My Creative Blog [Search results for White Box Challenge] 

Yesterday we shared 25 awesome upcycle projects and Ikea hacks, but we wanted to give you some of the juicy details for a couple of the projects we actually tackled during our crazy Women's Night Out White Box Challenge.

Wall Paint Colors
First, the paint colors. Everyone always ask us what colors we use and we never remember to share! Well, this is going to change! We're even going to try to get our acts together and post our color palettes for each of our Knock it Off episodes. One of these days!! Anyway, our bland room started off with Oxford Tan (from Lowes) walls, lightened by 25%. In our 30 minute intermission, the top portion quickly got covered in Classic Teal, which is a gorgeous, rich blue. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw us use that color again- loved it!

Furniture Paint Colors
The dresser got decked out in four different colors, which really added a lot of interest. We are in love with the color-blocking trend and were excited to give it a go with these inexpensive Rast dressers from Ikea. We used Tuxedo Tie on the frame, English Tea Party on the bottom drawers, Mountain Smoke on the middle drawers and Bamboo Leaves on the top drawers (all from Lowes). Such fun colors that matched our fabrics perfectly! We definitely would have liked to build a base for our new buffet so that it would sit higher, but unfortunately, we ran out of time. So, take note if you're planning on giving this upcycle a try.: )

We shared a whole bunch of fun ideas for painted rugs, but this one that Monica did last summer is definitely our favorite: quick, easy and cute! Check out her Stenciled Outdoor Rug for the step by step deets!

This tufted Lack table turned ottoman was a big hit with the ladies during our event and it's a super simple upholstery project that any one can handle.

This past spring, I made this Ikea Lack Ottoman using the same method as above. The only difference is that we added tufting to the one we made during the White Box Challenge. It looks so good I might just have to add some to mine!
Here's the cheater way to add tufts: 1. Follow steps for upholstering the table. 2. Mark where you want to place your tufts. 3. Use a button-making kit to create some cute buttons using your fabric, or buy pre-bought buttons to use. 4. Using a staple gun, shoot a 3/4 inch staple through the fabric, batting and foam on the mark you made. This creates the tuft, without having to drill through the table and bringing sewing into the equation. 5. Hot glue your buttons in place. That's it!!

We love the way this nail head trim dressed up our plain, old white chair. They were so simple to attach and took this chair to a whole new level!

In fact, it wasn't our first time using nail head detailing- we upholstered a chair and added nail heads for one of our Nate Show episodes!

Finally, this upcycled art was definitely the fan favorite of the night. You wouldn't believe how easy it was to do and what an awesome impact it makes.

If you want to know how to make your own, Monica took this old piece of art and made a completely custom canvas for her powder room using a stencil, spray paint and her silhouette machine.

Phew! I think we touched on everything, but if you were at the event and still have questions, leave us a comment! There aren't many things that are as gratifying and budget-friendly as upcycyling. I'm serious, people. Go give it a try!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you missed it, last week we had the chance to complete a 30 minute White Box Challenge in front of 450 women! It was so much fun and pushed our DIY skills to the max- 30 mins feels like 2 seconds when you're working on an entire space! Here's the before and after- to see the full post about the challenge, click HERE.

Throughout the evening, we upcycled and hacked our way to a completed room, but there are so many other great ideas for these inexpensive pieces, that we just had to share! So get ready for… 25+ Upcycles and Ikea hacks!

First up… the Ikea LACK side table. The Lack table is a DIYers dream because the options are endless!

Here are 3 of our favs… (Click on the number to see each full post from the source) 1…2…3…

At the event, we turned ours into a tufted ottoman! (Tutorial coming later this week!)

We LOVE the Ikea Rast dresser because it's under 40 bucks!

How fabulous are these hacks? 1…2…3…

We combined two Rast dressers, added new hardware, some metal detailing and had ourselves an awesome buffet!

Here's a generic accent chair. Ikea has lots of different styles, but left alone, they're pretty plain…

These chairs went from drab to fab with a little DIYing. 1…2…3…

We paint dipped the legs a bold orange and added gold nail heads to add a punch of style!

Rugs can be expensive! One of our favorite places to get them cheaply is RugsUSA.com, but another way is to buy a cheap outdoor rug and paint it yourself! This one was $19.99 at Home Depot!

It's amazing what a little paint can do! 1…2…3…

We added wide stripes to our rug for the white box, but in our hurry to get the room done, I may or may not have walked across the wet paint! Oops! No pics for you!

Okay, isn't this creepy art awesome?? Well, you might not have something this creepo, but you can score great art at thrift stores or upcycle a piece you already own!

Each of these projects use paint to tone down the"creepy art" factor! 1…2…3…

Here's what we did with our blah artwork…

Target and Walmart sell book shelves so inexpensively! The problem… they look inexpensive!

How about these ideas for fancying up your shelves? We love every hack Kate from Centsational Girl has ever done! 1…2…3…

Almost everyone has a dated lamp around the house- and if you don't you can get one any Saturday at a local yard sale!

Here are three fun ways to spruce up those dated lamps. 1…2…3…

For ours, we replaced the shade, added some ribbon, and spray painted the base.

Pictures of family and friends are awesome, but here are some outside the box ideas for your extra frames!

I'm a huge fan of what Lindsay did with her open frames! 1…2…3…

And what would a post on upcycles be without mentioning pallets? 2012 and 2013 were the years of the pallets!!

Here's a variety of ideas from walls, to plants… 1…2…3…

We used a pallet to make a simple shelf- unfortunately, we didn't bring any mags, so in 30 minutes… scrap paper and Bibles it was! lol!

So that should leave you on Upcycle and Hack overload!! Have you ever DIYed any of these items before? Do tell!!

Well, I'd like to introduce you to our good friend, Steph E. Steph and I go way back- we went to elementary, middle and highschool together, studied in college and travelled to Greece together, got married a year apart, and are now raising our families together. She is one of my very best friends. She has always, as long as I've known her, been extremely frugal, and never settles for anything less than getting exactly what she wants, for the price she wants to pay. I'm so glad that I have her to do all the researching for me.: ) I hope you'll enjoy her today! Jess
Six months ago we added a beautiful daughter to our family. She joined my husband and I, and our then 3 ½ year old son. I had kept everything from Danny. We had a car seat, crib, and every type of exer-bouncer-sitter-sizer ever made. The only big ticket item that I needed to purchase was a double stroller. This was very exciting for me because I am passionately obsessed with “buggies”, as they are fondly referred to in our home. I started the slightly neurotic and endless research long before she was due, and finally purchased the buggie of my dreams when Ana was 2 months old.

Choosing the perfect stroller for your family’s needs can be a daunting task. There are thousands of options, and even more opinions. To help me focus, I needed to put things in black and white. I made a list of the features that I MUST HAVE in a stroller. Being a bargain hunter by nature I sometime succumb to a great deal, while compromising my needs and wants. My husband made it very clear that we would only be adding 1 more buggie to our already full garage, so I needed to get this right the first time. My personal MUST HAVE list… 1. Double side-by-side ( I had pushed way too many of my friends front and back strollers to know that my back wasn’t up to that challenge) 2. Very lightweight ( I may be tall, but my arms are like toothpicks) 3. Car seat compatible (Ana was born the end of September which meant that we would just start to be out and about as the bad weather hit. I wanted her to stay warm and sleeping in her car seat while we ran errands) 4. Tall handlebars (as previously mentioned, I am tall and have a bad back. Pushing a heavy object while walking in a hunched position was not an option for me) 5. Excellent return policy ( I was going to make my purchase online, because the prices are considerably better, and most likely it would be the first time I ever saw the option that I chose) 6. Individually removable front trays ( Danny gets in and out by himself, while Ana would need her tray to hold the car seat in) These were the 6 options that I would not allow myself to waver on. Even if there was a great sale, or a super cute limited edition color, I would not consider it if all 6 of my must have criteria were not met. This list really narrowed down my options.

Next I made a list of the features I would like to have: — Good storage compartment — Cup holders — Individual reclining seats — Large yet foldable sun shades — Easy to steer — Manufacture or retailer warranty So, of the strollers I had narrowed my options down to, I compared to see which had the most of my “likes” and which “likes” were most important to me. Next, I started reading reviews. Reading reviews is tricky, you’ll read a 1 star “this stroller is worse than a wheelbarrow” followed by a 5 star “I would trade my first born for this stroller” and you can’t understand how they can be talking about the same buggie. I found the best method was reading many reviews, and seeing if there were any reoccurring themes. 90% of the reviews that I read about the stroller that I finally chose said that the wheels squeaked. I accepted that my wheels would most likely squeak,(and sure enough they did) and that I would be OK with squeaking (which I actually wasn’t, but thankfully my amazing husband was able to remedy that problem).

Finally, do not let price be the largest factor in making your decision. People who know me well would probably be shocked to hear that. I am very cost conscious, but there is more to the cost of a stroller than the number you see posted on Amazon. If you have found the perfect stroller for your family, but it seems out of your price range, don’t give up! There are so many options. Can you buy it used, or in a discontinued color? I got my buggie for a good deal because it was a customer returned open box. It had never been used, and all of the pieces were there but the box had be opened and returned. I made sure to ask what the return policy was for a discounted item. The open box was not advertised online, but I called a company that I found online with excellent reviews, a great return policy, and good pricing. I told the salesman the stroller I wanted but that I needed a good deal. Did they have any returns, discontinued colors, floor models, or last year’s model? The salesperson found the box in the warehouse and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I had decided before calling on the price that I would be willing to spend. If offered a special deal, you need to be ready to say yes on the spot. Don’t let yourself be caught off guard. In regards to cost, I also took into consideration the resale value. A quality stroller that is kept in good condition will hold its value. I hope to sell mine in several years and make back 1/3 of what I bought it for. So, what baby buggie did I finally decide on? The Peg Perego Aria twin 40/60 split. I am confident that I made the right decision. My friends must have been impressed also, because 2 of them bought the exact same stroller after me, and I believe they are equally pleased with the purchase.

Things to Consider before your purchase: -Height and Strength of all caregivers that will be using the buggie on a regular basis. Do you need an adjustable handlebar? -Terrain you will most frequently be pushing on. Grass field or the mall? — Vehicle size: what will fit in your car when it is also full of groceries and diapers? — Storage compartment: do you travel light, or is your diaper bag the size of a suitcase? — What your kids need: are they going to be napping in the stroller? Do you need seats that fully recline?

Happy Shopping!
Steph, Jess & Monica