Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Projects

After all of the fun and games on Saturday it was time to get down to business on Sunday.  My dad came up bright and early that morning to get started on his to-do list.  First up, the bathroom plumbing and faucet installation.  First to be scrapped from the to-do list, the bathroom plumbing and faucet installation.  According to my dad everything is too corroded and too dangerous for anyone but a true, licensed professional to do.  He was afraid that he would get in there and pop/break something and then we'd have to turn off the main water supply which would be a really bad thing on the Sunday of a Holiday weekend.
 
I was very disappointed that the new faucets wouldn't be done before Spencer's party, but we moved on.
 
The lack of plumbing work gave my dad plenty of time to install the pendant light in the entry way.  The entry way is now officially done.  New light, new curtain and new rug.  I'm pretty happy with it.  The outside entry way is another story.  I still reeeeeeaaaaaally want to paint the front door red, I just can't figure out the timing of it.  How do you paint a door when removing it will leave a gaping hole in the front of your house?
 
Here's a close up from underneath. 
 
After the pendant was done we continued with the electrical theme and moved on to the ceiling fan in the master bedroom.  There was nothing wrong with the fan that came with the house, it was just white and didn't look great with our furniture/bedding. 

We already had this black fan from our first house.  It's been sitting in a box since August, 2009.
 
Up it went. 
Right before my dad left we remembered we wanted him to look at the pencil sharpener because it had mysteriously stopped working.  We feared the worst.
 
He was able to fix it, although it was really tricky and difficult.
 
He had to, get this, open it and empty the shavings. 
That was right up there with the time we asked him to fix a lamp that had mysteriously quit working and all he did was change the light bulb.
 
Sometimes Michael and I feel like our adult cards should be revoked.
 
Remember when I refinished the hutch 3 years ago?  Well, my dad made a new decorative edge for the bottom of it because the original one wasn't worth saving.  The only problem is that I stained the wrong side.  So for 3 years it has leaned against the bottom, unattached and on the wrong side.
 
I finally stained the correct side.
But my dad left without attaching it.  So it continues to lean, just on the correct side now. 
 
Since we couldn't do any plumbing we reattached the bathroom cabinets on Monday. 
We also bought some peel and stick tile to line the inside of the cabinets.  This is another pinterest idea.  It was cheap and oh so easy. 
Waaaaaaaaaaaay back on Cyber Monday I ordered drapes for the master bedroom.  We had lived here for 2 weeks.  I was so on the ball.  Then stupid JC Penney messed up and sent us the wrong drapes.  All of them.  I ordered mocha and they sent ocean.  I returned them and they reissued the order.  Only they mailed it to the wrong address.  It took them and Fed Ex about 4 weeks to admit that the order had been lost and they were no longer going to even look for it.  Then they dropped the bomb that the curtains had been discontinued and they basically told me there was nothing they were going to do about it.
 
I wrote a very strongly worded letter to the CEO of JC Penney and got 2 apology letters and $100 from him. Then it took until July for me to buy new drapes.  I don't like them nearly as much as the original drapes, but they are OK.  Then it took until Monday for us to buy curtain rods.  But finally, we have drapes hanging in our room.

Very soon I might even do a post to show you the rest of the room. I've been very intentional in not showing you too much of it because I've never done the big "reveal" since the window coverings were missing.
This is not a home project, but I made these glitter bomb mason jar candle holders for Spencer's party.
 
I think I will leave them out after the party because they are that awesome. 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Divide and Conquer

A few weeks ago my friend Jeannette gave me two free passes to the Phoenix Children's Museum  She wasn't going to be able to use them before they expired because, well, she lives in Tucson, the passes expired on Saturday and she wasn't going to drive all the way up here just to use them.
 
We also had some money left on a gift certificate to Jump Street that Spencer got for his birthday last year.
 
Michael and I decided to split up the children and use our "get in free" methods for some Saturday morning fun.
 
Off Elliott and I went to Phoenix.
 
The last time we took him to the Children's Museum, he wasn't walking.  It was a heck of a lot more fun for both of us without the constant threat of him being stepped on.

 
I was chasing him around a loop in the tree house.  He was having a blast.


 
The pool noodle forest was a BIG hit.  We spent a lot of time in there.
 






 


These beans were also a favorite.  Or maybe they were split peas.  I'm not sure.  But he sure enjoyed scooping them.



 
Look at this cheeser smile. 


I knew it was time to leave when we got to the ball room.  He kept picking up 4-5 golf balls and then handing them to me.  Then he would scream and cry when I took them.
 
Um.  Conflicting messages much?
 
While we were museuming it up, Michael and Spencer were bouncing it up and taking significantly less pictures.  Dads.  Sigh. 



 
We met for lunch at the Good Egg when we were done with our individual outings.  The waiter mentioned that we had two incredibly well behaved children and that Spencer was very well spoken.  Michael and I were flattered, but also kind of wanted to invite him to spend just 45 minutes in our home to see if he changed his mind.
 
P.S.  Thanks for the passes, Jeannette.  It was generous of you and we really appreciated it.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Pinterest told me to

It's been a while since I talked about any of my pinterest projects on the ol' blog.  That doesn't mean that I haven't been pinning, pinning, pinnning, I just haven't remembered to talk about any of it.
 
Pinterest told me that candles nestled in coffee beans smells totally yummy.
 
So, I did it.
 
And put it by the coffee maker.  It DOES smell heavenly.
Pinterest told me that putting curtains next to the front door is an awesome idea.

I agreed.  I just don't have two windows.  I did already have the curtain though, so it was an easy project. 
Pinterest told me that there is an easier way to hang curtain rods.  I passed the information on to Michael.  He hung 3 curtain rods, lickety split.
 
I'll show you pictures of the curtains soon.  They are in our bedroom.  I'm working on a post of all the projects we did over the weekend.  It'll be up soon.
Pinterest is telling me that my kid will have a terrible birthday unless they wake up to a balloon avalanche.  I believe pinterest and will be doing this for Spencer on Friday.
Pinterest is also telling me that an old wooden crate full of logs, pine branches and lights is a gorgeous focal point for the fire place. 
 
I think pinterest knows what it is talking about.  I just need to figure out where to get these logs.