DIY

Operation Organization: Front Hall Closet, part 1

Posted by Nat on Nov 17, 2011 | 1 comment

*Note:  I’ve decided to make this a series since I have lots of organizing to do.  I’m a bit type A in this area, so I will hopefully have some good stuff to share with you as I strive towards knowing where all of my crap is .

A long time ago I posted about our hallway closet.  I love that closet.  The rest of our closets, however, have been on the back burner.  Back at the beginning of this year my husband and I bought Elfa shelving from The Container Store during their huge Elfa sale.  If you live near a Container Store you should check out that sale- it’s rad.  The shelving we bought, however, has been sitting, waiting to be installed.  Now that things have calmed down on the baby front we are ready to dive back into some house projects, and this is one of them.  We also did not paint this closet upon move-in at this house, mainly because we had nearly 2,000 square feet of house to paint, and this closet was low on the totem pole of paint.

It’s in a tricky spot, right by our front door, and it doesn’t have a light inside it, so these shots will not be the best photos.

I emptied it out, and here’s what it looks like empty.

I can’t believe I’m showing you this, but here’s a corner up close, so you can see all the cobwebs, dust and faded paint.

When I demoed (sp?) the existing shelving it was really more difficult than I thought it would be.  I had to pry the shelf supports off and they had the longest nails I’ve ever seen.  And the dividing board that separated the hanging garments from the rest- it was like moving a mountain.  Okay, not a mountain.  But it was hard. What I was left with was lots of holes in the drywall.  Lots.  That top “oops” and left-pointing arrow are pointing to a hole I didn’t get on my camera, but my husband had to patch it by sawing out some of the existing dry wall and replacing it with new stuff.  Neat.  Oops.

And here’s where we are today:  ready for installation.  I’m waiting for Emily to go to sleep so I can put in the shelving.

The only challenge we have once finished is what to do with this crack in the flooring and baseboard where the previous closet set up was.  I’m thinking a rug?  Not sure…  This flooring will get replaced eventually, so we’re not patching it up.

Joy! A Glitter-Filled Tutorial

Posted by Nat on Nov 15, 2011 | 1 comment

I am so excited about these things!!!!!!

I keep walking by them, sitting on my cluttered table in my guest/craft room and I stop just to look at them sparkle.  I plan on using them for at least two things.   One is obviously decor for the holidays.  The other you’ll have to wait and see.

I never got excited about glitter until I had kids, but seeing things the way they see them- now I like the glitter and such of the holidays.   Now let’s get one thing straight:  Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday.  We do not play Christmas music or decorate for Christmas until the weekend after Thanksgiving.  But given what I’m going to use these for, I had to get crackin’.

So, here’s what you need to create your own glitter letters:

• patience
• time
• glitter in desired colors (you’ll see what I used below)
• letters (I got mine at Joann’s, though I don’t really like them pre-glitter- next time I will get some cuter ones like these)
• glue (I used Elmers)
• paint for covering letters before glittering
• paintbrushes- having a few sizes helps
• small paper plates- cheap & thin ones that bend easily
• rulers and other things for tracing patterns
• newspaper for protecting your surface from glitter

Paint your letters.  I painted all but a very small area first; let dry; finish; let dry.  I did two coats, and I used acrylic mainly because I had some.

Once your paint is dry, you can pencil your design on the front.  I knew I wanted each letter to be different.  What’s lovely is that you don’t need to worry if you mess up- the glitter will cover it all- hooray!  So, for example, when I did the “J,” I just used a ruler and traced it at an angle.

The “O” I freehanded, and I just labeled it with which color I wanted the dot to be, R’s for reds, G’s for greens.  I used two different spools of thread to trace the circles.

Now comes the fun part- the glitter!  I decided, since I needed glitter anyway, to try Martha Stewart’s glitter line.  It does not disappoint- it is so fine (as in tiny) and the colors are just beautiful.  These are the three colors I used (white gold, peridot & garnet):

I wasn’t sure if I’d want to buy the entire set that they sell with a bazillion colors.  I’m glad I got the bigger jars, but will be tempted now to get the whole set and glitter my entire house.

For the “J” I painted the glue on with a paint brush and did only one color at a time.  So I did silver first since it was going to be every other stripe.  I’d paint a stripe with glue, sprinkle on the glitter, and then tilt & tap to get the excess off.  At first I used a spoon until I got used to it, but found that after a while the spoon was just an extra step.

See that pile o’ glitter on my newspaper?  If you keep reading you’ll see how I get it back in the bottle and make very little mess (I think).

For the “O” I just used the tip of my glue bottle.  First I outlined the circle, then I filled it in.  I did find that if I was super careful with how smooth the glue was, the glitter adhered better.  Circles like the one on the right did not turn out looking as nice and I had to fill them in.

For the “Y” I did the red center first, then the colors on either side (sorry- for some reason “Y” didn’t get a lot of photo time and is sniveling in the corner.)

I think the most important thing about this is patience- waiting for the glue to dry.  I used a rather thick coat of glue, and didn’t want it to run and mess up my design.  So, for example, for the “J”, I did all of the silver stripes one day, and then the next I did the red and green.  The hardest letter by far, was the “O.”  Filling in all that silver around the dots took a lot of time, and it’s still not “perfect” but it’s cute.

So here’s how to get all that excess glitter back in the bottle/jar.  You’ll see below that after I did some green glitter I had a TON on the newspaper.  And on the right, you’ll see that my green glitter jar is nearly half empty.  This is where those cheap & flimsy paper plates come in.

Take your newspaper and angle it so that the glitter all slides to the center creases in the middle of the paper.  You’ll have to do this a few times from all sides of the paper.  Then carefully lift your paper with it folded in half, and tilt it.  Carefully dump all the glitter onto a paper plate (mine are about 6 inches across).

Now that your glitter is on the plate, it’s much easier to control.

Fold your plate in half, and then carefully aim it into the glitter jar- whoosh!  It all goes in, and if you’re lucky, it doesn’t spill!  Added bonus, you’ll hardly use any glitter- you’ll have a ton left.  None of my jars are even remotely used up, even after making these pretty thangs!

And one final look.  Please do tell, by the way- do you like glitter?  Hate it?  Like to have glittered things but don’t know about DIY?  I wasn’t sure about this and am so glad I did it!

Inspired by Erma

Posted by Nat on Oct 27, 2011 | Comments Off on Inspired by Erma

Did you grow up reading Erma Bombeck?  I did.  I kind of miss her.  There’s no one like her, really.

When I was old enough to read, and wanted to impress my parents and grandparents, I knew I couldn’t *just* read the comics anymore.  I think I was probably 12 or so.  And conveniently, in our newspaper, Erma’s column was near the comics, so it was an easy migration.  I started with that, and then I think my mom may have read some of her books, so I read them, too.  I love her sense of humor, and her healthy grip on the reality of motherhood and all that it entails.

Pretty soon I’m going to whip my laundry room into shape.  It’s getting there, and I’ve already done a few things, but have so much more to do.  In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for this sneak peek.  There was a little spot over our washer that I stare at a lot.  I decided that it would be nice to have something to look at instead of a blank wall, and I’ve always liked this quote from Erma.  So I fiddled around in Photoshop and here’s what I came up with:

I’ve had this panoramic, 12×4 photo frame for years.  Nearly a century, I think.  So I spray-painted it a creamy white, added some twine, and voila- this is much nicer to stare at!  And this was all free- my husband likes free.  So do I.

I also figured that you might not want one in 12×4, just in case you aren’t a frame-hoarder like myself.  So I also made it in 8×10 format.  Hope you enjoy! You should be able to right-click on either to download to your own computer, but let me know if that doesn’t work.

I can’t wait to show you more of our laundry room, but I have a pretty big project for it before I can show it to you.  🙂

Microcrafts: Halloween Bunting

Posted by Nat on Oct 20, 2011 | 1 comment

I am so excited to tell you about a new book, “Microcrafts,” by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, Katie Hatz, and Friends.  I was sent this book by Eric at Quirk Books, the publisher.  The book itself is very nice- quality paper, great photos and instructions.  If you Google it you’ll find lots of lovely reviews with photos from the book, but I’m more into showing you what I’ve made from the book.  I’m new to the world of microcrafting, and after looking at this book I’ll be trying several things from it.  Having a little girl obsessed with tiny things helps.

The first and most accessible project for me (given when it arrived with family and friends in town) was bunting.  I guess one would call it “micro-bunting” because the little flags are only 3/4″ across!  It was super easy to slice up the paper. I dug into my crafting stash and found an angle guide for my paper cutter (which is broken- I need a new one).

I decided to add to our Halloween decor, so I chose the paper, and cut it into a few 1-inch strips.

Then it was just time to make triangles:

 As I was slicing I gained an assistant.  Often I have to tell Anna that she can only watch with my projects, but she is totally into using scissors right now, so I just gave her a few strips and traced the triangles on for her- she loved helping, and she actually did a great job.  She also helped me sort the triangles after slicing them so that I could load them into the sewing machine in a pattern.

I got lots of “awesome mommy” points that afternoon- she was so happy.

The only problem I had (please share if you know a solution) is that they won’t lay flat like they do in the book.  My first attempt was too embarrassing to post, so I tried again, lengthening the stitch, and that helped a little.  I tried flattening them overnight with a magazine or two (hot doctors can always help, right?)…

…But they still don’t look as nice as in the book.  Oh well- they are still super cute.

I’m going to make some more for our laundry room, which will be updated soon, so I’ll post more about them if I figure out what helps them lay flat. Maybe something to do with the tension in my thread…  There will definitely be more microcrafting posts coming up!

Disclosure:  While I was not paid for this post, I was sent the book for free with the expectation that I’d do a review.  Thanks, Quirkbooks!  If you’d like to get your own copy, it’s available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Shelf Makeover or… {flat surface angst}

Posted by Nat on Sep 21, 2011 | 1 comment

I have a love/hate relationship with flat surfaces.  What would we do without them?  Surely everything would end up on the floor.  But because of them, there is clutter in my house and there are times when I seriously want to just open the trash can and sweep my arm across the length of our counters and swoosh it all away, even if there is a gift card lurking in there somewhere.

I’m sure you also have a love/hate relationship with something in your house, whether it’s a room, a light fixture, a door, something.  Enter our shelf in the kitchen/eating area:

On the one hand, this thing is awesome because it stores much of Anna’s everyday art supplies (soon all the kids will use them, but for now, Anna rules the art roost here), and is a great place to throw our keys, a box of tissue, and because it’s where little hands can’t reach, I can put things up there and know that they are safe for the moment.  On the other hand….. it’s seriously fugly.  And tired.  And old.  Did I mention it was ugly?  Here’s a closeup of the bottom shelf.

I spoke to my husband about it several times, and he mentioned that he was worried it wouldn’t stay up if we took it down and put it back up.  For a while we were distracted with larger tasks with our house, so I just pondered what I would do, and finally the day arrived when I had to do something- I couldn’t take it anymore.  So I took it down and disassembled it.  I told my husband that if it didn’t go back up we could just hang some art in its place, and he agreed after seeing the look of desperation on my face.  Here’s the finished product:

The metal frame I spray painted with this stuff:

It worked really well- it really does look hammered, and now that the iron (?I think?) has a sheen to it it seems so much nicer.

The shelves I spray painted white.  I was going to use go ol’ 12×12 scrapbooking paper to cover it and give it some life, but the paper was too small, and I wanted a continuous pattern.  Then my little genius self remembered that I have a large format printer, so I scanned the paper I liked (I think from a stack of paper from Michael’s) and printed it on an 11×17 piece of paper.  I trimmed it up and used, of course, Mod Podge, to seal it on.

I ended up not really needing to do the top shelves because not very many people will be able to see them since they are so high, but oh well- they look nice even if only my 6’7″ brother-in-law can see them.  🙂

It looks so much better.  I don’t love it, but I like it a lot more.  It will definitely go when we remodel our kitchen someday (oh, how I dream of demo-ing the wood paneling), but for now it’s serving it’s purpose and it’s a lot cuter to look at.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

My parents are in town and we’re having lots of fun.  I’m going to post more when I can- I just added lots to our laundry room- but we have to soak up the grandparent fun while we can!