Ready, Set, GOOOO!!!!!

You can see the original Pinterest Challenge here!

Allison and I both have a "healthy" addiction to Pinterest, but lets be real, you couldn't really make everything you "pin".  I mean that would be way more then a full time job!  So when we saw the opportunity to participate in the Pinterest Challenge, we figured what better way to motivate us to do something from our pin boards.

BUT...we want you to participate too!!!!  So we are asking our fellow DIY'ers to get your thinking caps on and creative juices flowing.  Here's the plan, pick an inspiration from Pinterest and re-create it with your own twist.  Then, next Wednesday the 2nd we will have a show & tell party here and here.  Just hop on over to YHL & Bower Power and share your love!

Allison and I are both on our way to Michaels today to pick up our goodies. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with on the 2nd!

~SCS~


*We are not sponsored by Michaels and do not receive benefits from mentioning them in this post.*

A Bridal Shower Success Story

So it seems that lately my life has been consumed with weddings, bridal showers and baby showers (which I can't say I'm upset about being an event planner and all). Just last week myself and a co worker of mine hosted a cooking themed shower for our co worker who is getting married next month.  We hosted a cooking class where all of the guests were taught how to make their own pizza dough and then got to create their own pizzas.  The shower was a huge hit, especially for the Bride-to-Be who is quite the foodie!



The favor that we created to give to all of the guests was a wooden spoon with a packet of spice. They were really easy to put together and we felt that it was something that peeople would actually use.  We "spiced" it up a bit and put a cute tag on it with the ingredients listed as well (just incase anyone was allergic). 



Our spice of choice was Paula Deen's House Seasoning (a personal favorite of mine).

This is definitely an idea I would use again and hope that you may tuck the idea away for that next bridal shower you get to host!

 ~SCS

Pumpkin...YUM!

I LOVE anything pumpkin, which is part of the reason fall is my favorite time of year. Seriously, you could put pumpkin on about anything and I will eat it. I LOVE IT!   So, when I saw a recipe the other day for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls, I knew I would be making them in the near future.  I did alter the recipe a bit to make it my own and highlight the fall flavors.

I decided to make them this week and try them out on my co-workers, they were a hit!  Here is my recipe breakdown:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Rolls

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls leaving them in the 4 rectangles, you will then pinch the pre-cut seams together to keep the rolls in the rectangle from.  Place the cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, and spice together in mixer, beat until well combined.  Spread mixture over crescents, leave a  small border around the edges. Starting at the long end, roll up and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place in pan that is sprayed with cooking spray.

2. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes.  Frost the rolls when they are still warm to touch with the recipe below.

Frosting

4 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon pumpkin

1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth, spread over warm rolls.

Sorry for the bad pictures, I took all of these with my phone and it was night time.

Pinch the seams together so you have one rectangle,
 you should end up with 4 of these

Golden brown, let cool for a few mins before icing

Yummy goodness!!

So, what is your favorite fall, comfort food?

ENJOY!

~SCS~

Wall Gallery

I finally get to start my Wall Gallery!! This is a huge accomplishment for the Sparks household. Let me give you a little bit of background on the living room, you see my husband is a hunter and my living room looked a little bit (a lot) like a hunting lodge, and we're not talking like Bass Pro Shop hunting lodge, we're talking 3 guys-used-to-live -here bachelor pad hunting lodge. So it took a little bit of persuasion and batting of the eyes to get the deer heads off of the walls (I spared you from the before pictures) in the living room.


Here is the look I am hoping for but maybe with a little bit more color.

Pinterest

Below is the start of my gallery,  it's a SLOW start but atleast it's a start.  I am contstantly looking for things to add and will hang stuff as I find it.  For right now I have the lyrics to a song that was played at our wedding, the number 13 which is the day we were married and the letter "S" for our last name. The thing I love about the wall gallery is you can change out the items in the frames and get a whole new look anytime you want! I really didn't measure things out or do anything technical, I just hung the stuff up how I thought it looked best and will continue to add to it. (I'll keep you updated as I add stuff).


At least it's a start!

**UPDATE** Below is the picture I promised of the silverware art I did for our living room, I'm pretty pleased with the turnout.





Finished and framed silverware art!



Wine & Canvas

Wine & Canvas = A TOTAL BLAST!   I have wanted to attend a Wine & Canvas event for some time now but kept putting it off.  Here is how they describe it on their website, "What could be better then drinks and a paintbrush! We supply the brushes, canvas, paints and the Artist; you take home a 16x20 masterpiece! --No experience or talent required"

My friend Sacha and I agreed on a painting from the website events calendar and unleashed our inner Picasso Saturday night. We had  a great time, I can't wait to go again!  If anyone is interested in going email me, I'm in!!

They have Cookies & Canvas too, can't wait until my kiddo is a little older!

The original painting- what mine was supposed to look like

Great environment

They even have a disco ball and play great music!

My blank canvas

Following instructions

Sacha and I

Progress

More progress

Sacha's Masterpiece

My Masterpiece
(if you can call it that)

 I highly recommend Wine & Canvas for a fun night out, there were girlfriends, bachlorette parties, birthday parties, couples, mothers and daughters.  The great part was that everyone ended up with a great painting!

~SCS~

First Reader Inquiry

We are excited for our first reader inquiry!!!  We love hearing from our supporters and blog readers so please know you can email us with questions, comments or feedback at savvychicsisters@gmail.com. 

Our first inquiry comes from Kara:

"Ok Savvy Sisters-  I need your DIY suggestions!  Today I went to update one of my frames with Matthew's first professional picture and realized I had no idea what to do with the picture that was in there.  We have all these professional pictures (3,6,9,12 months) of Benjamin that I don't dare dispose of, but I have no idea what to do with the pictures each time I update the frame.  Normally I would just file the picture into an album but these particular frames are 8x10 so the pictures don't fit into the average album.  Hoping you have some creative solutions for my pictures so they don't just end up in a drawer somewhere!

Loving the blog and look forward to each new entry!!!

Love to you both!

Kara"

Thanks for your email Kara, we're sure you're not the only mom that has run into this issue.  We love our photos and of course want to display them whether they are new or old.  We put our heads together and here are a few suggestions we came up with.

There are quite a few programs online where you can scan and download your pictures and design your own photo collage.  The example we show is through Snapfish, you could take your current 8 x 10 photos and create one 11 x 12 or larger photo to hang.  We think this would be very cool to see the changes from month to month on one photo.


http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/collage



Our second idea is a Memory Box, I have one of these for my daughter that I stick keepsakes and photos in.  These can be used for numerous things but if you decide to create a collage of the "old" photos you could tuck the original photos in a memory box for safe keeping.  These boxes will be fun to look through over the years and a great gift to give your children once they are grown.  You can find memory boxes everywhere these days, the one shown below is from Etsy and can be customized.



http://www.etsy.com/shop/artisticgifts4u?ref=top_trail

Our third idea is to create a photo wall in your house, this is a great way to display numerous photos new and old, and to add visual interest to a staircase, hallway or behind a couch.  You can see some examples below.  A few tips on creating a photo wall are to use a consistent colored frame and matting, this will help the pictures look cohesive.  Don't be afraid to mix color photos with black and white!  Once you have your photos picked out and framed, deciding where to hang them can be a bit overwhelming. A great tip is to cut out newspaper to the exact size of your frames, and then using painters tape you can tape the paper to the wall to create your collage.  Once you are set on a layout you can replace the newspaper with your frames.  Trust us, having to patch and repaint nail holes is no fun!



Photo courtesy of thebirdspapaya.com




Photo courtesy of alibaba.com

 
We hope you find our suggestions helpful.  Best of luck and please fill us in on what you decide to do!

~SCS~

It's a Savvy Chic Birthday!

I want to wish my sister a very "Happy Birthday" today!!   I love you so much and couldn't ask for a better sister, thank you for always being there for me and entertaining my crazy ideas. I love you forever!!

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Sara

Pick Your Plum

Heard of it?  Heard of Groupon?  Pick Your Plum is similar to Groupon but it's stuff for your home, decorating, stationary, you get the idea!

Check out today's deal below, but hurry because the deals go fast!!!

www.pickyourplum.com

 2 Naked Magnet Board Kits for 50% Off!

Buttons & Bobby Pins

So, I will be the first to admit "My name is Sara, and I'm a Pinterest addict". I resisted joining Pinterest for a while after my sister told me about it, I didn't think I needed another "site" to join.  Well, I caved, and I'm so glad I did!  I LOVE Pinterest!

Anyhow, the point of confessing my love for Pinterest is because I realize how many people think and have the same ideas that I do.  Plus, I get so stalk other creative and talented people!  The other day I came across an idea I thought was amazing and knew I had to do it.

I have had this tub of old buttons for years now, actually they were my mom's and I had been holding on to them.  I have know idea what my mom had in mind when she bought them and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but they were so beautiful I couldn't get rid of them.  When I saw this idea the other day it was like a light went off, all thanks to Pinterest and this blog.

I grabbed my tub of buttons and picked my favorites, that was no easy task because I loved so many of them.  I had the bobby pins already and of course my trusty hot glue gun.  After I settled on my favorite buttons I was off to create my new favorite "Button Bobby's".  Some of the buttons had large enough thread holes that I could just slip the bobby pin through the hole and then glue in place, the buttons that didn't have large openings I glued to the top of the bobby pin. 

I have worn one in my hair everyday since, I love them!!!

Picking my favorite buttons was the hardest part

My final selection

Hot glued them in place





Love them!



~SCS~

You Art What You Eat

I needed something to spice up our dining area. This area needs a lot of make over and updates, like the table and the lighting fixture for example.  Those will hopefully be done soon but I decided to start small by adding something to the walls.

I took a canvas that I bought at Michaels Craft Store that was 50% off and covered it with fabric.  I found a fabric at Jo-Ann Fabric that I love (wish I would have bought more).  I used my staple gun to attach the fabric to the canvas.  I did this by starting on one side and then stapling the opposite side so that I could pull the fabric taught.  The corners can be tricky but just think of it as wrapping a present.

It should look like this when you are done!

I then took silverware that I bought at Goodwill for 10 cents each and hot glued them onto the canvas. This is where you can get creative, believe me Goodwill has some interesting silverware.

I am going to add frames around them but they weren't quite done yet, so I will give you an update when I get them hung.

The total cost for this project was $14.10

$10.00 for 2 canvas

$3.40 for fabric ( a 1/2 yard was the right amount for the size of canvas I bought)

.70 for silverware

Art for Where You Eat!

Coming up next....

See how this old silverware can be turned into wall art in your kitchen/dining area.

Fall and Acorns

I love fall, it's my favorite season of the year.  I love the crisp cool air, the smell of the leaves, anything pumpkin and I love fall decorations! 

As I was decorating my house for fall I realized I needed something for my coffee table and nothing felt quite right.  As I was playing outside with my kiddo last week it hit me, LITERALLY!  Acorns, falling from the sky…or the giant Oak tree in our front yard.  

 So with a little help from my two year old we collected a bag of them and I was set to create a fun piece for our coffee table.

My first step was to boil all of the acorns in a pot on the stove, this was to kill any critters that may be hiding away in there and it helped bring out the color. 



Before we boiled them



Unfortunately, the tops of the acorns tend to pop off when they fall from the tree, so once they were dry I broke out the glue gun and started putting the little beauties back together again.



Making them whole again!



I had two glass pieces that I knew would be perfect for this project, the first was a larger square vase and the second was a candle holder.  I thought the idea of a little candle light peeking through the acorns would be pretty, elegant and very fallish!

Candle holder inside the larger square vase

I LOVE the way it turned out and my favorite part is that it was FREE!!



Finished!



Happy fall, y’all!!