LYH Blog: How to Paint Oak Stairs (Without Sanding Them First!) Sometimes I want to kick myself for not starting this blog 7 and a half years ago (about the time that hubby and I moved into our house). I could have written over a dozen DIY posts for you like how to install hardwood floors, tiles and trim, swap light fixtures, install new faucets, painting tips, wallpaper, ... My husband and I did all of those projects right here at home well before this blog even existed! It doesn't make much sense for me to write about them now because I don't have many photographs nor real time updates and costs. But I do have one real time project I'm sharing with you today: how to successfully paint oak stairs without sanding!
(OK well, sort of real time. This project was actually started in the summer of 2013, and the stairs looked decent for about two years after that, but they needed a bit of touching up. I always wanted painted white stairs though, and when I brought it up to my hubby, he agreed. I love that quote :) 1. 2. 3.
Linking here. Captain's Log — Chateau de Gudanes. A few days ago I started to write about the party which was recently held at the château, not hosted by us, but by our builder, Monsieur Noray and his team. And a shindig it turned out to be: a night of fine cuisine, wine, spirits, music and happiness. Local residents, international authors, and village Mayors joined the celebration. The château warmed and charmed us all, perhaps a sign of its former life. But today I received an email from one of our facebook family, Caroline.
I read her email and was speechless. I'm hoping you have a little time to read this. L'Express du Midi Tuesday, July 28th, 1896 Regional news, Ariège A workers' fete It probably still counts for a lot, even in these democratic times, to have a prestigious name; But it is even better to live up to it. These philosophical reflections often came to mind when I attended the memorable, sparkling fete which was held last Saturday at Chateau de Gudanes. The setting certainly was beautiful. DIY Mondrian Inspired Art | B @ H. Hi Lovelies! I had some fun in the studio yesterday creating some art for my living room. If you weren’t here Tuesday, I shared my color inspiration for spring. Well, I tackled my first DIY for “project color”, this DIY Mondrian Inspired Art. I studied a lot of art in college.
When I saw this Mondrian Love Print on Lulu & Georgia while browsing– it took me back to those days. I just knew this was going to be my first DIY for this space. Mondrian Love Print from Lulu & Georgia Original Piet Mondrian art looks like this: Print available on art.com I love the color blocking and line separations. And, yo! To make this DIY art you will need: (5) 8.5 x 11 sheets of colored cardstock 1 gold piece of poster board (I tried to find smaller shiny gold paper but this was all that I could find.) 2 sheets of art quality paper scissors, glue, artist tape 1 sheet of 8.5 x 11 computer paper pencil and ruler frame Design the pattern. Cut it out. Glue it. Add separation lines. Isn’t that easy?! Hanging Pictures over a Sofa | Fred Gonsowski Garden Home. Hanging Pictures over a Sofa An Assortment of Groupings, that would look Great hung over a Sofa The number one thing most people do wrong, when hanging pictures over a sofa, is they hang them up too high.
When you hang picture on the wall behind a sofa, you want to think of the Sofa and Pictures together as one grouping, not two separate entities. You want to take the horizontal format sofa (wider than tall), and by properly hanging your pictures above it, turn the sofa and pictures, together into one Vertical display. The vertical grouping will suggest height in the room. Now look at Illustration #1, on the first page. Illustration #2, on the same page, shows the same pictures, plus a few extras that I added. When figuring out how tall of an arrangement you want to create over a sofa, the outside and inside edges of the molding are two natural horizontal lines in your room to line up with. In illustration 2 notice how both the sofa and picture grouping are acting as one. Best Painting Tips from Around the Web. Best Painting Tips from Around the Web You can never have too much help when it comes to getting a good paint finish so I’ve compiled a list of all my best painting tips as well as some other great painting tip articles from around the web.
Yes, you are welcome! 12 of my own painting tips and tricks 15 great painting tips from around the web I think I spend at least an hour a day answering email questions and when I get the same questions repeatedly … well who has an hour a day to spend answering the same questions over and over? Hope this helps! Do you have a great painting tip that you didn’t see here? Tags: Painting Tips, Remodeling 101. Tutorial: Throw Pillow with a Zipper | Life On Virginia Street. I mentioned last Friday that I was working on a pile of throw pillows. I only made it through the three Euro shams before I got bored and decided to paint more of the laundry room and gray-wash the fireplace. I thought it may be helpful to document my sewing process for others that want to give throw pillows a try.
If you don't know this already, I have a serious throw pillow obsession. I craved the designer looks but not the designer prices. So, several years back I decided I had to teach myself how to make them on my own - in order for me to survive. So, I'm going to start off by saying that I first learned this technique from the blog Casa Brasi. Now, this is a really basic tutuorial. Step 1: Cut out your fabric. Step 2: Face the fabric print to print {think of it as inside out} so that your finished sides are touching on top of each other and that any pattern matching you have done is lined up. Step 3: Open the zipper and unzip it all the way. Here is a shot with it opened up. 20 Crockpot Meals each under $7! Hey Hey and Happy Wednesday to you!
If you're anywhere near the Midwest you probably have Cabin Fever like me! I've been stuck at home for about five days now. What did I fill my time with these past couple days being couped up in my house and having nothing but my dog and husband to entertain me?!?! Glad you asked. I made 20 new (and some old) crockpot meals to get us through the rest of the month! Yep! I know a lot of people say to thaw out the meals 24 hours ahead of time, I don't. This time I'll attach the shopping list to this post. I break this process down into a little more detail here, my first round of crockpot cooking.
Mmm...nothing is as sexy as a man who's not afraid to get his hands dirty doing something that's considered "girly"! BBQ Spareribs (makes 2 meals) One of the bags got a hole in it, so I doubled it up. 2 lbs Country-style Spareribs, cut into large pieces 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce Split all ingredients in half and place in bags. There they are! Blog Archive DIY Plywood Plank Floors. One of the many things I love about blogging is connecting with people from all across the globe, and I really love hearing from those knee deep in their own renovations and reading about their innovative home improvement solutions. Last week, Courtney from New Zealand sent me pictures of her DIY plywood floors and I was so impressed with her resourceful approach I asked that she share the details of how she achieved this look on a budget so I could share it with you!
First, here is a little background on the project from Courtney: “I am a full-time mother of one (currently), wife, and homemaker. My husband, son, and I live on a farmlet in the foothills of the Southern Alps near Christchurch in New Zealand, complete with animals and an ever-expanding potager garden.In addition to living a semi-rural lifestyle, we are in the process of updating our home, a grand circa-1905 Edwardian villa. 1. 2. 3. To start, we stapled bitumen building paper (tar paper) over the entire subfloor. 4. 5. Blog Archive DIY Modern Pet Bed. Today is the day we’re kicking off the Summer “Get It, Got It, Go” Blog Hop with projects completed with ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape and supplies purchased at The Home Depot.
I’m excited about this campaign, there will be three dozen bloggers contributing ideas and I’ll be sharing them throughout the summer! I’m starting the event with this modern pet bed we built for our good friends, they have the cutest pair of dachshunds so we built a bed for them to lounge outdoors during the day, but the bed can also be used indoors too.
I painted the base a bright orange and topped it off with a striped cushion in a durable outdoor fabric. The bed is elevated with tapered metal legs for easy cleaning underneath and the bright color is so fun for summer! This little pup is waiting for his treat… To recreate a similar version here’s what you’ll need! This elevated pet bed is project you can build in an afternoon, it took us 2 hours from start to finish not including the painting process. Blog Archive Easy Throw Pillow Zipper Enclosures. It was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes, as if the clouds parted and the sun shined down upon me . . . that’s how I felt when I finally mastered how to sew a zipper enclosure for throw pillows. In the past I’ve chosen the envelope pillow enclosure for its ease and because truth be told perfect zippers intimidated me, but now that I’ve learned how to do it, I don’t know if I’ll ever go back!
Over the weekend I stitched up ten pillow covers and all of them with zippers, each one faster than the next. I figured out how to do it by studying pillow covers I’ve purchased from retailers, and in my excitement, I just had to share. I use a zipper that is slightly smaller than my pillow cover. Here’s the easy peasy technique! Install your zipper foot if you have one and keep the fabric from the other side pulled back a few inches as you sew the zipper to the first piece of fabric. Flip the inside out pillow cover over and flatten/smooth the fabric. You’re done! Rich and Creamy Homemade Egg Nog. This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine. My mother-in-law's homemade egg nog is famous in at least 3 states. Those would be the three states in which her kids now live, plus any other states where the word has gotten out about this rich and creamy goodness. And since she was recently here visiting us for Thanksgiving, I talked her into teaching us all how to make it.
The first thing we did was take a quick trip down to Dollar General to get everything we needed. From sugar and spices to eggs and dairy, Dollar General has what you need for your holiday baking -- at great prices as well! Here's what you'll need for the egg nog:2 quarts of milk (we used 2%)1 pint whipping cream1 dozen eggs2 cups sugar2 tsp vanilla1 tsp nutmeg, plus more for each glass Start the process by heating one quart of the milk over medium heat until it's hot, but not boiling.
Meanwhile, crack and whisk the dozen eggs together in a separate bowl. Next, add the sugar to the hot milk. Nice and Simple Free Christmas Gift Tags - She Wears Many Hats. Hand Illustrated Holiday Labels by Emily McDowell. These really special hand illustrated free printable holiday labels and tags for your gifts and packages are designed by Emily McDowell. Emily is the illustrator, writer and designer behind the Emily McDowell line of stationery and gifts, available at boutiques nationwide and online at EmilyMcDowell.com Enjoy To print use Worldlabel products: About the templates: where necessary, we have included an editable field in the template.
You can type in your own information and print. Hand Illustrated Holiday Labels by Emily McDowell. Holiday Tags Downloads | Sanae Ishida. I’m trying something new today…a download! Or, downloads, to be exact. I was doodling with my favorite gouache paints, and thought these illustrations might make some usable holiday tags — what do you think? If you do end up downloading, let me know if anything goes wonky, yes? I printed them up on thicker inkjet paper, and I love them! Here are close-ups of the animal tags: The ones you see above are more Xmas-y and I am especially fond of the deer and the scarf-clad fox. And you figured out that the feline animal is a snow leopard, right? These are the same size as the animal ones, and I don’t know why I shrunk them down for this visual. Now, I attempted to get all fancy and made download buttons, and by clicking on the button, you’ll get a hi-res file – I initially tried to make a PDF file, but it was humongo, and I don’t think I have enough bandwidth for it, if that means anything to anyone.
There you have it, free tags for personal usage. Free New Year's Party Printables 2014! Y'all know I love a cute party printable almost as much as I love chalkboards. And whether you're having a New Year's party or just celebrating at home with your favorites, I hope you can use these to make your New Year bright.I used them to get my seasonal shelves ready to ring in 2014, complete with a mini hot cocoa bar for the kids. These teal party napkins from Dollar General are the perfect match to the printables AND I discovered that these kinds of napkins are great for using to make the tissue tassels that are so popular right now.
You may have made these with tissue paper like I've seen done many times, but using the napkins makes it a tad easier and they'll match your party perfectly! Start by positioning the napkin where the first fold is at the top and the second fold is on the left. Then, cut it into strips, stopping about an inch from the top. Open it up, then scrunch and roll.
Then, just fold it over and twist, leaving a little loop at the top for the string or ribbon. Spoons. Playing the game[edit] Preliminaries[edit] The game Spoons can be played with 3 or more players, using two decks of 52 ordinary playing cards and a number of spoons totalling one fewer than the number of players. The spoons are placed in the center of the table in a circle with handles pointing outward so that they may be easily grabbed by any of the players. One person is designated first dealer and deals four cards to each player. The dealer will use the remaining cards to draw from. Play[edit] Players are not allowed to pick up their cards until the dealer has. Grabbing spoons[edit] As soon as any player has a set of four of the same card, anyone is allowed to take a spoon from the pile in the middle of the table. Scoring[edit] A player losing a round for the first time earns the letter "S", then at the next loss the letter "P", and so on gradually spelling out "S-P-O-O-N".
Strategy[edit] Bluffing: Bluffing is allowed and sometimes encouraged. Variations[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] Recipecard. Thankful printable and something for our military. Recipecard.jpg (JPEG Image, 480x480 pixels) Blog Archive Simple Sew Kitchen Towels. Cheez-It Chicken Recipe. Easiest, yummiest biscuits…ever. Rosemary Wreath Place Cards | DIY. Pumpkin Dream Cake. Banana Dream Cake. How to make a kitchen island bench
5 Ideas for Your Family Christmas Card Photos. Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss. Quick Fixes: 3 Simple Things to Do Today To Make Your Computer Run Faster. October-dinner-menu-filled-in. Dinners. M is for Mama. Remodelando la Casa: How to Install Trim on a Double Window. Banana Bread Recipe : DIY Personalized Notecards. DIY Outdoor Storage Box / Bench. A Thoughtful Place: How to Lengthen Drapes That are Too Short. Bathroom Vanity Upgrade. Five Days... 5 Ways. Calling it Home. Centsational Girl. Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss. Emily A. Clark. Isabella & Max Rooms. Little Green Notebook. Oak Ridge Revival. Simply Seleta - the sparkly side of life. Jones Design Company | stylish custom designs for life. Thrifty Decor Chick.