aka Lucy Stewart Extraordinaire

Labor of luv. finale ~ chalkboard paint!

2011-10-02T20:36:00.002-05:00

First of all - my deepest apologies for keeping you waiting so long for another delightful tale of my home improvement projects. We have had some work going on inside our house and I haven't been able to sit down and fill you in on the Labor Day Finale! But the good news is that I've got plenty of material to get us through the winter. On with the blog!

You may recall from my previous posts that I was a little glad that summer was over because I'd been waiting to get some projects knocked out over the Labor Day weekend.

The gold mold trap doors were gone and we were loving that. Yeah, so by "we" I really mean me, but Ricky didn't mind the change one bit. (At least not until he had to get rid of those doors in the magical dumping ground.)

You would think the door removal was enough to keep a busy body like myself satisfied, but I am extraordinaire, so I had to get something else done. Oh - don't forget I ran a half marathon (alright, so it was 5k) earlier that morning. And there were about 2 loads of laundry that were also completed. Gold medal of awesomeness, please and thank you.

So there is a wall at the top of our stairs that has been begging for personality. Have you ever heard a wall beg? It's really heart breaking. Combine with the easel taking up too much space in a certain (borderline hoarder) 6 year old's room; I came up with a plan. Chalkboard paint + entire wall = no more easel, more space and loads of fun. I'm not sure how to measure loads of fun, but I will just guesstimate it.

Don't forget that it’s all in the timing for this Lucy. Insert OU Football and the first home game. I know it's technically a crime to not watch the game, but I am a rebel like that. I'm also pretty sure I was willing to go to jail for this project although we can all breath a sigh of relief that it wasn’t put to the test.

Plan hatched - Ricky will be at the game with his brother for about 5 hours. Plenty of time for me to go to Lowe's, get the supplies and enlist the help of a super cute 6 year old aka Ethel who Ricky couldn't blame for this awesome project. Her excitement would wash out any tension over seeing a once yellow wall turn black, right? That was my hopes, so off we went!

Ethel in disguise

The original plan was to do a magnetic chalkboard. However, Lowe's only had 1 can of the magnetic paint and it wasn't cheap at $21.99 for a teeny can of it. Another factor in changing the plan is that I would need an undetermined amount of it. Some people said it would take 5 coats, some said 9. 1 can = 1-2 coats. No thanks, we will stick with the chalkboard paint. I'm not really a fan of magnets anyways, they are pretty outdated.

Our plan was slightly detoured when aka Ethel touched a light fixture that fell to the floor and shattered, then she cried....A lot. She is such an amateur.

Back on track and we ventured all around Lowe's looking at all the things we need to get for future projects. I made a list and everything. Sheesh, I'm so organized. However, I don't think the cashier thought I was since I had to leave my basket after I checked out to go back to get the primer and a paint can opener thingy bobber. At least I didn't get out of the store and home before I realized I couldn't open the cans or prime the wall, right?

We spent too much time at Lowe's and only had time to prime the wall that night, which was fine with me. Why? Primed = too late to turn back once Ricky saw it. Ethel helped, but quickly learned that it takes extraordinary strength to paint. She decided this was a better job for super mom.

Ethel before her arms got too tired

Ricky came home and found the wall primed and ready for chalk paint and didn't mind one bit. Or at least that's what I gathered from his yelling in Spanish. Kidding, he was yelling in English. Okay, not really any yelling, probably because OU won - thanks guys!

Primed Wall

Mellow Yellow Taped

Keep in mind that I use my IPhone for pictures because I usually keep it with me and I am racing the clock to get my projects done. So the quality isn't as great as it could be, but at least you get the picture. (pun intended)

The next morning, I was a little sore from running the 5K marathon the day before, but that didn't stop this extraordinaire Lucy from painting several coats of chalkboard paint. I was quite proud that I didn't end up with black chalkboard carpet and considering spray painting is my passion, I did a darn tootin good job. To be honest, I was pretty terrified that when I took the tape off a big chunk of the wall would be attached and then Ricky would have that raised eyebrow/frown look and I would have some 'splaining to do. But that wasn't the case. Whew!

The finale:

So far, the chalk wall has been 73 loads of fun and I am sure there are many more loads to come. If you have a wall begging for personality, don't ignore it - chalkboard it!

~no further splaining is required.....for now.

Labor of luv part 2 The Doors

2011-09-11T11:45:00.002-05:00

Buh bye summer, hello indoor projects!

I'm not gonna lie, I really enjoyed spending my weekends lounging in the pool soaking up the sun (in a responsible, plenty of sunscreen kinda way). But as August was winding down, I found myself looking forward to closing the pool. Does that seem strange to you? Allow me to explain my seasonal investment belief: If I buy something that can only be used for a fraction of the year, I expect that it will be in use frequently during its eligibility. I gotta get the most bang for my buck, so if my pool was open - I was in it as much as possible. (I know you are probably feeling pity for me right about now and yes, my toes did get all wrinkly.)

But I have a punch list of items I've been waiting to start on. So, as the pool was draining and summer was leaving; I was ready to take a bite out of my to-do list.

First up!
The Doors. Shower doors to be specific. If you don't know the best way to clean them, allow me to divulge my cleaning secret. Remove them. Yep, take them out. Especially if your house was built in the 70's. I came up with this little plan a few weeks ago when I was replacing the shower curtain in the girls' bathroom. Mostly because I had a spare curtain that was somewhat gender neutral (if you consider polka dots to be sorta masculine) and I decided to get a tension curtain rod and just hang the curtain to cover the doors. That way we wouldn’t have to see the shower and its hideousness. It would also be like a magic trick. Ricky gets used to seeing the curtain, but then one day he will open curtain and the doors would be gone. Viola!

All I needed was a tool of some sort. I imagined a scraper thingy. I don't know if I thought I would just need to scrape the frame out or something, but that's what I had in my mind and that was enough to hatch the plan.

Timing: Ricky decided to take the hyper child to McDonalds for lunch and I sprang (that's past tense for spring) into action. Took the curtain down, easy peasy - remember it's just a tension rod and even Lucy can handle that! I see that the frame of the shower has screws and think maybe that means I will unscrew it and it will just like fall right down or something. Wrong. Screws out, frame still in place and that scraper tool doesn't seem to be much help. Stop! Hammer time. Yes I did that because I had a stroke of genius - I will just hit the frame with the hammer! I'm pretty sure I've seen that done on TV before and if not, it will be loads of fun, right?

Now, let me pause for a moment to talk about safety. I had Lasik the week before and wasn't in the mood to lose an eyeball, but I don't have any safety goggles. (Remember I'm new to the DIY world) However, I had the sleep goggles that they give after Lasik, so they were ordered to perform as dual purpose goggles and they stepped up to the challenge.

I started swinging like a construction goddess and believe it or not, it worked. (It's appropriate to insert all the chest bumps, high fives and knuckles here) Unfortunately, I couldn't lift the thing alone. I mean on a normal day, I probably could have (shaking my head no), but not this day - after all, I did run a 5K race that morning and I'm sure I lost some electrolytes that prevented me from lifting it.

Good thing my teenage daughter aka Ethel of this project was home to help. She's pretty accustomed to my project timing issue and was the perfect accomplice.

We lifted and carried it out to the garage, because that's my magical dumping ground. Isn't your garage magic? Mine is, or maybe I just don't see it once I put it out there. Either way, that was the new home for the doors of doom.

Before

After!

Accomplices:

Scraper thing. Didn't do much, but I guess he tried. A for effort, pal.

My little friend. Go on & say hello.

aka Ethel. Love this girl :)

I asked Ethel to take a picture of me (and make sure to only get the top half of my arm and not the old lady hangy down flab) that would make me look super strong. I was going for a certain look:

We Can!

I did!

I already splained about the goggles, so don't be hatin on my safety.

~no further splaining is required.....for now.

Labor of luv part 1

2011-09-05T12:00:00.002-05:00

Not love.
Not puffy heart love.
Not L.O.V.E.
Just good ol' luv, with emphasis on the u and you should look silly when you say it.

Now that we are clear, I'll get right to the point in a way that some may not follow, appreciate, understand or care about. To all others; welcome :)

Labor? Yep. It's Labor Day and I'm cheesy like that. AND starting a blog is more labor than I expected. Maybe not the backbreaking kind, but let me tell ya - if brains could sweat, mine would have during this creative process. I've been toying with the idea for awhile now mostly because I have a fascinating life and I know people ~~want~~ need to know about it, but I am a busy woman ya'll! I have friends who blog and I always look forward to reading about their thoughts, chronicles, nonsense and life in general. (that was a coded shout out to my peeps) While life in our house is full of love, laughter and a bit of insanity; I wasn't sure that I could devote a blog to it. Then I discovered Pinterest. Be sure to read that sentence again - and slowly because it deserves that much respect. Ladies and Gentlemen: I have been creatively awakened!
Side note: I have struggled with decorating our house for almost 2 years. We're talking empty picture frames, blank walls, bland color schemes and non-functional spaces. It was quite tragic, but hold your applause because this story is just getting started and we have a long way to go.
I now have approximately 2.4 jillion projects lined out from major room overhauls to minor changes to increase functionality and/or happiness. Yes, happiness. There are also amazing kid projects, classroom treats, and tons more!

So you can see why now is the best time to roll out the blog and introduce you to my alter ego, Lucy Stewart. If you know me, you've probably heard at least one of my Lucy stories. If you don't know me, let's just say I have a tendency to end up having to ~~explain~~ splain myself to my most wonderful husband, aka my modern day Ricky. No, he doesn't play the drums. Of course the newfound creativeness deserves the last name of Stewart because I am just that good. Scratch that, I am extraordinaire.

Random thoughts? Yes, 5 please.

Have you ever tried to wear your purse on the "wrong" shoulder? I tried that today and it was like organizational dyslexia. I wouldn't recommend it.
Am I the only person who thinks that the otter box makes the iphone too hot?
Why does fall weather = instant increase in hunger?
Is it bad when the houses on each side of yours are for sale? Is that the equivalent of sitting down to a table in between two people, and then they both get up and change tables?
I still need to go to that Natural Grocers store. Their hours of operation are awesome: M-S 8:56-8:04 Sun 9:56-6:06.

This concludes my first blog post. Ever. I'm pretty sure my brain sweat has paid off.
~No further splanation is required....for now.