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I have been making some major headway in the new house, despite my radio silence on the matter... I have had freelance project after project and haven't hardly had a moment to update you on what I have been up to otherwise! In fact I am almost completely finished with the Family Room, squeal... can't wait to do the full room reveal for you guys! Such a fun space... 

In the meantime the other areas of my house are needing some love desperately too! Remember this painting I found at Denio's, my new home away from home? Well as much as I loved it as it was, I wanted something fresh and exciting and so I took a paint brush to it, duh. After all, the reason I purchased it in the first place was the sheer size and of course the price of a mere $3! Doesn't get better than that folks, except when it gets a new 'do' and that 'do' is a little reminiscent of a space I loved when I shared it with you here... See the room with the spotted art above the bed? Yep, loved it...

One of my goals in the new house is to turn my design style up a notch and mix things up. I want to really push my design boundaries and find a new style to love for a while! The only way for me to do this is to take risks, so a few dalmatian-ish spots above the bed are a great place to start! 

I will spare you the 'tutorial' since it's pretty straightforward, but I will mention that I used Rustoleum spray paint and primer in one to give it a good base coat. I used just regular acrylic craft paint for the spotted goodness and a sponge brush with a round tip. That made the spotting that much easier to do! Easy Peasy update and I couldn't love how it sets a fresh new tone for the space any more than I currently do. It makes me happy to remember it's there and stare at it. Ya, that's probably weird but, it's my way...

Also... how devious does that pup look. I clearly caught him in the act of something, I have yet to simply find out what... He's a little out of focus here because I was shooting the painting, but that look on his face is priceless. Part, leave me alone, part, did she see what I was doing? eek...

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It's has taken me the better part of two days to finish this project, and it was much like a blooper reel, I'm sure, to have seen this unfold. To say that I struggled would be a major understatement but... you guys... this is the first time I have ever used a Silhouette and believe me, it was apparent through each and every step! Eek.

At long last, I finished this cute little addition to our family room and I learned a ton along the way! At least you all won't suffer much when it's your turn to give this a whirl... there is something to be said for that. Believe me...

So let's get into the wwwww.... oh and one of you lucky folks will be going home with your very own Silhouette Portrait! Sqeeeeee... Aren't you so excited? I posted the giveaway here, so click on over to enter, yay!

Please bear with me through this crazy maze of instructions, and know that the images don't coincide directly with some of the ultimate results. This is because many of the details I was able to photograph were midstream or before I decided to scrap the whole thing for the 3rd time and change it entirely. The details remain the same, but the appearance may get wonky throughout.

Also we are going to begin at the very beginning of using a Silhouette machine and this is because I learned much that might have been helpful to know from the start and I couldn't find any exact instructions along these lines. Now there will be something helpful for those of you in my situation! 

Let's dive right into the chaos, shall we? So the first thing you will need to do is set up your image or text in the Silhouette Studio. Now as you will see in the next couple of steps, the guides for where your paper should sit, aren't exactly accurate so you will want to be sure your image or text sits down 1/2" from the top of the 'paper' edge on your screen. Likewise, it should sit up about 1" from the bottom of what appears to be the 'paper' edge. and at least 1/2" in from either side. If you keep your image within those boundaries, you will have better luck when you start to cut! 

Once your image is set you will need to get it ready to send to Silhouette and you will have to choose a few settings to make this thing function properly.

First you will want to choose chipboard from the dropdown of paper/item type. If you don't have that option (as I didn't) you can choose custom OR you can choose heavy cardstock paper weight and make sure your cutting blade level is at a 6. Now, if you do have the chipboard option, it will set your level to a 7, but if you have never used your machine, mat and blade before...this will cut right through your brand new surface and leave you with a mat that is a bit crazy. So start with a 6 to be safe. You can simply adjust the number using the little arrow buttons. 

Also, if you haven't cut anything with your machine before, stick an extra piece of chipboard or cardstock to your mat and peel it off to de-sticky it a tad. Mine was so sticky at first that it ruined my cuts. 

Once you have your level set to a 6, you will need to trim down your chipboard so it will feed through the machine properly. I removed about 3" from the width of the chipboard and stuck it onto my mat, centered and lined up with the guides on the mat. 

Once your chipboard is on your mat, you will want to center the mat between the white roller wheels on the bar in your machine. This will make sure your page goes through properly. 

The image above shows what happens when you don't add that extra clearance for your image (the 1/2" extra bit of margin I suggested earlier). Eek. 

Now let's chat about your blade. That cute little thing above has markings around the white portion with numbers. When I mentioned you want to set your screen setting to a level 6, this also means you need to adjust the actual blade accordingly. To do this, use the gray cap that comes with your blade, or the hole on the front of the machine to set your blade and then turn to adjust where the red marker aligns. Once it's set for 6, you are good to go according to the blade directions and set up instructions. Unfortunately my blade still wasn't cutting. After chatting with support for an entire day, it turns out that I can make the blade cut by removing the teeny tiny top portion of that white cap (which the instructions say to remove for cleaning and then replace). It seems as though it is supposed to sty on, but my blade doesn't stick out far enough for that to work, so I simply left it off. I am sure I am ruining my machine or something devastating, but I tried 2 blades with the same results and 2 blades in 2 different packages can't both be defective... so my thought is that a new safety measure perhaps, is a bit too safe? Not sure, but this is the story I am sticking too! 

This is what it looks like with this little piece removed. You simply unscrew it by turning it counter clockwise. 

Voila she cuts... and then if your mat is too sticky, she doesn't come off. Double eek.. 

At this point I figured perhaps the sticky mat and the chipboard dont mix and I should just send the chipboard through without the mat... wrong... that sucker got crazy and folded over on itself and made a horrid horrid mess. No, you need that mat to keep the small cut sections from lifting, but you need that mat to just be a little less sticky, which it was after my first incident with my cuts not coming off properly. Another problem accidentally solved... after I spent 30 minutes trying to scrape the residual chipboard off, of course! 

Finally after I adjusted my margins, used a less sticky mat, adjusted my blade to a 6 so it didn't cut all the way through, removed that cap from the blade and re ran that sucker through... everything worked properly! And then I decided it was too small... womp womp womp. 

Back to the drawing board, and I don't have pictures of these steps since by this time it was nearly midnight but I will happily suggest you paint any of your pieces prior to removing them from the mat. This just makes things easier... 

Ultimately I was able to fit 2 hello images per sheet and I cut a total of 6 to layer and give it dimension. This isn't necessary if you are making a banner in the traditional sense, but I was of course moving to the beat of a different drum... 

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UPDATE: This contest is now closed and a winner has been drawn at random. Check below to see if it's you! If you would like to purchase any of the bundles listed below, you can do so with a discount by entering CONFIDENTIAL at checkout! Yahoo

I am excited to bring you all an amazing giveaway today and a promotional bundle of deals for those of you who prefer to buy your way to bliss! Silhouette just came out with a new product... Chipboard! I know, right? For those of you who like banners and anything with glitter, chipboard is the stuff for you! And for those of you who like to win big, one of you will be going home with a new Silhouette Portrait... Sqeeeeeee... I know, right? Could you die? Yahoo. I will be back in just a bit with a project showing you how to use this cool stuff... stay tuned!! 

There are three bundles available to TDC readers which you can take advantage of by visiting www.silhouetteamerica.com/chipboard and entering promo code "CONFIDENTIAL" at checkout by May 15, 2013:

1)  1 pack of chipboard, 1 $25 download card for $19.99


2)  1 Silhouette Portrait™, 1 pack of chipboard, 1 grey dust cover, 1 $25 download card for $129.99

3)  1 Silhouette CAMEO®, 1 pack of chipboard, 1 natural dust cover, 1 $25 download card for $269.99

And now for the even more exciting part? Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win your very own Silhouette Portrait from Silhouette! The giveaway ends at midnight just before May 13, 2013 (so on May 12 basically) and a winner will be drawn at random and notified via email! 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links

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This post brought to you by Moen, Incorporated. All opinions are 100% mine.

This is a bit like the changing of the seasons... out with the old seemingly beautiful shiny polished Moen faucet and in with the new - who even knew it could be so beautiful - Kiran Spot Resist one-handle pulldown kitchen faucet in brushed finish with a no spot no fingerprint promise, Moen faucet! This beauty can be purchased at Lowe's if you want to rid yourself of spots for good! Head over to Moen's FB page and Like them to thank them for making life with children, and people in general, a little bit easier...

So there was absolutely nothing wrong with our previous faucet, nothing at all... but... here's the thing, do you guys have kids, a husband, hands? Ya me too so consider for a minute that it likely means you are constantly wiping something down, because it's gunky and spotty, and you don't even know how irritating that task has become until it's gone and you no longer have to do it. 

When I say there was nothing wrong with my previous faucet, what I mean is that it already had many of the bells and whistles this new faucet has: it was Moen, which of course is fabulous, had a pull out sprayer and could toggle between spray and flow as needed. But it was shiny, and I never knew how much I disliked shiny and all that comes (read...constant spottiness) with that until I had something that wasn't. I can't actually describe to you what the finish is like other than to say it very closely resembles brushed nickel, only it's velvety (yes that's a word, I'm sure of it...)

Now the install wasn't too difficult, once I figured out that part (A) was actually a tool and not a part that needed to be attached to something else (see that gray plastic 'tube like' item in the image above). Yes, true story. I know, duh. There weren't even very many parts, which always makes a project seem fast and easy. But the initial uninstall, if you will, was horrendous. Literally just awful. And honestly the major difficulty was my height. Ugh. You see I am not officially tall enough or I don't have long enough arms to easily sit under the sink and reach the contraption that I needed to unscrew with the wrench that didn't really fit. I recommend a basin wrench to make the removal easier and to help with this problem. I found this out several hours and 4 letter words later. 

I waived the white flag and my hand hubby helped me with this step...the rest was cake, truly. Right up until we had to figure out which way we wanted the hot water to 'go' and had to make a decision on that. Otherwise friends, this was much easier than I expected when I pulled the mess of tubes from the box. It looked scary to me at first and probably would again if I had to do this a second time. At least I know now, how to 'undo' things. 

It was a tad hard for me to tighten the sprayer that pulls down from the faucet onto the tubing it connects to so that the plastic inside wouldn't show. But otherwise the remainder of this install was smooth like butter. I have to remove a bit of build up from the where the previous faceplate sat, since the shape of the new faceplate isn't precisely the same, but seriously that seems like a good idea anyhow, yuck. 

This faucet is beautiful. The end. No joke. 

A big thank you to Moen for challenging me to gain a new skill It wasn't as easy as it might have been if I were 5'7", but I learned some new variations on those age old 4 letter words and gained a bit of insight on the world of plumbing and hardware! That is something that should stick with me for a while and I am glad of it. 

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Is it just me or do any of you folks have those projects that haunt you... plague ridden with problems from the start? This was one of those projects for me, but luckily it was only because we were in the middle of a move and I didn't have the proper tools I truly needed to complete this project with ease. 

I can't stress how much the 'right' tools are the make and break of a project, the true determining factor of a project's ultimate success or utter failure, outside of the more obvious potential design flaws that are a definite possibility with some of my hair brained ideas. What can I say, I'm a dreamer, and some of my creative endeavors speak volumes to that fact. This was not one of those failed whimsical projects, but it could easily have gone more smoothly and so we shall just look at this as the crash test dummy to your quick and fast DIY project and count ourselves lucky that someone had to take the bullet on that one and that it wasn't you! Yahoo!

When Wayfair and Hometalk challenged me to create something using this bad boy, I actually jumped at the chance because a) it speaks to my inner Macgyver persona and b) I kind of needed a light fixture in my family room. Would you believe I didn't notice that there wasn't one when we moved in? Yep, I'm that gal.. the oblivious one sitting in the dark... in her own family room, eek!

The challenge also included the caveat that whichever item was chosen needed to be made over using one of three themes: black and white, rope, or geometric. I actually chose two of the three themes being geometric and black and white, and obviously took some liberty with the 'white' portion of that combo...

Anyhoo, would you like to know how to make one for yourself? Yes? Ok then read on my friends.. read on...

Materials:

  • 1 - 4x6 (Lumber) at 20" or so... (this can be to your desired height)
  • Saw (or you can have your lumber supply cut this to size for you)
  • Deran Lamp Shade
  • Lamp Kit
  • Drill
  • 11/16" Spade Bit
  • Sanding Supplies and Sander
  • Duct Tape (in color of your choice)
  • Paint

Cut your lamp base (lumber) to size and create an X shape, from corner to corner, to designate the center of the post. Using your spade bit, drill a hole into the center of the top of your post. 

Drill a second hole about 4 or 5" from the top on what will be the back of your lamp base.This will be the exit point for your cord.

 

Sand your base well and begin taping the cord from your lighting kit. You will want to work in small sections so the tape is manageable and I think it's easiest to work vertically with this so you aren't wrapping the tape for days on end. 

Once your length of cord is wrapped up in a pretty little package, so to speak, it's time to paint your base and wire your lamp! 

To paint with a nice looking wash that isn't too contrived seeming, first paint with a layer of water in the designated area then use a bit of watered down paint and layer until you achieve your desired result. You can see below that I didn't drown my lamp base, I simply gave it a minimal coating of water. I wanted a bit of gradation so as I layered I also varied the height of the paint.

When your paint has dried completely you can wire your lamp! This part was tricky and I used teasers to help me collect my wires and pull them out through the top. Once you pull them through, follow the directions on your lamp kit and they should go a bit like you see in the images below. 

  • 1. Pull through your base
  • 2. Thread through bottom portion that is supposed to screw into your existing lamp base (which in this case doesn't exist).
  • 3. Tie the wires into a fancy schmancy knot according to the kit
  • 4. Wrap designated wires around the appropriate screw (silver or gold) and secure.
  • 5. Fasten the part with the switch over the top of the wires, then lock down the gold cover on top. 

All that's left at this point is to add the bulb, test that baby out and add your lamp shade. Unless of course you want to alter your lamp shade, in which case I highly recommend you use fabric and cover rather than paint, but of course I didn't do that... womp, womp, womp. 

It turned out rather nicely, after 207 coats of paint for the shade, don't you think? 

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We are still completely in the midst of our move and I am slowly trying to decide where things should go in our new spaces. I know for certain I have dozens of projects I have been conjuring up and will at some point perhaps even finish. This particular project was one I managed to knock out in about 30 minutes but had planned for the last few weeks, of course. I blame my lack of a ladder for the majority of the time this project actually took. If I had a ladder it would have likely been more like a 10 minute project. Still, I am entirely happy with the outcome, which is both simply and chic, if I do say so myself... oh and completely removable too since this baby is vinyl. My design ADD persona loves things that are temporary and this is perfection. One small space down, 874 to go... 

Have you guys been completing any small projects in your own spaces? I love those quick fixes...

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UPDATE: We have a WINNER!!! Kimberly Kostiew you will be receiving an email to track you down and get your shipping info! congratulations!!

I have mentioned a couple of times, briefly, that we moved last week! Well it's a true story and our new home has an abundance of ceramic tile throughout the ground floor. In truth I have a renewed appreciation of hardwood flooring now, because you guys, tile is FREEZING! Yikes...  

So when we decided to move, one thing that was crucial in our timing was having the ability to move in over the course of a month. We generally do a move ourselves, and this requires time, unfortunately. With Easter, the SNAP conference (which I am speaking at, weeeee!) and a couple of birthdays, this 'extended move time' is even more important than ever. We were lucky enough to arrange for that, but with that comes a lag in furniture placement. Not to worry, there is always a fun solution to the 'no place to sleep' problem. Perhaps an Indoor Camp Out? Yes I think so...

When the kind folks over at Mohawk Flooring offered to send me a new SmartStrand rug, I jumped at the chance to cover this cold tile with something plush and fluffy. Even better that it worked to provide the perfect backdrop for our little adventure! Can you imagine camping out on ceramic tile? Not cool... or perhaps, too cool, as it were. For the 5 of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you might remember me mentioning that my 'littlest dog in the world' considers rugs to be nothing short of a very large potty pad (lesson learned with potty pad training) so the fact that this rug promises permanent lifetime stain and soil resistance to kids and pets is kind of huge... ya. Otherwise my tendency is simply to avoid rugs, which is sad... so very sad, because I LOVE rugs. 

GIVEAWAY:

So guess what, one of you fabulous folks will win your own 6’ X 9’ SmartStrand bound carpet rug. Go to the contest page to enter, and be sure to select 'The Design Confidential' from the drop down menu so that you can be entered to win this particular contest that I am so excitedly hosting! SmartStrand carpet is rated #1 in consumer satisfaction… Experience it for yourself!

The contest starts Monday, March 18th and ends April 8th, so go enter here now. Please see the registration page for legal rules.

Why yes that is a vintage copy of Lord of The Flies... and why of course that is entirely appropriate reading material for a 5 year old (parenting genius here, folks...). Thankfully he can't read and has no idea of the actual subject matter of his favorite book. It might make the indoor camp out into something different entirely, and not in a good way? My amazing little monster mash guy lovingly refers to this book as FaceBook, given the large face on the cover of the book, and decidedly checks in several times a day to his 'FaceBook', just to see what's happening in the world. Just love this kid... 

All was quiet on the western front with our fun little pretend adventure and so far no spills, stains, or other ephemera to deal with! Be sure to enter the giveaway, I promise you will want this prize! 

DISCLOSURE: Thanks to Mohawk Flooring for sponsoring today's discussion and giveaway

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Isn't he gorgeous? I just adore his quirky retro vibe and his colors... I feel like he needs a name, but haven't decided what that should be! 

I found him during my recent adventure at Denio's and fell instantly in love. In fact he was one of the first things I brought to the new house! Yep, did I mention we moved? Ya, that happened. I can't wait to show you around the new place, but for now I shall tease you a bit and show you my new boyfriend above and a very limited sneak peak at of the place we now call home!

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If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen a sneaky peaky of a few of these details... If not, then this will be fun and new for all of you! This wall needed some much needed gussying up and a store bought abstract art piece kicked off the project perfectly. I followed that beauty up with 2 DIY projects and one kiddo creation. Hopefully you can guess which is which, and if not, perhaps I need to reevaluate my skills as a Home Decor Art Creationist... eek! 

That horizontal work of genius was created by my Monster Mash boy using MDF and acrylic craft paints. Such a great way to have a unique piece with importance. If you want some tips on creating Home Decor art with kids, I will share that soon, in the meantime just consider choosing the colors you want them to use to coordinate with your decor! 

Materials: All you need for this art project is a canvas, either new or to be recycled, Black and White Acrylic Craft Paint and a Brush at least 1" wide.

A breakdown of the other pieces in this gallery wall creation go a little something like this...

1. Abstract Painting purchased at Tuesday Morning

2. Black & White Abstract created HERE in this article! Yay

3. Horizontal kiddo creation

4. DIY Neon Chalkboard Organizer

Truthfully I'm not sure I love this gallery wall in general. I think it is a bit to symetrical and a bit to matchy matchy for several of the pieces. BUT, I love the fact that this Black and White beauty is actually a fabulous before and after, if you will, since this is it's second life as a piece of art.

Behold... the beauty that once was...

I loved this when I got it 6 years ago for the colors and the landscape scene but at some point shortly after I purchased it, the canvas itself became the value rather than the painting you see before you.The fact is, I scored this beauty for $10 on sale one day at Michael's and I knew even then that once my heart grew tired of the look, the canvas would come in handy for remaking into something else! 

My friends... that day came! 

I gave this canvas a nice good double coat of White Titanium acrylic paint from DecoArt, my go to white for Home Decor paintings. It does double duty for me serving as a decent primer as well, even when you are starting with a blank canvas.

Be sure to cover your canvas thoroughly, especially if you are covering an existing painting. For this particular project a vertical brush stroke will work to your advantage, but I recommend having your first layer be horizontal and then following that up with a vertical coat (or 2 if needed). This goes right in line with the age old technique used for painting walls in a multitude of directions when laying down your base color to be sure you have proper coverage especially on a textured piece. 

Now for the fun... run a couple of lines of black paint near the bottom of your canvas.

Blend up several inches and wrap the bottom of your canvas as well as the bottom portion of the sides. This will give your piece a more finished look.

Add a bit more and drag the color up about 6 or 7 inches in a vertical irregular pattern all the way across the bottom section.

Add a bit of white just above your black section and pull it down into the top 2 inches to create a gray section and blend well using vertical brush strokes as often as possible. 

Add a bit more black just below the gray section and pull it up into the gray just a tiny bit,1 inch will do the trick. You simply want to be sure the gray overlaps the white in an irregular vertical pattern and that the black overlaps the gray in the same manner so that your painting appears to fade black to white in an upwards manner.

Note: if you want to pull down a few small streaks of black from the top as you can see I did, feel free, but this certainly isn't required.

The top portion of this gallery wall...

And the bottom portion... 

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I made a cute little valentine for my Monster Mash Boy. Simple and Inexpensive, the very best kind of craft, no? When I showed it to him, he was irritated with me for having used his special sticky note paper. The stuff he likes to use for clues to the treasure hunt he is constantly staging around the house. Oh well. I can see his point. Still, it's cute for a short bit and doesn't have an expiration date of the impending heart shaped holiday... nope it can stay for as long as he will leave it. I'm guessing 48 hours tops... 

What about you? Any quick and simple valentine decor around your homes? Or perhaps VDay decor that doesn't need to come down when the holiday comes to a close?

Psst... I would love your support and a vote in the final round of The Homies.... Homie! Pretty Pretty Please... it means a lot to this little bloggy poo! It you don't already have an account at Apartment Therapy you will need to register but it only takes like 3 seconds and you can immediately pop over to the voting page (Best Home Project & DIY Blog) and click The Design Confidential. Seriously it's so easy and fast and means so very very much to us and the success of this site. Pretty Please

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