Making a Splash

Behold! My new kitchen look.

Happy Birthday to Me

So a few weeks ago, I got this idea. And I had to get some things in order before I could start making my idea a reality.

First, I had to get this.
Cause really. You haven't lived until you've used Gorilla glue.

And I tried to borrow one of these. Honest, I did. But something was calling me and I had to have one for my very own. BUT....it was the only tool I purchased for this project and it cost less than $20.


Mmm. New tool toys. I likey how it's all shiny. Oh, and then there was wood. I had the guys at my local lumber yard pre-cut the wood. You know, because I'm a pansy. Total cost with wood screws and attachment nuts/bolts: $30.

I laid it out. Doesn't it look nice? Oh, and there's my orange hat. I'm already catching grief over my orange hat, but it was cold in the garage last night. You know what I say? No time like the present to get started on a project. So about 5 pm last night, I got going.

Looks like Frankenstein.

OOoooh, gorilla glue. Just makes ya happy.

Then on went the face board. Got to put those wood screws to use. Hope I didn't screw up!

Cause it's on now. Not to worry. Perfectly level!

Let's stand it up and admire our work for a bit! Very nice.


I thought I'd quit here for the night, but it was only about 6:45. So I decided to go to JoAnn Fabrics and pick up some bonded polyester for this job. Got back home at about 7:30 pm. Then I thought, "what the heck, why not keep going?" So the next step was to apply the foam I bought last week. Oh yeah, cost of foam $37. First I needed a little spray adhesive.

This can isn't going to work so well without a nozzle! After cussing a lot and eating some dinner, I head to Walmart for spray adhesive WITH a nozzle. 9:15, I'm back in business. Cost of spray adhesive, $4.60.

Foam stuck. Time to take this baby indoors for the detail work. Did I mention this was heavy. Hella heavy. Had to get it in the house between thunderstorms.

Right about now, I'm thinking I'm in the home stretch. Really, just two, more steps to this. First, you lay it out on a bed of bonded polyster. On sale at JoAnn's, by the way, for $8.

More staple gunning and voila!


Same approach for the fabric. I'll remind you that the fabric cost $25. When the fabric went on, I wasn't happy with how loose the play in the fabric seemed to be. I decided I needed to give the fabric another go. And that would have to wait. So at 11, I gave up and went to bed. This morning around 11, I headed by to Walmart for deeper staples and tried again. Cost of new staples, $3.50.

Much better! Now to do those pesky legs.

First, you wrap them in polyester and then cover them in fabric.

DONE!!! Time for assembly.

Whew! I am glad that fit! I'm kinda sloppy about my measurements, so when something slides right in where you wanted it, it's a miracle!

Time to dress that bed and enjoy the fruits of my efforts.

I had the bed made and was leaning about the new headboard at 5:44 pm Sunday. Except for the irritating nozzle issue with the spray adhesive and the need for longer staples for the actual upholstery part with the fabric. I didn't really have any screw ups. This was a totally fun project and except for bending over and making my thigh muscles sore...it wasn't all that taxing physically.

26 hour project. I talked on the phone a lot, slept in late and still got this custom-made padded headboard done for about $100. Not a bad day's work.

So I got this idea....

I bought some fabric to make some pillowcases. And the more I got to looking at it, I got an idea for a project.

A bigger project.

I think this fabric would look awesome as my new padded headboard.

Mind you, I don't have any of the tools needed for this project, but I can dream.

And borrow.






Here's my inspiration.


And here's my vision.


So I need a bigger piece of fabric, a large piece of plywood, a lot of upholstery foam, cotton batting, a jigsaw, a staple gun, some spray adhesive, and some elbow grease. Let the borrowing begin!

I see a pattern here....

It's Sunday and I spent another one doing jobs around the house. This time, I am trying to be proactive rather than reactive. I bought and installed heat tape on the cold water line to the kitchen sink, which, as I learned sits directly against the back foundation of the house.

Here we go....I had a bit of a quandry when I started this project. The water pipe feeding the cold water in the kitchen sink had an obvious single pipe ending point. But about 3' from the sink, it broke off into two different pipes. One pipe went straight back, had a shut off valve on it and then went directly into the ground. The other pipe veered off to the right and went through another foundation wall into the crawl space proper. I didn't know which one to put the tape on, so I opted for the one that had the greatest distance above ground. So I went to the right. This you can see in the insulation tape photo. In any event, I put the heat tape around the pipe and then wrapped pipe and tape with 1/2" insulation. For those who are interested, the pipe to the far right in the foam wrap is the hot water delivery. I don't have quite the same issues with the hot water as the cold water.


I had a little insulation left over, so I decided to try to insulate the crawl space "door" as best I could.
And because I am a real girl, with real breasts, I could only reach in about 4' into the space. So despite the fact that I could fit both my shoulders through that opening, my breasts were far too great an obstacle to overcome, and that is why the tail of the heat tape is dangling. Oh, I suppose if I ever get my hands on one of those long-handled grippers that old people use to get into the top cabinets, I can actually fix this the right way. For now, I'm not happy about the dangle--especially the idea that is is reaching the ground--but electrical tape will not stick to stone and we must learn to live within our physical limitations.

I'm just glad no one besides Jake was there to witness the debacle of me backing out of that crawl space.

And what did I get for all my work? The satisfaction of spending my afternoon doing a project that no one can see. Oh well, think of the expense of burst water pipes that I am averting.

Visions of Summer

Today I bought some roses. And I know people may laugh since I probably won't live in this house long enough to enjoy them in all their splendor, but I believe in leaving a garden behind no matter where I go. These were my choices.

New Dawn. A climber. I will plant this one with a Clematis jackmanii, a dark purple clematis. This will look spectacular, in case you wondered.







Eglantyne. A shrub rose.

Am I a Hipster because I love IKEA?

The latest Ikea build/hack.


Kitchen before.












Kitchen after.


These shelves are heavy duty. And kick-ass sleek.


Heavy duty due to the fact that I actually used toggle bolts. Of course I only dropped two down inside the wall.

I'm really wishing I'd bought two of those wine racks now. Don't look at those places where I touched up the wall. I have to get some paint. I'm out.

And I wish I'd bought two of these rails. I'd like to spread all that out more. For now, I think I'm just going to remove the lids, spread out the utensils. But at least they aren't on the stovetop anymore.

So let's review. One trip to Chicago for the IKEA shelving. $250. One trip to the hardware store for screws and such before the project began. $5. One bandage for the cut finger. 50 cents. Another trip to the hardware store for 2 more toggle bolts and dryer venting. $6.

Ikea shelving intalled...PRICELESS!

The Pantry is Done

and don't ask me about it again. Ok, touch up remains. I dinged things putting all the hardware back on, but everything is back up on the wall and the screws are all tightened. So the best part of any job is admiring your work after you've finished. So here is the pantry before.....

and here is the pantry after.....