Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
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?
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?
Monday, June 20, 2011
Quick Fix: Stove Update
I don't have a great shot of it, but the stove in my kitchen was two-toned.
This was annoying for two reasons; 1. the white on it was more of an ivory and it looked dated, 2. my other appliances are all black and it seemed awkward and out-of-place, like everything else had been updated and the stove was forgotten.
Saturday morning I had a haircut and I came home to this:
I don't know much about electronics and technology and all that, but I never would have thought the inside of a glass-topped stove would look like this!
Again, please forgive the fuzzy pictures, I still don't have a camera...
J took the entire stove apart, cleaned everything well, taped off the stove top and sprayed everything with this Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy from Home Depot.
It's amazing what a difference it makes!
It really does look like a brand new stove and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results! Start to finish the project took about 2 hours active time (dismantling, cleaning, painting, reconstructing) and he let the pieces dry for about 8 hours before putting it back together.
As you can see, I haven't started on painting the kitchen yet, although I do have the colors chosen and a tentative plan in place. We have been busy focusing on the dining room. The walls are finished, the ceiling is almost finished (we ran out of paint on the last coat, so I had to get another Quart), the medallion for my chandelier is painted (the paint crackled, so it had to be sanded down and repainted, then the dogs both stepped on it the second time it was drying!), he put the first coat of paint on the crown moulding on Saturday, and I *think* I have decided on curtains. Maybe it will be sorta finished by the end of the month!
Oh, and while I was out Saturday morning for my haircut I stopped by World Market. They have some really great products right now, I seriously could have spend hundreds (at least) on all the fab stuff I saw! Check out this gorgeous chair:
It was on sale for $179.00 and it was super-comfortable! I just love the colors and the little turned-wood legs, so precious.
I have been wanting this lamp for months after seeing it on the website:
But I hate the fact that it has a high-gloss finish. It's supposed to look time-worn and distressed, but then it's shiny? That doesn't work for me. It's looks matte online.
These dining chairs are gorgeous:
I love the ethnic vibe they have, but it wouldn't be overpowering. Plus, they are fairly reasonably priced for being solid, heavy wood with beautiful detailing.
I bought some fabric napkins that I had planned on turning into curtains for the kitchen, but then I got home and second-guessed myself, so they are still in the bag... Maybe they need some pom-pom trim or something to jazz them up and make them look less like napkins? I can't find them on their website, but they have a chartreuse background with pink, fuchsia, yellow, and teal floral designs on them. The problem I have with them is the stem details are dark brown and my cabinets and appliances are black. I HATE mixing black and brown (in my own home) and I really just hate brown in general, unless it's wood, leather, or a dog.
So I think I may return them for these instead. They still have the deep teal I need to bring in the dining room wall color and the yellow from the future kitchen walls, plus the brown seems to be minimal in this design. And the orange is really fun!
Although, I really love this design too, but they didn't have them in my store and I am afraid they will be too pastelly compared to the dining room. The yellow in the kicthen is going to be more of a pale, buttery yellow, so the curtains really need to *pop* to bring in some of the strong color from the dining room walls.
What do you think? What projects are you working on now? Anything you're trying to accomplish that's currently sucking up all your brain capacity? Do you tend to over-think every decision you make and everything you bring home?
This was annoying for two reasons; 1. the white on it was more of an ivory and it looked dated, 2. my other appliances are all black and it seemed awkward and out-of-place, like everything else had been updated and the stove was forgotten.
Saturday morning I had a haircut and I came home to this:
I don't know much about electronics and technology and all that, but I never would have thought the inside of a glass-topped stove would look like this!
Again, please forgive the fuzzy pictures, I still don't have a camera...
J took the entire stove apart, cleaned everything well, taped off the stove top and sprayed everything with this Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy from Home Depot.
It's amazing what a difference it makes!
It really does look like a brand new stove and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results! Start to finish the project took about 2 hours active time (dismantling, cleaning, painting, reconstructing) and he let the pieces dry for about 8 hours before putting it back together.
As you can see, I haven't started on painting the kitchen yet, although I do have the colors chosen and a tentative plan in place. We have been busy focusing on the dining room. The walls are finished, the ceiling is almost finished (we ran out of paint on the last coat, so I had to get another Quart), the medallion for my chandelier is painted (the paint crackled, so it had to be sanded down and repainted, then the dogs both stepped on it the second time it was drying!), he put the first coat of paint on the crown moulding on Saturday, and I *think* I have decided on curtains. Maybe it will be sorta finished by the end of the month!
Oh, and while I was out Saturday morning for my haircut I stopped by World Market. They have some really great products right now, I seriously could have spend hundreds (at least) on all the fab stuff I saw! Check out this gorgeous chair:
It was on sale for $179.00 and it was super-comfortable! I just love the colors and the little turned-wood legs, so precious.
I have been wanting this lamp for months after seeing it on the website:
But I hate the fact that it has a high-gloss finish. It's supposed to look time-worn and distressed, but then it's shiny? That doesn't work for me. It's looks matte online.
These dining chairs are gorgeous:
I love the ethnic vibe they have, but it wouldn't be overpowering. Plus, they are fairly reasonably priced for being solid, heavy wood with beautiful detailing.
I bought some fabric napkins that I had planned on turning into curtains for the kitchen, but then I got home and second-guessed myself, so they are still in the bag... Maybe they need some pom-pom trim or something to jazz them up and make them look less like napkins? I can't find them on their website, but they have a chartreuse background with pink, fuchsia, yellow, and teal floral designs on them. The problem I have with them is the stem details are dark brown and my cabinets and appliances are black. I HATE mixing black and brown (in my own home) and I really just hate brown in general, unless it's wood, leather, or a dog.
So I think I may return them for these instead. They still have the deep teal I need to bring in the dining room wall color and the yellow from the future kitchen walls, plus the brown seems to be minimal in this design. And the orange is really fun!
Although, I really love this design too, but they didn't have them in my store and I am afraid they will be too pastelly compared to the dining room. The yellow in the kicthen is going to be more of a pale, buttery yellow, so the curtains really need to *pop* to bring in some of the strong color from the dining room walls.
What do you think? What projects are you working on now? Anything you're trying to accomplish that's currently sucking up all your brain capacity? Do you tend to over-think every decision you make and everything you bring home?
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
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.
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.
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?
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 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.
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?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Best of 2010
Okay, I'm late, but I want to join in the "Best of" fun! Plus, looking at what I've accomplished over the last year makes me feel like less of a sloth right now...
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
Nothing much happened on the home front, but Gidget sure was cute.
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
Apparently I accomplished nothing in May, so here's another picture of Gidget
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
Okay, so looking back at individual posts/projects really doesn't make me feel productive... But the house looks totally different now as a result of all of the little things adding up. I think I will take some updated Before and After shots over the weekend...
Monday, January 3, 2011
Simple DIY Etched Candles
I thought I'd share a quick little project I did for my cousin's (and S-I-L) Christmas presents.
Start with a glass vessel. I decided on candles after finding out what their favorite fragrances are.Plus, I am a sucker for Bath & Body candles; they smell phenomenal and the company is cruelty free, as are all the companies they sell. Can't beat that!
Peel off the labels carefully, but quickly. If you go too slow of hesitate near the edges, they won't come off cleanly.
If there is an residue it can be cleaned with rubbing alcohol or Goo Gone.
Decide on a design. I went with their initials and a stripe around the top.
You will need some supplies: Armour Etch (do not buy without your Michael's or Hobby Lobby coupon in hand), a paintbrush, vinyl/painters tape.
I poured some etching cream into the cap of the bottle to avoid getting it all over my hands by dipping the brush into the bottle. It made it easier to see how much I was getting, too.
You really want to glob it on thick.
I did a tester one with my initial first and it ended up all streaky because I didn't have the etching cream on thick enough.
Now, would you believe that I forgot to take a shot of the finished candles? Doh! But here's my tester just to give you an idea.
See the streaky spots at the top and along the bottom? Meh. Good thing I actually did a tester project for once! The ones I gave away turned out really great once I got the technique down. I gave my S-I-L hers a day before everyone else and she was all "Oh. Cute". Fail. But then I found out later she thought I had bought it like that and didn't realize I had made it just for her, so apparently they look good enough to be store bought. That's good enough for me.
I figure these will be cute once they are all burned down to keep small stuff in; pencils, brushes, rings, acorns in the fall... Hell, I don't know, they've got to be useful for something right? Well, they smell great in the meantime, at least!
Start with a glass vessel. I decided on candles after finding out what their favorite fragrances are.Plus, I am a sucker for Bath & Body candles; they smell phenomenal and the company is cruelty free, as are all the companies they sell. Can't beat that!
Peel off the labels carefully, but quickly. If you go too slow of hesitate near the edges, they won't come off cleanly.
If there is an residue it can be cleaned with rubbing alcohol or Goo Gone.
Decide on a design. I went with their initials and a stripe around the top.
You will need some supplies: Armour Etch (do not buy without your Michael's or Hobby Lobby coupon in hand), a paintbrush, vinyl/painters tape.
I poured some etching cream into the cap of the bottle to avoid getting it all over my hands by dipping the brush into the bottle. It made it easier to see how much I was getting, too.
You really want to glob it on thick.
I did a tester one with my initial first and it ended up all streaky because I didn't have the etching cream on thick enough.
Now, would you believe that I forgot to take a shot of the finished candles? Doh! But here's my tester just to give you an idea.
See the streaky spots at the top and along the bottom? Meh. Good thing I actually did a tester project for once! The ones I gave away turned out really great once I got the technique down. I gave my S-I-L hers a day before everyone else and she was all "Oh. Cute". Fail. But then I found out later she thought I had bought it like that and didn't realize I had made it just for her, so apparently they look good enough to be store bought. That's good enough for me.
I figure these will be cute once they are all burned down to keep small stuff in; pencils, brushes, rings, acorns in the fall... Hell, I don't know, they've got to be useful for something right? Well, they smell great in the meantime, at least!
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