Staycation 2011

We have a big 'to-do' list.  We live in a nice, older rancher home that needs alot of updating.  We still have the original 1978 kitchen!  It seems that one projects balloons into another.  For years (no kidding) we couldn't decide on what to do in the hallway.  Carpet or wood?  Carpet or wood?  So we did nothing.  Then we began to talk about remodeling the bathroom.  I had a crazy idea to move the bathroom from one part of the hallway to another, creating an extra huge closet.  That was two years ago.  Doing the bathroom made us decide on flooring for the hallway! Yeah!  We put hardwood down and married it into the hardwood floor in the family room which has been hidden under carpet probably since the house was built.  So for at least a year we had unfinished wood in the hallway that needed to be finished. 

Enter Staycation 2011... 

 New wood meets old wood.  You can see how dirty the 'new' wood was compared to what was under the rug.  

 This was after the rug, padding, staples, and tack strips were removed and before the plastic went up.  Once we started we couldn't get to our bedroom or bathroom except by climbing through a window on the deck!  

Don't be fooled.  My husband did ALL the sanding.  I tried it and lasted about 5 minutes before I thought my arms were going to shake right off.  He sanded from 2:00 in the afternoon to 11:00 and then had to keep sanding the next morning.  He literally had to use the hand sander for most of the old wood to get rid of dots from the padding.  

All sanded, vacuumed, and given a mineral spirits bath. 

 This was the scary part, actually starting to stain.  We used Minwax Provincial.  It looks darker in the picture than it really is.  The wood is Red Oak and the old finish had a yellow/gold color to it.  I love the darker brown!  The fireplace didn't look so bad with beige carpet but now I am thinking about painting the fireplace a light tan/beige color using glazes.  Any input?? :)  

We were supposed to put the polyurethane down yesterday but the humidity was working against us so that will happen today.  We still have a dining room and a living room to do. I think that will be staycation 2012 and 13!  I'll need some time to recover.  

Here's hoping your vacations or staycations are more relaxing than ours!


Blessings!

Love in Unexpected Places...

In 1988 we moved from Long Island and most of our family to Maryland.  I guess on one of the visits from my parents my mom hid little notes around my house.  I would find them in unexpected places and the funny thing is I would just leave them where I found them.  You can see one she wrote in 1995 that is still in my kitchen cabinet.  Another one is in my Bible.      

I just love those notes from my mom.  I love that she took the time and thought to do that for me when I was far away from family.  

Last weekend I went out to Indiana, PA to visit my daughter.  I had an idea to do the same thing my mom did for me and leave some 'love' for her.  She shares a house with three other students so I could only hide them in her bedroom.   I got a text from her yesterday saying "So how many lovely little notecards did you hide?  I have been rearranging and cleaning."   I've been found out...   :)  At least I can blog about it now!  

For her notes I found Bible verses that I thought would encourage her and found silly graphics for the backs.  I am hoping that as my daughter finds more notes she will feel the love that went into them.  Maybe if you are visiting loved ones this summer you might leave behind some 'love' too.

Blessings friends,

Fishing Anyone?

I work part time at a Montessori school.  One of the teachers retired this year and I was asked to help in her retirement party by decorating a tool box to look like a girlie 'tackle' box!  Of course I didn't take a before picture but the box was all primary colors.  The handle was yellow, the  bottom half was blue, the top part was red and the closing tab was green! I bought Krylon clear for the plastic. They didn't have too many fun colors in the plastic paint so I then spray painted over the clear with the Watermelon.  I used a white boa and bought rhinestones letters to spell out her name. I used stick on rhinestones to decorate the top and clasp and then made a flower out of fabric and made a leaf out of green felt. 

Here is a picture of Linda when she first opened it!  She got a big kick out of it!  Another co-worker decorated a fishing pole for her.

We had a nice lunch and celebrated the 21 years she worked at the school.  I wonder what her husband thought of her gifts! :)

Blessings,