My Creative Blog [Search results for washi tape] 

Most likely you've seen washi tape on Pinterest, in home decor magazines, and even in the stationary aisle at Target! There's a full-blown washi tape frenzy going on in America. So for those of you living under a rock, what is washi tape? It's basically super pretty masking tape that you can use for all kinds of crafts and home decor projects. Washi tape isn't new to me, actually I spent some time in Japan in high school and fell in love with it WAY back then (yes, high school was a long time ago… side note, I actually served my kids brussel sprouts last night. That was a major Oh my word, I'm old because I'm doing something I vowed never to do moment. Sorry, I digress) When I was in Japan, I feel in love with their awesome paper products including washi tape. I hadn't bought any since my time in Japan, and I decided it was time to have a little washi fun!

I jumped on Etsy and found that Pretty Tape had a great selection and totally reasonable prices. I went with a two-toned grey stripe and a yellow and grey floral. Aren't they cute together?

Since I have a patio now (almost) I plan to be eating a lot of meals outside. I was at JoAnn Fabrics and found these white trays 70% off. I think they came down to around $4.00 each. While white is nice, I thought it was time to whip out the washi! Hi-Ya!

These couldn't be any easier to make, so I'll keep it short and sweet. Put the tape on the tray and leave a little excess, so that you can trim it later.

I fully overlapped, because I wanted to cut a nice, clean angle where the two tapes met.

Scissors work fine for washi tape, but I prefer using an X-acto. I'm way better with an x-acto than I am with scissors… maybe it's a lefty thing?

Did I mention that this was simple? Yup, that's all there is to it. I love the little bit of style it adds.

One cool thing about washi tape is that you can remove it really easily! Since I plan to use mine for serving I'm sealing it with a coat of Modpodge. It won't be dishwasher safe, but I will be able to wipe it down by hand.

There you have it, one of the simplest little face lifts that brought some cute style to my outdoor serving trays. Having a party on the 4th? Target sells washi tape- you could do a little Red, White, and Blue action on some pieces for your festivities and remove it when your bash is over!
Happy 4th of July!

************************ Don't forget to set your DVRs… Craftwars is on TLC again tonight! We're all jazzed up because one of our gal pals, Mandi from Vintage Revivals is on tonight's episode!

Hey Everyone! I'm so excited that I can finally share my Christmas Countdown with all of you! I had to wait until P&G was ready for it on their pgtryit.com site, so I'm sure you've already created yours for 2012, but hey, Pin it for next year! Tomorrow is Jess' Christmas home tour and I don't know about you, but I'm really super excited (okay, yes I've seen it all, but not in pictures!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope your Thanksgiving was awesome and you're ready for the crazy holiday marathon that is the next few weeks! I don't know about you, but the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is probably the most exciting time of the year for my family. It's also really easy to get so busy that we miss taking time to do some of the things we love!
As the Trend Trio Home Expert from P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? I'm going to share with you a fun craft that you can make to ensure the month doesn't pass you by!

Christmas Countdown Tutorial Christmas Countdown Tutorial This is not yo mama's countdown where you just get a little piece of candy that most likely was packaged last year… This is an interactive family activity that I know your family will love. The best part is that it will ensure that none of the special activities and traditions slip through the cracks.
Step 1- Start with a plain Jane piece of plywood. I'd recommend looking for one that has really cool patterns in the grain like this one does!

Step 2- Lightly spray paint. I gave the wood the lightest possible coat of white spray paint. Keep the can far back and move it back and forth very quickly. The spray paint got rid of the warm brown tones and began to highlight the grain.
Step 3- Paint the grain to highlight the details. I used about 1 part paint to 3 parts water to paint over the awesome grain! I dipped my brush in the mixture and then dabbed it dry on some paper towels. I used a really light hand and tried to feather the paint on, so that it looked natural.

Step4- Use Stencils to title your board. I used a simple, industrial font and stencils that are adhesive backed. They make my crafting life so much easier.

Step 5- Spray paint 25 wooden clothes pins. I picked a cool-toned grey blue color that would pop on the white-washed plywood.

One tip about spray painting- have an old drop cloth handy. I use this piece of plastic when I need to paint in my garage so that I don't get it all over the floor.

Step 6- Choose some washi tape colors. Washi tape comes in almost every pattern imaginable these days. You can order from a huge selection online, but I actually got these colors at my local craft store. Washi tape is really versatile and can be used on all kinds of surfaces.

Accent each mini envelope with your washi tape and then either hand write or stamp your countdown numbers.

Step 7- Measure, Place & Hot Glue your clothes pins. The easiest way to do this is to just lay it out on the wood and then measure your spacing to keep it consistent in each row.

I just love the end result!

Step 8- Plan 25 Awesome Family Activities. Write down 25 things that you want to do. Each day you will open an envelope and do what's written inside. I recommend using a calendar to plan out your activities before putting one inside each envelope.

Our activities range from something as simple as reading a holiday story as a family to going out to see all the Christmas lights in our neighborhood.

I hope your 2012 holiday season is super special and that your family enjoys all the awesome activities you plan for them!

The countdown is on!
What kinds of activities will you choose for your family to do this month?

Make sure you check back to keep up with all of the Trend Trio videos, blog posts, and product tips to help make this holiday season the best one yet!

Sometimes spring decorating stumps me. I'm always so excited to lighten and brighten, but since one day can be warm and the next day is rainy and cold, I never quite know how to decorate. This year, I came up with a super inexpensive idea that makes my decor really versatile and easy to swap out.

Enter the simple terra cotta pot. I bought it at Lowes for less than a dollar. I decided to create three completely different looks that I can swap out whenever it suits my fancy.

DIY Idea # 1- Washi Tape & Whitewash The first step for this option is to tone down the orange clay color. I watered down some white paint, applied a thin coat, and then used paper towels to wipe it off, which left me with a white, weathered look. I had this adorable ruler washi tape and thought it went perfectly with the idea of spring growth! I love washi tape because it's inexpensive and comes in so many fun patterns.

DIY Idea #2- Faux Metal Metal containers can be really expensive, but I love the industrial look they have. Using metallic spray paint, I was able to get the look of metal, but still spend under a dollar! I think a grouping of these in varying heights could look really neat!

DIY Idea #3- Chalkboard Paint Oh, how I love chalkboard paint! Did you know I actually have chalk paint as my kitchen back splash? It's pretty awesome. I love the matte finish it gives the pot and I was able to add a fun little doodle. If you're thinking of planting any starter plants or herbs, you could use chalk to label what you're growing. Here's an insider tip… to get the crisp, clean writing lines like I did, use a chalk marker. You can order them online or from restaurant supply stores. They are much easier to draw with and still wipe off with water!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about big room makeovers, but sometimes a simple project like this one can make me just as happy!

The options are endless with this one- which one do you like best??

Happy Thursday! A few weeks ago, we had the priviledge of sharing this fun project on I Heart Naptime (if you haven't ever stopped over there, do it! Jamielyn is such a sweetie, and her blog is super fun!). We hope you enjoy it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We don't know about you, but one of our favorite things to do is decorate for Christmas, and we absolutely thrive on challenging ourselves to come up with decorations that are new and different each year. Last year, we tried our hand at creating ornaments out of slices of wood, and since we loved them so much, we decided to create a piece of holiday art with them!

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

Not pictured: Liquid Nails, Grommets and Grommeter, Washi Tape Step 1: Wrap your foam core in wrapping paper. We found this fun newspaper/book page wrapping paper in the dollar bin at Target. Score! You could use spray adhesive, but we found that wrapping it worked just as well, with less mess! 

To get perfect corners without bunching, fold the corner in towards the center of your foam core, pull tight, and then fold the sides over the top. Tape down in place.

Step 2: Add grommets to the top corners of the foam core. Don't know how to add grommets? We've got you covered and can teach you. This step isn't necessary (you could hot glue your ribbon to the back), but we think it adds just the right amount of glam to our art piece. 

Step 3: Figure out the arrangement of your wood slices. We cut our birch logs with a chop saw about a 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. We found our birch wood in our backyards, but usually Michael's sells these if you don't live in the boonies like we do. Then, we just laid them out on our foam core and decided which arrangement we liked best. No special scientific method needed! (We try really hard to limit the amount of math we have to do for projects. Hehe.) 

Step 4: Attach your wood slices to your"canvas". We wanted to make sure that the wood slices would stick immediately, so we used hot glue around the outside. Then to make sure the wood slices stayed permanently, we put a dab of liquid nails in the middle. It never hurts to be extra careful, right?


Step 5: Thread your ribbon through the grommets. Leave enough length so that it hangs at the height you want it. Cut the ends so they look cute.

Step 6: Add some detailing. We wanted to really make the canvas pop, so we added a strip of red Washi tape along the bottom of the canvas. It helps carry the red from the ribbon above through the entire canvas.

Hang up your canvas and start singing Christmas carols!

Yup, we're ready. Bring it on, Christmas! 

So, that's two wood projects in 2 days! Are you feeling the wood love like we are? What new twists are you doing to your holiday decor?

PS. Don't forget to send us your Christmas cards!

This day seems like a long time coming. It's the first time I've completed a nursery AFTER the baby was born. Ha! (If you missed my baby announcement, you can see it here) Doing this reveal today- October 1st- is sort of ironic, since this is the day I was due! I'm so happy I took my time to finish it because I'm really happy with it! It's not perfect- is any room ever really perfect??-, but it makes me smile and will be a great space for Bennett… when I can part from him.; ) I hope you're ready for a whole slew of pictures. Sit back and enjoy!

Come on in!

This room is nothing like I originally envisioned, but one thing that stuck is the color scheme: orange, mint and gray. It's so fresh, bright and a little quirky.

Isn't that little Bennett burp cloth adorable? My friend Karen from Thread Blossoms made it and I never want to actually use it- it's too cute!

Free printables are a great way to dress the walls in a nursery- (you can see my round up of fun printables here.) I added the printable on the far left from The Handmade Home, and I love it! The rocking chair has been in my family for years, but I just recently decided to make it work in the space by painting it in Annie Sloan's Graphite chalk paint. The abstract art was custom-made by my cute kids (more on that later!)

These cube shelves are from Ikea- Monica actually hung them during our first Nate's Crate challenge on The Nate Berkus Show. They totally look like built-ins and fit that little nook perfectly.

This room doesn't have a closet that we can use, so we purchased an armoire from Ikea to hang some of Bennett's clothes. When you sit in the rocking chair, you kind of stare right at the side of the armoire, so I hung an old print that was in my nursery as a baby, after painting the wood frame in the same graphite as the chair.

I've had the coffee sign for several years, but I moved it in the nursery because I thought it was kind of funny…if you've ever had a newborn, you know how much caffeine you need!: )

Oh, the dresser. This dresser is fabulous, isn't it? It was my grandparents and I totally wasn't sold on it at first, but we were trying to do this room on a budget and it was free. Done deal, folks. Now, I am in love with it! I'll share the details in another post, but with some paint and wax and a pop of orange paint on the legs, it was turned into the best part of the room!

I thought the"Oh Boy" was so appropriate for two reasons: 1) we were having a boy (duh!) and 2) we were taken so by surprise with this pregnancy. It makes such a statement and adds a whole lot of personality to the room!

I added some washi tape to the plain black lamp shade to add a little interest. Man, I love washi- is there no end to it's many uses?

Bennett isn't spending too much time in this room yet, but I'm pretty sure he's excited about it!

I hope you love it as much as I do! Tell me…what's your favorite part?

Sources Sheets: Target Rug: Ikea Changing Pad Cover: Babys R Us Dresser Paint: Annie Sloan Graphite & Paris Gray, Dark Wax Giant Letters: Hobby Lobby Dresser light: Target Color-blocked baskets: Target Copper Light on bookshelf: Local antique shop Armoire: Ikea Bookshelf cubes: Ikea Rocking Chair: Hand-me-down Mirror: Walmart Coffee sign: Vintage sign store in OCNJ

Believe it or not, my kids are pretty rough on our house… We're pretty laid back parents and our kids do a lot of ball playing, wrestling, and just being kids in our house. I love this pic that Salvatori Photography took for us- this is SO our life!

The one problem I was having was that they kept breaking everything on my family room gallery. Frames would fall and break, glass was cracked a few times from footballs- it was getting old! So, I decided to create a Kid-Friendly Gallery Wall!

Everything on the wall is either plastic, paper, or wood and there's NO glass on anything! I'm writing this post a while after completing this project, so I can tell you that we've made it over 3 months without one break!! Woohoo!
You might remember seeing a peek of this wall during Creating with the Stars- my knock-off round project was in the gallery… You can check out that tutorial here.

Here are a few more pics of the gallery and then I'll show you how I made the awesome vintage camera prints!

Now let's chat about the vintage camera prints- I love them SO much! I think they have just the right blend of vintage appeal and classy style. I got the FREE download here- gotta love an awesome, free printable! Thanks Design Editor!

I headed to staples and had them printed as 2"x3" engineer prints. They cost me about $5 bucks each. Since I knew I didn't want to frame them with a glass frame, I thought about just taping them right up on the wall… my hubs mentioned he thought it might look a tad cheapo, so I kept thinking… then it hit me- Washi Tape! I had ordered some from Consumer Crafts a while back (they have a great selection and super cheap prices).

I simply used one long piece for each side, stayed right at the edge, and folded the excess onto the back. It took me about 5 minutes max!

I think it was the perfect touch to give the paper is more finished look!

I used command strips to hang them on the wall- it was perhaps the easiest and cheapest DIY with an awesome impact on the family room!

Later this week I'm going to share how I go about creating a gallery wall- I think some people feel it can be a tad overwhelming if you let it, so I'll kind of show you how it all went down here at the Mangin pad!
What do you think of my huge, almost-free pics? And am I the only one whose kids rough up their home decor?

Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you guys heard of The Inspiration Board? It's a new fun tool created by our friend Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime. (She's a real sweetie and an awesome star in Creating with the Stars. Woot woot!) Have you ever seen those mood boards or room design inspiration boards that real designers create? Usually you have to know how to use Photoshop to make a really good one, but not anymore! Now you can take all those pins you've been saving up and put them onto one style board that you can share with the public or save for your own reference! Plus, they're not only functional, they're super cute with loads of features that allow you to customize the board to your preference.

Jamielyn asked us if we would create a board and since we have CWTS on the brain, we just had to whip one up using the details from the contest:

We love the little details like the fun washi tape, paper clips and push pins! It's a really cool way to add some style to your pins and we hope you'll give it a try. And even if you don't want to make your own, there are tons of other boards for you to browse through for inspiration. Jamielyn is hosting a launch party with loads of incredible prizes, so head on over and join the party!
Have a great day!

Occasionally, Jess and I do or see a project that is deserving of the"Try this Now" title. The project needs to be super simple to execute and have a major awesomeness factor. We know it's easy to have an ever-growing DIY list, but these babies are projects that you should try right away. We've started a page on the blog where we'll catalog these super-simple projects, including today's Family Valentine's Idea. So be on the lookout for our fun Try this Now logo. TRY THIS NOW PAGE

I was browsing the Target dollar bins and spotted these cute mini mailboxes. We have a little over a month before Valentine's Day, so I decided that we were going to create a little family mail center!

Here's the plan… we set these mailboxes in the family room with a stack of blank notes where anyone can leave a note for the kids and they can leave notes for each other. We're encouraging them to write something nice to one of their siblings each day.
Of course I wouldn't leave you hanging without free printable notes of your own! You can download the ones I created HERE.

I printed them on plain,old computer paper, but I think they're pretty cute!

I had bought one mail box for each kiddo and some Valentine's stickers. I pulled out some washi tape and a bunch of Sharpie markers.

After dinner last night, the kids went to town decorating. They were really into it!

The best part wasn't the decorating though… it was seeing how excited they were to write each other notes! Kira is really sweet and put so much effort into her brother's note.

Here are a few of the notes that are going to be read this morning…

Kaden is honestly the best big brother on the planet!

He actually wrote 2 notes for Cal!

I'm really excited about the next month and how excited my kiddos are to send each other thoughtful notes. We're not a super touchy-feely family, so this is one way we can do Valentine's Day on our terms!

Are you ready to Try This Now? Will your family be getting a Valentine's Mail Center?
Linking up to: I Heart Naptime

If you thought Round 1 was impressive, what do you think of these Round 2 Knockoffs? If you haven't already, stop everything and click here to vote for your favorite 3 knockoffs! We aren't exaggerating when we say we were blown away this round. And… lucky me, I get to share my knockoff today… no pressure right! Ha!

Before I share mine, let's enjoy a Blast from the Past and look at the Knockoff that won us Round 2 of Creating with the Stars in 2012. It appears that Anthro is DIYers favorite store to knockoff. Last year we tackled their Ordinal Dresser (you can see the full tutorial here)

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Now, onto my little ol' knockoff project…

I really wanted Anthro's Woodcut Print, but at ahem $1600… are you kidding me?? At that price, it had better grow into a money tree!! I'll take my $6.99 version thank you very much.

Here's how I made mine… it took about 5 minutes. I searched Google images for a woodcut picture I liked. It was black and white, but I wanted a red tone similar to the original. I brought it into PicMonkey (love that site) and used the tint effect to choose a new color. The options are endless as you can see from my screen shot below.

If I wanted a smaller size this project would have been FREE, but I needed a 12x12, so I printed it at Staples for $6.99. It's not an earth shattering knockoff, but I saved $1593.01- Woohoo! Jess and I love getting a high end look for less… Why pay full price, when you can just Knock-it-Off?
The woodcut art is part of my new Kid Friendly Gallery Wall! Every single item on this wall is plastic, wood, or just plain paper. With 4 kids, and after about 7 broken frames I knew I needed a plan B!

I'll be posting more about this wall after CWTS, but here are a few pics for you to enjoy…

And yes, those prints are just paper, framed in washi tape. Break proof!

That metal print is SO us! Eric and I might be a wee bit sarcastic… It says,"National Sarcasm Society… Like we need your support"

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Alright, enough about me, let's talk about you! Are you ready to link up your favorite Knockoff project?

The winner of Round 2's link up will receive an awesome prize package from Belmonili and Perfectly Imperfect Shop, and we promise you're going to love it!

This link party will be open until Friday, March 22nd at 10 PM EST. Jess and I are going to be choosing our absolute favorite knockoff project and revealing the tutorial for it on Sunday! If you win this week, we'll be contacting you sometime on Saturday for the tutorial, so be ready!
Please remember a few things before linking up: 1. Before linking, please LIKE us on Facebook (Thanks!)

2. Make sure you link back to us in your post. Only those linking back will be eligible for the prize! 3. Only one submission per person. 4. Choose a project that you've done in the last 12 months.
Want to see all the amazing Upcycle projects that were linked up last week? Click here! The Round 1 Link Up Winner was this awesome light fixture!