In case you were wondering, a blog squad is one of these:
Nice stems Jeremy 🙂
No but seriously….we are thrilled to announce that it is that time of year again. The time that we break out our painting clothes, stretch our DIY muscles and start imagining making our house more like a home. It’s Blogsquad time! I say Yay and you say True Value! YAY!
(awkward silence with an occasional cricket)
Hello?
Are you still looking at Jeremy’s legs?
Well, stop. Collaborate and listen. I’m back with brand new additions to the blogsquad (my inner Ice can not be contained) and of course, some old friends too (old as in experienced not aged. Experienced as in veteran not sleezy. Veteran as in…oh shoot…you know what I mean.) Of course, there is the littlest DIYer on board…
But before we get into the WHO…here’s the WHAT: True Value, a HUGE assembly of do-it-all-hardware stores, collaborates with bloggers. Very cool, right? They assembled a group of DIYers, decorators, designers, and the occasional wild card (that’s probably where I fit in) to tackle projects all year long with their own two hands. They provide the materials needed through a $1000 gift card to True Value and we supply the brains and brawns behind the projects. They also sponsor the posts (which means that we are paid a flat fee for the time it takes to write, edit, etc.) and set up cool ways for us bloggers to interact with you readers (like a Facebook ask-anything session and videos of us in action). And just like last year and the year before that, they wanted Bower Power again. Shocked I am. I said that with my Yoda voice by the way. Flattered. And sooo excited…mostly because this means that we will have a little moolah to transform our new house into a place that feels a little more like home.
Now let’s meet that group of people making up the blogsquad…first the returning Blogsquaders…
- My girl Sarah over at ThriftyDecorChick
- Supermom Kate with Centsational Girl
- Inspiring Roeshel with The DIY Show Off
- The rehab King Josh with Bungalow 23
- The Do-it-All Brian & Paul with Handyguys Podcast and last but certainly not least in any way….
- The ones with impeccable style & rockin’ goodlooks, Layla & Kevin with The Lettered Cottage
The new guys (or new blood as I like to say with my vampire friends):
- Bruno with ManMade DIY
- Taylor with Mary Janes and Galoshes
- Marian with Miss Mustard Seed
Go ahead and add them to your reader. And while you are taking care of online bidness, True Value has a Facebook page and Twitter account, so go friend em (and get a $5 off coupon!) and follow em. And stay tuned…tomorrow mornin’ I’ll have my DIY To-Do list for ya. And yeah…it’s gonna be a long one!
Can’t wait to see your projects!
Honestly, I just don’t get the point of programs like this. I mean yes, it’s exciting that you get $1000 to do stuff to your house, but for the rest of us, it just feels mean. I’m on stricter-than-strict budget and I guarantee you that I, too, could do some cool stuff if someone gave me a $1000 for my home. It’s stuff like this that makes me appreciate the Petersik’s “no swag” policy and how they show real budgeting for real lives. Totally relate-able and not out to make readers feel bad that they have crappy light fixtures that can’t be replaced with a handout. This doesn’t even begin to touch on how I can see why the other bloggers got invited to do this year’s program, but you don’t even really blog about home and DIY stuff anymore. I think lately your “home blog” has morphed into a “look at how cute my baby is and check out my hottie husband while you’re at it and be jealous of my giant mansions 34,000 doors” blog. No thanks.
I know this is snarky, but I can’t help it. Actually, I can, but I don’t really want to help it.
yeah!!! for you:) yes. even I will admit that I feel a tinge of jealousy that you got this again, but mostly I am super excited for you!!!!!!! I can not wait to see what you come up with to use that moola on!!! (ps. I still wanna keep seeing pics of ur ‘guys’ on here:D)
Wow, how fun!! You are so creative, I’m sure you can really stretch that $1,000. Good luck! P.S. I think Grace is just jealous of your adorable son and hot husband! 🙂 I love looking at all your pictures of your family, they are too precious not to photograph! Keep it up, Katie!
I get lots of home inspiration from Bower Power, and I enjoy seeing photos and hearing about your family.
I just wish you would change ‘harwarian’ to ‘hardwarrior’.
Keep doing what you’re doing!
Personally this doesn’t bother me at all, although of course I respect your opinion. I love freebies myself and probably wouldn’t turn down the opportunity either. It’s a lot of work to run a blog and I think people deserve the rewards that go along with it.
The family posts are fun and don’t sound like bragging to me, and a lot of people enjoy them. I guess you can never satisfy everyone, and that’s okay.
My initial post was so snarky. I know. I’m sorry Katie. I really am. Honestly, I get SO JEALOUS of you and your life sometimes. It’s not perfect and you don’t write in a way that suggests so. I had a hard day at work and I took it out on you. That’s not an excuse and I fully expect and accept any criticism that I just opened myself up to when I initially commented. You don’t know me, but I am completely asking for your forgiveness. My behavior was uncouth, not encouraging, and absolutely not Christ-like and worse, I opened fire on you in your “home” (your blog). I am SO sorry.
I have read your blog for years now and, yes, feel a little left behind now that you’ve moved intoa house that I will only ever dream about no matter how hard I work and get jealous that you will probably fill it with 4+ kids while am physically able to have just 1. I am thankful for my life, but sometimes I wish I were someone else. Someone like you, for example. Thanks for letting us see a glimpse of what makes you Katie Bower. And again, my deepest of apologies.
Ahhhhhh……..I’m so happy that you are doing blog squad again this year!!! I love reading about all of your new home projects……. and I cant wait to see what you’ll do next with your new home!!! I just wanted to comment about your “when bad things happen to good pigs” post you blogged about not to long ago……which was an amazing find btw……props to lil debbie! I wanted to tell you that I found your ceramic birds twin!!! (go to my blog to see a picture http://www.perfectlyforeternity.blogspot.com….I did a shout out too…..lol! Im such a dork!) I know you blogged about it along time ago but I cant remember when exactly!! I saw it at a thrift store not to long ago and just had to snatch that sucker up!! Except I dont have a catchy phrase like your “bros from different sows”……… which made me snort btw….haha!! Joanna D.
I laughed out loud at your inner Ice. I feel like you’re awesome, Katie Bower, and I wish we were friends in real life. I am also incredibly jealous of your Blog Squad status. I’ve got a True Value store about a mile from my house and I loooooves the small-town feel and friendly service. Are you listening, True Value? Living Well on the Cheap for Blog Squad 2012!
Yay! Looking forward to seeing what you and Jeremy tackle this year!
Well, Congrats on being chosen again and good luck on yor projects!! I can’t wait to see your list and wish you well on checking things off:) I, like most of your readers, appreciate what you do, love reading yor blog (no matter the subject), and would love to be friends with you in “real life” since you seem like an amazingly sweet person! Not to mention I’ve never met a soul from the south I didn’t get along with!! Keep it up KB!!
Wow, so much Bower-verbage all at once! I knew from that first pic you would have me smiling. I can feel your excitement & detect the underlying mood you were in when writing this post! Congratulations, on the squad. I love reading all your craziness that makes you Katie Bower, that’s why I keep coming back. I really enjoy, mixing it up too, not just all DIY since I love your photography. Having a sneaky peek into someone else’s life who puts it out there is one of my favourite chill-out things to do.
Thanks and congrats! I’m looking forward to seeing the new house updates this summer and checking out the other members of the True Value squad 🙂
Katie,
Your posts continue to entertain. You are an excellent blogger.
Congrats! Can’t wait to see what you do with your house!
(“Yay!”) “TRUE VALUE!”
Congrats, Katie. Continue to love you and your blog. Awesome photos. lol
Question for other readers who are not on the TVBS: How do you think True Value compares to Orange and Blue for product offerings, price, service, etc.?
xo
Grace, in my unsolicited opinion, I think your original comment seemed like a personal attack, but that your apology was a classy thing to do.
I get it. Katie is beautiful, her hubby and son and home are gorgeous. But Katie’s spirit and soul also come across as beautiful to me. Good things to good people makes me happy! 🙂
Cool! Congratulations and fun to have some new blogs to read too.
Oh to have $1000 to DIY!! Can’t wait to see what you do. The possibilities are endless at your house (I mean that in a good way)!
Excited to see what you do with the $$$$, and great links to other blogs as well!
Congrats! I can’t wait to see the finished products of your projects. We just moved into our house and spent the past week working on our deck. It’s amazing what a difference power washing the wood made! I was tempted to leave it alone after we washed it but I’m so so happy we decided to stain it instead. It looks fantastic (in my opinion) but was definitely a lot of work. Good luck with your deck!
Katie, you’re so creative and funny! Looking forward to seeing your DIY projects. Hurray True Value!
Hi!
I just wanted to say that I just did my first DIY project based off your repainting a dresser tutorial this weekend. I love it and am so proud! Thanks for inspiring me to give it a try and for the awesome tutorial. I love your blog! Everything from DIY to photography to your awesome family (especially Will and your adorable nephew!) to your beautiful house is awesome. The only thing I’m jealous of is that your house is twice the size of my new house but I paid twice as much as you! Lol. The housing market outside Washington, D.C. is crazy! Keep up the great work!