Tuesday, January 25, 2011

And So It Begins...

Operation Our Bathrooms Need a Major Overhaul


In my bestest most creepiest Count voice: That's one, two, three, ahahahahaha toilets.

We're right smack dap in the very middle of destroying beautifying our bathrooms.

What's left to do in the half bathroom:
Swap out drain trap for sink
Install brand new toilet that flushes!
Tile floor
Install new baseboards

What's left to do in the guest bathroom:
Wait for tub valve part to arrive and finish installing
Install brand new toilet that flushes!
Tile floor
Install new baseboards
Paint stripes on wall

What's left to do in the master bathroom:
Everything! Ugh.

I'll post some before pictures of the master bathroom at some point.  

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Junk in the Trunk

That's what was in my trunk last night after a thrift shop run. Junk.

I found some more junk, but I had to practice self restraint. Really, what was I going to do with a landscape painting of trees for $3? Granted, it was an original canvas painting with no frame for CHEAP.... but come on... trees? My inner conscience keep screaming at me "that doesn't fit the decor in your house, Gaby!!" Alas, I surrendered and put it down.


This is all the crap that I found and did bring home.

1. Wine Chiller from Sharper Image.... this thing retails for $100, I got it for $5!!
2. Lamp Base ... $5 and totally perfect for the guest bedroom.
3. Bronze candelabra... $1 but needs a good cleaning.
4. Christmas tree cloche... $1.50
5. Roll of textured wallpaper... $3 ... omg omg omg omg, SCORE!

For the GRAND TOTAL of $16.53!

Featured Where??

So I was just checking my stat counter and saw hundreds of hits from Facebook and Twitter. My blog isn't even on Facebook or Twitter! I'm not even on Twitter! Facebook yes, but Twitter no. I started to search my referring links and found the answer! Amy from Mod Podge Rocks featured two of my Mod Podge projects (Cabinet Doors and Mosaic Wall Art) on Mod Podge Rock's Twitter and Facebook pages. Check them out here: Twitter  and  Facebook.



Thanks Amy!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Big Money, No Whammies!

I've been recruited into the shameless cult of Swagbucks followers. I'm obsessed!

For those who aren't in the know, but want to be in the know..  

Swagbucks.com is the web's premier rewards site. Powered by Prodege LLC, Swagbucks.com allows web users to earn virtual currency by doing the things they do every day - search the web, shopping at their favorite retailers, and by engaging in other activities such as phone recycling, submitting polls, and completing special offers. Swagbucks.com is the only place on the web to get what you want without ever having to spend a dime. 

I joined exactly one week ago and I've already redeemed Swag Bucks for TWO, count them - TWO, Amazon.com $5 gift cards. I'm totally stoked!You can redeem your points for tons of merchandise and gift cards.... like Home Depot! We all like Home Depot around here :)



If you want to join just click on the image above. It will take you to their site using my referral link. Each new member gets 30 Swag Bucks for signing up and when you refer friends you'll win Swag Bucks along with them. For each person you refer, you can win up to 1,000 Swag Bucks!

For those you of avid Groupon followers, you can earn Swag Bucks for buying Groupons if you link to Groupon through the Swagbucks website.

If you are skeptical about joining because you think it might be a scam... I can assure you it is not. Swagbucks is completely 100% legit!

Keep 'Em Comin'

I've slowly been making a dent in my cabinet door surplus by repurposing them into wall art. Here is yet another installment.


I hung these bad boys in the master bedroom right by the master bathroom. The intention is that random clothes that get thrown on the floor will get hung up instead. A girl can only hope.
 

Here's an action shot of our robes and hats hanging out.


A couple close up's of the knobs I used.


And a side profile just for kicks.



Supplies
3 cabinet doors ( from Ikea)
white semi-gloss paint
6 knobs (from Michael's)
wrapping paper
drill with bits

Ignore the huge "E" and "G" letters. That idea didn't work out.

I started off by giving each cabinet door about 6 coats of paint. The painters pryramids mentioned above are the absolute best thing ever invented. Hands down. I suggest every one should invest in some! But watching paint dry for hours not so much fun. After it dried I drilled pilot holes for my knobs and screwed in some D-ring hangers onto the back each door. Then I Mod Podged the wrapping paper onto the front. After they were dry I screwed in the knobs and hung them up.

MOD PODGE TIP
The wrapping paper kept wrinkling all over the door, but then I found out the trick to getting it on without wrinkles. Too bad I figured it out on the third cabinet door. The trick is to apply the Mod Podge to the paper and then let it dry for like a minute until it's tacky to touch - NOT wet. Then you just lay it down and flatten it out. You should now have little to no wrinkles!

See, no wrinkles!

COST BREAKDOWN
3 cabinet doors from Ikea = $5
Wrapping paper (Hobby Lobby) = $5
6 knobs (Michael's) = $5 (used coupon and got them for 80cents each)
6 d-ring hangers = $4
semi-gloss white paint = already had
Mod Podge = already had
TOTAL COST = $19



PARTY HARDY

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

DIY Mosaic Wall Art


Inspired by Remodelaholic.


Sometime in June I picked up all the supplies and set to work. Well, let me start by telling you this is one hell of a project to take on. For days I sat at the dining room table (while watching late night Lifetime movies of course) gluing each little square on to the board. Like most projects, I quickly became bored of it and set it aside in the basement for months.

But alas there comes a time when you start another project that then fuels you to complete your unfinished projects. You see, Thanksgiving was nearing and we were expecting a house full of guests so that basement bedroom needed to get done. That meant either I finish the mosaic wall art or trash it. So I decided I can't throw anything away I might as well finish it.

The instructions posted on the link above are pretty straightforward. however, I did tweak them a little to fit my needs.

Step 1: Gather your supplies. I chose to use an artist's canvas because I found it easier and cheaper then going to the hardware store, having them cut a piece wood for me, painting it, and then having to rig framing hardware onto the board.  For this project I used:
8 sheets of 12x12 cardstock in varying colors/textures
one artist's canvas in size of your choice (it's okay to use the type with staples on the sides)

Step 2: Cut your sheets of cardstock down to 1"x12" strips, then down to 1"x1" squares. For the 24x24 canvas, I ended up only needing six 1"x12" strips of each of the eight colors.

Step 3: Start gluing! I tried using a glue stick at first, but that didn't work so I just ended up using Mod Podge. And because I'm a horrible blogger I didn't take any pictures. But I did sketch something up in paint for you. I essentially started at one corner and worked off that, like this:
One problem I did encounter was that my cutting skills weren't 100% precise. Some squares were off by 1/1,000,000 of a millimeter (total exaggeration, of course) and that would throw off the straight edge that the squares create. So instead of just cutting new squares I would search all 576 squares (I didn't actually count the squares. I just did the math and yes, I actually do know how to do math) to find one that would fit next to the stupid square.

The craft store discounted this canvas because it had a tear, but the squares covered it up nicely. Win-win!

Step 4: Continue gluing until you have covered the entire face of the canvas. Now you want to cover the sides of your canvas that are still visible. To cover the frayed corners of the canvas I just folded a square in half and glued it over the 90degree corner.Then glued over it with another square to continue the pattern.



The sides of my canvas were actually 1-1/2" wide so instead of cutting the squares to fit I just glued them on and folded the excess over the edge of the canvas. I found this method made the lines look cleaner.

Step 5: Once all squares have been glued take the paint brush and slap on a layer of Mod Podge across the entire face and sides of the canvas. Let dry.



Step 6: Hang and enjoy!

Right now it's just hanging on a bare wall, but if Craig and his List would stop trying to sell me crap dressers or extremely over priced dressers then I might be able to remedy the situation. Come on Craig, I'm counting on you!

COST BREAKDOWN
24x24 Canvas - $10  (it was discounted due to the canvas being ripped)
Mod Podge - $6
8 sheets of 12x12 cardstock in the colors of your choice - $4
GRAND TOTAL = $20

PARTY HARDY

Monday, January 17, 2011

I'll Pay You...

...to come caulk my bathroom. Seriously, if you had to ask me what the one thing I absolutely hate the most about home remodeling it would have to be caulk. I hate it. Despise it. And the worst thing about it is that we both hate caulking and we both suck at it.

In the past 8 months, we've caulked the same shower three times. The crap keeps shrinking and cracking. Last night I caulked it, came back 3 hours later to see it had already started shrinking... so I added another layer of caulk. Ugh, I hate it.

I mean it. I hate the stuff. Around here I'm always the one to say "We can do it ourselves, we don't need to pay someone to do it!" Well, I've found my Kryptonite and for all of you super villains out there it's caulk.

I'll really pay someone to come caulk the bathroom. For reals.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Cabinet Door < 3

Just wanted to show you really quickly another cabinet door I found at Ikea and subsequently made into wall art.


I bought this when we first move in and I was still wet behind the ears in the junk-reviving department. There were about 4 or 5 of these, but I only grabbed one. I keep kicking myself in the rear for not buying more.

It is essentially a glass door with frosted/etched squares. I love how you see the shadows of the squares on the wall behind it.
I just added a couple of D-Ring Hangers to the back of the cabinet door and hung it on the wall. Didn't even change a single thing about it.

I love it when reviving junk is so simple. Don't you?

COST BREAKDOWN
Cabinet Door = $8
D-ring hangers = $1
TOTAL COST = $9