a GREAT visit

so, over the last weekend my mom and me took off on a roadtrip to take baby Z to meet her great grandma. the visit went smooth and we took Z to a park that i had found on line. it was so beautiful and they had so many statues that kids could play on even a ladybug which is Zs favorite. she fell in love with this ladybug and an ant (i love it mommy its nice and wont bite me) haha.
the love was so profound that everyday she reminds me of the ladybug and says "bring ladybug here so daddy can visit and i wont miss it" too cute
so, as a conclusion to this story...im now experimenting with statue making. it needs to be big enough and strong enough for her to sit on plus smooth for her perfect skin.
brainstorming with my family and we all came up with this....

a pile of dirt....

haha, part two coming soon

old medicine cabinet repurposed

y'all know I've mentioned before that my house is small so storage is key. i picked up this old metal medicine cabinet for $10 and knew right away i liked that it was metal,  the storage it could provide for all of our small junk, and that it opened three ways. what i didn't love was that it was a mirror. i have one open wall in my living room that it would fit perfectly on but i wanted the wall to have art not a mirror.

in comes decoupage. i did a d.i.y. modge podge with some generic school glue only 57 cents to adhere an old world map that i had laying around, so free.
 there it is. done didn't take but maybe 20 minutes and total cost was $10.57

the map i used is actually big enough that i could wrap the frame with it as well. you can see i did it already on the bottom middle section, to see if i like it and i do.

ill post the cabinet frame wrapped when i get it done.

DIY Sring art

So, my brothers girlfriend asked if i could make some string art (specifically this one  and i knew i could but i hadn't in forever so here is a little refresher course for everyone.

  i started with drawing out an outline of the shape i wanted, or shapes....print them to save yourself more time. for this my shapes were the outlines of the good ole USA and Brazil. my brother is currently in a super long distance relationship, she lives in Brazil. which is why she asked me to make this for him instead of making it herself. its their love from one country to another, how cute right?

 back to the instructions.... get ready for some time to pass as you slowly nail in the nails along the outline. when you are done just rip the paper out

then, weave your string between the nails. i chose to go vertically but it doesn't mater

its a neat project with a cool finished look. 

Trash to Treasure

This is literally trash to treasure transformation today, because i repurposed a trash bin!  I removed the bottom flap and filler. Drilled a hole through the bin into the base. Added my light kit and a LED bulb and presto chango; I've got my over the kitchen light. I love it. When it's on it shines a neat pattern on the ceiling. Till next time keep it green, clean, and classy
Shalimar and Z

Diy maternity shorts

Making these shorts were pretty simple. 

I marked a curved section on the shorts. Then, cut that out. Notice these shorts came with an elastic adjust strap at the waist.

I used a stretchy fabric scrap I had on hand and used the section I cut as a template  (yes, I realize they have paint on them. These are just around the homestead work shorts)

Sew the fabric in and wear. Easy 15 minute project.

Here's my man warrior man, Iolaus.

Hope you enjoyed. 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

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 

Diy Resize skirt fit & length

Every few months, but more lately, I organize my closet into clothes that I actually wear and clothes I don't. I had this skirt, a gift from my dear old Dad, but never wore it because the length was a little awkward and it was slightly too big. 

Here's how I fixed it to better match me. 

Iron out the skirt.

Put it on and mark the waist hem where it should be on the side.

Turn inside out sew a straight stitch along the marked side, if it's not much leave this fabric so later you can take the skirt back out. 

Too shorten the hem...

Pretty much the same

I ironed out the skirt

Trimmed the excess

Flipped a 1/8", iron that, straight stitch that up. 

And here I am "posing" in the hardware store again.... Speaking of hardware, the Sud Shack is 95% done. I will have so many more post about it later but it still needs fixtures, paint, and some more paint:) the. Finally the fun part of decorating it! I'm so excited. And broke so I will be wearing my crafty hat for final touches. 

With all the "back to school" stuff out there I wanted to share some green tips for school. Use a lunch pail instead of throwaway brown paper bags. Also, use durable (meant to be reused) plastic containers instead of one use zip locks for sandwiches, chips, snacks, etc. This adds up so quickly. 

Till next time, y'all keep it green, clean, and classy.

Shalimar