Stairs Revealed

I am updating our basement stairs. Here's the before:

 

 

Beige. Trippy stairs (and not trippy in a good way). And well, it's just not pretty.

But all that's changed!

 

Ta da...

Isn't that just the greatest pop of color? It's just what I needed in that space!

 

Did I get you? Do you really think that's what I'm going with? I totally punked you! Tee Hee. I truly crack myself up. Oh, and props for the Ashton Kutcher reference, right?

Okay, so here's what happened. We really are changing the stairs, and we also want to take that wall out. So, Mateo pried off the paneling to reveal ugly, crazy 1960s (I can't be sure, it just seems that way) wallpaper. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have found what 1970s paneling is better than - 1960s wallpaper. :) You want another look, I know.

 

That part of the wall is already out now. But the next part required the saw and little more time that we had, so now my stairs look like this:

 

Sad, to say that it is better this way than the wallpaper. For the actual inspiration, check out this post.

 

 

In the words of Adam Savage...

...failure is always an option.

We have these end tables:

Matt made them many years ago back when we had crazy furniture choices. The TV stand was the lighter color and the bookcases we had were the reddish color. These tables tied it together. At least that's what we told ourselves. 

They were nice, but they have been battered over the years. (They look nicer in the picture than in real life.) The furniture choices I've been making have been slowly guiding us towards darker wood with clean lines. So, I thought, why don't I sand these tables down and stain them darker? 

So, I debated and debated. I wanted them dark, but stain is translucent, right? So, I thought the color of the current stain would affect the outcome. Heh. Heh. So I thought!

I came home with the new color Classic Black from Miniwax. And to be cheap I bought the 1 step stain and polyurethane in one. Big mistake. Huge. I have to go shopping now. (Sorry, channeling Pretty Woman there.)

I should have bought the darkest brown, but it didn't seem right (dark enough). I should not have bought the 1-step, but it seemed like a time and money saver. Classic Black is not translucent. It does not let any color or wood grain show through! You might as well buy black paint. Also, the polyurethane part was super uneven.

Exhibit A:

Total failure. I had to sand again. My sander and I got to know each other very well. Say hello to Hermes.

Why Hermes? Well, he helps me send a message to that table.

Lots and lots of sanding later. Hermes and I were exhausted, we had most of the black off. Though is stayed in some grooves and imperfections. Clearly this was going to be a "distressed" table no matter what.

I bought a stain called Jacobean, which was probably the right choice all along and re-stained the table. It is not as dark as I was going for. Some of the wood just did not accept the stain the way I had hoped.

Here it is now, I haven't poly'ed it yet.

I don't love it. I am thinking about getting some wax paste and just playing around to see what happens. I've never used it before, but at this point we've already seen the worst so I might as well mess with it more. I'll keep you posted with what happens next.

[Update: my free sample from Valspar is on its way. Sonic Sky. I'm going out on a limb, but it will be fun.]

I have a little pillow

I want new pillows to freshen up my living room. I've haven't found all the fabric I really want yet. 

Here's what I have at the moment. I still love the colors, and in fact, my curtains are orange, so I will keep the theme, but add some yellow, maybe a little sky blue and ditch the brown.

The whole base of my room is pretty neutral, so I don't need neutral colors in my pillows. I haven't had a lot of luck finding anything I like though. 

A few weeks ago I did find this placemat at Target. It was the last one. (How do you stock so there is only one placemat left? Or, conversely, who bought an odd number? But I digress.)

Honestly, I was torn. I loved the look, but I have two boys who will turn this into some kind of weapon or shield and I wasn't sure it would hold up. Here's a close up:

I don't have a "hands off" living space. If it's out, it has to stand up to the boys. Period. It's the only way I'd be able to maintain sanity. And if you only have girls, you can't fully appreciate this issue. Boys in combo are whole different beast.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Pillows. I decided for $2, and a little work, it was worth the risk that it may be destroyed in less than a month. I like to live on the edge.

So, first I had to rip out the seam on one short side. 

Once I opened it up, I now have the material for the front and back already. (If I wanted a different back, I would have just ripped the seams all the way around.) 

My old pillow was almost the right size, so I unzipped it from it's old cover and shoved it in the new placemat-turned-pillow fabric. 

Now, my pillow was not quite as long, but it was also a little wide. But that's okay. The pillow was getting flat, so by stuffing it in a slightly smaller sleeve of fabric, it makes the pillow firmer without needed to open the pillow form and restuff. Does that make sense?

I folded down the little bit of excess (I could have cut it, but there wasn't that much so I didn't bother), pinned it, and sewed it with a whip stitch. Well, actually, I went and discovered I had no white thread. Who runs out of white thread?! Apparently me. So, I had to go to the store and then sew it up. 

I will look lovely for however long it lasts.(That yellow stripped pillow was in another room, I just moved it to the living room.)

Linking to:
Mad In Crafts

Like a light...

Do you ever finally solve a problem and realize that the solution was so ridiculously simple that you feel like an idiot for not solving it sooner? Welcome to my world.

I have a couple lampshades that are smooth and white. The trouble is keeping them dust free. I have tried dusting with dusters or dry cloths, damp cloths, Swiffer sheets, those air thingies (technical term)that clean keyboards, and even showering them.

Usually the results are improvement, but not really clean.

These lampshades have embarrassed me for quite awhile.

Then, like a light, :) it hit me. My lint roller!

People, why did it take so long to figure this out?!

I worked like a charm, though it took several of the sticky sheets to get each shade clean. But, oh!, so much better.

So, I may be a bit slow, but in case you have not realized the wonders of a lint roller for a lampshade, I bestow this knowledge on you. Happy Friday!

Camera One; Camera Two

I finally picked a new camera. You may recall that I dropped my old camera on my much hated ceramic tile kitchen floor. So, what's a blogging girl to do? I couldn't have blog posts without pictures. So, I began using my cell phone.

Really that cell phone camera wasn't too bad, but it couldn't zoom and there was no flash so the lighting had to be perfect. Oh, and it was tiny and light-weight so I had to work really hard to not shake at all. This all equaled less than pretty pictures.

Hello, cell phone (taken with new camera).

I looked and looked. I salivated over DSLRs that all the "big girl" bloggers say are a must. But, alas, my bank account just did not agree with the opinion that I needed a DSLR. I looked at everything, even Craigslist. No luck.

Finally, I decided I just needed a camera that worked. I would settle for a point and shoot, but I wanted 12-14 mega pixels so that I could crop tight or enlarge with good quality. I have taken some amazing pictures with my old point and shoot and truthfully, I want something that takes the family pictures fast and easy. I don't want to waste time with all the settings because I prefer to capture candid shots. (And I'm no professional, I can't change settings quickly.)

So, I wound up with a Sony Cybershot. I'm a little nervous about buying a Sony because I usually stick with well-known-for-making-cameras brands. However, this was 14 megapixels, has the basic settings and was on a wicked good sale. The bank account rejoiced.

New camera (taken with the cell phone).

By the way, I know I could have gotten screen shots from the inter-webs, but this way struck me as funnier, if a bit convoluted, a way to share these devices.

It's been a bit of an adjustment because the camera is so darn tiny, but at least there is a shake reduction thing on it. Yeah, I'm all about technical terms. So the jury is still out on whether or not I like it. Honestly, I still miss my old camera, but Canon doesn't make it anymore. :( I'm sure as I get used to it, I'll like it. At least it's better than the cell phone! The quality is much improved, though it's hard to tell in these two photos.

(P.S. This post is not an endorsement, paid or otherwise, of any of these brands. None of these companies has ever heard of me, nor do they care about my existence. But I don't hold that against them. Just sharing my life, that's all. Peace out. Ten-four, good buddy.) 

Can't forget the Eggs.

All right. I never really expected to post this many things related to Easter crafts like this or this, but it's been fun. I have wanted to try Onion Skin dyed eggs for a long time. It's been in my book for years. Pretty sure it was originally from Martha.

You will need old fabric or nylons cut into squares bigger than your egg. I used nylons. Lots of onion skins. I use onion in a lot of my cooking, so it didn't really take long to save some, I just stuck them in a paper bag. Rice and rubber bands. Oh, and eggs. Don't forget the eggs!

Lay the nylon or fabric on your counter.

place about 6 layers of onion skins on that.

Sprinkle with a bit of rice (you could use small leaves instead) 

and top rice with a few more onion skins.

Place egg on top of that.

Doesn't that nestled egg look precious?

Place more onion skins on top of the egg, then carefully wrap the nylon or fabric around your egg 

and secure with rubber bands. You want the onion skins tight against the egg, but, you know, don't smash your egg. :)

Get some water boiling. Gratuitous boiling water photo. :)

Carefully lower the eggs into the water and boil for 20 minutes. Yeah, those are the instructions.

Take them out and let them cool a bit. Unwrap. And to shine them up, you can rub them with a little vegetable oil.

So pretty!

Gabe thinks they look like wood.

The affect from the natural ingredients is amazing.

So, we tasted them because 20 minutes cook time on an egg is a lot. They reminded Matt of "cafeteria" eggs. They were edible, but a definite gray ring around the yolk. I'd recommend using them IN something like egg salad if you are into that sort of thing. I'm not. I'll just make some more to be pretty for Easter and then pawn them off on people. It's how I roll. :)

Linking to:
Somewhat Simple 
Centsational Girl

Deep breath...

Here are my basement stairs.

Yes, they are ugly. And those metal treads? I know they are supposed to keep you from slipping, but they actually are a tripping hazard!

Plus it hurts more when you fall.

Yes, I have fallen on my stairs. Sigh.

So, I have wanted a makeover for awhile, and I found the greatest inspiration: Lovely Crafty Home.

That is sealed kraft paper!


I think the demo is going to take awhile. I have to get off those treads and pull up all those peel and stick tiles, sand and paint before I even start with the kraft paper that will turn my stairs amazing. So, I'm going in...