Friday, August 31, 2012

bathroom progress: good news / bad news

 

Hey all!  It’s been a while!  I am back to share a preview with you and have many projects to share this week and next as well! 

So a few months ago I started revamping my bathroom based mostly on this inspiration pin:

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This is the cabinetry I had to work with…

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Great bones, but I had grown to hate the color because there were too many different wood finishes happening in the room.  Painting all the cabinetry the same gray color was a no brainer for me.  I also painted the walls and changed out accessories that were part of the former color scheme.

Next came the counter top issue.  You can’t see it in the before picture, but my existing countertop is a green crushed leaves pattern; what was I thinking?  I was 20 and had zilch taste or style.  I love the marble countertop in the inspiration pic.  I had heard of people using different methods to paint formica countertop.  I chose to try Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint on the countertop, and try to get a marble effect. 

It actually went on really well, adhering to the countertop without any prep work at all.  I created marbling and then followed the paint with a few coats of their wax.  Here was the outcome…

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So the good news is it looks pretty good…   I was going to live with it.  But I still thought the sink was much too large.  Then I set my hot flat iron on it, and it melted the wax finish = bad news.  Deal breaker for me.  But it is ok – I knew this was a test run to begin with.  And ASCP basically says they can’t recommend their paint for this purpose but says they do it all the time.   And this bathroom currently serves 9 people, so it is a tough case; I think it would have been perfectly fine in a powder room.  I have painted ASCP on many well used furniture items and it holds up extremely well.  Though it wouldn’t stand the test of time in this room, this little experiment has held me over and given me time to save to have the countertop replaced, so it wasn’t a total loss.  And I learned a lot about working with the paint.

So there you have a sneak peek into my bathroom redo.  After school starts, I will get back on it and finish off my last 2 or 3 items in the room and finally share the whole thing with you all!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

summer fun

 

Summer is upon us. 

Lots of sun dresses.

Lots of frolicking.

Lots of playing outside.

Lots of lawn mowing.

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That dress is getting a little short on her… that keeps happening.  But I can’t decide if it’s evidence that she is in fact growing, or if I just buy cheap clothes that never cease shrinking with each wash/dry.  Either is possible.

 

Our grown up neighbor boy came over the other day and worked with Mark on some basic baseball skills…

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He mainly told him where to point his feet for now, and Mark tried to keep them right where they were supposed to be…

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And of course, keeping his eyes on the ball…

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He did really well!  Hitting about 7 balls out of his last 10 ball streak!  Mark worked on throwing, too. 

It was so fun to watch him learn a new skill and get excited about it.  Next year we might have to switch from soccer to baseball!

 

We’ve nocked several things off our summer list.  Although we did miss the Blue Angels.  We had just gotten back from camping for 3 nights and didn’t have the strength to take the long drive and battle traffic to get there.  Yup, we wimped out. 

last week was VBS at our church, it was so crazy busy since I taught a class.

I have found some time to do a couple projects that I will photograph and share with you soon, and have more in the works.  Lazy days!

Monday, August 6, 2012

let me introduce you…

 

Have you guys checked out The Plaid Barn yet?

It is a site that has a daily deal.  Always crafty.  Always cheap!  I have purchased about four of the deals in the last couple months.  You can just go to their site and scroll through the recent deals.  I’ve been having fun getting the deals emailed to me daily.  And I have been approved for their affiliate program!  There will be an ad on my site soon! 

But in the meantime, they are having a giveaway! 

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Click that image to go to their site and enter!  Check them out while you’re there.  Maybe like them on FaceBook…  You could win a Fuji camera!

Fun stuff.

 

So, do you miss me?  I decided posting once or twice a week is enough – it is summer after all!!!  If you are missing me here just be glad my weather finally got sunny enough that I am out in the yard getting a much needed tan!  =)

 

I’ll be back later this week!