guest room redo continued

Ah, only 70 out at 7:30.  Time to get out into the garden.  I love to garden but the last few weeks with traveling, redecorating, grandma time and the unrelenting heat my garden beds are looking pretty bad.  The grass in the cracks of the patio and my herb bed are first today.  Who would ever think highs in the mid to upper 80's was a cool wave.


 OK, if you're one of those wood purist who thinks you should never, ever paint wood, close your eyes, cause I'm gonna do just that.  As part of the guest room redecorating, I really wanted to lighten things up.  There are already two large cabinet in the room that are stained wood, so I decided to paint these two pieces.  Neither piece is a fine antique or has much value, but some people just can't stand the idea of painting any wood, what's with that?  The top piece is a GS $5.00 find that was missing it's drawers.  I just had the lumberyard cut 1x12's to size and slid them into place.  The box is a leftover blanket chest from when we made small furniture for a nearby theme park.
When I start a painting project the first thing I do is clean everything off, trying to get all the dust bunnies and cat hair.  Let that dry and apply a good primer, I use Kilz.  Let the primer dry a few hours and then apply your paint, check for drips and runs and let that dry.  If you have a box like this prop open the lid with a rock or twig so it doesn't stick.  I didn't bother to paint the inside of either piece, but you could if you wanted to.  When the pieces are dry if you want an antique look, sand, especially the places that would show wear and tear, like the edges and  around handles and feet.  Use regular stain, or my cheater stain recipe which is 1 part burnt umber acrylic paint and 4 parts water.  Wipe or brush it on concentrating on the

dings  and cracks, wipe off immediately.  The advantages of the cheater stain, are water clean up and you just make as much as you need at one time.

 Let everything dry and haul your new pieces inside.  Accessorize as you like. 
The only other advice I can give you is don't be an idiot and do this when it is 95 with a heat index of 107 outside.  That's just crazy.
I do think I'll make a burlap curtain for the dresser.  Just hem the fabric add a casing for a small round rod and attach with cup hooks screwed into the top edge of the dresser.  Since the top of this piece is in really bad shape, the next time we have a piece of MDF laying around I'll have AH cut it to fit and faux paint it to look like marble.

Most of the room is finished with the exception of a few details.  More projects and the reveal coming soon.

sponge balls

 While watching my sons filling, throwing and breaking water balloons during our recent camping trip, I thought there should be something easier to do.  Later that weekend I read about something similar in the Sunday newspaper.  Sponge balls.

Simple, easy to make and reusable.
Here's what you need:

kitchen sponges in a variety of colors.  You will use about 2 for each ball.
Heavy twine
Cut the sponges crosswise in strips about 1/2" wide
Stack about 12 pieces in the center  of twine 12" long.
Tie tightly at least twice, wrap around the ball and tie on the other side.  Trim excess string.  Let the kids help, they'll love it.
I bought  packages of 3 sponges at Dollar Tree and made 8 balls for $4.00.  Sometimes you can find big bags of sponges for a couple of dollars, so look around.
That's it, give the kids a couple of buckets of water to refill their sponge balls and stand back if you don't want to get wet.

running salad

Yeah it's just my take on gazpacho, but when the people insist they can't eat soup in July just call it running salad.
Here's what you will need:

2 tomatoes
1/2 of a sweet onion
2 small or 1 large cucumber
2 cloves garlic smashed
1 48oz jar vegetable blend juice
salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste

Chop the vegies and garlic about 1/4"-1/2" pieces.  I've tried this in the food processor and it mushes it up too much.  Add to the juice and add seasonings, be sure to season liberally.  Chill for a couple of hours to blend flavors.  I usually let people add their own hot sauce since all of our tastes vary.  I usually take this out of the frig a little before serving, I don't like it ice cold.  This is great served with a simple omlet or grilled cheese.  For a  adult only version, add a shot of vodka to each serving, kind of a cocktail, appetizer and soup all in one.

20 minute pillows

That's right after the first one you can whip one of these baby's out in about 20 minutes or less.

Here's what you need:

Pillow form Save yourself lots of headaches, get one that is soft and squishy.

Fabric

Sewing machine and thread.  Don't try this with stitch witchery it just won't hold.

Lay your pillow form on the fabric to see haw much you will need to cover the pillow plus 10" lengthwise and 1"crosswise. 

A 14"pillow would need a piece of fabric 15" long and 38" wide.
Fold over the short edges of the fabric twice 1/2" pin press stitch.
Lay the pillow form in the center of the fabric and fold over the ends until they meet.  Pin one side, be sure to catch all the layers of fabric.  Remove the form and line up the other side, pin.
Stitch along both sides of the cover, trim, turn and press.

Stuff your pillow into it's new home, this the hardest part of the whole thing.  Hold your mouth just right and no cursing allowed.  Fluff it up and there you have it, a new pillow.  The pillows I made were 24" squares but you can make them any size, square or rectangle.

If you don't have a sewing machine use the friend bribing

methods in pickup valance post.

pick-up valance

A pick up valance is one of the quickest and easiest valances to make and the color and pattern can add a big splash to your room.

Here's what you need:

Decorator fabric  dressmaker fabric does not have body to drape nicely but I have used sheets in a pinch.
Lining if desired

Sewing machine and thread or stitch witchery

Ribbon, fabric or curtain tie backs

Measure your window, if it is more than 45" wide you will need 2 widths of fabric.  Most windows can use just a yard of fabric, 2 if it's wider.  My windows are very long so I used 11/4 yds per window.

I'll give the directions for unlined first.
Fold over the selvage sides of the fabric 1/2" 2 times, press and stitch down Do both sides.  The selvage is the factory finished edge.
Fold up the bottom edge the same way and stitch.  Look carefully many fabrics have a definite top and bottom to them.

Fold over the top edge 1/2" press, then fold over at least 11/2" for your rod casing.  Measure your rod unless it is a standard white rod this measurement may be different.  Pin, press and stitch.

if you want to line your valance cut the lining the same as the fabric, sew three sides together like a big pillowcase, leave the top open.  Trim, turn and press.  Follow the above directions to finish the top.  I always keep my eyes open for neutral sheets at GS to use as lining, if this creeps you out you can buy twin flat sheets at the big box stores for about $4 enough for 2 valances.

You can use anything from ribbon to tiebacks to do the pickup part of the valance.  The easiest way to do them is to slide the fabric on the rod, hand pleat the fabric about every 4" then slide the tiebacks or tie the ribbons etc when you hang the rods on the brackets. Adjust the pleats and folds until they look good to you.  Don't make yourself crazy trying to get two valances look exactly the same, it won't happen.  You can use 1 tie in the center  for a butterfly effect or 2 for a scooped look.  It sounds complicated but it really isn't unless you have fuzzy helpers like I do.

 Whoops the picture of the valance in the bedroom  did not come out right.  This is the kitchen, same valance.

if you don't sew you can do all of this with your iron and stitch witchery, the one that is about 1" wide.  I find this way much more time consuming.  If you don't have a sewing machine, bribe a friend with lunch, a home baked treat or margaritas.  Whatever it takes. When I sold custom window treatments, this treatment depending on fabric would run $150-$200.  Look how much you can save by doing it yourself.   Happy stitching!

If anyone has some good hints on doing pics in this program or a good tutorial please let me know. 

crazy people part two

We are tired, there's still a ton of laundry and the camper is a wreck but we survived our family camping trip.  Actually we had a great time.  The grand kids were well behaved and I only heard "I'm bored" once.  A suggestion to hang the offender by her toes in the whining tree stopped that.  The adult kids were slightly less behaved, but we expected that.  We ate, walked trails, ate, went to the playground, went swimming ate, had a water balloon fight, ate, did arts and crafts and ate again.  What is it about the outside air that makes everyone starving all the time?  We had such a good time we are already planning the next trip, but not in July!

Picture 1 how do you set up a tent?


#2 I've always said I got really lucky in the DIL department.  I've got the sweetest, nicest women married

to my sons.  This is Barb, married to Nathan.  My pic of Sara would not behave and kept leaving the page.  If you knew the real Sara you would know how unlike her that is.  DIL Brandi couldn't come, she was preparing for a work trip.  She was missed.

#3 cousins love to play together.  Brendan and Jaydin.












#4 our favorite camping activity, eating.

#5  Diva, camp mascot and guard dog.

The big boys used more water balloons on each other than they made for the kids.

Chase the little guy, loves to get dirty.  He was into moving gravel with a shovel this weekend.

Grandpa worn out, fell asleep in the middle of a pack of rowdy kids.

The whole gang below l-r Ronnie, Nathan, Rich I've been blessed with wonderful sons and grandkids.

Katelyn idolizes Kaylie.

crazy people

I'm pretty sure we could be considered certifiable when you hear of our plans for the weekend.  We are going camping.  Not so bad with a queen size bed, AC, a potty and running water.  We are taking all three sons(citified all of them) assorted wives and 5 grand kids ages 2-12.  They are all going to be sleeping in a tent.  That's meals, snacks, clothes,bug spray, towels and activities for 13 people.  Now do you think we're crazy?  I have bubbles, squirt guns(I get the biggest one in self defense), water balloons, a quilt square project for the kids on Sat and they will probably go into town to the pool in the PM.  There are trails to walk and a playground nearby, that should take care of the first hour or two. 
We've divided up the cooking, I'm doing pasta salad and garlic bread tonight.   It's already made and in the frig.  Bacon and eggs and coffee cake for breakfast Saturday.  Brats and burgers for dinner and pancakes and smokie links for breakfast Sunday.  And smores, and fruit, and cookies and juice boxes, and water bottles and chips, and candy bars.  The adults eat a lot, the kids want to snack all the time.  Did I mention it's gong to be in the 90's?  See I told you we were crazy, because we will love it every sticky hot demanding minute of it.  I'll post pics Monday.