Hardware … Repurposed

While working on updating the kitchen, I REALLY wanted to get new pulls and knobs.  I’ve always heard it’s an inexpensive way to really change the look of a kitchen.  That and the brass ones I have are getting pitted after 8 1/2 years of use.  So I went shopping.  With 21 pulls and 17 knobs there was no “inexpensive” about it.  Even if I settled for $4-ish replacements, that would have been well over $150! 

 

So I went to the spray paint aisle.  And bought this:

It was around $8.00. Rust-oleum Satin black spray paint.  No primer needed, just a little scuffing with sandpaper.

I took all the knobs off, screwed them to cardboard and did 3 light coats, careful to make sure I got it on the under side too.  (I did have to touch up about 6 of them on the underside)

Befores: (I don’t have pictures of the island…let’s just say the cleaning fairy is fired)

And the afters:

Completely new look, $8.00 and a little bit of time.  Not bad if I do say so myself!

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Custom Made Glass Tile Backsplash

So it’s been a while since I last blogged.  But great things take great amounts of time.  I’ve been obsessing over tiling the backsplash in the kitchen for about a month now.  This is what I had:

And while the vinyl quote was quite fitting for my kitchen, it was time for a change.
I was greatly discouraged when I couldn’t find red glass tile that a.) I liked and b.) didn’t cost a fortune ($20+ per square foot!).  So I came home and started searching the internet for ideas.  Why can’t I just make my own glass tile? 
Well, it seems that not much will stick to glass.  You can’t simply paint the back of the glass because it will pull off and make a mess.  You could buy special paint, but it’s over $200 for a gallon and I don’t need that much for this project. Hmmm, what to do.  Then I stumbled on alcohol inks.  They are made by Ranger and are called Adirondack Inks.  Youtube had a few videos of people inking glass vases and the like, but no tile. 

So I took my coupon to Michaels, and bought two packages of inks that had different shades of red in them.  Apparently you can buy individual bottles online, but I couldn’t find any like that locally, so I just bought the 3 packs.  I used “currant” and “cranberry.” 
I went to a local glass cutting place who was generous enough to give me 3 tiles to practice on.  I colored a couple of them and glued them to a scrap piece of wallboard and I loved it!  Next I drew up a blueprint on graph paper for how I would mix the glass tiles with some tumbled marble tiles.  I got boxes of tumbled marble tiles at Lowe’s for $50.  I ordered 34 more glass tiles for just over $50.
The tiles are all 3 x 6 subway style tiles, but the tumbled marble are about 3/8 inch thick and the glass are 1/4 inch thick. 
I set about inking all of the glass tiles.  This task goes pretty quickly because the ink dries in about a minute.  I used the ink applicator that is sold separately and just dabbed all over using 5 drops of Currant and 2 drops of Cranberry for each coat per tile.
 
After about 5 coats, the color was deep enough for me.  *Note, there will be some lint that comes off the felt applicator.  It is okay, you don’t have to rush to remove all the ink and start over.  Seriously, learn from my rash mistake!  You can lighten and blend using the alcohol solution they sell, but I didn’t like it as much, but did use it to correct any errors.  Oh and wear rubber gloves, because it stains your hands. 

The tiles are somewhat transparent still, but will be put against white tile adhesive.

When it’s time to tile, find the center and start placing tiles.  I used 1/8 inch spacers, and with the help of my husband got done a lot faster than if I had to do it alone!
The adhesive behind tile is usually spread with a notched trowel.  We did that behind the stone tiles, but behind the glass tiles we used smoothed it out so there wasn’t air pockets behind the glass that could be seen. It is very important to lay the glass with the colored side against the adhesive.  This way it won’t get worn off over time.  I did find the adhesive did pull the ink off if you rubbed it around, so just place and push.  Don’t butter the back of the tiles with the adhesive either, big pink smears is all I’m going to say.

After all the tiles are hung according to plan:

And the smaller section between the corner and the refrigerator:

Today was grouting day.  The stone is porous and has small holes that we wanted to fill with grout so they don’t get filled with kitchen mess.  So we first wiped the fronts with a wet cloth to prevent the faces of the tiles from soaking in too much of the grout and then my hubby went to work pressing grout into the spaces and holes.  Instead of the normal rubber float though, he found with such small spaces, good old messy hands worked better.  I followed behind and wiped them off and down, smoothing the lines as I went.

And the almost finished project (still need to wipe off the haze, seal the tile tomorrow and put the outlet covers back on)
I’m totally in love.  I love the imperfect look to it, and that is surprising with my type A perfectionist tendencies.  I also love that it is completely a creation of my own and it executed into reality exactly how I imagined.



Hope you love it as much as I do, if you do follow my page or fan me on Facebook!

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Weekly Menu Board

I’ve been a meal planner for years.  I have changed my methods as the situation suits.  Before kids when I worked full time, I would plan for about 3 weeks at a time.  Now that we have kids, are more health conscious, and are buying more fresh foods, I shop about once a week so I plan for about 7 or 8 meals at a time. 

This helps a ton with the shopping.  Execution…not so much.

It seems that I always forget to thaw something or don’t get the stuff in the crock pot early enough on days that I’m planning a slow cooker meal. 

I usually write down a tentative menu and put it on my fridge, but it’s so small, I rarely look at it on a regular business and just try to commit it to memory. 

Big fail this week.  I thawed a whole roaster chicken, a chuck roast, and a sirloin roast all this week and have failed miserably at getting them cooked.  (come on!  The sirloin roast is supposed to take 8-10 hours!  That’s a lot of forethought!)

So I’ve seen different “dry-erase” menu boards across the blogosphere like this one at Under the Table.  So I put my own spin it tonight and it took me all of an hour to make. 

I found this art frame at Wal-Mart for $14.00.  It’s 12 x 16 inches.  Nice and big

It swings open so you can store more kids art behind the frame, but instead I’m going to take advantage of the space and store the recipe cards for any recipes that I need that week.  Then they aren’t being moved all over the kitchen throughout the week after I pick them out. 

I bought a couple different fabrics at Jo-Ann’s.  The red one is like the material of reusable grocery bags that are being sold EVERYWHERE.  I was kind of surprised that they sold this kind of fabric and will have to file that away in my head for future use. 

The white one is some kind of towel fabric.  It’s cotton, has just a little bit of texture, and I was able to fray the edges after I cut the selvage off.  I found them both by the utility/burlap fabric.  That’s all I needed to know.

I bought a half yard of each for $4.00 total.  I could have used my coupon, but I forgot…oh well.  (There was a lot of extra red because it’s 60 inch wide fabric)

I cut the fabrics down to size, the red to fit snug (12 x 16) and the white an inch smaller all the way around (10 x 14).   I frayed the white edges some and glued them both to the paper sample picture that came in the frame.

Then using my Silhouette and Core’dinations cardstock, I cut out letters for the title and the first letter for each day of the week.  I lightly sanded the black Core’dinations to show the dark red through on the edges. 

Space them out where I wanted them (about every two inches down the side) and pop it back in the frame!  Easy Breezy!

I hung it on the blank end of my kitchen cabinets in a highly visible place using a couple of command hooks.  Then just use a dry erase marker on the glass to write down the meal for each day and it is an instant erasable surface!

Now if this doesn’t help me be more organized, then I’m a lost cause!

Kitchen Canister Set

I have a set of old Tupperware kitchen canisters.  They aren’t really pretty.  But they worked, and I hid them in the kitchen utility garage. 
I also have a glass corner cabinet above that garage.  It has gone widely unused.  There is a ton of space up there, so I mainly stash large bake ware that doesn’t have a home.  And the knives to keep them away from little fingers. 
I never really knew how to make it look right.  I thought about etching the glass on the cabinet, but was a little afraid I would mess it up and then have to call the custom cabinet place and say “whoops!” 
Instead, I found a solution that is functional and pretty at the same time.  This is the first of a several projects I have in mind to upgrade my kitchen décor over the next couple months. 
I started with these large jars found in the craft section at Hobby Lobby (another home away from home for me).  I got two of each size last week when they were on sale 50% off.  They also have a giant sized one that makes an awesome cookie jar that I once made for a gift.  The lids have a rubber gasket on them to keep them airtight.

Next I pulled out my Silhouette and my brand new red vinyl that I bought when everything was 40% off at the silhouette store on Black Friday weekend. 
I made a simple design in Silhouette Studio using the font “Café Rojo” and some simple brackets that I had in my Silhouette library.
I was blown away by the Studio program when I discovered how to use the “align” tools and line up and center my designs.  “Wow that was easy!” was all I could say.
Next I pulled away the negative portion

Put the design on transfer paper

Eyeballed it onto one of the larger canisters

Pull away the transfer tape and viola!

Repeat for each jar and fill them with the appropriate baking supplies


Put them in the cabinet like so

I just need to clean the glass (haha) and organize the other stuff in there so it’s farther back in the cabinet and not showing.  It’s really mainly stuff I rarely use anyhow.

Christmas Garland Dilemma

So this year, I wanted a more classic look for the house.  My Christmas décor is mostly made up of cheap stuff that I’ve collected over the years.  I never really bought Christmas decorations intentionally and with a purpose. 
So after browsing many pictures I determined that I needed some good quality greenery/garland.  I have a lot of long surfaces in my house that needed something.  Entertainment center in the living room, china cabinet in the kitchen, space above the cabinets in the kitchen…you get the idea. 
I went on a hunt and was determined to not let money be the determining factor of a purchase because it was something I could use year after year.  And it would make me happy.  Which is priceless.  Well after hunting several craft stores for a couple hours, I was empty handed and sad.  Not only was the garland I found expensive, it just didn’t look good.  It was small and looked fake. 
There is nothing I hate more than the ideas in my head not translating into reality.  It is aggravating beyond words. 
So my husband suggested buying some real garland. 
But but but….it will die and dry out and it’s expensive!  But I was game and tried to let go of my thrifty ways just once. 
We took the kids on a trip to a local nursery Hensler’s nursery and found 25 feet of mixed garland for $32.  Boy was that worth it.  I used it for so much around the house, and since we have an artificial tree, we were able to get some real greenery in the house for less than the cost of a real tree.
Here’s how I used it.
Across the top of the entertainment center, accented with giant poinsettia stems from WalMart.

Top of the china cabinet with tinsel trees and Christmas subway art.

Then in the dining room, I draped the chandelier and made the centerpiece from what was left over.

So at least for now, until I can find garland that is up to my standards, I will be buying a rope of the real stuff, especially since it goes so far!

Christmas Subway Art

I seen this idea on Crafty Chic Momma’s blog and loved it.  I whipped one up Saturday and was in love with it!
First you need a board.  Any size/kind will do.  I used MDF that was about 10 inches by 15 inches.  Then paint it.  I didn’t use primer, I just used glossy acrylic paint from Walmart.  The same one I used in my laundry room.  It’s quite the Christmas-y color.

Then I used Silhouette Studio to layout different Christmas words and played around with the sizes and fonts until it looked good.

I used my stand by of white Contact vinyl and cut all the words out, peeled away the excess, and used transfer to tape to lay the words onto my board.

Excuse the mess.  I’m not a very neat crafter.  Oh and I didn’t paint the bottom because you’ll never see it when it’s sitting on a shelf.
Keep adding words until you get them all on and you’re satisfied.

Just beautiful.  I love it so much and other than the time for the paint to dry, I finished this in under an hour!

Easy Tinsel Trees

I know I’ve seen them everywhere.  Glittery, sparkly, tinsel trees.  Well wouldn’t you know when I decided I needed a couple, I couldn’t find any.  Grrrr!  So I figured they can’t be very hard to make and the results turned out better than store bought in my opinion.  You can make the shape (fat or skinny) and size (tall or short) that you want and decorate it to your own desires.
I confess my husband cut the wood out for me.  He’s such a great husband and very helpful I might add.  I was busy doing other decorating things so he cut out a couple triangles from scrap wood (MDF or whatever you have!) and some rectangle bases.  The pieces don’t have to be perfect because you’ll be covering the triangle and my bases weren’t going to be seen, so they can be a little off too.
So you take your triangle piece and your rectangle piece and attach them so you have a nice tree shape. 

Then you just start at the top with your tinsel and wrap away.  I tented mine over the tip a little bit and then started wrapping.

When you get to the bottom just cut the tinsel garland and tuck the end underneath. 

Take a couple of these in different heights, pair it with a shiny metal tree from Gordman’s and you have a pretty trio of trees!

Storage Shelves

I like shelving.  It uses perfectly good vertical space for storage and it can be pretty.
My laundry room used to have a large wooden cabinet in it, but with the gigantic counter I installed from this previous post, there isn’t room for the cabinet anymore.  Therefore, I decided to put in two shelves for cleaning supplies.  I used the same glued on edge shelving that I used for the counters, but they are only 12 inches deep.  The shelves looked a little “weak” so I beefed them up by gluing and finish nailing 1 x 2 poplar boards on the ends first and then one across the front. 


Next I filled in any gaps with wood filler and sanded the shelves smooth. 
I painted the shelves with the same Valspar “Betsey’s Linen” color that I used on the counters.  But to spice them up a bit, I taped off a skinny stripe using Frog tape and painted it with the same glossy red acrylic paint I used on my counter stenciling. 

Peel off the tape after two coats dry and follow with two coats of polycrylic sealer and they are ready to be put up!  I used two double slot tracks and two brackets per shelf. 
 
My hubby helped put these up because I was afraid I would miss the stud and they would be crooked.  Well guess what…he missed.  I totally could have done that myself.  Hehehe.

Once they are secured to the wall, they are ready for the shelves to be put on and secured.  I think the beefed up edges and stripes give them a little something extra.

You can see the pile of laundry already on the counter under the shelves.  I couldn’t wait for total completion of this project before doing more laundry, or I’d be buried under the clothes.
Now the shelves are nice and sturdy to hold my various jugs, bottles, and boxes of cleaning supplies.  I have plans for some fabric totes, but that’ll have to wait for “some other day.”