Bathroom Reno. Day 1 & 2

Yes, you read that correctly. We have officially started our bathroom 

renovation on our upstairs loo. 

Three years ago, I started day dreaming about out upstairs bathroom. I devoured Pinterest, read every blog and tutorial, and watched way too many YouTube videos. 
Two weekends ago, we headed to our local Lowe's and bought $1,300 worth of supplies. 

These supplies include but are not limited to: 

Tile, Grout, Grout Sealant, Thin set, Hardi Backerboard, Special screws for said Backerboard, Fibratape for the Backerboard, Shower valves, Tub, Window

This past weekend we stripped everything down to its underpants studs. 

Oh, yes, the bathtub is in our backyard as we speak. We are those people. 

Here are some pictures and descriptions.

Step 1 was removing the old tile. The longest wall was the easiest because there was a lot of water damage. Which means tiles were already barely  hanging on. Which means the Backerboard behind it was water-damaged as well. It was quite the dirty job, but it was totally invigorating as well. I've been wanting to do that since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago. :) The two short walls were more difficult because there was no water damage. These were a bit tougher to pry remove from the wall. 

Step 2 was removing the insulation and bathtub. 

Step 3 includes cleaning everything up. This one I am not looking forward to. 

All of this was hard work. My hands are scratched up, my back hurts, and that room is currently filthy and drafty as all get-out (the insulation has been thrown out). However, I am so proud of it, it's ridiculous. We're actually renovating our bathroom ourselves. Can I get a hallelujah! Some good thoughts our way would be nice as well, as we tackle our pipes in the near future. Good thing my handy hubby knows what he's doing. :)

I am so proud of us, I can't even stand it.
No, seriously. I can't stand it. I wish it were just done already. Oh well, I guess those are the breaks when you DIY.:) 

Pinterest Inspired: Bow Garland

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing. You can see and learn so many things. I find it to be inspiring. This past week, I catching up on a blog I personally adore, Dear Lizzy. She is so creative and her post on a DIY Garland was just the ticket I needed to get my creativity back. My goal now is to post at least once a week. I know, lofty.  :)

This project is so easy. If you have a Silhouette or Cameo machine, you just find the design you want, have the machine cut it for you, and then glue it all together. If you don't have one of these machines, find a template and cut it out by hand. Lord knows that's what I used to do before I got my Silhouette 5 years ago.

This project took me a total of 3 days. Projects don't happen over night. I can't seem to get a project done in one day to save my life. This was good though, because I had help and input from my two helpers. This would've gone a lot quicker had I been doing it by myself. But, isn't it more fun when you have cutie pies like this helping? OK, OK, let's be honest-  that's debatable. Even though I have girls, they sure can fight with each other with the best of them. This project, while easy, was not made without blood, sweat, and tears.            

I ended up cutting a lot more than I probably needed to, but I'll use the extras for other things. Kaitlyn might get one in her room, or I'll keep them around for gifts or cards. They're 3D, so they're kinda extra fancy.

DIY Scarf Corral

I got this beauty in the Target Dollar Spot. It was originally marked $3.00 but was on sale for $0.90. They were having an awesome sale where things with a black dot were 90% off. It is an Over-The-Door hanger thing and it was already yellow, so I knew I wouldn’t have to tweak that and spray paint it- which I probably would’ve done.

I saw this just laying in the bin- lonely and sad, envisioned the beautiful potential, and viciously threw put it in my cart. It was like a swan story that played out in my mind over the course of 10 seconds.

Fast forward 1 ½ months. I got my husband to cut off the bits that are supposed to hang over the door. It is now a flat, swirly, wonderful scarf corral. If you have been following for awhile, you will remember this post of the His and Her messy dresser picture. A lot of that mess on my side were scarves. I was waiting for something magnificent to come along to put them on display. These scarves are literally my pretties. I am obsessed with them and would like to add to my collection ten-fold. No, I am not kidding. 

Until then, this works perfectly. Right now, I have it hanging on some 3M Command Hooks. I will probably move it when I figure out the rest of my room. For now, this is a perfect spot for it. I love it. And my  husband loves that my side of the dresser is a little bit cleaner.

A Wall of Hearts

I am slightly obsessed with stickers. So is my eldest child. This was the perfect Saturday afternoon project to do with her. I used to joke that my favorite color was polka dots. While this isn't entirely true, I've never met a polka dot I didn't like. There's just something happy about them. I didn't use polka dots this time, but that doesn't mean someone else couldn't. 

This project could be used with any craft punch. I chose hearts because I want Emma to see all of the hearts, all over her room, and be reminded how much her momma loves her. Love that girl to the moon and back. 

Anywho, circles, stars, whatever you fancy. I originally saw something like this on The Hunted Interior website a couple of weeks ago. Once I saw how cute it was in her little girl's room, I knew I could replicate it in the cheapest/easiest way possible. Self-adhesive vinyl and a heart-shaped craft punch. You can see my inspiration here.

Here are some awesome pictures of me doing my thang. Step 1. Punch out your shapes into the vinyl. I found by cutting my roll in 2-inch sections did the trick. I did 8 hearts down one side and 8 down the other. No wasting here. 

 I know a very special, smart, beautiful little girl was enamored with how it turned out. And she helped me every step of the way. That's the other thing, if you're severely OCD, you might need to measure things out to make sure they all line up. We just went for it. There was no rhyme or rhythm here. Just put the hearts where they looked good and put them on as straight as possible. I did move a few to space them out a bit more. Hey, no one said I didn't have a little OCD in me. Just a little. I absolutely love when we do a project from start to finish and both of us are happy with the results and each other in the end. Her little friends were happy too. 

See all their smiling faces :)

This might be the happiest room in the house right now. As I type this I'm thinking of all the possibilities with these two little things. I could do polka dots with a gold vinyl or a glitter vinyl... or triangles. You can find craft stamps at any hobby shop. I got mine awhile ago with a coupon. There's always some coupon, somewhere. I know I refuse to buy anything at full price, so it works well for me. Same goes for the vinyl. From Hobby Lobby, it was $7.99- with a 40% off coupon, it ended up costing $4.49. And, I still have a ton left over. I didn't even use half of it for this one wall. 

And I love left overs. No matter what it's from. 

Chalk It Up to a Win

Ben and I are really working at de-cluttering our home. We've been getting rid of things like crazy. In the process, I've come across some things that I have completely forgotten about. Don't you love that? I found this frame in my office/catch-all-for-everything. I got it on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I think I probably paid around $10 for it. It's fairly large and in good shape, but it just wasn't doing it for me. The glass had broken and I almost just got rid of it. Then I remembered all of these pins on Pinterest in regard to DIY chalkboard art. I knew this was what I had to do. We had chalkboard paint in our stash of paints and I already had the paint brushes on hand too. 

This was a free project. 

Here is my frame as it started. 

STEPS

1. Lay out your board in your work space.

2. I primed mine because I had the primer and I though it would help the chalkboard paint adhere a bit better. I'm sure you could skip this step though. Just sand a bit before you start with the chalkboard paint.

3. Let primer dry completely. 

4. I did my first coat of chalkboard paint with a foam brush. It worked well, but took forever. 

5. Coats 2,3, and 4 went on with a foam roller. This worked a lot better. I was able to really saturate the board and get good coverage. This is what I would suggest if you try this project. 

6. DONE!

I then lightly sanded the whole thing to smooth things out. At that time, you condition your board. Pretty simple. 

Once you're done doing all of that, put your frame back together, hang up, and enjoy your handy work. You just made a free/cheap project from start to finish. And, it only took one day working on it off and on. 

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Finger Knitting a Scarf

Last night, after bed time, I got to thinking about knitting. I am able to crotchet pretty well and I have tried knitting with a knitting loom. I have heard about the arm knitting, so I thought I would try my hand at it. After watching some YouTube videos and trying my darnedest to make mine look like theirs, I got to thinking. Maybe I could knit with my fingers as well. So, I tried and it turned out great. It was a lot like a knitting loom, but you don't need the loom itself. You can use your fingers. 

Here are some pictures of how I did it. 

Step 1.  Make a slip knot. If you don't know how, just google it. It's pretty easy. Make sure it's large enough to be able to go around all four fingers. 
Step 2. Twine the yarn around your fingers. So, it's enveloping your finger. Basically, just twist it around your finger. This reminds me of brass knuckles. 
Step 3. Do it again. Twine the yarn around your fingers again. So, this time you have two lines on each finger. Starting with your pinkie, take the bottom line of yarn and flip it over the top line. Do this on all fingers. 
Step 4-however long you want it. Keep twining and flipping. The step 4 picture above show what it looks like when you have some chains together. 

After you get it to your desired length (I just had it wrapped around my neck a few times) you will want to cast off. Here, you'll just take your four loops and use the length of yarn you have at the start of your scarf from your slip knot and stitch it together. There is no rhyme or science behind this, just close her up. Tie lots of knots to hide your ends inside the scarf. This makes it an infinity scarf and if you've tied well, you won't be able to see where the start/end of your scarf is. 

I am able to wrap it around my neck 4 times, which is perfect to achieve the infinity scarf, cozy look. In all, I think this took me about 30 minutes. Super quick, super easy. Takes no thinking at all. Just my cup of tea. 
I also have other yarn that I might make into these too. 
Emma wants a pink one. :)

Entry to my Heart

I am a woman of lists. I have lists out the wazoo. I have lists of lists. Heck, I even have lists of lists of lists. This list is continually growing. Sometimes, if we're lucky productive, things will even be crossed off. So far, we have replaces all of our faucets and light fixtures. We've painted four out of our eight rooms. Not bad...50/50. 

This year though, I have some high hopes and some big dreams. We've been in this house for 2 1/2 years now, and I have yet to really make it feel like our home. It's certainly a work in process. We've come a very long way so far, but this rodeo is far from over. I have big ambitions, but a small wallet, if you know what I mean. We have some big items on our lists- like our two bathrooms, our kitchen, replacing our flooring, replacing our windows, and continuing to make out home somewhere we feel safe, comfortable, and we want to race back to at the end of our days. However, we had to save and scour stores and the internet for good deals. Recently, we got a new washer and dryer. They are Samsung front loader machines and there were mildly the love of my life when we first got them. Anything to make my life easier is fine by me. These were the first of our appliances that we replaced. The rest are yet to come. 

There is something I've been seeing a lot of lately, planked walls. This is one thing I am dying to do this year in my entryway. It is at the top of my list. 
When we moved into this house, everything was painted the same color. This included walls, ceilings, and even some fixtures attached to said walls and ceiling. Right now, I am crushing on these planked walls. This is something that could be done relatively inexpensively and I think it will bring so much character into our dull entryway. She needs a face lift, if you know what I mean. 

I have found quite a few tutorials on Pinterest that I will try to replicate for my space. Here are some of my favorites. Seems easy enough. 

1. The House of Smiths 2. Domestic Imperfection 3. The Lettered Cottage  4. Southern Living

Nursery Art

I love customizing things for me and my family. This includes art for their room. Now, I'm not one to go out and buy art. I'd much rather make my own art if I can help it. When I was pregnant with Kaitlyn, I got to work on some customized art for right above her crib. I wanted her to have something fun to look at and high enough to be out of her reach. So, I got together 3 frames, spray painted each one white, and went about getting some inspiration to put in the frames. 

I love trees, so when I found this tree with heart leaves on my Silhouette software, I knew just what to do with it. I cut the tree out with the plaid pattern and then cut the hearts out with another pattern. They didn't match by any means, but together, I think they go well together. If you don't have a Silhouette or other cutting machine, you can always print something out and use an x-acto knife to get the job done. 
Lord knows that's what I did before I got the cutting machine. :)

On the other side is a tree branch with a bird on it. Again, I choose colors that went well together, but didn't match. 

The middle picture was simple a small square of scrapbook paper that ties in colors from the pictures on either side of it. 

This was a really simple task and I love the results, even one and a half years later. Luckily, this little girl loves it too. The K was something else I just cut out and put in a frame. Easy peasy is my middle name.

Christmas Chain

Today, I am off work. That means I get stuff done. Something I really wanted to do today was a Christmas craft with Emma. We have never done a Christmas chain before, so I though this would be a good craft project to do with her. What could be easier than gluing paper together to make a chain? Also, she got to use her glue stick, so I figured it was a sure thing. I figured wrong. She got about 5 paper chains deep and decided she was done. It was "long enough". She is now watching one of the chipmunk movies. She is obsessed right now. Oh well. At least I tried, right?

Anyways, before she was over it, this was our game plan. I got four corresponding pieces of scrapbook paper (not too matchy-matchy), a glue stick, cutting board, X-Acto knife, and a 12-inch ruler. 

I got to work cutting the paper in 1-inch strips. Emma got to work gluing them together. Easy-peasy, nice and Christmas-y. :) Since she only made a short one and is now engrossed in her movie, I have finished with my strips and we now have a beautiful Christmas Chain. 

I know I'm not inventing the wheel over here, but we have never done this before and I though it was a fun craft project to do with my eldest child. 

Rose Cabochon Earrings

Fun fact about me- I love crafting. If I were a stay-at-home mom, I would craft all day. Because I am not a stay-at-home mom, I craft when I have time, which is almost never. That’s why I’m always looking for cheap, easy things to do. Not only can I do it and feel great when I've finished something, but I only choose things that I know I’m going to love as well. I'm a big fan of jewelry so this is a go-to.

I first got this idea from a blog called homemadebyjill.blogspot.com. She made these earrings and I instantly fell in love. I  went to Etsy, did a search, and bought some rose cabochons and the earring backings and got to work. These cabochons can be used for anything. I've contemplated gluing them to bobby pins/barrettes, rings, and even a necklace – if the rose was big enough. 

Tonight, I decided to do earrings. This is a 1,2,3 step project. 

First: Get your supplies: rose cabochons, hot glue gun, and the earring backing. 

Second: Glue the rose on the earring. 

Third: You're done. Now strut your stuff!

See what I mean. Super easy, really cute,  and pretty affordable too. Do you know how much you could pay on a pair of earrings like this? A lot more than whatever you just paid on the supplies. I love it. 

Next up, I might try a ring and a barrette. I could go for days with these delicious little roses!

Don't Fear the Wreather

Today, I did a last minute fall project. I got the wreath from the Dollar Store, where everything is $1. I love this store.I always go in with good intentions and walk out with 12 things. Kinda defeats the point. I also got these bunches of flowers from there as well.

I was inspired by a few different things I saw on the inter-webs. But one really motivated me. Sherry from Young House Love did her own take on a fall wreath and I figured, I could do that! So, I started clipping my flowers with my wire cutter and got to work. 

I started by added my flowers one at a time, spacing out the colors. I didn't know if I was going to use the green leaves from my flowers, so I just kept them. After I got all of my flowers placed, I put in some of those leaves to give it more depth. I actually love the green in there. I feel like this project gave my back door something to love, not fear. 
More cow bell. I gotta have more cow bell. Click on this link if you need a little laughter!

This project literally took me 15 minutes. I got out some twine and hung it on my door hanger. I love how it turned out. 

Painting A Blank Canvas

I have been under the influence of canvas for a while now. 

They are cheap and endless with possibilities of decorating. I've seen a lot of ideas on Pinterest lately. I've seen a lot of chevron out there, but to keep things simple- I decided to go with straight lines. So, off I went to my living room floor to paint my blank canvas and give it some meaning in its life. 

Supplies needed: canvas, craft paint, foam brush, painters tape, 

and one episode of Parks and Rec. Amy Poehler is my jam. :)

First, I taped off my sections. Then I squirted some craft paint onto a paper plate and started with the darkest orange first. Then I added some white to my paint puddle and did the slightly lighter one below. I then added some more white paint and did the lightest one up top. I was going for the ombre look but ended up doing it in the wrong order. 

Oh well, I still like it and think it's pretty gosh darn cute. 

In the end, I really love it. I choose orange because I just got a new comforter that I got from Target. It is this one from Nate Berkus and I.am.in.love. 

Seriously, I squeeled like a little piggie when I got it on the bed tonight. LOVE. 

Freezer Paper Fun

Freezer paper stenciling is one of my most favorite things to play with when I have time to make a project. I buy mine at Walmart in the aluminum foil section and have had the same box for years now. It goes a long way. 

Today, I tried my hand with a few pieces of clothing I felt were boring. A plain white tee and a plain purple tank top. 

I started by getting my star craft punch. Then you just punch out the stars on your freezer paper. Super easy, right? Then you grab an iron that has been heating up, and you place the freezer paper matte side up. You want the glossy side down. This is the side that adheres itself to the fabric. It almost acts like a sticker. 

For this project, I wanted as little clean up as possible, so I just dropped some dots of fabric paint around on the stars. This way, I could just grab my small, foam brush and get to work pushing the paint around until the entire star was filled. It works best if you use a pressing method with your brush in an up and down action instead of the painting method where you're smearing back and forth. You have a better chance of not lifting up the freezer paper. I mean, it's on there pretty good, but why screw up your chance of it not being perfect. :)

After I got all of the stars filled in, I rinsed out my brush. Some might not care and could just throw it away at this time, but $0.20 is $0.20 and I like using mine as many times as possible. So, after my brush is drying I came back to peel the freezer paper off of the shirt. Literally, you peel it like a sticker. It comes off pretty easily. Then, ta-da. 

I have a brand new shirt ready to go. No more boring white shirt. Now, it's a declaration of independence. Wait, maybe not a declaration of independence, but it's definitely a declaration of fashion. I know I love how it turned out. 

I did the same thing with this purple tang top with polka dots. I used a hole punch with this shirt. Again, super easy, super quick. Just how I like my crafts. 

You should try it. It's really versatile. And, if you or your kids are anything like my Emma, you will need a little something-something on every shirt ever made. 

No matter how cute it looks solid-colored or how busy your momma is.