Floor accomplish!!!!

I am soooooooo thrilled with the floor!  Why you may ask?  Is it heated?...  No

  Is it travertine?....no

Hardwood?.....nope

So why are you excited about a floor?

Because it no longer looks like this

No look closer...... 

Scared ya didn't I?  I know, only a teen boy would go in there and not care.

I had found some black tile at the ReStore for 5dollars.  I think there were 40 in all, but they were 8x8.

So had to figure something else out.  I took a trip to Home Depot but they had no black tile.  So I wandered over to their clearance section (another one of my favorite words cle a ra nce, see it just rolls off the tongue).  They had these wonderful cheap tiles for around 5 dollars a box.  They were a close-out and had only a few but that was more than enough for my task.  YAY I could see it in my mind.  I would rent a tile cutter be done in a day and then be able to install a sink.   So did not work out that way.  I rented a tile cutter but it was too small and didn't want to pay triple for a bigger one.  I decided I would wait and go to Home Depot again and just pay to have the pieces cut, ( I only had 6).  Yeah, HD doesn't do that any more...sigh, I turned to leave totally bummed, only to see a tile cutter big enough, for 3 dollars more than what I paid to rent the one I never got to use.  I was suffering mixed emotions.  I was happy, disappointed, hostile, and satisfied, it truly is a wonder I didn't wink out of existence with all the contradictions.

So after a few broken tile (been 18 years since I last tiled) me and my son got the floor tiled.

So without further ado..........TADA!!!! 

I almost can walk in there without the willys.  I still have to wipe it down tomorrow but was too anxious to wait to post. 

Huge difference eh?

Now I have to install this manly sophisticated sink.

Also found at HD for only 49 dollars.  Do I sound like a commercial?  Sorry just love finding great deals. 

So hopefully I will have another post real soon!

Nothing pretty here........yet

My house is not a mansion, nor is it new or quaint.  Actually I think it was a meth lab at one time.  But it is my house and it is being changed little by little.  Kinda like me :)  I love taking things people have thrown away and giving it new life.  So I am hoping to do that with these few things.

First up is the downstairs bathroom.  It is small and dark and basically ugly.  It is also my son's room bathroom.  It's missing a few things, like a sink, some lights, a descent floor and a door.

It also has a small shower, it use to be a cedar shower but was too creepy to use.

I ripped out the wood but haven't gotten any further.  It seems behind the wood was more wood O.o huh?

Did I tell you it was a rental for a long time?  A lot of bad renovations. 

This is the shower part, yeah, pretty hideous.  This is where I really wish I had money for a plumber to come in and just make it fabulous. 

My other "not pretty" secret.

My mantle......they took the easiest way to make it.  It is a 4x8 slab cover in boring tile.  With a 4 inch mantle on top.  Can't do much with 4 inches.  

Oh on top of it, the tile is cheap and breaks easily, so now I have lots of broken ugliness. 

My hope is to tile, the bathroom, and paint and add a  a sink as well as lighting and re tile the shower.  I know I can't afford the plumbing but I can make it look a lot better.

The mantle I want to rip out and put up stone covered columns and put a big chunky piece of wood on it.  Then re tile the outside border with small glass tile..  It's so pretty in my head.  I will try to find something similar.  But right now I'm looking for a couch and it's gonna be from Craigslist so I don't know what it's gonna look like yet.  I have an idea but I am flexible.

So that's what I'm working on and it may take a bit.  Will post pics when accomplished.

Chandi Redoux-The Final Chapter

Yay I have finally completed this mission!!!!

On the last post I had rewired the small chandi and before that I had rescued the small chandi from an outdated contraption that was once a loved light fixture. I think, but it will be loved again <3.

So that should catch you up to speed.  I headed to the Dollar Tree store to find some do-dads to add to the naked chandi.  I found some mardi gras beads,  O.o .... some of you maybe thinking how is that french?  They are not but will become a lot better when I paint them with gold leaf.

See? looking better already.  So then I cut them into different lengths and grabbed my hated glue gun.  Have I told you how much I hate my glue gun?  It's soul purpose in it's life is to burn me and cover me in it's spider webby threads.  But alas I can not craft without it.  (insert pity here)

So without further whining and delay here is completed chandi french style.

TA-DAAAAAA! 

(insert OOOOH AND AAAAAAHS  here) 

Let's take a pause and reflect on the ugliness this use to be.

(shudders) ok enough of that, back to the after 

Ah sooooo much better.  So what's stopping you?

Chandi Redoux part two

So I gave up trying to find the light kit and went to Home Depot and bought some wire and a switch.  I already had the chain so didn't really need a kit.  They had a gold cord so I figured "why not?" and just go all out.  Although they did not have a gold switch but I can fake that.

\

So first things first, thread wire though chain BEFORE you feed wire into chandi.  Learned this one the hard way a few lights back.  So always thread the chain before you begin. 

Start at the bottom and go in and out of each link. 

After you have completed that you will end up needing to insert through the hoop into fixture. 

Take off the lid and continue wire through lid and into nut. 

Pull wire through extra so you can knot the two wires.  It will keep it from unthreading. Wrap each wire (there are two) with other wires.  One with the black and one with the white.  Twist wires together and hold together with electric tape.

Using wire nuts, twist them on the wires until they are tight and secure.  Then tuck wires back into fixture. 

Put lid back on and tighten screw top.  There you have just re-wired a light fixture.  Pretty easy huh?

So I added the fake crystals and it just didn't seem like it was done.  So you know what that means....that's right. 

To Be Continued.......

Chandi redoux part one

A friend of my daughters, who is quite impassioned with all things French, came to the house, a while back.  Found out I had remade the chandelier in my daughter's room and, my daughter who is generous enough to volunteer my time, planned a project for me.

I was to make her a smaller one, with antique french features.  It needed to be gold.

It's soooooooo much easier to do white, or black, or red, or hot pink.  Oooooh hot pink sounds like fun.

Off to the ReStore to hopefully find something cheap.  I found this for 2 dollars.

Yeah, I know it's not tooo pretty but, that is why it was only 2 dollars.  The fact it was dirty was why they gave me a huge discount.

So after I removed the outer glass thingy, I had this simple and small chandi with horrible lights.  Good thing the lights are the easiest part. 

I had been hunting for crystals to hang but those things are like a dollar a piece (cheapest I could find)

I was at the ReStor again and happened upon these for like a dollar!!!!  They are plastic but at this point who cares. 

I do cruise the ReStore often looking for freebies.  Things that are chipped or missing pieces.  Then I take them apart and use the pieces.  This is my stash, I'm going to use the chain for the added support, since I am converting this to plug in and not hard wire. 

Hard wire, rewire, convert?!?!?!! sounds too complicated?  Nah, it really isn't.  They sell the kits for less than ten bucks.  Once you're use to it, then you can just buy what you need.  So you unscrew the top and you will find the gold wire  (two parts) is attached to a bunch of other wires.  Don't worry we are only switching the gold wire for another wire.  The other stuff stays the same.  So unwrap the electric tape and unscrew the wire nuts (the orange cappy things).  Untwist the wires to get the gold wire out or the wire that is sticking out of the top of light fixture. 

There are two main colors black and white.  NEVER mix the two.

See the little gold wire?  That's the one we are removing. 

Ok, I have misplaced my replacement wire so until I form a search and rescue team to get my back in case I get lost in my mess of an art center.  I have moved on to painting.  Screw the top back on and proceed to paint.  There is this stuff that you can buff on metal to change it's color, it's called Rub'n Buff.  I had planned on using it to get the gold look I was after but then I was rummaging in my supplies and found this.

Not even sure where I got it, but it's like powdered gold.  Then when added to gold paint you get this.

It looked like real liquid gold.  I was excited. 

I brushed it on, one coat at a time and was tickled with the results.  I then sprayed a thin coat of lacquer over it a few times. 

So much better than the brass.  Oh I did take some steel wool and sanded the shine off a bit but, be careful if you sand too much, you start making it shiny again.  So sand enough to rough it up, so the paint can stick to it.

I let it dry for a few days to really set.  Then I got sick :( booo........ so this is a part one.

Hopefully by next week I will have this completed.  This will be my fifth rewire, remix light fixture and it just keeps getting easier.  Got something butt ugly? I say make it beautiful or just plain fun.

These are my other transformations if ya wanna check it out.http://craftingoccurs.blogspot.com/2009/09/back-to-school-paris-style.html

http://craftingoccurs.blogspot.com/2010/08/freecycle-cooooooool-style-daddio.html

http://craftingoccurs.blogspot.com/2010/06/ugly-chandelier-to-wow.html

I saw it and painted it RED

Years ago I was at a garage sale and bought up a bunch of older frames of varying size.  They have hung around my house until I started this blog.  Now I am always finding ideas to utilize them.

This one has a 15" x 30" opening.

So I spray painted it red and found this awesome black and white fabric I found at Wal-Mart for 2 dollars a yard.  (can you say whoo to the hoo?)

Doesn't that look fabulous?

I am soooooo loving the look.

I wish it was a chair. 

Oh, I haven't told you what I am making, have I?  So sorry got so excited that I remembered to take a before shot.  Ok I am making a necklace holder thingy for my daughter's Paris themed room.

So I cut a piece of foam core and covered it in the fabric of awshumness and held it fast with duct tape.

I then stapled  it to the frame and screwed some cup hooks to the front.  Now since I was too lazy to use wood, I had to come up with a way to secure the hooks.  So I braved my evil hot glue gun and put a generous amount on the pointy end of the hooks.  Let cool and voila' you got a cool looking organized.......

As I examined my handy work I saw that the staples came through a little.  No worries I just simple hot glued on some red beads I had left over from a Christmas project.  

I think it came out pretty awesome!!  I love it and had a hard time giving it to my daughter.

Yes truly a masterpiece or reuse.  The total cost of project was the fabric, everything else I had lying around.

So yay for garage sales, and inspiration. :)

See the beads, it made it even better.

YAY! for mistakes to get you to reinvent your original idea.



2011 already???

I still haven't shared Christmas Eve.  So everything was ready, house clean, decorations in place, tangerine-glazed ham done as well as crab stuff mushrooms, Waldorf salad, rolls, sweets, and champagne cocktails.

I had a moment of rest before everyone got here and took a pic.

About half way through the guests arriving I realized I didn't take a pic of the food and drinks.

After a few of the drinks I didn't care.  The food was delicious and gone quickly.

We did have fun,  and got a little silly but mostly we enjoyed each other.

It was time for the generations to mingle

and cheeks to be rosy.

A good time was had by all.

Oh one last thing.

To all a restful and joyous New Year!!