I always enjoy featuring tools, tricks and apps that can help you in your home, lifestyle and daily routines to help simplify and make your life easier to manage. A few months ago I introduced you to Amy Wax and the Color911 App to help you choose colors and color palettes to use in your home.

Image via: Burnetts Boards

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Today Amy has another great way to utilize the app – Wedding Planning! I think this is perfect for couples, wedding planners, or just to inspire you to play around with color palettes for the wedding party, flowers, decorations, favors and more. We at Stagetecture love wedding ideas, so take a look at how the Color911 App can help your wedding.

How to Use the Color911 App for Creative Color Wedding Planning

I have a wedding that is coming up this summer and I have been deeply involved in planning every detail! We will be married late in July. I found out about an app called Color911. It has been such a tremendous help and has made the whole process so much more fun for me, that I wanted to share it with you.

I first saw the Color911 app in a magazine and did not realize an app that focuses on color had anything to do with me planning my wedding. Then a friend told me about it, and I am so happy to share it with you in the hopes that it will help others as well.

While doing all of my planning, I have had to make so many decisions, as I’m sure you can imagine. I did not realize how many things I have to choose colors for!! Color911 has made it all so much easier I had no idea I even needed this, now I can’t imagine planning any event without it!

Image via: Victoria Rose Wedding Parlor

Using the Color911 App to find colors that inspire you

The first thing I did with Color911 was find colors that I really loved, that inspired me. I assumed I would have my wedding mostly in whites with some creams, pinks, etc. but the more I saw what other people are doing I realized how boring my color choices were. So I went right to the app for inspiration. I could have created the colors myself from a color wheel but the app has many pre-made colors themes; I found one that I loved. I pulled colors from the theme that I wanted to use and created my own palette for my whole event. I took notes so I remembered all of the ideas I had for my colors. Here’s the best part!!.. I was able to share it with everyone from the caterer – for table linen colors, to florist for flowers to go with my color palette, to the person printing my invitations. I shared all my colors with my bridesmaids and my mother who wants to match her colors and the guys ties to be a part of the color scheme, matching the rest of the bridal party. How cool is it that it will all match perfectly!

After I emailed it to everyone I told you about I shared in on Facebook with my friends. I am so excited.. my wedding with be so beautiful, everything will look so great together.!! So psyched! I know I will use the app for so many things afterward, matching clothes.. getting my home colors to match, it really is a great tool. I hope this is helpful for everyone planning his or her events.

About Amy Wax

Amy is the brains behind the Color911 app. She is a nationally recognized color consultant and has received numerous awards for her expertise in the world of color. Amy authored two best sellers  (Can’t Fail Color Schemes) and owns the company Your Color Source Studios, Inc. She also served as a Past President of the Int’l Association of Color Consultants of North America. Amy created the Color911 app to provide inspiration and be a guide for everyone who uses color from homeowner to design professional. Color911 has been so well received it has received awards such as being named a Top 100 product of the year to being one of the Top 12 Apps to download in 2014. Color911 is color help at your fingertips, and can be the help with color you’ve been looking for!  

For more wedding ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

All 3 of my children have been collecting Box Tops for Education for the last 6 years or so. I remember when my middle son, now 14, but when he was in 2nd grade was in tears because I had thrown away a granola bar box that had a Box Tops for Education on it! He was so upset, and I had to go dig through the trash to get it…. ewwww!   — Awww, what we do for our kids!

For those of you who don’t know what Box Tops for Education are:

“Box Tops for Education has helped America’s schools earn over $475 million since 1996. You can earn cash for your child’s school by clipping Box Tops coupons from hundreds of participating products. Box Tops also offers easy ways to earn even more cash for your school online.” – Box Tops 4 Education

 

The importance of giving back to schools:

The great part about the Box Tops for Education program is that your direct participation earns your child’s exact school money for education. You will enter your child’s school information and all your rewards will go to their school. Awesome, yes?

So I was excited to pair up with Jingit, a program that pays you to shop for your favorite brands and your child’s school get’s rewarded too! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jingit:

“With Jingit, you can earn real cash, instantly for watching ads online; or checking in and shopping for select products at your favorite stores; even for giving your feedback to leading brands by taking brief surveys. In return, those brands get your attention!”

 

Google+ Album – See how to use Jingit!

What a win-win for all. So I loaded the Jingit app on my iPhone, shopped at Walmart and bought General Mills foods that my kids already love. Take a look at my Google+ Album here.  See my trip, what I picked up, and how easy it was for my daughter’s school to earn Box Tops, and me, money.

It was an enjoyable time being able to get rewarded for items I would have purchased anyway! My son inhales the Totino’s Pizza’s (hey he’s a teenage boy) – and my daughter loves the Gogurt and granola bars. General Mills cereals such as Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are favs at my house too!

Want to learn how you can get started – here you go:

Here are the steps for you to start earning!

1.) Sign up here: —> Jingit Signup

2.) Download the Jingit app for your iPhone or Android: –> Jingit download app

3.) Start shopping! Go to Walmart. Check in with the app and scan the barcodes on any 4 participating General Mills’ back-to-school basics products that are listed on the screen once you get to the store.  Then “cha-ching!” – you’ll earn a little real cash, in real time. And 4 Bonus Box Tops will automatically be donated to your selected school.

4.) Visit Walmart.com to engage with General Mills products, and look for banner ads with a Jingit curl from these same brands. Some locations may not feature the same ads. Once you get home, make sure to “check in” at home, by scanning your products again to earn more money, and to have the Box Tops for Education donated to your child’s school.

Lastly, log in to your Jingit dashboard and see how much money you made. You can also watch videos, learn more about other products you can earn with and share with your friends on Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest. I was excited that I made $6.00!

Thanks Jingit, Walmart, and General Mills. My daughter was excited to donate her Box Tops to school the next day.

I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Jingit #CBias #SocialFabric”. All experiences and opinions are my own.

For more back to school tips on Stagetecture, click here.

As homeowners are in the midst of their spring/summer renovation projects, you might be interested in PPG Pittsburgh Paints’ latest tool for color selection.

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The company recently launched its first mobile application (app), The Voice of Color®, which gives homeowners an intuitive, on-the-go color resource. The free app not only showcases the entire Voice of Color collection, but is the first to allow homeowners to order 8″x12″ sample color sheets that can be shipped directly to their homes right from the app itself free of charge. For more information on the PPG Pittsburgh Paints application, visit them online.

The app gives users three ways to view, select from, and subsequently order, all of the more than 2,000 colors offered by The Voice of Color, including:

·         Grab Color From Photo –

Utilizing the device’s camera, users can take/upload a photo of any object, space, fabric or tile that inspires them, and have it automatically matched with the closest shade from The Voice of Color collection. The tool also offers suggestions for similar and complementary shades based on the selection, so additional colors can be ordered and viewed together on the walls of a space.

·         View Our Color Collections –

Users can browse and order from The Voice of Color’s exclusive color collections, including Harmony, Historic and Atmospheric.

·         Use Our Color Selector –

View the entire Voice of Color collection, conveniently organized by primary color family. If users know the particular color name or number, they can easily search right there.

For more color ideas in your interiors on Stagetecture, click here.

Happy DIY Saturday! Memorial Day weekend is here for my United States readers and most of you are probably getting ready for a barbecue.. am I right? Whether you need to learn how to prepare your barbecue grill or you need help with how to clean if afterwards, today’s DIY Saturday is for you.

How to Properly Clean your BBQ Grill 

Image via: Outdoor Living Areas.Pinterest

Today’s DIY Saturday also has a bonus! From the archives from last Memorial Day, see handy BBQ iPhone & iPad apps to help you find great grilling recipes and watch the Weber video that is sure to put a smile on your face…again!  Happy Memorial Day Weekend… enjoy!

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Tips to  Prepare your Barbecue Grill

• Keeping grill surfaces lightly coated with cooking oil or spray will make clean up much easier.
• If the gas jets are clogged, consider replacing the burner or carefully clean them with a soft wire brush.
• Regular cleaning makes the job much easier.

Image via: Serious Eats

How to Clean a Barbecue Grill

• Remove cooking grates and set them in warm soapy water to soak.
• Fill a small bucket or pan with warm soapy water.
• If it’s a charcoal grill then remove the coal grate and brush out the insides.
• If it’s a gas grill, remove briquettes, lava rocks or metal flame shield to expose burner.
• Clean out ash and residue from around burner, careful to make sure the burner is in place when you are done.
• Use a stiff wire brush and a little soapy water to gently scrub the inside surfaces of the grill.
• Remove any particles from grill and reassemble.
• If gas, brush off briquettes or lava rocks or wash metal flame shield in warm soapy water.
• Remove cooking grates from water and brush clean with the wire brush.
• Coat inside surfaces and cooking grates with cooking oil or spray.
• Put grates back on grill
• Allow the whole grill to air dry.
• Allow an extra five minutes of heating time the next time you grill to make sure any cleaning residue has burner off.

Image via: Serious Eats

Original Entry #537, May 28, 2011

Today’s DIY Saturday is more inspiration than do it yourself tips. The Memorial Day weekend is finally upon us, and grilling and barbecuing is on everyone’s mind! Weber Grill has come out with a great iPhone & iPad app that is perfect for the novice griller to the expert. Macworld has a great write up below, and you can purchase the Weber app from iTunes, here for $4.99 US.

Also see the Weber – “Have Fun With it” Video…. so good!

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Weber YouTube Video – “Have Fun With it”

Summer may have given way to autumn here in the U.S., but that’s no reason to put the grill away just yet. And whether you’re a seasoned grill master or just barely able to stack charcoal, Weber’s on the Grill from Weber-Stephen Products is sure to have something for you. From the very basics of grilling to more advanced recipes, there’s a little something for everyone.

There’s two separate versions of the app, both of which cost $5—Weber’s on the Grill for the iPhone and iPod touch and Weber’s on the Grill for iPad. They’re both essentially the same with only a few differences.

Let’s focus on the iPad version. It has a great interface that makes navigating and using the app a pleasure. The app offers around 250 recipes organized into different categories like starters, red meat, seafood, pork, veggies, and desserts; you also can access recipes on rubs, marinades, and sauces. Tapping any of these categories brings up all the relevant recipes, complete with mouth-watering photographs. Each recipe offers detailed instructions, so even a novice cook can follow along. There are often links to in-app videos as well within the directions.

The app allows you to add notes to any recipe, so if you need to tweak something with the recipe, you can jot it down. You can also mark a recipe as a favorite or e-mail it. And you’ve got the ability to instantly create a shopping list for any ingredients you need.

Another great feature in the iPad version of On The Grill is its embedded timer. You can tap on cook times to automatically bring up a timer preset to that particular amount of time.

What’s Your Beef: The iPhone version of Weber’s on the Grill offers the same recipes you’ll find in the iPad edition, though things are shrunken to fit the iPhone’s screen.

I’ve talked up the recipes, but Weber’s on the Grill offers more than just that. It also features lots of good info and how-tos with everything from descriptions of proper grilling tools to tips on meat prep. The charcoal and gas grill basics sections provide some nice tips to get anyone up and ready to grill in no time. As mentioned earlier, several videos cover the basic recipes and techniques for burgers, steaks, whole chicken, and more.

The iPhone version of Weber’s on the Grill provides the same recipes and information as the iPad version but on a more confined screen. The one real difference I noticed was the fact that the iPhone version featured a different kind of embedded timer. The timer was still there; you just had to set the time manually, which is no big deal.

On the iPhone or iPad, Weber’s on the Grill is a really nice app for elevating your grilling game. It’s well designed, easy to use and chock full of great information and recipes.

Watch Stagetecture’s You Tube Channel for more DIY ideas

Let’s face it, home improvement and decorating can often be a daunting task! From deciding on a do it yourself (DIY) project, to choosing the perfect color to paint your home, how do you visualize it first? I’m excited to partner with Showoff.com and bring you an interactive online experience for home enthusiasts! It will help you take your Stagetecture ideas and DIY projects and visualize them… absolutely FREE! I’m excited about this easy to use tool, here’s more information about Showoff:

Showoff.com is home to the Visualizer, a free online tool that allows users to upload their own photographs and use a design application to visualize any home improvement project in minutes including landscape, remodeling and interior design projects.

Showoff.com offers free access to the Visualizer which allows users to visualize projects around the home using actual, branded products from Showoff.com’s Online Showroom. Showoff.com is also an online community where users can speak with experts or other home enthusiasts. In addition, users can purchase products from their Visualizer experience with easy options for purchasing online or offline, from vendors that are Subscribers.  The website is supported by Vendors who provide images of the products for consumers to chose.

“This truly is a one-of–kind experience,” says Dreis-Ayers. “We are committed to creating the easiest, most accessible community for homeowners and are looking forward to a new way of integrating and creating the home of your dreams.”

Whether you are a homeowner interested in starting a home improvement project, or you are a supplier wanting to feature your products/services in the Showoff visualizer, there is an advantage for you. Click on the right side banner of Stagetecture to give it a try. For specific information, and questions, feel free to contact Showoff directly:

Contact: Bobbie Ayers

Company: Visual Applications, Inc.

Email: bobbieayers[at]visapp.com

Kick off the 2012 right with organization ideas from a few of my 2011 organization Guest bloggers. From your kids’ rooms and kitchen to your garage, and helpful desktop and iPhone apps.

Get started today… what is your excuse?

One from the archives…

Image via: Papernstitch Blog

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Original Entry #403, January 31, 2011

Can you believe we went through an entire month already for organization!? While I’ll continue to bring your organization tips throughout the year. I thought I would give you one place to recap the main highlights of our organization month.

I’m always blown away by the incredible amount of talent there is in our world that we don’t tap into. Here is a highlight of the Guest Bloggers that focused on great organization this month! Thank you all!

Organization Guest Bloggers:

Guest Blogger: 5 Steps for Organizing your Kid’s Rooms

Guest Blogger Invents DIY iPhone & iPad Apps

Stagetecture Feature: Guest Blogger: Organisemee – Never Forget a Task Again!

D.I.Y. Saturday #31 – How to Start your Garage Organization

Guest Blogger: A Kitchen Renovation Should Improve your Organization

Guest Blogger – Keeping your Organization New Year’s Resolution

For more home organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Best of 2011 – #3

DIY Wine Rack from Martha – Great Hardware Store Project

We continue with Stagetecture’s Best of 2011! and at #3 it is a unconventional hardware store project that makes a beautiful wine rack from Martha Stewart. It’s no surprise you all liked this post so much, it features a DIY project that is easy, looks great, and can be purchased inexpensively. We all love a DIY project that makes us feel good, looks like we spent more on it than we did, and above all – looks fabulous!

Image via: Martha Stewart Weddings

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Original Entry #426 February 22, 2011

We are approaching the end of February, and that means that “Making your life easier” month will be closing out to make way for a new Stagetecture theme in March.

While I was ‘thumbing’ through my February iPad issue of Martha Stewart Living – I came across another great DIY project from your hardware store! This one is a wine rack made from PVC pipe.

Remember last month Country Living had the great DIY cardboard tube display area for your home? Well this time Martha Stewart and her staff have put together a great wine rack. See how to make it below:

Martha Stewart – Modern Wine Rack

No one will guess that this sleek, modern wine rack is made of PVC pipe from a hardware store. The design is completely flexible, so you can create one to fit inside any shelf or cabinet and paint it to suit your own decor.

Tools and Materials:

• Hacksaw
• 4-inch PVC pipe
• Sandpaper
• Acetone
• Indoor/outdoor all-purpose spray primer
• Spray paint
• Industrial-strength self-adhesive Velcro strips

While I was ‘thumbing’ through my February iPad issue of Martha Stewart Living – I came across another great DIY project from your hardware store! This one is a wine rack made from PVC pipe.

Remember last month Country Living had the great DIY cardboard tube display area for your home? Well this time Martha Stewart and her staff have put together a great wine rack. See how to make it below:

 

Martha Stewart – Modern Wine Rack

No one will guess that this sleek, modern wine rack is made of PVC pipe from a hardware store. The design is completely flexible, so you can create one to fit inside any shelf or cabinet and paint it to suit your own decor.

Tools and Materials:

• Hacksaw
• 4-inch PVC pipe
• Sandpaper
• Acetone
• Indoor/outdoor all-purpose spray primer
• Spray paint
• Industrial-strength self-adhesive Velcro strips

Can you believe we went through an entire month already for organization!? While I’ll continue to bring your organization tips throughout the year. I thought I would give you one place to recap the main highlights of our organization month.

I’m always blown away by the incredible amount of talent there is in our world that we don’t tap into.  Here is a highlight of the Guest Bloggers that focused on great organization this month! Thank you all!

Organization Guest Bloggers:

Guest Blogger: 5 Steps for Organizing your Kid’s Rooms

Guest Blogger Invents DIY iPhone & iPad Apps

Stagetecture Feature: Guest Blogger: Organisemee  – Never Forget a Task Again!

D.I.Y. Saturday #31 – How to Start your Garage Organization

Guest Blogger: A Kitchen Renovation Should  Improve your Organization

Guest Blogger – Keeping your Organization New Year’s Resolution

Thank you to all of my great organization Guest Bloggers for January! If  you are interested in being a Guest Blogger on Stagetecture, get all the guidelines here.  I’d love to feature you.

For more home organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

I’m always excited to see information, devices or programs that can make life easier for DIY’ers!! As you know, around the holidays I featured iphone apps that were fun for you and your kids.

Today, Guest Blogger Hannah Pearce shows you how to calculate tile for your DIY projects, and how to calculate the BTU’s for a space that needs to be heated. It is refreshing to meet someone who actually designs iPhone apps, what a great talent!

Guest Blogger Invents DIY iPhone & iPad Apps

Noir Tiles iPhone app:

This tile calculator helps you to work out how many tiles you will need for a project. Enter the area that you wish to tile and the measurements of your chosen tile.

It has been designed for floor and wall tiles and allows the user to select feet or meters.

The app allows the user to input variables such as window’s and doors that might need to be taken into consideration during the calculation.

My BTU iPhone & iPad app:

Ever considered buying new Radiators for your home? Have you seen the designer radiators that are now for sale?

There is a new fad sweeping across the country that is for homes to move away from the boring White steel radiators and install designer radiators. Which can be Ultra Modern, modern or even period in style.

These newer designer radiators are designed so well that they produce better outputs and are more efficient than the older style.

If you are looking to install new radiators the 1st thing you need to calculate is how many BTU’s or Watts are required to heat the room.

The BTU calculator will allow the home owner to type in their room measurements and fill in some variables about the room that they are working on, these will then be used to calculator a BTU/Watt figure. When you then go to a shop to purchase a radiator you will need to make sure that the BTU output of the radiator you are buying is at least that of the BTU output you got from the calculator app.

Hannah Pearce is a 33 year old mum of 2 young children. She works full time in IT where she has been lucky enough to develop her skills in iphone app development. After buying an apple mac and a developer license she has started to create handy DIY apps, with 2 apps now completed and for sale in iTunes Hannah has 3 new apps in development. Find her on the web at Climbing Tikes.

For more Do it Yourself ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Watch Stagetecture’s You Tube Channel for more DIY ideas