Sweet Redemption!

Well hello there!

So since I last shared, I have been busy figuring out a solution to my problem. My problem being a destroyed table top.

First things first- I had to take a grinder and literally GRIND OFF the epoxy resin from the table top. 4 layers of it. FOUR. It took hours! By the time I was finished, the backyard was COVERED in epoxy dust. As well as myself. 

After clearing off the table top of the dust, I was so sad and disheartened to see the grinder left dents in the table. I painted it black several times, and it was still very obvious. Defeated, I decided to just leave it and let it give the table "character". AKA, I HATE IT. But other than ripping off the table top and building a new one on top of the base (which I was seriously considering doing), there was nothing else I could do.

In the meantime, I develop this rash on my hand. Clear, blister like hives. After a day, my whole body is covered in them.

Turns out, I'm allergic to epoxy resin and paint thinner! WOW! I'm a fool and didn't think to put on gloves when working with the Envirotex. And then when I tried to get it off, I used paint thinner. On MY HANDS. So after a Dr. visit, I was now informed and clearly aware of my skin's sensitivty to harsh chemicals.

(PLEASE be careful with epoxies! ALWAYS wear gloves and a mask)

 Moving on.

The table sat in the garage until I got the bright idea-a loud pattern will cancel out the imperfections. Yes, this should work! So after a short amount of time perusing the internet, I decided upon a chevron pattern.

 2 rolls of painters tape, ripped off paint due to painters tape, hand touching up each.and.every.line, 3 coats of polycrylic and 238756342875621983 tears later, she's finished!

Here's a reminder of what the table looked like before-

(I should have never messed with it! Live and learn...)

And here it is after!

As you can see, it's far from perfect. There's many imperfections since I don't have a straight hand and I had to free hand every line, but it's finished. And I'm no longer using a folding card table as a dining table. And it adds character--the kind I like!

 I'm happy with the results. And will be until we decide to build the Farmhouse Table. Which will probably be within the next year (cover your eyes, honey!).

I've failed.

Have you ever had a ginormous fail that wasn't redeemable, that cost alot of money and has brought you to tears?

 No?

 Well I have.

 This Envirotex Lite. UGH. It did me in. It got the best of me. It ruined me.

 I've cried, screamed, stewed, stomped, and cried some more. I am so upset about it. Mainly because of the effort I put into making this thing work. ALLLLL week long.

It all started with me being tired Tuesday morning and buying the satin polycrylic instead of the clear gloss. Tuesday night, I kept painting coat after coat going, "Why isn't this stuff shining up?!?!?" Only to realize it was satin. Duh.

Then I got the bright idea, how about I give it a GLOSSY bar top finish?! So I invested in 2 boxes of envirotex lite. The countertop tutorials made it seem easy enough! 

So Wednesday morning, I went at it. And it looked like crap. So I thought, ok, I need to do another coat after 24 hours. Thursday morning, went to Michael's AGAIN, got another box and applied it. STILL looked like crap and I ran out. So I ran to Michael's for the THIRD TIME in 24 hours and bought ANOTHER box, and applied it this morning. And guess what?!?!?!

 It STILL looks like crap.

I'm trying to muster up the good attitude that says, "Hey, everyone makes mistakes. It was an oops..let's move on." But right now, I can't.

 I'm still ticked. So I'll come back and read this in a few months and hopefully laugh at how mad I was.

In the meantime, I'm going to buy a strong solvent and grind this crap off with a putty knife. And start ALLLLLL over again. With a GLOSS polycrylic this time.

Word of advice--if you're not comfortable with the idea of working with this stuff, DON'T. I don't know if it's just me or what, but this stuff is HARD to work with! If you've had success with using stuff like this, especially on countertops, way to go. I envy you. But I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever touch this stuff again.

Happy Friday, friends.

Envirotex Lite--I SHALL conquer thee!

Busy Busy Busy.

 Stopping in to tell you that I have one of my most epic fails yet going on as I type this, and it involves this sweet little product--

Lord, have mercy!!!

Hopefully I will be able to share it with you in about a week or so. 

I'm on my 4th box...please, please let this box be the last box that will be able to redeem this project.

Oh, what project, you ask?

 Here's a hint:

YIKES!!!

Platinum blonde hair? Yes, please!

 Hello my friends!

 Today I want to share a video I made on how to get your hair to a platinum blonde!

 It's my first video ever, so be nice :)

                           

Enjoy!

Board and batten in world's smallest bathroom!

Hi there!

 Today I want to share with you my "Master" bathroom. 

We have one of those bathrooms where the sink, cabinet, etc is separated by a door from the shower and toilet. 

The bath area is small. I mean, tiny tiny tiny small. So small, we had to actually reverse the door to open outward because you could barely get OUT of the bathroom! So crazy.

But since it's such a small space, I was able to do the board and batten quickly and inexpensively! 

I bought a couple of 1x4s and went to work! Seriously, it's so easy. You space them the distance that you'd like them, and once secured, place a 1x4 across the top! I caulked the small gaps between the wall and the board, so it'll look smooth!

 After some paint and some hooks, I think it looks great! Much more welcoming now :)

GORGEOUS Entryway Table

Hello hello!

Today I want to share with you my entry way table.

 We got the plans from Ana White's Rustic X Console Design, but because I needed it to be a specific size I altered the measurements a bit! 

 I LOVE the way it turned out--it's a PERFECT fit for the entry way! I ended up painting it white, and staining the top with an ebony stain. We also only did one crossbar, I think it still looks AMAZING!

The "book" on top is actually a charging station for our phones and tablets :)

If you're intimidated by the thought of building your own furniture, don't be! Ana White does an amazing job describing step by step how to build the piece, and even has plan pictures! AWESOME!

Happy Friday, friends! Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

C'mon, FALL!

Hey everyone!

 So I'm trying to encourage fall weather to show itself here in Southern California...but dangit, it just won't come! It's been so hot here, and based on weather reports, it's not letting up anytime soon.

 Right now I'm envious of those who are getting fall weather all around the country. But in the meantime, I've decided I will DECORATE for fall, and then when it finally comes, I'll be prepared!

Diggin' my new rug I got from Walmart for $25 bucks! SCORE!

No, those are not crumbs, they're chips that I need to fix--these kids! Can't have anything nice ;-)

Lovin' all the orange and yellow going on at my house! 

So c'mon fall! I'm ready for ya!

Pepto Abysmal Chair

Ok, I know what you're thinking. 

Janet.

You update on average once a month. ONCE-A-MONTH.

Lame.

Pathetic.

Ridiculous.

(well, maybe not all those things. I am my worst critic, after all.)

What can I say? I've become so busy this past couple of months. In fact, at this very moment, my nine year old is saying to me (while I'm typing, mind you) "What's for dinner? Huh? Pizza? Lasagna? Huh? HUH?!?"

 You see? Life doesn't stop so I can blog. Such is life.

 But I've been doing lots of projects. Building toddler beds from scratch, making the girls dresses, spray painting new life into old things, making cute table runners....I'm DOING it! I'm just not BLOGGING about it.

 But today! Oh, today.....I'm gonna share with you a project that tickles me pink. But a gross pink. Hence, the Pepto Abysmal chair.

So I found this chair when we were vacationing at our family owned condo in Long Beach, Ca. I was walking into the foyer of the complex after we parked coming home from the Queen Mary and that's where I saw it-a filthy, Pepto Bismol pink chair. It was sitting in a well known spot for tenant's free junk.

 My husband walked by it, turned back and gave me the glare that spoke,"Don't you even THINK about it." So what did I do? I slowed down, let my family turn the corner of the hallway, and snatched that puppy up like a gang of free-craigslist-perusing-piranhas were right on my heels. I came around the corner, and my husband rolled his eyes. 

But I saw great things for this chair! I really, really did.

 Behold, I give you....the chair.

 Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? Isn't she precious....oh wait, sorry, that's a Stevie Wonder song.

My favorite little detail is the nail head trim around the arm rest pads. LALALALA Love it!

So the moral of the story is--someone's LITERAL trash can be a beautiful treasure with a little work :)

Are you lovin' it like I am?

Make sure you're subscribing someway other than GOOGLE READER today!

We all know about the demise of google reader. Ridic if you ask me. But whadda ya gonna do, yanno?

 Anyway, I'm sure the majority of you have found an alternative way to read your blogs. Me, I've chosen TheOldReader. After testing out a few different readers, this is the one I decided to go with. But there are quite a few out there.

I don't want to lose you. I love you. Like, REALLY LOVE YOU. So let's continue to be blogging friends!

 On the right of my blog, you'll see a "connect" section. It'll look like this:

1. Subscribe to my blog through a RSS Feed. Once you click on it, it'll ask which reader you'll want to use. Easy.

2. If you're using bloglovin', I put this nifty little button here just for you. Click it!

3. Subscribe through your email. Just enter the email you'd want to receive your subscriptions to, and hit subscribe. 

 I hope this helped, and I look forward to continuing to blog with you! :)

Firmoo Sponsored Post

Hey folks!

 I'm sure you've heard of Firmoo before--they are a super cool eyewear company that offers AMAZING prices for all your eyewear needs! I've worked with them before, and I can't tell you how much I love them! 

 Today, I want to share a pair of glasses that my Husband received! 

 Normally, he wears contact lenses. But with the vast selection of frames Firmoo offers, He has actually enjoyed wearing his glasses! I love these frames on him--VERY hipster, in my opinion!

 Not your style? That's okay! They have TONS of different frames to choose from! Check some out here!

They even have this nifty little tool to try them on--you can use either the models with different haircolor/skintones provided, or upload your own photo.

 And last but not least, RAD sunglasses--SCORE!

When you sign up and place an order with Firmoo, your first pair is FREE! You can't beat that!

So check them out today! LOVIN' Firmoo, and I'm sure you will too!

The glasses were sent to me for free by Firmoo, to review. All opinions are my own. You can also participate in Firmoo's affiliate program, click here for more info.

DIY Nightstands!

OMGOSH YOU GUYS!

 I am totally alive, and totally out here! 

 When I just looked and saw the last time I posted, I was SHOCKED. Tsk Tsk. I've been busy with life and schtuff. But I've been reading you all's blogs, and crafting/building like a madwoman! And of course, now it's SUMMER so that means we'll be busy doing family stuff! But I'll try to put together some posts of some stuff I've done over the past few months.

 SO! Today, I want to share with you some nightstands I built!

 Little back story-- I'm REALLY into woodworking right now. I LOVE it. I love being able to operate the compound miter saw on my own--no more nagging hubby to make my cuts, which he's delighted about. HAH! I love seeing designs over at www.ana-white.com, and either building things based off of her designs or redesigning it to my desired specifications (ooooh, I sounds SUPER smart right now!) and building it. 

 I had recently decided I wanted new nightstands, but they usually are so expensive! So I went to ikea to check out their lack side table. While they're simple, they are WAAAAY too short to be used as nightstands in our bedroom. So I brainstormed a little bit, and thought--I could BUY the tables, get some 2x2s and make my own legs, making it taller. And THEN I was like, what are you thinking? Just build ones that tickle your fancy! So off to Ana White's site to find some plans.

I found THESE plans, and fell in love. Only I wanted them to be a little bit wider. So I adjusted the measurements, made my cuts and starting building!

Here's my lumber for ONE nightstand

And here's the finished product!

(Those lamps are getting a paintjob, pronto!)

I LOVVVVEEEE them! Yes, there's two, but you get the idea. They were pretty simple to make, following the step by step plans from Ana. They actually took a few days, from building, to wood putty, sanding, painting and staining. But SOOO worth it!

And each nightstand cost a total of....

Are you ready for this?

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.

.

.

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$25!!!

I'm still in awe over the fact that I built them myself, and that they are as pretty, if not prettier, than some you purchase in the stores for 100+ a nightstand!

If you are comfortable operating a saw (or coercing your hubby to do it), and building it yourself, I would TOTALLY suggest you do it. You save a ton of money, get a quality piece of furniture out of it and a sense of accomplishment that's PRICELESS!

Happy summer friends!

DIY Doll Storage

Does your children's room ever look like a bomb went off in it? Oh, that's only me? Well, that's okay. 

Since we're being honest here, our girls room looks like this probably 5 days a week. No joke. 

THEY.ARE.MESSY.

Our two year old likes to try on 1897356198579578 outfits a day, so she literally yanks every item of clothing out of the dresser; puts on every.single.dress up costume they own, and then discards it on the floor. Yeah, you get the idea.

 Add toys, Disney dolls and jewelry to the mix....it makes for a disaster area.

So yesterday, I decided to conquer the room. I filled up a gigantic rubbermaid with toys that they don't play with, and put it in the trunk for the goodwill. 4 bags of clothes also joined the toys in the trunk.

 Once the room was deep cleaned and looking excellent, I still had the issue of not having anywhere to store their bigger dolls. If you remember, I already built something to store their stuffed animals, but I was at a loss on WHERE to store these dolls that would still be accessible to them.

 So off to Pinterest, but no luck. All I saw was the American Girl doll storage, and that was just for one--I needed storage for more than that!

 So I sat. And looked around their room. And kept thinking. Then I spotted the dead space under our 3 year old's toddler bed, and had the light bulb moment! I can build a custom drawer type storage to fit them all under there! WOOOHOOO!

 I measured, looked around the garage and decided I could use material I had on hand. I took 1x4s and cut them down to 1x2.5 inches instead, so that with an inch gap between my two frames the total height would be 6 inches.

I built the first box according to my measurements I took under the toddler bed. 

Then I built the second one.

I attached them with some scraps that came off my cut 1x4s--4 of them, one in each corner.

Then I realized that the current mdf sheet I had in the garage wouldn't work! So I ended up cruising to Home Depot to pick up two drawer pulls and a 1/8" thick sheet of MDF-my total being $9.11. I came home and attached my bottom and drawer pulls, and I had a super cool Doll Storage!

 I am tickled with the finished product, and so proud of myself for coming up with an awesome, CHEAP design--all on my own! Which is a huge accomplishment, because, well, organizing thoughts in this head is a near impossible feat!

  Hope this project inspires YOU to do AMAZING things!

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