Projects and progress

I am so glad we decided to put all new trim into this house. But it hasn't been an easy project. We are down to the living room (I ignore the kitchen), and I dread doing it. We have so much stuff in here. I'll have to move it to the dining room, and then we will do the room as quickly as possible. We will not be starting until after the holidays. We've decided to get started with a sneak approach.

Standing in the living room

That is the wall that goes from the entry way. The open/missing door is to the hallway we just finished. Last Friday, I took out the baseboard from the entry to the doorway and the door trim as well. John finished up the demo by taking out the baseboard from the doorway to the corner.

Better!

John got the new trim up Saturday. By Sunday night, I had the nail holes patched, the trim primed, caulked, and painted. I want to get the other side of this little hallway done before we empty the living room. It's just two more sections of baseboard and the door from the hall to the dining room.

Looking from the dining room.

John's working on one more part of this project. I'm hoping to have it done in the next week. Here's a sneak peek:

And then there is this:



John says it is the same color as the current wall color, but he is wrong. I still don't have the paint. I'll be painting the long hallway, the short hallway, and the living room this color. I picked (and liked) the current wall color, but it looks too yellow to me next to the white trim.


And now, my thrifty find of the week.


I saw this little table on Saturday. It was $2.50. I thought that was too much to pay, and I knew that it would be marked down to $1.25 on Monday. Then I kicked myself all day Sunday for thinking that $2.50 was too much to pay. Ellie and I were waiting when the store opened back up on Monday. The table really wasn't that exciting, but it was the size and shape I needed. I considered painting it, but then decided to just cover it instead.

There's nothing like left over drop cloth and some fabric paint. I added a textile medium to the paint so it would be washable. I still need to trim some loose threads and wash out the fabric marker that's on the top. It's certainly not perfect, but isn't intended to be an heirloom.


I made up this little quilted topper for the kitchen table, but maybe I'll leave it here.

Now imagine it with a pink Christmas tree on it! I bought a three foot tall pink tree last year on clearance. The girls are going to be so excited. It is going to be their tree. I'm going to let them decorate it however they want.

I am so ready to decorate for Christmas! Just a couple more weeks.

I didn't want to clean today.

So I spent the morning taking random pictures.

An apple?

I've been working on the ledge shelves in the bathroom. I spray painted the frames a while back when we had a nice afternoon. I thought it would be fun to get some mat boards for the art. Well, they were $2 or $3 each. Dang. I'm not paying $3 for a matting to go into a thrifty frame holding a scribble. So I coughed up the money for a mat board cutter. I didn't even know they existed. I'm certainly not an expert on using it yet, but I can do a pretty good job. Now I can wait until the huge sheets of mat board go one sale at Hobby Lobby and cut several (10? 15?) in custom sizes. The cutter was $30 and the mat board goes on sale for (I think) $4.

DIY ledge shelves

John made me these shelves. They are three feet long. He made the same thing for my Mom for Christmas. Hers are four feet long, and she painted them white. Idea/plans here: Ana White Ten Dollar Ledges. Her site used to be called Knock Off Wood, and it is where we also got the plans for our headboard.

Remember the bird print from my Indy thrifting trip?


It was in the cheapest plastic frame EVER. It just peeled off the picture in one big piece. The front was real glass though, so I kept it.


I spray painted a gold frame I already had, cut the matting, and put the birds in. It's an odd sized frame though. I'm not entirely pleased with it.

It's a big improvement from when I bought it though, huh? I'll keep my eye out for a different frame for it.

I'm feeling pretty good about the stuff I bought in Indy. I've used the Easter eggs, the man's shirt, the thrifty frames and the one from Target. Oh, and the wreath.

Coffee filter wreath.

And the mirror for Ellie's room that I bought at Target that day.

It was the perfect size and shape.

I can't believe I paid full price for this and painted it.

I think the mirror was twenty bucks. Considering she has a free dresser and lamps, I figured it was okay to spend so much.

Busy me! I realized last night that my bedtime is no longer 10:30pm. I usually stay up until 11:30pm or midnight. It's catching up with me though. I've got to start going to bed earlier. Right after I finished my next couple projects. That sounds like a plan to me.

from my thrifty shopping list

A wooden bowl. We looked everywhere. I finally found one I liked, so we started looking for a wooden candlestick. Apparently there are none to be found in Indianapolis. So I kept looking locally. Finally I found one for a quarter.

"How YOU doin'?"

I think the wooden bowl was a quarter as well. It said 50 cents on the price tag but it was a green tag, which was the sale color of the week. So I am pretty sure it was only 25 cents. My lucky day!

After.

Now I don't know if you'd find such a thing in a retail store, but if you did it would be more than 50 cents.

I have no idea why I made this.

Maybe I made it to hold fake nests? I need to knit a bigger one. This nest goes in another bowl. I could also see it with Christmas ornaments. Full of acorns or buckeyes? The possibilities are endless.

Inspiration here.

Bathroom is nearly done. I have the walls, ceiling, and trim done. New shelves are hung up. New artwork on the way from Etsy. John took the doors down and sanded them today. He redid the doorknob holes and added the trim pieces to match the other doors we've done. Now just 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint and I'll be done with them. Why it takes so much paint I have no idea. We sand the doors down, but that old sort of fake wood (I think it's real wood, maybe just poor quality? it's super dry? who knows?) just does not want to be painted. I'll get them whipped into shape though. And soon. Because next Saturday, I'm Ikea bound. Woot!

Back home again and it's spring!

We've been on vacation. We went skiing in Utah. Now I'm back, I'm refreshed (that is, refreshed as a person can be after waking up at 4am every morning on vacation due to being 2 time zones away from home), and I'm ready to go again.

Simple spring centerpiece.

I think I did everything on my "to do by March 1st" list before we left. I actually lost the list itself. I do know that on it was to clean up this HUGE ironstone bowl, to cover these jumbo sized Easter eggs, and to add stripes to my drop cloth table runner. The bowl was so dirty when I found it that I almost didn't recognize it as ironstone. It was a not so thrifty find at five dollars, but it was too cool to pass up. It's so big that it will not fit into my kitchen sink. The eggs are from the Dollar Tree. I covered them in pages from an old DT book that I'd used for the wreath last fall. I still have book pages to spare. The runner was already made, and I just painted the stripes on with craft paint and textile medium. It should be machine washable.

Ellie saying "cheese!" and wondering why I keep snapping pictures of the centerpiece.

About a week before vacation I got my next round of ideas. Ledge shelves (done and waiting to be hung) with spray painted thrift store frames containing the girls' artwork (almost done). They are going in the girls' bathroom. But then I was giving them a bath one night, and thought that I should really paint the walls before I hang the shelves. The tub needs re-caulked too. A while back I'd decided to just leave the bathroom as is for this round of remodeling. But soon all the other trim (except the kitchen) will be white, and the bathroom will stick out like a sore thumb. So I am just going to paint the existing woodwork to match the new stuff we've been installing. I'm painting the walls (and ceiling) with a neutral off white color. I got the supplies this morning, and will be ready to prime tonight. It won't be a huge change, but it will make me happy as I sit in there and give the girls their baths. It will also solve the problem we created when we installed the new light in there last winter.

Bathroom before new windows.

It doesn't show up very will in the picture, but there's a ring of lighter colored paint right around the light. Some day will be be gutting this bathroom, but I think the white woodwork and some fresh paint and decorations will keep me from finding out if that wall in the middle of the room really is load bearing or not.

Thrifty finds - Indianapolis style

I had such a good time on Saturday. It was a great day off work for sure. I didn't get the find of a lifetime, but that's okay. We also hit Target as there isn't one here.

I put it all out on the dining room table before stashing it away. I found a wooden bowl, frames, a man's shirt (which was technically on my list, but I forgot about it). I did not find tables or lamps. Oh well. Next time maybe.

The Easter eggs are from Dollar Tree and are for a project. The pumpkins are in the "to be spray painted pile" already. I loved the vintage cardinal print, but it needs a different frame. Or I'll spray paint that frame too. Pretty butterfly frame from Target. Wreath form from DT. Glass jar for Mary. Mom bought me the painting with the gold frame. She had it already and gave it to me Saturday. I'm thinking spray paint there too. Oh, and a random little Christmas tree that I absolutely love.

Various frames for a project. The one with the little poem in it says "How to be a Mean Mother" and is hilarious. I'm saving it for sure. The crazy bright shirt is for me. We didn't look at clothes, but it caught my eye as I walked by it.

I bought one more thing. It's a mirror for Ellie's room. I got it at Target and paid full price. Shocking, I know! I'll get a picture of it once I hang it up.

I have a million projects started and/or to do. And yet all I want to do in my free time is to knit my log cabin blanket. It finally feels like I am making progress on it.

blogging so I don't go insane (snow day #3)

School is closed for the third day in a row. We got an email that they are hoping it will open tomorrow.

The sun is shining today. Everything is dripping and melting. Some of the trees have ice on them, but others don't. I guess it blew off? It's quite strange. Even though it snowed almost all day yesterday there is hardly any snow. Today I went outside for the first time in 3 days. I stepped out and realized I was on top of ice. The entire yard is hard as a rock. Under the snow it is as slick as an ice rink. I jumped up and down. The ice broke. It was 2 inches thick. I bought a huge piece in for the girls. They tried to eat it.

Yesterday I decided I needed some new art work for the entry table.


I gave Ellie red paint, white paint, and a piece of paper. I grabbed a good ol' 50 cent frame from my thrift store stash. I gave Mary some white paint and the frame. Tada! Some Valentine art.

I made this runner on Monday night. I'm usually not a red person, but I thought it would be cute for Valentine's Day.

On Tuesday night while the power was flickering, I rushed to make a new cover with the roosters. I wanted something red for the chair, but nothing with hearts. The other pillow is a wool sweater that I bought at a yard sale last summer.

Working on Mary's room too. I got all the trim primed and the walls cut in with primer. I'll roll the walls once John's off work. Then I hope to cut in the pink wall paint tonight after the girls are in bed. I wonder if I am brave enough to try to roll the walls tomorrow while Mary's at school, and I have Ellie with me. It's easier to work if they are both here and can entertain each other by fighting, er, I mean playing like angels together.

Oh! I hear it "she TOUCHED me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I hate red and red hates me.

Remember the red candle stick that broke when I tried to spray paint it?

Mary asked that I paint her desk red. I sanded. I repaired. I got two coats of primer on it. I got 2 coats of red paint on it. I was feeling good! Then I told John I just wanted to go downstairs quickly to see if it needed a third coat. I go down there.....oh, what's that in that box? looks like a drawer? but to what? It was the last desk drawer. I'd taken it upstairs one night to glue down some loose veneer. I'd forgotten all about it. So there it was, not primed or painted. I was so mad. I was hoping to have the entire thing done, but instead I needed to apply 2 coats of primer and 2-3 coats of paint to it. Ugh. I got it done and put two coats of poly on EVERYTHING. I counted the drawers about 5 times to make sure I had them all.

Before:


After (impossible to get a good picture of the actual color. It's more red and less bright pink in real life):

Louise doesn't seem happy with flash photography.


Mary got right to work.

I was sitting on the floor putting the hardware back on the drawers when John brought the desk upstairs. The first thing I saw? A place I didn't paint! Argh! Red does hate me! How on earth did I miss the same spot 3 times??? It's on the left side, down at the bottom. Right under the bottom drawer, on the top of the leg. It looks like a glare from the flash, but it is not.

Thank goodness for touch up paint and for a four year old who is just happy to have a desk of her own.

I love the way the original hardware looks against the red paint. The desk looks pretty funky in her blue room, but that is about to change. Weather permitting, I am going to go buy paint for her room on Wednesday. We're replacing all the trim in her room and painting the doors too. I am so unmotivated to work on this project. I'm already a room ahead in my mind, but what's new?

Tomorrow: Mary's fifth birthday party. Seems like we just had her second birthday. I really, really cannot believe my baby will be five this week.

Five dollar light fixture

Last fall I looked at the big box home improvement stores for a lantern type hanging light for the entry way. I found a few that would have worked. They were $30 or $40. None of them were exactly what I wanted. I wanted something super simple and fairly small.

There's nothing like standing out on the porch with no shoes on taking pictures!

I found this five dollar fixture at a yard sale. I was so excited when I saw it! I almost jumped for joy. It was originally twelve dollars. Woot! A little black paint and I was happy. John got it hung up last night (he claims he forgot we had it, I figured he was worried it would burn the house down). I need to take the globe off and paint the inside of the brass with black paint. That should be tricky.

I took this picture with the camera up over my head because I was too lazy to get a chair.

I am really happy with it. I really should go through our OLD pictures to see if I have a picture of the original fixture. John took some pictures before we bought the house, but I am not sure if he got every room. We took it down the summer we moved in and replaced it with a cheap flush mount light just so we'd be able to see in there.

One more thing off the to do list!

Repurposed art.

Remember this thrifty purchase? I only bought it for the frame. I didn't even look at the picture to be honest. It was a 50 cent frame which was a great price, and the shape was good for what I needed. When I got home, I thought the art was sort of pretty. My Mom saw it when she was here last summer and seemed to like it too. So I (of course!) saved it.

I found another 50 cent frame at the same independent thrift store a while back. I really loved the shape.


I gave it to Mom on Saturday. I still like the art, but it just isn't my style. It will look better at her house.

Mary's desk is either done or is getting a third coat of paint tonight. She saw it last night and is happy. I'm glad I let her pick the color. I'm still hoping to have it done by her birthday.

Completed table runner and my centerpiece

I gave Mom her table runner on Saturday. She loved it! I did too. I was sorry to see it go, even though it was too short for my dining room table, and too long for the kitchen table.

I think I am addicted to quilting. I wanted to make myself a new runner, but I am out of time. Oh well, there's always next year. I should make it right after Christmas just so I am not time crunched next year.

Plus, I've been busy making my awesome centerpiece.

Here's how I did it:
Find 2 matching candle sticks from the thrift store. Take them out to the garage on a night that's maybe just a bit too cold to spray paint. Get a coat or two of paint on. Flip the first one over carefully and paint under side. Flip the second, paint it and.............BREAK IT!!!!!! Son of a ^#%! (I was trying to flip it over quickly as the paint was tacky and I didn't want to touch it too much.) Next glue the pieces back together. Laugh. Remember Grandmother who broke everything and glued it back together. Laugh some more.


The break is under the pine cones. It was just two medium pieces that came off. I think it's pretty, break and all.

At 1a.m....when I can't sleep.....

So last night I fell asleep while putting Ellie to bed. I woke up from my nap at 9:45ish. And I was wide awake. I knitted. I cleaned. I knitted more. I surfed. I hated myself a bit. Then at 12:45am, I thought I heard Ellie waking to nurse. So I went to bed. Turns out she wasn't awake. But I still was. Grrr. I started thinking about Christmas decorations. I've done the same centerpiece in the dining room for years now. I need a change and for cheap as usual.

Did I mention a while back that I found a second candle holder that matched one I'd purchased months ago at Salvation Army? And there's no way the second one was there for months. I would have seen it. I'd painted the first one black when I got it. I've been using it in the living room. I am going to paint them both red and use them in my centerpiece. These things are what make me happy at 1a.m. when I can't sleep. This morning I bought two hurricanes at Dollar Tree. Here's what I have so far:


I actually like the idea of them white, but the white one is all scratched up and the white itself is sort of a peachy white. Not my style. So, fingers crossed, it will be warm enough in the garage tomorrow to paint them red. Left candle holder: 50 cents, right one 25 cents. Hurricanes were a dollar each. The candles are from my fall centerpiece. I had the tray. I'll add some ornaments in with the pine cones. And maybe add something to the hurricanes.

After I saw this in my head, all red and cheery, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Elllie's bed and dresser

I took this picture tonight after dark with the drop light turned on down in the basement. The dresser was free from Grandma. I didn't even take a before picture. It was wood with some sad veneer. I tried to fix (glued down and then filled in with wood putty) the veneer the best I could before I painted. What can I say? It was free. It will work. Don't kids destroy furniture anyway? (I loved to sit on my dresser when I was a kid. It had a huge sag in it where I sat. I am sure my parents were mad about it.) I need to touch up the bed and dresser just a bit. Those spindles are impossible to paint. I thought I had it all, but then saw a place I missed so I am sure there are more. Then I will give both pieces a coat of poly to protect them a bit.

I transformed two free (to me) lamps from Grandma Mary. They came out very nice for yard sale lamps. I like them. They have a vintage feel. Pics to come!

I'm working on revamping a GW bookshelf for Ellie's room too. It was white when I bought it. I painted it black back then (maybe 2004? 03?). It had glass doors on it, but I took them off and painted it to match the dresser. I lined the shelves with scrapbook paper. I can't decide if I like it or not. The paper is a bit lumpy. I might take it out and just paint the inside yellow. Or white. I need to sleep on it.

I have the quilt top done for Mom's Christmas table runner. I probably won't work on that again until next week.

I am sure there are other things. And more to come. John's building me a little storage unit for some of the girls' toys. Mom called me tonight from SA to say she'd found a cute headboard for Mary. I was unsure about buying it without seeing it first, but it was FIVE dollars. I told her to buy it. If I hate it, I'll donate it back to the SA here and call it a five dollar donation.

Holy thrifty find!

It was one of those finds where you look around the store to see if you are on candid camera or something. I took the tag right off and RAN to the check out.

Headboard, footboard and rails.

$10!!!!!

Ten dollars. Ten! This bed is pretty much why I check Salvation Army twice a week. It will go in Ellie's new room. She's still in her crib converted to a toddler bed so she needs a regular bed soon. I plan on just putting a piece of thick plywood over the rails then the mattress (which I did not and would not buy second hand) over that so she's not too far off the ground.

Ten buck, people!

I was going to go white. But her walls will be soft yellow. Now I'm thinking bright yellow. If she hates it, I can always paint it again, right?

The two dollar mirror

A few weeks ago, I was on my way to Lowes for supplies for the entry way. John had asked his Mom to watch the girls for us so that he could work on his part of the entry way while I was out shopping. I had two hours. On the drive in to town, I called my Mom to see if she still needed more mirrors. I had been looking here and there, but hadn't had any luck. I also had a price point. For a dollar fifty, it would have to be a pretty cool mirror. I'd given her previous ones that cost--free, fifty cents, and I think a dollar. Two dollars was really more than I had planned to spend. So after Lowes, I had maybe 20 minutes to spare. I quickly went over to the little independent store I love. I'll be honest. It is sort of creepy inside, and it is in a bad neighborhood. I saw a mirror on the wall and it was two dollars. I almost didn't give it a second look. But I am so glad I did.

Look! It's our garage ceiling! The paint was still wet on it tonight, and I am giving it to Mom tomorrow. It was plain wood before. I had to do a little repair work on it, and we had to replace the back. Tonight while the mirror was out, I weighed it. Just the mirror (without the frame) weighs just over 8 pounds. The back is stamped "Lenior Mirror Company February 1928." I am slightly sad that I am giving it away. I know Mom will love it though, and I also know that she will give it back to me if/when she's done with it.

I left the price tag on it for her:)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

various stuff

I'm in this crazy busy phase. I have a million projects going at once. I guess it's better than sitting around doing nothing? It also keeps me from going completely insane after refereeing the girls all afternoon.

Here's the ironstone platter all cleaned up. I love it. I painted a 50 cent thrift store brassy basket, put some dollar store candles and some fifty percent off berries in it. I had the pine cones which are just from the yard. I think it turned into a nice fall centerpiece. I'm thinking I might cut the handles off the basket though.

I've also been working on the bed. I got it painted all white.

I knew I was going to distress it. I sanded down all the edges and roughed up the seams a bit. I was set to go last night. I wiped on the first bit of stain and almost cried. I tried to wipe it off, but of course that wasn't happening. I even got a scrub brush. Nope. So, I decided to just go with it.




After I got it all done, I sanded it a bit and the paint started to come back though, which lightened it up a bit. I could sand more. Sanding damp stain just gums up the sandpaper so I quit. If I sand it more and don't like it, I might try lightly dry brush some more white paint on it. I wanted it super distressed. Maybe I'll just try to live with it. It needs a coat or two of poly on it then we can put it on the bed.

I've been knitting like mad. I have no idea how big I'll make this blanket. Maybe it will be just a like a lap blanket. I'd love to make it bigger though. Right now it is about 20x20.

Back, forth, back, forth. Turn the corner, change color. Back and forth again. I've put it away for now so I can make some longies for Ellie.

John just took Mary to a play. Ellie's sleeping. I should clean or something. It sure is nice to just sit here with the window open listening to a gentle rain though.