diff --git a/pecan/__init__.py b/pecan/__init__.py
index 9538339..bfef5b0 100644
--- a/pecan/__init__.py
+++ b/pecan/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 from paste.urlparser import StaticURLParser
 from paste.cascade import Cascade
+from weberror.errormiddleware import ErrorMiddleware
+from paste.recursive import RecursiveMiddleware
 
-from pecan import Pecan, request, response, override_template, redirect
+from pecan import Pecan, request, response, override_template, redirect, error_for
 from decorators import expose
 
 __all__ = [
@@ -9,8 +11,10 @@ __all__ = [
 ]
 
 
-def make_app(root, static_root=None, **kw):        
+def make_app(root, static_root=None, debug=False, errorcfg={}, **kw):
     app = Pecan(root, **kw)
+    app = RecursiveMiddleware(app)
+    app = ErrorMiddleware(app, debug=debug, **errorcfg)
     if static_root:
         app = Cascade([StaticURLParser(static_root), app])
     return app
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pecan/pecan.py b/pecan/pecan.py
index ec4fa0d..e2a4755 100644
--- a/pecan/pecan.py
+++ b/pecan/pecan.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from webob      import Request, Response, exc
 from threading  import local
 from itertools  import chain
 from formencode import Invalid
+from paste.recursive import ForwardRequestException
 
 try:
     from json import loads
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@ def proxy(key):
     class ObjectProxy(object):
         def __getattr__(self, attr):
             obj = getattr(state, key)
+            if attr == 'validation_error':
+                return getattr(obj, attr, None)
             return getattr(obj, attr)
         def __setattr__(self, attr, value):
             obj = getattr(state, key)
@@ -37,6 +40,10 @@ def override_template(template):
 def redirect(location):
     raise exc.HTTPFound(location=location)
 
+def error_for(field):
+    if request.validation_error is None: return ''
+    return request.validation_error.error_dict.get(field, '')
+
 
 class Pecan(object):
     def __init__(self, root, 
@@ -122,6 +129,7 @@ class Pecan(object):
             controller.pecan['argspec']
         )
         if 'schema' in controller.pecan:
+            request.validation_error = None
             try:
                 params = self.validate(
                     controller.pecan['schema'], 
@@ -131,8 +139,7 @@ class Pecan(object):
             except Invalid, e:
                 request.validation_error = e
                 if controller.pecan['error_handler'] is not None:
-                    state.validation_error = e
-                    redirect(controller.pecan['error_handler'])
+                    raise ForwardRequestException(controller.pecan['error_handler'])
             if controller.pecan['validate_json']: params = dict(data=params)
         
         # get the result from the controller
@@ -147,7 +154,10 @@ class Pecan(object):
             renderer = self.renderers.get(self.default_renderer, self.template_path)
             if template == 'json':
                 renderer = self.renderers.get('json', self.template_path)
-            elif ':' in template:
+            else:
+                result['error_for'] = error_for
+                
+            if ':' in template:
                 renderer = self.renderers.get(template.split(':')[0], self.template_path)
                 template = template.split(':')[1]
             result = renderer.render(template, result)
@@ -168,12 +178,7 @@ class Pecan(object):
         state.request = Request(environ)
         state.response = Response()
         state.hooks = []
-        
-        # handle validation errors from redirects
-        if hasattr(state, 'validation_error'):
-            state.request.validation_error = state.validation_error
-            del state.validation_error
-        
+                
         # handle the request
         try:
             self.handle_request()
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index e1cf968..0e23117 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ class PyTest(Command):
 # determine requirements
 #
 requirements = [
-  "WebOb >= 0.9.8", 
+  "WebOb >= 1.0.0", 
+  "WebCore >= 1.0.0",
   "simplegeneric >= 0.7",
   "Genshi >= 0.6",
   "Kajiki >= 0.2.2",
diff --git a/templates/project/+egg+/controllers/root.py b/templates/project/+egg+/controllers/root.py
index 5c404e1..f5c5ae9 100644
--- a/templates/project/+egg+/controllers/root.py
+++ b/templates/project/+egg+/controllers/root.py
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
-from pecan import expose
+from pecan import expose, request
+from formencode import Schema, validators as v
+
+
+class SampleForm(Schema):
+    name = v.String(not_empty=True)
+    age = v.Int(not_empty=True)
+
 
 class RootController(object):
     @expose('kajiki:index.html')
-    def index(self, name='World'):
-        return dict(name=name)
\ No newline at end of file
+    def index(self, name='', age=''):
+        return dict(errors=request.validation_error, name=name, age=age)
+    
+    @expose('kajiki:success.html', schema=SampleForm(), error_handler='index')
+    def handle_form(self, name, age):
+        return dict(name=name, age=age)
diff --git a/templates/project/+egg+/templates/index.html b/templates/project/+egg+/templates/index.html
index d2a8837..2411552 100644
--- a/templates/project/+egg+/templates/index.html
+++ b/templates/project/+egg+/templates/index.html
@@ -1,8 +1,44 @@
-<html>
+<html py:extends="layout.html">
   <head>
-    <title>Hello, ${name}</title>
+    <title py:block="title">Welcome to Pecan!</title>
   </head>
-  <body>
-    <h1>Hello, ${name}!</h1>
+  <body py:block="body">
+    <header>
+      <h1>Welcome to Pecan</h1>
+    </header>
+    <p>This is the default Pecan project, which includes:</p>
+    
+    <ul>
+      <li>The ability to serve static files.</li>
+      <li>Templating using the <a href="http://kajiki.pythonisito.com/">Kajiki template engine</a>.</li>
+      <li>Built-in error management using <a href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/WebError">WebError</a>.</li>
+    </ul>
+    
+    <p>
+      Note that most functionality is enabled/disabled in your <code>start.py</code>,
+      which can be edited to suit your needs, and to add additional WSGI middleware.
+    </p>
+    
+    <p>
+      To get an idea of how to develop applications with Pecan, 
+      here is a simple form:
+    </p>
+    
+    <form method="POST" action="/handle_form" class="${'invalid' if errors else ''}">
+      <table>
+        <tr>
+          <td><label for="name">What is your name</label></td>
+          <td><input name="name" value="${name}" class="${'invalid' if error_for('name') else ''}" /></td>
+          <td py:if="errors">${error_for('name')}</td>
+        </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td><label for="age">How old are you?</label></td>
+          <td><input name="age" value="${age}" class="${'invalid' if error_for('age') else ''}" /></td>
+          <td py:if="errors">${error_for('age')}</td>
+        </tr>
+      </table>
+      
+      <input type="submit" />
+    </form>
   </body>
 </html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/project/+egg+/templates/layout.html b/templates/project/+egg+/templates/layout.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7cf7c06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/project/+egg+/templates/layout.html
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <title py:block="title">Default Title</title>
+    <py:block name="style">
+      <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/css/style.css" />
+    </py:block>
+    <py:block name="javascript" py:strip="True">
+      <script language="text/javascript" src="/javascript/shared.js" />
+    </py:block>
+  </head>
+  <body py:block="body">
+  </body>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/project/+egg+/templates/success.html b/templates/project/+egg+/templates/success.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a1c14e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/project/+egg+/templates/success.html
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<html py:extends="layout.html">
+  <head>
+    <title py:block="title">Success!</title>
+  </head>
+  <body py:block="body">
+    <header>
+      <h1>Success!</h1>
+    </header>
+    <p>Your form submission was successful! Thanks, ${name}!</p>
+  </body>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/project/public/css/style.css b/templates/project/public/css/style.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b68a653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/project/public/css/style.css
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+body {
+  background: #311F00;
+  color: white;
+  font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Verdana', sans-serif;
+  font-size: 1.25em;
+  padding: 1em 2em;
+}
+
+a {
+  color: #FAFF78;
+  text-decoration: none;
+}
+
+a:hover {
+  text-decoration: underline;
+}
+
+form {
+  margin: 0 1em;
+  padding: 1em;
+  border: 5px transparent;
+}
+
+form.invalid {
+  border: 5px solid FAFF78;
+}
+
+input.invalid {
+  background: #FAFF78;
+}
+
+header {
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
+h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
+  font-family: 'Futura-CondensedExtraBold', 'Futura', 'Helvetica', sans-serif;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/project/public/javascript/shared.js b/templates/project/public/javascript/shared.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/templates/project/start.py_tmpl b/templates/project/start.py_tmpl
index fb4ef5e..e1389af 100644
--- a/templates/project/start.py_tmpl
+++ b/templates/project/start.py_tmpl
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     app = make_app(
         RootController(), 
         static_root='public',
-        template_path='${egg}/templates'
+        template_path='${egg}/templates',
+        debug=True
     )
 
     print 'Serving on http://0.0.0.0:8080'    
diff --git a/tests/test_validation.py b/tests/test_validation.py
index 9c9d941..3516d9c 100644
--- a/tests/test_validation.py
+++ b/tests/test_validation.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from pecan import Pecan, expose, request, response
+from pecan import make_app, expose, request, response
 from webtest import TestApp
 
 from formencode import validators, Schema
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class TestValidation(object):
                 return 'Success!'
 
         # test form submissions
-        app = TestApp(Pecan(RootController()))
+        app = TestApp(make_app(RootController()))
         r = app.post('/', dict(
             first_name='Jonathan',
             last_name='LaCour',
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ class TestValidation(object):
             ]
         
         class RootController(object):
+            @expose()
+            def errors(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                assert request.validation_error is not None
+                return 'There was an error!'
+            
             @expose(schema=RegistrationSchema())
             def index(self, first_name, 
                             last_name, 
@@ -116,15 +121,10 @@ class TestValidation(object):
             def json_with_handler(self, data):
                 assert request.validation_error is not None
                 return 'Success!'
-            
-            @expose()
-            def errors(self, *args, **kwargs):
-                assert request.validation_error is not None
-                return 'There was an error!'
                 
 
         # test without error handler
-        app = TestApp(Pecan(RootController()))
+        app = TestApp(make_app(RootController()))
         r = app.post('/', dict(
             first_name='Jonathan',
             last_name='LaCour',
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ class TestValidation(object):
         assert r.body == 'Success!'
         
         # test with error handler
-        app = TestApp(Pecan(RootController()))
+        app = TestApp(make_app(RootController()))
         r = app.post('/with_handler', dict(
             first_name='Jonathan',
             last_name='LaCour',
@@ -148,8 +148,6 @@ class TestValidation(object):
             password_confirm='654321',
             age='31'
         ))
-        assert r.status_int == 302
-        r = r.follow()
         assert r.status_int == 200
         assert r.body == 'There was an error!'
         
@@ -176,7 +174,5 @@ class TestValidation(object):
             password_confirm='654321',
             age='31'
         )), [('content-type', 'application/json')])
-        assert r.status_int == 302
-        r = r.follow()
         assert r.status_int == 200
         assert r.body == 'There was an error!'
\ No newline at end of file