✥ "Cut It Out" Frame Giveaway ✥

Are you guys familiar with Cut It Out? It's a frame company that offers creative, stylish fun shapes of frame that can be finished however one would like. Perfect for a DIYer, right?!

Well, I am so excited to announce Cut It Out has decided they want to hook up one of you, with some of their super-rad frames! Yay!

Here's what some of our favorite blogs are doing with these frames.

Lolly Jane

Craft o Maniac

Tatertots & Jello

Lolly Jane

Southern Lovely

They are offering you guys one (1) 8x10 and two (2) 5x7 of any style- and there are tons to pick from!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be on Sunday, July  29th.
Good luck, everyone!

✥ Guest Post: DIY French Label Towel ✥

 Good morning lovelies! Today Heather from Setting for Four - will be here with you all! I asked her to share her DIY project that's sos awesome, it's now on my to-do list!


You guys will love Heather- she is one of my bloggy besties. Truly one of my all time favorite peeps I have met in Blogworld. She's an Army wife and is actually moving to Canada this week, where her and her hubby just bought a new home!  I am super excited to see what they do to it- now that she no longer has to rent {unlike me- *boo.} Heather is totally sincere, super thoughtful, and a great friend! You guys will love getting to know her!

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Hello everyone! This is Heather, from Setting for Four, and I blog about creating a home and decor that won't break the bank. Today I am sharing a very easy DIY Sharpie French Label Towel.  This project is one of the most inexpensive and easiest projects I have ever made!

It doesn't even require transfer paper or Citra Solv - just a black permanent marker!  I love that there is no need to buy transfer paper and no mess from using Citra Solv!

Supplies:

Flour Sack kitchen towel, pack of 2 - Mainstays brand, Wallmart

Ultra Fine Point black permanent Sharpie marker

Black and White photocopy of French Chocolate label - I used the 'Cacao Payraud' label from the Graphics Fairy.  There are also many other graphics and labels on this wonderful site to choose from.

2 straight pins

Tutorial:

Wash and dry the flour sack towel.

Place photocopy of French label on table, with the printed side facing up (make sure something is under the photocopy to protect your table).

Place towel on top of photocopy.

Pin the towel to the paper in two places to prevent shifting.

Trace the words onto the towel using the sharpie (The towel is see through enough that you can see the black wording underneath.)

That.Is.It!!!   No kidding - you're done!

Because this project uses permanent marker - it won't disappear in the wash!  I have washed mine and the printing didn't wash out or 'bleed' at all.

You could vary this tutorial in so many different ways: use a different color of permanent marker, a picture or other script to customize this to your home!

Make sure you stop by my blog to see another towel idea. Where I share how to turn your children's art into tea towels!

✥ Reader Feature: Vintage & Modern Nursery ✥

I received the cutest comment from a lovely new follower of mine. Her name is  Emily, and she has a brand new blog called Dear Owen. When I saw the nursery she created for her son- I was smitten and knew she had to share it with you all, too!

I love the vintage map, the industrial light fixture, the modern patterns. You guys know me- this is right up my alley. In fact, I think I would have chosen a similar design if I were expecting! I'll let Emily tell you all about it.

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My husband and I were so lucky to have my talented friend Monica come and take pictures of Owen's nursery for us. She did such a great job! Thank you Monica!!!  The nursery was so much fun to do, and I gathered lots of inspiration and ideas from some of my favorite blogs like, Holly Mathis Interiors, Jones Design Company, and Honey and Fitz. I really wanted this room to be a mix of modern and vintage pieces with a touch of rustic.

We tried to incorporate family items into the room to make it extra special. We used my Dad's old baseball jersey, Clark's old map that his Grandma gave him, fish flies in remembrance of his Pops, family pictures, and antiques that have been given to us or that we found.

My amazing Mom made the curtains for the room, Owen's bedding, the chevron pillows,  and the bed skirt on the twin bed. We were so lucky to have her do all these things for us. Thank you Mom, you are the best!

My biggest thank you has to be to my amazing husband who did soo much work on O's room. He ripped up carpet, refinished the hardwood floors, built a closet, painted the walls and trim, installed the light, built the shelves, and of course put together all the furniture. He is a talented and hardworking man...love you so much honey!

Now that we have been using the room for 2 months, I have to say, I am really glad we used the twin bed in the room. I was unsure for a while on whether we should put this in his room but I am really glad we did. Not only does it give us an extra place for guests to sleep, it is also great for bouncing a fussy baby, or for the hubby or I to hang out on while the other is rocking Owen. 

Using an Ikea chair converted into a rocker/glider saved a lot of money and it works great, it's comfortable enough..overall I'm happy with it. 

Owen's current favorite place in his room is his changing table. Glad we decided to put it in front of  the window because he loves to look out the window and get some sunshine...seriously, if he is fussy this is our go-to place to cheer him up. He almost always stops crying when we lay him on the table and talk to him.

We've spent lots and lots of time in this room and know we will continue to!

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Doesn't Owen look picture perfect in his crib? I love the fabric Emily chose for the bedding. A-Dorable!
I am so jealous I don't have a vintage, family heirloom map in just the right shades or turquoise and tan! How does everyone have these things!! {I'm just going to have to call Ebay my "Grandma", so I can have some awesome vintage scores in my family, too!!!] 
Have any of you converted your Ikea chairs into rockers? If you have, what do you think of them? I think this was genius and now I want one for my bedroom! {No, I don't have a kid, I just like to rock- OK?!} 

If you liked the decor in Owen's nursery, then stop by Emily's to find out where she  got everything in the room!

✥ Guest Host: Vintage Recipe Filing System @ Primitive & Proper✥

It's Friday YO!!!! Today I'm super stoked to say you can find me over at Cassie's place, Primitive & Proper. I am SURE you all know her- she kinda famous like that. But in case you don't, then here's a few of my favorite furniture transformations- a la Cassie.

 This recent turquoise gem- this lovely vintage dresser is now dressed in a vibrant new color! Though this is like one of a hundred awesome furniture makeovers. It's kinda just what she does!

 Cassie's "Color My World" coral challenge- look at these chairs. I just die for that color!!! {And PS, can I get an antique sign like that toooo.....?}

Now this may not look like much- but you are WRONG! Cassie has replicated the crazy awesome finish the stores like Restoration Hardware {my personal fav- duh] charge an arm and a leg for. Stop by to see how she does it!

Holy cow! I almost forgot- I am sharing a NEW project! 

I hope to see you there! Come on over and show me some comment love! ;-)

✥ Feature: Mounted 3D Map Art ✥

I am so grateful Cheri wanted to come here and share a BRAND NEW craft she just whipped up with YOU all!! Cheri is a total go-getter. You know the type who is born to orchestrate things, who flourishes when they're busy and manages to get more done in her day than I can my my week?!

Case in point- Cheri works on three blogs and I can hardly find time to run 1!! 

I'm in love with her "Top 50" posts, which she runs on one of her blogs, Decor 2 Adoreable! They are a huge source of inspiration for projects! In fact, I've been super lucky to have projects featured on a couple of them! {Thanks Cheri!}

VIA

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I am so honored to be here today visiting with all of you sweet ladies. Becca is the sweetest blogger. I just think the world of her. She is so talented.

I will give you a quick introduction so you know who I am.

My name is Cheri and I participate in 3 blogs.

My main blog is Its So Very Cheri.

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I also blog at The DIY Club

and

have a new site

Decor 2 Adore{able}

where we feature bloggers projects and every Monday we have a Top 50+ Roundup.

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Every Sunday I have a blog party, at Its So Very Cheri.

I have 3 categories that you can enter:

1.Pinterest Followers--you just enter your Pinterest permalink so you can find new followers and they can find you.

2. Its So Very CREATIVE--for all of those creative projects

3. What's Cooking--lots of yummy recipes.

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We currently live in SW Florida but we are originally from Missouri. We are from a suburb of Kansas City called Lee's Summit.

Although we all enjoy going to all of the fun parks that we have here in Florida-we are all homesick.

If you ever go to Disney World check out my tips for saving time and money.

My sweet husband has been in school (we are all secretly hoping he finds a job back in the Kansas City area).

Since even I am secretly hoping for a move back to our friends and family, I decided a smaller scale project would be perfect then if we move, I have something smaller to pack.

You see--I have been planning on doing a few different map art project for a while now...oh let's say a few months.

I had even down loaded the maps, worked on the art and then didn't do anything with them. I know BAD BAD crafter.

Some of the projects are for some over sized Map ART but today's project is on a smaller scale.

It made the kids smile so that made me happy.

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I had some postcards from Canvas Corp and decided this would be a cute craft to use with the postcards.

Then Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts posted her Map Art Wedding Gift and it inspired me to get my project finished.

First-I googled maps and found one I liked.

I saved them and then played around with one of them in Photoshop to give it a more "vintagy" look (I know that isn't a real word or maybe it is).

I added in a little color here and there.

(I used red, blue, aqua, yellow and brown)

using some brushes I added the touches of color here and there. Then I went over it with white at a 20% opacity to soften the colors and edges of the lines.

{then they just sat in my computer waiting for me to get back to them.}

I sized down the vintage map so it was a little smaller than the first map.

Then I printed off 2 of the maps on white card stock.

I trimmed around the state and ModPodged down the bigger (original) map towards the bottom of the card.

I grabbed some wood discs from my craft supplies...

...and glued 3 on top of each other in the center of the state.

I used a needle and thread to poke holes for the word HOME but I replaced the "O" with a heart.

I ModPodged the smaller map onto the wood discs so it added depth.

I cut out a little heart and painted it and ModPodged it onto the map right where Kansas City is located.

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Next I grabbed some wood from the garage and cut it to the size I wanted --just a little bigger than my 4 x 6 postcard.

I then cut lines into the board (just using a hand saw and working slow and steady to create grooves).

I wanted it to look like the wood had uneven slats. (I cut into the top edge of the board as well.)

I sanded over the entire piece to get rid of any rough edges and smooth out the surface. I didn't want it perfectly smooth--since I was going for a weathered look.

Then I began painting it in a dry brush method which basically means you are dragging paint over the piece.

I started with gray. When my gray dried, I added paint in khaki, gray, aqua, navy, black and white.

Once my paints were dry I went over it with a deep red paint. I used the dry brush method, just dragging paint over the surface but not completely covering everything.

I wanted a dark background so the word HOME would show up.

If you decided to stitch the letters you could paint the wood whatever color you want. I was concerned that a light background would cause my hole punched word "HOME" to not show up.

Once my paint was dry I glued 2 discs to the board, so the post card would be raised up off the wood.

Then I added a couple of DISChangers to the back so I can hang it. I picked out 2 tiny ones and I can grab a wire and balance it or hang them off nails.

If you have never used Dischangers they are so easy to use and my favorite hanging tool. You just wet the disc with a little water on your finger, set it aside for 5 minutes while the glue activates and then apply. Let it dry for a few hours or over night and it is done.

DISChangers are great for hanging plates on a wall as well.

I think this would make a really cute relocation "We're Moving" card (without the boards of course).

Thank you so much for having me today and putting up with me while I hijacked Becca's site for the day. If you want to come for visits and follow me at Its So Very Cheri, I would love to have you. I love getting to know bloggers. If you would like to find me on Pinterest--I Love to Pin.

Thanks so much ladies.

I hope I see you around blogland and please introduce yourself.