A few answered questions.

I've had a few emails about some random stuff, so I thought I would answer those questions.

1. What's on your stairs?
It's Behr deck stain in Cordovan Brown. Then dry brushed in places an exterior paint in brown. Then another coat of stain. Followed by 3 coats of poly. The risers are painted Ralph Lauren Golf Tee White. The same as my kitchen cabinets. I painted the stain on with a brush and did not wipe it off.

2. What are you selling? Basically every piece of furniture I've made in the last few months.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

(These two were just finished this morning! Aren't they gorgeous!?)

Oh and the slipper chair...

 

3. Why are you selling all your stuff?

I decided that I do this for the thrill of the chase. (That sounds so trashy!) But, I love the thrill of picking out fabric, paint and the process of changing it. I love to make something beautiful out of something totally hideous. We don't need a bunch of stuff...so I'm going to keep finding stuff, fixing it up and selling it...hopefully keeping the prices low enough that I cover the materials and make a little money too.

4. What's your favorite peanut butter?
Okay, no one asked that, but I'm a creamy JIF girl.

Mom Ramblings #4

1. I don't watch American Idol. Gasp! I know. I'm sure you are all in shock. I don't watch The Bachelor either. Can you believe it?! I just can't get into either one of them. AND if I do watch Biggest Loser I don't start watching until close to the end of the season the stories make me sob. And I just can't take any more sobbing...

2. When oh when is Friday Night Lights going to be on again? And can you believe LOST. Holy cow.

3. I'm selling stuff. Stuff I've reupholstered, painted, stained, aged, slaved over... If you want to buy anything, let me know. I'm serious. (Thanks Joe for the continuous suggestions!) I love the thrill of the hunt, the thrill of picking out fabric, the pure work to morph things into something new, but it's time to make some mullah (is that how that is spelled? Mullah, money, cash - you know proof that I can contribute to the income of the family and pay for these beauties...)

4. I haven't showered in three days...gross. I need to shower.

5. I'm rereading Love and Logic. For the 4th time. Why isn't it soaking in?

6. Tom goes out of town three days a week and I AM SO TIRED OF IT! I miss my hubby. I don't know how single parents do it. If you are a single parent, you are my hero.

7. While snuggling and playing with Jack the other day we had a conversation:
     Me: (Giggling) Jack, you're a pain...
     Jack: (Giggling) In da butt.

8. One of the things I struggle with with my kids is how hard to push them...or not to push them out of their comfort zone. Where do you draw the line at challenging them to do things and just letting them not do things...how do you know? How do parents do this?

Slipper Chair

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on the stairs! And the credenza! You guys are great!

Do any of you remember this chair?

 

I got it at GW for $25. But, guess what?! It doesn't match anything that we have. We've moved it all over the house, and it just doesn't "go". So I did something about it on Sunday afternoon. Some of you may "unfollow" because of this. And I am so sorry. 

I had a curtain in my stash of fabric that was left over from the curtains that the owners left. And I chopped it up. I didn't actually take pictures of the process, because, one, I was so nervous about doing it I didn't want documentation of it, and b) I just wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. And you're lucky I took an after. I really love it and now it can go in any room of the house.

It was pretty easy to do. The legs came off, the back came off and I stapled it to the base and hot glued the sides. I left the old fabric on so that if I want to I can take the top material off and use the old one. It looks perfect in our family room with the hot wheels tracks, the bouncy seat and Buzz LightYear perched on it.

On the day Jack was born...

Because I have to remember all the details...

For Jack's birth I wanted to try and NOT use drugs. Nothin'. I was not impressed with the epidural that I had with Porter's birth. (I'll write that post another day.) So, I was determined to try without. I didn't go into the birth thinking that I would absolutely not use anything. I just went in thinking that I was going to give it a try.

Back track. I started having contractions on a Thursday morning. Easter Thursday 2007. All our children were born on or around a holiday. Odd how that happened. Nothing came of the contractions, but I did call my dad and tell him that this kid was comin'. So he drove down. The day went on and nothing happened. Easter was Sunday, so we had plans. Of course, plans changed. He was supposed to come on the 10th!

At 10 pm we had just put fresh sheets on our bed and we were laying down and I said, "It would really suck if my water broke on our fresh clean sheets." And not 30 seconds later I started to feel a dribble. This is no joke. I thought I was peeing. Really. So I went to the bathroom. It just wouldn't stop coming out. But, I wasn't having any contractions. And it wasn't gushing. So I put down a pee pad that we had in our guest room from when my mom stayed with us (another story for another time). And I tried to sleep and tried to figure out what to do. Because I wasn't sleeping and I was feeling like a slow drip faucet, we decided to go into the hospital. We got there about 2 am. They confirmed that my water broke but also said there was a second sac of fluid. Meaning that Jack's head got in the way and he was stopping the fluid from getting out.
Get this - they waited until shift change, at 7:30 am to rebreak my water. Seriously. I could have been done so much sooner! Angry mother on board. Ugghh.
So, they broke my water again. I started having small contractions and they moved me to a room. We had a great nurse who assured me that she wouldn't give me an epidural if I begged for one during a contraction. I had to wait while I wasn't having one to ask for one. That worked for me.
I bounced on a ball. I walked around. Then I got in the bathtub. I had major contractions there and I found the contractions much easier to deal with while in the tub. But then. Then I wanted an epidural. Then I wanted to push. Then I had to get out of the bath immediately. There was no time. No time for an epidural. Reason being he was coming!
I couldn't get comfortable and so I draped myself on top of the ball. Ball on bed. Me draped over ball. Jack was ready and they wanted me to flip over and lie down. NO WAY. NO HOW.  So I birthed that baby while on all fours draped over an exercise ball. I leave the grossness of the ordeal out, but my rear was in the air for the world to see.
I remember pushing twice. I remember swearing A LOT. Lots and lots of F-bombs. It was beautiful. I also remember Tom telling me to breathe. And me telling him to f-ing breathe. Not pretty.

 

We were the talk of the OB floor for two reasons. The first, no one had ever given birth while lying on top of the birthing ball. That was a first. Two, apparently you're not supposed to give birth in the hospital without an IV started. No IV. The doctor was not happy and started the "always start an IV" rule. Even if there is nothing going in. Huh. Makin' our mark.

 

But this is pretty. He was beautiful. April 6, 2007. 6 pounds 13 ounces. Born at 10:19 am. Four days early. He slept through the night at 12 weeks. He started getting ear infections at 6 months. Then we didn't sleep. He is funny and goofy and smart. He is a pain in the patooty. And we love him.

 

Credenza

I found this at GW the other day. It was $14.99. For that, I couldn't say no. It was missing a top, but that didn't stop me. I figured I could find something to put on top.

 

I went to HD looking for a scrap piece of MDF because the stuff we had at home didn't fit, of course. They didn't have any, but the guy working went up and found a beat up piece that he could damage out so he gave it to me for $4.01. And he even cut it to my exact measurements. 

The top of the credenza (that's what I'm going to call it, 'cause I'm fancy like that) had dowels in it, so I just sawed them off and then screwed the top in from the bottom. 

I wanted to paint it silver, but I was too afraid. So I painted it slate blue. And put on some good ole' Ralph Lauren Smoke Glaze. Love, love, love.

 

The top two pictures are during the day, that's the true color. The next two are from around 5 pm. Booo for no light....

I may have to sell it. If I bring home one more piece of furniture I may end up on the street...living in the furniture...

 

(Nighttime photo)

 

 

 (Daytime Photo)

Sharing with:

Metamorphosis Monday
Make it for Monday
DIY Day
Power of Paint
Transformation Thursday
Furniture Feature Friday
Frugalicious Friday
Saturday Night Special

Bookshelf

Just thought I'd share with you the finished bookshelf. It's not perfect. But I love it. As you can see, it is already full and Buzz Lightyear has found a home.

The hutch is painted and on the desk, but still needs a back. We were too busy making Hot Wheels tracks and sledding to bother doing it this weekend...

 

The Final Chapter.

Well, maybe not the final chapter. I'm still deciding on painting the banister and the side runners. If you would like to know the back story on the steps, go here, here, here, and here. Oh and here.

Here's the before. Yucky, cheap carpet:

 

And here's the dramatic and exciting after:

Love, love, love....dreamy love. I can't decide if I'm more proud of the way they turned out or the fact that I did it ALL BY MYSELF. Hubs did not touch them AT ALL. Not even on the landing. Not a single staple did he pull. Not a single nail did he hammer.

I am so linking this to show off:

Make Your Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

Make it for Monday

DIY Day

Power of Paint

Transformation Thursday

Saturday Night Special

Hutch

Ana at Knock Off Wood did it again. Remember how I said that we bought two sheets of MDF because we needed just a tiny bit more for the bookshelf? Well, with the extra we had HD cut the necessities for a hutch. HELLO!

With the help of our new compound sliding miter saw I put it together ALL BY MYSELF. It was a piece of cake and only took about an hour. Thank you pneumatic nailer. It just needs the back and a little paint. I love it.

 

It's far from perfect. I missed with the nail gun twice. Not pretty. But it got covered by another piece of wood.

I'm not a pro. But I play one on the internet.

This is the halfway point.
 

The final product, minus the back and the paint. I need to get the table saw out to cut the back.

 

 

Stair progress report number 857

The landing. This is where I put the pine planks. Oh my....I was so nervous about this part. But about 8 pm during Grey's Anatomy, I just went for it.

I put roofing felt down on the landing to prevent the boards from squeaking too much when they expand and contract and when you walk on them.

 (Free roofing felt!)

Then I put the boards down.

My first coat of stain freaked me out a bit because it wasn't as dark as it was on the steps. But, after the dry brushed brown paint and another coat of stain, it looked perfect.

 

And here it is after the poly.

Stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion!

Stair progress report number 87

I finished staining the stairs. Let me tell you something. I am in love with my steps. I would like to sleep on them and hug them and snuggle with them. Except they are hard and I like cozy and soft.

It turned out exactly like I had hoped. Even better. Since I hate surprises I'm not going to make you wait for a big reveal. I'm just going to show you what I've got.

I purchased a spare tread so I could could get the exact color that I wanted. I bought a tiny thing of minwax in black. I also bought a gallon of Cordovan Brown made by someone. I can't remember. If you MUST know I will go and check.

I didn't really like either stain, so I ended up making it up on my own. First I stained the step. Then I dry brushed the brown paint I used on the front door onto the step. Finally I lightly brushed on a final coat of stain.
A process. That's for sure. But totally worth it.

 

  

I had to do it in stages. We sleep on the second floor of the house. So, first I did every other step. That way we could go up and down without stepping on the wet step. That was all shot when I forgot about the dogs. But, it wasn't a big deal. (Please ignore my sausage toes.) By the way, Tom thought it was a genius move to do every other step. He asked me who thought of the skipping step idea and when I told him it was all on my own I got a fisties. That's major kudos from him. 

Then the next day I did the other steps.

 

That's it for now. Still more to do....I'll get a close up...after I sleep.