Adventures: DIY and Bday Present

For months, I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to get us for some sort of memorial for Esa.  I looked on Etsy and saw some items that I liked (bracelets, keychains, etc.), but haven't taken the time to really go forward with it.

Then I was looking at the May 2014 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  This was on the last page.  Seriously....

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/73957618856070650/

Do you see that?  Of all of the names/initials, they use in this publication E S A.  Now, if that is not a sign, I don't know what is.  I have thought about making something, but never really knew what I wanted.  There you go, idea solved.

Today (May 30), is Dan's birthday.  This post is/was a work in progress (and not published until May 30 - just in case Dan decides to look at the blog).

Trial run with paper 

(and a backward letter - what can I say, I don't use stamps very often)

I used 2 Creative Memories tools to get the ovals (used the middle of the tools) .  I purchased the stamps at AC Moore and had the ink pad.

Of course, the next idea that came in my head was maybe I can make a Zed one too, but with his REAL pawprint!

Friday, May 23 afternoon

It took me about 4 tries to get the bottom right large one done.  It's a mess, but I decided to keep it and it would be mine for a reminder how much problems I originally had!  LOL!  I guess it would have helped if I had cleaned the stamps BEFORE using them on the clay!  Like I said, I don't use stamps very often.

I TRIED to do Zed's pawprint (he is so patient!), but his paw is bigger than the large oval AND even when I pressed on his paw, it didn't really make a mark.  His nails did, but not his paw.

Zed's charm has is adoption date on it.  Esa's has her birth date on top and death date on the bottom.

So side story - I made these around 1 pm in the afternoon and had it sitting on the oven to cool when I went on a walk with Zed and our neighbor, Lynne and Sable (Esa's best friend) around 2:15 pm.  I figured - plenty of time to hide everything before Dan gets home at 4 pm.  I had cleaned up the mess when the charms were in the oven, so only the pan was out on the stove.  

Lynne and I come around the corner and who is sitting on our porch but Dan!  PANIC!  I thought for sure that he saw the charms.  So I immediately said, "What are you doing home?  Did you see what was on the stove?"  He said no that he saw that the leash was gone and immediately came out to the porch.  He said he saw something sitting out, but didn't go inspect it.

So, truth will be told on Friday when he gets his presents.

Wednesday, May 28

The finished products.

Dan's

Mine

I enjoyed making these.  It was a quick and easy project that means a lot.

Adventures: Family Tree Collage

Saturday was my DIY day.  I have been thinking about doing a family tree picture collage for quite awhile.

I was thinking about putting it in the stairway, but then no one would really see it.  With our dining room now decorated, I was thinking of putting it on a wall there.  I had bought a canvas that I originally wanted to use, but at the community yardsale last week, I found FAMILY letters that caught my eye.  I got them for $1.

I knew I wanted to paint them - either black or brown to match the room.  I decided on black to match the picture frames and do all of the pictures in black and white.

That was an easy project, but my second using spray paint.  Still getting used to making the paint even!

Pictures - I have so many pictures for my side of the family.  My goal is to get "couple" pictures, but the farther back I go, the harder that is.  Either it's a family picture or single pictures.  The crazy thing - I went through all of my family tree stuff and found pictures that I didn't even remember.

L to R:  Mom & Dad, Great Grandparents LaSala, Grandparents Clark, Grandparents Caprarulo

I did a couple of pictures so far and started doing my templates for the wall.  I think I am going to wait a while to put them on the wall.  I am still gathering pictures from Dan's side of the family.  Plus I need to figure out the layout on the wall.

I'm making progress though!

Adventures: Stop Knocking on Our Door

We get a lot of solicitors in our neighborhood.  Whether it's flyers on the mailbox, flyers on the door, or people knocking on the door.  I have been looking for a cute sign on Etsy, but nothing has really caught my eye.  So, I picked up a No Soliciting sign at Home Depot and then picked up a wooden sign from AC Moore for a little DIY craft.

The supplies

The finished product.  No perfect - the newspaper stuck to it when I was painting the back and the gorilla glue soaked through the sign.  Didn't expect that one!

The finished product!

Adventures: Reading Area

Every night, I try to read a little before going to bed.  Sometimes, it's just a magazine, and even then it might only be a page or two.  I know the short time was due to not having enough light on my side of the bed, so we got a floor lamp.  

Then I keep staring at the empty corner.  It used to have Babe's (my cat) treehouse, then it had an air purifier.  For about the last year year it's been empty.

Now, I know this little corner is not HGTV material.  I have been meaning to re-upholster the chair forever, but have never done it.  It's been sitting in the basement area - first used, and then put in a corner and not being used.  There are stains on the seat, it's not as comfortable as used to be and I think Babe left her mark on it by using it as a scratching post a couple of times.

There's a reason why I keep the (now) worn out chair and doesn't match anything I have.  It was my mom's.  I remember being told that Mom spent a lot of money on it.  I think it was either custom made or at least it was upholstered with a specific fabric that my mom picked out.  I can remember there being curtains that matched it too.  It was originally in the "guest" room that eventually became my room (that's a whole other story).  That being said - this chair is probably 60 years old.  My parents got married in 1951, so I know it's from the 50's (like the rest of the furniture I've inherited).

The little stool/bench has been my nightstand for awhile.  I wanted something small, and had it in the basement storage.  It was made by my grandpa Caprarulo (my mom's dad).  Who knows how old that thing is.  Grandpa passed away in 1969 (2 months after I was born) at age 91, so I don't think it was made anytime around then.

So, yes, my little reading area is not HGTV material, but family history material.

I used it for the first time last night.  Let me just say, Zed didn't like it.  He wasn't able to cuddle up with me like usual.  He sat on the floor next to me, stared at my lap but didn't jump up; and realized that he had to wait until I was in bed to cuddle.

Adventures: Can Dispenser

So, you all know I stockpile (if you didn't, you know now!).  I've been wanting a can dispenser forever, just so the cans we do have don't expire.  After doing the crown molding, Dan asked "what's next?"  So, I gave him a project and he did it!  My own can dispenser!  I found the instructions online and he made it.

Adventures: DIY Reupholstery

So our bench by our front door has been looking a little worn.  I think Zed threw up on it because there was a stain on it.

I've been thinking about reupholstering it for a while.  Especially since we decorated the living room and dining room.  Originally, I thought about a solid gray, but didn't have too much luck.  However, I found an even better fabric!

I finally pulled the fabric out and reupholstered the bench.  Looks much better!

Adventures: DIY in the House

so, I've been posting about how scared Zed has been with the DIY going on in the house.  It's time for the big reveal!

I posted when we (or should I say, Dan) painted the living room.  The next big makeover was the dining room which included a chair rail and crown molding with the crown molding in the living room too.

For weeks, Dan has been trying to figure out measurements and what was needed.  We were at Home Depot every single weekend trying to figure out what we needed and getting a plan together.

Step One:  Painting the dining room:

Step Two:  Getting the crown molding:

That's right, got it into the Jeep.  Good thing Home Depot is only 4 miles away!

We thought about renting a nail gun, compressor and saw, but ended up loaning it from family.  It was a good idea, that way Dan could take his time.

Step Three:  Putting up the chair rail and crown molding

WOOHOO!  I am so proud of Dan.  He did a GREAT job.  I knew he could do it.

Now, onto the next project.

The Daily Zed: More Construction

Today was day two of pounding and the house out of order.  Poor Zed - just wants mama when he is scared.  So much for me doing work on the computer!

The Daily Zed: Construction in the House

Poor Zed- scared to death of the nail gun  Dan is using to put the crown molding up.  He crawled up me to the back of the couch, onto the sofa table.  

Most of the day, we stayed on the office. This evening, Z and I went downstairs and when Dan needed help, Zed stayed downstairs. I figured he would be right at the bottom of the stairs, but no.  He was laying on the couch. :)  I took a picture, but for some reason, it's not coming up on the phone and I am unable to import it.

Adventures: Minor DIY today

I planned on doing some minor DIY today - caulking & patching.! Mission accomplished!

Caulked the half bath sink.

Caulked the kitchen counters (it will dry clear).

Removed wall decorations and patched the wall in the dining room.  Soon we will be painting and putting up a chair rail and crown moulding.

The Housewife Tour 2013: Yardwork

Today was yardwork day.  I'm ok doing yardwork.  I just hate being sore afterwards!

Today, my workout consisted of:

• pulling weeds
• pruning the rose bushes
• digging up & raking dirt
• putting down patch seed mix

Here is a portion of before:

Our yard looks like this all around the patio

(that we put in SEVERAL, SEVERAL years ago).

The workout tools

After the workout

 

Zed checking out the work so far - I ran out of patch mix. :(

We've got bare patches on the right side (of the picture) too that run down the side of the house & the fence.  They were patches of weeds, but we used lawn weed & feed that worked wonders.  Now, to patch.

Hopefully all of this will work and we will have grass soon.

 

 

The Housewife Tour 2013: The Week in Review

OK, so I haven't been too good about posting the last couple of weeks.  I've been busy doing odds & ends.  Nothing in particular - here's what I can remember.

• I have been spending Wednesdays as my scrapbooking day.  Since we were done with the digital classes, the meetups have been cropping time.  Instead of driving about 1 hour one way, I have been working at home.  Here are the 4 pages I worked on this week from our 10th anniversary in 2008.  These aren't quite finished, but are getting there.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I am participating in a summer scrapbooking challenge that started this week.  The goal is 90 pages by the end of the summer.  Four down, 86 to go.
• Packing for the beach - yep, going to the beach for the week!  We are going to the same place we went last year, Broadkill Beach, Delaware.
• Volunteering with the Loudoun County Animal Shelter.  Saturday is my volunteer day.  From 9 am to 11 am, I am with the Mobile Adoption Unit.  Usually, it's at Unleashed by Petco.  Last night the shelter had a foster orienation/presentation at the library around the corner from our house, so I told them I would come & help.  Good thing I did!  There were over 70 people who attended! One of the pictures I took was feature in the Facebook post.  Once we get back from vacation, I plan on helping out at the shelter some additional hours with probably administrative tasks.
• Washed the car inside & out.  Wow, what a task.  I wanted to get this done for awhile now and finally did it.  I kind of got sucked into some car wash/wax spray when I was at the gas station one day & spend $35.  See my post/review about the adventure.

On the horizon:

• When we return from vacation, we've got some redecorating scheduled.  I already picked up some paint for our living room!  We are both really excited about this. 
• I've already have a list of things to do when we get back home.  A lot of little things, but little things add up.  Look for those posts when I return from vacation.

Adventures: Wash & Wax In One for the Jeep

Growing up, I can remember "playing" car wash with my aunt's car and cleaning the inside of it.  I can remember I used to play that I was cleaning the General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazzard" and John Schneider would be flirting with me.

I've always been good about cleaning my car.  Not as much now, but still, the Jeep is in good condition for being 9 years old.

Anyway, when I stopped for gas awhile ago, there was a guy selling car cleaner in an aerosol can.  He did a demonstration and explained the product.  Of course he had a "deal" with the more I bought.  I got sucked in.  I figured it would be good for Dan's car since he's been really good about taking care of the outside of it so far.  I ended up getting 3 bottles plus 3 microrags for $35 (plus tax). I asked how many washes would I be able to get out of it and he said about 6-7 washes.  Almost immediately, I had buyers remose, but too late (I think I felt guilty for spending some money). 

I finally got the stuff out this week so that the Jeep would look good for our trip.

First up was the inside of the car.  I just vacuumed and used Armour All on it.  The next day, I pulled out the new product.

This was the easiest stuff to use.  Just spray a portion, wipe with a towel to haze it and then use the microtowel to wipe off.  Just like waxing.  This stuff worked wonders.  The Jeep looks great afterwards. 

Of course the next day, it rained and I was out in it.  Guess what, the cleaning wax worked!  The water was beading up all over the Jeep!

The downside to this stuff - so much for it lasting for 6-7 washes.  It took 1 1/2 bottles to do the Jeep.  I would recommend this stuff - it works! It's always better washing your car by hand than going thorugh a car wash.  The machine always misses something.

I am going to look online to see if I can get it cheaper though. 

The Housewife Tour 2013 - The Week In Review

Well, I really don't feel like I did much this week.  Maybe because the things I did took time.

Projects:

• organizing and posting items for sale on Craigs List, Ebay and Listia.  Luckily, some things have sold.  I have figured out that 3 day sales are the best.
• New toliet paper holder in the 1/2 bath.  I saw this a LONG time ago and have been wanting to do it, but it seemed like whenever I went to the craft store, they didn't have the vase I needed or they weren't on sale.  Score this week!  In stock & on sale (40% off).  I know, something so simple - but a GREAT idea!



Before



After

 
• Painted the door bells (yes, we have two - one regular door bell and one intercom system).  This project wasn't as easy as I thought.  I though both plastic covers came off and weren't connected to the wall.  Wrong.  So I ended up doing a backup plan.  Newspaper around the covers and spraying.  It didn't come out as clean as I thought it would (see around the edges - you can see some paint).  The paint was running down.  This wouldn't have happened if it was on the ground.  Oh well, it looks better than it did!  Last step will be changing out the house numbers.  I ordered them on Ebay and they forgot to put a double number in the order.  We should be getting that within the week.

 



"The Housewife Tour 2013" - The First DIY Project

About 10 years ago (when we moved into our house), we bought a sectional - a cream color sectional.  Not a big deal back then since it was just us and my cat, Babe, who basically shedded in clumps.  Seriously - clumps.  She would pull clumps of fur out or we would just find clumps sitting around. EASY TO CLEAN UP. 

Enter Esa - blond, but fur just kind of blends in.  No big problem.  Enter Zed - black fur - enter the fur problem with the couch.  I know, the easiest way to keep the couch clean, keep Zed off the couch (or get a new couch).  Luckily, all of the cushions have covers we can take off and wash so every once in awhile, I do that.  Today was that day.

The couch - all undone.

 

Still fur on the back of the couch after a lint brush AND using a rubber glove

 

 

Zed - thinking "What are you doing to my bed?" 

 

The other issue that happened was the fabric underneath was ripped at the front of the couch.  This is what happens when toys get stuck under the couch and a certain pup (Esa) tries to get them.  I bought replacement fabric for it awhile ago and today, since I was tearing the couch apart anyway, was the day to fix it.

My first DIY project!  AKA something I've never done before - couldn't be that hard could it?  All I need for the project is:

First step - removing the fabric and the extra staples -

Mid project with the supervisor checking out the work -

 

The finished project - 

 

Not bad - let's see how long it lasts (hopefully until we get a new couch (not sure when that is).  The staples didn't go in all of the way, but are holding the fabric & the corners are "wrapped" around the legs.

 

The couch is put back together and half of it is covered with blankets to keep it clean for a little while.