The heirloom painting continues

Grab your family heirlooms and put up gramma's china...cause I'm in an heirloom painting mood!

One of my grandmother's paintings, this is a canvas print.

I have never liked the gold on this frame, and it has kept me from hanging this lovely print of Notre Dame.  The original is hanging in my grandmother's sister's home (I guess that would be my great aunt's home) and I had admired it once.  In that sweet little way that grandma's do, she heard me and took it to heart, and had this made for me the year she passed away.  Which I treasured.  But just not feeling the frame.

So I did the fireplace special on it (you know what I am talking about if you have read my posts about painting brass fireplace frames.)

That's right, I spray painted it.

I am just now realizing how tacky that sounds.  Robert Earl Keene should write a song entitled, "I spray painted it."

Anyway, this is how it looks over the bed.

Again, it is really not that shiny in person.  

So happy to hang this treasure and share Granny Nelle's fabulous work of art with others, not to mention the warm feeling it gives me knowing what a gift this painting was and is.

Highboy

I finished the highboy dresser today.  

I am going to recap by hitting the high points.

First, preparation:

I cleaned all the dirt out from inside the dresser.

Strangely enough, I felt sentimental toward the dust, knowing that some of it had to be from the wheat fields of Hansford County, where I grew up.  Well, I didn't grow up IN the wheat fields, but still, a little sentimental.

Having already finished some of the other pieces in this collection, I "used my prior knowledge" (that is a Carly-ism.)  Finding two-pronged pulls the same width as the old ones would be impossible. I filled some of the holes with spackle.  There was probably a more appropriate substance for wood-patching.  Sue me.  I like spackle.

  Like I always say, "Goes on pink - dries white!"

Then I painted two coats of oil-based black paint directly on the wood, without priming or sanding.  The truth is, the wood was so old and basically already bare.  It was begging for paint.

Next, after purchasing pulls, I had to drill new holes for the two-prongers (that's the technical term, a-hem, I am sure.)

I used this here marks-a-lot.

I colored the prongs with the marker, then used it as a stamp onto the paper.

See the little marks?  Now I have a stencil.

I used this paper as a stencil to mark where I needed to drill.  Thanks to my expert drilling skills and extreme patience, this step was both easy and enjoyable.*
*Sidebar - I may or may not have accidentally drilled the holes cock-eyed on a drawer and had to re-patch and re-paint and re-drill so as not to have a slanted pull. 

It's not this shiny and lacquered up in person.

Here it is in the room.

And there you have it!*
*Sidebar 2- I may or may not have brought the dresser in too soon, which resulted in wet oil based black paint on the new carpet.  If said event did take place, you may rest assured that I did get the paint out of the carpet.

Bedroom Suite from the 1950s

When my dad was born, Gramma Susie went all out on furnishings, purchasing a 6 piece oak bedroom suite, which followed him into his marriage to my mom.  

My sister, being firstborn and having dibs,  got a nightstand, double bed, long dresser, and matching mirror. My sister experienced many a nighttime bed collapse, which led to the eventual downfall (no pun intended) of the bed.  It disappeared from our lives in the 1980s. 

I acquired my father's highboy and nightstand.  When I was 5, I vividly remember the highboy crashing down on me.  Mom heard my screams and came to my rescue.  Oak is a rather heavy material.

My nightstand and highboy got a re-do by my ambitious pre-teen self. If only I had a digital camera and internet access in which to catalog my first use of the electric sander.  It was love at first site.

Here is the highboy over a decade later, looking a little worse for the wear.

And so, the furniture survived my parents divorce and many moves. 

Somehow, over the past decade, I have re-acquired all pieces, including my sister's (except for the bed.) 

The dresser

I paid some students an exorbitant amount of money to refinish the dresser in 2007.  I was struck with a helping spirit (and an apparent windfall of money) and decided to help the Medina Valley ISD woodworking class.  It was the most excited I have seen those two students about school EVER.  Trades classes...my money went to a good cause.  Or the boys went out and blew the money.   Whatever, they did a beautiful job, no?

A few years later, inspired by the heirloom collection from Potterybarn, I painted the bedsidetables and matching mirror frame a lovely color inspired by Pottery Barn.  I even tore a page from the magazine to carry with me to Sherwin Williams for matching purposes.

Pottery Barn Heirloom Green

Bedside tables, one of which has a love note written on the bottom of a drawer!

I placed these pieces in my office and the little drawers held pamphlets to give parents.  Because school counselors love pamphlets. 

Samples of School Counselor Ema's pamphlets on Glee.  I can totally relate.

The mirror was great for upset students.  They used it to freshen up before heading back to class, because the only thing worse than crying at school was allowing classmates to know that you were crying...at school...and seeking help from the counselor...

Finally, today the highboy dresser received a second makeover.  I will post pictures tomorrow!

My Closet Is Trying to Tell me Something

My closet is dead set on getting a message across. 

"I can no longer support the weight of your massive wardrobe.  You have a problem."

I just cannot imagine what it is trying to say, when I awoke the other morning and for the second time this month, my desiner-esque clothing was once again in a tangled heap on the closet floor.

"Have you watched Hoarders?  If I had phone access, I would be making contact with the producer."

I had already replaced the piece that had broken once.

It was smiling before it came to its untimely death.

Since that was not working, I sought help at ACE Hardware, 

where I explained my situation.

"I have a lot of clothing.

So much so that my hardware keeps breaking.

It doesn't rip out the screws from the wall,

It just cracks from the shear force of the weight

of my wardrobe,  which I have collected,

dating back to 1995."

(No kidding.  You should see my denim CK vest and matching mini*. 

*Which I never wear.)

The ACE man looked at me weird, 

led to to an aisle

and shoved a package of new metal hardware into my hand.

He then mumbled something about considering adding another rod.

I'm going to assume it is a titanium alloy of some sort.

Lucky for me, 

I have an outlet in my closet.

So I was able to drill new holes.

You see, I might have a CK vest from 1995,

but I do not have a cordless drill.

Priorities, people.

Here she is, all fixed!

At which point my closet made one last attempt to tell me something,

when the hardware on the other end immediately broke.

Lucky for me, the package came with a set of two!

Yay!  I think I will celebrate with a little Post-Christmas Sale Shopping!

Taxi Mom

Someone told me the next phase of parenting was the "Taxi Mom."  I believe I have entered this phase.  Or rather, I have come screeching into it with 17 bags of random crap (none of which is the right crap needed at that moment), an uncharged telephone, low fuel light blazing, and a vacant and trashed house behind with a lonely dog.

My Week -
Sunday - Go to grocery store, gather supplies for week.  Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries (Dance) and make and freeze a cake (Conrad's teachers.) Locate shot record for Carly and place it in purse.

Monday - School - we are on an altered schedule for finals.  Since Carly needs an immunization, I take her to school with me for the morning.  7th period is first, goes well.  8th period is next (which is my conference) and it is time for Carly's doctor's appointment.  We grab everything and rush to the car.  On the way, I am frantically looking in my bags for the shot record I placed in there this morning....I cannot find the shot record anywhere.  Surely it is in the car.  Nope.  I run back to my classroom (in heels) and find the shot record under a stack of final exams.  Now we are going to be late to the doctor.  We arrive, (Carly is now in charge of the shot record) only to find out that we do NOT need a shot (the school nurse was mistaken.)  I rush Carly back to school (I am now late to 1st period, a sweet colleague is covering for me.)  After a couple of classes, I have lunch with a friend, afternoon classes go well, final group of students leave at 3:35, which is when I realize that on Mondays I usually pick the kids up at school because Carly has dance.  On a regular day, I would have 8th period conference, so that I could leave in time to pick them up at 3:00.  Since today was not a regular day, I have forgotten.  I frantically check my phone...missed calls from teachers (pictures of crying children on street corners in my head.)  I do some crazy texting and find that they have put my kids on the bus to the high school.  SAVED!  I wait a few minutes and the bus arrives with both children in tow.  We rush home (we are already late to dance.)  We load up the chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream Carly has signed us up to bring to her class, she changes quickly, we roll into dance 15 minutes late, disheveled, but bearing fruit.  I have to rush back to school to run more copies for the exams I am giving the next morning since I had rushed out the door so quickly after school.  I run my copies, leaving copies for students at DAEP, ISS, and homebound.  When I finish, it is time to go get Carly.  When I pick her up (we are already late to basketball since I have not collected her basketball shoes and ball since I elected to go back to school and finish my schoolwork instead of going home) I realize that the girls were doing a little Christmas presentation at the end of dance for parents, which I have already missed.  I am sad not only that Carly didn't have a parent there, but because I really enjoy watching her dance and I have missed out.  We rush out the door, run home to collect basketball stuff, run to basketball practice (which coincidentally is right by dance, but completely across town from our home.)  I drop Carly off.  Conrad is starving so we stop for some chicken.  We run home, cram the vat-o-grease down, and begin the process of readying him for basketball.   We cannot find his ball anywhere.  I text Marc, I look in the car, I look behind all the doors, FINALLY I FIND it somewhere (I don't even remember where at this point.)  We hop back in the car, across town, where I drop him off and pick Carly up.  I text Marc (he has been at Jr. High basketball) and ask him to pick Conrad up.  He agrees.  My taxi duties for the day end.  I go to bed feeling like Mother-of-the-Year having missed Carly's performance and forgetting to pick both kids up at school.  WTG me.

Tuesday - today.  Get up at the break of dawn to make sausage balls for school (it is Treat Week, foreign language staff's day to bring food.)  Rush around, get to work (altered schedule - no 8th period today = no break for Señora Morris.)  Kids ALL day.  Luckily for Treat Week, I got some free lunch.  First office referral of the semester because a kid went off and said the 'f' word about 10 times and threatened another student.  Carly and Conrad get off the bus, I stay and tutor a student.  Carly goes to someone's house to play (they pick her up at the high school.)  Conrad and I run home to change clothes for the freshman basketball game.  Marc pops in and needs a button sewed on his pants before the game and then the pants need ironed.  He leaves.  I quickly change and go to the freshmen game.  By the time I arrive, it is the 3rd quarter.  Carly's friend's mom brings her home (only to find that I am not home) then calls to locate me (where am I again?) and brings Carly up to the school.  The kids grab a pizza at the game.  When it is over, we run home, get Carly changed for gymnastics, and drop her off just in time.  Conrad and I run to Wal-mart (Rex is starving) and I pick up more supplies for the week (Cake Plate for Conrad's teacher's cake, etc.)  We run home, drop off our crap, get him changed for basketball performance (still takes awhile to find the damn ball.)  We run and pick Carly up from gymnastics and head back to the school just in time for Conrad's pre-performance practice.  Conrad performs, all goes well (except we lose) and we come home.  When Marc gets home, he informs me that he has invited the team over for a party tomorrow.  The whole varsity basketball team.
To be continued.....

Wasting Time

You can never really predict how long a home project will take.  I had plans of hanging new vanity lights in our bathroom and replacing the drawer pulls.
1.   Picking out lighting - I had decisions to make on vanity lighting.  I searched on LampsPlus and found what I wanted, but the cost was going to be WAAAY too much.  When I abandoned my cart online, I actually received a call on my cell phone from LampsPlus to see if I had encountered problems checking out.  Yes, I had encountered a $600 problem!  Time wasted - about an hour.

I love you but you are too expensive!

 2.  I went to Ace Hardware looking for drawer pulls.  After much deliberation, I decided on some pulls.  I needed 13, and they only had about 6.  I conceded and found another pull I liked.  Again, there were not enough.  Over and over again...until I left Ace empty handed.  Time wasted - about 30 minutes.
3.  I went to Lowe's to continue in my quest for pulls and lights.  I found some vanity lights I liked.  I crawled under a ladder and found bin 28 A 17 where they were located.  I needed 2.  There was only 1. Time wasted - 20 minutes.
4.  I found another vanity light I liked.  There were 2!  Yes, add to cart.  It needed glass canopies.  I carefully selected the canopy I liked from 20 different choices. I needed 6.  There were only 5.  I had to settle for another canopy.  Time wasted - 10 minutes.
5.  Now, for some coordinating drawer pulls.  Where are they located?  Why is every Lowe's laid out completely differently?  Where?  Hardware?  Help?  Anybody?
Yes!  I finally located the pulls and carefully selected what I wanted.  Bonus - there were plenty.  I purchased 13.
6.  I found someone who could help me purchase longer screws to fit my pulls in the event that the screws that came with them were not the correct length (which is usually the case.) See, I have learned to ALWAYS BE PREPARED!  I am so on top of things!
7.  Now Phase 2 - installation.  First, I screwed in all the pulls with no problems.  For once, the screws they came with actually fit.  Wasted time in step 7 buying the longer screws - 10 minutes.

 9.  Next, vanity lights.  This was a new realm for me.  I took down the old light and removed the mounting plate from the wall....only to find - 

....A giant hole in the wall making company with 3 medium size holes and 6 small screw holes.  There was no way my new small mounting plate and fixture would hide this monster.  And I don't do drywall.  And I am pretty sure there should be an electrical box of some kind here instead of just wires sticking out of the wall.  Realization sets in...experts will have to be called.  Time wasted - the last two weeks of preparation and everything leading up to this moment.

10.  Project enters Phase 3 - Reinstallation of the vanity light I just removed.  Wasted time - it's hard to calculate when you are this frustrated!

Ode to Santa Cruz, Bolivia

I just finished painting the bathroom cabinets. 

With all my "formal" training (HGTV watching,) I was surprised that I had failed to forecast what was about to happen:  my forest green flooring and coordinating forest green counter tops would look extra foresty green when paired with white. 

"What's wrong with green and white?"

Not everyone has a problem with Forest Green.  It was really popular in the 90s.  In fact, I think it was invented in the nineties.

You know who appreciates Forest Green?  Ole Ralph Lauren.

I kept thinking.  This reminds me of something.

My husband is a Boston Celtics fan.

What could it be?

Green is all the rage!

And why should I have such a problem with Green and White?  Why do I have the sudden urge to sledgehammer the tile floor and throw sticks of dynamite in the sinks?

Drum roll...here is the unveiling!  Remember, you voted on this!

And here she is!  2 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint later.

What can I say?  I am muy popular in Santa Cruz, Bolivia!  ¡Olé!

La Bandera Oficial de Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Any good black Friday deals on dynamite and sledgehammers?

New Carpet!

Having had carpet put in our last three houses, I wish I could give good advice about the best carpet do put in, choosing colors, etc.   The only thing I seem to ever learn is what NOT to do.

This sums up my past carpet choices. 

Lesson #1 - San Antonio Home - White berber.  Didn't realize it was going to be that white.  Rex threw up on it during the first week and we never got the spot out.  

Here's a shot of the white berber in a little photo I would title:

"Playing with New Baby Brother"

He is now 5 and outweighs her.  She had to have her fun while it lasted.

Lesson #2 - Big Spring Home - We did a fluffy shag-type brown with spots.  Better with stains (I know because I spilled a great deal of paint in one room and besides being a little crunchy in that spot, you couldn't see anything.)  However, it felt dirty...like each fiber was absorbing dirt and hair and popcicle juice and coffee.  Once Marc got a bad fever and decided to sleep on the floor.  He proceeded to sweat profusely for several hours and I'm pretty sure the carpet was never clean after that.

"New Baby Shelby on Sweaty Gross Big Spring Carpet"

Of course she didn't know any better.

 In what can only be described as an ADD moment in my life, I chose three different carpets for three different rooms for our new home.  We just got it installed this week.

Master bedroom = wavy

I am not feeling this color.

Rex is looking a little seasick.

Carly's room has an organic motif.

You cannot see the motif very well.  Come over and have a look.

 

Conrad's carpet is brown with a "dotty" design.

Brown...dotty... This is my favorite.

Maybe, just maybe...there is no perfect carpet???? 

Bathroom cabinets

I painted the bathroom this weekend.

It used to be this strange mint green color.

 I took our gray-greenish-bluish bedroom color, and took it one shade darker.

We really like this color.

Here is another "before."

Note the brown banisters and ugly blinds.

And the corresponding "after."

Photobooth inverts the photos in case you are feeling disoriented.

So I am left with this burning question.

No, it's not about these lights.  Their time is already ticking.

What to do with the remaining wood?

AND.....

picture does not do this justice

The fact that there is quite a bit of odd mint green paint
on the edges of cabinets 

due to previous poor paint job?

You watch HGTV don't you?  Surely you have a suggestion for little old me

and my sombrero wearing online chihuahua friend?

Yo quiero tu helpo.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Twilight Zone

I decided to take an alternate route to school this morning, 

which led me around the front of our home (we park in the back.) 

To my surprise, this is what I saw:

Photo taken early this morning from low-tech cell phone

It is not uncommon for us to rush out in the mornings and leave a few lights on.  

I suppose we left our upstairs lights on this morning.

Only problem is...

We don't have an upstairs.  

Those windows up there with the blinds on them?  

Those are dormers.  

They are not even visible from the attic.  

They are just kind of "stuck on" the roof. 

For your comparison and contrast:  Photo in daylight courtesy of Google Maps.

Which leads me to wonder...who exactly is living up there?  

And should we be charging rent?  

And why do I have to get up and go to work BEFORE the crack of dawn 

when these slakers are obviously just rising for their morning coffee 

and watching the Today Show? 

And, in the words of my Gramma Susie,

I'm feeling like a "fraidy cat"

and am concerned that maybe the previous owners,

know some secret passage way and are living up there.

Do you think they'll change the light bulbs when they burn out?

I think that would be a fair trade-off.

Don't you?

Teaching your family to pick things up

Adapted from this article about How to Get Children to Pick Things Up

This article will give you a way to teach your child to pick things up.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging  virtually impossible

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Time - 18 years
• Patience of a saint
• Lots of Loving   
  
• A realization that you might just have to adjust your standards of clean. 

*Realize that when your child grabs things and throws them all onto the floor, something needs to be done. This is not a good way to live. Rarely will they ever learn, on their own or with the help of others for that matter, that things really do not belong on the floor.

*Try to pretend that you are happy. Mommy is so happy you are chunking stuff on the floor!  Look, the good stuff is in the china cabinet! 

*Pretend that it's a game, and you want to play. Lookey here, now mommy is taking the entire contents of your underwear drawer and tossing its contents one garment at a time onto your floor!  This is fun!  Whoo-hooo!    Now, it really isn't a game. No really...it is kind of fun.  I think they are on to something here.  No more folding laundry.  Just chunk it on the floor!  Of course you don't feel like picking up all the toys, clothes, books, and the never-ending list of things that children purposely throw onto the floor, but push all your feelings aside to placate others but just try to look happy, talk happy, and sound happy while you begin picking these things up. Oh yes, confuse them.  They all think you are crazy anyway.  And if they don't, give 'em a few years.

*It would help if you would even sing while you pick things up with them. "I'm sick of this bit, I'm sick of this bit, why can't anyone, pick up their own ....  "   It would be a little more fun for your child, and they will remember this moment. "The moment when mommy's cheese slid off her cracker."

*Ask your child if they want to play. Most children will be happy to "play".  "I throw things down, mommy sings and picks them up!  This is fun!  I'm off to find more things to throw!"

*Once the game is over, and everything is picked up, it probably won't take long for your child to start throwing things down onto the floor again.  You call this progress? 

*Don't let that bother you, though, because you really are teaching them; and they really are learning. Wait, I thought they were still throwing things down.  Delusional, much?  Where's the "learning" that you mention?  The only thing they are learning is that mommy sings and acts crazy when she's angry.

*Eventually, you should begin to start seeing them picking things up on their own. You only have to harbor your frustration and smile for a little over 1.5 decades.

*They might even sing a little song while they are picking up.  Oops.

*If you catch your child picking up, it would be really great if you would join in, and maybe even say things like, "Yay!", and "This is fun!" Or they will realize that it is not fun, like we all know.  Because it's NOT FUN.  Even if you are singing your little songs and doing your jig and smiling and saying "It's fun!"  It's not fun. 

Let there be (less) light!

Our house has so many lights.  Too many to count.
And with lights come:

Switches....lots of switches

Most of the time, when we hit the switch to turn off a light, we actually end up turning on another light.  We are constantly searching for the right switch.

If you look carefully, you will see 7 of the 14  switches we have in our living room and entry.  That was not a typo or an exaggeration.  14 switches and bagillions of bulbs.

Our master bathroom has 5 light switches and 14 light bulbs.

Perfect for those with cataracts, like our dog Rex, or for people with small, unworking pupils who like spontaneous puzzle-solving throughout the day and paying high-cost energy bills, or for descendants of Thomas Edison.

Ri-friggin-diculous! for the average person.

Master bath:  6 light bulbs in these two fixtures alone, not including shower light, toilet light/fan, and vanity lights.

There are always bulbs that either a) burned out b) shorted out or c) broken out (previous owner liked to bust out bulbs and leave the casings.  I am beginning to understand why!  Too many bulbs!)

....I am slowly slipping into a brightly lit insanity...so bright....so pretty....

So, for my last project, I reduced our lightbulb load by 3 by replacing the above ceiling fan with this:

Just a plain little fan.

Now if I can just find the right switch to turn it on!

Let's hear it for the pests!

I recently had a scorpion in the mailbox, sitting on the mail, apparently just waiting for my arrival to collect my credit card applications, coupons I will never use, and bills. 
So I am always very careful when I open the mailbox now.
Well, it appears that some friendly visitors have come to help rid me of my infestation.

They love each other.  Their love is one.  Or maybe one is about to eat the other.  I'm no expert.

Now go forth and multiply!