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Easter Baskets? Easter Buckets for Teens and Tweens

March 29, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Hippity Hoppity Easter’s on its Way!

Alright, so my kiddos may be getting a little old for the Easter bunny (14 and 10), but they will never be to old for gifts.  Truth be told, I really like giving them presents.   I had a lot of fun putting their “baskets” together this year.

First up, the “basket”.  I wanted to do something a little different this year.  When I saw these I saw major potential.   I plan to steal these from the children after Easter for a little organizing project.

These are big (6 gallon) buckets, purchased at Lowe’s.  They were around $16.00 each.  Yeah, totally expensive compared to a 2.99 basket at Rite Aid, but as I said, I have a plan for these after the children have emptied them of the sugary goodness within.

I filled the Easter Baskets … I mean Easter Buckets up about a third of the way with newspaper, then lined them with colorful tissue.  I use tissues because it is cheaper and less messy than Easter grass.  I learned that from my mother.  Thanks, mom.

And then I went about filling the Easter Baskets.. buckets!  This was actually the easy part, and the most fun.

I have a secret bin that I keep hidden from the kids, and in that bin I put little trinkets that I find throughout the year ON CLEARANCE.  I am a HUGE clearance shopper.  Most of the things in the Easter baskets were purchased at 70-90% off.  I start my hunt for bargains in the days just after most major holidays.  

What to give a 14-year-old boy for Easter?

  • spray paint (cammo colors) essential for modifying air-soft rifles.  If you have to ask, you can ignore this one.
  • gorilla “super” glue.  again with the modifying air-soft guns.
  • various duct tapes and cammo tapes.  He is 14, and all about rigging and building things.
  • Klutz book geared for teens, “The Encyclopedia of Immaturity”
  • a travel binder for DVDs/video games.
  • various chocolate covered Easter treats

What to give a 10-year-old girl for Easter?

  • lip gloss
  • a book by her favorite author
  • A colorful, fuzzy blanket
  • spring colored note cards, chalk and colorful pens
  • a cute Easter bracelet
  • various chocolate covered Easter treats.

If I was to guess-timate, I would say I spent $10 on each basket.  Of course, the buckets more than doubled the budget, but I do have plans for them. 

Here they are, filled, all dressed up and ready for the Easter Bunny to deliver them.

I whipped up a very simple little “flag” for each to personalize the buckets.  I simply printed out a little card in word (on card-stock) and glued it to a few layers of coordinating scrapbook paper.  Then the whole flag took a trip through my laminating machine.  Then I simply tied the whole shebang on with some ribbon.

I do hope they love them!  What am I a saying, it’s filled with candy!  They will love it.

Do you have a clever solution for teens and tweens for Easter?  I would love to hear about it!

xo,  Jay

Sharing this idea, and many more, with these fine folks.

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DIY: Old School Green Chalkboard Mural

March 22, 2012 by · 2 Comments

As we were building this wall, I knew that it was destined to be used for some creative purpose.  After throwing around a few ideas in my head, I decided on a large chalk board.  One thing I just could not decide on was the color.  I have painted many, many things with black chalkboard paint.  But after so many great tutorials in blog-land, I decided to try my hand at mixing my own chalk board paint.  Martha has done it.  Elsie has done it.  And of course, Kate gave a great tutorial as well.  Chances are, you too have made your own chalkboard paint.  I guess it was just my turn.

I do believe that everyone is using the same ratio.


Now, originally I wanted more of a green apple color, and had I taken the apple with me to the Home Depot, I would have a more yellow-green.  Truth be told, I actually really like the color I ended up with.

The paint is Behr Premium Plus Ultra (paint and primer in one) in Pesto.  It looked much more like pistachio pudding on the paint can lid.  When I picked it up from the paint desk, I experienced a moment of horror diappointment.

And I have to admit after the paint dried I experienced a moment of  “Oh, Lord.  What have I done?”

 

The grout is “bright white” non-sanded grout.  I do not think it affected the color at all.   I mixed the paint and grout together in this 13″ x 9″ lidded plastic container because I had read that it sets up pretty fast because of the grout.  Also, the lid serves as a great paint tray.  I used my new favorite painting tool; a 4″ foam roller.  It provided a nice smooth finish, perfect for a chalk board mural.

 

So here is our “blank canvas”.  It is a half wall, about 4 feet high by 15 feet long.  It is in our lower level, adjacent to the family room.  You will see more of that room soon.

 

And here is the after.  After in-progress, really.  I need to add trim around the “bar top”.

Like I said before, after the second coat dried, I was not so keen on the outcome.  But Lizzie and I spent some time priming the board, wiping it down with white chalk.  And then… it just kinda transformed before my eyes.

“Why hello, old school green chalkboard!  Thanks so much for showing up!”

And… I really like it.  Every member of the family has come down for a scribble or a doodle.  Now a previously under-utilized area of our home is being used for creative, fun pursuits.  Love it!

I also want to grab a few more small stools, which are much more comfortable than the floor.

Lizzie in action.

Until the weather warms up, I see us spending quite a bit of time here; drawing spring flowers, blue skies, apple trees, and quadratic equations.

What’s your next bold move?  I want to know!

xo Jay

linking up at:

centsational girl    tidy mom     tatertots and jello

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Taking Care of Business: Trimming a Vent and Door

March 5, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

I love a list, don’t you?  Is there a more lovely way to organize your thoughts or prioritize your projects?  Nope.

What’s even better than making a list?  Crossing things off your list.  My virtual pen did plenty of that this morning!  Over the weekend we worked on finishing up a bunch of trim work.

Check out our Home(stead) Goals  2012 list here.  Progress rocks.

We have been putting this area off for some time, because we just didn’t quite know what to do with it.  It’s the bathroom door, in our master bedroom.

My Partner-in-Crime and I installed the door about two weeks ago.   Aaand… I installed the door knob BY MYSELF last week.  It was time to finish the job, and cover this nastiness that I have been stepping over for about 5 years.  Yeah, time to get on that.

A big part of our foot dragging came from the fact that we just weren’t sure how best to go about it.  How to trim around that vent, and trim out the bottom of the door?  We thought about just using one large piece of wood that would reach to the bottom of the door.  That would be really spendy.  And the transition to the molding on the adjacent walls would look wonky.  Yeah, we himmed and hawed for… years.

And quite honestly, I am not sure that our solution was the perfect solution.   But it is 100 times better.  And it is very Wilbur Road.

So we just went under the vent, and cut a small trim piece to go around it, and inserted the vent on top of it all.  I am not going to lie to you, there was some swearing involved.  We had a dickens of a time getting the fancy vent cover to fit correctly, without voids around it.  I needed to know that I could shut off the vent in our room completely.  It gets warm in here quickly the three times a year the furnace is fired up.

And this is what I mean by so very Wilbur Road.   It’s a little cooky, and a  little crude.  But I am going to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We are not finish carpenters.  We don’t care, either.  This is a handmade home.  And every little detail has been overseen by a team (usually my Partner-in-Crime and I; sometimes a sweet family member, a neighbor or a friend).    And we have learned a lot along the way.  Sometimes we don’t remember what we have learned, but learning has occurred.  But every little detail has a story, and when I look around my home, I feel the  love that went into building this house.

What’s better than crossing something off of your list?  The beautiful results.

So have you made a list for the year?  What nagging projects are you tackling (or have you recently tackled?)  I want to hear!

Jay

Oh, and you might be wondering “why is your door off the floor in the first place?”  Good question!  Our loft was built directly on the beams below it, there are no voids  for things like pluming, venting, and electrical.  Tricky, yes.  So it is pretty typical in homes like ours to “build-up” the sub floor, to create space for venting, pipes, etc.  Now you know.

 

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De-cluttering Continues: A Place for Everything (Bookcase Revamp)

February 29, 2012 by · 19 Comments

So I am not going to quite meet my self imposed March 1 completion for my De-Clutter challenge.  But I am soldiering on!

When I last left you, the loft looked something like this:

And while I did get rid of the clutter, I needed to complete the job.  I have tossed many ideas around in my noggin’ about how to best utilize this space, most of them cost a bit of cash.  I went into this project  challenging myself to utilize only things we had on hand.  Frugality is very hip right now on Wilbur Road.

So I decided to take this 80′s oak veneer bookcase, and try to make it a little more classic.

I sent my Partner-in-Crime out to the woodshed, and he came up with some scraps of molding we had left over from various projects.  I went to work on painting (more cream, left over from the open shelving project in the kitchen).

Hmm.. maybe I need to do a little more touch up on that molding?

My PiC attached the molding to the top, plus a little “skirting” piece around the bottom.

Now, if I was to say spend a little money on this project, I would have purchased a little bit larger molding.  But really, I am quite happy with the way it turned out.  Lighter, brighter and a little more timeless.  Of course I could not wait to get some of my books off the floor and onto the shelves.  But, I was patient, and gave the paint plenty of time to dry.

Now I have a place for the sewing machines to hang out.   And  it is home to most of our craft/home improvement/DIY books.  A place for everything, and everything in it’s place, right?  It is amazing how much tidier your house can be when you have a place to put your goods.  I resisted the urge to “curate” this space; adding nic-nacs from around the house.  I am going for simplicity and function.

Isn’t that green ladder cute?  I found it just like that.

Every so often (like a change of season, or preparing for a holiday) I like to group books together by subject.  It gives me inspiration for upcoming projects.  Can you tell that I am getting ready for spring?  Did I mention that it snowed today?  Grrr…

And this shelf?  I decided to leave it open.  Which is my word for 2012.  I wanted a blank space, open for whatever may be ahead.  It is grouped with a sweet little painting by Lizzie.

The loft is really shaping up.  I have de-cluttered the library and the craft room.  Next up, my closet.

I hope you’ll join me!

Jay

linking up at:  whipperberry     tidy mom     i heart organizing    miss mustard seed    tater tots and jello

                            funky junk interiors    sew many ways    thrifty decor chick

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How to: Install a Door Knob

February 22, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Our bathroom door, which we installed about 2 weeks ago,  has been swinging there  just waiting for a knob.  Illness has plagued our home, therefore many projects have been put on hold.

This morning, I decided that I would do it.  I have built decks, I have done trim work, I have taught others how to hang a door, and I have run all manor of power tools.  But I have always left the door knob installs to my PiC.

I am not sure why, because it was so darn easy.

Follow the instructions on your packaging, which is exactly what I did.

 

**Sorry about the blurriness of the pics.  I was working one handed**

 

1. Install latch.  Put it in the hole in the door, screw it in.  Yes, that simple.

 

2. Put the front and back of knob together, through the hole in the door.  They fit together like a puzzle.

 

3. Screw the front and back together.

 

4. Screw strike plate into door jamb.

 

5. Enjoy your new knob.  Maybe it is bringing you some much needed privacy?

Or maybe you want to change out the knobs in your home?

If you want to change the door knobs in your home, you will of course start by removing your old knobs.  Just reverse the order in which I installed our new one.   Start by unscrewing  and removing the knobs, then unscrew and remove the latch, finish by unscrewing and removing the strike plate.

Ta- DONE!

I am now invigorated to take on a few even bigger projects ALONE.

How about you? Are there any projects you have been intimidated to tackle on your own, but later realized that you were more than capable?

Jay

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Woven Heart Valentine

January 31, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

These traditional Danish woven hearts are usually on the scene around Christmas time.  They adorned our tree this year, and I just fell in love with them.  Apparently, Scandinavian school children are taught to make them in Kindergarten.  Those little buggers must have pretty nimble fingers; as Lizzy and I found them a bit tricky.  But once we got the hang of it, we went to town, filling the tree.

Liz decided that they would make great Valentine Cards  filled with treats and personalized with ribbons, jokes… you name it.  I quite agree. Here is our stab at it:

 

I have included this

scandinavian heart

template.

Also, while these pictures are not a complete tutorial, I think they get you off to a good start.


You can also search for a tutorial on youtube.  I am not quite up to a vlog post yet!

These have been so much fun to make.  Enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jay

linking up at:

a bowl full of lemons

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Kitchen: Beadboard and Open Shelves

January 24, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Over the past few months, I have embarked on several projects with the goal of “lightening up” the old homestead.

When we first built and painted, I went with a very light cream throughout the main living areas of the house.  The kids’ rooms and the bathrooms received some color.  But the rest was a warm, cream, honey color.  Not bad, but it wasn’t long before I found myself with paintbrush in hand.

The easiest spots to paint are these two small walls in the kitchen.  They are perfectly framed by timbers, with the counters providing a border at the bottom.  Two small walls that take much, much, much more time to tape than they do to paint.  Therefore, I have painted them a few different colors over the years.

 The latest was this deep “Ruby” red. I like the color, but it was just way to dark.

Being surrounded by trees provides plenty of “coziness” (read: claustrophobia) and it is in no way necessary to try to conjure that feeling through rich deep hues.  What I  needed is LIGHT, airy and fresh.

So I returned to the cream, but I decided this time, I would change things up.  Add some bead board, and finally create some shelves that held a bit more than a few glasses.

1. Two packages of pine bead board, some finish nails,  paint, and a whole lotta patience later, the bead board was up.  And there she stayed for about 4 months.  Naked.  Waiting for some friends.

2.  Measure 10x cut once.  We had some tricky angles to cut around the beam.  We also made a templates for our brackets, which are simply made from stock pine from Home Depot.  The depths of each shelf vary according to the items stored on them.

3. Sticky notes help me remember measurements and placement of boards and brackets.

And here she is all finished up, lookin’ purdy:

I have to tell you.  I really like it.  Light, bright, fresh.  Lots more storage.  I am going to find just the right little frame to hang above the dishes there.  I imagine adding a few of my bright Fiestaware pieces to the mix as the seasons change, or the mood strikes.

A few more views, cause I am just that happy with the results:

So there you have it.   There are many more projects that I want to tackle in the kitchen.  But unfortunately they involve ripping things up and money.  Another day, then.

Thanks ever so much for stopping by.

A comment would be lovely!

Jay

linking up at thrifty decor chick

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