DIY repainting a bathroom #diy #paint #updatethebathroom

This was the original color of the bathroom.  For some reason, lately it looked like the color of poo.  So it had to go.

After thought and sampling, the family decided on "Greek Isles" blue.

It's actually a much more vibrant blue than the pictures show.  Definitely a brighter room as a result.  Now to do other minor things to finish the bathroom and it'll be done. Sometimes it's the simple things that make me happy.

Updating my home and keeping me motivated #diy #painting #bobatea

My house is old.  I've gotten tired of it looking tired.  So, I'm updating it as I can.  Things keep happening which keep house updates from occurring, but it will eventually all happen.  This past spring break, my son and his friend ripped up the carpet on the stairs.  It was in really bad shape thanks to cats.  Once it was up, I determined that the wood underneath was in acceptable condition so it didn't have to be replaced (yea!).  Instead of more carpet, I decided to paint it.  The catch, once I'd painted the stairs, the trim and walls looked very dirty.  So, updated the trim and stairwell walls.

 This made the hall upstairs and downstairs look dirty.  Today (by 8:30a)  I finished updating the paint on the walls of my hallways. 

I've got some decorating I want to do (I'll post on that later), but my next big paint project is to finish the repair of the ceiling in the den.  That will lead me to painting the ceilings in the den and the kitchen.  It will probably eventually carry over into ceilings in other rooms.  It's one never ending project.

To make sure I keep myself working on the house, I promise myself treats as I get to various points.  Mainly, my treats are boba tea.  Doesn't sound like much, but it works for me.  You could say that getting the house refreshed is a reward in and of itself, but with so many things that have to happen, I'm better off taking small steps.  Otherwise, it would all get very overwhelming very quickly.  Now that school has started again, progress will, unfortunately, slow down.

Knocking out my To Do list #DIY #Painting #Updatingmyhouse

For the past several months I've been pondering what color would look the best on my stairs. Over spring break I had my son and his friend rip up the cat-damaged carpet to see how the wood looked. We patched what needed patching and then started on colors.  I painted two colors on two stairs at a time, then lived with it a while before making a final decision.  The kids wanted me to continue picking colors and end up with rainbow stairs. 

This was the final color choice.  Unfortunately, it has made the dirt and condition of the wall paint very apparent.  So, next up, trim and wall paint.

Keeping unemployed teens busy #project #house #diy

It started Wednesday when our internet went out.  My son hasn't started classes yet, so he was home.  He came down and asked me about the stairs that I had said I wanted to rip up the carpet on over the summer.  I had wanted to see what the treads looked like to either replace/paint/stain to make them look better.  The cats (and age) had pretty well destroyed the carpet and I was using duck tape to cover the holes.  So, Wednesday he pulled up the carpet on one tread.  His best friend had graduated HS recently as well and hadn't found a job yet, so he was unoccupied as well.  So, I got both of them together Thursday to finish the job.

 

Some of the treads probably need to be replaced.  Most of them are in good condition. I don't think they'd stain well and I really don't want more carpet to go down.  So, now I have to decide whether I have to replace those treads (replace them if so) and then to figure out a color scheme.

I've achieved wings! #diy #maker #Halloween #craft

I don't remember if I got this idea from pinterest or youtube.  My daughter has already challenged me to the next stage, though that one won't happen before Halloween.  The frame is crudely bent metal coat hangers.  I did my best to match them up as I was bending them.  There is electrical tape covering the sharp edges at the end and holding the pieces together.

The material covering the frame is from Hobby Lobby's scrap material area.  It has cool spider webs on it for the Halloween theme and only cost about $2 total.  I tried to get a shot of the material up in front of the window, but my camera wasn't sure where it was focusing and tried to get the trees through the wing.  The material covers both sides and is hot glued on.  I used ribbon around the edge to clean up the edges.

The strings to hold it together to the body are extra shoe laces.  I took an extra bit of coat hanger to the middle of each to give it support/structure, then glued them on.  I'll go back at some point and may use thread to reinforce it.

VOILA! Black spider webbed wings.  Not sure what I'm going to use them for, but they look cool to me.

Halloween Cauldron #DIY #Maker

I got the idea for this from Pinterest.  I changed it a little, but not hugely.  The equipment needed was a plastic cauldron, piece of cardboard cut to fit the top of the cauldron, hot glue gun, expanding foam insulation and a wire basket.  Optional is a light set to put into the foam for extra effect.

Step 1: put cardboard circle into mouth of cauldron.  This took some work for me as I cut the cardboard to fit exactly.  After some play and the use of a coat hanger slightly bent, I got it into place.  I then used hot glue to make sure it stayed there.

I moved outside for the rest as I most assuredly make a mess, despite my attempts otherwise.  Instead, I now plan to minimize what mess I make to make clean-up easier.

Coat the top of the cauldron with the expanding foam.  As much or as little as you think makes a good bubble.  While it's still wet, you can embed the lighting into the foam.  Try to keep the lights outside of the foam but the cord in. You can add more foam as necessary.

VOILA!  A bubbling cauldron.  The original post used a tripod they built to hang the cauldron.  I found a metal plant hanger for less than $2 at a local shop.  I already had the hook in the yard with a bird feeder on it. I just took down the feeder and swapped out for the holiday.

Frightening Friday Spiders #maker #recycle #Halloween

I've been making again.  This time it's for my Halloween scene outside.  I made one of these guys last year, I made two this year.  The body is a black garbage bag full of newspaper.  The head is a grocery bag full of newspaper.  Legs are rolled newspaper and rolled garbage bags.  Eyes are the bottoms of cups, fangs were cut out of a paper plate.  They don't look overly spooky now, but on Halloween I'll place a small spotlight on them and they'll do very well.

Hylian Shield #DIY #cosplay #Zelda #TwilightPrincess

When it came to being able to cosplay Link, my son only actually asked me to make the shield. I did the sword first, then the shield. I remembered to take more pictures this time as well. Supplies needed were foam board (2 pcs from Hobby Lobby for $5), paint (already had), xacto knife (already had), pattern (from youtube), and patience. It took me about 4-5 hours to do all together.

I started first with cutting out the base of the shield from one piece of foam board. It took up most of the sheet (20"x25").

The smaller pieces I got out of the bits left over from the initial cut. The bird will be a stencil that I'll use to paint onto the shield, instead of using extra foam board.

I got one side of the foam board wet (damp cloth) and then put it up so that weights would force the foam board to warp like I wanted it.

While the base dried to it's new shape, I painted all the smaller pieces. Most were silver, the triforce is gold.

Everything pre-painted, but not assembled.

Start of the assembly process. I didn't like the edges on most of it, so I used silver duck tape to trim the edges out. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but well enough for now.  This is most of the smaller pieces glued to the shield.

After using my bird stencil, I had this on the shield. I went back a second time without the stencil to clean it up.

The back was spray painted black. The straps are black duck tape. (Duck tape fixes everything.)

The front with all the details.  The rivets are buttons covered in duck tape, trimmed, glued.  The curls are grey marker that I free drew on.

Sword and shield together. For a first time for both, I'm rather happy with the results. I think I'll try other methods of cutting or different foam board next time for the shield.

My first wooden sword #Zelda #Mastersword #madeitmyself

My son has wanted to cosplay Link for a while now. We picked up a metal version of the Master Sword at a con a year or so ago. Unfortunately, you can't wear the sword TO a con as part of the costume. So, I got it into my head to try my hand at making a wooden sword he could wear instead. Lesson learned - don't use pressure treated wood. The lessons online said use 1x4 for the sword and trace the outline on that. That person then had to glue on the additional parts of the hilt that wouldn't fit. I got the bright idea of using 1x8 instead so that the whole thing would fit. It fit, it was just a bear to work with pressure treated wood.

This is after tracing and cutting with a jigsaw. My first time playing with a jig saw, much less trying a craft like this.

I apologize that I didn't take a lot of pictures in between. Shaping took a lot of sanding (fortunately, I have a Mouse sander and a dremel). The knot in the wood required wood putty as well to fill in the gaps that showed when sanding. Once shaped as best as I could get it (I know it's not perfect), I sprayed the blade with metallic chrome spray paint and the hilt with metallic blue. I taped off the opposite area I was painting to make a clean line between the hilt and the blade.  The diamond I tried initially to just paint on, but the paint I used wouldn't "stick" to the paint on the sword already. Instead, I cut a couple of small pieces of balsa, painted those gold, and glued them on. I then resprayed the entire thing with a clear coat acrylic paint.

VOILA!  A homemade wooden Master Sword.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Mary Poppins' umbrella head #DIY #crafting #fun #cosplay

For MomoCon  I had created a Mary Poppins costume to wear.  For the parrot head umbrella, I used floral foam shaped and hot glued to an black umbrella. Unfortunately, floral foam isn't strong enough to stand up to a con, so it didn't last the day.  I want to reprise the costume, but really needed to fix the umbrella.  This is what I came up with.

I started with a block of "regular" styrofoam from Michaels/Hobby Lobby.

I cut it to shape and started to cover it with regular wood putty (from Home Depot).

After I let the wood putty set for about 15 minutes (just long enough to be somewhat firm), I added the "feathers" with a toothpick.  I didn't worry too much about perfection as once the wood putty dried, I'd be able to sand it down and "fix" anything that needed fixing.

I repeated that for each side (except the bottom!), letting the putty set for at least 12 hours before I went to the next side. Then I sanded, repaired, and started to paint.

Once I'd finished painting, I carved out a small area in the styrofoam underneath (which I did not putty) for the head of the umbrella to fit into. I then used epoxy to affix it. Once the epoxy dried, I used a clear coat of acrylic paint to "seal" it all in.

Not a quick project (took about a week given time for the putty and epoxy to set), but not too hard either. The umbrella cost $5 from Dollar General. The putty was approx $8 from Home Depot. The styrofoam I had on hand, but you can get several blocks for about $5 at Hobby Lobby. Paint I had as well and varies depending on where you get it.

#DIY Finishing up my sunroom #arearug #thrifting

I think for now I've finished my sun room. I went to an estate sale a week or so ago and found a great little area rug.  I don't know that it's as bright as I want in there, but for the cost it works well.  An inexpensive sheet over my old glider rocker cushions changes the look of the chair too.

More #DIY in the sunroom

After finishing painting the floor, as with any project, I discovered that there was more to do.  Like paint the dog door (after 15+ years of wear, it looked very sad)..

Add trim to the base of the wall.. (before)

(after)

And clean the walls (using Magic Eraser makes a huge difference and is simple too)

The cleaning part is ongoing as more than just the blue walls have to be cleaned.  But it's happening slowly. The painting has made a HUGE difference in the overall feel of the room.

Sunroom Floor #DIY #HomeMakeOver

My sun room is the most abused room in the house and the least used.  It's the between space from the yard to the house, the cool/warm area for the dogs to retreat to.  It's home of the turtles and the fish.  During the winter it's home to my house plants.  Yet, for all that, people rarely go in there.  So it's not surprising that it was in desperate need of a make over.  It didn't take a lot, just a couple of gallons of paint and some time.

When the sunroom was built, we put in an indoor/outdoor carpet.  That was long since removed and so the floor started out like this:

My daughter and I went to Home Depot and picked out a color (terra cotta red).  I swept and then vacuumed the floor.  After a single coat of paint, it looked like this:

I still have to do a second coat of paint, move the turtles to the other side of the room and paint the floor under where their tank currently is, but it's a huge improvement.  I'll do the 2nd coat on this section today.  Wednesday I'll drain and move turtles so that Thursday I can finish it up.  One more item on my summer to do list taken care of.