Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Home Tour

On Friday we had a little neighborhood party to celebrate the completed patio. I had such a good time, I completely forgot to take pictures.

Several people mentioned that I needed some sort of tour of the house for you all. So, I will walk you through it with pictures. I'm working on a video for you, but it's not ready yet.

This is not to scale, but I sketched the floor plan so you could see the layout. The main floor (click it to get a bigger image in another window):

and the basement:
We have a tiny entry 

and then you are in the living room.


I have some plans for this room including new paint, ceiling beams, and just a bit of polishing up. You can see this room is home to the burlap wall which will stay when I make changes.

Here's the hall that leads to the bathroom and the bedrooms.


The bathroom needs work.


It's slowly changed and not for the good. I have to end the crazy hodge podge and get that back into something nice.

The master bedroom hasn't been touched. I keep putting it off so we can do other projects!


Gabe's room is a mess (as always! I've given up.) 

He is now in a full bed so we rearranged since I last posted on his room.


Chi also got a bigger bed, a twin now instead of a toddler bed. 


But otherwise it's pretty much the same.

Back down the hall, off the living room is the dining room which is connected to the kitchen.


I have a pantry with pull out shelves which is so nice. The fridge is too small. We plan to replace it.

The cabinets were new when we bought it. We still need to add hardware.

This is the recycling area near the side door. It's almost always full. When it overflows we finally take it to the bin outside. :)


This leads to the basement stairs - the ongoing saga of refinishing the stairs.

And the finished side of the basement.

Sort of. It's a work in progress. We've painted and carpeted(but yet to put back the baseboards), and the far end will be built-in with base cabinets and bookshelves.


Hopefully Matt will complete this project this fall. It will look something like this:


We miss our books. That's what all those boxes are. And of course, furniture would be good. But I would like to move the loveseat from upstairs downstairs and buy something new for the living room. It's all just kind of on hold until I figure out the living room.


The unfinished side is just a mess. I imagine you have an idea what an unfinished basement looks like. Part laundry room, part workspace, part storage. Eventually we will finish half of that into another bathroom and more finished laundry space.


So that is the tour.


This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter,  A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine,  (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies,  Flaunt It Fridays , Thirty Handmade Days (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Tuesday's Art Adventure: Leaf Silhouette Painting

I have fall on my mind. It got a bit chilly here today. :)

Leaf Silhouette Painting
Supplies:
  • leaves, various shapes and sizes
  • red, yellow, orange and green tempera paints
  • sponges
  • paper

I took a regular size kitchen sponge and cut it into smaller rectangles. I also just use a piece of foil as a pallette. You could also use paper, or a plate or wax paper.
Take a leaf and place it on the paper. 

Dip the sponge in a paint color and dab or pounce the sponge around the edges of the leaf. 


Pull up the leaf.


You can repeat as many times as desired


and let the leaves overlap each other.


Again, don't fuss too much if it goes a little wonky. :) Just have fun.
This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter,  A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine,  (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies,  Flaunt It Fridays , Thirty Handmade Days (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

It's Pinteresting!

I, like so many others, am addicted to Pinterest. I don't bookmark things in my browser anymore, I pin it to a board.

If you have not seen Pinterest, you really should check it out. I can pin projects I want to try, things I just like, words that inspire me. After you check it out and want in on it, send me an email and I'll hook you up with an invite (I have to have your email address to invite you). You can click the Join button there, but it takes a lot longer.
I find amazing things I will probably never have, but can dream about:
Source

Silly things for kids:
Source
Recipes that make me salivate:
Source

Ideas for parties:
Source
Stuff that just makes me laugh:
Source
You name it, it's there. What do you do? It's like a virtual pin board. Or picture bookmark. You have "boards" (as many as you want) in different categories and you "pin" anything you like or want to be able to find again. Once signed up, you can pin stuff from anywhere on the internet and it automatically links the source! This is great because then you can go visit those sites if you want. You can also repin stuff other people have pinned. Comment, like, follow - create a network. Or just hang out and pin stuff. Either way. It's awesome.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Tuesday's Art Adventure: Egg Tempera

Holy smokes, I'm a little later than usual getting this up! I've started grad school and I'm still trying to get used to the schedule.

Another art history adventure. Artists used oil to bind pigments to make paint, hence, oil paints. In the Renaissance, artist began making a new paint, tempera using egg as a binder.
So today we will make our own paint!

Egg tempera

Supplies:
  • different colors of chalk
  • egg yolks (for four colors, I used 2 yolks)
  • zip-top bags
  • some type of hammer or mallet
  • paper
  • brushes
The kids can help with the prep. First, pick some different colors of chalk, you don't need a lot. One stick of regular chalk or just an end of sidwalk chalk. Place them in separate bags, and smash into a powder.

Separate your eggs, you just need the yolks (have an egg white omlet for lunch later).

Add a tablespoon of water and stir it together.
Pour the powder of one color into a small container, 

add about 3 teaspoons of egg mixture to the powder, 

and stir. It should be smooth and paint-like, not too runny, not too thick.

Once all the colors are mixed, it's time to paint.
My boys are really into Star Wars, so I heard fantastic stories about what they were painting while they worked.

Gabe made a ship that is going into hyperspace being chased by a Republic cruiser.
And Chi made a tie fighter battle.

Once it dries, it will be all set because the egg is binding the pigment. You will notice that we still have a few chunks. The more you grind the smoother it is; you could also strain it if it bothers you.

For older kids and those of you with a mortar and pestle, you can go find things from nature to grind up to make your colors. Berries, flowers, leaves. It is a lot of fun to make your paint completely from scratch, but it is difficult without that mortar and pestle.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter,  A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine,  (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies,  Flaunt It Fridays , Thirty Handmade Days (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Monday, August 29, 2011

Mini Polaroid Magnets

I saw this idea on Pinterest from blogger
Jennifer Kirk on Ambrosia Creative

She even offers the file for the Polaroid frame!

So, I downloaded the frame file and used Photoshop Elements to add my pictures. From what I understand, Picnik will work as well.
I placed all my images on one page (I made mine each slightly bigger than 1 in x 1 in) and printed it on regular white paper.

Then it was time to make them into magnets.
I gathered my illustration board, spray glue, ruler and xacto knife.

Oh, and scissors. I just used scissors to cut the mini polaroids apart. Then I added spray glue to the back and glued them to my mini illustration board.

I have to tell you that I love these boards. I figured I would need to buy a full size matte board and then I found these mini boards by Strathmore at Michael's. They were perfect for this little project.

To both get a good cut and protect your fingers a bit more, place a metal ruler along the line you want to cut. Hold it down with firm pressure, and set the knife against the ruler. 


Cut along the edge of the ruler, depending on the thickness, you will have to make more than one pass. Don't try with a wooden or plastic ruler; it will just cut the ruler.
This is not the best for this application. Ideally look for something labeled Spray Lacquer.
I used a Satin spray to seal it and give it a little sheen like a picture.

Hot glued magnets to the back,
and voila! 


Super cute magnets for the fridge!


Featured:

Photobucket




This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) Mad Skills , C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Singing Three Birds,  Masterpiece Mondays, Making the World Cuter,  A Little Birdie Told Me (T) Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, Ten Buck Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tuesday's Treasures, Strictly Homemade, Show Me What Ya Got, Time to Shine,  (W) Wow Me,  Workshop Wednesday, Whassup Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Look What I Made, What I Whipped Up, The Trendy Treehouse, Wicked Awesome Wednesday , Good Life Wednesday, Inspiring Creativity, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) Beyond the Picket Fence  Creative Juice, Somewhat Simple, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's, Thrilling Thursday, (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday, SevenThirtyThree , Lovely Crafty Weekend , Simply Designing, Creative Corner, Tickled Pink 504 Main, Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence, Friday Flair, Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, Frugal Friday, Craft Goodies,  Flaunt It Fridays , Thirty Handmade Days (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming