Week 5 Assignment - More Organization and Power Tool Fun

After last weeks DIY-a-thon, I think I'm going to take it easy this week...but I still have a couple of projects up my sleeve!

First, I'm going to get rid of the charger cord disaster that is my kitchen counter thanks to an idea I found on Pinterest from Better Homes and Gardens.

The bread box they show in the picture retails for around $70...and I couldn't find another stainless steel one that didn't look HUGE, so off to eBay I went and found this little wonder.

I'm hoping I can sand it and stain it the color of our kitchen cabinets...maybe with a little black glaze just for fun.  Wish me luck!

I'm also going to take advantage of my good friend Tracy and her power tools again to make this planter box from Shanty 2 Chic for my kitchen window sill.

There's a pretty funny story behind this one!  One of my closest friends, Terri, made a comment to Tracy (Bob Vila with Boobs) at my birthday party a couple of weeks back that it wasn't fair that I got to take advantage of all of Tracy's Built-It-Yourself-Talents because I lived closer to Tracy than she did.  So Tracy, being Tracy, offered to help both of us build this when she saw we both pinned it on Pinterest.  Final result of the conversation...Terri is coming down with her kids on Friday for a dual play date at my house!  Her kids and mine will play with eachother while Terri, Tracy and I play with saws!  :)  I can't wait!

Week 4 Assignment - Results

What a week!!!  The hubs was away on business the whole week which meant once the kiddos went nana I was "in the zone"!  The only problem with being in the zone is I was so into what I was doing that I don't think I got to bed before midnight most of the week!

The first project I tackled with the Master Bathroom trim.  All I can say is WOW!!!  The Glidden Trim & Door Paint ROCKS!  It's a bit pricey (about $20 for a quart) but in my opinion totally worth it!  I did the baseboards, crown molding, and door with one coat and used maybe 1/3 of a can and I can't believe what a difference it makes!  I love the fact that it's super shiny, easy to clean, and for the most part is perfectly smooth.  I think if the previous owners hadn't used toothpaste and a toothbrush to paint the trim and the door before it would have turned out even better, but considering the horrible shape the trim was in before I repainted I couldn't be happier!!!  A few warnings if you are going to use it:

1)  It's oil based, so clean up is a little harder than water based paints.  Make sure you have paint thinner or mineral spirits on hand.
2)  It's STINKY and takes forever to dry...but remember, it's worth it!
3)  It really doesn't cover dark paint well. so if you have any "oopses" you may want to prime them or use a second coat to cover them up.

Well...what do you think??

And I bet if I wasn't too lazy to do a second coat it would look even better...but I had other projects to tackle.  :)

Crates, glorious crates!!  I had a 20% off purchase coupon at Joann's, so these little beauties cost me $8.79 each.  I have a ton of Espresso stain in the garage, which I used to stain the crates.  Then, for a little bling I used Martha Stewart's Mercury glaze (watered down a bit because it was going on thicker than I wanted) which runs around $5.50/bottle.

And the results??  Well, take a look and tell me what you think...

Want more?  Well, the UPS gods were on my side and my surprise purchase from www.cooltiles.com showed up Tuesday afternoon...To give you a little history, our Master Bath when we bought the house was ATROCIOUS!!  I wish I had the foresight to have taken "before" pictures but let me try to paint a mental picture for you.  Imagine peel and stick vinyl that really didn't stick, a cheap vanity and counter top that weren't installed flush to the wall, and a bathtub that has so many cracks in it that we've used it once since we moved in 8 years ago.  Originally the plan when we bought the house was to gut it, but now we are thinking of remodeling the house someday (i.e. when I go back to work or we win the lottery) and turning it into a jack and jill when we add on a new master suite.  Long story short, I needed to make some cosmetic updates that didn't cost a fortune because hopefully the whole thing will be torn down to the frame before I die.  :)  So back to my surprise purchase...it always bugged me that there was more than 1/4" gap between the edge of the counter top and the wall...more like it grossed me out!  But the gap was too big to caulk and I hate those adhesive rubber trim pieces, so I ordered some amazing glass tiles and installed a tile back and side splash!  I was surprised at how easy it was once I stopped trying to cut corners and just did it the right way!  Here's what I learned:

1)  The Depot guy may want to try and sell you a tile mat which is basically a huge sticker you put on your wall that your tile is supposed to stick to...I say "supposed to" because while the mat stuck to the wall, my tiles...not so much!!  I had to rip all the tiles down and removed at least 4 layers of paint from the wall to get it off.  Trust me, save yourself some time and headaches by just getting a premixed tub of tile adhesive and a $2 trowel and do it the right way!
2)  If you are tiling an area without a natural border, just  mask the area off with painters tape to elimate getting adhesive and grout on your wall.  Just make sure you remove the tape immediately after each application.  Once the adhesive or grout dries, you are going to have a hard time getting it off with a clean edge.
3)  If you are using glass tile, make sure you caulk BEFORE you touch up paint the wall!!  I did the touch up paint first and you can see some of the paint on the back side of the tiles between the tile and the caulking.  Might just have to rip the caulk out and try to scrape the paint off...we'll see how much it bugs me!  :)

So...here is the finished result.  Tada!!

So my Master Bath is finished...or is it?  We still need to deal with the cracks in the bathtub, and my husband suggested we should install shelves in the vanity below the sink.  Hmmm...

In the meantime, here is (FINALLY) my new Master Bathroom!

Wow!!  I'm tired!  Might take it a little easier next week!  :)

Week 4 Assignment - I will finish the Master Bath...I WILL, I WILL, I WILL!!!

If you saw last week's results you know I still have some work to do in the Master Bath.  First priority...something to put above the toilet that will provide additional storage and be adorable!  A couple of weeks ago I saw this on Pinterest and haven't been able to get it out of my head.

It's from a wonderful tutorial at Retropolitan and I can't wait to give it a try!  I'm thinking two...maybe three crates should do the trick!

I'm also going to try and get all the trim in the bathroom painted...something I absolutely HATE doing! But I keep hearing about this amazing new paint that covers in one coat without streaks or drips and doesn't leave any brush marks so I'm going to give it a whirl!

And if that isn't enough, I have a surprise project in the Master Bath that I'm hoping to tackle this week if the UPS gods don't let me down.  Guess I'm trying to make up for last week!  :)  See you soon!!

Week 3 Assignment - Results

Well...it's been an interesting week around here.  Between two sick babies, a sick Mommy and Daddy, and celebrating my 40th birthday, it's amazing I got anything done at all!  So, I have good news and bad news...which do you want first?

Let me start with the bad news.  I didn't finish the above-the-toilet cabinet this week for a couple of reasons.  While I think the advice I got from Alter'd Designs would have worked the first time I painted it, while trying to remove my train-wreck of a prior paint application I pretty much destroyed the laminate layer of the cabinet and was left with a less than perfect surface to work with.  I did prime with several coats and probably could have made it work, but while staring at the cabinet for hours while prepping it I decided I absolutely hated it!  It probably didn't help that I found something on Pinterest that I absolutely loved a few weeks ago and couldn't get it out of my head!  :)  Any guess what my next project will be????

But let's not dwell on the negative...on to the good news!  The good news is my family sign is one of the cutest things I've ever made!!  And I have my friend Tracy to thank not only for helping me get it done, but also for teaching me how to use some fabulous power tools!!  I think I may have found my latest addiction!!  It's funny how intimidating something that can cut your hand off can be...until you learn how to use it!  Now I'm all over Pinterest finding things to build and create.  Who knows, I may just beat the hubs to becoming a woodworker!   She also taught me the fine art of distressing...I had no idea destroying something on purpose could be so much fun!!

This project was perfect for someone who had no idea what she was doing when it came to power tools because you don't have to have exact measurements and to be honest you don't even need to make straight cuts.  And if you don't have a saw or don't want to use one, if you're really sweet to the guy in the lumber department at the Depot they'll make all your cuts for you!

So, enough gabbing!  Here's my latest masterpiece!  I'm a little bummed that the second line of text isn't as prominent as I'd like...but I'm not sure it bums me out enough to repaint the plank and do the letters again!  :)  We'll see...I'll probably change my mind by the end of the day!

Week 3 Assignment - Another Honey Do and Some Fun Too!

So I guess I need to confess that I've been re-doing our Master Bath for a while now...let's just say it's been too long!  But the finish line is on the horizon and there is just one item left on my Honey Do List and I'm going to tackle it this week.  I need to finish repainting the above-the toilet cabinet.  I say finish because thanks to some less than helpful advice from my friends at the Depot, I'm having to do it all over again just as I did with the vanity.  The vanity was truly a nightmare...the first time the side peeled off completely in two pieces, so I'm hoping this tutorial at Altar'd Designs will help.  Man I wish I had found this before I painted them the first time!!

And now for the fun!!  I recently got my best friend, Tracy, addicted to Pinterest and when I found this adorable family sign tutorial at Every Creative Endeavor (one of my favorite blogs!!) she said..."When are we doing this??" 

This is especially huge because Tracy (as far as I'm concerned she's "Bob Vila with Boobs") is my Power Tool Princess!  She can build anything she puts her mind to.  I, on the other hand, have a garage full of power tools (thanks to the hubs and his yet unfulfilled desire to become a woodworker) but have NO idea how to use them!   So, wish me luck and see you next week!!

Week 2 Assignment - Results

Another week in and I'm feeling good!  Not only did my menu board turn out great, but I also got two items off my "Honey Do" list!!  Since there was a lot of waiting watching paint dry, I had plenty of time to re-caulk the kitchen sink as well as do all the caulking in our master bath now that the new floor is in.  The menu board was really easy but I did discover a few tips they don't put on the chalkboard paint can!  :)

1)  Your surface must be TOTALLY smooth.  Our door has fake wood "grain" to it and after 6 coats it's still there, although not as prominent. I don't think it's a big deal and I think the board will work just fine, but I guess I thought the paint had more self-leveling properties to it.

2)  Since there's so much waiting involved between coats, if you put your roller and paint tray in ziplock bags  in the fridge you can re-use them over and over for each coat...just make sure you take them out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to paint so they will return to room temperature.

3)  If you are masking off an area that doesn't have it's own barrier (like a square on a wall), paint the inside edge of the tape with the paint color of the wall...it seals in any gaps between the tape and the wall and gives you a sharper edge.  (Thanks, Tracy, for that tip!!)

I am soooo excited at how it turned out and I can't wait to get my menu's up for the week...just have to let it cure for a couple more days.  Take a look!!   :)

Week 2 Assignment - Getting My Cooking Act Together

To tell you a little about me...I LOVE cooking but I can't seem to get it together enough to plan all my meals for a week and do all the shopping all at once.  Don't know why but I can do it for a couple of meals at a time but always end up going to the grocery store 2 to 3 times a week!  So I'm hoping with a beautiful new Menu Board like the one in this WhipperBerry Tutorial I might be able to pull off my menu planning a week at a time...

I don't have a gorgeous cabinet like this one to use, so I think I will do it on a panel of our door to the garage.    It could definitely need a face lift!

Time to head to Home Depot and Michaels to get my supplies...and dust off the Cricuit!  Wish me luck and hope to see you next week!

Week 1 Assignment - Results

One week in and I'm on a roll!  These fabric covered crates turned out to be super easy and totally adorable!  The hardest part was finding the crates...I ended up finding crates at Walmart ($5/each) but they were a different size than Laura's.  Luckily, she includes instructions on how to adapt her pattern to any size crate!!  If you are interested, here is the link to her Button Top Brad tutorial since there isn't a link in her crate cover tutorial.  Also, SUPER easy and really help keep the covers from being removed by your little helpers!   A couple of other pointers...

1)  Don't buy or cut your fabric until you get your crates...you may need to adjust your measurements based on the crates you get.
2)  Cut and sew one cover to make sure it fits before cutting the fabric for any additional covers.
3)  If find you are intimidated by her "boxing the corners" don't be...just trust her and give it a try. It didn't make any sense to me until I actually did it.  :)

So without further adieu...here's the finished product.

Week 1 Assignment - Getting Organized

Well, now that the new year is here, my first assignment is to try and get the toy situation in our house under control.  Since Christmas our house has looked like a Toys R Us threw up all over it and enough is enough!  :)  I found this project on Pinterest and I think it's a winner!

Currently our kids, Bradan (4) and Brenna (2) have separate rooms, but we are thinking of moving them into the same room and making the other bedroom a "playroom" (that being said...if anyone has any insight/advice on room sharing I'd love to hear it!) so I plan on making Bradan's in a blue and brown theme (which matches his current room) and Brenna's pink and brown (which matches hers) so if we do combine rooms they will coordinate well.  I found this fabulous tutorial from Laura Gunn at Paint in My Hair so I'm hoping it ends up being as easy as it sounds!  Wish me luck!!  See you next week!