How Highly Imaginative People Use Their Ingenuity!

Pull up your chair, I want to show you what happens when you really use what is on hand. 

Contractor in Question, Uncle P. 

When my uncle was visiting from Texas last year he realized his sister and her husband needed stairs from the garage to the house. Maybe there was just one big step here before? I can't recall. Anyway, he built them some nice little stairs.

He was here this week and noticed they still did not have a handrail. He fixed this for them.

Are you impressed? This isn't your average DIY blog! 

Uncle S., clearly thrilled by his new handrail

Admit it, you wish you had this in your family - and in your garage! 

Total cost for this DIY:  Zero dollars. 

Paint Chip Notebooks

Paint Chips to Mini Notebooks

Who has a clever mother? That's right, this girl, right here!

     My mom came over yesterday with these little notebooks she made from some paint samples we had picked up some time ago. Since most people love little notebooks, this seems like a really cool thing everyone can do and give to all the list-makers in our lives.

     She used regular old paper and figured out how/where to print the name so she could personalize the sheets of paper for me. You wouldn't have to do that, of course. How awesome? You could make them as thin or thick as you like.

     I think you all have some getting busy to do!

Help Me to Help Her

     I can not help but fall in love with beautiful old dressers like this one. She has so much potential, don't you think? Look at those legs, those delicate little wheels, the perfect hardware, the lines! Look at that awesome piece on top. it actually screws off from the back like a mirror does. I took it off to clean it when I first brought it home.

     The thing is I am not one of those people with the gift of vision. I can tell she has great potential, but I do not know how to bring it out. I can see a great scroll for graphics, but I can not figure out what to put there. There's even a place on the top drawer for a headline or title. Or maybe something else, totally different.

She's looking for love - in my face

In order to demonstrate my pure genius and lack of true artistic talent I will show you the u.s.p.s. envelope they used to give me my stamps and postcards, which I tore apart so I could trace these elements from the computer screen. 

     Please do not let my inability to even trace deter you from sharing your genius ideas with me. Somehow I can manage to execute since I have a cricut machine with Make The Cut software and a printer.

     My goal is to use free graphics. Maybe from Karen at The Graphics Fairy.  

     I will most likely be linking up and asking for help anywhere I can think of because I want this to be really great. I'm going to try to find some of my favorite pieces and track down the people who did them and ask for advice. I don't know if any of them will actually come to see this and offer suggestions, but it can't hurt to ask, right? 

   

Armoire makeover with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

The first picture is for those of you who can't believe I painted over beautiful old wood.
I used to be one of you.
I know it looks warm and rich in the photo, but it did not feel like it to me. It was just drab.
With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint you don't have to sand or prime! 

First side done. Use of flattened Pepsi boxes in lieu of drop cloths is standard at our house.
Louis Blue loves to hang out with Old White. 

The first coat, which turned out to also be the final coat. 

The hinges are covered with Glad Press n' Seal.

 Then I tried different wax treatments.

I used clear wax and added Old Violet to some, Paris Gray to some.

She's smiling! 

In the end I decided to use the wax tinted with Old Violet on the whole thing. 

I still need to fix the bottom drawer to match. 

It is still wearing the Paris Gray wax treatment.

I may still change the panels on the doors and top drawer.

I am thinking about painting them back to plain blue and stenciling. 

Or doing a sheet music treatment with mod podge.

Or piano player rolls. 

We'll see

What do you think? Would you have painted this? 

I've linked up to:

Whipperberry

Chic on a Shoestring

Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday

Homespun Happenings Rustic Restorations

Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Reality - What Is Wrong With This Picture?

      Reality is rarely exactly as I had planned things would be. Part of the reason for me is I plan all of these projects, I dream them up in my mind, and they are so pretty. Then I do them, look at them, and think 'Aw shucks, this isn't what I thought it would be like. Everyone else's stuff seems so polished and perfect.' I feel like the kid in art class who never quite got it. This could be because I was always the kid in art class who never quite gets it. You might be thinking I am just too hard on myself, but if you get a super close look, you will see what I mean: 

Exhibit 1: Bookshelf trim not caulked or painted. See how nicely it lines up?  

Exhibit 2: Although the shelves were made deeper in the appliance garage, I still haven't painted and prettied it up at all.
I am afraid I will never get my embossed "Grown Up" card.
You guys have those, right?

Exhibit 3: What the heck happened to my stoop? I dunno!? It was like this yesterday.

Exhibit 4: All those rocks were what we dug up in lieu of dirt when the azaleas were planted too close together and never moved.
Ignore the non-existent upgraded lawn. Thanks for nothing on that one, Ryan Homes. 

The drop cloth I bought for curtains, still in the washer.
This would be no big deal if I had not failed to remove it for four days straight.
That's right folks, it's on it's FIFTH wash cycle right now.
I'm sure my Grown Up card is just lost in the mail, right?

blurry photo of the marks made on the wall just hours after I did touch up painting all over the house. 

The dog toy, leaves (other dog toys) and a different, already washed and dry drop cloth.
I am using it to make a screen the dogs can not penetrate so we can put the tree in the front room.
What? Don't judge me. 

Dining room. Someone needs to come and make my stuff look magically delicious.
 Marian? Miss Mustard Seed? Sarah? Thrifty Decor Chick?

Ann? Can I get a "No Doy"? Anyone? Ferris?

  *To read more about our Ryan Homes Ravenna click the "Our House" button at the top of the page.  

   

Progress Report

     A couple of weeks ago I told you about some projects I am working on around the house. Lest any of you realize what a total slacker I am, here is a report of some progress:

Built in Bookshelves in Office. We need more bookshelves!

They are not completed, but they are coming along, right?

Now for the closet by the garage door. The previously useless closet:

Coat closet turned appliance closet. 

 Also unfinished, but coming along. We are going to extend the shelves so they are deeper. Yes, we do need three ice cream makers. We are a big family!

  *To read more about our Ryan Homes Ravenna click the "Our House" button at the top of the page.    

Dinah Meets Miss Mustard Seed

Just a little teaser of Dinah with her first spot of Tricycle Red from Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Line.

I was babysitting for a bit today and when I got home the package was waiting for me. Hooray!

 I immediately changed my clothes and mixed up the first little bit of paint. 

Miss Mustard Seed's Tricycle Red Milk Paint

Did I mention I am excited!?

Shelves In The Water Closet

     A bunch of us have this, right? A water closet inside our big master bath. Nothing is nearby. No cabinet holds extra rolls of toilet paper, no vanity holds reading material. Anything you need to reach while on the seat is very far from you, so forget about it. I had a little time so I figured I would toss some shelves up behind the toilet.

Water Closet DIY shelves  - super easy!

     Yes, the picture is awful, camera phone, tiny room, blah-blah-blah. But you get the idea. 

  Here is how easy it is. Really, you have no excuse.

• I bought a couple of boards at Lowes - 1x10 or 1x12, I can't recall. Either will work. 
• Then I bought some 1x2 for the supports. 
• I also bought toggle bolts made for drywall - these suckers are going to support whatever we put on them! 
• Remember to buy the washers you'll need with the toggle bolts, or you'll get another trip to the store, like we did.
• We cut the 1x2 so it is as long as the shelf  boards are deep
• We installed the 1x2  boards to the wall with toggle bolts 
• We sat the boards on top of the supports we had just installed
• We did not secure the boards to the supports. This way if we need to move them to paint, clean, or do repairs it is easy. 
• The measurement for our shelves was 31.5 inches. Yours may vary, even in a Ravenna - make sure you measure the front and back of your wall. Chances are the measurements differ a bit. A sander would likely be enough to make the difference in a pinch. 
• I painted everything with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White. I love the color and it's pretty much a match to the walls. I sanded it down a lot after painting because I love the wood grain showing through. 
• The only thing I wish I had done, but missed, is giving the screws and washer a quick spray of oil rubbed bronze so it would match the rest of the hardware in the house. 

     So, if you have a couple of hours you can easily have some toilet paper & reading material storage in your little water closet, too. This will also serve as extra towel storage, which our bathroom was sorely lacking. 

Dictionary Dresser

 

I got this dresser last Spring when I stopped at a yard sale. The lady had it shoved in her garage with a lot of stuff on top of it and I asked about it when she let me take a look around. There were rabbits hopping around in there, and lots of very interesting old stuff. All of it was treated pretty much like trash, but I loved the shape of this one. I brought it home and dry brushed it, mod podged some beachy looking paper on top of it, and put it in my bathroom. When it was in there my mother convinced me to  use blue paint on it. I did it and I hated it.  Then I decided I didn't want to leave it in there, so I used Mod Podge and an old dictionary to re-do the top and put it in our bedroom.

A few days ago I decided to change it up and paint the whole thing. I was going to paint the hardware as well, but once I saw it against the creamy paint I loved it. It's not perfect by any means, but it is perfect for me.

Have you done anything you love lately?

P.S. While I was at it I painted the birdcage, too. Much better!

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