So What's Up With That???

O.K. Today's post is just about a lot of little things that I have questions about. Nothing awe inspiring or anything like that...but, never-the-less!

The first thing that boggles my mind is the coupons that I continue to receive from stores giving me (usually) $10 if I spend $10. These coupons don't always come from stores that I spend a lot in but I can always find something to buy with this offer.

Yesterday I had two such offers. The first was from Kohls and I actually had a $10 and a $6 offer from them-and, they could be combined. I wanted two, pretty new washcloths for the tiered stand on my new bathroom counter. Guess I haven't shopped for wash cloths in a long time because the first one I picked up was $17.99!!! For ONE!!! Yikes! On to the next...$15.99!!! I settled on the ones that were $11.99-not the lowest priced but really pretty. They were on sale for buy 1-get 1 50% off-not the best sale I have ever found at Kohls but that came to $18 and I was getting $16 off so a total of $2 for two...not bad and something I would have had to buy any way.

Our next stop was the mall. I am not a big shopper at Penneys but they do carry some things I like so $10 for $10 was enough to get me in. Usually I anticipate spending a few extra dollars to make this deal work but...wait for it...I needed a pair of flip-flops and the ones I liked were on sale for $10. I figured I would need to buy a Godiva candy bar-which they so conveniently keep right at the registers for, I am sure, just this purpose. But, when the lady ran it through, she put the shoes in a bag and handed them to me. I had my card out assuming I would at the very least be paying tax but NO. Shoes TOTALLY free. She said she had never seen that before but that was what the register said! Maybe I was secretly their ten billionth customer or something.

Cute huh? And did I say totally free? And they will go with anything...and, did I tell you they were TOTALLY free?

In any case, two things I would have bought for practically free-what's up with that?

And then, back to my last post. Apparently I am the only person who likes the ladder in the bathroom idea. I was totally out-voted so back to just the hooks. What's up with that?

And then once again, my blog has gone ballistic! When usually I get somewhere less than 100 hits a day, I am once again getting 300 plus a day in recent weeks. I suspect it is because 4th of July craft ideas are still floating around Pinterest and those pins send people to the blog but "what's up with that??"

And so, I am off to pressure clean the paths and patios I never got to in the spring and then on to the hook rack. I will let you know how that transpires.

None of that took as long as I had expected so I have gotten the hook rack done and up. It REALLY isn't what I wanted at all BUT, it does serve a huge function. We needed another towel in this room and I wanted just a spot for a bit more decor. I hung this metal basket on the hook because I already have it but I will be on the lookout for something I like more. Or, maybe I will find some pretty greenery to fill it up. The hooks were the only expense to this project:

And, I like the way it relates to the brushed nickel and stained wood shelves on the other side of the room.

So even though life may not be going exactly down the path I thought, it is going and I am along for the ride. Maybe I don't always need to know the reason why-maybe I should just sit back and enjoy! Stay tuned.

I Am Nothing....

...if not UN-decisive! Yesterday I was all proud of myself for posting about some options for the entry wall into the new bathroom. I thought I knew what I wanted and I was almost on my way to the garage to begin cutting some wood when...wait for it...I glanced around my office/kids' dormitory and spied the ladder to the bunk beds tucked in the corner. And, before I could yell "crazy lady", I was on my way with said ladder in hand. I propped it against the wall to see about any walking impediment and I "think" I love it. And so, I am back to thinking I want to build a rustic, stained wood ladder for this space. I could then use it for all the same things that the hooks would have supplied. And, if I tire of it, I can always prop it up against another wall in another room. So many choices-so little decisiveness!

O.K. So here is where I am thinking. The bunk bed ladder is way shorter than I want but this definitely helped me picture the finished product.

This is the one I am leaning towards...so simple!

Then, I can even grab some of these wire baskets that are all over HL these days for extra storage as well. I see a trip to Lowes in my very near future!

Can't wait. My next project just found me...unless I change my mind yet again. Stay tuned.

"Whew!"

It feels like forever since I last posted. We are now officially done with construction-although I am still tweaking the decorating of the new bathroom. We are living in it for awhile and making note of things we feel we still need. We are not going to just "fill it up" with stuff that isn't functional. But, that being said, I am trying to find functional things that are also decorative. I finally hung the two towel hooks this morning and, after considering all sorts of wall decor-shelves, baskets, tin tiles, pictures-I think I have decided to just hang another piece of stained wood to the wall where you enter the room. Then, I am thinking of just adding another few hooks. This would be an easy, inexpensive fix but would also give us room for another towel or two...or, just a hook to use for hanging clothes for when we jump out of a shower...or for a hanging candle...or a wreath...or a jar for fresh flowers. What do you think? Something like this...

...or this? 

I think the "polished" room needs a touch of the rustic wood on the other side to help with the balance. And, while I was looking for the perfect idea for that wall, I may have happened upon the perfect idea for the way to hang just a little something over the window.

The window in this room is small and we don't want to lose any natural light if we can help it. But, the window isn't all that attractive "unadorned". And, it butts right up to a wall so hanging a rod of any kind is not possible. Maybe just one more piece of stained wood over this tiny window with these small hooks holding just the essence of a window covering. It would be another soft element to balance out all of the metal and wood. Just beginning the thought process on this. You will be the first to know-I promise. Stay tuned.

Patience is a Virtue!

I was a Brownie G.S. leader for many, many years. First it was for my daughters and then for my grand daughters. The phrase "patience is a virtue" played an important part in the play that we always did for our yearly induction ceremony. And, I have never been very good at being "virtuous". I am not a very patient person...well, I am when it comes to waiting in lines or taking turns, etc. I am just not very patient with myself. When I decide to do something, I want it done-YESTERDAY!

And so, in the scheme of things, even when everyone tells me our construction went very smoothly and quickly compared to other horror stories, I was getting a bit "ansty" towards the end. We did demolition on May 13 so it really has only been about 5 1/2 weeks-it just seemed so much longer because we had to move everything to the other end of the house and work out of an unfamiliar place. Not a really big deal, but when you get to our ages, routine is an important word. I hate it, but, I don't like change!

And so, today we are finally at the end of the line! The contractor is working as we speak to finish up some final details and then we will have our house back to ourselves. Now comes the fun part-and the not-so-fun part. I will enjoy the decorating just not the organizational aspect-and, I am trying hard to be a bit more organized in this room. I have beautiful cabinetry now and I would like to keep it like that. And, I am finally getting tired of having to move 10 things to get to another. Lucky for me the queen of organization (daughter #1) is coming to town on Friday! As well as having so many other talents, this girl can organize-and I intend to pick her brain for every little tip she can give me. Stay tuned.

We added a little bling to the ceiling and I love the way the light filters across the room-hard to see in this picture-you'll just have to take my word for it. I also discovered that taking pictures of this room is nearly impossible unless I want you to see me reflected in the mirror-and believe me, I don't.

I think I am going to look for a taller, 3 tier wood and metal shelf to have out on the counter with just a few "pretties" filling it. I found one on Pinterest but of course there is no info on where it was bought so I guess I have my first new project! Stay tuned.

"You Don't Live in a Barn"

I can still hear my mom saying that when I would leave doors open. I don't live in a barn...but maybe just a little! Because, you see, my barn doors are FINALLY done and hung! This is one of those "it takes a village" kind of projects!

My oldest and my youngest daughters and their families gifted me with the barn door hardware for my birthday in March with the thought that sometime after it arrived, we would have a "work day" and get it done. Unfortunately, with this being the year of so many graduations, jobs, vacations and just plan life itself, we were never able to co-ordinate a weekend when we could all gather to do this.

And so, the hardware sat in its boxes until last week. Daughter #3 finally just hired a carpenter who works with her in her design business. His job was to hang the track. I actually worked with him because it was definitely a two "man" job. I don't know if it was just the hardware that we had or the fact that ours was a 13' expanse, but this was NO easy task. I had a few choice words for Pinterest along the way as this was the place that I first saw this idea and they made it look so easy.

The hardware that we have is really good hardware but there were NO instructions per se. There were pictures but they were really hard to make out. And, it must have come from somewhere overseas as there were only metric measurements. And, they didn't say what tools were needed, how thick your doors should be to work with this hardware, how high or low to hang the track and oh so many other necessary things. There is NO WAY in the world that anyone could hang this thing without a lot of carpentry experience so that you could foresee an issue before you got too far. The poor carpenter and I spent all day on just the track but, in the end, we got 'er done.

And then came the doors. I didn't have any doors to use so I wanted to build something simple. But then again, there really is NO simple even at this point of the game. There is SO much you really need to think about before you can start-unless, perhaps, if you have a complete workshop at your disposal and can keep running back and forth to a large saw. We on the other hand had one shot to get the large cuts of the plywood done at Lowes. If we went too short it would look terrible but if we went too long, it wouldn't travel on the rail. My brother and sister-in-law came down to help at this stage of the game and I was so glad they did. They thought of things I didn't and vice versa...and, eventually, we were off to Lowes to but the supplies. We ended up using furniture grade plywood and I am so glad we did as it was smooth and tightly plied.

I kind of knew what I wanted so the next morning my chop saw and I got busy and before I knew it, I actually had two doors built!

Then, it was simply a matter of staining them first...

...then painting them-first with a gray chalk paint and then with linen white.

I just about got the last of the paint on when daughter #2 and my brother and sister-in-law arrived again. We had a nice Father's Day/Birthday (my hubby's) lunch while we talked about everything left to do and who would do what. And then the REAL fun began!

It was now time to make the real committal and put on the door hardware. If it is not exactly right, the doors will not travel or hang correctly. We were either really smart or really lucky because we "did good". We had to make another quick Lowes run because again their hardware was off for our door but we persevered!

I know these doors may not be for everyone but I LOVE THEM. I love shabby and not perfection. I guess in this case that turned out to be a really good thing because if I was a high-shine spit and polish kind of gal, I would be disappointed. But, this is exactly what I have envisioned all these moths. Behind those doors are my washer and dryer and having them behind sliding doors instead of those horrible bi-folds will make my life so much easier. After we were all done, my sister-in-law commented that is was too bad that we didn't extend the rail the whole length of the wall and get rid of the other two bi-folds as well. Drats! Why didn't I think of that. Lol

And, as if that wasn't enough excitement for the weekend, our granite arrived-and it is beautiful and ties together the floor, shower and vanity.

 
Tomorrow the contractor will be back for all of the final detailing and then we will be done-stick a fork in me...I am done. Think that will be our last big project for awhile-although I do have a few smaller ones perking in my mind. Stay tuned.

I Can See the Light!

We are almost at the end of the tunnel!!! I got "the" call last night from the granite people confirming installation on Friday afternoon. They wanted to know if I would be here!! Seriously? Do they really have no idea how long people wait to get that call after ordering granite. Where else would I be? But, I digress.

Of course, they can't give me a time so the plumber is "on call" for as soon as they finish. Then, the sink will get connected and the faucet will go in! And, with the exception of the mirror-which I think I will attempt myself even though I have been warned that it is a hard installation-we will be up and running. I am chomping at the bit to get our stuff moved back to our end of the house.

The rest of the story was the shelves that I posted about-which are now up. It was a bit more complicated than expected but we have a wonderful handy man who hung them for us and they are perfection. I just stuck a few things up so it would feel more homey but once we are actually moved back in, I will probably rethink what I want on those shelves.

 Seriously, am I the only one who would decorate shelves before the whole bathroom is even built?

And then, on to my barn doors. I have posted about these things numerous times and still they are not done. Apparently my doors are more difficult than usual because of the size of the doors and opening. The opening is 6' so it requires two sets of hardware. And, because just the hardware itself weighs a ton-not to mention the added weight of the doors-, this is a hard installation. Our fabulous handy man is handling this as well. He has now been at it for about 3 hours and is still just getting all of the support work done.

This is one of those things that looks like it should happen quickly but believe me, it doesn't. Leveling is so important and because our rail runs 13 feet, it was a real bear to do. Now, all we have to do is tackle the doors. And, I have to get that 1X4 painted before then!

Saturday, my brother and sister-in-law are coming down for the weekend and we are going to build the "barn" doors. We had so much fun building Olivia's head board that we are getting cocky and think we can pull this off as well. I am actually quite sure we can as I am going for a very simple style and than a shabby chic paint job-can't really do anything wrong with that. I am getting so excited that months of waiting and anticipating may finally be coming to an end. And then, what will be next? You know I love my projects. Stay tuned.

SOOOO BORED!!!

I think I am getting cabin fever! I am sooooo tired of staying close to my phones but I JUST DON'T want to miss that call. I know it will come. I just don't know when. And so I sit....and wait....and start to go stir crazy!

I did get out into the yard yesterday because I know there will be no construction phone calls on a Sunday. And, as usual, one thing led to another and I did get a lot done. Lots of weeds had popped up as well as errant limbs on hedges and bushes so I did some good cleaning out. And, I even managed to get into the pool for a bit before a lovely summer rain storm came through. With the heat that we have been having, rain is always a welcome relief. It also means that I don't have to hand water as much. Our twice weekly irrigation takes care of most of our lawn and gardens but I have lots of potted plants that don't get hit by the system and, since they are in pots, they dry out even more quickly!

So while I am waiting, I snapped a few more pictures. Come on in to the dining room. I am keeping it very simple this year.

The dining side of this room is decorated with mostly just patriotic colored urns and jugs and lots of flags. I used the knick-knacks on the shelves of the fire place but am finding that I am using less and less of them over the years. It's funny how something that I once wanted so badly just doesn't "do" it for me any more. I guess that's what keeps manufacturers in business-always trying to find the next hottest item. Of course, I do still have favorites that have been around forever-just don't happen to be any of the things in this hutch. Guess that means that they may not make the cut next year...lol. Stay tuned.

It Is What It Is

If you are a faithful reader of this blog, you know that I not only love decorating and holidays, I love crafting. There are really very few crafts that I have not tried over my life time. And, there are very few crafts that I have tried that I don't love. I JUST LOVE CRAFTING! And so, it really isn't a holiday for me if I can't find something to make and get my hands dirty. But, those kind of projects take some planning and then some shopping. And, since we don't live in the largest city ever, shopping can sometimes take pretty much a full day-seems like there is never just one store that carries everything needed and sometimes I just have to blatantly "fudge" a supply. And, with this reno hanging over my head, I just don't have the luxury of that kind of time right now.

I was getting antsy over the 4th of July so I found a project that just required an unpainted wooden number-everything else I already had on hand. And yesterday when I was pretty much just sitting waiting for the phone to ring, I decided to give it a whirl.

It was a total no-brainer project. Is it the greatest thing ever? Not by a long shot but at least I kept myself occupied while not leaving the earshot distance of the phone-which, by the way, rang many times but never for my granite!

This is pretty much all this simple craft needed in the line of supplies.

I painted the sides and back American flag red.

Then, I painted on a layer of Mod Podge, separated the napkin and glued on the patterned piece. I found it was easier to then let the whole thing dry and go back with my Exacto knife (with a new, sharp blade) and cut off the remnants. I tried to just use scissors but couldn't get into all of the little areas as closely as I wanted. I then used some ink squares and "inked" the edges and over the bumps from the napkin. I figured if I couldn't get rid of the bumps, I would emphasize them and make it look old and crinkled!

I finished it off by wrapping the base with some red twine. I wasn't sure where it would go but this dining room centerpiece suddenly looked very lonely...and then my sad little craft found just the perfect home.

I am still waiting to show you my bathroom reveal...but, alas, there is nothing new on that horizon just yet. Fingers now crossed for tomorrow. I am getting tired of sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring but I know as sure as I head out, they will be in my driveway wanting to install the granite! Hey, maybe I just hit on something! I might just give it a try tomorrow. Just can't go too far so I can get back quickly IF that call ever comes through! Stay tuned.

Biding My Time

 

Usually I am so busy that a chance to just sit and wait is a lovely thing...but not when I have so many other things to be doing. But, that is what I am doing today-sitting and waiting-and trying not to miss a phone call that may come in on my cell but also may come in on the land line! That call would be from the granite company telling me they are on their way to deliver our counter top. We are truly at a stand still until this happens because nothing from here on out can get done until the counter and then sink are done. And so we wait. I don't want to miss that call so I am staying very close to the phones but since there is one in the family room, I snapped a few shots for you.

This hand-print wreath that daughter #3 made for us so many years ago is still a favorite with me-and apparently lots of others as well as it it still one of my most viewed and copied "pins". It is a good thing I took it apart and laminated those little hands for posterity!

I still really love the PB knock-off flag that I made years ago. I did it on bead board so the stripes were a no-brainer and if I am remembering correctly, I got mine and one for each of my girls out of one sheet of wood.

This is where the new Pier 1 Uncle Sam ended up. I think he looks cute standing in the shadow of all of those flags.

 I just realized that my Uncle Sam candy dish is still waiting for some red, white and blue candy. He usually gets filled with 4th of July Tootsie Rolls so I had better be on the lookout for some. Target has a lot of patriotic colored candy which I have already purchased but none of it is individually wrapped and with the stuff that is still blowing in the air with the construction, I'm thinking wrapped will definitely be better this year.

I am also still using the banner I made awhile back. It is funny how crafts go in patterns. I love vintage and a number of years ago, almost every craft going around featured vintage design. I bought so many programs and books with the old images and used them all the time. Now, I seldom even think of them until I am posting one of these blogs. But, as with everything else, the old becomes new again. So, when it does, I will be ready!

So that is it for the family room. The TV cabinets and shelf area are still full of 4th of July frames and photos but I thought I'd skip those pictures this year. Still no phone call, so back I go to finish my 4th of July craft-such as it is. Stay tuned.