Grief

Many of us have lost someone we love...

this year I lost my oldest child

So out of my own deep sorrow I found this saying -

Grief never ends...

but it changes.

It's a passage,

not a place to stay.

Grief is not a sign of weakness,

not a lack of faith...

It is simply

the price of love.

So

out of that

I created

This raised and stamped plaque 

Askmestudio on Etsy

" This is not the end, I will see you again, Chas" 

listen.........

May 2014 find you all in good health

and may The Lord protect you and yours.

How to Design Plates on the Wall

Ok, I admit it....I saw this on Pinterest.  So, I decided to try it out.

It works! 

I used my giant roll of Heavy Kraft paper I use For shipping.  I traced each plate and kept the plate hanger on the back.  I then poked a hole in the paper where the hanger groove was so I would know where the bottom of the picture hook needed to be. I then crawled up the ladder 15 feet in the air and taped my templates to the wall.  Yes, I crawled up there many times to get everything in right position and even used a tape measure to try to make them somewhat even.  Not perfect mind you, but good enough for me.  

(At this point you can forget the gym cuz your buns are going to feel the burn for days)

Now the really big plate is really heavy.  I inherited it, along with all these other plates, from my Grandmother.  I was so tired of hiding it in a drawer or closet for the past 25 years.  My kids would have broken it.  So, I searched the internet for months and found this idea.  My husband had already thought of this, but I had to see it for myself before I believed him.

remove the springs and use super heavy 150lb duty zip ties

Heavy duty plate hanger

Now that 20 pound plate is secure and ready to go on a Painting hook that would hold an 150 pound painting.  Better to be over cautious in my opinion than devastated later on.

Bam!

Rehab old furniture

Sometimes good bones should not go to waste.

  Old furniture, although it looks bad, can be redone to look great.  Look at the bones of a piece and not the finish. 

Spend a weekend treasure hunting a flea market

Fredricksburg, Texas

http://www.fredericksburgtradedays.com 

Find a great piece for pennies on the dollar

Then order some milk paint.  I order from http://www.milkpaint.com 

With a little water, a moment of whimsy, you get this

Rehab old chest of drawers

The milk paint peeled off in spots over the finish, but I loved that.  I placed another piece of wood on top, screwed it on, filled over the screws with Durhams wood putty, sanded, stained, coated polyurethane over the entire chest and top and there you have it!

If you give Galen an paint brush....

Have you ever read the children's book, "If you give a mouse a cookie"? 

 Well it is about this mouse and no matter what you give him it leads to something else.  

That's me. 

I start off by refacing these doors....end up redoing the kitchen.....have to rehang paintings....it just goes on and on and on.

So today is how to reface UGLY plain old doors...or PLAIN UGLY

Here is what we have to work with

 Just plain ugly door with zero appeal, but I can change that.

1. pull out the miter board and saw
2. go to Lowe's and by the lattice trim in 6 foot sections
3. make sure you have a can of powdered Durham wood putty
4. pull out the mouse sander
5. make a pot of coffee
6. hunt down the tape measure in the junk drawer
7. drink more coffee
8. find a pencil
9. measure 4-6 inches from outside edge and mark.  outline where you want your detail lattice strips to go.  There are no set rules here.  I went with two panels.  You could make 3 or even 6 -8 smaller one side by side all the way down the door.  Look on my Pinterest board for some awesome ideas.!   http://www.pinterest.com/galenclick/doors-to-die-for/
10. once you measure tops and bottoms and cut them out, then measure and cut side pieces.  I like to label everything as i got so each piece has a know spot to go to.
11. use that electric stapler with the brad nails, and attach your pieces to the door
12. go drink more coffee, have a cigarette or pet the cat.
13. get the nail set tool and hammer and tap on each brad so it sinks into the board.  You do not want to see these when you get ready to paint.  Your friends do not want to see them when they come over to visit either.
14. now put on some latex gloves, grab a disposable bowl and mix your wood filler and water together.  Should look and feel like peanut butter when you do it right.  
15. fill in the hole, any gaps between the board and door, and fill in any seam between joints in the corners where the boards meet.  Now it should look like this.  
16. go to bed or watch a movie.  your done for the day.
17. You can take the doors off the hinges, (hahahahahaha), or you can sand the doors just where they are.  Mind you, you will have to dust the house afterwards. 

Re face old plain doors

now repeat all these steps and do the other side of the door.  Yep, do it again.

After you do about 4 doors try not to kick the cat because your back is giving out and your neck is on fire....you over did it and you need to just go lay down for the entire weekend.

Finish re faced door

 After you are rested, (this could take days), then you can paint your doors.  I choose a slate Black in a satin sheen.  I suggest you use an enamel, I used eggshell.  I can wipe it off, and unfortunately I do, a lot, every week, drives me nuts.  Too lazy to repaint them again.  I'm dealing with it.

I refaced this door, the guest bathroom door, my bedroom door and the guest room door.

By the way I love the monkey wallpaper.  It is weird and different like me.  Deal with it.

 Now when you give Galen a gallon of paint and a new ergo paint brush she won't stop there.  Oh no, now the front door looks weird all white.  So now I go paint the inside of the front door.

At this point I can't stop.  I have to repaint the walls a more neutral color to go with the new black door thing going on.  Another day, another blog post.

Picking out the Perfect counter

 Here are the inspiration pictures I choose as the basic framework for my own kitchen

 My kitchen Pinterest Board

Amazing Tile floor

I am in the process of making all these leaf tiles myself.  

Raised Paintable Wall Paper

I am putting this on the ceiling (when I find a wallpaper guy who can do it)

hardware for Kitchen Cabinets

So, the hunt begins for the perfect counter top.  I thought maybe white was the answer.  White would brighten the room, but I found out that White Marble stains easily (not a good fit for me)

No, this is not working for me either

So..... went to every marble and granite store in town but surprise surprise I found this one at Home Depot

Blue Pearl Granite

Ok, so here are the steps to getting my counter top

1. order in the store
2. wait a week with no one calling to schedule measuring
3. call store to see what is wrong 
4. give them my correct phone number that they wrote down wrong
5. wait 5 days for a phone call
6. call home depot again to see what is still wrong
7. get a phone call the next day from installer and find out I have to build the base for my new farmhouse sink before they will come out to measure.
8. wait 4 days for cabinet guy to come to my house to build in my sink supports and dishwasher surround
   
   
   
   
9. now I call the counter guys back to reschedule measuring
10. wait one week for guy to come measure
11. wait 9 days for counter to arrive
12. find out the guy measured wrong and not one counter fits
13. The installers then remeasure counter and this time they make a template
14. wait 10 days for new counter
15. counter installed
    

oh wait.....it does not stop there!  one day later this happens

16.  Call counter installers main office and give the owner an ear-full.
17. Next day I have new guys at my front door that were really nice and sanded both corners next to the sink.  To my joyful surprise,  I found I liked the rounded corners a lot better!

So now I am happy.  My cats and dog are no longer running for cover.  But, I see that the grout in the tile backslash, above the new counter,  looks terrible so I

1. put a new bright white layer of ground in the seam
   
   
   
   
2. grout the gap closed between counter and back splash
3. call the plumber to install my faucet to my sink
4. tell my husband we will have running water in the kitchen after 2 months of eating out
5. put a bead of clear silicone in the joint between the sink and the counter so I don't water everything under the sink after I wash dishes almost every night
6. Painted the walls a greyish light blue.

I hated the drab color once it was all put up, so went back to hardware store and bought this

 and began doing this

all you do is paint it fast onto the walls, take a paper towel and using a circular motion just rub it around the wall.  The walls ended up looking like silver metal when the lights hit it.  I hung up the plates, put stuff on the counter and this it what it looks like now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BAM!

A little fine art in the kitchen is a good thing!


Now here are the side by side photos of the kitchen so far

before and after

Making progress now.










Appliances are from

I ordered the Range/Oven and microwave online from http://appliances.fumfie.com/

I ordered the sink from http://www.amazon.com/Kraus-Farmhouse-Single-Stainless-Kitchen/dp/B0032BYM2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387496851&sr=8-1&keywords=stainless+steel+apron+sink

  

The faucet came from http://www.lowes.com/

The counters are from  http://www.homedepot.com/c/SF_KB_Granite_Countertops

Next, the ceiling.....coming as soon as a can find a wallpaper hanger........ugh
This could take a while so there will be other posts in between.   

That Ceiling Paper has got to go! Bring on the Lighting

So, the paper on the wall is unique, but the mirrors are a bit too weird.
 So we have torn that all out

Then the Electrician, Mark, came over.
 He and I tore down the florescent monstrosity.

 Would you believe it was super nail gunned to the ceiling.
 I'm talking about 10 extra stout long nails in each corner.

 They had patched the ceiling with cardboard and my electrician found a live line not attached to anything. (At this point I am ready to hunt down the last subcontractors and wring their necks!)

I had gone to Lowes to pick up the tiny can lights for the ceiling while texting my electrician which ones to buy.  These were the ones that were ok'd.

The chandelier came from an Etsy store.  it looked like this when I got it.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HerminasCottage

Then I got out that spray can.

  Yes, I was a bit sick to cover this great finish already on the chandelier, but It was not going to work in the kitchen that color.

I bought the small paper lampshades on Amazon and painted the body of them in the same paint as the interior of the cabinets and the trim was painted the same color as the cabinet door.

BAM!

 Lighting done.  

Now

Finding a wallpaper Hanger

Merry Christmas to All

From my home to yours, We hope you have a Very Merry Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

Take a moment to stop.

 Look around

 at the things that are frozen in time. 

 They will only last but for a brief moment

and then they will be gone.

Never to reappear the same way again.

Frozen Drip

A special moment I captured,  Looks like a tear drop.  We had some snow and this is the frozen droplet I found the next morning.  

prickly pear cactus in an ice storm

This Prickly pear looks like it has Ice Daggers!