kitchen diary: week 10, paint.

ed. note: this might be the longest, most stretched-out paint job in the history of ever. we've been working on it when we can, which has already stretched over the past 4+ weeks. the goal is to get it done before the hardwood floors get refinished, so we wont have to be painting over our lovely new floors. so far we've done three coats on the ceiling, and have two coats on the kitchen walls. this is where our adventure picks up.

 Mar. 1 - Mark cuts in the gray paint along the ceiling, baseboards, and around all doorways, light switches, and outlets in the kitchen and hallway.  he also starts cutting in the teal paint around the ceiling of the living and dining rooms. 

Amanda paints a fresh coat or two of trim paint on all baseboards and door casings as necessary. also the window trim on the kitchen window. she manages to only smash her head into an upper cabinet once.

Mar. 2 - Mark works on a second coat of cutting in around everything everywhere. Amanda paints nothing because she does not have a steady hand and therefore cannot be trusted.  she buys groceries for the first time in probably a month, works out, makes dinner, and does some laundry instead.

Mar. 3 - Amanda rolls a coat of gray paint in the hallway after work. Mark finishes all the cutting in along the baseboards in the living and dining rooms.

Mar. 5 - snow day! instead of braving the treacherous roads and the 10" of snow and ice, we hunkered down for a full day of painting.

 a second coat of gray in the hallway, and two coats of the teal in the living and dining rooms. by the end of the day we are exhausted but all of the walls are the right color!

Mar. 6-8 - touchups everywhere. Mark takes the lead on this effort in between other fun weekend activities of duckpin bowling and a chocolate festival.  also, the china cabinet gets relocated to Mark's parents house. since the driveway is still a little icy from the snow and melt and refreeze, getting it loaded into the truck is part sledding, part skating, and a little bit of an adventure.

we wrap up the weekend with a glass (or two) of wine and dinner out to celebrate the end of this marathon paint job.

Larry the hardwood refinisher is coming on Monday and everything is going to be dusty and fumey for a few days, so we pack our bags to relocated for a couple days of living at Mark's parents house. the end is in sight!!!

my favorite gift of the year.

last year, i gave a lot of homemade Christmas gifts - wooden signs, soap dispensers, personalized mugs, large paintings, i was gettin' all pinteresty all over the place. and i loved every minute of the madness.

 

this year, i did more shopping than i did crafting, and i am thrilled with all of the gifts i am giving. but when it comes to homemade gifts, i have to say that i might have outdone myself this year on one of the most epic homemade gifts i have ever made: a personalized stationary bottle opener for my brother-in-law-in-law. 

 

i got the idea for a bottle opener from one of those lame gift guide lists that are all over the internet in December, and i knew it would make a perfect gift. but i also knew that instead of spending $34 plus shipping to buy the finished product, i could probably make a better version for less. so i did.

i found a stationary bottle opener online, and decided to add a cap catcher for good measure. i designed the sign in powerpoint, (with some inspiration found here) prepped and cut and stained the wood, then finally painted it over the weekend. i applied the third and final coat of poly around 10:30pm on Christmas Eve, and then finished putting it all together Christmas morning. considering i ordered all the parts on December 2, i didn't think it would wind up being so down to the wire, but i guess that's just how it goes sometimes.

all told, i invested $22 in the opener and the cap catcher, and several hours of quality time spent with some powertools and my paintbrushes. the finished product is so worth it. i am ridiculously happy with how it all turned out, and was even more thrilled that Russ liked it too! i'm not sure if people are supposed to have favorite gifts that they have given, but this is definitely mine for this year.

how to paint a tray and maintain your marriage.

this weekend, i got crafty. and it was awesome. before this weekend, i cant even remember the last crafty project that i did: and that is sad. so what better way to get back into a crafting groove than with a simple spraypaint project? i thought it was perfect. it would be quick and easy, and i figured i'd have it done before Mark even got home from his morning softball games and then we could spend all afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful day. does that sound like something you would like? well since i'm in a giving mood, i'll share my process with you in case you are in need of a kick-in-the-crafting-pants this week:

15 Easy Steps to Turn a 2-Hour Project Into a 2-Day Adventure:

1. procure a tray. i got mine for $10 in the clearance section at Joanns. isn't she a beaut? not.

2. prep tray for paint. peel off any protective plastic films, and rough up any shiny surfaces with fine sandpaper. cover any and all parts that you do not want to get painted.

3. prime tray. alternatively, discover that your can of primer is empty, and also that your can of white paint-and-primer-in-one is clogged and is only good for spattering a few drops across the tray and dripping white paint all over your hands. just consider it abstract nail art.

4. paint tray. i picked a non-clogged can of spray paint that i already had in the basement. it took me about 4 coats to cover the weird 'italian' design. remember to allow sufficient drying times between coats. stop taking pictures about this time because you just forgot.

5. seal tray. two coats of already-owned-it clear coat did the trick.

6. let it dry until you cant stand waiting any more.

7. remove protective paper and tape. for most dramatic results, do this step while listening to your husband tell a funny story. be a little distracted and do not notice until too late that the tape has unexpectedly grabbed onto the fresh paint and has peeled off a not-insignificantly-sized bubble of ugliness.

8. get frustrated and upset. this will cause your husband to get upset that you are upset, and possibly say something very insensitive. take that insensitive comment to heart and get even MORE upset. now is the time for yellling and tears and slamming doors.
**pro tip: long drives around the countryside are a nice way to get out of the house and simmer down until you are capable of forming full sentences again made of words with more than four letters.

9. apologize and make up. he didnt really mean it. he's very sorry. look, he even started a new load of laundry to prove it. he's a keeper.

10. go out to dinner. because you can't fix the tray until it dries at least 24 hours, and you really didnt feel like cooking tonight anyway.

11. wait 24 hours. pass the time by watching baseball, reading a book, or starting a new project.

12. sand down any rough spots on the tray. use a very fine sandpaper, then wipe it all down with a damp paper towel to get rid of any dust.

13. repeat steps 2-6.

14. CAREFULLY remove protective paper and tape. take your time. focus. use a razor blade to ensure that the tape is not stuck to the paint anywhere.

15. CELEBRATE!!! the tray looks awesome, no one is ever going to notice those two rough spots on the edges. and bonus! your marriage is still intact! winning!

i had originally thought about painting stripes or a chevron pattern on this tray, but after the headache it has caused me just to get to this point, i think i'll just leave it a nice solid color for now. maybe forever.

dining room art.

anyone remember back in August when we got our new dining room table and chairs and i drooled all over them all over the internet and in the background of some of the pictures there were three blank canvasses that i had hung on the wall but didnt really have a plan for?

ok, how about in September when i previewed a little painting project i was working on? remember that? you might have already figured out that they were those dining room canvases, but if you didnt, now you know!

and today i get to show you what they look like all done and up on the wall!

arent they fun? they werent even all that hard to do. after i painted the backgrounds, i found a silverware image online that i printed to size and used as a general guide for tracing the shapes. once i had the shape i liked, i cut a template of each piece out of a cereal box. i traced them onto the canvases, and then filled in the shapes with white paint. so why did it take me so long to finish them? well that probably had a lot to do with the fact that it took FOUR COATS of white paint until i could no longer see the background through the white. i guess thats what i get for using such bold colors.

i am really happy with how these turned out, but there are some days when i stare at them too long and the what-ifs start... what if the colors were more muted? what if the silverware was more stylized? what if i had actually managed to hang them all level? what if i dont like them after a while?

well, the great thing about this project is that i can change it whenever i want to whatever i want. they're just hung on command hooks, so i can take them down whenever i want. and i can always paint over them if i feel so inclined in the future, because its just paint.

but for now, they're perfect. they are bold and fun and i made them myself and they make me smile, and most importantly they are FINISHED which is such a simple thing but such a great joy. cuz let me just tell you, fork tines are zero fun to paint. zero.

operation knock-down drag-out: week 5.

three alternate titles for this week's bathroom update, in order of descreasing levels of restraint:

- DIY: two steps forward, one step back.
- its so pretty, i'm gonna DIE!
- squeeeeeeeeeeilovepaintsomuchaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!

so. i dont know if  you were able to figure it out in the midst of all the squealing, but the big news for this week is that there's paint on the walls!

Mark finished up the last little bit of prep on friday night - sanding all the spackle spots on the walls. he likes to sand with one hand and hold the shop vac with the other hand, to cut down on the amount of dust flying freely through the air. it really does keep the dust pretty well contained, which is nice considering there's currently not a door on the room to keep the rest of the house dust-free.

and then: paint! Mark had time to get a coat of white on the trim around the door, and one coat of color cut in around the ceiling and corners of the room before bedtime on friday.

looks white in the can...

looks AWESOME on the walls!

i kept sneaking back into the bathroom while mark was painting, just to sit on the edge of the tub, watch the paint go up on the walls, and involuntarily squeal every now and then. this picture pretty much shows how my face looked the whole time: crazy and excited.

on Saturday, the plan was for Mark to put a second coat on the trim, finish cutting in all the corners and around the door, and then spend the afternoon/evening at the O's game, and he would trust me to roll on the first coat of color.

but plans changed, the cutting in didnt take as long as we thought it might, and Mark got to do the rolling too before the game, which is probably a good thing, since i probably would have made quite a mess jumping up and down with a roller full of paint.

once the first coat of blue was on the wall, we noticed that there were a few spots that were in need of some spackle touch-ups. womp womp. so now we have to go BACK to the spackle-and-sand step before we can put a second coat of paint on the walls and then move onto the floors. but even with some fresh spackle over the paint, the bathroom is SO MUCH BRIGHTER now than it was before, and i love it so hard. 

but dont you think that mark was the only one working on the bathroom around here this weekend, because i started a new project on sunday afternoon (instead of finishing the three others i have going already...i'm starting to think i have some serious project ADD...) i used four different power tools, turned into a saw-dusty mess, and made some good progress on building some shelves for the bathroom, all while wearing a dress!

Mark offered to help me at one point, but i am determined that this will be my project from start to finish, so i politely declined. (ok maybe it was more like "NO. this is MY project. i'mma do it MYSELF" but thats pretty much the same, right?) if all goes as planned, the shelves are going to look pretty much like this when they are done:

source

i think this bathroom has potential to be our most satisfying house project to date. i can't wait to see it all put together.

trips to Home Depot: this week - 0. total - 8.
trips to Ace: this week - 0. total - 2.
trips to Lowes: this week - 0. total - 2.

times Amanda has cried over this project: this week - 0. total - 1.
times Amanda has cried in Home Depot: this week - 0. total - 0.

days until Thanksgiving: 58.

dear universe, take 2.

ok, so i was totally kidding about that whole 'we are fighting' thing yesterday, and i take it all back. you are a much more worthy adversary than i could have ever imagined, with access to weapons more subtle than lightning, and methods more devious than simple birthday parties to play with my emotions, break me down, and make me desperately crave chocolate. touche, universe. touche indeed. you win. no more fighting, mmk?

love always, Mando.

note to self: save yourself some stress, embarrasment, and tears - always check ALL your mirrors when backing out of the driveway.  you, your husband, and both your cars will appreciate it.

*note:  Mark's car is actually fine, even though i did hit it.  Sophie unfortunately picked up a dented fender and some extra silver paint, but 'tis merely a flesh wound. no people were hurt in the making of this blog post. just my feelings.

a preview.

i painted some things this week. i am super excited about them. in fact, i am ridiculously happy with them.

and i'm not even done with them yet...

stasi's painted shoes.

on this latest edition of "projects that have taken me way longer than they should," we will be following the story of a pair of shoes.

in January, my sister Stasi entrusted me with a pair of wooden Dr Scholl's sandals she had found at a yardsale. she gave them to me so that i could paint something fun on them. i told her that it would be no problem, and i would get right on that because it sounded like a fun little project, and she should look forward to wearing them this summer. and then the sandals sat around in my closet for a few months (ok so maybe 8 is more than a few) until two weekends ago, when i was finally inspired to actually do something with them.

the inspiration came in the form of a can of stain. you see, i wasnt really loving the shoes' original honey-color, and i figured that a darker brown would be more likely to make a good background for the bright colored paints i had chosen.

first, i sanded them. i was border line terrified that this would ruin the shoes forever, but luckily for me their shiny finish came off with just a light sanding, and no harm was done to the overall shape of the shoes.

then i stained them the same color as our entry bench, and victoria's recipe card box, because that's the color i had on hand. and i was so excited with how they turned out that i forgot to take more pictures of them until i had already sketched out some designs and started painting.

after i added some details and shading, and i sent Stasi a teaser picture to see what she thought of them, and to see whether or not she would freak out that i had stained her shoes.

the verdict? she didnt even notice that they had changed colors. i guess it had been a while since she had last seen them. but the important thing is that she loved them. at least she loved them so far. because they weren't quite done yet at this point, since we both decided they could still use a little something to really make them extra special. we agreed that the answer was stripes.

so to make a long story short-ish and jump right to the end; after 8 months of waiting and two weekends of painting, these shoes are officially done-zo!

please to be enjoying a ton of detail shots from every angle imaginable:

outside of the left sandal 

inside of the left sandal 

outside of the right sandal 

inside of the right sandal 

verse across the back 

view from above 

 view from the front

close-up of the toe of the right sandal 

close-up of the toe of the left sandal 

the last shot i got before my camera battery died.

i'm super happy with how these turned out. i put two coats of varnish on them over the weekend, and as soon as i let that cure a little longer, i'm planning to wrap them up and send them to Stasi, since she has already told me she won't be able to wait until Thanksgiving to get them if she knows that they're done.

so my painting project queue is finally getting pretty small, (the only thing on it is my dining room canvases) but who knows if i will ever really run out of things to paint. probably never. because there are always things to be painted, and at the rate that it takes me to complete these kinds of projects (read: a very long time, i work super slow, i dont work well with time constraints or deadlines, i believe in the power of delayed-gratification) i'll probaly always have some little fun painting project on the back burner. and i like that.

my husband made me take this picture.

i'm slipping as a blogger folks. it hadnt even occured to me that i should be taking process shots of finishing up the front door hardware until i had already sprayed at least two coats of spraypaint. in fact, i still didnt take one until Mark came outside to check on me and said, "make sure you get a picture of that, because its awesome."

and then, it took me over a week to take a final here's-what'our-front-door-looks-like-now shot. so, here's what our front door looks like now - beautiful turquoise with lovely matching hardware, flanked by slowly dying flowers. and Ted.

paint the front door. cross it off the list!

i can't stop painting things.

the latest thing on my painting to-do list (along with the mirror, the bar cart, and my sisters shoes) is our guest bathroom.  this room has been in need of some serious help for a seriously long time. just ask my sister, who recently declared that she is never showering at my house again. yeah, it's bad. we have done a grand total of pretty much nothing with this room since we moved into this house TWO YEARS ago. dont believe me? check out these pictures we took right after we got the keys to the place:

and compare them to these pictures that i just took last week:

can you spot the differences? there's not many. basically we've taken down the wallpaper, changed the lightbulbs, added a shower curtain and a trash can, gotten a better camera, and that's about it. i am so over this room. it is all beige: floor, walls, trim, toilet, tub, EVERYTHING. its no fun, it looks disgusting even when its clean, and i find myself apologizing to guests whenever they have to use it. its about time we tackled this room.

while we would LOVE to do a complete gut-job on this bad boy, i think for the time being we're going to have to be ok with just some minor tweaks: some paint, a new shower curtain, a new light fixture, and a new exhaust fan. this is what is currently floating around in my head:

i have a bunch of paint swatches taped to the bathroom wall, which means i still haven't picked the exact paint color i like the best, but these are my two favorites as of right now. and yes, i know they're super similar and will most likely look exactly the same once they're on the wall, but i still waver back and forth as to which one is The One. I also can't decide which shower curtain is my favorite. the owls are adorable and colorful. the white ruffled one is clean, classic, and ruffly. i like them both. i am a terrible decision maker. the word art was a free printable i found online. i already printed it. its just waiting on a frame, and for me to make a few more decisions.

so there you have it: the beginnings of a plan. and also the first paint post in a while where i'm not actively looking for you to make a decision for me. although if you'd like to voice your opinion you are more than welcome to do so.