The Harry Potter Project

So, it's been a while since I blogged. I could keep telling myself that so much has happened and I have to catch up, but that's overwhelming and only leads to me putting off updating. I've decided, instead, to just jump in now and post about today.

Our house is small for a family of our size. 1200square, and we can now say that we are definitely living in every inch of it. See, the boys have been chafing each other raw with living in the same room. It's not unheard of, and really not something I can blame them for. It's tight in there, and they have such different personalities. It's not easy!
But we only have 3 bedrooms...

John told me about how when he was a kid, and he and Dan were at each others throats, but they only had 3 bedrooms, his parents converted the dining room into a room for him until Ben moved out. We don't have a dining room, and we have a LONG time until Rowan goes to college, but it was a good idea - repurpose a spot for someone so that everyone has their own space.

One day, it hit me. We have a walk in closet in our master bedroom. That closet has a window. We don't actually USE the clothes in the closet most of the time. Most of the time, we use the clothes that are in our dressers. Half the time we can't even walk into our closet because of all the shoes on the floor. John's shoes are boats. Have you seen his feet?

I thought, and measured, and took everything out, and measured again. I thought some more, and climbed into the attic to measure the crib because it converted to a toddler bed and was smaller than the car bed. It would work if I took a shelf out and we figured out where to stash some clothes. John thought it was a pretty good idea, even though it looked like our closet had thrown up all over our bedroom.

I felt kind of bad about it. It seems very Dursley to stick a kid in your closet, even if it's the smallest kid in a good sized closet. But it has a window, right? Harry Potter didn't have a window.

We took out the shelf and spackled the holes. I found a mostly full can of purple paint, "Italian Fantasy," in the shed, so I painted it. I also had an extra vinyl Eleri that my friend made me when she made the one for the dress up station. The dress up station does not fit in her new room, but the spice racks I got from Ikea do, and they make nice little bookshelves.

She's spending her first night in there tonight. I just tucked her in, and she's smiling so big her face is about to crack. I wonder how long it will take her to fall asleep?

 

Looking in from our vanity area

 

I had to use the iPad to take pictures. I couldn't back up enough with my camera!

 

 

 

Take a picture of me sleeping!

 

 Take a picture of me building!

 

The fairy lamp isn't plugged in, but it's pretty.

 

The steps are from Mom, since Annabelle doesn't use them.

 

I think this is going to work out really well. Now we just have to get our room looking this good! 

Stay put tablecloth!

I've had this idea kicking around in my head for at least 6 months now.  It just took me until today to try it out.
I got a cheap PEVA (vinyl like) table cloth from Walmart last week. I like these table cloths. They wipe up easily, and you can get kooky prints for whatever holiday. But I also knew that in my house, a table cloth would get yanked on and anything sitting on the table would go flying.
Enter scissors and elastic.

I put the table cloth on the table, and trimmed it a bit at the corners so there wasn't a great bunch hanging down. I then zigzag stitched over the edges that I trimmed so they wouldn't get weird and make the table cloth fall apart.

Then, the big idea. I tacked down some elastic, and stretched it as I sewed it down. I used a narrow zigzag set to a long stitch length - I think on my machine I had it set to a width of 2 and a length of 4. The elastic I used was 3.8" wide. I didn't take any pictures of the process because I didn't think of it, and had no idea if it would actually work anyway. But here is what the elastic looks like once it's sewed on.

 

 If you've never sewed elastic before, it's pretty easy. You just have to stretch it as you go, and use a zigzag stitch so it can spring back tight again. I have no idea how much elastic I used, either.  I had some leftover from another project, and used the rest of that, and then opened the new package and used some of that. I'd be a better tutorial person if I kept track of things like that. But in my experience, you can't ever have too much elastic laying around, so over estimate what you need.

Once you're done, whack it on your table. It looks like this underneath.

 

FANCY!

And it looks like this from above.

I'm pretty excited about how well it worked and now easy it was to do. I now have plans to collect all sorts of different prints and change them out for seasons and holidays. Why didn't I try this sooner?

Home improvement

The deck has never been a grand place to sit in the afternoon and evening, because it gets blasted by sun. It's much too hot out there for most of the summer, and very uncomfortable for people who refuse to wear shoes.
This week, they had offset umbrellas at Aldi. SCORE.
However, it came with a large X base, which wanted to be weighted with at least 150lbs. It was a big footprint for our little deck, but we came up with a solution for that.

 

Bolt it down and add braces. Problem solved.

I'm looking forward to enjoying it out there this summer. We may even eat out there some evening. Crazy!

The new TV cabinet

It's not all the way done, but it's mostly there. I still have to finish a shelf inside, and pretty up the outside a bit, but it's done enough to use and not sit in the kitchen, so yay!
This was what it looked like when we picked it up.

 

It was brown and brass, and smelled like old. But it was a good size and $80 and made out of wood instead of pressboard, so it was good.

I learned a lot doing this project. I learned all about different grits of sandpaper, and how to strip off varnish. I also learned about polyurethane and sanding between coats and how you really should let it cure etc etc. It takes a lot of work to strip an old cabinet down and stain it to look like something new! I learned how to install a drawer, and how you have to be exact in your measuring so it will work. I also learned about wood glue, shims, and using a 1" spade bit on the drill. All sorts of learning going on over here!

John did most of the chemical stripping. I did most of the sanding (Rowan helped a tiny bit) and I did all of the staining. I'm still considering what to do to the outside to pretty it up. It came out a darker green than I originally thought it would, but I think it looks awesome. So here it is - the outside of it anyway, with the new TV on top.

 

I moved the handles so they are in a more normal place for doors that swing out, and used new hardware for that. I also spray painted the brass trim on the bottom black, to match the new handles. It's hard to see on film against the dark green. You'll have to trust me on that.

Here's the whole TV corner

 

No, we still don't have baseboards. Yes, that floor project was a long time ago. We're managing just fine without them so far. 

The DVD player is shallow, but wide. Too wide to fit in the cabinet. But I had those black shelves that we got from Ikea last summer when I was doing the bathroom. They said brown/black in the store, and looked brown there, but looked black once I got them home. So I stuck them in the closet until now. I planned on using one for the Antenna anyway, so using one for the DVD player went well. I will probably paint or sharpie or whatever the supports so they're black, too.

I think it came out pretty nice! And it doesn't smell like old anymore. The new green stain took care of that. I still love the little legs, and that it's a pretty solid piece of furniture. Yay! And I'm so glad it's over.

Leap day leap

For leap day, the Pixie leaped into her own room!
It had to be done. We woke up this morning and she wasn't in her bed. John found her sitting in the beanbag in the living room, wearing safety goggles. I tried to get a picture of her with the goggles on, but she wasn't having that.
So anyway, here's her new room! It's 10:30 when I'm writing this, and she's still wiggling around in her bed not sleeping. She'll be a tired girly tomorrow.
And I can't tell you how strange it is in our room with her crib gone. I've been reading in bed using a lamp instead of a book light. Crazy times!
I still need to get things hung on the walls, and will probably eventually paint in there, but for now, here it is.

Learn from me

If you give a mom a gold medicine cabinet,
she's going to want to paint it.
Once she paints it,
she's going to notice that the etagere behind the toilet doesn't match,
so she'll head to Walmart (on a Saturday in December) to get more spray paint.
She'll prime it.
Once she's primed it, she'll notice that the bottoms of her socks feel tacky and strange.
She'll take off her socks.
Once the primer is dry, she'll go out to paint the color.
She'll forget that she's barefoot.
Halfway through, she'll discover that her spray finger doesn't work so well because she's already painted the thing once with primer.
She'll call for her husband to help her.
She'll want to go inside, but will then notice there are leaves stuck to her feet.
I mean STUCK to her feet.
She'll also notice that they appear to be very painty on the bottoms,
like hobbit feet on crack.
She'll decide to go wash them before they get worse.
Once in the bathroom, standing in a tub of warm water, she'll notice that her feet seem to be sticking to the bottom of the tub.
She'll tug one up.
Then she'll see the painty footprint left behind,
but also see that there is no noticeable difference in the color or texture of her foot.
She will then panic just a bit, and grab for the scrubby sponge.
This will clue her daughter in to the fact that mommy is sitting on the side of the bathtub.
The daughter will then come to keep her company.
The mommy will be a bit busy with the paint freak out, and not notice the daughter.
The daughter will seize the opportunity to grab the diaper sprayer and give it a good squirt.
This will cause the mommy to yelp because it's cold, which will bring a son in to see what is going on.
The mommy will still be in a bit of frenzy, scrubbing at the painty footprint and scratching at her painty feet, and will ask the son to go get the barkeeper's friend.
The son will leave, and then come back confused and without the scouring powder.
The mommy will have progressed to stripping down and scrubbing the tub because she's leaving painty footprints everywhere.
The son will be dispatched to find the husband.
The husband will find his wife, naked and irritated, scrubbing at the bathroom tub with painty feet while two children watch and ask her for random things.
He will bring the scouring powder and shoo away the children.
The mommy will resume scrubbing.
She will alternate between her feet and the tub until she's not leaving painty footprints anywhere.
Then she'll notice that she's pretty stinky.
She'll grab a quick bath and get dressed again.
While she's doing so, she'll consider what other things need to be done to make the bathroom pretty.
She'll then go admire the freshly painted etagere, but will resolve to wear shoes the next time she paints something.
Especially with spray paint.

$30 plus a can of spray paint

The bathroom project is nearly done. Here's a sneak peek of the new medicine cabinet.
It was gold, but a can of spraypaint fixed that. I love Craigslist!

Rag rug project - take one

Necessity is the mother of invention, and lack of funds is the mother of creative house solutions.
We got rid of the carpet because it was old, vile, and nasty. But winter is arriving and it brings with it coldness to the laminate flooring that isn't so nice for the wee feeties that populate this household.
So, a rug is necessary. I stalk craigslist pretty well, but finding something that isn't awful or nearly as much as buying new is just not happening this time. I mean, some of these rugs are hideous! or aqua. or both.
I got the idea of using old T shirts to make a rug. Why not? The material is usually cotton, won't fray, and can usually be gotten for cheap or free. I posted on a local list asking, and scored a stack of old T shirts for free!

Give me your holey, stained, and shrunken...

Cutting up a T shirt is pretty easy, since it's a tube. You start at the bottom and spiral your way around and around until you run into the armpit and can't go anymore. You get a pretty good ball of fabric and the leftover tops can be used in some other project down the line. Potholders or something. Rah!

So I got to cutting. I discovered that cutting T shirts leaves something like T shirt dandruff all over the place. Should you try this, don't wear a black shirt like I did.

Take one before I tore it down.

Trial one was my first idea - log cabin style. But it wasn't working out because I kept needing more T shirt to get to the end of the way to turn around. So I ripped this out and started over. Word to the wise - ripping it out means more T shirt dandruff. Everywhere.

Take two, when gravity was still working.

Trial number two was going great, for a while. It wasn't exactly square but it was doing okay. I figured gravity would kick in at some point. But as it got larger, it got wavier. I thought adding some extra chain stitches at the corner would help it turn the corner a bit, but no... that didn't help either. I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to crochet, but they don't make knitting needles big enough to make a rug... unless I knit a bunch of squares and sew them together. That's starting to look attractive.
So anyway, I was mad at the flappy rug but Joe told me to just fasten it off and use it as a back door mat. So that's what I did.

Back door mat. Bonus anti-gravity features.

I still need a living room rug. I still have a stack of T shirts here. We'll see what happens.

Plates

So, we got these pretty nice plates when we got married almost 10(!) years ago, and they are really starting to show some wear. A chip here, a crack there, some broken bowls that had to be thrown out...
It's not bad yet, but I need to start thinking of what to do about the state of the plates...

And then today we went to the Guardian Angel thrift store, and I saw 3 plates in a pattern that looked really familiar.

not my picture, but it is my plate

This plate is the pattern Indian Summer. Mom says that our plates were Old Spice, but I'm not so sure about that. This one looks way familiar. If mom didn't have it, either Aunt Jan, Aunt Mac, or Aunt Wanda did. There were only 3 plates, and they were the small size that I use for the boys, so I got them.
And then I got to thinking... 79cents a plate is pretty awesome. And old plates are pretty awesome. And Corelle does not die. I should keep my eyes open and accumulate old Corelle in random patterns and call it shabby chic. It works for me. And I bet a lot of the people who would eat on my plates would have memories attached to certain old Corelle patterns. I think this is a fabulous idea. So that's my plan. I'll let you know when I find more good ones.

Paint!

It's SO much prettier than the builder's base.
And soooooooo much cleaner!

While I was knitting

John was working his little booty off installing floors.
He only has a little bit more to do, and has done a fantastic job. I'm so happy!

The view from the kitchen. The planks against the fireplace are for that last bit of hallway.

The view from the front door.

The view from by the tv.

The view from by the corner by the purple couch.

Yes, it still needs baseboards, because apparently the ones the builders installed were made of styrofoam or something, because they snapped in half when we tried to take them off. But that will come. Look! No carpet! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

floor!

There's a lot more to getting ready to put it in than there is to actually putting it in.
We had to take out carpet, remove staples, sand, screw things down, this, that, that other thing...

Link to set of pictures on flickr.

We're only partway done, but it's going to be nice!

We weren't busy enough or something

So we rearranged our room.
But it was necessary. The Pixie couldn't see us from her bed, and after the surgery business she wasn't doing too well with the being alone thing. And I was getting tired of sleeping on the floor.
So now! New room! Sooner or later we're going to paint in there, too.

Airplanes!

Yesterday, I finally finished the wallpapering in the boys' room. It's almost all the way done. I still have to make the curtain (machine is in the shop) and paint the other wall, but the wallpapering is done! Well, except for the border that will go on the painted wall. But still... done!

And here's the closet after a visit to Ikea.

I have cuts on the tip of one finger, and my body is sore from climbing up and down off that stool over and over again, but YAY! I think it looks pretty awesome, and the kite that Pop and Fannie gave the boys goes great with the rest of the room.

brainworm, the good kind

I woke up with a hymn running through my mind, and I couldn't remember the words.
Google is awesome, though. And I found the whole thing just by putting in the one phrase that I remembered. So I'm putting it here so I can find it easily when I want it. It's called Will You Let Me Be Your Servant.

Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey; we are trav’lers on the road.
We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping, when you laugh I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow till we've seen this journey through.

When we sing to god in heaven, we shall find such harmony,
born of all we've known together of Christ's love and agony.

Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

I have plans for this. It's going to be beautiful.