Here's to a more productive 2012...

I didn't get too much accomplished around the new house in 2011. I had big plans, but lacked the drive and energy to get anything major done. I'm not going to make any "resolutions", because I suck at follow through. I am the least competitive person you will ever meet and that extends to personal competition or challenges. I will say that I need to look a few pounds, move more, eat better, and follow-through on projects. I believe these are basically the same things I said last year, but there were a lot of changes in my life in 2011. Hopefully now that my personal life, home life, and work life are seemingly stabilized, I can focus more on myself and the beauty of the small things around me.

I did start the year off on high note, though. Back in June, I talked about a little trip to World Market where I bought napkins to turn into kitchen curtains. I needed eight to cover both windows in the kitchen, but only bought four, in case I changed my mind. Then they immediately discontinued that particular pattern (Tree of Life) and neither store in St. Louis, nor the website had four more napkins. They did however have a 60" x 90" tablecloth, which I snapped up, with the thought I could use the napkins I already owned to make pillow covers for the living room. It all then sat in my "project box" for, ooohhhh, six months. I even bought teal pom-pom trim from Joann's to make the curtains more "curtainey" and to tie the colors in with the dining room more. For some reason, projects involving precise measurements and cutting fabric are very intimidating for me.

Anywho, I finally turned the napkins into pillow covers today.

It was a super-easy, super quick project. I didn't use a tutorial; I simply cut one of the napkins in half, slightly overlapped the pre-sewn edges with the cut sides to the outside, placed the pretty side of the cut pieces against the pretty side of the non-cut napkin, pinned, then sewed up the edges.

Ta-Da.

Only problem?

They overlap completely, but only about an inch and after a teensy bit they start to pull open. I need to get a couple of buttons that coordinate and learn how to use the button-holer on my sewing machine. Maybe I'll get that taken care of by next January... lol

I'm linking up my pillow project over at Loribeth's blog Small Moments. Come check out the other "Shared Moments" posted.

Have you made pillows out of napkins? Do you prefer to use a zipper when you make pillows? Have you gotten any projects out of the way this year, yet? What resolutions do you have this year?

Paint it Black

I bought this little hall table for $30 off Craigslist about 18 months ago...

I fell for the cute little feet. I'm a sucker for furniture with feet.

It had a nice inlaid detail on the tabletop, but I was never 100% happy with the tone of the wood. I knew I wanted to paint it, but I couldn't decide on a color. The wall behind it was white, so white seemed boring... The mirror above it was bright, so a funky color seemed contrived and a bit spastic... And the chair that sat next it was black, so G thought it would be too much black...

So it stayed a nice, boring, predictable honey color.

Then I moved and it was no longer sitting against a white wall or under a bright blue mirror, and it no longer mattered what G thought... Liberating.

So I decided to paint it black.

Eventually the wall behind it will be Glidden's Berries and Cream, not quite as bright as the swatch you can see to the left, above the unicorn.

I decided to leave the original hardware, since it coordinates well with the hardware on the built-in's in the dining room (doorway to the left).

I love the way the black makes the details pop!

And since I am lazy and it has been 100 degrees in Saint Louis for weeks now, I decided to take the easy way out and spray paint it!

First I collected all my supplies and removed the drawers.

I used a can of Zinsser CoverStain primer and two cans of Rustoleum's Painter's Touch Ultra-Cover 2x in Semi-Gloss Black. I finished it off with Minwax Polycrylic in Semi-Gloss.

I taped off the body of the drawers and just sprayed the fronts and sides. Two coats of Cover Stain, sanding between.

Then two coats of black, again sanding between coats(with moistened water-proof 330 grit sandpaper).

Then I flipped the body and painted the feet, so I could be sure to get along the bottoms without having flip it over at the end and potentially mar the just finished top.

I did not sand it before I started, but I did wipe it down with Method All-Purpose Cleaner to make sure it was free of dust and grime.

Two coats of primer, two coats of paint, and two coats of poly. Simple, fairly quick (about two hours actual hands-on time), and inexpensive (all I had to buy was two cans of black spray paint, had the rest).

I love the way it turned out and I am so much happier with the piece now.

Have you painted anything recently? What do you think? Was black the right choice? This guy is the first thing I've painted black, but I liked him so much, he's not going to be the last... Stay tuned.

T.V. Frame Follow-Up

A few people have asked how we keep the frame attached to the television, so I thought I'd share our technique. When the Mr. built the frame he measured and measured and measured again, so that the dimensions were dead on. Then he routered the interior and the frame would literally pop onto the television and stay put.

This worked perfectly for about 4 months, then the humidity changes in the house started causing the frame to warp at an alarming rate.

You can see in the above pic that the frame does not lie flush to the floor.

It's really surprising it got this warped. The Mr. not only glued the corners, he used those wiggly frame grippers to keep it all together...

It wasn't gripping well anymore and the top left and bottom right corners weren't flush with the t.v. anymore. He was afraid it was going to fall off eventually, so we took it down and started brainstorming. We kept making it harder than it needed to be, thinking about fabricating corners to screw behind the back of the t.v. and attaching leather straps to keep it in place.

In the end, we used D-rings and Velcro.

You'll need 4 D-ring brackets (ours came with the screws) and a length of Velcro. How much Velcro you need depends entirely on how big you t.v. is. I also used a manual pre-driller thingie since you don't really want to use your drill for such delicate work.

You still have to be careful with it though.

Drilled right through it. Whoops.

I approximated where the thickest part of the frame was, then pre-drilled the first set of holes. I then measured from those holes to the edge of the frame to determine where the other three needed to go.

I sewed the Velcro through two of the D-rings, just to make sure it would hold.

I also sewed a fold about an inch wide on the other end so the grippy side would be facing the fuzzy side once it was ready to be attached.

Then I screwed them all on.

Do you see my awesome P.J.'s? They have gnomes on them. My favorites. 

I don't have any pictures of us putting it back on the wall because it took all 4 of our hands to do. Once you get it up there, pull the trailing ends of the Velcro through the two remaining empty D-rings and pull tight. Ta - Da! That sucker ain't goin' nowhere.

Here's what it looks like from the side:

Eh, it's blurry, but you get the idea.

You wanna know what's pisses me off? See that antenna? I bought a new fangled, fancy, expensive television because I was under the impression that I would automatically get basic channels. We don't have cable, don't need cable, don't want cable. Or satellite. Or anything that could potentially cause me to be any lazier than I already am. It pisses me off that I spend a considerable amount of money on new HDTV technology and I still need rabbit ears to get basic channels. Even then we only get three channels... Really tv people?

Media Cabinet Before & After and a Linky Party!!

I wanted to share just the basics of our media cabinet makeover with you today, but I also want to include a little linky party, just for fun. See, I try to make sure I visit anyone who visits me and leaves a comment, but I would really like to try to visit every one of my followers at least once a week. I mean, I only have 69, it wouldn't be difficult. Except when I click on people, sometimes there are no website or blog links attached to their member board (or whatever it's called). I know a few of you, like Comeca, don't have blogs, but most do. So I thought I'd show you mine, if you show me yours! lol Link up with anything you've been working on, your favorite Before & After you've ever done, a room remodel, or just something you want to say... Whatever your little heart desires. You don't have to be a follower to join, I just thought this would be a good way for me to reconnect with some of my followers.

Without further ado, my media cabinet rehab.

BEFORE

AFTER

The built-in television had been removed a long time ago, but the sound components and all the electronics were still intact.

I rescued it from my grandparents basement with the hope that my electrician Mr. could fix it and get the record player to work, but they had cut through all the wires when they removed the television. So, I took all this junk out, primed it with oil-based Kilz, and painted it with a custom-mixed combo of BM White Dove (from the china cabinet) and Glidden Granite Gray (from the bedroom). You can hardly tell it has any gray in it, it's just not bright white. 

Here's an "in-progress" shot:

That was before I decided what to do behind the diamond wire grid on the front and sides. I could have left it open, but I wanted to use it for our surround-sound speakers. So I removed the speakers and the mesh from the existing backerboard (which had convenient holes for the sound to exit) and stapled on cheap light colored burlap from Hobby Lobby. It was $3.99/yard and I had a 40% off coupon. I bought two yards, but I'm not sure I even used a full yard.

I really like the texture it adds. A pattern would have been way too much with the chairs on either side, the eventual gallery wall behind, and the fireplace to the left. And I like the color - natural, neutral, but it doesn't disappear.

I'm not sure how I feel about the pink hardware, though:

The Mr. said it looks like a piece of furniture that should be on a My Little Ponies cartoon, or "you know, that Rainbow Bears show"... Um, Care Bears? Sometimes it is really weird being with someone from a totally different era. He likes the white, but maybe not the pink. I'm okay with that, I'm leaning toward black hardware. I would also love to do a silver leaf detail in all the grooves (not the front accordian grooves), but frankly it seems like a whole lotta work.

I love how a little white paint took it from super-crap 1970's:

to frilly Victorian:

Now it's your turn!

Have you finished any projects lately? Maybe cooked something extra yummy? Painted a room? Gotten a new dog? Had a baby? Whatever... Anything you want to share, link up and join the fun. I don't have a button, so you don't even have to mention this linky party in your blog, but you can. The party will be open to anyone through Tuesday, March 8th at midnight.

Our Living Room

After fighting a near-debilitating headache Saturday, I finally utilized the tripod my mom got me for my birthday last month by taking some much needed pictures of our living room. It's not "done" by any means; I never made those leopard print pillows, or hung the gallery wall, and the mantle is only half decorated, but it's 100x better than it was this time last year.

February 2010

February 2011

We still have the same coffee table, but I pushed it into the hall for these shots. 

February 2010

February 2011

Not a great shot, it's hard to see the detail on the couch, but it's apparently the best my point and shoot is capable of, even using the tripod and a higher ISO. Although maybe that's not what I should have done. Photography is not my forte. It was in H.S. and college, but I don't retain information I don't use everyday. It's so much nicer watching movies on the couch, as opposed to crammed in the chairs with a dog each. lol I talked about the lamps here and the side tables here.

February 2010

February 2011

Before we got a flat screen our television lived in the media cabinet. Which I've obviously painted. I am so much happier with it now. It fits the house better and looks almost Victorian and dainty as opposed to '70's and oppressive. I'll show you the deets this week. The Mr. made the frame for our television and I silverleafed it. I still need to figure out a way to hide the wires and get the gallery wall hung.

And some superfluous shots, just because. 

I LOVE that black urn. I just got it at HomeGoods on Friday - only $12.99! Crazy, no? That's also one of my new Goodwill goblets holding a succulent, also a recent purchase. I hear they are harder to kill, so we shall see.

This little money tree is also a new plant purchase. Let's see how long I can keep it alive... The stalks/branches/trunks/whatever are braided together. They were being held in place by a twistie-tie, which looked awful. So I removed the tie and used a length of hemp twine to replicate the way it was bound. Much nicer. I moved the shed antler from our Christmas mantle to add some interest to the pot.

The Mr. keeps the firewood right out on the front porch and he was tracking in lots of dirt and bark pieces whenever he would fetch a load. I finally ordered a door mat a few weeks ago. I think it's interesting that I can make sudden, snap judgment purchases on things that may cost hundreds of dollars, but when it comes to deciding on a $40 doormat I panic and freeze. Weird.

So that's our living room currently.  

What do you think? What would you change?