Cook and Clean Play Kitchen

I knew I would regret not taking a before picture of this piece of furniture. My brother and sister-in-law picked it up at a thrift store for us and it has waited a long time to be re-purposed. It had two cabinet doors opening up on the bottom and it's previous life was probably as a TV stand.
I had a lot of help with the creation of this and I love how it turned out. Now I need to decide if it's staying for my kids or for sale.

Painted Frame Art - Girls' Room

I'm happy with how my daughter's room looks now that I completed their main wall with painted solid shapes and simple profiles of them.

The main reasons I did this project were:

1) I already had painted the left shape on the wall back when this was my youngest daughter's baby room and I didn't want to paint the whole wall to cover it up now that it wasn't centered over a crib.

2) Because this wall is over my daughter's bed, I didn't want anything heavy or potentially dangerous hanging on the wall.

3) I wanted something that would combine something personal for both girls and celebrate their sisterhood.

 This project wasn't very hard. The most time-consuming part was painting 3-4 layers of the pink paint for each shape. I designed the shapes using a yard stick, pencil, a level, a drinking cup to trace the scallops, a sheet of computer paper to create a template for 1/4 of my oval and a large piece of cardboard folded in half to cut out a stencil for the left shape (what is that shape called??).

Once the shapes where sketched with pencil on the wall, I painted them with pink paint using a medium size, high density foam brush.

I created the silhouettes of my daughters by taking their photo, putting the digital photo in a Word document with the margins as small as possible and the photo as large as possible, printing it, cutting out the silhouette how I wanted it and then tracing it with a box cutter into white contact paper. It was pretty fast and easy this way. I used my Silhouette craft cutter to make the "and" also out of cheap contact paper. The contact paper is staying up on the slightly textured wall very well. I am curious to see how long it stays tight to the wall and looking bright and clean. The girls have been commanded not to touch them!

Paint Stripper - Product Review & Ideas

I've been feeling very productive lately. Yesterday was a painting day with two projects completed. 

Here's one of them. 

I experimented with a new (to me) product to get several layers of paint off the pulls and knobs so I could spray paint them and have a smooth finish.

This paint stripper is in spray form. There are pour-able types too, this was the cheapest one on the shelf so it won.

Here is a pull and three knobs before being stripped of years of being painted.

My husband did the deed of spraying everything since I am pregnant and didn't want the fumes. 

A few minutes after being sprayed. 

I also tested it out on the drawer front that was in the worst shape. 

The first attempt wasn't as successful as we had hoped for two reasons:

1) The stripper instructions specify that it works best in temperatures from 75 to 85 degrees F. Even though we did this in the evening, the temperatures here were well exceeding that, possibly close to 100 degrees. So, although the can says to wait 15 minutes for the spray to work, we shouldn't have waited that long because it dried during that time, leaving the remaining paint very goopy and stuck. The one knob that I had rushed and didn't wait the full 15 minutes is the one shown in my hand (below) that has most of the paint off.

2) We did not have a wire brush or steel wool to assist in scraping the paint off.

The drawer front cleaned up well even in the hot weather and without a wire brush. Here it is the next day after I sanded it again. 

The next day, I purchased a large metal brush and we tried again with the spray with success.

We didn't wait as long (only 8-10 minutes after spraying), scrubbed hard with the brush and wiped them clean with a damp cloth.

Then, I rinsed them with water to be sure no chemicals were remaining and then spray painted them black.

I am enjoying the new little dresser as an addition to my girls' room and it coordinates very well with the large dresser that we painted a few years back.

~ Chelsea ~

Little Step

A quick project with my 18 month-old girl. 

She loves seeing everything happening outside our front window (neighbor cats, trash trucks, people walking dogs, etc) and each time she either wanted me to hold her up or she would stand on not-so-stable toys and things to give her an extra few inches. 

We had a day together without big sister (with grandma and grandpa) so we took a trip to Michaels to see what we could find. We scored an unfinished step stool that was broken (just the staples had  come loose on one side), so being the cheap shopper that I am, I asked if I could get it discounted since it was damaged. They gave it to me "as  is" for $2! I was very pleased. We came home and repaired it with some wood glue and an extra nail, sanded, spackled, caulked, primed and painted it. Then distressed it, since it will experience some natural distressing anyways being a toddler's step stool. 

My sanding helper...

This step stool was a fun, small project and it get used so many times a day. 

~ Chelsea ~

Little Touch of Happy Yellow

It may sound odd, but this is the first time I have painted a color on my walls in my home! My husband has been opposed to me painting walls colors. He's all about white walls for some reason. I've gotten used to that idea, although at first I was a bit shocked that he even had an opinion on the matter. Growing up, my dad never cared, at least I never saw him disliking all my mom's decorating and painting. 

Anyway, back to my color! Just a little space, but I love the color it brings to my ever-improving kitchen!

I mixed my own color of yellow using two paints I already had. One was Clarks & Kensington Spun Gold (flat) from a free paint Saturday at Ace a while back. The other was the cabinet color (Royal Southern Plantation, satin finish). I tested out the color on a little spot for a day (see below) and then ended up adding a lot more of the off-white to ease it up a bit. I didn't want it too overbearing. 

I am really enjoying it! 

Next up... installing the knobs and pulls that I purchased!

~ Chelsea ~

More about my kitchen project HERE and HERE.

Fabric Scrap Garland - Red, White & Blue

Another successful decoration made with everything I already had (and some fabric donations from my mom's stash). There are even some cut off jeans and old t-shirts in there! I used some hemp string that I had in my jewelry making box and my pinking rotary blade to cut the fabric strips with ease. Quick, easy, free and patriotic. 

If you want to make some garland for any occasion, just cut strips of fabric about 1-2 inches thick and however long you desire (mine ranged from 5-8 inches, I didn't measure anything). Then, do a single simple knot around a sturdy string in the order you desire. Can't get any easier!

Have fun celebrating the USA this week!

Celebrate America!

I'm feeling extra patriotic this year and I'm very excited for Independence Day next week.
I've been trying to come up with a decoration for my front door. I looked around the craft store and some of my favorite crafty blogs for inspiration, but I didn't see anything that I had time for or already had at least most of the materials for. I really should be banned from buying any additional crafty supplies until after I use what I have! 

So, I decided to use a scrap of bead board from my recent kitchen project, a contact paper stencil created by me and my Silhouette machine, paint and a strip of fabric that I had in my stashes.

Here's what I came up with:

Have I ever said that I love bead board!?

I do. 

And I also love my country and I pray that God can continue to be the leader of it as we allow Him.

~ Chelsea ~

Cabinet Painting is DONE!

A week of intense work on my kitchen has finally qualified this project to be labeled as "done"! I am so grateful for all the people that helped me complete this project. 

If you missed the before story of my kitchen cabinets, check it out HERE.

I've heard before that the best way to get a home project done is to plan a party to be at your house. I used my daughter's 4th birthday party as my deadline and there were moments when I didn't think I could pull that off. My dad hung the last cabinet doors just minutes before the first guests arrived!

My FAVORITE part:

Just a few small additional touches left like:

- knobs on top doors, handles on lower doors and drawers

- paint above cabinets and sink area light yellow

- spray paint stove hood black

- caulk and touch up a few doors

- painting/covering underside of upper cabinets that can be seen from our family room

- new dark granite-looking laminate counter tops in the future

- Maybe someday I'll get new matching appliances (wish)

My advice for anyone starting a similar kitchen painting project:

- Expect it to take longer than you expect. :)

- Take time to prepare before painting (deep cleaning, caulking cracks, Spackle holes, light sanding for a smooth surface).

- Don't get discouraged during the priming stage. It always looks worse before it looks better.

- Accept help with painting and/or child care.

So here's BEFORE:

And AFTER:

~ Chelsea ~

Kitchen Cabinets - Making Progess!

I'm getting excited as my kitchen cabinet project begins again after a long break. Let me fill you in on the story of my kitchen cabinets. 

Beginning of December 2012, I aqcuired some cabinets that would fill a vision I have had for the dining room side of my kitchen. I never liked looking at the bare back side of the kitchen cabinets, and I thought it would be great to have additional cabinet space in this area. My dad helped that vision come true by installing the cabinets after much preparation, measuring and spacing. 

As you can see, the process of installing these extra cabinets was far from simple. It required demolition, supports in the attic/crawl space, drywall repair, spacing between the upper cabinets, creation of a toe-kick riser for the lower cabinets and much energy and time. I was immediately in love with my new cabinets, although, they have sat looking un-finished for nearly half a year.

Here's a view of the kitchen a few months back.

And the unfinished ends that have been staring at us for too long...

I primed and painted the top new cabinets back in March, but they are still in need of a final coat. The others have been waiting...

...until this past Saturday when we caught the vision again!

I began on Friday deep cleaning all the cabinets with TSP and taking off the cabinet doors on the top (since my little girls would be around I didn't want the bottom ones off).

Then Saturday morning, I primed the "bones" of the top cabinets and the trim.

I used both brush and small roller.

Here's a photo of the priming process...

And here's that hideous end, waiting for my favorite part!!!

Bead Board!!!

I'm so happy with how the bead board looks, even un-finished. 

This week I'm hoping to wrap up this kitchen project!

- Spackling, light touch-up sanding and caulking today.

- Full day of priming and painting tomorrow (grandma is taking the girls, hooray!).

- Replacing all the doors and drawers.

- Putting new bumpers on the insides of doors and drawers.

- I'm hoping to find a great deal on some hardware to give a finishing touch.

I'm looking forward to seeing the fruit of the labors of many, especially my dad, in this kitchen project!