One Month Anniversary

Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe it will be August 1st tomorrow?

We have been in the house a month already!  Somedays it feels like the month flew by and then I remember how exhausted I am and it feels like its been 3 months.  There has been a lot of progress made but I have been too tired, too busy, or too whatever to post anything.  Here is a list of what has been done so far.

• The ceilings, all trim, and walls in the living room, dining area, hallway, guest room and master bedroom have been painted (felt like it took forever)  I love to paint but geez louise...I thought it was never going to end.
• Old fence tore out
• Concrete walkway broken up and hauled off
• Hurricane Blinds fixed (hired out)
• Built the fence - read about the start of the fence & flooring here: Flooring & Fencing
• Tilled the yard and laid sod
• Replaced ceiling fans
• Floors have been replaced in all rooms except bathrooms (hired out)
• Moved furniture that came with the house out
• Moved some of our furniture in
• Tore out old kitchen counter tops and backsplash
• Built a box for the refrigerator so it looks like a custom built in
• Crown moulding added to the kitchen
• Extra trim added to kitchen cabinets
• Kitchen cabinet bodies, doors and drawers have been prepped for paint
• New counter tops have been prepped for installation
• New lights installed in the hallway - read about it here: Let's Talk Lights
• Laundry Closet painted
• Washer & Dryer installed - read about it here: For the Love of Laundry
• His & Hers closets painted
• His & Hers closet organizers have been installed
• Outdoor furniture purchased and assembled
• Made a few trips back to Nederland for boxes in storage
• Went to the Phillip Phillips & John Mayer concert (so much fun!)

Thankfully we had family help us with the fence and laying the sod.  When I list all the things we have done so far, it really is a lot of progress for one month and we did almost everything ourselves.  A lot of it did myself, and my wonderful husband worked & helped as much as he could when he got home from work....even though he really wanted to go fishing.   I told him not to bring the boat over yet, it would just mock him and tempt him :)  

The kitchen will be ready for paint in the next few days and I can't wait to get that project done.  I am ready to have a kitchen again!  Here are a few pictures of progress:

First weekend in the house.  About to jack hammer the broken walkway.

Started with a chain link fence on both sides of the house.

Chain link is gone!

New fence with tilled and raked yard.

New Grass!!!  We went with Palmetto St. Augustine.  Supposed to
be drought resistant and easy to maintain.

Love the fence and new grass.

Sabine sticking her head through the deck railing.
It will be replaced soon.  This makes be nervous.

Sweet Jaxson hanging out on the deck while I work.

Kitchen floor before.  You can see the yucky blue carpet
and the tile is the cheap, puffy sticky tiles.  (They weren't that sticky)

New floors.

Laundry area

Refrigerator box.  New crown moulding and trim.

New crown moulding and trim.

Our countertops.  American Walnut butcher block.
Waiting to be cured and cut.

New paint color in the living room, dining room, and hallway.
Finally brought up some of our own furniture.

New lights.

There are tons more to show...and do.  Things to do in the next week:  I need to unpack our decor things and start decorating with our accessories.  I need to find a 9-drawer dresser to refinish for our bedroom....our closets don't have space for folded clothes.  Build my paint booth.  We have picked our new exterior paint color but now I need to find a fence stain to coordinate with it.  Everyone stains their fence here and they look so good.  We are wanting to do the same but need to find a color we like and of course the samples in the store are not accurate to what it actually looks like on our fence wood.  Finding a color has been a little harder than I thought.     

Everything is coming together and hopefully things will slow down once the kitchen is done.  All our new kitchen appliances and accessories are here and ready to be installed, I just have to get the cabinets painted which will start this week. Wish me luck!

The Kitchen & Appliance Advice

Let me just start with, the kitchen is NOT the reason we bought this house.  It was a huge list of other things that out weighed the fact the kitchen is small and ugly.  I can honestly say I hate almost everything about the kitchen: flooring, lighting, countertops, cabinet color, yucky appliances, and layout.  The only thing in that list I can't change is the layout so as long as I could get over that, everything else had potential.   After letting some ideas simmer for a few days when we were house shopping, I was confident we could make the kitchen super cute and almost everything we want it to be.  Here are some before pictures.

Scary right?  I told my friend the first time she was seeing the pictures to be playing the "eek, eek, eek" music from the movie Phsyco in her head.  The cabinets are in amazing shape and are solid wood so no need to replace (huge cost savings) but definite need to paint.  Backsplash, new hardware, sink, faucet, and countertops are already in just waiting on the cabinets to be refinished so we can install everything.  The new flooring is already in and my new gorgeous appliances are in my dining area also waiting to be installed.  

My appliances were really important to me.  I cook a lot so a good gas cooktop with convection oven was a non negotiable on my list.  I used Consumer Reports and other sites to do research and read countless reviews.  Here is the plan I followed to choose which brand I wanted and try to get the best deal.

 Some advice on appliance shopping:  

• Research and read reviews.  Know what you are buying.  I read reviews on all the major retail websites as well as the companies website.  Appliances are one of the most expensive investments in your kitchen so be smart about it.  Be sure to do the research and a lot of it.

•  Have a realistic budget AND stick to it.  Know how much you can spend and if you are not in the Wolf/Thermador/Viking price bracket, then don't go look at them!  Be realistic.  Don't forget to add in installation and warranty costs into your budget.

• Make sure they deliver for free and shop prices on installation.   I found that installation prices varied from store to store and from appliance to appliance.  Example:  A refrigerator just needs to be plugged in and a water line attached.  No big deal usually was free.  An over the range microwave on the other hand is more involved and was over $100 to install at all the stores I shopped at.  Be sure to add that to your budget or know if you can DIY.

• Find someone that will match prices and use it to your advantage.  Lowes will price match any competitor and I am assuming some of the other stores will too. 

•  If you have moved recently you will get a Lowes 10% off coupon in your moving package from the USPS.  NOW is the time to use that.  

•  Don't be afraid to purchase from more than one store.  I bought from 2 different stores.

•  Shop around a holiday.  I held out and ordered my appliances close to July 4th.   I knew about what their prices would be by scoping out the memorial day sales and that is how I set my budget.  I checked the websites everyday leading up to the 4th and the day their sale started, I was at the store.

•  Don't trust the in-store prices.  Check online too.  My stove was posted $400 less online than it was in the store.

• If they don't carry the exact model you want, ask to be upgraded for the same price. I had this happen on 2 of my appliances.  

• Remember most appliances are not in stock and will take about a week to be delivered so plan ahead.

These are the steps I followed and after buying appliances and warranties I saved over 20% from the regular price and stayed under budget.

Here are my beauties:

And you have already seen my new washer & dryer in the For the Love of Laundry post.

Today I am finishing up painting the guest room (any guesses on what color I went with?)   Tomorrow I'll post some inspiration pictures for the kitchen and show you more of the products I went with. 

Have a great day!

Side note:  Thanks for reading everybody.  Hopefully I'll be back to furniture soon and my posts won't be just about the house anymore.  Yesterday was a record for most page views in a day!  I should talk about inappropriate stuff more often.  :)   

Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest if you don't already!  Thanks, Kaylor

TWO TIER DESSERT DISH - How to make a 1 inch scale two tier dessert dish from card stock.

This month I thought I would make a dessert dish to hold mademoiselle's bonbons or in this case brownies.

This was fun figuring out what techniques to use and show you.

If you want something more refined than the card stock plates you can use the white plastic ones available from Hobby Builders and a head pin from the beading department for the center stem.  The process is about the same.  I am not showing that, I am making the dishes from card stock.  Just offering another suggeston.

I am going to use my circle template for shaping and tracing the plates.

Cut squares from card stock.  I cut several, this became addicting to do.

Spray the square with water a couple of times.  You don't have to drench the card stock just get it wet.

For the center of the larger plate I used the 1/2" circle.  Lay the wet card stock onto the circle template and with your fingers or thumb shape the depression.

For the center of the small plate I used the 3/8" circle.
Lay the wet card stock onto the circle template and shape the depression.

Set the squares off to dry.

Just a note, you can use other sizes of circles, it depends on what size of rim you want.

While the card stock is drying we will make the center stem.
I used crochet thread, this is Coats and Clark Knit-Cro-Sheen.  I also used scrap paper and wood glue.

I cut a strip of paper wider than I want the height of the center stem to be, 1 1/2" to 2".  I cut a length of crochet thread a little longer than that.
Spread wood glue on one end of the paper and lay the thread on the glue.

Fold the paper over the thread with the thread in the fold.

Run your fingernail along the thread, pressing down and against the thread.  Turn the whole thing over and do that again.  I do this a few times, stretching the paper over the thread. 
Set this aside to dry.

When your card stock is dry use the template to trace the plates.  For the large plate I used the 3/4" circle and for the small plate I used the 5/8" circle.

I have my large and small plates traced.

I have cut the plates out.

To hold the plates for painting I use sticky wax, (this is available from Hobby Builders) on the end of a toothpick.  I cut a tiny bit of the point off the toothpick and then add the wax.

Anybody remember the Ed Sullivan show?  Remember the plate spinner guy?
I painted my plates before I went to bed and had them all lined up.  I left them on my table, bad idea.  The cats got to nosing around during the night and bit a couple!

You don't have to get fancy with the painting.  If you are going to be putting food, pretty desserts, on the plates you don't want to detract from that.  I will paint a gold line around the edge and I'm done.

When the paper is dry on the center stem cut the thread part away from the rest of the paper.  Cut very close, tip your blade toward the thread.

Trim off the crochet thread from each end.  Bend the tip over a toothpick to make the handle.

I used wood glue to glue the end to the stem.

You will have to clamp the end.  The wood glue won't stick quickly.

I tried tacky but it came apart when I painted the center stem.

Set this aside to dry.

When the center stem is completely dry bend the ring over to have it set in the center of the stem.

I brushed on DecoArt's Triple Thick gloss glaze.  You could also spray the plates with a glossy varnish.

I painted the center stem gold.

WHEN EVERYTHING IS DRY

Pierce a center hole in the small plate.  I used a "T" pin.  I pushed into a scrap of foam core so I could get the full diameter of the pin for the hole.

Thread the small plate onto the center stem.  I dabbed a little tacky glue under the plate and then moved the plate up and down to spread the glue.  Level the plate and set aside to dry.

Go back to your circle template and trace a 1/2" circle onto card stock.

Cut it out.

Pierce a hole in the center of the large plate.

Thread the large plate onto the center stem.

Trim off the center stem to the height you want the space between the plates to be.

I used wood glue for the bottom.  Spread the glue around a bit with a toothpick on the depression area.

Set the whole thing down on the 1/2" card stock circle you cut out earlier.  Press down with your tweezers to seal.

Your two tier dessert dish is ready to be filled with beautiful treats!













I had fun doing this, I hope you will try it out.




As always,

Have fun, Expand on it, Make it better,

JUST KEEP MAKING MINIS !