My Creative Blog [Search results for facebook] 

You probably noticed that we post 4-5 times a week here on the blog. That means most days you can come here for a daily dose of creativity. But what if I want more??? So you want more than just one dose a day? Sounds like it's time to follow us on Facebook! We love Facebook because it let's us interact with so many of our readers and lets us share far more than we can here in only one daily blog post.

Click HERE to Like Us on Facebook! Still not completely convinced? Let's see what you've been missing…

Project Sneak Peeks. I did a major 48 hour garage renovation as a surprise for my hubs. I'll be blogging it soon, but if you were following along on FB you'd have gotten some major sneak peeks and you'd have known that my husband came home 8 HOURS earlier than he was supposed to!: )

Jess gave this project sneak peek for an AMAZING project she just finished. This one will be posted on Infarrantly Creative next week. I know I'm biased as a BFF, but it's freaking awesome!

Bits of Monica Humor. If it makes me laugh, I share it. Sometimes I get eye rolls from Jess. Ha!

Real Life. We're totally normal (well kinda) gals with lots going on in our crazy lives. Sometimes we share things (like Jess' Anniversary last month) that let you get to know a bit more about the girls behind EC2.

My baby girl turned 5 this week. Don't be fooled by me sweetly calling her"baby girl"… she's in a supper annoying, naughty phase right now. Actually, I told Jess the other night that KJ was so naughty that I didn't even want to mention her bday on Facebook- GASP! Don't worry, I got over it and below is the post.

Awesome Finds. We use Facebook to share awesome inspiration for projects, products, and FOOD! Anytime we find a great deal or an amazing recipe, we'll let you know. I shared this project last week and I'm still swooning over it!

So there you have it. Plenty of reasons YOU should be following us on Facebook. Oh and wouldn't it be cool if you told your friends to do the same? We think it would be pretty darn fabulous! Like us HERE
In other news…

If you're not super familiar with blogs, I'll fill you in on a secret… people are too busy in the summer to regularly read all their favorite blogs. That's kind of okay with us because we love to relax and play in the summer too! Here's another secret… Fall through Christmas is a stinkin' amazing time in the blog world. We're talking insane creativity people. So mark your calendars because September 3rd EC2 is ready to rock your world! (slight exaggeration, but we do have some cool projects!)
Have a great weekend! Do you already follow us on Facebook? If not, did I convince you to?

Gooooood morning, friends!We’ve got a special surprise for you today… who doesn’t love a little friendly competition and GIVEAWAY?!?! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The premise of this contest stems from the fact that all of us are guilty of Pinning an idea without ever checking the source… guilty as charged! But there are likely pins on your boards that are from your favorite bloggers, and you don’t even know it! (Are we right? C'mon, admit it.) And that’s where the contest comes in:

Here’s the line-up! Such an amazing group of bloggers that we wrangled!!

And below are projects from each blogger (including us!) that you’ve likely seen viral all over Pinterest!

Before we get to the rules, can we talk about how RYOBI is giving away $800 worth of POWER TOOLS? Just in time for Father’s Day!

Perfect timing if you ask us.

$400 RYOBI Giftcard goes to our randomly selected winner, and $400 RYOBI Giftcard goes to the first person to correctly match up all 16 bloggers with the correct projects! (there will be a randomly drawn winner in addition to the winner of the contest, so you should enter both ways!)
When you click on the Contest Form (at the bottom of this post), it will direct you to a page that will show you an image of the project, and a drop-down menu of bloggers. You just go down the line and select away! Some projects you probably know already, but some you may need to snoop around blog-land to find!We call this blog-hopping, and it’s highly encouraged in the blogging world.

Here’s the links to the home page of each blog (in no particular order). Now get busy!

1. Sawdust and Embryos
2. All Things Thrifty
3. Interiors by Kenz
4. Whatever Blog
5. Home Stories A to Z
6. Sarah M. Dorsey Designs
7. Twist Me Pretty
8. The Idea Room
9. DIY Village
10. Pretty Handy Girl
11. Domestic Imperfection
12. One Good Thing
13. Kara Paslay Designs
14. Nine Red
15. Vintage Revivals
16. East Coast Creative

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• One entry per person, per entry method.
• Winner of matching contest will be emailed, and publicly announced on Facebook.
• Winner of random-drawing giveaway will be announced on Father’s Day here on the blog, as well as Facebook.
• Be sure to hop over to RYOBI Nation and check out some amazing inspirational projects!
• Be AWESOME today!! (that’s a given)

This contest/giveaway is in NO WAY affiliated with Pinterest or Facebook, and we hereby release them of any liability related to this promotion, the receipt of prize winnings, etc. The giveaway prize has been generously provided by RYOBI Nation. All prizes will be mailed by the sponsor and all participating blog owners are not held responsible if the prize is not fulfilled. Giveaway starts Monday 6/10/13 at 5am est and ends at midnight on Saturday 6/15/13. Alternate entry available by sending your entry via email to wehopeyouwin@gmail.com. Winner will be announced on Sunday 6/16/13 and will need to respond within 48 hours to claim their prize, or another winner will be chosen.Winner must be 18 years of age or older and a US citizen in order to win. May the force be with you.
Good Luck, guys!! Thanks for playing along!

If we win, Homes.com will give Worthwhile Wear Five Thousand Buckaroos! For a new organization like theirs, that could be a major game changer and we really hope we can win it for them! (If you want to skip the project and just vote you can! lol Click HERE to Vote)
You can read all about our project first, but then you have to pinky promise to follow the voting directions at the bottom of the post okay? Ok! Thanks!
Wood Shim Wall Art I (Monica) have had this project in my mind for a few months now. It was inspired by a printed pattern I had seen in the window of a shop. I couldn't remember exactly where I saw it, but I was pretty sure it was a cool shop we had passed when we were in London in November. Great story right? Crafty DIY project inspired by a European city… Then, two weeks ago it hit me… It was JCrew at our local mall! I just about died laughing when I put it all together! Well, JCrew or London, I sure am glad it inspired me…
For under $20 we created the coolest DIY Wood Shim Wall Art

(You could go vote NOW since you've seen it! Click Here!)
I wanted something with BOLD color, and a modern feel, that married well with a bit of industrial flare!

How's that for a Before and After?
Who knew our dumpy oak piano could be such a show stopper?

Here's a peek at the details- the DIY light isn't my entry, but man I love how it works with the Wood Shim Art! (Light tutorial coming soon!)

(Or you could vote now?)

Want to know how we did it??
You've gotta head over to Homes.com for the full tutorial (but only after you've voted!)
Click HERE for the full tutorial

There were a lot of DIY elements around our Crafting for Charity project, and we'll post about all of them over the next week or so!

And now for the really important stuff! We're blogging for a charity that we love and are so proud to support. Worthwhile Wear was founded by our close friends Dan & Steph and they've committed their time and talents to make it their life's work.

Jess and I both have daughters and we couldn't imagine any of them having to endure human trafficking. We love Worthwhile Wear's mission…
Worthwhile Wear exists to rescue and restore girls from forced prostitution, and more importantly help prevent girls from ever entering it. We target highly trafficked areas both internationally and domestically, and offer women the opportunity to overcome two primary factors which are at the root of sex trafficking; poverty and lack of education. This solution is offered through vocational training centers which teach women how to make wears, such as jewelry, handbags, and clothing, which are sold to provide them employment. Additionally, the women are offered free education, a safe place to stay, and restorative programs geared toward encouraging personal growth and re-establishing self-worth.

We had the honor of working on the planning committee and doing all the decor and design for Worthwhile Wear's launch in 2012. The following images and statistics were used as artwork at the launch benefit-A Worthwhile Evening.

Those beautiful faces are not stock images. They're from Dan's last trip to India a few months back. The work Worthwhile wear is doing is critical and we hope you'll check out their site and follow along with them on Facebook.
Now it's Time to Vote!
There are 8 bloggers in this competition and some of them have a lot of followers, but none have the amazing fans we do! We know you guys have our back!
All voting will be done via Homes.com's Facebook Page
(On their Facebook Page, there's a little button that says Crafting for Charity. Click there)

Click HERE to Vote

A HUGE Thank You to Homes.com for sponsoring this awesome contest and for spreading the word about amazing charities like Worthwhile Wear. If you'd like more information about the organization and how you can help, click here.

Thanks so much!
Now, Go Get Your Vote On!

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.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Our readers are seriously amazing! You guys have helped me out with two major design decisions in the past few weeks. I promise I'll update you about the family room wall stenciling soon, but Mr. Berkus has been keeping me away from that project. However, even being busy and sick, couldn't keep me away from my Granny Frames Gallery!

You all had so many awesome ideas and gave me great inspiration! I particularly loved this picture that Cori shared with me on Facebook. The colors of those spools are pretty spot on for the colors in the room now!

Here's the comment that did it for me though…

Tracie, who blogs over at Cleverly Inspired, gave me a total"Ah-ha" moment! About a year and a half ago, when I was initially planning out my dining room, I fell completely IN LOVE with this buffet that I found on Google images (remember life before Pinterest??) I tracked down the source and found an adorable blog called The Way We Are.

I love this more than I can even tell you! But, the hubs was sorta feeling like we'd be having St. Patrick's Day every day, so I went a different direction and began my love affair with yellow.
Now, thanks to Tracie's comment I realize that I don't have to let go of the green completely. In fact, the vases I already have in the room marry the two quite nicely!

I was a little unsure about the color of this spray paint since the lid is a wee bit bright, but gave it a try…

I know some people are all into gold right now (and I'm liking it too), but for this room I'm going green!

Holy Moly- I'm in love! Okay, since I'm slowly but surely learning life lessons, I'm actually not going to rush and hang these while they're still dripping wet! I actually think I might be distressing the green a bit with some stain as well. I hope to have the whole project completed by Saturday. So look for a final reveal on Monday!
******************************* Now, since we mentioned our shopping excursion last night on Facebook, we thought we'd give you a sneak peek of what we're thinking of wearing. Of course we both got two options, and we'll make a game-time decision. Jess' Outfit Choices… The hangers aren't doing the outfits justice, but they look super cute on!

Jess is leaning towards the dark blue shirt- it's my fav!

Monica's Outfit Choices This one is the one I'm leaning towards, but it's hard to see in pics. It's like sheer knit-lacy combo… It surprised me that I liked it on. I'm kinda Plain Jane.

This is my safe option. I love the birds and can live with the flowers.

We'll let you know what we decided and of course we'll take tons of pics to keep you updated on our final NYC taping. Thanks again for all of your input with the Granny Frames!

P.S. If you don't follow us on Facebook, I'm pretty sure you should!: ) We'll update lots of fun Nate"inside info" there tomorrow! Go HERE to like RHBC!

Time for Our Big Announcement!
Here's the deal, plain and simple. We've been contacted by NBC Universal, which owns Bravo and all of The Real Housewives Shows… Guess what?? The want to do a show about us! KIDDING! Nope, they actually contacted us because they want us to cease and desist… that means stop using Real Housewives in our name. Major Bummer. Although in 2012 Jess and I did make a goal of talking behind each others' backs, wearing tighter, low cut clothing, and making millions of dollars, we're sort of lost as to the"possible confusion" that NBC was worried about with this little old DIY blog.
Well, we've talked about it, prayed about it, sought legal advice, and in the end we decided it's not worth the huge costs we'd incur to keep our beloved"Real Housewives of Bucks County" name. (We technically could try and fight this one under fair use law, but we're not looking for a battle)
Of course we're"Look on the Brightside Girls" so we're going to make the most of this re-branding! We're looking for a new name that totally reflects our personality and style. Who knows us better than YOU, our readers? So we need your help!

Pin It So, start thinking! We want our Facebook, comments, and email flooded with amazing ideas from you. Honestly, Jess and I just keep saying RHBC in our heads because it's been our baby for the past 12 months. We totally need your creative help in this process.
Here's How we Need Your Help: #1- Tell us you'll still love us even as"the bloggers formally known as The Real Housewives!" #2- Share ANY and all name ideas with us through comments, Facebook, or email (don't worry about us not liking it, we want to hear any ideas!) #3- Consider sharing our dilemma on your blog, or Facebook… the more help the merrier!
**Update: We love the ideas we're getting so far. Some of them are cracking us up! We just wanted to let you know that we plan to move away from"housewives" at all… just to be on the safe side. So keep the fab. ideas coming!**
Just keeping it real, of course we're nervous about this change over. We've worked really hard this past year, and a little piece of us is worried about losing readers, people not being able to find us etc… BUT, we're trusting that this will work out for good and who knows, maybe even catapult us towards awesome new opportunities!
Thanks so much and sorry we didn't have some awesome announcement like our own show! Ha! We're still workin' on that one!

Only following on the blog? You're missing out. Use the buttons below to join in on all the fun!

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

This is a Fab Friday for sure!! We're excited to announce the winner of the Blossom Bands giveaway… Drumroll please…

Kelli B!!! Just shoot us an email at therealhousewivesofbc@gmail.com and we'll put you in contact with Bethany at Blossom Bands. Thanks to everyone that entered, and if you didn't win, be sure to watch the BB Facebook page for deals and specials, so you can buy some for your little lady!
If you follow us on Facebook, you'll know why Jess and I got very little sleep the past few nights… we're REALLY excited and hope to make a formal blog annoucement on Monday. If you want to be"in the know," head over to Facebook to find out!
Now, onto today's Fab Find… and looky here… we made this fab find! Pinterest Tutorial We're LOVING pinterest, and know many of you are wondering what it's all about. We've made a little video letting you know why you would want to use Pinterest and how it works! Enjoy!
Have a Wonderful weekend and stay tuned for our
BIG BLOG annoucement on Monday!

Linking up to: Tatortots and Jello

Today we're super excited to have Bethany from Blossom Bands guest blogging for us. We asked her to share her story of how she turned a hobby into an awesomely successful, work-from-home business. She's a super cool example of what moms can do! We know you'll love her story and her fabulous products as well (you just might win some)!!

Hi! My name is

Bethany and I am the owner of Blossom Bands! What started off as a hobby has truly become a great adventure that has introduced me into a whole new world of homemade goodies!

It feels like yesterday that I found out I was having a girl, and that was the very beginning of my little girl accessory obsession! I remember the ultrasound tech said “It’s a girl” and do you know the first thing I said was, “Thank God I don’t have to worry about a circumcision!” Ha, who says that!? Well, I guess, I do! Then, the thought settled in, a girl, a beautiful, perfect girl! I nstantly, I was beyond excited to fill her closet and drawers with everything girlie I could get my hands on …and so it started! The first thing I ever made for Calia was a navy blue organza blossom for Thanksgiving. It matched her dress perfectly! I knew it was cute, I was excited to make her more, but when people started commenting on how great it was, the real excitement grew! Before I knew it I was researching ideas, self teaching myself how to make everything I make now! I started dying bands myself, cutting everything by hand, and suffering many needle pricks and glue gun burns! I’m proud that I do everything on my own, I’m proud that I taught myself, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come since November 2010!

In January my website-savvy husband launched http://www.blossombands.com/ and we worked on setting up our Facebook account right after that. I worked and worked on inventory, creating close to 200 products ready to sell! They’re all long gone now, and everything is made to order. I’ve tried to add new items since then, introducing tutu’s and new designs and styles regularly.

I don’t know when I really noticed how successful my little venture was becoming, it seemed to happen overnight! I have people contact me frequently to carry Blossom Bands on their websites or in their stores. I’m in awe of the amazing photographers I’ve been blessed to have photograph my work, like Heidi Hope Photography or Melissa DeCastro Photography who were the first I reached out to. The day I got an email from Piggy Toes Photography to swap a free photo session for Blossom Band props I really got excited! Blossom Bands has grown so fast so quickly, and Facebook has played a huge part in that! Networking, who knew!? I didn’t!

I did this for Calia, because I wanted to make her fun accessories. My children are my world, and have been since I had my son in February of ’07. The one thing I find myself struggling with is time! I am not a sit around and watch TV all day Mom! I’m an “everybody up, everybody get dressed, everybody in the car” kind of Mom. I go places with them; the beach, the zoo, the park, picnics, sandbox adventures, and playdates weekly. It’s hard finding a balance between a business that now demands a lot of time, and being a stay at home Mom. When do I work?!? Nap time & bed time! It works for now! And I know that there is a chance of a third baby in my future which might slow me down a bit, but my number one priority is my family…and then I think, can you imagine how amazing Blossom Bands will be when they’re all in school!? It’s going to be huge, and I hope you stick around to watch Blossom Bands blossom, Ha! So, thanks for letting me share a little bit of my story with you. And, as I finish writing this, I look up to see my son wearing half his clothes and fairy wings and my daughter stomping blueberries into my white rug, and still I know, it’s going to be a good day!
Because Bethany Rocks, she's giving away a Custom Blossom Band to one of our readers!! To enter to win,"Like" The Real Housewives of Bucks County and Blossom Bands on Facebook by clicking HERE and HERE. Then, leave a comment here on the blog letting us know you did!
The winner will be announced Friday morning, with our Fab Find! Good Luck!

I'm so excited to share this project today! It was by far my favorite project in the room! Lots of fabulous Nate Show viewers have contacted us over the last week asking when this tutorial was coming… well, the wait is over, here is is!

DIY Reindeer Artwork

First off, I want to give a shout out to a few bloggers that inspired this project. During a Nate Show Challenge we can't be browsing Pinterest or anything, but we do rely on remembering some cool ideas we've seen in the past and are ready to try. Check out Amber's project that she hand painted or this cool canvas on sale on Etsy for more inspiration.

Ok, now get ready, because this project is so simple that you might miss it if you blink! I didn't take any process pictures, and I really wanted to steal the artwork from Jess, so I made a new one for myself last night!

Start with a plain canvas. For Jess' I used an 11x17 and for mine I accidently bought 18x24. During the show, I quickly looked on Google images for a reindeer that I liked and found this picture.

I printed out the picture as an 8x11 and took it to Staples to blow it up for me. It cost all of $1.04! Score!

Have I mentioned that I seriously can't cut well with scissors? I actually had a"Needs Improvement" on my elementary report card for cutting…I still Need Improvement! So… instead, I cut it out using my handy, dandy, Xacto knife.

I used spray adhesive and spray paint.

First, flip your reindeer over and spray a thin layer of spray adhesive.

Position it onto your canvas and then pose for a cheesy picture. Okay, the posing is optional, but will make your hubs really happy, especially if you ask him to do it at 10:30pm!

Did I mention it was getting late? Perhaps all the fumes went to my head! Ugh!
After making sure that the template is pretty well sealed down, all you need to do is make a creepy face and spray!

Try to spray from directly above the artwork. Less paint will sneak through under the template. A little bleeding is okay and gives it a pretty cool look though.

I wanted to get the template off right away, so simply peel off to reveal your masterpiece!

Ta-Da! I'm totally in love!

Because I'm a blog slacker, my new artwork is still drying and not ready to be hung on the wall. I'll put some pictures on Facebook later.: ) Darn my procrastination!

So there you have it. Insanely simple artwork that makes a BIG impact!
Ta-Da!

We know lots of you plan to try this project. When you do, be sure to tag RHBC on Facebook so we can see your handiwork!

P.S. Confession Time: I may or may not have gotten totally sucked into my guilty pleasure (Gossip Girl) while writing this post. Feel free to email if you have any other questions. Bad blogger watching embarrassing shows!
P.S.S. How much do you love this awesome project I just found? Check out her blog and give her some RHBC love!

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.

Ok, Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season has officially begun in our house. One of my favorite things about the month of December is receiving loads of Christmas cards from our friends and family- some who we see weekly and some who we haven't seen in a year (or years!). There's something so special about getting real mail (vs. email, facebook messages etc.) and it's even better when it includes pictures of beautiful families or gorgeous Christmas cards. But, what do you do with all those cards? I loathe the idea of throwing them out (and no, I am not a hoarder! Not in the least, I just LOVE pictures). In years past, we've put all of our cards in a cheesy little mailbox that my hubs and I made early in our marriage.

Don't judge. We were young, dumb, and had not tapped into our creative sides yet.
This year, I decided to do something different.

I am so happy that I can put these christmas card"books" out in our living room so that people can browse through them when hanging out. I originally saw this idea by Allen Designs here, but all I did was to buy binder clips or rings, and used my hole punch to punch two holes in the cards. Then, just slip the cards on the binder rings and voila! Your cards are ready to display, don't take up a lot of space, and can be kept year after year. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm going to be sure to write the year on the back of each card so I can keep track. You just can't beat a project that is easy and cheap. I think that's going to be my tagline from now on. Just stop me if you're tired of hearing it. On second thought, there's no stopping me. Simple is my middle name.
Believe it or not, I had a really hard time finding other great Christmas card display ideas, but I was able to scrounge up a few cool ideas that are not cheesy and look elegant!

Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Leave it to Martha, to come up with something amazing. I couldn't stop drooling over that card tree.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Have an old shutter laying around? If not, you might just want to go find one, because this is a.dor.a.ble.

Source: prettyhandygirl.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: tatertotsandjello.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Ooh, and I might just have found another use for my old ladder.
It's your turn: Share your great Christmas card display ideas! Feel free to upload a pic to facebook and tag RHBC so we can see what you do!

 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! 

We're finally back to blogging after our amazing trip to Mexico! We had a great time with great friends and have to admit that this vacation was just what we needed: a break from this crazy, packed-to-the-brim (just like Monica's suitcase) year! We have lots to share about our trip, (especially about the amazing resort we stayed in!), but here's a sneak peek at our totally burnt tan selves:

But enough about that, we're happy to continue on with our interesting statistics from year one:

Yes, we are crazy, but we're committed to growing the blog and seeing where it will take us. Five posts a week is a lot if you ask other bloggers, but we are so thankful that there are two of us to lighten the load. We totally recognize that this partnership is rare, and can honestly say that after blogging together for a year, we're still friends. Ha! Plus, we love giving you guys new stuff to read every day, so even though it's a lot of hard work, it's worth it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have two awesome giveaways for you today! The giveaways are separate entities (in other words, if you win, you don't win both!) Please let us know which giveaway you're gunning for in your comment.
Ok, so giveaway number 1 is a service that is near and dear to my heart. I've mentioned Dream Dinners before when I told you that I used to own one with my mom, but just in case you missed it, this place is amazing! You can make a month's worth of meals in less than 2 hours- no prep work or clean-up required! Check out this post for more details.

This giveaway is open only to local readers (Bucks, Montgomery or Delaware Counties) and is valid only for use at the Colmar, PA store.
If you can't wait for the giveaway, use the new customer code DDNC102012 for 10% off any order of 36 servings or more.
To enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
1. Go to the Dream Dinners website, pick your favorite meal and leave a comment here with why it looks so good to you. 2. For an additional chance to win like the RHBC Facebook page, and leave a comment letting us know you did so. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our second giveaway is pretty awesome, too (can you even handle two great giveaways in one day?!) If you ever see us around, you'll notice right away that we love Thirty-One Gifts! We usually have at least one bag each on hand at all times.: ) Mandy is a killer consultant so if you have questions, fire away!

The set includes a Large Utility Tote, Picnic Thermal Tote and an About Town Picnic Blanket (in colors as shown).These items are perfect for sporting events, picnics, playdates, vacation and countless other uses! For more information about these products, check out the new 2012 Spring Catalog.
To enter: (This giveaway is now closed)
1. Go to the Thirty-One Gifts Catalog and pick your favorite product and comment with your pick. 2. For an additional chance to win, like the RHBC Facebook page, and leave a comment letting us know you did so.
Same deal: if you can't wait to win, email your order to Mandy with the code love31 to get 15% off of your order. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Allright, folks, you have 24 hours to enter! We'll announce the winners of both giveaways on Thursday morning, so don't delay! Good luck! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the winner of the Garnish giveaway is Kori!

Email us to claim your prize, Kori. Congrats!

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

This guest blogger just so happens to be my personal favorite… I'm allowed to be a little biased because I think he has a crush on me, and I think he's kinda cute too. Make sure you leave a comment and like the post on Facebook because I need lots of positive feedback for this blogger!

This is Eric, husband of the oh-so-talented

Monica. I got word that Jess and

Monica would be having"guest bloggers" and I jokingly asked why I can't be a guest blogger. Well, she called my bluff and told me to put together a post.
Now the conundrum, I am not housewife and as my WHOLE family can vouch for, I am NOT crafty. So what can I post on?
Ah-ha… probably the most important thing (not living) in my whole house would be our photo books! And this is one quasi-crafty thing that I am totally in charge of. So here goes.
If all of you crazy blog-stalkers with kids are anything like my wife, you take thousands (if not millions) of pictures of your kids, your house, your family and really just your whole life. These pictures sit on your camera or computer, occasionally they get dropped into a blog or facebook, but for all intents and purposes, they sit – lost and wasted.
In 2007, I got tired of seeing

Monica take so many awesome pictures without ever doing anything with them. That's when we discovered Blurb. Ever heard of it? The beauty of Blurb is that they offer"book-store quality printing and binding" at incredibly reasonable prices.
Everyone I've talked to seems to get overwhelmed with idea of doing a photo book. But trust me, it's not hard. The longest, hardest, most time-consuming part is just sorting through the tens of thousands of pictures stored on your camera and computer and organizing a years worth of pictures. But… and this is a big but… it's so rewarding going through a full year, seeing all that you've done, re-living all the fun events, seeing how your family has grown over the course of a year.
Ok, so what I do, (and this is just preference), is I go month-by-month, sorting pictures mainly by events. I drop all pictures into folders on my desktop with a name of the even. For example, I'll have folders such as"snow fun,""baking with mommy,""bath-time,""field trip to the farm,""fun with playdough,""Kenzie's soccer," etc., and then I always have a folder for each kid with all the best pictures that we have for them. Then when it's time to actually put the book together, it really just flies!
The great thing about doing a photo book like this versus just printing photos and putting them in an album is that you get to tell stories, explain the events, and actually add personality to your photos. It's a great place to remember some of the crazy things your kids have said or done. With the craziness of moving over this summer, I got way behind on putting these books together. I sat down to do a book for the 2^nd half of 2009 a couple weeks ago and I was amazed at how much I forgot! I saw all these pictures and couldn't quite place where we were, or what we were doing, or some of the fun stories behind the pictures. My goal is to do 2 books per year as soon as that year is finished. There are so many types of books that you can do –

Monica scanned all of Kenzie's art work from a full year of school and made an art book, she made several small books documenting things such as birthday parties or Christmas. We've even given a book to my parents after a week on vacation with them (yes, these books make great presents for the grandparents!)
Enough talk. Here is what Blurb actually looks like (screen shot from our ancient desktop). You log in and all the Blurb books you've created are listed.

Once the book is created, I import all the pictures that I have from a given folder on my desktop (i.e. beach with the Motts). There are dozens of picture/text layouts to choose from and all you have to do is drag-and-drop your pictures wherever you want them and then add the text. The view below is during the editing process.

You can also preview your book to see how it will actually look once published.

I mentioned in the beginning that it's"book-store quality printing and binding" at incredibly reasonable prices. For a 200 page book, with a hard-bound cover, it's only $48.95. A 200 page book can easily hold 600-800 pictures. I know Blurb is not the only company doing this – it just happens to be the one we use. I searched for photo-book reviews and this website seems pretty accurate. It rated Blurb as 4 starts (out of 4) for quality, but lower scores for features and ease of use. Other sites have higher scores for ease of use/features but slightly lower scores for quality. I'm not looking for anything too crazy, so I'll sacrifice a little on the crazy layouts and customizability for quality.
That's it. Now if only I could find a way to do something similar to the hours upon hours of home-videos we have, I'd be all set! Any suggestions?
-Eric (Monica & Jess)
Linked Up to: The Stories of A2Z

Well, we're SUPER excited to introduce you to:

Krista, the force behind Kotton Pickin' Kute, is so stinkin' talented! She's a friend of my sister's and when my sister had her baby girl, Norah, she was given a Kotton Pickin' Kute hat. My sis said I just HAD to check her stuff out. As soon as I saw Krista's adorable hats and diapers, I knew we had scored a Fab Find.
Just look at all this cuteness:

I NEED one of these for Charlie this winter.

Just stop it. These pics are killing me. Isn't she amazing? She just started selling her stuff, and I just KNOW she'll be uber-successful.
And guess what? Today is your lucky day. Krista is giving away one of her too-cute-to-handle hats to one of our readers!

Here's how you enter to win:
1."Like" Kotton Pickin' Kute on facebook HERE. 2. Leave us a comment telling us which cutie in your life will be sporting one of Krista's creations. 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.
On Monday morning, we'll announce the lucky winner!
Have a great weekend (and you're welcome; )!

Before you read this post, click PLAY on the music below to set the mood…

We can't even believe that the end of summer is approaching. We're basically in denial. Since we're going to cram as much awesomeness into these last few weeks as we can, we thought we'd better organize our plan of attack. Thanks to Emily at Jones Design Company we had a fabulous free printable to use. So yes, two dorky bloggers just sat together and wrote these out, but now we're going to share them with you…

Jess' Must-do-ASAP List

Monica's Must-do-ASAP List

Excuse our chicken scratch handwriting… Do you remember back in high school when having cool handwriting was a big deal? Yeah, I (Monica) never had cute girl handwriting- Jess did!

So now we want to know what you have planned for the last days of summer? Thanks to Jones Design Company, you can click HERE to download the printable. Fill it out and then post it to the Real Housewives of BC Facebook page HERE. It'll be super fun to see what you're all up to in the next few weeks!
(Oh, and we'll look sorta dumb if no one posts it to Facebook, so be a blog pal and just think… you get to show off your cool handwriting!)

Well, Monica and I have been putting in some late nights trying to improve our blog, increase functionality, and perfect our"look". We're pretty happy with it so far, but it will continue to be a work in progress. (Feedback would be lovely, thank you.;) So, here is What's New on our blog!
Page Tabs : Underneath our header you'll see we've added a few new pages for you to browse through. Make sure you check out the ever-growing list of blogs we love and sneak a peek at our cute and crazy families! Also, we'd love to hear from you, so if you have questions, feedback or just want to chat, send us an email through our"contact us" tab.
Post Finder: We've made it easier than ever for you to find a post according to topic. Just click on any of the titles to the right and you'll be taken directly to all of our posts that are related to that topic (ie: DIY).
Follow Us: You can follow us by clicking on the tabs to the left, either by email or via RSS. And, please, please, please"like" us on facebook. We're a new blog and are trying to spread the word about it! We are ever so grateful for your help!: )

And now, we are so excited to announce our first contest: Design Challeng{ed}! Please read all the details below. (*A page has been created especially for this contest, so feel free to come back and check the contest tab as often as you need to!)

We've created this icon for you to grab for youselves once you've entered. Add it to your facebook profile, your blog, or email it to all your friends and family. Remember, the most votes win, so do whatever you can to get those votes!

Now go forth and be challeng{ed}!
Good luck!

Ok, so I've already admitted that I'm a landscaping idiot. I'm not ashamed. Part of growing as a person is admitting it, and then calling in someone who DOES know what they're doing. I'm all about DIYing when I can, but sometimes you just have to ask an expert. A while ago I asked on facebook if anyone knew a good landscape designer, and we got a note from Candice saying she has her own business doing that exact thing (appropriately named Candice Price Garden Designs)

She said that she would love to draw up a plan, just for fun, to show us her skills, if we were interested. Yes, of course! Since Monica's house is relatively new without much landscaping, she decided to draw up a design for her front yard.

This is pre-front porch makeover!
Candice is an artist by nature, with a passion for gardening and her designs are absolutely beautiful! I seriously think you could frame her designs for some really cool art.: ) One of our favorite things about her was that she came to Monica's house, walked around outside and then asked if she could take a look around inside to gather some insight on Monica's design style so that she could incorporate that into her plans. Love that! Within a day or two, we received an email with her plan- we were so excited!Here's what she came up with:

Gorgeous, right? Even without knowing what the heck the plants are!: ) She even included a front elevation view so Monica could envision exactly what she meant.

Candice does a ton of work getting these plans ready: she measures and measures and measures some more, conceptualizes a design plan, creates it on paper, figures out which plants would work best in the given area. Her plans include a plant key, with descriptions of each plant so you know what the heck to look for. If you're not up for DIYing the entire thing yourself, Candice can do the install herself! Impressive.: )

Isn't that so fun? To see Candice's full description of her plan including all the juicy details, click here. Man, it's so nice to have someone do the design for you! Candice has done a ot of work in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. Just take a look at some of these other beautiful designs of hers:

Lovely, right? Now I definitely know who to call to help me with my jungle! If you need some help with your landscape design, call Candice Price Garden Design! And make sure to follow her on facebook to see her current projects. Seriously- you'll be thrilled you did!
How do YOU go about planning your landscaping?
Have you ever considered incorporating your indoor style in your outside design? PS. We were not compensated for this post! We just like to share local talent with you when we get the chance.: )