Annie Sloan Chalk Paint {Fab Find Friday}

We're all jazzed up about this week's Fab Find! Our friend Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect Blog has become an Annie Sloan Stockist and she just launched her online store.  Now before we get into chalk paint awesomeness, let me introduce Shaunna to you.  

Shaunna is one of those people that you instantly love the moment you meet her.  She's completely sweet and gentle and loving (basically my complete opposite- I'm the sassy, non-emotional one at blog conferences- lol). Beyond loving Jesus and her family, she's also insanely talented (talking magazine quality here, people).  

How to Build a Patio- Update # 4

If you're new around here, let me catch you up a bit... We're partnering with Stone Depot and EP Henry and building a patio DIY style-we're crazy and we know it...(sing to the tune of LMFAO).  You can catch up on the progress posts here, here, and here.


So, here's where we were when we left off last week...

Haven 2012 {Conference Recap}

You want to know what we learned this year at the first ever Haven conference?

There are so many talented people in the world.

It's true. Every single blogger we met has unbelievable talent, was super cute (I'm not lying when I say that Monica and I left feeling old and frumpy!), and could not have been nicer. It totally felt like a huge family reunion (except that we had never met before!) Seriously, though, we attended some inspiring sessions, chatted with some of our favorite bloggers and enjoyed really fun BFF time, too! It started out with a smooth flight, a pricey cab to the hotel (60 bucks, one way!) and the discovery that the hotel had overbooked and that our confirmation was actually a pending notification. Booo. But the guys at the Crowne Plaza worked it out and we got a room (a nice one, I might add!)

DIY Fabric Floor Cloth {Floor Mat}

Hey all! We're back from our trip to Haven in Atlanta! We learned so much and met so many great people, so while we collect all of our thoughts about it to share with you tomorrow, I thought I'd show you a project I did recently to spruce up my kitchen and entryway.  I'm super excited about this because it opens up a whole world of possibilities for us DIYers who would rather make something custom than buy it at the store. Did you know you can make a floor cloth (basically a floor mat) out of fabric? You totally can. Hallelujah! Plus, it's so ridiculously easy you'll want to make one for every room of your house! Let's get right down to business, shall we?

Fab Find{s} Friday

It's been a while since our last Fab Find Friday, (we haven't done one since November!), but we figured the Summer was a great time to reinstate it. We say this over and over again, but there are some amazingly talented people out there in the world, and we thought we would share their stuff with you! Here are five awesome projects for you:

Target Dollar Bin Mantel

We're really psyched about guest posting today on I am Momma Hear Me Roar today! I made some really cute floormats and shared the details over there. Head on over and say hi from East Coast Creative!

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I bet you never expected to see those words together, did you? Ha! I can't keep myself away from the dollar bins at Target. I spend many dollars at the dollar bin, thankyouverymuch. A few weeks ago I felt like I hit the jackpot with their new line of adorable nautical-inspired decor, gift bags, stickers, notebooks etc. The color scheme is soooo cute (aqua, coral and white) and I just couldn't resist.  I have a few little projects in mind for the gift bags- no, not as bags to hold gifts- and the stickers, but here's what I did with the rest of my loot:

We're Going to Haven! (Blog Conference)

After you read all about our exciting Haven adventures, head over to Pretty Handy Girl where we're sharing our love of pallets. Yup, we still dig them. :)

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Jess and I have been counting down the days and finally Haven is Here! What could be better than 3 days away with your BFF, surrounded by creative people from all over the country, talking blogging and DIY, and eating at great restaurants??  I'll tell ya, not much is better than that!
We're insanely excited about the keynote speakers... John and Sherry! We were brainstorming ways that we could be sure to meet them (yeah, we're creepy like that-Ha!) Some ideas were dressing in YHL fan club outfits, Making a movie where we dress up like John and Sherry, Dressing up like Eminem (Sherry had a thing for him back in the day) or simply pushing and shoving our way to the front and then acting like we just happened to be there. Each of those options, while fun, made us seem a tad psycho, so we're just crossing our fingers that we get to meet them! (Hint, Hint, if you're reading this Sherry)

Solar Terrarium Tutorial

Psssst! We're guest-posting today over at Home Stories A to Z for our bloggy friend, Beth. Head on over to see what we did with an old cabinet!
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We love when a DIY project just kind of pops onto our laps. This Solar Terrarium was just that way. We were working on a succulent planter that was really flopping and suddenly came up with this project as a Plan B, and we sure love it!

Summer Bucket List- Free Printable!

I know for many summer is well underway, but my kids just got out of school last week and I still have a week left.  So, I might be a little behind the eight ball on this, but we finally sat down this weekend and created our summer bucket list.  This year I wanted to do something fun and visible, so that it would be a daily reminder of all the fun things we have planned! 

Summer Love {Sponsor-style}

It's time for a round-up of all our favorite summer finds from the best sponsors in the world! You know those ads on our sidebar? They are all amazing shops and services that you need to know about. Just take a look at the fun things we found for you!

Transom Window {Kitchen Update}

I know what you're thinking. Another update? I thought she was done! What? Is she crazy? And the answer is yes and yes. I thought I was done, too, but alas my brain works in mysterious ways, and once I get an idea in my head, it's really hard to get it out. Just ask Monica. And my hubs. (Thankfully, Monica understands completely because she is the exact same way.) Anyway, I kept looking at the new opening we made from our kitchen to the dining room, and I liked it. Really I did. But it just seemed like it was missing something, or that the opening was too vast and non-descript. I wanted to add some architectural interest without taking away the openness or blocking the light. A few weeks ago, Monica and I were at our second home, Architectural Antiques looking for a Plan B headboard for our Superfab Room Redesign, and this baby jumped out at me. An old, beat up transom window. We both knew at that moment that it would be the perfect addition to my kitchen.

Patio Boredom Buster {Switch and Go Dinos to the Rescue!}

This post brought to you by VTechKids. All opinions are 100% mine.

Our life can be summed up by one word lately... Patio!  Morning, noon and night we've been working on it.  Our kids have been awesome helpers and playing on their own, but it was time to reward the little ones with a treat! 

DIY Patio Update Week 3

This past weekend we did some serious work on the patio! My hard working husband put in 13 hours Saturday and about 10 on Sunday. We're so incredibly lucky to have awesome friends and family that were willing to lend a hand.  

(Look at what was left of our crew.  90 degree heat is pretty rough!)

Blogging 2 Better Summer Challenge

We've been keeping a secret from you. And it's a good one. But don't worry! We're about to let you in on it.....ready??.....ok, here goes: Six weeks ago we asked several amazing bloggers to join with us in a collaboration group we called Blogging 2 Better.  We're a bunch of like-minded home, DIYand crafting bloggers that want to learn as much as we can about blogging, while also sharing ideas, encouraging one another and sharing each other's awesome projects as much as we can. We're so fortunate to be part of a blogging community that encourages sharing! (If you write a blog, we strongly suggest getting a group of girls together to learn from. No one understands all that blogging entails except for other bloggers! You can find more about that in our Part-Time Blogger series here.)

Anyway, these girls are really, truly talented and it was a lot of fun getting to know them better. For our final week, we had Beckie from Infarrantly Creative  give us a list of materials that we all needed to incorporate into an awesome project. It's like our version of a Nate's Crate Challenge! Woohoo! And today is the day we get to see what everyone's been up to!! Once you finish taking a look at what we created, make sure you hop over to the other gal's blogs to see what they made.

Monday Monday

Happy Monday! We can't wait to share what we've been up to lately! Check back tomorrow for an awesome project tutorial and a few other fun things! (Here's a little clue...) ;)

DIY Patio Update #2

Last week I introduced you to the huge DIY patio project we're in the midst of. (If you missed the intro post, you can check it out HERE.) Well, the past week has been full of lots of and lots of hard work, but we've made some awesome progress!  

Although my mind is completely preoccupied with planning our first patio party, and all the fun accessorizing DIYs I can't wait to get started on, I had to stick to the Patio Plan and stay focused! Our last post ended with us beginning to measure and plan. Here's what we've accomplished since then! 

Candice Price Garden Designs

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)

Taste Test: Quaker Soft Baked Bars

*Since it's a Sponsor Day, We'll be back later today with another post about some cool landscaping!*
This post brought to you by Quaker Oats. All opinions are 100% mine.

When an offer comes to taste test something, we're all over it (unless it's something weird, because I'm a picky eater!)  So, when Quaker asked us to taste test their new breakfast snack we were thrilled!  I'm big on the honesty thing, so when they mentioned it being a wholesome food with 140 calories, 5g of Fiber and 6g of protein, I started getting a little worried (picky, remember).  Well, let me tell you, Quaker Soft Baked Bars didn't disappoint!  

There are two kinds we got to taste... Cinnamon Pecan Bread and Banana Nut Bread

Jess and I both agreed that the Cinnamon Pecan was our favorite! 

Since we're two DIY lovin' girls and we're usually doing our projects together late at night, we thought it would be fun to show you how Quaker Soft Baked Bars can be the perfect snack for DIYers.  

You can use your jigsaw to cut your bar into fun shapes! 

You can hot glue and eat the Banana Nut at the same time (who knew?) 

And last but not least, you can write a blog post an snack at the same time! 

So, thanks for letting us tell you what we thought of Quaker Soft Baked Bars.  Who knows, maybe it will become the #1 Snack of DIYers... if it does, remember that you heard it here first! Ha! 

We hope you enjoyed our little taste test review.

We'll be posting 2x today, so be on the lookout later for another fun landscaping post we've been excited to share! 

Father's Day Gift Round-Up

I can't believe Father's Day is next weekend.  I have nothing planned yet (ugh! Slacker wife!) so, I thought I'd share some Father's Day Gift ideas that I found throughout blog land.  Now, I have to warn you that my hubs isn't into ties, golf, or the TV remote and I found SO MANY project ideas like that, so if you want that stuff look on Pinterest.  These are just ones that I thought were really cool and that I'd actually try myself.  
Free Printable Props from Paper Coteriefind them HEREI know my kids would have a blast taking pictures with these props!  Even if we didn't print them out, we could show dad a silly slideshow!

Wall of Surprises from Oh Happy Day

find the tutorial HERE

Tackling the Jungle

I will be the first to admit that my husband and I are absolutely clueless when it comes to landscaping of any kind. Our home came with well-established flower beds that we we had no idea (and still don't!) how to care for.  Up until this year, I really didn't care that much, but this year, enough was enough. We plan on making small (as in, very small) updates to our yard and outside of our home this summer and of course, I'll share them with you! The first job we tackled was rather big and ugly:

How to Make a Headboard {Shutter Headboard}

We'll admit we're not the first ones to DIY a headboard...there are so many awesomely creative headboard ideas out there!  What we wanted most for this headboard was to create a juxtaposition of old and new.  You might remember the accent wall- a classic houndstooth, with a modern multi-colored flare... well, we felt like it needed a fabulous antique headboard. 

 

It's the Little Things {Hallway Update}

You know how sometimes the littlest things make you the most excited? Well, that's exactly the situation here. I made a teeny-tiny change in our first floor hallway that has me doing a jig (go ahead, picture that for a minute). A while ago, I ordered some vinyl from House of Smiths Designs, and I just got around to using it. I originally saw it used in Shelley's amazing gallery wall and absolutely fell in love. Can you guess which one?