It was getting dark and we were being dive bombed by beetles. Gross.)
8. Hang shutters on either side of the window with 4 inch decking screws. Fill in screws with wood filler, sand and touch up with paint. Voila! Cute new shutters that were super easy to build!

DIY Window Box I'm not sure that you can technically call this a window box, since, um, there is no box. But it has the look of a window box without having to build one and lets you play with some pretty terra cotta pots!
1. Measure the width of your window to determine the length of your 1x10 board. I actually had this piece of barn wood laying around in my garage…go figure!; ) Cut using a chop saw. \

2. Evenly space your pots on the board and place an"x" through the hole in each pot. Then, double-check your marks with a tape measure to be sure they're evenly spaced.

3. Figure out the diameter of the area under the lip of the pot (that way the pot will sit in the hole but not fall through). Divide that number by two (oops! Did I forget to mention there was math involved?) and make marks that distance all the way around the center point. For example, the diameter of my pot under the lip was five inches, so I divided by two and got 2.5 inches. Each mark is exactly 2.5 inches away from the center point. Got it?

4. Using a large drill bit, drill a hole at the center point. Make it large enough so that the jigsaw blade will be able to fit in there. Cut out the entire circle with the jigsaw. Repeat on the other holes.

5. For the pots, I went with a two-tone look. First I sprayed two of the pots with a terracotta red (I know, ironic. Why not just keep it the terra cotta color, you ask? It wasn't perfect. So there.) The other pot, I sprayed a really light aqua blue. Let dry completely.

6. Then I taped off the bottom of the pots using the ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape. I had such good luck with it on my front porch that I knew it would do the trick! I sprayed the lip of each pot in the opposite color and let dry. I peeled the tape off and was thrilled with the result! What's nice about this tape is that it didn't pull any of the spray paint off of the pot even though it has been sticky hot here!

7. Paint the shelf and brackets the same color as the shutters. Attach brackets to the siding and then screw the board right into the brackets on the top. Add your pots and flowers and you're done!
Now, for the gratuitous beauty shots. C'mon, if you look this good, you're allowed to show it off.: )

Don't forget to follow ScotchBlue™

on all their media outlets to stay in the loop on their latest and greatest products!

Visit ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape Brand on Facebook! ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape Brand Pinterest page

ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape Twitter Page

I'm super thrilled with these two projects and how they cheered up this sad deck. What do you think?

This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape, but all words and opinions are my own

We've been so fortunate to have been featured on some pretty great blogs and websites, but there are a few totally awesome blogs/bloggers who have been major players in our continuing growth.

We've shared our love of Pinterest on more than one occasion and Monica even created a how-to video about it, but now we love it even more. U-Create, Vintage Revivals and Home Stories of A to Z were so good to us rookie bloggers. We hope we can pass the blog love forward to other small blogs just trying to grow in the same way they've helped us. And you already know how we feel about The Nate Show. So, from the bottom of our hearts, thanks blogging friends! We appreciate you.: ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, to cap off our Giveaways Galore Week, we have an unbelieveable giveaway for you!

We both have been thrilled with our stencils from Royal Design Studio (you can see my kitchen here, and Monica's wall panels here), but there are endless possibilities and choices for you at
Royal Design Studio. Just check out these beauties:

{Swoon} Ok, time for the details on how to win:
The Prize is a $75 Shopping Spree on Royal Design Studio. (Includes free shipping within the continental U.S.) All entries must be submitted by 11:59pm on February 26, 2012. Winner will be announced on February 27, 2012.
1. To enter, go to the Royal Design Studio website, pick your favorite stencil and comment with your pick.
2. Extra chances to enter by"liking" the RDS Facebook fan page and/or following them on Twitter and/or following them on Pinterest and commenting so on this post.
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And finally, the winners from yesterday's giveaways:
Scentsy

My Best Friend's Hair

Kotton Pickin' Kute

Congratulations! Email us to claim your prizes, girls! Thanks for celebrating our one year blogiversary with us this week. It's been fun.: )

Thank goodness it's Wednesday, folks! Monica and I have had a crazy week (which is why you haven't heard from us much lately on facebook or twitter). Most of my crazy came in the form of my first trip to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding. If ever there was a crazy place, it's Las Vegas, am I right? We had so much fun, and loved being with some great, old friends. Sarah, the bride, asked me to take some informal pictures for them throughout the evening of their wedding. Immediately, I told her "I am not a professional photographer", and I made sure to emphasize this over and over and over again (sorry Sarah!). But I was game and had a lot of fun snapping shots of the happy couple, and thought I would share a few of my favorite pics of the night. Note: All of you photographers out there, please be kind! Feel free to read the quote in bold as many times as you need.: )

First of all, isn't she gorgeous? And secondly, I am embarrassingly in love with that sparkly headband…and the fabulous jewels on her dress. 



There's nothing like pre-wedding nerves and the rollercoaster of emotions you feel in that day. 

Since it was a destination wedding, the number of guests was small, but that didn't matter. We had enough fun for 100 people- especially in the elevators!

I mean, you can't have a Vegas wedding without a picture of some sort of game (True story: I'm an idiot about gambling and don't have a clue what that big wheel is!) in the background. 

After the ceremony, we hopped in a cab to go to the famous Vegas sign. The groom, whom we affectionately call Chewy, is one of my hubby's best friends from high school. One of the funniest guys I know, for sure. 

Sarah and Chewy, we wish you the best of everything in life! Congratulations.: ) And just because I love him to pieces, I had to include one of my better half and me at the reception:

So, tell me…what's your favorite thing about Vegas? Have you ever been to a wedding there?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Moen, Incorporated for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'll be the first to say that I never really thought of a faucet as a way to improve the style and design of my home…it's just one of those functional items that we have to use every day. I never really gave it much more thought than that. But when Moen asked me to try out their new Kinzel Kitchen faucet, I was like,"sure, what the heck?!", not really thinking it would make a huge difference. People, I was so wrong.

This faucet has a simple, stylish design while also being incredibly functional- way better than my old faucet. Just take a look at it:

So dated and boring that you almost don't notice it at all. Not to mention the gross water spots that I can.not.make.disappear.ever. Plus, that sprayer/hose thing hasn't worked in nearly five years. This is truly a case of not realizing what I was missing.

The Kinzel was really easy to install and came with everything we needed. I was worried I would have to go out to purchase the special plate for my three-hole sink, but the Kinzel has an option for both. It took about 45 minutes to remove the old faucet and install the new one- mostly because the cabinet underneath the sink looked like a bomb went off in there. Ugh. All you need are a few wrenches- Moen has thought of everything else! The steps are east too!

1. The first thing you have to do is turn off the water valves and let the water drain from the old faucet.

2. Remove the old faucet and water lines by loosening the nuts under the sink with a wrench.

3. Thread the new {gorgeous} faucet into the hole and press the gasket (that came with it) firmly in place.

4. Under the sink screw the washers and mounting nuts onto the tailpiece and tighten with your wrench. Next feed the pullout hose through the faucet body. Attach the supply lines to the shut off valves (marked with red for hot and blue for cold) and tighten the nuts.

That's all, folks!!

I'm loving up the design of this faucet- simple and clean, and guess what?! It's spot-resistant, so I don't have to worry about those awful water spots anymore. Score!

The spray is nice and strong…

…and the faucet has a flexible hose system so it will be super easy to clean those big, messy pots.

How did Inot realize that I was in desperate need of one of these guys?! The after is SO much better than the before. The other good thing? You can purchase a Kinzel at Lowes for under $200!!

Connect with Moen to learn more! I'll never overlook my poor faucet again.; )

Facebook: Twitter: Pinterest: Instagram: Google+

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Jess and I have had some pretty cool opportunities in the past 14 months. We've had a lot of people to say THANK YOU to, and we feel like snail mail is still an awesome way to give a real, heartfelt thanks. We had some old Real Housewives of Bucks County (sniff, sniff) postcards, but those are now part of my kids' scrap paper bin. We were super excited when Uprinting asked us to try out some of their products. We immediately knew we wanted to order some new UPrinting Postcards, EC2 style!

How awesome are those?? I was completely blown away by the quality the moment I opened the shipping box. They were so clear and crisp!

This was our first time ordering anything from Uprinting, and we weren't sure what to expect, but the postcards far exceeded our expectations!
The process was really simple. 1st- we called the best designer on the planet- Kim from 733 Design (She did our blog too) and asked her to whip up a design. You can design right on Uprinting, but we wanted the same look as our blog. 2nd- We headed to the Uprinting Website. It was simple to upload our file.

3rd- We proofed our picture and I'm so thankful for this step, because I accidentally uploaded a low resolution picture at first and was able to change it before it went to print. Thanks goodness for dummy-proof systems (because I'm a dummy!)

Just a few days later these beauties were in my hands and ready to go into the world, spreading the love from East Coast Creative!

We're both so glad we found UPrinting and this is one business we're thrilled to recommend. Check out their site for all kinds of great printing products!
Uprinting WebsiteUPrinting on PinterestUPrinting on Twitter**This was a sponsored post from UPrinting. All opinions are 100% ours!**
Here's what some of our other gal pals got from UPrinting!

Just in case you missed it on Friday… we announced the 12 contestants for Creating with the Stars. Check out this post to see their insanely awesome projects!

We'll be tweeting lots of updates, so click below just to make sure you're following us on Twitter. Follow @EC2blog ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sure you know by now, but Jess and I are pretty obsessed with Instagram (you can follow us at @eastcoastcreative and @Jess_ec2blog) and lately we've started printing our pictures and using them within our projects. We printed some Instagram pics on cool, wood tiles from InstaThis in this post.

Jess printed some Instagram pics from FoxGram and shared about them in this post.

And since I'm a self-proclaimed wreath hater, I love to create what I've coined"The Anti-Wreath"… Today, I bring you an Outdoor Instagram Anti-Wreath! _

Here's what you'll need for this super simple DIY…

Many places will now print Instagram pictures, but I used Foxgram.com they offer three FREE pictures so definitely try them out! After getting my"grams" in the mail, I went to Staples and had them laminated. Since they're going to be outside, I wanted them to be weatherproofed. It cost me $2.28 total!

I chose some of my kids' favorite Instagram pictures and then a few of my favs too! It would be super easy to swap this"wreath" out seasonally… these are a few of my favorite winter pictures if I wanted a winter look.

I took an old 11x14 frame from my basement, but it was kind of beat up, so I decided to glaze it for a distressed look.

My absolute favorite glaze is Martha's Metallic glaze in the coffee grounds finish.

There's no secret to glazing, I just brushed it all over and then used a paper towel to wipe it off.

The glaze helped hide the imperfections and toned down the white.

White it was drying, I trimmed around each picture. I used my paper cutter (one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year), but scissors would work just fine too!

I played around with the layout a bit before securing the pictures.

I added some leftover furniture pads to the back of the frame so that it wouldn't scratch my painted door, and then I measured and marked where I wanted to attach wire.

I used leftover picture wire and my staple gun

Wire can be a pain to get 100% straight, but I knew I would be covering it up with pictures. I originally planned to use mini clips, but I liked the clean look better, so I just hot glued them onto the wire.

Gah! I love it!

Seriously, who wouldn't love a mustache cat on their door? Did you notice that picture? It's the craziest cat I've ever seen (it lives at the farm where my daughter rides) and our whole family is obsessed with it!

I'm pretty sure this"wreath" says,"Come on in, we're fun, we love life and weird cats!"

It's tricky to take pictures when the sun is setting. So, if you can't beat the sun, make finger shadows!

So what do you think of my Instagram"Anti-Wreath?" Are you as obsessed with Instagram as we are? I hope this inspires you to get those fun pictures off your phone and into your home!