Happy Father's Day

Cookies for the fathers at church. Sugar cookie recipe here. Icing recipe here. I also used food color markers for the detail.














When you don't have the appropriate cookie cutter, you improvise. I sketched a template on some cardstock and cut with a butter knife. Probably should have made the end pointy like a real tie.

Play Kitchen Remodel

brand spankin' new Christmas morning 08

We have a cute little play kitchen that our girls got from Santa a couple of years ago. The girls decided one day to try and play with some real water and kinda made a big mess of the press board "back splash." I didn't care too much about it until we ended up moving it into the basement before we put our house on the market. I was a little worried people might think there was some kind of basement water leak that had cause the water marks on this thing. I decided to tile the back splash with some sheets of 1" glass tiles. I got two 12X12" sheets at Home Depot for under $5 each. The girls picked out the color. We decided to go with tile that worked okay with the pastel colors (I may eventually remodel the play kitchen a bit more, but for now we're good). I decided to prime the back since it was gross looking, the tiles ended up being opaque so it didn't matter. I stuck the tiles on with spray adhesive. Then I just grouted over it with some non sanded grout from the craft store. I also gave the formerly red wire basket a coat of silver spray paint to coordinate a little better.

I got a little pouch of non sanded grout for under $2 on clearance at Michaels.
sorry for the weird angle!

~The finished product~

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Reusable Vacation Countdown

For the unofficial start of summer (it sure feels like summer here today!) I've got a little project I made in my excitement for our upcoming trip to California.  I wanted to use things I had.  Check!  I wanted it to be small.  Check!  I also wanted it to be easy to put up out of the way as our house is still on the market.  Check!
 I got to thinking a little bit and decided it would be fun to use the little clothespins I bought at a craft store years ago.  One thing led to another and I ended up making a countdown that can be reconfigured and reused for a variety of purposes.

all of my materials except the scotch tape for wrapping the box

I started off with a small priority mailer from the post office.  We had a bunch in the basement from when we used to mail things more often.  Probably just about any small box would work, but the post office boxes are nice and sturdy.  After assembling it, I wrapped it up with some scrapbook paper.  I did a little trial and error to find a good size for the little folded pieces of paper.  I cut them about 1X2" long then folded them in half.  I found some string and wrapped it around the box several times and tied it off in the back.  If I hadn't packed all of my stamps away, I probably would have stamped the numbers directly on the papers, but printing off the little numbers and the title on the computer worked just as well.  Inside each folded paper is a little activity to help us get ready for our trip.  One is giving ourselves pedicures (I've got two little girls).  Another is picking out which toys to bring on the trip (very important!).  One is packing our suitcases (it will just seem more exciting this way and less of a chore right?  right?)
Since all of the little cards are just clothespinned on rather than glued down, it will be easy to reuse this countdown.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out I think I might just make one in Christmas colors for an advent calendar this year.

UPDATE: I'd recommend a little bit of tape on the back to keep the string in place as you use it, the strings have been sliding down a bit for me. 

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http://justagirlblog.com/

Tale of Two Floors

We needed to replace the gross, old carpeting pretty much all over our house.  Last year we began tackling the job.  There was a lot of back and forth in my mind as to what kind of flooring we should use.  I knew that I wanted a hard surface on the main floor as it is one continuous area that includes the entrance, kitchen, dining area, and living room (aka the main TV watching area).  It finally came down to two choices for me, vinyl plank or laminate. Engineered hardwood had been in the running, but we decided it was too costly.

Vinyl plank sounded like such a great idea.  The main reasons why were that it seemed to be very easy to install, it didn't require a table saw, and it is totally waterproof- a great thing for a kitchen or a basement.  I found a reddish color that I liked and my husband even liked it too.  I did have some reservations.  In my online research I found that the main complaint seemed to be that the pieces didn't stay stuck together very well.  Some people also complained about the smell.  We decided to give the vinyl plank a try in the basement.

When it came time to redo the main floor, we decided to go with laminate instead.  Finding a spectacular deal on some Brazilian Cherry laminate flooring online at Thanksgiving sealed the deal.  We also got a great deal on a table saw on Black Friday.

Here's a run down of my experience with floating self stick vinyl plank and click and lock laminate

There were some similarities between the two projects.  In both projects we started with pulling up the carpet.  I ended up getting a tetanus shot after a run in with some rusty carpet tacks.  The back of my hammer, a small pry bar, and a staple remover (office supply variety) were handy tools for carpet strip and staple removal.  Both of the sub floors needed leveling but due to the different sub floor materials we ended up using different leveling methods.

before leveling

mixing leveling compound was messy work

The basement floor was concrete, so we used a self leveling compound to level it out.  It was quite difficult to mix up and pour out the amount we needed to cover the whole floor.  It kept drying in between batches and the drill we were using to mix kept overheating.  The floor didn't end up perfectly level, but it did end up pretty flat which was good enough.

Sorry cricket, you picked the wrong day to hop into my basement.

The main floor had a plywood sub floor.  After tightening up a few of the loose boards (good bye squeaks!) we used roofing felt to build up the low areas.  We also used a foam underlayment per the laminate installation instructions.











Vinyl Plank Installation and Performance

The vinyl plank we used was a floating floor but it did not require an underlayment.  Each plank is basically two planks of vinyl stuck together such that each piece over hangs on two sides.  These sticky edges are what hold the various planks together.  We cut the planks with a utility knife, and it was sometimes more difficult than we thought it would be.  My husband ended up with a large cut on his finger.  It was also difficult to line the planks up perfectly.  If you wanted to adjust a piece after placing it, it was hard to unstick the pieces then they didn't stick as well when you restuck them.
We were overall pleased with the look and the feel of the vinyl plank.  It has a bit of texture to it so it's not as slippery as other options.  It did have a smell which didn't last too long.  The worst part has been seams coming apart.  We tried laying heavy things on top of the problem seams, but it didn't really help.  We ended up resorting to super glue.

In the end, I am glad to have a totally waterproof type of flooring in the basement.  I was especially glad when the washer water came up through the downstairs toilet!  The basement also seems less dank since we've put it in.  We've scuffed the finish up in a few places, but it's not too noticeable.

Laminate Installation and Performance
The laminate flooring we used was a click and lock floating floor.  We used a table saw to cut the pieces and a jig saw for detailed cuts.  We also bought a special tool for tapping the pieces in at the end.  It's hard to say if this installation seemed easier than the vinyl plank because we did the vinyl plank first, because we had better tools, or if it was just easier.  The laminate was easy to adjust, take up and put back down, or tighten up the gaps at any time.
The laminate is more smooth which means it is more slippery.  We've already dinged it a couple of times dropping heavy things on it as well.  It is water resistant but not water proof.  We've spilled plenty of liquids on it so far and haven't had any problem.  I definitely wouldn't let water stand on it for long periods though.  Despite it's downsides, I've been very pleased with the laminate floor.  Overall it looks really good.  We were also able to get a matching stair nose piece to use at the top of the basement stairs.  There wasn't anything like that available with the vinyl plank.

As for price, the vinyl plank ended up being by far the more expensive project.  Even if we were to include the price of the table saw, the laminate was less expensive.  The vinyl plank itself was nearly $2 per square foot.  The leveling compound was also quite expensive.  We did get a very good deal on the laminate, around 68 cents per square foot, but I have seen other laminate flooring for sale at comparable prices year round.

Fake Board and Batten

Or how my husband learned to stop worrying and love my the blogosphere's ideas.

Some time ago I had a small fiasco involving exterior paint, paint stripper, and a large mess.  Paint stripper on painted walls is kinda a no no I learned.  I should have busted out the sand paper instead, lesson learned.  I needed something to fix or at least cover the mess I made on the wall between our kitchen and dining area.  I happened to have some wallpaper we'd bought at Home Depot an even longer time ago for like $1.  I put up the wallpaper and my husband cut some chair rail for me to finish it off.  

This is what it looked like for quite a while.  A couple of spots got torn while I was putting it up, but they weren't super noticeable.  The seams got kind of gappy too (that part was a little more noticeable.  When we started getting the house ready to sell, I knew I probably needed to do something else with those walls.  I wasn't too keen on pulling off the wallpaper (remember the whole messed up wall thing?)
After seeing so many versions of faux board and batten wainscoting online I decided it would be a good thing to do for these walls.

We had already installed new baseboards after redoing the floor, we already had some chair rail put up too.  We even had enough left over to continue the chair rail around the other little wall to the kitchen.  After getting our granite counter tops put in, we had a big gap at the top of the half wall (the old tops were sloped by a whole inch!) We got a piece of baseboard trim and installed it upside down underneath the counter to cover the gap and the area where the old, thinner piece of trim used to be.  We bought some inexpensive white screening and some wood corner guard pieces.  My husband manned the saw and cut the pieces for me.  I used liquid nails to attach the screening to the wall over every wallpaper seam.  I dug out the rest of the wallpaper and continued the wallpaper around the small wall (that wall was a mess too, totally unrelated to paint stripper).  My husband installed the chair rail in that section.  I continued with the liquid nailing parts, and then the caulking.  Caulk is definitely your friend when you're working with trim.

gappy

That wasn't even the worst part.

I debated adding more vertical pieces, but decided it was fine the way it was- with pieces over each seam and corner guards over each outside corner.  I primed everything with zinsser primer (I'd read that it was good for sticking to all kinds of surfaces) and then painted it all with a semi-gloss white paint.  I wish I had not used cheap paint (I might have to do another touchup coat at some point, plus the cheap paint took three coats as it was).  Good paint is definitely worth it!  I'm very happy with how it turned out and the reaction to it has been very positive.  Would I have done this if the wall hadn't been messed up?  Probably not, but I think it will be helpful in selling just because it's one less problem and might even be another reason for someone to like our house.

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Five Awesome Things: Transformers

The idea for this feature has been rattling around in my brain for some time now.  I want to post about five awesome things that bring me joy or help me in some way.
This first post is about five things that have helped me make awesome transformations, the catalyst for the before -> after reaction if you will.
1. Spray Paint- Many a project I've done has involved spray paint.  It is very handy for painting a wide variety of things.  I've done light fixtures, plastic lids, wicker baskets, picture frames, a dishwasher, cardboard boxes, trim, outlet and switch plate covers, railings, and more.

2. Caulk- What can I say, caulk covers a multitude of sins!  If you've ever put up trim of any kind, you know it's true.  Caulk is what makes trim projects from looking awful to finished and chic.  It's also great for keeping water out of places where it doesn't belong.

3. Rub n Buff- A few months ago, I didn't even know what Rub n Buff was.  I learned about it on other people's blogs.  People were using it to fancy up picture frames or to spiff up the metal hardware on furniture pieces they were restoring.  I bought some at the craft store (I didn't find any at home depot) and boy did it make a difference on our porch light.  It's a wax paste that I believe has some kind of magical properties.  It's held up beautifully these last few weeks through rain, wind, and falling tree debris.

4. Restor-a-finish- My mother in law told me about this product a couple of years ago when I told her I wanted to paint our kitchen cabinets.  I ended up painting the kitchen cabinets any way, but I bought a can of this stuff to fix up the finish on this railing.  I had absolutely zero desire to try and refinish that thing so this was just the perfect product.  All I had to do was rub it on, wait, and then rub the excess off.  It took just a couple of minutes and it made a huge difference!

5. Mulch- Can't grow grass?  Have a bare patch of dirt?  Put some mulch on it and say, I meant to do that!  I don't know that it would work in every case (random little islands of mulch in the middle of sea of lawn might look a bit weird, though with enough effort, you could make it work).  We put mulch in our front slope yard regularly.  The tree blocks out a lot of the sun.  We've put some in our back yard as well and it's turned the ugly, muddy, perma-shade into a "we meant to do that!"

Listed

Now that the house is on the market and I'm not constantly working on projects (just constantly cleaning) I'm going to be posting a lot more. I have a large backlog of projects to post about and fortunately I can go back through my pictures to jog my memory. Hooray for digital cameras and cell phone cameras!