matsutake

Removing Ceramic Tile from Concrete Slab? Let's Do It!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:19:00 +0000

That's how my husband plans home projects. "Let's do it." No time to waste planning or deliberating or taking off baseboards before he's in destructor mode. I could barely snap a before pic before he had the old green tiles smashed to smithereens.

Turns out removing ceramic tile on concrete slab is a lot harder than popping it off upstairs where it was attached to backer board. So we had to run out to our local tool rental place and get the big guns:

I won't say it was easy, because Jon came upstairs after it was all done (about 20 minutes) and his shirt was soaked through with sweat and he was bleeding from his forehead, neck, and knee. Shards of tile were EVERYWHERE. Look at this:

Can you tell what that is? It's shards of tile stuck in the ceiling like Chinese throwing stars. And the dust? The dust made it all the way upstairs before we figured out to do this:

So messy. He also attacked the green fireplace.

Goodbye green tiles. I'm so excited!! What kind of tile should I replace it with? Look at that shard of tile that popped up into that yellow square candle on the right side of the mantle! So fun!!!

PS You should've seen us at the tool rental place. Jon was on two hours of sleep from a night shift at work. I'd had a breakfast of 3 cups of coffee and 2 spoons of cough syrup. We stumbled in there and were like, "Yeah, we called about the...uh...power hammer smasher thing?"I can't believe they let us leave with it. We hadn't even planned to do this. Just a spur of the moment, "Let's do it!"

Footprints

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:22:00 +0000

As a mom, wife, and blogger, I have struggled lately. Trying to paint, repair, pack up, and sell my home and make a smooth transition for my family across the country has felt overwhelming at times. And when I looked down and saw only one set of footprints in the sand, I said, "Jesus, are those your footprints?"

And he said, "Katie, no offense, but I have bigger fish to fry. And loaves to break."

"Oh," I said. "Then whose footprints are they?"

"Sherry Petersik's," he replied.

"I totally adore Young House Love! She's a mom and a DIY home renovator and she's always so perky and optimistic," I said. "And they're moving again!"

"Yeah," Jesus said, "YHL is pretty much my go-to blog for DIY home renovation inspiration. And the hip hop references crack me up."

"Me too! Thanks, Jesus."

"No problem. And Katie? Stop tracking sand in the house. You're going to scratch your new flooring."

Cool Discovery

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:47:00 +0000

For awkward paint masking areas:

Glad Press'n Seal. It's so perfect! It's oddly sticky so you can drape and stick it where you need to mask areas from spray paint. You don't even need painters tape. Will definitely keep this stuff on hand. (I started off with painters tape and plastic bag on the cord before I figured out the plastic wrap trick.)

Yeah, I'm in the garage spray painting lamps when I should be getting ready to move.

I Found My Dream House

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:15:00 +0000

in the Target catalog. Really. This is my dream house. Let's take a look inside...

at my kitchen. It has gleaming white subway tiles, a library ladder for climbing up to reach my Chewy Dips granola bars that I keep hidden from the kids, and a chunky wood island that gives me additional storage for my deer treats and extra seating for any wildlife that stumbles in through that large hole in the wall. See me arranging snacks for the wildlife? I'll take that $49.99 stool, too. GAWD I love this kitchen.

And here is my living room. Isn't it PERFECT? I want everything in this room. Including the blossoming cherry tree that I'm pretending to sleep under so that blue jay won't peck my eyes out.

My bedroom is a retreat for me and my photoshopped birds. Someday my prince will come! I already bought him some moccasins.

There's even a greenhouse that's been converted to a guest bath. For swans. I loooove swans. Convert the greenhouse and they will come.

So if I can only find this exact house in Baltimore, I'll be set. (No jokes about The Wire, please.)

Starting to freak out

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:45:00 +0000

about moving across the country. This probably should've been a tweet.

How To Build a Faux Fireplace

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:52:00 +0000

Step 1: Obsess about a blank space on your wall. Try for 5 years to figure out what to put there. Rearrange the furniture in attempts to draw attention to the big arch. Then away from it. Stick art, mirrors, tables, chairs there. Nothing looks right. What the F is supposed to go there? That's right. An F. A fireplace. It's the only answer.

Step 2: Research the cost of having a fireplace built. The internet tells you that a real, wood burning fireplace with a chimney can cost upwards of $10,000. The internet never lies. Can you build one for around a hundred bucks? Give up all hope of ever having a fireplace.

Step 3: Build one anyway. It will be faux. It will hold candles and fake bird eggs and that's all you really wanted anyway. A place to decorate. Internal debates of form vs. function melt away. The form is the function if the form makes you happy. And costs less than a hundred bucks.

Step 4: Decide to make the whole thing as fireproof as possible anyway. You know the whole entire internet will criticize you for making a fire hazard death trap in your living room. But as Aristotle once tweeted, “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” And as Dwayne Wade would say, "This is my house."

The base is a particular kind of drywall called X board. It has awesome fire resistance properties, which is why it was adopted by Professor Xavier in the first place.

Then you make a frame out of 2x4 studs. No, I don't have any dimensions or real instructions here because I was totally making this up as I was going along and I was trying to do it fast while Jon was out of town. You know those annoying husband questions..."Are you going to burn the house down blah blah blah".

Here's the frame sitting on the X board.

Now see what I did? I built an identical frame in front. And then stuck smaller 2x4 hunks between them to screw it all together nice and tight.

And now look. See that white board that looks like cement backer board? It's cement backer board. Specifically, it's Durock NextGen. Costs about 8 bucks at the store, is very fire resistant, and when you screw it into place, it feels like you're screwing a saltine cracker to the wall. Very crumbly. But, like the X board, it's pretty cheap, offers awesome fire resistance, and cuts by scoring and snapping with a utility knife.

Then I cut a big piece of X board to cover up the front. Screwed it into the studs with drywall screws. The sides were some old panelling that I had in the garage. Starting to look like a fireplace now!

This is the fun part. Adding molding and trim and tiles. This is where you can go nuts and make it pretty. I'm in love with egg and dart molding. And the tiles were inexpensive, ceramic 12x12 tiles that I cut down to size with a tile cutter. The mantle lifts off and on like a box lid, which is cool, because you have access to the two screws that hold the whole thing to the wall. Did I mention that? Oh yeah. I drilled 2 metal brackets into the interior 2x4 studs and then into the wall studs. The whole thing can be moved around if you ever want. The wall and floor are unharmed (except for 2 screw holes).

Then I "painted" the inside of the actual firebox part black with this stuff. This is also what I stuck the tiles on with. Very adhesive. Spreads on like peanut butter. Yum, tastes like fireproof!

I grouted between the tiles with regular old Quikrete mortar.

Are you still reading this? Wow! Thank you! I know these are crappy, vague, figure it out yourself kind of directions. Sorry about that. I just wanted anyone out there who wants to build a faux fireplace to know that it can be done. Just remember: this is decorative. It's not a functional fireplace. Be safe. Use appropriate materials. Don't light a real fire in it other than candles. Never leave burning candles unattended. And most important of all, don't burn your house down and blame me. I am not liable. Sorry if that sounds snappy. I just want you to be safe. And have pretty things.

Dear Matsutake

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 16:05:00 +0000

Dear Matsutake,

Recently while perusing the art section at my favorite craft store, I found nestled between the 10 Commandments posters and the Harley Davidson posters a beautiful, vintage-inspired botanical print. Quickly, I snatched it up. Do you have any ideas for framing it? I can't afford professional framing, and I don't really like cheap poster frames. My budget is around the $1.50 to $1.75 range.

Sincerely,
Art Connoisseur

Dear Art ConnoiHoweverYouSpellit,

I love to snatch up cheap finds at my favorite craft store, too! Sadly, store security almost always catches up with me in the parking lot. Now, on to your question.

Do you have any pieces of 1x2 lumber lying around? Perhaps from an outdoor sofa you made last summer? No? That's ok. You can pick up one from your local home improvement store for a buck or two. You'll also need a few screws. And some twine.

Cut 4 strips of the wood. Each should be 2 inches longer than the width of your poster. (You could also just use 2 strips of wood if you don't want the bottom part of the hanger.)

Stack two strips of wood and pre-drill a hole at the end like this. Pre-drilling keeps you from splitting the wood when you drive a screw in. The hole should be a tiny bit smaller than the width of your screw.

Now stuff something between the boards. Something like strips of cardboard or craft foam or rolled up duct tape bits but not bubblegum because that will leave a wet spot. This will help to hold your poster in place by providing gription, the force that holds two things together. Double sided acid free sticky tape helps, too. I know you don't really want to stick tape on your poster, but, c'mon, it's not fancy art. Would've been free if you'd run faster.

Between the top two boards, you should also slip in a piece of twine with a loop tied on the end. Select a strip of twine from your extensive twine collection. Because like Alexis Stewart, daughter of domestic guru Martha Stewart, once said, "Who needs friends and family when you have twine?"

Now screw the boards together at each end super tight. I used a big washer for decoration. If you buy washers at the home improvement store and the Hank Hill-esque employee asks you what size washer you need, tell him you need the prettiest one. Then he'll know you mean business.

And voila! Wasn't that easy?

Twinkle Twinkle Literary Raccoon in a Music Jar Video

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:47:00 +0000

Isn't Twinkle Twinkle Little Star the same tune as the ABC song?

I Made Something Totally New

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:54:00 +0000

that involves plastic animals. It's so silly. I just needed a break from large scale (for me) construction and power tools and dust. It's a racoon. He's typing. What is he typing? I don't know. Probably a post for Apartment Therapy. See those little letters and stars above his head? They revolve around his head as "Twinkle Twinkle" plays. There's a music box up in the jar lid. See the key up there on top? It's a music jar.

I think I should make more and sell them. As soon as I finish my kitchen renovation. I'm envisioning plastic chickens wearing party hats.

That's the Kind of Mom I am

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 01:37:00 +0000

Austin, TX 1999

Things I've actually said:

Ethan: Mom, I'm gonna get yelled at for being late to soccer practice.
Katie: Tell the coach your mom got lost. Am I supposed to turn here?! Is this the turn? Oh crap, I wasn't supposed to turn here. See, Ethan? We are lost!

Other mom: Who was your daughter's third grade teacher?
Katie: Uhhhhhh......third grade....she's in....uhhhh.....fourth grade now, no, fifth, well, just started fifth, so third grade was last year....uhhhhh.....

Other parent at vending machine after daughter's ballet class: Do you know that has caffeine in it?
Katie: I know! And look...it doesn't say "Sun kist"...it actually says "Sin Kissed"...Sin Kissed! Here you go, Emma!

Nurse checking in at pediatrician's office: And when was your daughter born?
Katie: Uhhhh...February...11th?
Nurse: 12th.
Katie: Two thousand...uhhh....
Nurse: Two thousand nine.
Katie: Right.

Katie on phone with nurse three days after dental surgery: I've had Vicodin waiting for me at the pharmacy for three days? Why didn't anyone tell me?
Nurse: The surgeon probably told you about it while you were sedated and you don't remember.
Katie: I. Remember. EVERYTHING!!!!

Don't Say It, Spray It!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:42:00 +0000

Thank you. Thanks for the sweet comments you guys left about Ms. Norwood. It made me laugh how well you guys obviously understood her. She will definitely be missed, but it was definitely her time to go. And now enough with this being morose silliness. She wouldn't have wanted that. She would want me to blaze onward. In supportive undergarments. So I'm cinching up my girdle and painting the cabinets! Ugh. I've totally Tom Sawyered myself with this project. My kitchen is officially semi-offline now and I've got this big, loud air compressor that I have to figure out how to work while I'm trying to keep 3 kids and a husband fed without knowing where I put the forks and cups. Better cinch that girdle in another inch. Onward through the funk!

Rest in Peace, Ms. Norwood

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:49:00 +0000

Ms. Norwood

19xx- 2013

She passed away this morning in her sleep. The sweetest kitty I ever knew. We'll miss you, Ms. Norwood.

Oops

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:55:00 +0000

I broke a hole in my kitchen. Oh well. Live and learn. Whadya gonna do? (Tony Soprano voice). And what was I supposed to do? Just sit here on a bleak, foggy January day in Minnesota and NOT smack a hole in the wall? Sure.

It's all part of the master plan. On Tuesday I'm painting my cabinets white! I cannot wait! I ordered a paint sprayer, and it should get here by Monday evening. My brother-in-law is a contractor in Massachusetts, and we asked him how to do it right. You know what he said? He said he likes this tutorial from Evolution of Style. So that's what I'm doing. Tuesday.

Have you guys ever watched Rehab Addict on hgtv or the diy network? I'm addicted to that show. Do you think it's possible to turn a 90s builder grade house into an Edwardian manor house? In 5 months? On a budget of roughly close to zero? I think I can do it. Sometimes you just have to grab hold of your delusion and make it a reality.

What You're Missing

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:24:00 +0000

If you don't follow me on twitter you're missing so many important updates about Ms. Norwood.

I Didn't Electrocute Myself!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:06:00 +0000

I did it! I put in my new $20 sconce! I didn't electrocute myself. But I did learn a valuable lesson in my first attempt at hardwiring. When you flip off the circuit breaker, any smoke detectors on that breaker will go off, not immediately mind you, but a few minutes into the project, like right when you have the old fixture off and all the wires are dangling there and the logical side of your brain says, "it's okay, there is no current flowing through those wires, go ahead, touch them" but the survivalist animal part of your brain is very nervous and reeeally wants to flee. Then. That's when all 6 smoke detectors will simultaneously go off and you won't immediately know why but all the kids start freaking out and going into burned pizza battlestations and opening windows (in January in Minnesota) and turning on fans. Then you realize that it was an electrical thing that set them off, not smoke, and that you'll have to get the breaker flipped back on to shut them up, but you have to wire the lights first (2 of them) so you go around with a chair yanking down all the smoke detectors and throwing them in a pile in a bedroom and now there are tons of scary wires hanging down everywhere and the detectors are meekly chirping like dying crickets.

So I figured if I can not electrocute myself while hardwiring two light fixtures with 6 smoke detectors going off, couldn't I add some stripes? I was going for a Schoolhouse Electric look but with a budget much closer to zero. After lots of experimenting with paints, I could NOT get a perfectly sharp, non-bleeding paint line. Grrr.

So I just painted some electrical tape. And stuck it on. Sooooo easy.

Here's how:

Use white electrical tape. Snip a piece off and stick it between two coffee cups.

Now paint 3 coats of your favorite acrylic craft paint.

Snip it off.

And stick it on. Pull tight. The tape is stretchy so if you pull it nice and firm, you can make it curve around the curves of the light shade.

Then I used black electrical tape for the black stripes. Just cut down the length of the tape to make a thin stripe.

And there it is. Almost. Note that at this point the shade is still frosty. I really wanted it to be shiny and porcelain-looking, but still translucent so the light can shine through, like an old schoolhouse fixture. So...2 coats of high gloss polyurethane later...

Yay!

PS When I was done installing the sconces, I texted my husband to say I did it. His reply? "See, that wasn't scary at all, was it?" Hahahaha.

I've Never Been Depressed A Day in My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:23:00 +0000

Ms. Norwood said that to me. Never been depressed? Ever?! I mean, she's lived through 2 world wars, the great depression, death of her father in a horse and buggy accident when she was just a baby, death of her mother while she was just in high school, death of her husband, constant financial ups and downs. And never been depressed? Ever? At first I thought, "You're delusional, old lady." But now I'm starting to realize the spirit of what she said. I get it. The world is so full sorrow and tragedy. But there are also so many joys. And you have to grieve the tragedies and celebrate the joys, and sometimes you have to do these things simultaneously, and that is hard for humans, but life goes on. We are resilient.

And on that note, I am looking forward to a new year of crazy, delusional blogging. Lots of humor. I promise. Because I'm realizing that that's what I have to offer to the world. Silliness. And cat stories. It's my duty. And let me tell you, this is going to be a HUGE year for old matsutake. I have to get my house ready to put on the market, and then we're moving across the country in the summer, so I will have more projects to post than ever before. I'm a home improvement addict!!!

For my first trick, I will change the wall sconces in my hallway. I bought two new ones at a weird local hardware store last night to replace the ones that look like they came from an 80s bachelor pad. But here's the thing. I've never done anything that involves hard wiring before. I am ashamed to say that I always let my husband do that. And then last week he said to me, "You can do it yourself." Well. I suppose I can. Or I might electrocute myself. We'll see. Just one quick question...should I turn off the circuit breaker first? Hey kidding!

My lighting inspiration is Miracle on 34th Street. I want all my lighting to look like it came from Macy's in 1947. Snapped these pics of my tv with my phone, so please excuse the quality.

PS The above facts about Ms. Norwood's life never really happened to her. They all happened to my grandmother. She once said to me, "I've never been depressed a day in my life." And she, my mom, and my aunt all had the best sense of silly humor. What a gift.

Christmas Moments

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Don't you love how people are starting to say "moments" to mean little vignettes? Like on Design Star, I love when David Bromstad or Vern Yip say "this moment over here" or "that moment over there". So hilarious.

When I woke up this morning, it was snowing, and I had little moments all over the place. Like this one in my front yard. Little red berries, snow, mini lights.

And these little snow angels bundled up and ran outside immediately to start having a snowy moment.

Green ball moment on top of the bookshelf.

On top of the other bookshelf, these creepy elves are having a moment. I put these elves up because they remind me of the ones my grandmother had and because they freak out Emma.

Sticky gel thing moment.

Partridge family in a pear tree. Made this little bird last week when all I wanted to do was sit and do needlework. Sequin moment.

Another bird, the one with the thumbtacked feet. He's having a long, painful moment.

Ikea tray with candles and ornaments. That tray is the best purchase I ever made. Proud consumer moment.

Mistletoe hanging in foyer. For Ethan this is a run away moment.

New white wool coat hanging on the hook moment.

Christmas village post toddler earthquake moment. Maggie can't keep her hands off this thing. Anyway, the best thing about these beautiful moments is that the made up for the moment when I was cleaning up cat barf this morning. Ms. Norwood moment.

DIY Mod Metallic Glass Candleholders

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:06:00 +0000

I was thinking about stuff to make for Christmas, and do you remember when Charlie Brown went to pick out a tree and he saw all those crazy pink and orange fake trees? I loved those trees as a kid. So I had crazy metallic fuchsia on the brain, and I got obsessed with how to make a really REALLY metallic looking surface on an object, and here's what I came up with. You start with clear glass candle holders, bowls, glasses, whatever. Super cheap, right?

Then you get some aluminum foil tape. It's at Home Depot or Lowes. I think it was about 10 bucks for a huge roll that I hardly put a dent in. I still have a ton left. And get some Sharpies.

And you cut off a length of the tape a few inches long. And then rip smaller pieces off and line the inside of the glass with them. Overlap the edges and burnish like crazy with a plastic spoon. Or your fingernail.

It's hard to tell from these pics but both sides of the tape are super shiny.

Then color the outside of the glass with a Sharpie.

I stacked my glass pieces and stuck them with silicone adhesive to make funky mod shapes. Aren't they funny? And the inside is really reflective when you put a lit candle inside. You have to try it. It's so fun!

The Stockings Were Hung on the Coat Rack with Care

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:52:00 +0000

No mantel? No problem! This year the husband decided that he didn't want to hang the stockings above the fireplace because it's downstairs and I guess he's going with a "clump it all in one room" design plan. Hey, that's ok with me. So the challenge was to figure out where to hang them if I didn't have a mantel to work with. When I was a kid, we didn't have a fireplace so I was always worried about how Santa would get in. I don't even remember where the stockings were. Maybe laid on the sofa with care? Anyway, here's what I came up with. The coat rack! I had to hang the bottom two from long ribbons so they'd be spaced out a bit. Then my sister said it needed something going up the middle, so I twisted a wide ribbon around it. Then a red bird flew all the way from Michaels and landed on top! Shhhh! Don't scare him away! I'm kidding. He can't fly away. His feet are thumbtacked to the wood!

Stop the Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:55:00 +0000

I am so ready to be done with power tools and hammers and sawdust and sit down and do some needlework. Today I bought felt, sequins, and beads to help Ms. Norwood with the wreath she's designing. Her design mantra is "put a bird head on it". I'm going to have sooo many pictures to show you!

On the first day of Pinterest...

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:48:00 +0000

I just pulled my mistletoe kissing ball out of the box of decorations that Maggie has been hounding me for days to pull out of the garage. Remember this Christmas craft? I wrote up a tutorial at Ohdeedoh for it. And by the way, can we talk about me now? I am so on the verge of crazy with home renovations that I don't know what to do with myself if I'm not working on the house. It's like the breaks are out on my bus and I just careened through the sanity checkpoint and I'm heading full speed into Crazytown. Next stop...Straight Jacket City. Get on the bus, ya'll!

Here's a hint on how it works, but you can see the whole tutorial here.

Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:46:00 +0000

I'm moving. It's official. Currently I'm in Rochester (the one in Minnesota with all the freaking snow). I've been here for 5 years now. And I am originally from Texas, that big orange state at the bottom which I was always told was the best, but which I slowly began to become suspicious of in high school. But now my husband is at a career fork in the road which required throwing darts at the map and picking a new home. And the dart has decided. It's Baltimore, Maryland. That's my husband's hometown, so at least one of us will know his way around. And his whole family is there. And we will be, too, next July. So that means I have to get my house in shape and listed for sale in the Spring. Eek.

And another thing. I'm going to try to post more where I just talk like I used to. The thing is, the number of visitors to the old bloggy has risen dramatically lately and I'm feeling a little like, whoa, what's that all about? We've gone from intimate dinner party to raging kegger in the past few months. And the cat sort of got my tongue. But I decided that I'm just going to keep on doing what I do, which is talk to you guys like you're my BFFs and make jokes and write about Ms. Norwood and do crafts when I feel like it. Part mommy blog, part crafty DIY tutorials, part your coworker who won't shut up about herself. No recipes. All fun. Because if there's one thing I am, it's not professional.

Tangram Magnets with Consumer Crafts!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Are you in the mood to make some super easy, graphic wall art? Me too! Have you heard of tangrams? It's a really fun, ancient Chinese puzzle that's basically a square cut into seven shapes that you rearrange into pictures. So I figured it would be fun to make them with magnets so you can switch up the outcomes. Like this! You can google "tangram" and see how many cool shapes you can create. Like tons.

So I was lucky enough to get some freebie supplies from a really cool new online craft supply company called ConsumerCrafts.com. Their prices are awesome, and the shipping was nosebleed fast. Check them out. I bought a 12x24 inch sheet magnet and pretty cardstock. The only other thing you need is a frame!

Cut a square out of the cardstock. Mine is 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches, which seemed to fit into the 8x10 frame pretty well.

Now cut the square into the tangram pieces. Google will give you a million templates if you need one.

And then cut a square out of the sheet magnet that is a bit bigger than your cardstock tangram.

Peel the backing off the magnet and stick all the cardstock pieces on.

And carefully trim around the edges.

Now cut a big piece of the sheet magnet, peel off the backing, and lay the glass from your frame onto the sticky side of the magnet. If you foresee little kids playing with this, then substitute a piece of cardboard for the glass.

Insert the magnet into frame so that the glass (or cardboard) is facing the back and the magnetic side is facing front.

And go to town rearranging the tangram pieces into cool shapes! I think this little fox is my favorite.

So anyway, be sure to check out Consumer Crafts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or the Crafts Unleashed Blog. I really did enjoy working with them, and the prices made me happy! They're also running a "refer a friend" contest. Click the graphic below for details on how you can win!

Find my FTC disclosure here.

Be-foyer and After

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:41:00 +0000

My entry is done. New stairs. New tile. New paint. Broken finger. All totally worth it. Look! Here's the be-foyer:

Those are pine forest green tiles on the floor. Dirty faux berber carpet on the stairs. Honey oak trim. Peanut butter paint. And a chandelier that says, "Would you like an onion blossom appetizer before your fajitas?"
So...first...I was determined to do it all myself, not just because of budget constraints, but because I'm weird like that.
Remember when I started painting a million years ago?

Cutting in up there took the skills of Spiderman and Rain Man combined. But I pushed on.

And tackled that railing. With gel stain.

Took a hammer to the green tiles. Maggie's hammer is there, too. Ripped up the backer board.

Messy. Satisfying. Worked out a lot of aggression.

Painted the front door yellow.

Put on a new doorknob. At 10 o'clock at night. Don't ever attempt this. Look at these doorknob instructions. Are you fucking kidding me? I don't often cuss on my blog, but are you fucking kidding me? 10 o'clock at night. Exhausted. Husband away. Needed to lock door for the night. Pushed on.

Got the tiles down. Still needed to grout. Grouting is hard.

And then turned to the faux berber. It was mocking me. And I ripped and ripped and pulled and cut, and it felt sooooo good.

And to my horror, those particle board treads had to come out. Big ugly bull nosed things. 12 of them total. Couldn't cover them. Couldn't stain them. They had to come out. Crowbar. Puuuush...FALL...forward, thank god, and I was a crying, crumbled mess on the stairs. Broken finger. Husband calls from kitchen, "Just stop and let me do it!" "NNOOOO!" I growled through my tears. I was not going to have him step in and do the hard parts. So I pushed on. Each particle board tread was attached with 6 screws, 16 nails, and industrial strength construction adhesive. Ouch.

Whoa dizzy. Don't look down.

Did I leave my wine glass in the garage?

Oh, there it is! Feeling very cirque de soleil.

So are you ready for the after? After all those in betweens? Ok, here it is. Remember the before?

I love to torture you so you feel my pain. And then my ultimate JOY!

I can't stop staring at it. I just sit on the steps and stare. Stair at it?

It is so unbelievably satisfying that I did this. I've never done anything like it, but, hey, I watch the DIY network, you know? The chandelier was a $35 clearance special order orphan. The mirror was a 50% off from Hobby Lobby. I'm amazed at how little I actually spent. Sure, there was the broken finger. But whatever. So worth it.

I love the little edge of black tiles that lead down the bottom half of the stairs.

I feel like I'm in Paris instead of Minnesota now.

Free Squirrel Sewing Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:51:00 +0000

It has come to my attention that I still have an etsy shop and that there are people who would like to buy my Happy Sew Lucky squirrel sewing pattern. And if there's one thing I am, it's not professional, so rather than take the time to enter into a sales transaction, I'm just going to post the silly pattern on here for free. Lazy? Yes! Have fun. This is also my way of saying thank you for being so nice and reading my blog. Click the pic above to get the pattern.