A daybed in the making

There would have been nothing wrong with leaving this as it was for the one whole day but there is nothing like making something better .

This looks pretty crappy actually .

Ok this looks pretty crappy too , but I assure you it will look adorable .

Getting there ....

Here is a close-up of the end of the bed , I am so glad I figured I could work with what I have because the alternative is a $1500.00 PB Teen bed , which actually I can not even buy if I had the money because they don't ship across the border , this make-over cost a mere $65.00 , what a bargain .

It really is coming along smoothly , here it is after lots of v-groove actually only two large packages in fact , 4 smallish fence post finials to add the finishing touch , lots of primer and soon a couple of coats of warm white .

Tomorrow the finished bed , I am almost sure of it .

Creating a daybed

Hot off the presses

Hot off the ironing press that is , I finally got around to sewing the sink skirt I have been meaning to make , see I hate our pedestal sink it is not a cute vintage inspired number it is just plain ugly , I thought a skirt would help pretty it up , and it would provide a hiding spot for the ugly stuff like the plunger and toilet bowl scrubber .

What a breath of fresh air for our smallest and windowless room.

I simply used super sticky Velcro , it said it wasn't recommended for fabric , that do they know , I simply stitched it down after sticking it on , it worked so well.

I measured out the width I needed by measuring the sink with a piece of ribbon , I then pinned the ribbon to the ironing board and made sure I made folds to properly fit the width I would need.

Just a little fabric a little patient measuring and ironing and a little bit of Velcro and sewing , I needed three packages of 18" long Velcro I got that at Home Depot , and the skirt was 32" long .


Happy Weekend !

Time for change

A lot of things have changed in this home over the years but nothing has changed more than my children , my how they change in the blink of an eye , all you mothers know , it really seems like one day they are babies and the next day pre-teens , challenging moments all along, many days of breaking points and joy and laughter and tears .
This picture was taken sometime in 2004 I believe, it was their Dad's first trip away from them in this house , they were wearing his t-shirts to feel him close to them , how sweet.

This picture was taken one night when the fireworks were going off , they were being so silly together , making each other laugh , I love those times most of all , these days there is more fighting between them than anything else , but when they get along there is nothing better , I know they will be great friends always , these next few years just might be a bump in the road.

Sophie as she is now

How much they have grown , and they need change in their environment too , it is boring to be living in the same old room , although of course I have made changes over the years with them at the wheel with my guidance , I really feel your room should reflect you , after all I painted my most hated wall colour, orange for this little lady but I convinced her a sherbert shade of orange was best.

Mason as she is now , growing up too fast stuck between girl and teenager

Sometimes it is hard to recognize your own children , how could my daughter be as tall as me at the age of 12 , boggles my mind .

She always wanted bunk beds and two years ago we got the single over double kind , but it turns out no one wanted to sleep in the top sleepovers would end up with multiple kids on the bottom bunk , and she was wanting a change , so today we tackled a little bit of re-arranging, like moving her triple armoire and dresser , removing the top bunk and switching most things around, it is a good thing my girl is the same size because I couldn't have done it without her , she is strong thankfully.

I turned out quite well we just need to work on the decor and organization , she wants new bedding , which she needs , I am trying to convince her PBteen is her best option and not Roxy , I like PB cotton bedding better than synthetics. We are going to Buffalo next week and I am hoping to find something great there at PBteen or Tj maxx or Home goods .

I MADE her take an extra mattress for this bed although she did not want her bed any higher it needed it . Turns out she likes it , and maybe I knew what I was talking about , I totally snuck the second mattress into place hoping she wouldn't notice and revolt. We took the top bunk and are creating a daybed for little sis , so we had an extra double mattress it worked out well.

I think it is just fine for a kids room to look like a kids room and not a show room , she loves her posters and that is just fine with me , she has a little crush on Justin Bieber , she was telling me how she likes to have a room full of stuff ,yikes, it makes her feel warm and cozy , I bet!
If it makes her happy I am fine with that .

Here is where the top bunk ended up , I have been trying to convince Sophie a daybed would be best for room as it is only 9 x 10 approx, this single bed would free up a lot of space compared to the double bed , she worried it wouldn't be enough space to sleep in a single, she went right from a crib to a double bed. but something turned and she began to accept that a daybed may be nice , so we have the twin bunk here sideways and it makes a huge difference in the space and feel of the room , I am going to alter this bed to add a back and sides with bead board to make it look very alike to a PB Teen bed Sophie likes.

Here the girls were trying out the extra space doing cartwheels and stretches , so far so good , both girls are thrilled , but they have longer lists like new bedding , and new paint colours and Mason even wants me to cover her walls with v-groove , which I would love to do when funds permit ...

So me and my aching muscles are taking a break from a whirlwind move and re-arrange day , I'm just glad they like their rooms again , there is nothing like a good old re-arrange once in a while.

Back at painting

So what do you think of my new additions , two arch top mirrors , they were honey pine , yucky yuck , I thought a few dozen watered down coats of robins egg blue would bring them into my beachy world.

They can't stay though , they actually are for sale , let me know if you are interested , they must be for local pick up only .....

I have had this old caddy for some time , I use it to hold pencils normally , but I was thinking it would look nice painted blue .
I am keeping the box but I will have a lovely coffee table up for sale very soon , it is so lovely .

I thinned out the paint to a really watery consistency and painted it over and over layer after layer , then I sanded it off lightly and waxed it with paste wax to bring out a nice sheen.

red velvet and special FX

We ended up here yesterday on the third floor of the Clarington Visual Arts Center , it was amazing to see such an old building , the beams are something else , it was hot hot up there on the thrid floor ...but very cool indeed.

We had some guests yesterday for a BBQ and I thought it would be fitting to make some of my cupcakes , but why not try something new , red velvet , I hear such good things about it , all I did was use a vanilla cake mix and add a tbsp of cocoa and a tbsp of vinegar to the mix as per instructions, and red food coloring paste , they turned out very yummy , light and fluffy.

I even got to use my newest cake stand.

After lunch we headed off to Bowmanville a couple or towns away to the visual arts centre , they were showing a vast collection of Hollywood magic , Gordon Smith's personal collection of ghoulish friends, fascinating really . This is the first time these pieces have been shown and here of all places , how could we miss it , my husband has always love special effects I didn't want him to miss it .

Creepy yet cool people.The detail to hair is amazing , each hair is poked into place, even nose hair and beard stubble , every hair , eye lashes ...

I must admit I am not familiar with most of these characters , couldn't tell you what movie this guy is from ?? you know ?

Meet my new best friend , I think it was a bat/cow , wouldn't he look cute over a fire place. Good news no nightmares were had I am happy to report.

So if you are near by and a movie lover you want to hurry up and get on over because this show closes in 2 days ...while you are there you can check out the Bowmanville zoo and the charming downtown too . Clarington Visual Arts Centre

Another lamp slipcover

These flowers are still looking lovely, they were from last weeks photo shoot they look so pretty in my new blue jar, behind them is a jar of thistles in a jar that they left for me as well , Jessica saw how much I loved it , as well she left me a big bottle of liquid soap from France , which is just so kind.

Did I ever show you a close-up of my brackets holding up this beam , I sanded them lightly to expose the lovely rough texture I think it is so charming .

I felt badly that I hadn't produced any kind of home decor project this past week , with a house full of kids on summer break this doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to do "my" thing, but yesterday I started a new linen slipcover for my new modern lamp I picked up at Wal-mart , I did like the overall look but it was a cheap looking shade , and I love linen and I had linen here.

Here it is after I had sewn the seam with the rough cut edge, I then cut strips about and inch and a half wide long enough to make a nice binding for both top and bottom ,after ironing those and pining them onto the fabric while it is on the shade I sew it with the machine , two rows of stitching , then slip it on , voila.

Easy right!

I think it is a BIG improvement.

Happy weekend. Would you try this project , does it "seam" easy to you ?

I want to wish my husband's sister and her very soon to be husband the very best adventure in Mexico , they are going to get married there in a couple of days and we can't join them but we wish them the very best.

Have a safe trip ,

xoxo

Lot's of love and best wishes

DIY , how to replace an old tub drain

I wanted to post about this DIY project because I had a hard time finding the information I needed to learn how to remove and replace an old broken tub drain . As you can see I did it , here is my fresh new brushed nickle tub drain , it is the twist and pull style.

Here is the old drain , broken and with a large chunk missing from the rim which recently began to leak, which it turns out was a hidden defect that our builder or the plumber who installed it hid, it was hidden under a little lump of caulking and it just slowly over time corroded away after some really good scrubbing.
I didn't want it to start leaking into the floor and in turn to our dining room ceiling , so I figure I could replace it , right ...although this really intimidated me I went on to find out if I could , sure I could all I would need it a new drain and over flow package. But how the heck do I remove the old drain .

$27.00 for this brushed nickle finished set , I want to slowly replace all the shower component with brushed nickle.

I also needed plumbers putty .

Look I did it I got the drain out , it was easy right , NO it was not easy at all , I tried with pliers , no avail ,the inside cross bars were very corroded and they broke under very little pressure, what I needed was a DRAIN KEY , don't worry it is not expensive. It is just two pics down , you place it in the drain and use a screw driver in the holes of the drain key and turn it counter clockwise , I asked my husband to do this I didn't have the strength , easily enough it did start to budge , it is simply screwed into the pipe below.

After removing any residue of silicone , by scraping , scrubbing with rubbing alcohol and using a magic eraser it was time for the putty , roll the putty in your hands to create a snake of putty and place around the opening , this will create a water tight seal.

Place the drain into the hole , {remove the plug part first , there is a small screw to loosen and it simply lifts right off }, place the drain in with the drain key inside and slowly start to screw it into the pipe , removing the excess putty as you go , use your screw driver to completely tighten the drain into place and then replace the plug and tighten the screw , that is it folks , you too can install a fresh new tub drain .

This drain is a Moen and it is from Home Depot.

This is such a pretty over flow cover , so shiny and new.

I am glad I gave this DIY a try, I am convinced I saved us at least $100.00 in labour and the parts including the tool came to just $55.00 and now I have learned something new and we have a nice new leak free drain .