Monthly Archives: January 2011

Jan26

Happy (Early) Birthday to Me!

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Happy Humpday to everyone and a very happy early birthday to me!  I’m turning the big 2-8 tomorrow and looking forward to the double treat of lunch with friends and dinner with family!  Aaron surprised me with a birthday present this weekend and made my week with his thoughtfulness and generosity.  I’m quite the lucky gal!  For a little background on the gift, a local furniture company is going out of business and is having a huge liquidation sale.  Aaron saw my soon-to-be gift on the floor with an $800 price tag. He offered a $100 and they accepted.  Whoo-hoo!  Here is the lovely piece hanging on our living rooom wall.

Here’s how it looks with the shutters fully closed:

And how it looks in the context of the room:

I’m smitten with the architectural pizazz it adds to the room and of course its placement between the two windows.  A big thank you to my honey for this and working to make my birthday so special!

Jan23

Changing My Stripes

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I have had a well-documented crush on painted stripes for some time.  I first tried my hand at them in 2004, when I did them in my bedroom in my King Street apt. (Charleston).  They proved a bit of a challenge, not because they were difficult (although they were time consuming), but I had 12 foot ceilings.   After that first foray, I was hooked and have been dilligently painting stripes on all manner of things.  When we moved into our current house, I decided to do stripes once again in our guest bathroom.

I enjoyed them a for time, but grew increasingly dissatisfied with them over time.  I presumed my love affair with stripes has taken its course and I am ready for a change.  Enter “Refresh” from Sherwin Williams.

Aaron and I chose this color because it reminded us of the coast and was just fresher than the gray stripes.   Of course, you can’t just paint over stripes without a little prep work.  I had to sand the edges of the stripes because sometimes paint can build up along the edge of the painter’s tape and if you paint over it you’ll still see the line through the new paint.  So I scuffed and also patched some holes and uneven spots while I was at it.   I’ll be honest and admit I was already tired of the project before I even began painting!

With prep work done, I proceeded to tape everything off and apply my first coat.  Let’s just say it was brighter than I thought and was not helped my the dark color I had painted the baseboards.  It was at this point that I realized that our choice in color was going to require I paint the trim back to a more neutral color. 

I worked most of the day Saturday what with waiting for the paint to dry and the necessary second coat.  By Sunday, the painting was complete.  Aaron and I made a quick dash to TJ Maxx to pick up a shower curtain (which I’m not completely enamored with, but it was only $10) and after a quick clean, the bathroom was ready.   I love, love, love how much bigger,  airier, and calming the bathroom is now with it’s color change.  I still plan to revamp the flooring in the very near future, but I’m ready for a bathroom break (ha!) for now.  Without further ado, here it is!

Jan19

Now dip, baby, dip!

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Now that I’m on this health kick, cooking a nutrituous and tasty dinner each night takes a bit more thought.  Sometimes, I prefer to whip together a quick snack-style dinner where everyone can help themselves to their heart’s content while minimizing the saturated fat and caloric intake.  This is just what I did the other night when I created a dip trio!  For the how-to lowdown, follow this link or click 2011 Resolution: Live Healthy: Recipes. 

Hummus

Tzaatziki

Salsa Gaucamole

Jan17

Egg-ceptional Re-Use

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I recognize that I am quite lucky to have my own craft room where I can spread out my craft projects and have a door to shut on my mess.  When I first set-up this room, everything was well-organized and easy to find.  Over time and after multiple sewing, art, and Christmas gifting projects, this room became a bit of a disaster.  Spools of thread were tangled amongst each other and thrown into a box with all kinds of randomness.  Baskets were disorganized and things stuffed into every available nook.  The motivation to tackle this mess came from the strangest of places and the most unexpected of times: while making some sunny side-up eggs with breakfast this morning.  As I made my breakfast, I looked over at the egg carton and had a light bulb moment.  It would be perfect to organize all my spools of thread! 

Given that I had off today due to MLK Day, I had time and no excuse not to get cracking on this project.  I focused my attention on the hutch, the holding cell for all my crafting supplies.  Mind you, the photo below was taken after I had started work on creating some order.

First and foremost, I pulled out this box of sewing whatnots and pulled out all the thread, bagged all the loose buttons, and neatened the pieces of trim, ribbons, and lace.

As with most projects, what I thought was going to take a half hour ended up taking double the time.  Nevertheless, I was rather pleased with myself that my carton/thread spool idea worked out so well. 

I managed to weed out a whole bag of junk I wouldn’t be needing while decluttering the hutch for increased efficiency and effectiveness; an hour well-spent in my opinion.  Now that I can locate all my supplies, I just need to come up with my next project idea! 

Jan10

From Mess to Success

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Aaron and I had a list of all the projects we were going to tackle this weekend.  Of course, fate had other ideas about what we would be doing and laughed at our silly list.  Instead, we were blessed with a back-up of our water line in the laundry room.  Since this room is in the basement, we didn’t even realize that it was leaking putrid water on our carpeted floor until the morning.  I can attest that smelling foul water early Saturday morning is not the ideal way to start the weekend. 

To begin remedying the situation we first snaked the water line to remove any clogs, likely being composed of hair and whatever else three people and a dog shed on clothing, sheets, and towels.  With this done we had to then clear out the area of all furniture and begin to remove the carpeting, padding, and tacking.  This was not a fun task to say the least and left us with a not too great looking concrete floor.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a real before shot due to our haste in removing the offending carpet.

After scrubbing, bleaching, kilzing, and setting fans on the area to dry out, we were left with pretty much a blank slate.  I, for one, felt that this incidence was a happy occurrence because 1) we finally had the motivation to remove the carpet in the laundry room; who actually thinks that carpet in this utilitarian space is a good idea? and 2) we could add a few inexpensive tweaks to the area to make it uber nicer than it was.  Although Aaron was less than joyous at this unexpected project, I was counting my lucky stars!  With the space dried and cleaned I immediately recommend we hightail it over to Lowe’s to pick up some of those adhesive vinyl tiles.  They may not be as good looking as real tile or other flooring options, but they are durable, easy to install, and very affordable.  After perusing our choices (of which there were a lot more than I anticipated) we found a winner!

It only took a few hours for Aaron and I to install the tiles using Little Man’s help to “stomp” the tiles down.  Might I say that I am quite pleased with how everything turned out.  By moving a bench into this little area, adding a light fixture, and the new floor and thresholds, it looks so much nicer.  For only $80, I’d say that our “disaster” was quite fortuitous!  Here’s a look at how everything turned out.

Not bad for peel and stick tiles, right?

Jan9

Tickled Pink with Ink

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I was in the mood for a little art project to enjoy with Little Man yesterday and recalled a easy one using india ink.  I happened to have a little bottle of the stuff left over from a college art class and, despite several years of neglect, it was as fresh as the day I bought it.  My other materials for this particular project included one sheet of art paper and one straw: random objects that most everyone has lying around the house.

My first step was to measure off four squares on the paper the size of photographs so I could fit them in some frames as the final step.

Next step was dropping a few dabs of ink on the paper and let Little Man blow the ink around using his peppermint straw.

After a design came to life in each of the squares I had pre-measured, I let the paper dry for a bit (about 15 minutes).

After the ink was dry, I cut the squares and was ready for my part of the project: discerning a resemblance to some object(s) and coming up with a haiku to depict the vision.  If you haven’t done a haiku in a while, the format is 5-7-5 (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables).  This project ended up being a family affair with Aaron helping come up with ideas for the picture and poem; here are two of the four that we liked the best!

The haiku reads:

He dances with glee; Leaving his cares behind him; Emanating joy.

The haiku reads:

The ants march in a line; Working together to live; To thrive and prosper.

This was an easy project that was both fun and an inexpensive way to spiff up our wall art.  If you decide to give a whirl, please share what you’ve created!

Jan5

Home Plate

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During a recent peruse of one my favorite guilty pleasures, I came across a simple yet ingenious idea.  Before I go further, I must reveal the source: Martha Stewart Weddings, particularly the ‘Real Weddings’ link found under the Inspiration tab.  Every so often, I visit this virtual honey hole offering pictorial review of some super fabulous and oh-so martha-esque weddings.  It was during one of these visits that I came across Molly and Ken’s wedding in Massachusetts.  Not only was it a fanciful and beautifully done affair, but Molly had made these:

Pie plates made using random china and brass candlesticks.  When I saw them, I knew I, too, could make those.  So I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some Monster Glue and then made my rounds to area thrift stores for supplies.

I followed the directions on the back of the glue package, moistening the rim of the candlestick then adding a thin layer of glue.  I placed the plate into position and weighted it with a heavy pewter cup to make the adhesion between the candlestick and plate extra tough.  After thirty short minutes, I had a new pie plate! 

I made several for Christmas presents this year and they were quite a hit.  I kept one for myself with plans to make several more.  I think they will be wonderful for simple get togethers where I need to set out appetizers and want it to look attractice. Thanks to Martha for the Inspiration!

Jan3

Boxing Into the New Year

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Happy 2011 folks!  The holidays are over, the decorations are put away, and we Randall’s are super excited for what this year has in store.  Aaron and I are starting the new year off in that do-it-yourself style that are our hallmarks.  For years now, I have requested and patiently waited for Aaron to make me window boxes.  His excuse was always the same: he needed a table saw in order to make them.  Since he didn’t have one, my request was delayed time and again.  That is, until this Christmas.  Aaron must have been a very good boy because Santa (aka Aaron’s Dad) got him a table saw.  Needless to say, I think Aaron and I were equally excited about the gift! 

Now that Aaron had no more excuses to put off my window boxes and he was itching to try out his new toy, I was going to finally get my wish.  Aaron’s Dad kindly came over to help him and within just a day and half’s time, my boxes were created and hung.  Whoo-hoo!  Let’s take a look at the before, shall we?

Ho hum, hum drum.  Boring exterior prior.  With the new boxes, however, the house immediately became more inviting and welcoming.

As you can see, there is no flora yet.  I’m waiting until the last frost to plant so that whatever plants I end up with (I’m thinking ivy and dusty miller) will be afforded maximum survivability. 

Aaron and his dad used wood salvaged from one of the tobacco barns dotting the family farm to make  the window boxes.  We all adored it’s patina and rusticness, so it was left raw and unfinished. 

Then Aaron lined the boxes with landscaping mesh to minimize soil loss over time.

After a quick run to Lowe’s, Aaron devised a method to hang the boxes using eye hooks.  I would detail his design, but in all honesty I forgot to inspect it myself.  Originally, we were thinking to hang the boxes at the bottom of the wood panel under the windows.

After careful consideration and observation, we all agree that they should be mounted underneath the glass.

 It looked better from afar and will make it much easier to plant and care for since I can just lean out the window to water.  I adore how it turned out and am quite looking forward to getting the plants in and enjoying the full effect.   On a side note, I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s and are looking as forward to what 2011 holds as we are.  Cheers!