8 Java Lovin Ideas + Birthday Giveaway Winner!

We are coffee lovers.  There, we said it.  Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right?  Fortunately, for me, I have doctors orders not to give up caffeine.  Last time I attempted to do that I ended up in the emergency room for hours with IVs running in and out of me.  Not fun.  It seems I've developed some kind of symbiotic dependency on this beautiful, natural, God-ordained substance called caffeine.

Anyway, there are SO many more fun things to do with coffee than just drink it!  Check out some of these ingenious ideas that we are so hearting right now!

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Frosting via Roxana's Home Baking

Don't Speak Coffee Addict Mug via Chantilly Stay

Java Jr. - Mini Coffee Pot Creamer

Coffee Can Lantern via Design Sponge

Coffee Filter Wreath via Fox Hollow Cottage

DIY I Love You Coffee Stencil via Merry Brides

Use coffee beans in your make-up brush holder and they'll double as a yummy air freshener.

Coffee Bean Butter Sugar Scrub via HeartJCreations

Now, it's time to announce the winner of the Birthday Giveaway!!

Drum roll please.....

KESHA GOODING!!!

Be on the lookout for an email from us!

We really want to say thank you to all of our amazing followers.  We wouldn't be doing any of this if it wasn't for you!  You all push us to stretch the limits of our creativity and we are so so thankful for that.  We love you all!  Here's to another year of fun together on Eat.Sleep.Make!

Reversible Paper Bag Skirt

Shannon and I have the amazing opportunity to contribute to 3 fantastic blogs: The Sewing Rabbit, Whipperberry, and The Lovely Cupboard. It's been several months now since we started contributing, and for me personally, the experience has challenged me and pushed me outside my comfort zone. It's both thrilling and intimidating to create next to such extremely talented women!

Celina of Petit a Petit and Family is one of the talented ladies I have the pleasure of creating alongside on The Sewing Rabbit. When she posted her tutorial for the Reversible Paper Bag Skirt, I was instantly excited because I'm not much of a skirt wearer, but I love skirts. It's not that I don't want to wear them, it's just that I have a smaller waist and wider hips, so many times skirts just don't flatter my figure.

Since her paper bag skirt features a gathered high-waist, it was the perfect excuse for me to make myself a skirt that I'd actually be able to wear!

It turned out just as good as I hoped, and I love that the skirt is reversible. For the gingham, I used fabric from a set of curtains I thrifted months ago. The floral print is from who knows where, but it's wonderfully soft and drapey. Another benefit of following Celina's tutorial is that I learned how to sew flat felled hems (flat felled hems are commonly used on jeans to encase the raw edges and give the jeans a nice, finished look.) Yay for new techniques!

Thanks for the great tutorial, Celina! And if you've ever considered contributing to another blogger's blog sometime, DO IT. It will stretch you in the best way possible.

Vintage Toolbox Herb Garden (Revived & Repurposed!)

Happy Hump Day fellow blogerinas!  Just a few more days until the weekend is here!  For me, that means getting lots of projects done.  Last weekend I finally finished reviving this awesome vintage toolbox that I scored for just a few dollars at an estate sale a few weeks ago.  As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted it to be an herb garden for my porch.  I considered just putting the soil directly in the box, but I like to keep my herbs as long as possible into the winter, so I decided to use pots inside the box that I can bring inside when the temps drop.  (from Ikea, of course!)

To paint the triangles I used the same paint that I did on the front door (see that post here).  I thought it would be a good way to make my porch cohesive. 

After I painted the triangles, I coated the bare wood with Thompson's WaterSeal to keep it safe from the elements.  This goes on super easy, but takes about 24 hrs to dry.  Make sure you do this outside because the fumes are killer!

For my labels, I took some little wooden triangles, painted them with chalkboard paint, drilled holes in them and tied them to the toolbox handle with bakers twine.  This way, you can change the labels when needed.

The best part of this?  Using the herbs to make delicious food!  I made a whole wheat margarita pizza with fresh basil and oregano on top. SOOOO yummy!

I love finding little gems like this toolbox and repurposing them into something fabulous!  What kinds of things have you repurposed lately?  We'd love for you to share inspiration with us!

Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!

Refashioned Tiger Shirt + Mini Tutorial

Shannon gave me this awesome tiger tee forever ago. I loved it and wore it a ton...that is until I managed to shrink it (or maybe it was always like that and I was blissfully unaware of that fact because I loved the cool tiger graphic.) Either way, it was time for me to retire the tiger tee, so it sat in my refashion giant box pile until I rediscovered it and decided that Connor needed this shirt.

I just love refashions, don't you? Breathing new life into a discarded piece of clothing can be so much fun! That may be one of the major reasons why I have a hard time getting rid of clothes - I always think about what they could become (and if you see me on "Hoarders: Buried Alive" you'll know why.)

For this tee, I decided to refashion it into a sleeveless tank for Connor. There are tons of great patterns out there that you could use (like Dana's muscle tee) but if you don't have a pattern, no fear. All you need to do is take one of your child's t-shirts and fold it in half with the sleeves tucked in, then trace around the shirt adding 1/2 inch seam allowance, and 1 inch on the bottom for the hem. Boom. Little guy tank. Then it's just a matter of placing your pattern on the t-shirt to be refashioned and cutting out. Then, cut the front neckline a little lower than the back, assemble as usual, and hem your neckline, armholes, and bottom. If you cut out your tank on the existing hemline of your shirt, you won't even have to bother with sewing a bottom hem.

And I'm all about saving time. Because then I get to spend more time with this guy:

All this kid needs to be happy is a stick. What is it with little boys? They can make weapons out of anything, can't they? And PS, it is extremely difficult to make a 2-year-old stand still for pictures when you're out of M&M's.

What kind of fun stuff do you have sitting in your refashion pile?

Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!

Summer Farewell Party Ideas

It's always bittersweet saying farewell to summer and hello to fall, but these 5 amazing and breath taking party ideas are sure to soften the blow! 

Classy Dinner Party via Your Homebased Mom

Backyard Movie Night via Design Sponge

Fancy Shmancy Smores Party via Cookie Creatives by Jennifer

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Party via Kara's Party Ideas 

Endless Summer Fruity Bash via One Sweet Party

One Year Ago Today... (+ a giveaway!!)

One year ago today, Jen and I launched eat.sleep.make.  Within our first post we instilled a long list of dreams and hopes, expectations, and a lot of fear and insecurity.  We had no idea how this would turn out.  We weren't sure if we'd be able to keep coming up with things to create, to motivate and inspire.  We didn't know if anyone would read it or share it.

All we knew is it was something we wanted.  So we did it.

And we are SO glad we did!

This past year has been challenging to say the least. We've both had our individual struggles.  Fortunately, blogging together is what has made this all possible.  If one of us has a rough week, the other steps in, no questions asked.  Her success is my success.  We inspire each other.  We encourage each other.  And because of all that, this little world of ours called eat.sleep.make. has become a success! 

Of course, it's all because of our readers.  YOU guys are the reason we do this.  We love the excitement we feel when we see a project that inspires us on another blog, and we wanted to be able to instill that same excitement in others.  There's no doubt in our minds that we are succeeding because in the last year we've made some incredible friends via eat.sleep.make.  Your unconditional love of ESM pushes us to keep creating.  THANK YOU for making us what we are today.  We love you all so much!

We wanted to share with you our personal faves from ESM over the past year.  These projects aren't  picked based on hits and popularity, but on what we loved doing the most.

DIY Wood Matting

Welcome Little Deer Baby Sprinkle

Vintage Dollhouse Spice Rack

High - Low Racerback Tunic

Two-Sided Leggings

Micro-Dino Taxidermy

Grilled Peaches & Cream

DIY Kitty City

American Apparel Inspired Wired Head Scarf

Kid's Arrow Flutter Tee

So to celebrate one year since the birth of eat.sleep.make. we want to give you the chance to win some of the goodies we've made over the past year!  Enter our little giveaway and one winner will get a surprise package from us!  It will contain 2 projects from each of us that we've done in the last year. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FOOD: Portabello Sliders & Crispy Garlic Brussel Sprouts

One of my favorite meaty foods as a vegetarian is mushrooms.  I love me some fungi!  This portabello slider is such a quick and easy meal... and it's DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:  

Portabello caps

EVOO

Balsamic Vinegar

Garlic

Asiago Cheese

Tomato Slices

Alfalfa Sprouts

Multi grain bread (I used multi grain ciabatta.. yummy!)

First, get the dirt of your bellos.  If the stems are still attached, cut them out, hollowing out the center.  

Next, drizzle some EVOO and balsamic vinegar in a frying pan on medium heat.  Place the bello in the pan and let cook for a few minutes on each side (top and bottom) flipping with tongs.  When you notice liquid starting to bubble up in the center when the hollow part is facing you, it's most likely cooked all the way through.  Now add your yummy stuffing!

I sliced garlic finely, then filled the rest of the cap with shredded asiago cheese.  Cover the caps with a lid to trap the heat and allow the cheese to melt.  

Once the cheese has melted, you are good to go!  

I chose some fresh brussel sprouts to accompany my sliders.  Just cut them in half and put in a big sauce pan with EVOO, salt, pepper and granulated garlic.  Sear them until the granulated garlic has turned crispy and almost caramelized on the sprouts.  

Now eat and let the chorus of mmmmmms and yummmmms and oh my's ring!

Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!