Update: What I Have Been Thinking Lately. Because Doing is Hard

     While I realize this is possibly both useless and senseless, here is a little update into my life:

• I still have tens of unfinished projects going on. Bed, bookcase, dressers, etc.
• I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking at different fondue on Pinterest lately.
• I am possibly fondue obsessed, having been to the Melting Pot three times in five weeks.
• I am, as of late, unsettled. It's like my axis has been mis-tilted. I have no idea why. Yet.
• I feel a deep need to purge.
• And shop.
• I am lazy enough that all the purging and shopping is on indefinite hold. 
• Just like the unfinished projects! It's a pattern...
• I have to stop myself from beginning new projects on a nearly daily basis.
• My husband has begun saying "Remember, my bookshelves come first." 
• The bookshelves are in his office.
• I've started thinking his office would make an EXCELLENT, giant butlers pantry.
• Shhhh... don't tell him.
• Because he works from home. He might take it wrong and find it offensive. 
• But another fridge could even go in there and hello? How awesome would that be? 
• Maybe the built in bookshelves could be for small appliances?
• And then the coat closet turned appliance garage could be a coat closet again?
• Or something EVEN BETTER?
• What do you think?
• Do you know how I can ban my husband from reading/commenting on this post?
• Not that I would ever do that. 
• This is pretty much my exact stream of consciousness.
• You're welcome, world.

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? 

   

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.    

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. 

More Adventures With Annie - Bench

      So I got busy a couple of mornings ago with Annie Sloan chalk paint (color: old white) and this old bench. I met a lady named Cindy who had a lot of stuff she wanted to get rid of in her three story house. I actually met her a couple years ago. Now I wish I had taken even more of her stuff off her hands. At that time, however, my husband had declared no more desks/tables were allowed to come home with me. You can see the 'before' here sitting atop another little bench I got from Cindy. Except for the tiny bit of after peeking out from the back- I forgot to take the picture until I already had her upside down on her counterpart, being painted.

After much paining, sanding, and waxing,  I have this shabby little lovely:

  

     She's not done yet. I think I am going to have to stop at Funky Junk Boutique in Seville to get a can of Annie Sloan's dark wax to finish the job.  I really loved working with the paint on this project. When I sanded with 320 grit sandpaper the paint was smooth like a baby's bottom. As sort of a bonus the Annie Sloan soft wax had a really faint smell of babies mixed with sugar cookies. Hey, I don't make the news, I just report it!

 A little close-up of the sheen added by the lovely wax:

I know, I know... someone needs to teach me how to take pictures. 
    

Five Minute Fix: Trash Receptacle For Bathroom

     When we were deciding what things to do while building our house one thing was sure: Oil rubbed bronze. Hardware, Plumbing, light fixtures - they all needed to be oil rubbed bronze. We have a lot of trash bins around  but they are not oil rubbed bronze.

     I wanted a small trash receptacle for the water closet in our master bath. The size they sell for bathrooms is a little overbearing in the small room. So I scanned the house for something small. I wanted it to have a lid. I found it! An empty Clorox wipes container! Bit it wasn't pretty. Do I really want my house to be decorated by Clorox? Not really. I went down to the basement, grabbed a can of oil rubbed bronze spray paint, and went outside.

     In *less than five minutes, for less than five dollars I had the perfect little trash can from my bathroom.

    Here it is, not taking up too much space. You can line it with a produce bag.

*Drying time not included.


I'm linking this up at:
House of Hepworths

Frugal, Lazy Fix For Builder Grade Doors With Big Gaps At The Bottom

     As much as the gaps under the doors make me crazy, they were bugging my husband even more. Today I browsed the local hardware store and inspiration struck! Mind you, this is probably not a permanent fix for any of us. That said, it could hold us over well until we are ready to do the work of fixing wood to the bottom of the doors or replacing the doors.

This is the remainder of the Polyethylene Pipe Wrap Insulation I bought at Lowes for $1.18

This is how it opens when you pull it apart at the pre-cut slit.

This is how it looks after I shoved two pieces of it under my door, one wrapped around the other. (kind of the same way you stack your bowls or measuring cups. Nothing fancy here folks)

Just for good measure, this is how it looks from the end.

     Now I'm sure some of you have been told you need these gaps under the doors for air return. But talk to any HVAC guy and he will tell you this is a line of rubbish. I'll leave it to the pros to explain it, but it comes down to a 3 cubic foot hole in a door would be necessary for proper air return, and the little inch (or even two) underneath is not doing the job. We have return air vents in every room.

     I'm sure you can wrap some fabric around the outside and make it prettier. I would not recommend spray paint, because I know it dissolves Styrofoam, and this is too close for comfort for me. I did not have to use any adhesive or anything else to attach it, it is cuddling up to the door all by  itself.

*Sadly, these images are my own and I do have to claim them. I don't even know how I can blame the 'crappy cel phone picture' since it's 8GB, but I am anyway.

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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Birdseed Hurricanes

I made this last fall with an assortment of dollar tree  items. I had filled them with whole coffee beans, but as Winter wore on I got ready for something a little more light and Spring-like. So I poured the coffee beans into a gallon Ziploc and added birdseed. What do you think?

*please forgive the terrible photo quality, it was taken with my phone. 

I linked up this post to I Heart Naptime
Tatertots and Jello

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