Crafty Tuesday ~ Pinterest Challenge

Posted on July 23, 2012 by carrie

I’ve been obsessed with Pinterest for awhile now – pinning magic left and right! But very rarely do I ever do any of the crafts I find, or cook any of the recipes that look so very tempting.

So I’m going to try to Pin It – And Do It. My own Pinterest Challenge, if you will.

Since we are in paint-mode in the kitchen, I’m looking forward to hanging some things on the walls when all is said and done. I think Birdie #2 originally found this pin, and I decided this week was the week to tackle it for our new (new-to-us) kitchen.

Easiest. Craft. Ever.

I cut out the type and made a stencil using our lovely Eva. Then I borrowed a piece of burlap from Birdie #2’s stash, and used a little fabric paint…

And then voila! Frame-able artwork in a matter of minutes.

Framed and just waiting for those kitchen walls to dry.

Ahem. Yes. Back to painting.

So tell me, are you in on the Pinterest Challenge with me? What does your next pin creation look like?

London 2012…

Posted on July 22, 2012 by carrie

is a mere 5 days away! I’m so excited. I can never get enough of the Olympics – I’ll watch anything that is on, so the countdown has been on for quite awhile over here.

I saw this commercial a few months ago and loved it. And then J. sent it to me last week again and it made me teary-eyed all over again. For all the Moms. And Team USA. 😉

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on July 17, 2012 by carrie

Haaalllo there my crafty friends! We are trying to get back into the swing of summer projects after all the vacationing we have been doing. There’s some progress happening in the kitchen (as I sit here typing with my hair full of sanded bits from my ceiling) but nothing really that I can show. Maybe next week?

Last week, in my usual schizophrenic way, I decided that I couldn’t go another minute without fixing our outdoor furniture. Yes, I did have about six other irons in the fire, so to speak, but I got another splinter while we were eating dinner on Sunday. It was not my first splinter, so the outdoor furniture moved up on my list of to-dos.

When we got the furniture last year I waterproofed it right away, but an entire year baking in the hot California sun had made our furniture brittle and thirsty! When I had waterproofed it last year I really liked the darker initial color, so I decided to stain the furniture to get that color that had faded out…back.

After sanding everything down, I used the MinWax Wood Conditioner just to give the wood a little extra love. The wood conditioner is really easy to apply – it is thin and you just apply it with a paintbrush.

It dries really quickly and you are supposed to apply your stain within 2 hours of the wood conditioner. So I broke out the stain. I used the MinWax Gel Stain in the Light Cherry stain. This too is very easy to apply – and the gel consistency means no drips, which is very good for me since I tend to be a messy painter/stainer!

So I was very pleased with the color. I like that it has a little bit of teak/cherry redness to it and makes it pop out on the courtyard. BUT, I couldn’t leave it as is. We needed some polyurethane to protect the stain and wood. My new friend in the paint department at Ganahl Lumber assured me that I should use this marine polyurethane because it is the varnish they use on boats and it will last for a few years and I will not have to do this again next year. Sold.

I’m not completely sold on the glossiness of the poly yet, though. I like the more matte/satin finishes generally, and this one is very shiny. But, I think it will dull down in just a few weeks in our hot sun and if it saves me a few days next year…I think I can live with the gloss.

Anyone else had any adventures in outdoor staining lately?

Give us 60 minutes and a beach…

Posted on July 16, 2012 by carrie

…and I’ll show you one happy Mommy and baby girl.

Em and Daddy made one last pass at the Comic-Con floor on Sunday morning, so Ad and I ditched over to Coronado Island for a little beach time.

We uncovered perfect seashells…

Hunted for some tide pool discoveries…

And dipped our toes in the cold, clear ocean…

There is something so incredibly rejuvenating about the beach. It just makes me happy. Especially when I get to share it with my Nature girl, Rosey Toes.

Okay, I just searched for pics from the last time we were on this very beach…check out the tiny little Tiny in the photo in this post and Em is Addie-sized. Oh, it happens so fast!

Comic-Con 2012…in the can.

Posted on July 15, 2012 by carrie

Hermione (Emma) Granger and Super Addie accompanied Daddy to Comic-Con again this year. They came back with all sorts of goodies that I need to get photos and videos of, especially the cat ears. Oh yes. The cat ears are just too good to try to explain…you must see them to believe them. Soon. I promise.

Now you see us, now you don’t.

Posted on July 12, 2012 by carrie

Well…I’ve finally unpacked and finished the laundry and…now I’m repacking. Yes, we are jaunting down to San Diego for a few days of comic nerd-i-ness with Daddy and Uncle Jeff. Well, the girls are heading to ComiCon with the boys and Mommy is heading to the spa, beach, pool….all three maybe?

But before we pop off on another quick little vacation, I wanted to wrap-up the last vacation which was, as Emma said, “the best cousin vacation EVER!”

I have to admit it was so great to get some sister time.

And the girls got their camping ya-yas all out while they stayed with Meesh for the week.

There was a lot of beach fun…

And these two were as thick as thieves the whole week….

Although these two gave them a run for their money once they got into their groove…

I left the happy campers for a few days and met up in Ludington with my best college friend and we celebrated our birthdays and 22 years of friendship.

Ludington…is gorgeous.

We stayed in a lovely little cottage, hiked to a beautiful lighthouse, kayaked around the lake, ate good food, and just talked, and talked, and talked, and then talked a little more. It was the perfect catch-up and getaway.

(Lots more Ludington photos over on Flickr!)

Then….it was back to camping! S’mores, campfires and more beach time. How cute are all of our hosts?

And we celebrated a certain someone turning NINE.

Addie was tall enough to drive the go-carts by herself. I think she was terrified, but she powered through bravely and made it around the course a few times.

My favorite photo of the Newman family before we left them…

Then the girls and I trekked downstate and melted. Literally. Whew…it was H-O-T.

We went to to the 4th of July parade. Papa gave the girls an empty bag and told them it was for the parade. Em looked very confused and asked, “to sit on?” “No, for all of the candy” he explained. OH. MY. CANDY. Manna from heaven. My poor candy-deprived children.

The parade was a hit despite being 100 degrees, and it was nice to see Papa and his guys sing too.

Our second week was a little more laid back. Lots of swimming, visiting with friends and family and catching fireflies. Yes, there is still a definite fascination with fireflies.

And fireworks.

Thank you everyone in Michigan (and our Wisconsin family too!) for making our vacation spectacular.

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on July 10, 2012 by carrie

So, when last we met up for our Crafty Tuesday…we were in the middle of our kitchen redo saga. We had found tile and it was being prepped and laid.

Right.

Those of you lucky enough to be within yelling distance, or any of my FaceBook friends, already know how this all turns out. But for those of you who haven’t been around these parts while we vacationed, this is the rest of the story. It was about mid-Wednesday (remember we are leaving on Saturday morning!!) when my contractor delicately told me that…well…the tile I so lovingly picked out and hauled and paid for? Yeah, it wasn’t going to work. Apparently our house is old. Not a big surprise. And the entire kitchen floor slopes about 2 inches from one side to the other. Uh, big surprise. Oh, and also? There are some little dips and valleys that tile just wasn’t going to be happy on.

So…back to the drawing board, since we didn’t have $15K to put a new sub-floor in, and the floating the tile option wasn’t going to work with the many other issues our kitchen has going for it.

J. came through again. After taking me to lunch and another visit to Lowe’s we found this stuff called “Resilient Vinyl Floor Planks.” And honestly…the look of it is not that much different from my first love, the tile. It installed much easier, was cheaper, and is much more resilient and easier to care for in a kitchen than hardwood. Although I couldn’t do the herringbone layout – it still worked out ok.

And so now, we have this:

And this:

I put the laundry room photo up there first, since it is against the cream cabinets it will give you a better idea of how the floor will look once the kitchen cabinets are painted! Right now there is a lot of wood going on, but I really like the floor and it is very close to the other dark wood we have throughout the house. I think it is a good compromise and it was HALF the cost. So win-win for all.

Next on the agenda is doing all of the baseboards (this week!), repainting trim and ceiling, and starting the cabinet painting. The snowball effect has begun.

Kitty Love.

Posted on July 9, 2012 by carrie

They haven’t been been able to get enough of each other since Addie reappeared. I’m sure Tiger was confused and asking, “Where is that curly-haired girl who carts me all over the house? I’ve had to WALK everywhere for the past two weeks!”

You’re Gonna Miss This.

Posted on July 8, 2012 by carrie

I am always so anxious to travel and go on vacation, but I think in reality, I’m really just a homebody. I love coming home and after being away for a few weeks…I realized that these little things are the things I missed the most.

I missed twilight in our courtyard. The lovely shadows, smells and sounds after a busy day.