Thursday, March 19, 2015

DIY Whiteboard Calendar

I wanted to make a cute whiteboard-type calendar for our kitchen to help keep track of our busy schedules.  Pinterest had some cute ideas, and I decided it was a fairly simple project worth doing.  We already had an extra frame on hand that would match nicely in our kitchen.  I love going to Joann Fabrics for most craft supplies, but I especially get sucked into the fabrics.  There are so many fabrics I would love to buy for quilts or costumes; I get quite inspired and then want to start more projects each time I go.  I often have had to keep my project list in check in order to prevent getting ahead of myself and knee deep in multiple projects.  I found a cute fabric that I thought would be a good background for the calendar.  Initially I had seen the idea of getting different colored paint chips from Home Depot/ Lowes and cutting them to size for each day of the week, and I thought this was a fun idea with lots of colors to choose from.  I had intentions to do this and once I had decided on a color, I realized it would involve a few trips to the store in order to get enough for 35 squares (one for each day of a calendar).  Once I had the fabric, I decided I would just use some plain white and gray scrapbook paper for my squares- to save myself all the trips to the store and get the calendar finished sooner.


I cut & folded the fabric to fit the frame.  I decided to slightly wider than the width of the frame and then taped the edges down on the back.  I left the length of fabric and just folded & taped it on the back, in order to keep the piece as large as possible just in case I want to use it for something else in the future.  Then I used my paper cutter to cut each square to 2.75" x 2.75".  I made 35 squares of grey & white.  This size square allowed me to have a nice size border around the edge of the calendar.  Then I used tape to gently hold each square in place, with a thin gap between squares to act as the border lines for the calendar.  I made a rectangular "Month" piece and attached that at the top.  Then I gently flipped the whole piece over and set it into the frame and closed it up.

Bought a pack of thin tip dry erase markers, and now we have a re-usable monthly calendar to help keep our busy lives coordinated.  This is an easy & inexpensive project, and looks cute too.  I have seen others make white boards for "To Do" and shopping lists and also one week calendars.  Whatever your need, there is a board that can easily be made to serve your purposes.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Apparently, I Collect Potty Seats

It came to my attention that we now have a collection of potty seats; 4 to be exact.  This may not seem excessive, but Redwoodshire only has 1 bathroom, with 1 toilet.  The Laird jokingly commented, "Some people collect cloth diapers (referring to our friend); you collect potty seats!"
Shown below are our 3 potty seats, all purchased at different times and with different purposes.  Each one purchased is with high hopes of making it through potty training smoothly and as quickly as possible.


We have the Freestanding potty, the Cushioned toilet topper seat, and the slimline/ foldable travel potty seat cover.




 The collecting potty seats joke came after I went to Lowes for a new toilet seat, and came home with one that was twice the cost of the rest- but this one had a built in potty seat.  I felt excited and justified in this new purchase, but knew the Laird would have something to say about it.



When we moved to Redwoodshire last year, the existing toilet seat was the kind made of wood.  I like the look of the wood toilet seats, however after time they break down and are very difficult to clean.  We had one at our previous home, and by the end of 3 1/2 years of living there, that toilet seat wreaked!  I couldn't handle it- and then we moved.  So Redwoodshire came with one of those wooden toilet seats, I decided that one had to go!  The Laird went to Lowes and picked out a new toilet seat.  This is what he came home with.  He did not realize there were different size toilets seat/ shapes- round & oval.  So he picked this one out.  Who buys the open ended toilet seat for their home bathrooms?  It made perfect sense to the Laird- no pee on seat without having to lift the seat up.  This seat and design practically wanted to swallow us whole.  Unfortunately it had to go.  We lived with it for a year, but with the bathroom upgrade and guests coming over, I decided that we could afford a new seat (though the other would be wasted).





When was the last time you bought a new toilet seat?  I had no idea how many different options there are- probably like 15-20.  You can get plastic, wood, enamel covered wood, and then there is oval and round, and then there are normal lids and easy close lids to choose from.  I spent a good 15 minutes examining my options.  Normally cheaper would be my style, but then I found this toilet seat and couldn't resist it.


 This Next Step toilet seat, has a built in child seat that folds down.  When not in use, a special magnet in the toilet lid holds it out of the way.  This seat also has the "no slam" lid, that slowly and gently lowers down and avoids pinching little fingers.

With 3 potty seats, the Laird questioned why we needed a toilet seat with a built in potty seat.  My logic was that we'd be potty training for what feels like the next 7-8 years (by the time we get to our last child), and with the tiny size of our bathroom, having a built in potty is one less thing clogging up our minimal floor space (our current potty seat hangs off the vanity side, but sat on the floor behind the toilet before that).



Installation went perfectly and in a snap (literally as this seat had interchangeable hardware with the other seat we had).  Lady genevieve likes it, but still prefers her cushioned toilet topper potty seat.  My hope is that she'll eventually grow fond of the big girl potty, and we can get rid of the cushioned toilet topper seat.  I love our new, round toilet seat!  Now don't get me wrong- I do think we have an excessive number of potty seats- but it just ended up this way so we will figure out which ones we like best and utilize them.  Let's just hope for smooth sailing potty training when the little lady is ready. In the meantime, that little cushioned blue/white seat doesn't have to hang out in the bathroom.




Wednesday, March 11, 2015

If You Build It & Fill It, They Will Come- our bird feeder in full swing

The view of a Cardinal in our bird feeder from the upstairs hall window
Much to our whole family's delight, the birds have finally found the Laird's bird feeder and are enjoying the food we have provided them.  The Laird figured out how to secure the bird feeder to a pole and placed it in the back of our home, near the fruit trees.  We can watch the birds perfectly at eye level, from our western great room window or we can peer down at them from the window at the tops of our staircase.

Once the Laird replaced the mixed bird seed, with sunflower seeds, the birds started coming.

We have:
a Red Belly Woodpecker,  a Downy woodpecker, cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, sparrows, nuthatch, junkos (lady Genevieve's favorites)... and a naughty squirrel.  There are some blackish birds we have yet to identify.  It is quite amazing and entertaining to watch them from so close.  They generally take turns and individually visit the feeder, and then fly back to the tree, and another bird swoops in for a snack.

A beautiful male Cardinal feeding
A Blue Jay 
Who needs television when you have the birds to watch.  Lady genevieve has already started to identify & differentiate the woodpecker, cardinals and blue jays at the ripe age of 23 months.  She and the Laird enjoy putting new bird seed/ sunflower seed in the feeder together.




Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Process of Our Primitive Cabinet Restoration




 We found this late 1800's pine primitive cabinet on craigslist and purchased it for $160.  In need of a kitchen pantry and extra storage space- this piece fit our open wall perfectly.









 We started the restoration by removing the crackling paint with a heat gun.  This enabled us to avoid having to sand off all the paint and send dust flying everywhere.










Cabinet with most of the paint removed.

Then we sanded the exterior/ interior surfaces to smooth the surface and prepare for paint.  This sanded state looked amazing- I loved how the bare wood looked on the outside, and how the distressed/ sanded areas peered through the interior paint.  

















Then the Laird used liquid nails to repair a few pieces of wood bead board that were splintered and coming off.



The Laird worked hard to rebuild the top of the cabinet.  When we bought the cabinet, it was made of 2 pieces, that were un-level.  It looked like it probably had a step back upper cabinet sitting on top of it at some time.  He cut the front piece and purchase some stair treads with a bull nose edge for the sides.  The top is now 4 pieces of wood, and completely level.  He also build a shelf for the inside of the cabinet.













I used white and gray chalk paint to paint the exterior and interior cabinet.  I was very excited about the chalk paint.  I pained a base coat of gray and then white washed it.   Then I sealed the paint with cream wax, followed by dark wax in hopes of an antique look.  When all was said and done, I hated the way it looked.  Then I repainted it a solid white.  The interior bottom shelf I left gray.  

I lightly sanded all the hinges and hardware, and then spray painted them with Rubbed Oil Bronze.  We reattached the hardware.  Then the Laird attached trim under the top and painted it white to match the cabinet.  


The restoration of this cabinet was a cool project for the Laird and I to work on together as a team.  It looks great in our kitchen, and functions as that much needed extra storage.  I am very glad that it is finally done, and we can move on to other projects.

I learned that chalk paint can turn out very beautiful, but is not my cup of tea.  I love the projects I have seen where others have used chalk paint & wax, but I was not impressed with how it worked out for me.  I will stick with regular solid paints, which turned out pretty similar to my final product, and cost much less that the combination of chalk paint & wax.










Monday, March 2, 2015

Hanging a Sliding Barn Door & Track


This past weekend, the Laird with the help of his father, took on the task to hang the sliding barn door that I built for our bathroom.  I decided having a sliding door would add some interior space to our tiny bathroom.  As it was, the door would hit the curved shower curtain rod, and not completely open all the way.  There is a lot of open space on the hall wall near the bathroom, so a sliding door would not only fit well, but function wonderfully inside and out.



I purchased all of my barn door hardware off or Amazon.com.  Parts needed:






















While building the door, I stained a 1" x 6" pine board to mount the Box Rail.  I lightly sanded and then spray painted all of the metal parts with Rubbed Oil Bronze spray paint.

First, the Laird used a paddle drill to drill holes into the top of the door to attach the trolleys to the top of the door.  Then he measured how high the pine board needed to be hung.  Unfortunately this measurement was not high enough, and it had to be re-done.


 The Laird used a stud finder to locate all of the studs for mounting.  Like the rest of our house, this particular wall was creatively constructed- as it did not have standard stud distances.  We also discovered that the door frame was not level.  Oh the joys of a very old & settled house!  After leveling and securing the mounting board, the laird then attached the Box Rail brackets.  Once that was complete, he slide the box rail track into place.  The track had to be mounted level, but off angle to the board, due to the quirky unlevel door frame.  Once that was done, it was time to hang the door.  Upon hanging the door, we realized that the track/ mounting board were not hung high enough, and the door wouldn't slide along the track- hence round 2 of installing the barn door track.  The second time went much quicker, though the Laird was a little frustrated.  After a few adjustments, we have a functioning sliding barn door for our bathroom and we love it!












We have yet to purchase and hang new door trim & casing.  We also need to attach handles to both the inside and outside of the door.  We love everything about this new door.  I looks amazing!  And gives a cool peak into the bathroom as we come to the top of the stairs.   The bathroom even feels more spacious.  Next task is to update the bathroom!  Will add final photos once handles and trim are installed.  Are you starting to love interior barn doors, as much as I do?  We have a few more to build for the bedrooms.  More to come...

OLD bathroom door:                                       NEW bathroom door: