Inspired by Ana White
27 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
in DIY Home Improvement Tags: all things thrifty, ana white, bathroom, glaze, shelves, stool, west elm
Have you heard of Ana White? She is a girl from Alaska who loves to build things and shares her plans for free! This is how she describes her ideas, “a plan that called for minimal cuts, basic materials, and easy techniques - something I could build despite having a newborn baby.” So keep reading and breathe easy even if you were considering skipping this post because you don’t know how to run a power tool. She makes her plans with the beginner in mind. You can check out her blog here.
My husband built shelves based on these plans found on Ana’s blog. She based her plans on these shelves from West Elm. I am working on adding some stuff to the shelvles – sorry for the empty pics. But I did make that thing that looks like metal (out of toilet paper rolls!) and will post about that soon.
And this is the stepping stool he built so my boys can wash hands and brush teeth. Here are the plans, except that he made it a little easier and excluded the storage.
Both of the shelves and the stool I painted in Benjamin Moore’s white dove and then glazed ‘em (click here for more on that). Be aware though that usually you paint the glaze on and wipe it off, which leaves brown glaze in the cracks and crevices, but since the shelf has straight lines, most of the glaze just wiped right off. So I glazed it again and let it dry for a few minutes and then gently wiped it off leaving a little more behind to dry. Then I added glaze to the edges and did not wipe it off at all. You can see that in the above pic – the edges are chocolate brown.
I glazed the stool too. After glazing using the method described by All Things Thrifty, I used one of my little boys paintbrushes (think paint-by-number kind of brush) and painted on the “V” with glaze. I made a template for the V using Microsoft Word. I forget what font I used, but I blew it up to about 72 and then added the little rectangle type thing by going to “shapes.” I printed this out, cut it out, and traced it with pencil onto the stool. Then filled it in with glaze. I let the glaze dry for about 5 minutes and then ever so lightly wiped it off with an almost dry rag – remember, it is easy to take too much off so start gentle. Stop and let it dry when it looks the way you want it to look.
Last, I did not build these from plans by Ana White, but I did glaze them. I bought this soap dispenser from World Market to tie in the wood on my bathroom cabinet, but the soap pump part was polished silver, which clashed. So I spray painted it heirloom white and then glazed it. No cracks, so I just wiped off what I didn’t want, and let it dry.
Same thing for the toilet paper holder as the soap dispenser.
Even the nails holding in the knobs to the cabinet got a coat of spray paint and glaze. The knobs are also from World Market.
I am wondering if anyone else has glazed an object that was not made of wood? Did it work out like you expected?
Inspired by All Things Thrifty
16 Apr 2011 2 Comments
Since my last post was titled “Beg, Borrow, and Steal” I thought I would share a few projects that have been begged, borrowed and stolen/inspired from a fellow blogger. Today’s post project, my dining room table, was inspired by All Things Thrifty. Here is her table:
The color pallete in my house is a little more muted and beachy whereas All Things Thrifty used more vibrant colors. I followed her advise on how to glaze furniture. The only difference in glazing is I had mine tinted chocolate brown.
The glaze made the woodgrain on these chairs really stand out. After two coats of primer, I painted on two coats of Benjamin Moore’s Boothbay Gray in eggshell. Then I applied the glaze following All Things Thrifty’s instructions, and last applied a couple of coats of polycrylic to protect my work.
The table was done using the same process as the chairs, but instead of the blue-gray color I used Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. This is also the color we painted the trim in our house.
Overall the project was a success, but now I am going to tell you the part of the project that did not go so well. My husband and I got this table when we first got married at an estate sale for $40. I remember the moment well because we were so excited to get a table for $40 but the daughter of the man who had passed away started crying because her dad’s stuff was not selling for very much money. One of those bitter-sweet circle of life kind of awkward moments. Anyway, sorry I don’t have any before pictures, but just picture a common brown table with a laminate top. Yep – laminate. And that is where the problem comes in. And that is why I often keep a table cloth on it like the one in the above picture.
Here are lessons I learned from this project: Wood is always better than laminate, but I am sure you knew that. My table now has two chips in it – one from being bonked with the side of the pizza cutter and the other from placing a hot coffee pot on it. Yeah, those two things are pretty hard on any table top. Another reason for the chips are I hardly sanded the thing. Wishing I would have taken more time on that step. That said, I touched up the chips with a little paint and you can hardly notice them. In the above picture the chip is in the upper left hand corner.
But this problem is a mystery to me. My five year old was coloring on the table and I cannot get the marker off. I am 95% sure all of the markers he was using were your basic washable kid markers, but the red refuses to come off.
Anyone have any ideas how to get this marker off of my painted table top? I would love some suggestions!
Beg, Borrow, and Steal
15 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
…well, maybe don’t steal. When I took my first job as a teacher my principal gave me the book The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong. The book encourages teachers to lean and learn from one another and essentially not “recreate the wheel.” The author puts it this way to get his point across, “Beg, Borrow, and Steal.”
I found this to be great advice for teaching. But not just teaching, I think this advice applies to lots of life. I used to be an okay cook, but then I started “stealing” recipes and tips from my sister who cooks like a chef, and I went from okay to pretty good! And certainly motherhood – my girlfriends and own mother have given me invaluable advice and encouragement, not to mention parenting books and my pediatrician (a special shout-out for Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Dr. Weisbluth – you could rename that book “Healthy Sleep Habits Sane Mother”).
Most recently I have followed Mr. Wong’s advice when it comes to doing projects around my home. This is why I just added my blogroll – these are my favorite people to “beg, borrow, and steal” from. You should check out their blog sites. You will find inspiration and encouragement from every post.
Isn’t that why blogs are so great? Blogs are their own little communities that share ideas with anyone who is looking for them. That is why the name of this site, a little cheesy yes, includes the words friends. I hope that this will be a place where you can find some frugal friends who encourage you in whatever frugal project you are taking on for whatever reason.
And soon I am going to introduce you to some of my frugal friends!
Who do you “beg, borrow, and steal” from?
Tax Credit – part 2
04 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
So the other half of the tax credit – what did we spend that on? Lighting and electrical work. We definitely did not feel comfortable doing this on our own. This part is three-fold: new box, updated outlets, and overhead lights.
When the house was inspected, the inspector showed me the electrical box. He said it was too full and should be updated. We decided since fires could be involved if we did it wrong that this was best left to someone who knows what they are doing. Wish I had a before pic, because even I who know nothing about this stuff could see that it was overloaded. Here is the after – complete with labels added by the electrician.
Onto the goofy outlets that were everywhere in the house. Since I don’t have a before pic, I drew one below so you would get the general idea. What a pain! Anything with three prongs could not be plugged in without a converter. And evidently, the outlets were a bit dangerous. So we had all the outlets updated.
The people that lived here before just used lamps to see in the dark. In my opinion, lamps just do not give off enough light to fill a whole room. At night, it was dark in the house. So we added recessed lighting in the living room:
See the light fixture in the background of this picture – the drum light hanging over the table? I made it and will show you how in a post soon! I am super proud of the light, but not so proud of the corner cabinet. That is going when the family room and kitchen get a make-over.
The family room got recessed lighting on one side: Soon I hope to knock out the wall between the kitchen and the family room and make it one big room. We did not put any lights by that wall and it is dark on that side of the room. The third picture shows the wall I want out.
And ceiling fans with lights in 3 of the 4 bedrooms: I know that chandeliers are way trendy right now in bedrooms, but we just like the function of ceiling fans. (We use one of the bedrooms as a playroom.)
In the boy bedroom, though, we decided a ceiling fan would be a wee bit dangerous. Can you imagine my five year old getting up in the middle of the night to pee and remembering to duck under the ceiling fan (he sleeps on the top bunk!)?
And the electrician added a fan in the bathroom: too wet and stinky without one. Sorry, that was a little nasty but a lot true.
So, another 3000 bucks gone, but a big upgrade to the house. No regrets here, especially when it is dark outside and oh so nice and bright inside!
What jobs, if any, did you feel were beyond your capacity that you hired out? Any regrets?
Tax Credit – part 1
31 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
This is the first house my hubby and I have ever owned so we got $8000 from Uncle Sam! As I said before, $8000 can fix a whole lot of ugly.
I like to diy everything that I can but there are certainly things that are outside of me and my husband’s skill set. We decided to spend the money on things that we did not feel comfortable doing ourselves, the first being wood floors.
When we moved in, the house had a variety of floor coverings from varying decades.
Green shag (circa 1970) in the bedrooms and country blue (circa 1980) in the hallway right outside of the door.
Country blue, I lovingly referred to it as “the blue abyss,” continuing into the family room.
And off white with a hint of gold (circa ?) in the dining room. Unfortunately, this carpet was in okay shape, but can you imagine what it would look like after my 1 year old ate a couple of meals in there? We decided the white-gold carpet had to go.
Lucky for us, we found oak hardwood floors in three of the four bedrooms, not in the master. The condition of the hardwood was only okay and the stain was pretty orange. So we decided to use our tax credit money to refinish the floors in the three bedrooms and add matching hardwood down the hallway and in the family and dining rooms. Say bye-bye to $4000.
Here are the floors now. All of the rooms have the same stain.
Here is the same view as the first picture with the green shag and blue hallway. And you know I had to clean this room before I could take a pic. My little guy refused to quit sweeping for the pic.
The floor guy did an amazing job of matching the old and new floors. I cannot tell the difference between the refinished floors and the new floors. We like that the floors in every room with hardwood match; it seems to make the house flow smoothly from room to room. Young House Love, in my mind, the original diy house blog, talks about matching floors here.
My only complaint is the floors are a bit slick. Any else have that problem? What do you do to “sticky them up” if you will?
Shop til you drop: JCP
29 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
Approximately once a quarter, or 4 times per year, I get a coupon like this from JCPenney.
This coupon is almost as good as a gift card! I say almost because you cannot use it on something that costs $9.99, but with a gift card you could. You have to spend $10 and of course pay tax.
I started getting these coupons when I signed up for e-mail promotions and updates. You can do that at the JCPenney website. I do not have a JCPenney credit card. I am not sure how they got my home address, but truthfully, I am glad they did because I love getting these coupons!
Being the frugal person that I am, I try to buy my oldest son’s clothes (the younger guy gets all the hand me downs) from the clearance rack a year ahead. My first stop was the boys’ clearance. No dice. JCPenney only had pj’s left, and he already has enough for next year. So I headed to look at summer stuff. Here is what I got with my coupon this time.
I decided to quit buying him so many cute, preppy outfits that I love because he hates wearing them. He requests no snaps or buttons on pants every time he gets dressed, which he refers to as “comfy pants.” Son, you owe your mama a big thank you. I was thinking about your comfort and not just your style this time!
Here is my receipt.
That new pre-season outfit cost $4.18 including tax with a total savings of 22 bucks.
Whenever I make a purchase at Penneys, I take a couple of minutes and fill out the online survey. Directions are on the back of the receipt.
The coupon is only good for 30 days. Maybe then I will go back and take a peek at the clearance rack. Hopefully it will be filled with more than just jammies.
Anyone else get coupons that make you grin from ear to ear when you pull it out of the mailbox?
Fast Find
28 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
Those are my kitchen cabinets. See that little crack between the cabinet and the lovely wallpaper, circa 1961? Yes, they are sagging off of the ceiling, soon to come crashing down. After yesterday’s post, some of you might be wondering why we bought a house that was outdated, aka ugly and needed some serious TLC. Here are a few reasons that made sense to us.
1) Location. You know what realtors say, “Location, location, location.” And that location for us was the school we wanted the kids to attend. It takes me 3 minutes to drive my son to school. Awesome!
2) Price. This is a mixed bag. On one hand, the ugly made the house cheaper. But on the other, it is going to cost some money to get rid of the ugly. Hopefully, we can do this in a frugal manner and, if we ever sell the house, get the money back that we put into it.
3) Time. We had one weekend to buy a house due to my husband’s schedule and the looming deadline for the first time home buyers tax credit. $8000? Yes please! You can fix a lot of ugly with 8000 buckaroos.
4) Mine. I wanted to make the house mine. I did not want to buy someone else’s remodel. And I would feel guilty about ripping out something that was not very old or not very used but I also want my home to reflect my style, to be full of things I love. Everything in this house is 50 years old. It has been loved and worn. Who feels bad about taking down wallpaper that is so faded you can hardly see the original pattern? Not me! (Yes, that wallpaper resides in my kitchen – sad face!)
Here is a rough floor plan, so you can get your bearings.
Off of the kitchen are the stairs to the basement, a door to the backyard, a half bath, and the laundry.
Anyone else decide to buy a house in a weekend? Same reasons?
Whose House? Veld – House!
28 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
Hi! My name is Lynn and I am a frugal friend. Nice to meet you! I used to teach high school math prior to having kids (all you math haters out there, go ahead, make those ugh, blech, gross, ew faces just like my five year old makes every time I serve broccoli!). I loved it. Here is one of my fond memories. Part of our routine in precalc was to practice on white boards – half of the class standing at boards on the wall and the other half with little boards at their desks. After class, I noticed a white board sitting in the window that faced the hallway. Uh-oh I thought. As I walked toward it I said a quick prayer that whatever kid left it there also left an appropriate message. When I pulled the board away from the window I read, “Whose House? Veld – House!” That’s my last name. Hmmm. The next day one of the boys who played basketball asked me if I saw his message in the window, which of course I had found. He said, “It’s too bad you don’t play on the basketball team – that would be like the best cheer ever.” Can’t you just hear the crowd? High school kids are so funny and clever!
Anyway, my husband and I bought our first house this past May (just in time to get in on the first time homebuyers tax credit – cha ching!). Moving in was a disaster but I will save that for another post. So here she is! Whose house you ask – Veld – House!
Wow, the bushes actually look way better in the pic than in real life! The sidewalk to the front door is impassable due to the overgrown bushes on the left. They grow over the sidewalk. And on the right side of the pic, the bushes grow above the windows. We will be working on remedying the situation this spring. Details to follow!
And here is the back.
I love the tree on the left. My five year old spent half of last summer up in the tree. On the other hand, I do not love the yucky gray markings that have dripped down on the brick from the caulk. I also don’t love the clothesline – I would love to have a clothesline, but this one is right smack dab in the middle of the yard/soccer field/baseball diamond/whatever other sport my crazy boys play. I can just picture one of my little boys running right smack into a pole or my husband losing his head on the string. Makes me cringe!
We bought the house from a sweet elderly couple who moved into an assisted living center. The house was built in 1961 and let me just say that most things inside seem to be pretty original and well past their prime (which is a nice way of saying “ugly as sin!”).
More about the ugly soon! Anyone else living in an “original” house?
