Paint: before and after

Just a quick post with some of the paint transformations that have kept me busy. 

This gold needed a primer to get it covered and as it turns out I just loved the gray.

This is pricy primer but what I had on hand.

This was an old school TV console, back when tvs were built in a box. I picked it up for free! Actually it was five bucks but I was out thifting  with my parents and they always say "your money's no good here:)" so they bought it for me.

Not quite done with it but when I am it will be a lovely changing station for baby Z. 

I'll keep y'all posted with all my crazy ideas and projects but until then y'all keep it green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar 

Diy Baby Pants

This tube top has had a very long, repurposed, life. It started out as just a tube top that I never wore because I'm not really a fan of tube tops. I then sewed up the top and bottom and converted it to a throw pillow. Which was great, but my pillow collection got out control so it was time to cut back. Since baby Z will be a winter baby and the top is sweater material I got a light bulb idea to make her some pants.

I used a pair of pants that I got at Target, so cute right? I laid them over the top and cut around them, about a half inch away for hem and to give her bottom a little more room since it's not super stretchy.

I did the same on the over side. Now, for sewing. Flip the material inside out. I sewed up each leg piece up to the crotch area. Then, I pieced together the left to the right and sewed up from the crotch to the hem at the top. I sewed together a circle of elastic that would give her some room to stretch. At the top of the pants I flipped the material over the elastic loop and sewed that using a zig zag stitch. Flip right side out and I had reversible pants. This top only had the design on the front and the back was solid green so it's like two pants in one, bonus:)

That's that. Hope this has been helpful. Y'all keep it green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar

Project Cottage

So, this is the even more supported cottage floor. I mentioned before it will be two stories so this floor needs to be really strong. When dealing with a foundation we believe more is better.

These are the brackets that we used and the cost really adds up, just the brackets alone was one hundred dollars. So far we have spent roughly one thousand but that doesn't include the screws pictured below or the windows (that we have already purchased).

We're doing such a large project that we are buying screws 25 pounds at a time! Trust me if you are doing even a medium sized project this is the way to go. This was a 50-60 dollar savings.

Just a few (several) extra supports strategically placed and we will be moving on to the plumbing under the house so we have all the pipes placed before the insulation and wrap. Then, finally we get to lay the sub floor and dance all over it in joy and maybe a picnic too:)

Hope this has been helpful. Please leave questions as a comment instead of email. Thanks. Till next time, y'all keep it green clean and classy.

Shalimar 

My current favorite things

Ok, so I know many women that wouldn't find a belly that large to be a favorite thing, but I love all the movements I've been feeling from baby Z so much so that I can put up with the large load:) hey at least I can still see my feet.

This is the view from my porch, which I love. It's so nice to have the outdoor living area and I even have a rocking chair.

Flips flops! Oh how I love slipping into my air walks. My feet haven't swollen that much but by the end of the day I am ready for the summer thongs. 

That is a photo of justice.  Mr and I headed out of town to do some shopping for windows and on the way back we had one of those aggressive drivers just riding out butts. Not two minutes after he finally passes us we see a patrol car bust a u turn and give him a ticket. Justice.  Lesson to others, if the person in front of you is doing the speed limit, set your cruise and back off. 

Alright y'all that is all I have for you now. Till next time y'all already know the drill ... Green, clean, classy

Shalimar

Project Cottage, project homestead, project outdoors

Project cottage continues. Finally, finally, finally the rain has stopped and we started working immediately. As you can see from the progress.

Here's Mr testing out the strength:) all is good.

We had single 2x6 frame as a marker for the post that needed to be installed. Once the post holes were all dug and the post were set we deconstructed the frame so we could double it up to two 2x6. Then every four feet we added another double 2x6 support, both horizontally and vertically.

 

To help the process be as smooth as possible Mr used c-clamps to hold together the two boards. That way you are not depending on the screws to help sink the boards together...hint...We haven't found a screw yet that could do the work of a c-clamp, save yourself a lot of trouble and clamp those boards together.

Notice that the boards are perfectly lined up with the pre marked spot. 

Everything gets doubled up, the cottage will be two stories so we wanted to ensure that our foundation was very secure. Not to mention we will have a tub built for two, that filled will be mighty heavy. 

Mr sometimes needs little note reminders:)

Here's the post before we got the frame and supports laid. The concert is a couple different colors depending on when we got to fill the holes. 

The c-clamps were also employed during the framing process.

Deconstruction phase. Sorry these pictures are a bit of an awkward order but I've had trouble with the app and I'm posting this remotely. Wish I could say it was from the lake but they are still shut down because of the flooding. 

You can see a bit of the studio in the back. When this project is finished we will be building a t shaped deck that will connect the cottage to the sud shack and the studio. It will then become the Cottage Compound, haha. 

Ok, that's all for now but we have actually gotten even more done with the support system so I will hopefully be able to post again in a couple days. Till then keep it green, clean, and classy. 

Shalimar

Easy pour concert

My tip/trick for easy pour concert is all in the container. I see a lot of people mixing in five gallon buckets but they only have one handle and are not flexible.
I got this tote / bucket at Target for only $5.99. It has two handles, so if you over fill it then someone can help carry it. It's flexible and thus is key in helping you pour the concert. By holding the handles together the tote flexes into a spout shape. Viola:)
Till next time keep it green, clean, and classy.
Shalimar

Baby Z

We're having an Aggie! So, our baby is a girl:) The smile on my Mr.'s face is the excitement that I feel but since I'm a walking watermelon I simply couldn't manage that same smile, haha.

DIY Thinnest hardwood Florrs

My new and improved floor. I am calling this the world's thinnest hard wood floor because it's made of paper which, of course, is made of wood:) 

You can see that before the polyurethane the planks had a few lift spots. Most of these went away with drying time.

This was my lunch break. Ravioli from the can! I was so busy plus I had painted myself right out of the kitchen so I didn't have a bowl or microwave. Plus, my lunch read was a good one. I'm now on to book two and another project.

This was the floor before the polyurethane. In some spots the glue "that dries clear" was showing but the polyurethane completely covers all that; leaving your floors shiny, sealed, and so easy to sweep or mop. The glue I used was Titebond wood glue and it's $4 for 16oz. I cut the glue down with water at a 2.5 to 1 ratio. I ended up having exactly the right amount...for about a 100sq ft.

To lay the planks I filled a mini paint tray with the glue mixture and used the mini roller. I rolled the glue onto the back of the plank and also the floor. Put the plank down and then run a squeegee over the plank to get excess glue off and smooth the plank over. Then repeat repeat repeat until you question why you even started this project. Quick tip - use a knee pad and don't do this when you are five months pregnant. Haha

This is a before shot. The floors were originally just the plywood subfloor and we had painted them. Remember way back when I said that this was built as a studio so there wasn't a need for anything fancy. When I decided to do the paper floor I knew I would have to level the floor out and that would be the whitish stuff you see. I used wood filler or water putty. They were two bucks a can and I used one and a half.

To make the planks. I first started with a roll of paper drop cloth. It's $11 for a roll of 3ft by 140ft and I had a lot left over for other projects. I cut the paper into manageable sheets, say 4x4. First paint the entire sheet with your desired brown, then using a graining tool I applied the faux finish. For this I used a mixture of deck seal and stain that I had on hand, but paint would work too. 

Once the sheets had dried I cut my planks into varying lengths, depending on the sheet size, and 5 inches wide. To get a straight edge I used a glass crafting table, a square, and a box cutter. 

I lined the square up with the straight edge of the table. I kept the square from moving with a small weight, aka a little can of stain. Then, I pull the sheet down under the length of the square and lined it up with the straight  edge of the table. Cut with the razor knife and pull down for the next plank.

This is what the sheet looked like before cutting into planks and you can better see the grain pattern.

This is the sealer, stain, and graining tool that I used.

For a run down of everything I used 

Varathane Floor Finish Semi-Gloss Water-Based 128-fl oz Polyurethane ...  $40

Paper drop cloth, glue, water putty

$19

Graininess tool

$7

This was all done well under $100 and I have so many supplies leftover for other projects. 

Hope y'all enjoyed the tutorial as much as I enjoy seeing my floor. It's so easy to clean, I just love it. Till next time y'all keep it green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar