Well, you’ve already seen the photos from our cruise earlier this year, but I thought I’d share the mini book I made as well. I finally decided to fill up one of the projects I made at CKC a few years ago (think this one is from 2009)– this cruise seemed to be a perfect fit for the SEI clear mini album. Since it was semi-made already, it made the project super fast – only a few hours! The thing I am liking about mini albums is how easy it is to include random postcards, your room keys, etc. in the book – just punch a hole in it with your crop-a-dile and stick it in the ring binding! (Is Oak the only one that is convinced the crop-a-dile is a castration device masked as a scrapbooking tool?). Putting these items right in the binding is so much easier than trying to get them to look right on a scrapbook page. The clear aspect of it does present a challenge because you have to think about how the backs of the pages are going to look. This was a little tricky for me, even with the pre-done aspect of the album. I definitely would only want to do a super small clear album, or maybe mix the clear pages in with regular ones in the future.
Here’s the cover to give you an idea:
See the rest of the album here.
OK, I realize that our trip to the Midwest for Belinda’s wedding was oh, 2 years ago. But hey, I was kinda missing my entire scrapbooking set-up after the trip, so whatevs. 
This is presented in no particular order…
Well, here are the photos from the whole reason we went to Chicago – the wedding! I didn’t get a ton of great pictures but enough to tell the story. Oak even caught a photo at the exact moment when I was about to run over the groom’s sister during the Electric Slide. Good thing that situation got intercepted, because I’m pretty sure I outweigh her by about 50 pounds, ha ha.
Good thing the wedding was first, cause I’m not sure I would have fit into my dress after this crazy trip. I know we were trying to eat the “local specialties” — do real midwesterners eat this much cheese? Geez louise. But it’s so tasty. Here’s my first Chicago deep dish pizza experience. I recommend doing it at least once. I have to say this was one of the richest meals I’ve ever experienced, considering the fact that it consists of exactly 1 item. The small pizza, about 4 hours of walking in the cold later, and Oak and I STILL weren’t hungry! Unbelievable!
Then, we continued on a tour around the midwest to experience more cheese. Well, in Wisconsin you’ll come across cheese just about anywhere, even if you’re not looking for it. This trip, we went to Madison and the Wisconsin Dells, and hit every cheese outlet in between. I noticed a special theme with the cheese outlets, apparently they aren’t afraid that the giant mice they have as mascots will eat all the cheese inside their stores….
I promise to return soon with more layouts… I was testing out my camera location and lighting situation for photographing the layouts — I think these came out pretty good so next time I’m home with natural light (which, somewhat rare with the crazy Daylight savings-ness causing it to be dark at 5pm..), I’ll get right on it!
Boy oh boy…. like the upstairs drywall, we managed to find another project that never ends, the wood floor. Lessons learned thus far:
- Relaimed wood, while eco friendly, is dumb!! Luckily Oak has mastered the art of re-adding the tongues and grooves… so our waste level is still pretty low. But, that has definitely added a lot of time to this whole process.
- Wear gloves when you’re sorting wood, otherwise you end up with raw hands and splinters.
- A quality pair of pliers, awesome for removing staples!
- Using the flooring nailer is a great man-workout! haha
- Patience is virtue.
The title of this post is inspired by Oak’s favorite demolition music. I’m sure Marilyn Manson would appreciate my re-work of his lyrics very much. After a year of house renovation, I’ve come to accept that dust is permeating almost every aspect of our lives. Even when I go to work, I notice a layer of dust on my laptop that I have to brush off every morning. Awesome!
So, Oak has been taking out the kitchen floor one section at a time (at my request.. cause I don’t think it’s very good to get the subflooring dirty/wet), but with it and his crazy demolition circular saw comes teeny white pieces of linoleum everywhere along with a new layer of PermaDust(TM). Every possible house project comes with a new layer of dust and/or crazy tools everywhere. I try to keep the kitchen area semi-respectable and non-disgusting, but I’ve pretty much given up everywhere else on the first floor.When I finally clean the front room where we’re currently keeping all the trim pieces, new flooring, etc, I’m betting on a 3 inch layer of dust.
Another dust tidbit: I finally figured out where the term “dust bunny” comes from. Radar’s hair falls out in little clumps that gather up in corners of the room. Luckily he LOVES to be brushed/groomed (most of the time..sometimes he hops away.. haha) so that reduces the shedding a little bit. He’s lucky he’s so adorable. Makes a little better when your shirt is covered in hair after a cuddle session. haha.
As if this weren’t enough dust to talk about, Oak has become preoccupied with dust collection for his woodworking tools. I was a good wife and listened to about an hour’s discussion (over several sessions) of the special types of dust collectors, the cyclone thingy that prevents most of the big chunks from getting to the vacuum, etc. Then finally, I had to throw in the towel and say, I can’t listen to this any more and even feign interest (sorry darling). Then I tried to bore him to death with some talk about scrapbooking tools. That said, I totally support the need for dust collection (yay, not inhaling sawdust particles). In fact, I support it so much that I am sharing these pictures of Oak’s super sweet dust collection setup.
Here’s the dust collection system hooked up to the thickness planer, which funny enough, reduces the thickness of a piece of wood (OMG are you impressed with my tool knowledge OR WHAT!). The shavings go to the garbage can with the home made something-baffle lid that makes a cyclone a la your fancy dyson at home to catch all the big pieces. Then it goes to the final dust collector, which is that white bag looking thing in the background. There’s ALSO an overhead filter to collect any fallout. Apparently we got a super deal from our neighbor for the overhead filter, a $200 machine for $25. ha!
If only there were something that did this for everywhere in the house… Push a button and BOOM! All the dust (and dust bunnies) is sucked off every surface. Sort of like a Roomba, but that works a lot better. Wouldn’t that be suhweet???
Another disappearance from the Blogosphere. I know. It’s not that we haven’t completely stopped with the home projects, I do actually have many more I need to take pictures of to share (like ones that got done months ago), but the momentum on house projects has slowed down in the past month or so because of various social engagements, family visits, etc. Time to gear up again before the holidays!
Here’s some info on the current status….
I’d say our upstairs is currently at about 90% complete for what we’re planning to do for the near future (other than the guest bathroom, which we haven’t touched yet). We’re doing what I’d consider “fit and finish” things at this point – getting window coverings, hanging doors and pictures, etc. Things that take thought and consideration before doing them – like, oh where should I hang this?? Then oh, I need to buy a frame for this, or I need special hardware, etc etc. It never ends, I tell you!
Downstairs is pretty much in “construction” phase, we’re slowly making progress on putting the wood flooring in the family room (for which, we’re not enjoying our eco-friendly choice of reclaimed flooring, more on that later), deciding what we’re doing with the fireplace, etc.
Outside we made some progress last weekend on our “moat”, aka the drainage ditch that directs some of the water from the gutters away from the house. We started that project in oh, April and then it began being about 115 degrees out every day. I say “we” but really, how much help am I with digging ditches and plumbing?? I try, really I promise. (I will at least give myself credit for a) nagging the project along and b) moral support.. haha, oh so valuable) Anyway, the moat got its drainage pipe, water line, and conduit for electrical line buried. No more worrying that stray alligators will decide to live in our front yard. Dave gave us a very good piece of advice… whenever you have a ditch dug up for whatever reason — think about anything else you might ever want to bury in that same spot before you fill it in! That’s why we buried this extra stuff… a great way to get water to the side yard and electricity should we ever need it for anything. Ding!
Hope everyone has a safe & happy halloween!
So, as you remember, I am capable of doing a “real” refinishing project. But, we have a TON of woodwork that is scratched, worn, and/or generally dull, but the finish is generally intact. The thought of refinishing curvy stair balusters — NOT appealing whatsoever. I was reading some other home improvement blog (which one is totally escaping me at this point)), and saw this product mentioned for restoring vintage furniture finishes: 
Just apply it with some ultra-fine (00) steel wool, and your finish is restored!
This could not be true. It took a few weeks to find it, though it totally wasn’t hard to find in the stain section at Home Depot. I kept looking in the cleaning area — whoops The walnut color seemed the closest match to most of our woodwork, so we got that and the special steel wool.
For a $12 investment on both these items, what a difference it makes! The white overcast on the finish completely goes away and any chips or scratches in the finish are disguised. So far I have done it on: the front stairway upper baluster, bonus room cabinets, first floor bathroom mirror, and a few chairs Oak scored at the thrift store. All with a considerably improved appearance as a result!
How to use it:
- Cover any carpet or surrounding area that could get hurt by the dark liquid. I find it does wipe up but still be careful!
- Pour the restor-a-finish into a wide mouth jar, only a small amount at a time (I used an old Bonne Maman jelly jar… about a 1/4 inch in the bottom of the jar is good).
- Put some gloves on – doesn’t hurt to avoid getting a rash!
- Dip an edge of the steel wool into the jar to pick up some of the liquid.
- Rub on your surface following the wood grain. Marvel in the amazing results!
- Wipe off the excess with a rag.
- Done!
So there you have it, a sanding and dust free way to improve the appearance of your already-finished wood surfaces! Sweet!
My friend Elaine had a baby shower last month. I got the crazy idea that I was going to make her a baby book. Once I got in the groove and made the initial decisions, it actually didn’t take that long to make. I based the page ideas off the baby book at younghouselove.com. Of course, I couldn’t just use their format, so I re-created some of the fill-in pages in Adobe Illustrator. After browsing Archivers for an hour for inspired ideas, I decided to use the Little Yellow Bicycle Snugglebug collection for the main embellishments, though I also mixed in a bunch of stuff that I already had – great excuse to use up a bunch of pastels that I never use otherwise!
I cut the titles out with my Silhouette. Otherwise the layouts are pretty simple, I put photo mats in that would fit 4×6″ photos so it’s super easy for Elaine to fill in! Enjoy:
Here is the book for your viewing enjoyment:
Find more photos like this on The Crop Circle
So, I kinda realized that the garden has officially exploded:
It’s huge. Way above the deer containment device. We even have had some veggies out of it! Mostly tomatoes, with a few squash, peppers and okra thrown in there for fun. We’re kind of busy to bother with the garden this year, but it’s doing well considering its state of somewhat-neglect. One great idea Oak came up with was to run a hose out there with a soaker hose attached to water everything. Luckily we’re still getting our produce box on a weekly basis, which definitely keeps us on the fresh produce train too.
What a far cry from what it looked like in April!
Crazy, huh? That’s quite the before and after picture, if I’ve ever seen one…. lol
Continued from..
So, you’ve got your stairs all sanded. Think you’re ready to slap some stain on there? Not so fast….
1. Get rid of the dust particulates.. After you suck up all the big sawdust type stuff with your shop vac, it’s time to “de-bubble” the space, that is, remove all the crazy plastic you put up in an attempt to contain the dust. And oh, the dust isn’t only in the spots where you first think to look. It’ s likely stuck to your walls and on any teeny space you can imagine, like the stair spindles. So do a quick vaccum on those and then go over EVERYTHING with a tack cloth. A tack cloth is basically like a really sticky piece of cheesecloth, and it will get up all the fine dust particles.
2. More cleaning… My stain container recommended going over the entire surface with mineral spirits so I dampened a rag and did a quick swipe over everything. Probably helped pick up any remaining dust too.
3. OK, FUN TIME! The actual staining. The moment you’ve been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for. We actually made our first purchase at Sherwin-Williams for this project. And let me tell you, it was great because the guy in the store just got everything we needed out for us instead of us standing there staring at all the products like, “d’oh” (our normal Home Depot/Lowes experience). I picked out a stain color. He recommended doing the staining with two old t-shirt pieces – one to apply and one to wipe. How economical! No stupid “lambswool pads” needed. 
I discovered a few awesome things doing the staining. One – staining is super fun and satisfying!! Two – stain actually stains your skin. Great if you’re going for a splotchy fake tan look (a la “Snookie”), not so great for everyone else. Three- Because of “two”, you need some gloves. I used cheap plastic gloves though, and they actually disintegrated on my hands and turned them brown anyway. Fun times.
4. Staining tips: Admittedly, there’s not much to staining. You spread it on. Spread it thick. Wait 10 minutes (or as directed on your stain) and then come back and wipe away the drips. Given this process, you can only stain a few stairs at a time. There’s a lot of waiting around with icky hands. Have a TV show or something ready. Oak took some uber flattering pictures of me staining… Can someone remind me to get some more stylish and slimming home improvement clothes? How do all these other home improvement bloggers look all cute doing their home improvement stuff? It’s like they actually take a shower and put makeup on, and THEN get all nasty doing home improvement stuff. Uuuuh, no thanks. That’s way too much trouble. I will only allow this cropped picture to capture the staining experience:
5. Wow, this stain looks great!! I think I’m done! I seriously thought I could be done after one coat of stain. It looked pretty darn good, a whole lot better than the un-stained stairs. Trust, me just put another coat on. It makes a HUGE difference in the overall even-ness of the finish. So, go through that whole process again. Yeah.
6. Stop: Poly time. Our Sherwin-Williams dude recommended this polyurethane for the stairs, which I got in a satin finish: 
Since we bought it, I’ve read some mixed reviews on Minwax floor polyurethane (apparently there are some pro versions that are better), but it’s seemed OK so far. The trick to polyurethane is to apply it EXTRA thin with a natural bristle brush.
Keep spreading until you don’t see any more coming off the brush. You’ll reload about half as often as you do with paint. This should minimize any drips, which you can definitely run into (pun semi-intended) on the vertical surfaces. Because it’s all oil-based, you have to clean the brush with mineral spirits. I apparently did not master this practice because my brush turned all hard and crusty after a few days. Luckily, I did all the poly in one day because the label says to recoat it in 4-6 hours, which I did. If you allow it to dry more than 12 hours, you have to sand again (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!).
7. Admire your hard work so far. Soooo pretty!
This might look “done” , but, you might notice some tape still on there. If you’re like me, you likely got some stain on the skirting, a.k.a. the “white part on the sides of the stairs.” Ours also needed some dings sanded out and a fresh coat of paint, so stay tuned for the “final reveal” in the next installment! Thanks for tuning in!
Yeah, it’s not a baby. (Sorry to our patiently waiting mothers…). We now have a “house rabbit”: 
His name is Radar. You might be able to deduce the reasoning on that one from his obvious ear situation, but it’s also kind a nerdy Oak reference to a character on one of his favorite classic TV shows. Luckily I’ve come to appreciate that show over the years (despite changing the channel to Full House when it came on after The Cosby Show in the school afternoon TV lineup all those years). And no, we have not attempted to feed the rabbit Nehi Grape soda, though we have learned rabbits have a strict diet of hay and greens:
His love of collards and disdain for kale have us believing he is a true Southern Rabbit. He hops around the kitchen a few hours a day (as that’s all where he’s allowed for now… the rest of the 1st floor is “under construction”), kinda/sorta uses his litter box like a cat (minus the “pebbles” which we are told.. are pretty much a given, oh joy), begs for love, and tries to chew on our cheapo ikea chairs. That could be because the first weekend we had him, we had no choice but to take him with us INTO ikea in a cat carrier . Leaving him in the car would have been deadly, having the outside temperature around 90 degrees. Can you take a rabbit to “SMALAND”? He is small… anyway, I wanted my new desk darn it! He survived but I don’t think he was very happy about that entire situation. We made it through the entire store without anyone noticing until these ladies behind us in the checkout line noticed the bag and were like, “IS THERE AN ANIMAL IN THERE ??? HOW CUTE!” I was like, yo ladies shut up because we’re going to get in trouble! Geez louise! We made it out unscathed and undiscovered and he’s had his teeth set on devouring our chairs ever since.
There’s more to tell but I will let you revel in these first pictures of the cuteness, which, I am discovering is extremely difficult to capture with a quickly moving object that also is subject to red eye. I’m willing to accept the challenge.
