tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88041413512010601512024-02-19T09:03:50.188-08:00Visible House Soulteresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-23040149914305270332017-02-18T05:32:00.000-08:002017-02-18T05:32:02.707-08:00continuing carpet removal<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'m not a bi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">g f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an of carpet. Sure, it feels nice and soft and war<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">m on your toes, but it gets dirty so easily <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rd to clean. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The carpet in our house is covered in stains, and it's only 6 years old. Maybe that's unusual<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and we're just extra dirty people, but either way, our carpet is still gross. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so I'm on a slow crusade to rid my house of it. Some areas <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">are a bit of a battle since Zach does like carpet. However, this year I convinced him to get rid of it on our entryway stairs. Those stairs connect our first floor entryway, which is tile, with our second floor hall/living room/dining room/kitchen, which is hardwood. It always seemed a little weird to me to have carpeted stairs connecting two areas that were not carpeted. This argument eventually wore Zach down. I made plans, ordered material, and Zach and I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pulled up the carpet a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd staples. Then we waited for reinforcements, i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.e. my dad.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My parents came to visit for 4.5 days on their way down to Florida, so my dad could help me. We got started on Wednesday with a trip to Home Depot for liquid nails, plywood and saw horses for making a work table, and a giant miter saw that I tried to tell my dad we didn't have room to keep. However, it did turn out to be extremely useful - more on that later. I had <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">also bo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rrowed a regular <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">miter saw and table saw from my awesome tool buddy.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our stairs curve around near the top. We wanted the flooring on the stairs to continue to line up with the same direction as the floor they would meet. That's how we did it for our <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/08/trading-carpet-part-2.html"><span style="color: red;">previous little stair project</span></a>. This meant that, for the main part of the stairs, the boards would go straight across, but for the top few stairs and landing, the boards would need to be at a 45 degree angle. My dad tried to talk us into doing all the sta<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">irs with the boards just straight across, which would be easier. We thought that would have been OK if we had done the other stair<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s that way, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but since we'd done them to line up with the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hall flooring, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we wanted these to match up too. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Wednesday, after our shopping trip and getting all the saws set up<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, we got to work getting the stairs pre<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pped for installing the risers. The existing stair treads had no<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ses, which we needed to cut off so the risers could sit flush with the top of the tread. My dad had brought a small<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> circular s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">aw, which we used to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o the majority of the nose cutting. Then he had a multi-tool with a cutting blade</span></span></span></span></span></span> that we used to trim off the rest that w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as too close to the wa<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ll f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">circular saw. I mo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ved up the s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tairs cutting with<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the circular saw, and Dad came behind me with the multi-tool. This spe<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d things along quite nicely. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next came the riser install. The stock risers I'd gotten from Home Depot weren't quite the right size, so we had to trim them down. Dad worked on that, whi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">le I ran back to H<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ome Depot f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">emi-gloss super white paint to paint them with (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'd thought I had some, but it turned out to be a dried-u<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">p mess). By the time I got back, Dad ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d started <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">gluing and nailing the risers in place, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and I went behind painting them. With this teamwork, we got all the risers installed and painted the first day. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thursday <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">morning, </span>we started on the 'easy' landing. This was the first landing as you come <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">up the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> stairs, so the boards would just be going straight across. It was still tricky, though, becaus<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e the landing isn't just a s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">quare,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> so there was a lot of measur<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing and cutting angles. That one landing took us all morning. After lunch, we started on the easy steps. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just ignore the surrounding steps in this photo; I didn't take a picture of this landing until everything was done.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My dad <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d the idea that it would probably be easier and faster to assemble the steps a little large in the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">garage, glue them up, then cut them to the exact size, a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd install them on the st<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">airs. The nosing came in 72" lengths, so we cut them in hal<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">f, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">leaving us a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">bout 5" more than we needed for the stair width. We cut <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">flooring bo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ards to fit in. For the depth of the stairs, we needed about 3 and 1/3 board<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> widths. After the first couple steps, we got into a rh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ythm of Dad cutting the floo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ring, while I glued the steps together. When we ran o<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ut of places to build new steps, we went back to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the first one we had assembled to cut it <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to width and install it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dad had built a jig to measure the non-<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">squareness of the stairs. We'd place the jig on<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the stair, e<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">xpand it to the correct <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">length, adjust the end<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">angles to line up with<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the walls</span></span></span></span></span></span>, then tighten e<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">verything down. The<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n we'd take the ji<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">g back to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the garage and line it up on the assembled step, tracing the edges to know where to cut. Most of the stai<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rs were pretty close to square, so we maybe didn't really need the jig, but if they hadn't been as good, it would have been super helpful. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d it was still useful. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After cutting the step, we glued it down with Liquid Nails and put a few 18-gauge nails in. We installed every other step, so we could go up and down<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the stairs re<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ively easily without walking on the new treads whi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">le the glue was still setting. In th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is way, we finished up Thursday with all the 'easy' steps ass<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">embled and ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lf of them installed.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friday morning, we got to work on the '<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hard' stairs. There were 3 of these, plus <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a landing. We had actually assembled the fi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rst step on Thursday, but it took a long<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> time to dry. We needed it super dry so we could cut a tongue into the edge. Since we had <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cut all the boards at an a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ngle, the front no longer had a tongue or groove, a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd we needed a tongue to fit into the groove of the nosing. We cut a tongue very carefully using the table saw. It took a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">while, but eventually we got it cut, attached to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the nosing, and the whole thing <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nstalled on the stair. We ass<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">embled the other other 2 'hard' steps and brought them in the house to let the glue cure in a warme<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r envir<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">onment than the garage. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Those <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">seemingly few item<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s took us all morning.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Over lunch, we discussed our plan o<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">f attack for the 'hard' landing. Those boards would also be cut a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t an angle, eliminating the necessary tongue to fit into the nosing. It would be a lot harder to do any sort of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">precision assembly and then cut a tongu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e into those pi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eces<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. However, my a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wesome tool buddy ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d also given me some splines, which fit into a flooring groove, turning it into a tongue. We figured w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e could use those to turn the groove in the nosing into a tongue, then get a router to cut grooves into all the angle<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d step pi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eces. Of course, this meant another trip to Home Depot, but it was totally worth it because this tactic worked great. We cut all the initial an<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">gle pieces and grooved them up and dry-fit them in place, so we could measure the rest of the pieces needed. With all the angles of the landing, this took the rest of the day<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, but we managed to get the landing all glued and nailed <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in with even a couple of hours left for relaxing before bed.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Saturday, we started with one of the 2 remaining 'hard' steps, routing a groove in the front, attaching it to a nose, cutting the assembled step to fit, and filling in extra triangle bits in the corner. We didn't do the last step since we were trying to keep to an 'every other step is new with the glue curing' philosophy to make it a little easier to go up and down the stairs without stepping on stairs that hadn't had 24 hours to cure. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Next, we started looking at the very bottom step. It had been curved, but in all my searching, I hadn't found anything that I felt sure would work to maintain the curve, so we decided to square it off. However, if we just boxed off the existing riser, Zach and I were concerned it would stick out rather far, increasing the risk of us running into the pointy corner. We weren't sure exactly how the curved riser was constructed, but my dad agreed to just start cutting into it and see what happened. It wasn't solid and broke apart pretty easily. Unfortunately, cutting it out seemed to severely reduce the structural integrity of that end of the step. My dad built a little box out of a 2x4 I had lying around to fit snugly under the tread to provide support. We cut the front riser to length, then used more riser pieces and other scrap wood to build out the remaining 2 sides of the box to the correct depth, while adding surface area for the tread to rest on. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />While Dad got to work figuring out the cuts for the nosing to make perfect 'picture frame' corners at not perfect 45 deg angles, I went back to installing 'easy' steps. We had 5 rough-cut assembled steps that needed to be cut to size and installed. These 2 tasks took us the rest of the day. My part should have gone faster, but Friday I had started getting a cold that had become much worse by Saturday afternoon and had me taking frequent rest breaks. Still, it was good teamwork, splitting up the jobs to get everything done before my parents were scheduled to leave Sunday afternoon. We got the rest of the 'easy' steps installed, and Dad got the first step nosing cut and the glue started curing with a make-shift clamp made out of rubber bands!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Sunday morning we hurried to finish up before Mom and Dad had to leave. I got to work on the last 'hard' step, measuring, cutting, and filling in the corner. Dad measured and fit boards for the first step. We got it all done in just an hour or two and even got the garage all cleaned up before it was go time! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Of course, things still weren't done. I had to spackle and repaint a bit of wall where the drywall had gotten torn when we cut up the rounded first step. For this, I was extremely grateful for the spreadsheet I started a few years ago, where I listed what paint colors are where in the house, so I knew which light brown paint to use! Then there was caulking all the open seams between risers and walls. I had to measure and get some shoe moulding for around the first step and on the 2 landings and nail that in. Finally, most of the risers needed some touch-up paint where they'd gotten scuffed during step installations. I left all that for the next weekend, when my cold had gone away. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before Caulk</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After Caulk</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />And now it's all done! And it looks super awesome, if I do say so myself :-) Huge shout-out to my dad for all his help! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<br />teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-75942826086880524142017-01-30T05:32:00.001-08:002017-01-30T05:32:26.372-08:00geeked-out stocking<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In my family, we all had our own, special Christmas stockings. My dad had an extra long, fuzzy red one; my mom had her blue one with an angel from when she was a child; my sister had a quilted one with a gingerbread man; and I had a quilted one with a rocking horse. Zach has a standard, store-bought, fuzzy red and white one. He used gold puffy paint to write his name on it. Even though it's personalized a bit, I always think it's sad. I feel like everyone should have a super special Christmas stocking. So this year, I decided to make Zach a new stocking for Christmas. I wanted it to show his interests, so, of course, I thought movies/TV. I found some fabrics for various Marvel and DC characters and a few related to Doctor Who (Tardises and Daleks). But he has so many fandoms, I didn't know which one to pick. Then I found <a href="http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/4789654-geek-3-classic-b-w-by-geekatheartshop">this fabric</a> from spoonflower.com. They have a whole search category for "geek"! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This has images from Doctor Who, Star Trek, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Star Wars, and more that, I'm sad to admit, I can't identify. I bet Zach can, though! I ordered two "fat quarters", one for the front and one for the back of the stocking. I got some plain green fabric for the lining and used some red micro-fleece leftover from a <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-gift-for-baby.html">long-ago project</a> for the cuff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found various instructions online, but none had a pattern, so I traced my stocking, then made it an extra inch around all sides and about four inches taller. Initially, I drew the pattern on old newspaper, but that wasn't big enough for the expansions I wanted to do, so I used that pattern to trace onto part of a cardboard box. I used that to trace onto all the fabric. I also traced out some interfacing I found in my fabric drawer, to give the whole thing a little more substance, though after the fact, it probably wasn't really necessary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I mostly used <a href="http://centsationalgirl.com/2011/12/diy-cuffed-stocking-how-to-sew/">these instructions from Centsational Girl</a>, but I found them a bit lacking when I got to adding the cuff. I'll talk more about that later. Following these, I sewed the geek fabric, the interfacing, and the green fabric together, right-side out, with a 1/4" seam. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I sewed the front and back pieces together, right-sides facing each other, with a 1/2 inch seam.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AtR-i_0gzdqkCAG7sCjMk3OrJAImo-oGMGKt8VVzxWVxYmRgRmWkfxRvDXLWY-P25WpqgS2eQZk3tpsZimyaciifmYrDo2oPvc8coW4cRFsZCq1DsY1SDTgjIK6foWZcVBsBEaSNA2l0/s1600/05_sewing_sides_together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AtR-i_0gzdqkCAG7sCjMk3OrJAImo-oGMGKt8VVzxWVxYmRgRmWkfxRvDXLWY-P25WpqgS2eQZk3tpsZimyaciifmYrDo2oPvc8coW4cRFsZCq1DsY1SDTgjIK6foWZcVBsBEaSNA2l0/s320/05_sewing_sides_together.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next came the tricky part -- adding the cuff. I found <a href="http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/make-and-decorate/crafts/how-to-make-a-classic-christmas-stocking-with-fur-trim">this DIY tutorial</a> that had a little more info <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on sewing the cuff, but <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it still wasn't super descriptive. </span></span>I think I did this part three times. Then <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I decided it would be best to sew the hanger loop inside the cuff, so I had to pull out <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">part of it a fourth ti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">me. I started by cutting my fabric twice as wide as I wanted the cuff to be and a little more than twice as long as the stocking was wide. Then I folded it in half, with the good side out, and fit it around the stocking. This was kind of tricky due to the seams in the stocking. I just did the best I could. Then I sewed the cuff to the stocking. When I got to the side where the hanger loop would go, I stuck that in to sew it between the stocking and the cuff. I know that's not very good description of the process, but it's the best <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can do from memory at this point.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I had a finished stocking! Zach thought it was cool; however he couldn't identify all the symbols, so I'm not sure he should be allowed to keep it :-p He liked that it's bigger than his old stocking, though he thinks that now he gets to have both. I told him one stocking full of candy i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s</span> enough!</span><br />
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teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-14646770624533391082016-10-22T06:02:00.000-07:002016-10-22T06:02:35.672-07:00coralling cookbooks<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a project that has been vaguely in the works since July and stewing in my head since the beginning of June.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My grandma died at the end of May. Zach and I flew out for the funeral and I was able to pick out a few things of hers to keep (after my mom put in a heroic effort cleaning out her apartment!). One of these things was a box for holding cookbooks. I thought it was nice-looking and would help neat-ify the counter area where we keep cookbooks and loose recipes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, the box was too big to go in our carry-on suitcases, so my parents took it (and most of the other things we were getting) home with them. They brought some of it with them when they drove out to visit in July.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I liked the bird pictures on the front, but not the distressed look everywhere else. I'm more a fan of clean lines than distressing. My initial plan was to preserve the bird with a little off-white frame around it and paint the rest of the box the same red as our dining room. The color would go with some of the red in the bird picture, plus I still have a good amount leftover, so I wouldn't have to buy any new paint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, as I put the painter's tape over the bird picture, then pulled it up to try to straighten it, I discovered that the picture wasn't painted on. It was some sort of pressed-on image, and when I pulled the tape off, it pulled a thin layer of the image with it. This meant I wouldn't be able to preserve the bird, and I needed a new plan. My plan was only partially-formed when I started work. I decided to still paint the box red, but I wanted some sort of design in white on the front to give it a little more interest and character. Only I didn't know what sort of design to do. Most of the ideas I came up with involved circular patterns, which I thought would be too hard to implement well with rectangles of painter's tape. So I figured I'd just get started and come up with an idea later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first step was to paint the front white. As I was getting started, I decided it would look nice to also paint the inside and bottom trim white for some contrast. The white took two coats to cover the bird and look good. While that was all in process, I came up with an idea for the front design.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I came up with the idea to do a red block T (for our last name) with a white frame inside the larger red of the whole front. I measured the front to figure out the appropriate sizing and drew out my template on graph paper. I put painter's tape on the front covering the approximate dimensions of the white frame. Then I used the measurements from the graph paper drawing to measure out the design on the painter's tape. I used an Xacto knife to cut out the T that would become red. I also covered the trim with tape to keep it white.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now I was ready to paint again. I mostly used a small foam roller to get a nicer finish without brush lines. I needed three coats to get good coverage of the red. I was pretty psyched because I'd expected to need four, which was what it took to look good on the dining room walls! After the last coat was mostly dry, I used the Xacto knife again to score along the edges where the tape was to help it come off more cleanly. There were some spots where the red had bled through (this always happens to me, which is why I generally don't bother with taping when I'm doing walls; is there some skill to taping that I'm missing? or a better brand? I've tried both the blue and frog brands), but since the paint was still a little tacky, I was able to scrape most of it off with the knife. I was pretty pleased with the result.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since there were so many coats of paint on there, I let it dry a good long while before putting any cookbooks inside. When I did get around to finally putting it in its new spot, I discovered that not all our cookbooks fit in it. I guess that means it's time to purge out cookbooks that we don't use!</span><br />
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teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-84633824883756606142016-09-10T14:45:00.002-07:002016-10-14T06:20:36.450-07:00taking a stand<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-end-of-era.html"><span style="color: red;">getting rid of my old desktop computer</span></a>, my desk started to feel a little less useful and a little more sad. The drawers and shelves were still super useful, but as far as a usable desk-space, not so much. The desk top is too high for me to comfortably use my laptop there, and while I could set my laptop on the keyboard tray, that felt sort of awkward too. Most of the time, I use my laptop while lounging on the couch, but for extended use, I'm trying to get out of that habit, as I figure my sitting posture there is so bad. There are rare occasions when I work from home, primarily in the winter when our road doesn't get plowed, so I wanted a desk that felt more usable for working on either my home or work laptop. A number of people at my office have been getting standing desks. I haven't jumped on that bandwagon yet at work, but I thought maybe I'd give it a try at home. When thinking about what I wanted in a new home desk, that just felt right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The problem with this idea, is that standing desks are generally super expensive and don't have any shelves or drawers. My current desk, as you can see from the picture below, has a good amount of storage, which I need because I have too much stuff. I wanted a desk that would still have plenty of storage and wouldn't break the bank. Now, one of the reasons that most standing desks are really expensive is because they're adjustable; they go up and down so you can get it to the correct height or even sit when you want to. I figured for a home workspace that I probably wouldn't use a ton, I didn't need to be able to put it down for sitting; if I get tired of standing, there are plenty of other places in the house I can sit for a bit. So as long as I had a desk that was the appropriate height for me to use a laptop while standing, I didn't need an adjustable desk. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I thought about building my own desk from scratch and started scouring the Internet for plans and ideas. That's when I started finding DIY not-from-scratch standing desks that use various bought pieces to create a desk. Many of the desks I found are made from Ikea shelves. Using shelves to build a desk also solves the storage problem! I found <a href="http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/04/expedit-standing-desk.html"><span style="color: red;">one Ikea hack standing desk</span></a> that I really liked. Unfortunately, when I went on Ikea's website, they no longer make those exact pieces. Now, to be fair, the page where I found the hack didn't list desk dimensions. In any case, putting together the new, replacement Ikea pieces would have resulted in a desk about 2-3 inches too tall for me. I searched their whole site of shelves to see if I could come up with a different combination that would work. I got close, but the top pieces would have hung over the front and back of the bottom pieces, and I didn't think that would look that great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I remembered a DIY table that I had just seen recently on one of the blogs I read regularly, <a href="http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2012/02/diy-craft-table.html"><span style="color: red;">Thrifty Decor Chick</span></a>. Her table was shorter, but the idea was just two cube shelves with a tabletop across them. If I could find cube shelves that were the right height, that would work just fine. And I did find them! And also a tabletop that didn't add too much more height, so the final result would still be in the acceptable range!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The cube shelves are by Closetmaid and are 44" tall by 30" wide. I found them in a few places, but ended up buying them on Amazon to get free shipping for some other things I was getting there. Plus I have a credit card with them that gives me points for things I buy on Amazon. The tabletop is from the <a href="http://www.containerstore.com/s/desks/desk-components/white-melamine-desk-top/12d?productId=11000154">Container Store</a>. Shipping would have added $20, so we drove to the nearest store about 30 minutes away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the cube shelves arrived, I had to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">assemble th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">em, which <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">went a lot more quickly than I ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d anticipated. Then <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zach helped me set the desktop on top of them and get everything lined up. It turned out that I didn't have wood screws of the right length (some were too short, some were too long), so I had to wait a few da<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ys until I had time to get over to Home Depot<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In that time, I had the opportunity to think about things some more, and I decided that the shelf backs were more visible tha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n I had expected, and they didn't look good. You know what self-ass<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">em<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ble shelf backs look like - un<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">finished cardbo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ard. So I decided to paint them. At first I thought I would paint them white, since I have a bunch of white paint sitting around. But then I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">thought that would look weird. Then I thought of black, as I already have that too, but I decided it would be close enough b<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ut not quite a match to the shelf color that it would<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n't look very good either. So then <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I dug up my old Sherwin Williams c<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">olor fan deck that I've had forever since my sister worked there in college. Zach <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and I went through it and found a color, Domino, that looked like it would be a really close match to the shelf color. I went over to our local store the next day and got a quart mixed up. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">decided not to do any primer since that would actually lighten the color <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'd be painting onto, which I didn't want to do for such a dark color. I thought I would need two coats, but after the first, I decided that was good enough. Plus, I started getting worried about bubbling and warping the cardboard with too much moisture.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the shelf backs were painted, we put the desktop back on. I clamped the top to the shelves, pre-drilled holes, and used 1.5" #8 wood screws <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to attach the desktop to the cube shelves. That was it! <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">S</span>uper simple. Now it's just a matter of getting all <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my stuff put back on the shelves and getting re-organized, which I'm still working on weeks later :-p I haven't used it a lot, as expected, but I ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ve used it some, and so far, I like hav<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing a standing-height desk :-)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-2128637041777206472016-09-10T14:45:00.000-07:002016-09-10T14:45:08.424-07:00a tent for a toddler<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our good friends who lend me their tools have a little girl. And that little girl is turning 2 years old! Last year for her birthday, I made her some rice-bag numbers. I wanted to make her something again this year, but I didn't think about it ahead very much, so I started scouring the Interwebs for something I could make in a pretty short amount of time. I also needed something that a 2-year-old would like. As I don't really have much experience with small children, I was having more trouble with that part than finding relatively simple DIY toys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I came across <a href="http://lindsayandandrew.blogspot.com/2011/08/frame-pup-tents_11.html">this little tent</a>. I thought it might be perfect, so I emailed a couple of my other friends who know about small children to confirm that it would be a good choice. They basically said, "toddlers love tents!" And so it was decided.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The tent is basically an A-frame with a PVC pipe down the middle to enable it to hinge mostly flat for storage, then covered with a twin bedsheet. As I am all about trying to force my love of space onto impressionable young minds, I thought it would be really great if I could find sheets with stars on them, so when sitting in the tent, one could pretend to be looking up at the night sky. In my brief search, I didn't find exactly what I originally had in mind, but at Homegoods, I did find these:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next it was on to Home Depot for the wood and pipe. The online directions called for 4 4'x1"x2"s and 2 60"x1"x2"s cut from 8' long 1"x2"s. 60" seemed kind of long to me; I figured for little children, 48" would be plenty long enough. Plus, then I could get away with buying only 3 1"x2"s instead of 4. A nice employee cut the 8' lengths in half, so my boards were all the right length and would fit in my car :-) When it came to picking out the PVC pipe, I again deviated from the online instructions. They called for 3/4" pipe, but when I held it up to my 1"2", it seemed too big, not leaving very much wood surrounding the pipe. So I went with a 1/2" pipe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got all my materials home and got to work. The pipe size is the <i>inside</i> diameter, so I measured the <i>outside</i> diameter to figure out how big my hole needed to be. It came to about 13/16", which of course, I don't have a drill bit for. I'm not sure if they even come in that size. I had 3/4" and 7/8" spade bits. I got some scrap wood to do some tests. It turned out, as expected, the 3/4" hole was too small and the 7/8" hole was too big. So I went back to the 3/4" hole and attempted to enlarge it. Using a coping saw to hack the hole bigger was fairly effective, but then there was still A LOT of sanding that needed to be done, which took for. ever. Eventually I gave in and made a trip back to Home Depot to purchase a set of files. This worked quite well, but still took a long time. Also, my holes were not quite round and not quite centered, but I figured for a kid, it was probably good enough. After getting all the holes done, I screwed the bottom cross-piece to the two side pieces for each side of the tent. I used my corner clamps to hold everything in place while I pre-drilled a little hole, then drove in the wood screw. I used #8 1.5" screws because that's what I had lying around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The tent I'd found online just left the wood raw, but I decided it would be nicer to paint it. I had some spray paint leftover from other things. Since I was in a bit of a time-crunch, I used that instead of regular paint. I primed the tent pieces, then painted them white. I'd originally planned to paint them with some yellow I had leftover from painting a planter, but after seeing how much paint the priming used up, I didn't think I'd have enough. I thought, white is nice too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After everything was painted, it seemed that enough paint had gotten inside the holes to make them too tight for the pipe, so it was back to filing them down again. Finally I was able to assemble the whole frame. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next I had to prepare the sheet. Since I'd gone with only 48" length for the tent, my sheet was much too wide. I did a bunch of measuring and math to determine how much to fold over on each side to make it fit. I did that, carefully measuring and pinning the sheet every 6" or so to hold it in place while I attached it to the tent frame.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next step really required two people, so I enlisted my ever-obliging husband to assist. We had to get the sheet centered over the pipe and wrapped around the bottom board, held as tautly as possible. Then, while still attempting to hold it tightly, we had to put in a few staples to hold it all in place. Next we flipped the whole thing upside down, so we could wrap the sheet over the very bottom and staple it there. Of course, about halfway through, we ran out of staples, so it was back to Home Depot for more. The stapling was pretty hard, and a lot of the staples didn't quite go in all the way, but they went in enough that they could be hammered a bit to make them nice and flush. And then I had a tent!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We saw our friends the day after their daughter's birthday. At first she was a little unsure, but once we showed her how she could go in <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the tent</span>, she had a pretty good time running back and forth through <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it</span>. Hopefully, she will continue to enjoy her tent for quite some time.</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-34557566603490672932016-07-23T14:20:00.001-07:002016-07-23T14:20:14.885-07:00the end of an era<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today I said goodbye to an old friend. Her name is Roberta, and she has been with me since the summer of 2000. Roberta was my first computer, the one I got when I started college. Don't judge; we went through a lot together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, that's a beige computer with a CRT monitor. That's what computers were like in 2000. Roberta was a Dell desktop and came with a 20GB hard drive loaded with Windows 98. She had a CD-ROM (not writable) drive, a Zip drive, and a floppy drive! When I got to school, and the IT folks were helping get everyone's computers set up on the network, they had to assign the computers a name. They asked what I wanted to name my computer, and I chose Roberta after one of the characters in "Firestar" by Michael Flynn, one of my favorite novels at the time. Roberta was this tough, angsty, Goth, poet teenager, who my alter-ego totally identified with. And so I named my computer after her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Roberta went through my changes over the years I was in college. I upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows 2000 and eventually to Windows XP. And this was back in the days when upgrading your operating system wasn't just a quick download. It meant backing up all your files because the install from CDs would wipe your hard drive, installing the OS, which took a long time, then reinstalling all your files. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A friend gave me a small, 4GB hard drive, helped me install Redhat Linux on it, and taught me how to set up my machine to dual-boot. That saved my butt when I installed software that came with one of my textbooks that turned out to be incompatible with Windows 2000 and crashed my system. With dual-booting, I was still able to boot into my Linux drive and access my files to back them up before reinstalling Windows. Later, I replaced the original 20GB hard drive with a bigger, 80GB drive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of my sister's grad school friends gave me an old DVD drive he didn't need anymore, so then I could watch movies on my computer, which was exciting. At another point, I replaced the old CD-ROM drive with a CD read-writable drive, so I could burn lots of music CDs to play in my car. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first time I opened up my computer, I forget what it was for, probably to add a hard drive, I was so scared. Excited, and scared. As an electrical engineering major, I was super excited to learn about the insides of my computer, especially since I was at school with tons of guys who had already built their own computers from scratch. And I was terrified of breaking it. But I had friends who helped me and taught me, and I didn't break anything, and I learned how to figure things out. I learned practical things that weren't taught in any of my classes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, at home, I prefer laptops, small, portable, grab it and sit on the couch and write emails or scan Facebook or whatever. But you can't take them apart and upgrade them the same way you can a desktop because everything has to be packed in there just so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've kept Roberta for 16 years. For the past several, she's just sat on my desk, collecting dust and various unimplemented plans. I've decided that I might like to actually use my desk sometimes, on the rare occasions when I work from home, and so it was time for Roberta to go, to make room for new things. Because sometimes, you can hold onto the memories, while letting go of the things, and that can be OK.</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-85809331878248582202016-07-17T14:33:00.002-07:002016-07-17T14:33:21.552-07:00hanging and rearranging<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zach and I went on vacation to London a few months ago. I didn't necessarily expect us to get much in the way of souvenirs, so a big part of my plan for the trip was to get some really great classic-shot photos, print them in black and white, and frame them up in our house. Well, mission accomplished. In my personal opinion, I was able to get some pretty great shots. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hadn't had photos printed anywhere in a really long time, so I asked some Facebook friends for recommendations. I didn't get many, but one of them was mPix.com, so I went there. I got eight 8x10 mostly black and white photos printed (I did some selective colorization of a few things, like the iconic red telephone booth). Then I went to Michael's where, luckily, they were having a buy one get one free sale and 8x10 wall frames :-D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then it was a matter of figuring out where to hang all these photos. We don't actually have a lot of big walls available -- most are filled with windows, and the others are covered with big furniture or other art. So I'd been thinking I'd have to split up the photos, but as I was pondering where and how to do that, I had the brilliant idea that I could just MOVE one of our other art pieces off the long wall in our main hall. DUH! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We'd just move that red painting on the right across the hall to the weird-shaped empty wall above the recycle bin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked Zach what he thought, and he agreed it was a good plan. So then I got to work laying out the photos, figuring out which should go where. Michael's hadn't had 8 frames all the same, so I'd gotten 4 and 4, so I wanted to kind of mix around the frames, so the same ones weren't all grouped together. I'd also done 4 photos with some selective colorization and 4 straight black and white, so I wanted to mix those around too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got a layout I was OK with and then enlisted Zach's help for the hanging. We started at the far right. We measured the height of the entire group and just eye-balled where we wanted that on the wall. The first picture was going to be pretty much centered on that overall height, and we knew where its edge was supposed to be (about even with the light switch plate), so then I just held up the picture and stuck my finger down where the hanger was on the back. I handed Zach the picture while keeping my finger marking the spot, and he handed me a nail. And that's about how we went the whole way, measuring distance between pictures, eye-balling height, getting pretty close with holding the picture up and sticking a finger by the hanger. I didn't care if it was all super precise, as long as the spacing looked generally pleasing at the end. And I think it does<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> :-)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We hung the other picture up on the opposite wall, and now we have more art-covered walls!</span><br />
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teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-20587810805308527002016-07-04T06:35:00.000-07:002016-07-04T06:38:35.793-07:00more fun with stoles<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know I haven't posted in a long time, but I haven't done any projects in a long time. I've felt plenty busy enough with just life to not bring extra stuff into it. But I finally got around to a project I promised my very good friend back at the beginning of April. Now, I didn't put a time frame on when I would get this done for her, so it's OK that it took 3 months!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My very wonderful friend, E, is a minister. Back when she got ordained, I <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-stole-for-remarkable-minister.html">made her this stole</a>. I'd been thinking that I'd like to make her some more stoles, but I wasn't sure what she had or needed. *Warning: church nerd info coming* The church celebrates what are called liturgical seasons, which are associated with different colors and thematic ideas. </church nerd info> So, for example, if E already had 2 purple Advent stoles, I didn't want to make her another one! So finally one time when we were hanging out, I asked her if she would like me to make her another stole, and if she had ideas of the sort of thing she might want. E got really excited and said she already had a bunch of fabric that she'd bought with the plans of making herself some stoles, but had never gotten around to it, and she would love it if I would use that fabric to finally make those ideas into reality. She told me the fabric was for a baptism stole, with blue patterned fabric that looked like water. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got together a few weeks later for E to give me the fabric and pattern she had made. As soon as I saw the fabric, I got worried. The other stole I had made was out of denim, which is pretty thick and has nice structure, which you want in a stole. This fabric was super thin and light and flimsy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There would need to be some sort of middle fabric to give the stole some structure. Plus, the water-pattern fabric was semi-transparent, so I'd have to back it with plain blue fabric before attaching it to the same plain blue fabric for the back of the stole. That was a lot more layers than I'd ever dealt with before, and I wasn't really sure how to tackle it. And unlike other DIY projects, this isn't a popular thing people blog about online, so Googling was not helpful.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Luckily, I have another source - my mom's friend who makes stoles for my mom and had given me tips on E's last stole. I emailed her some pictures and described the fabric and my concerns. She gave me some ideas for different interface materials and how to layer everything so it would turn right-side-out correctly. She also suggested that I first sew the 2 fabrics for the front piece (the water-pattern and plain blue) together using a basting stitch to help make thing easier when I was putting together the rest of the layers. I cut out the water-pattern fabric and both the front and back pieces of the plain blue fabric.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next I had to figure out what to use as the interface fabric. I had initially thought of batting, just because that's the only thing I really knew about. However, when I go to JoAnn and was looking around, I quickly realized that any batting was going to be too thick and pillowy to really look right. Near the fabric cutting counter I found several other types of interfacing, but they all seemed to stiff to go with the flowy, light fabric I was using. My mom's friend had mentioned that when she had made silk ties, she had sometimes used a flannel as the interface, so I went through my fabric drawers at home and found some scraps of materials to try out. I tried a few different things, including a flannel and the green denim I had used for the first stole I'd made. I cut out some small pieces from the leftover plain blue fabric and sewed the various potential interface materials between them. Then I felt their thickness and structure and solicited opinions from my husband and some other ministers I know. In the end, I decided to go with the denim. As a bonus, I still had plenty of it left over that I could use, so I didn't even have to buy any more materials!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After I I had all my pieces cut out and prepared, it was time to test out the theory that my mom's friend had proposed of how to lay them all out to get the stole to turn right-side-out properly. Obviously, I didn't want to sew the whole thing together only to have it come out wrong and have to take it all apart and start over. So I did a test-run with some scraps. I cut out plain blue scrap pieces and labeled them front right, front left, back right, and back left, so I would be able to tell if they were right-side-out or not. Then I laid them all out as my mom's friend had recommended, starting with the interface layer of denim, then the front layer, right-side up, then the back layer, right-side down. I pinned it, sewed it together, and turned it inside-out, and... success - all the layers were just as I wanted them to be! So now I just had to do it on a much larger, more important scale!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After reading about basting stitches, my understanding of the theory is that you take them out after completing your actual stitches. However, I was lazy and mostly didn't bother to do that. I only did it in a few areas where the basting stitch overlapped with the main seam stitch and so would have shown through on the other side. Then it was time for the moment of truth - turning it all inside out! Just as with my test pieces, it worked correctly! The fabric didn't lay nicely AT ALL, but after a good ironing, I got it looking like a proper stole. When I gave it to E a few days later, she was super excited. Now she just needs to find someone to baptize!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-85247562923070035072016-02-15T13:53:00.000-08:002016-02-15T13:53:31.424-08:00here comes the sun<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This isn't a post about DIY. This is a post about the fact that we are now officially a partially solar-powered home!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This story goes back a few months, but really starts even before that because I've always been interested in solar, but figured it was generally too expensive and not worth it. Lately, places like Solar City have become pretty well known, but from the little I heard about them, leasing for 20 years just didn't sound like that great a plan to me. Then back maybe in September or so, I heard about a meeting about group pricing for solar panel installation nearby, so I went. It was all organized through a non-profit called Retrofit Baltimore, which had negotiated super low installation rates with several local solar companies. Apparently, part of the high costs is simply customer acquisition, which Retrofit Baltimore was taking on, enabling the solar companies to offer lower rates. Plus, Retrofit Baltimore had already done all the vetting of the companies to pick good, reliable ones. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Given the rates, plus the various government tax rebates (which may be expiring after this year), Zach and I decided it was worth investigating further. We'd get assigned one of Retrofit Baltimore's solar companies (we got Direct Energy Solar), which would get some satellite images of our house and meet with us to give some estimates of how big an installation we would be able to get, how much power that would generate, and how that would compare to how much power we use. All of these consultations would be at no cost to us, so we figured why NOT find out what we could do and what it would cost. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It turns out, it would cost a lot. But, they estimated that we should be able to generate about 90-95% of our electricity usage, which we were both totally surprised by, given the fact that we're in a townhouse with a fairly small roof. Based on all the numbers, we figured we should make back our money in about 8 years, so we decided it was worth the investment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, all of this depends on where you live. We're helped A LOT by the fact that we live in MD, which has net metering. Net metering means that, during the day when we're not home and not using much electricity but producing a lot, that all goes into the grid and powers other people's homes and businesses. Then when we come home at night and start needing more electricity, we pull back from the grid. Some days we may take more than we generated, other days we may take less. The electricity company keeps track, and it sort of balances out, and at the end of the month we just pay for that small balance. To me, this seems like an obvious way to do things, but apparently not all states have net metering. And, if we overall use less than we generate, the electricity company doesn't pay us at the same rate that we pay them, so we don't really make much money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, the next thing to do was sort things out with our HOAs. Yes, I said HOAs, plural. We have two. Though one doesn't really care what we do and, in fact, doesn't have a form for making changes to your home and the president didn't reply to Zach's email inquiry asking if we needed to do anything, so we really only had to deal with the one. It turns out, HOAs cannot keep you from installing solar panels. They can, however, impose certain restrictions. Like, the conduit running from the panels on the roof to the breaker box in the garage must be run discretely along the side of the house with the downspout. We were pretty much planning on that anyway, but it did mean that, instead of just looping the conduit over the edge of the roof to come down, they popped it into the roof and back out the side of the house to make it "more discrete." So we had to fill out some forms and wait a few weeks for approval. Finally, the week before Christmas, our installation got scheduled!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The team came the first day, set up their ladder to get started, and it wasn't tall enough. Although there had been guys up on our roof before to do a survey, there seemed to have been some miscommunication about how tall of a ladder was needed, and the type of ladder that was, presumably, used for the survey was a skinnier, weaker ladder that wouldn't work for hauling solar panels up. So now they needed to get a lift. Which wouldn't be available until the next day. Off to a rousing start! However, the team stayed and were able to still get a decent amount of work done. The electrician got all the work done in the garage, and the rest of the team assembled a bunch of panels and left them in the garage to be ready for installation the next day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lift arrived the next morning, and the team got to work. They worked hard all day and got a lot of work done. With 34 panels to install, even with the prep they'd done the day before, they couldn't get it all done and had to come back for a third day. Unfortunately, that third day, it rained. There was a brief break, when they started work, but then the rain started up again. Those crazy guys just kept working, though, and finished installing the solar panels. That's dedication!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVc2-y0t6VogWis739aa06uBW3Z_12AdzFe3N0Z2pduMXrb-846uM_xqxj_Uy2DqILwMVpezTQthMnRWx0gr3fikxXR8k501IizHfceV1AKGV2EZ2RWCfnhYwikGkp1g-HqHHZfX3FEmh/s1600/conduit.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVc2-y0t6VogWis739aa06uBW3Z_12AdzFe3N0Z2pduMXrb-846uM_xqxj_Uy2DqILwMVpezTQthMnRWx0gr3fikxXR8k501IizHfceV1AKGV2EZ2RWCfnhYwikGkp1g-HqHHZfX3FEmh/s320/conduit.jpg" width="240" /></a>Our discretely-run conduit</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPn0zysSqguaIm9SeddltCpPg3asikiE8H5ia-0kR-kc_QhqjEIIV41DqUca-sayOeAb8GSw_s91g9aHpa_Dl1WZskv5YoQiGiZ6tN3BSRk6I2PvweChOIp3egLg5y-mkpXUYOclGvQ6o3/s1600/wifi_monitor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPn0zysSqguaIm9SeddltCpPg3asikiE8H5ia-0kR-kc_QhqjEIIV41DqUca-sayOeAb8GSw_s91g9aHpa_Dl1WZskv5YoQiGiZ6tN3BSRk6I2PvweChOIp3egLg5y-mkpXUYOclGvQ6o3/s320/wifi_monitor.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLag6O6bJJnbVqZRDKZZQ4UxseAanQnUGdBuwUTR2Q4EAvqDtCwMdHMfZ4xq1kmQf5sLHoYzmdy3_gS08V3sOgVzOTms2mBO22T_OTLG9EeJKRj_8EPMLJGdffogJwNpV2kmLuZ0H1bBDU/s1600/new_meters.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLag6O6bJJnbVqZRDKZZQ4UxseAanQnUGdBuwUTR2Q4EAvqDtCwMdHMfZ4xq1kmQf5sLHoYzmdy3_gS08V3sOgVzOTms2mBO22T_OTLG9EeJKRj_8EPMLJGdffogJwNpV2kmLuZ0H1bBDU/s320/new_meters.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have lots of new electrics on the side of our house next to our electricity meter. One is another meter that keeps track of lifetime energy production of the solar panels. We also have a WiFi monitor in the garage that sends health status info to Direct Energy Solar about each panel, so if any one of them has a problem, they'll know about it and can come take care of it. We can also check on the status of our installation on a website to see how much energy it's producing and if any of the panels have a problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next week, the county inspector came out to sign off on the job. Then we had to wait another few weeks for the electricity company to come switch out our meter to a new, special "net meter." Once they did that and we got their email of approval, we were able to flip the giant switch on the side of our house and start generating our own electricity!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I often check the website to see how our panels are doing. It's a little hard to tell, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">since it's only about production, with no comparison to how much energy you're also consuming. I've done a little averaging and extrapolating and compared that wi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">th our energy usage from last month, which doesn't look too good<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Of course, it is win<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ter, so even when it's not snowing, the weather is often grey. Presumably, we'll do better as we move more into spring and summer. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mostly, right now, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm just anxiously awaiting our next electricity bill to see how we do<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I never thought I'd actually be WANTING to get an electricity bill!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-13487055691188944962016-01-28T14:54:00.001-08:002016-01-28T14:54:24.170-08:00christmas doors<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK, so I'm a little behind on my posts. Sorry about that. I have no good excuse, so I won't try to make one up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For Christmas, I promised Zach that I would make him doors to go on the <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-five-year-anniversary-gift-is-wood.html">display shelf </a>I had made him for our anniversary. This project wasn't too hard; I pretty much whipped it off in a weekend. The main trick was just getting the pieces just the right size to fit in the grooves I'd already made in the shelf. I made each door 1/3rd the total width of the shelf, so one section would always be open and the other two sections would be closed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'd planned to use the same wood as for the rest of the shelf and had even done a dry test when I'd originally cut the grooves to make sure of the fit. But I guess with the addition of a couple of layers of paint it was just enough to make it too tight because when I cut my first piece and went downstairs to test it out, it was too wide to fit in the groove. So I figured down a bit narrower and went to Home Depot to see what I could find. What I found was pressed and sanded plywood for making cabinets that was just the right size. I was psyched to not have to get a giant sheet of plywood that wouldn't fit in my car. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each door took several iterations, from the initial cut, test the fit, then slowly sanding down more and more to get it just right (because I always erred on the side of a little too big to start), plus all the edges nice and smooth for good sliding action. Then it was time for priming with my usual Kilz latex, then painting with my usual Glidden black sample pot. I had also gotten handles to make it easy to grab and slide the doors back and forth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yuLpRnpIkhkFUDun67BZSpG6sY3VjnaSgbCD0x4oSWkcc_ktxexGB40eWU6EmhJ15zixed7se0BfGw3zIbn4kZya3etlg1d35XUaeuNWWcW0_i4leNqD8D2XhL8_Ll8xm-xREUeCyDm_/s1600/01_cut_pieces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yuLpRnpIkhkFUDun67BZSpG6sY3VjnaSgbCD0x4oSWkcc_ktxexGB40eWU6EmhJ15zixed7se0BfGw3zIbn4kZya3etlg1d35XUaeuNWWcW0_i4leNqD8D2XhL8_Ll8xm-xREUeCyDm_/s320/01_cut_pieces.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUk4BKjV8oA_7Euwb2lxr954a4F-3bxSpvlASKvLqbrkdx54vPEnoJYE5duBZjPt4sJWwTv-NdaiQzWOWgXwzRyp923rLA6QdeU5eKaZqJtFitiD-vt4Cm22r3kLEXAf9hhQhvu5QJRHj/s1600/03_painted_with_handles.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUk4BKjV8oA_7Euwb2lxr954a4F-3bxSpvlASKvLqbrkdx54vPEnoJYE5duBZjPt4sJWwTv-NdaiQzWOWgXwzRyp923rLA6QdeU5eKaZqJtFitiD-vt4Cm22r3kLEXAf9hhQhvu5QJRHj/s320/03_painted_with_handles.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zach isn't one to get super excited about a lot of things, but he was impressed by the knobs, thinking they made the doors look fancy. And I think having the doors makes the shelf look a lot nicer overall, hiding most of the disembodied superhero heads from view!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZs3HMuSrVktSQA5hv8nlJSpDpmJk1Z2SaNaULXhStnE5K8fZXO55kDwbaxUHf1F5iFOKXlu_tUt3esV8px8gdV-W7lXkBvZIxVXWL2v8MyIJtCIHAons3V8kuEKWWNzUcSCTw54YbDv1/s1600/04_finished_doors_in_shelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZs3HMuSrVktSQA5hv8nlJSpDpmJk1Z2SaNaULXhStnE5K8fZXO55kDwbaxUHf1F5iFOKXlu_tUt3esV8px8gdV-W7lXkBvZIxVXWL2v8MyIJtCIHAons3V8kuEKWWNzUcSCTw54YbDv1/s320/04_finished_doors_in_shelf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-56099810903048917282016-01-27T16:46:00.001-08:002016-01-27T16:46:48.802-08:00some things are better to not diy, but some things you have to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have a cat room. I believe I've mentioned it before. It's one of the spare bedrooms in our house where the cats have a big cat tree and some <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/04/cat-shelves.html">climbing shelves</a>, their food and most of their litter boxes. Plus we shut them in there at night so they don't bother us. They really like their room and hang out in there a lot during the day, even when they have full range of the house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even after our forays into the world of animal behaviorists (which you can read about <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-cats-are-not-hellish-enough-for.html">here</a> and <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/09/why-i-believe-in-animal-behaviorists.html">here</a>), we still seem to go through phases of bad behavior in the cat room, though I'm happy that it's at least confined there. The problems are definitely worse at night, so it may have to do them being shut in there and just something we have to live with in order to get better sleep.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The real problem with all this is the floor. As mentioned above, the cat room is a spare bedroom. It is carpeted. When we first moved in and made it the cat room, we covered a significant portion of it with a plastic dropcloth and rubber puzzle mat, like they have in nursery schools for kids to play on. This has been a HUGE help in cleaning up messes, even just the litter and food crumbs that inevitably spill all over the place. However, it's not perfect. It buckles, and there are little cracks between the puzzle pieces, and every now and then we have to pull up most of the pieces and clean them, which is a hassle. Plus, the mat doesn't cover the entire floor, and recently the problem area has been in one of the few areas not covered by the puzzle mat, i.e. on carpet. This caused me to finally say enough is enough, we need to replace this carpet with something more cat-friendly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My initial thought was ceramic or porcelain tile. I know that to be quite impervious to liquids. My dad had recently redone both the bathrooms in their house, so I called him up to see if he might be available sometime to come help. He said sure, but also brought up vinyl as a really good option. When I thought of vinyl, I thought of cheap old linoleum, thin and pealing and gross, but my dad said a lot of vinyl is thick and good and long-lasting. So I did some research and decided that vinyl sounded like it would be just as impervious for our needs as ceramic or porcelain and would be a lot less work and expense. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then came the decision of what kind of vinyl. Back when my parents put the vinyl in their laundry room that is still there today, there was only sheet vinyl. Today, there are also plank and tile vinyl and loose-lay vinyl. We visited a local flooring store, <a href="http://bodefloors.com/">Bode Floors</a>, to talk to some folks about what would be the best choice for our needs. Although the woman we spoke to and pretty much everything I read online claimed that any of the plank, tile or loose-lay options would be completely water-proof for our needs, I remained skeptical. Plus, like hardwoods, most of these options required an expansion gap around the perimeter of the room. Even though moulding would cover it up, I still worried about liquid sneaking in there. After debating back and forth for a couple of weeks, we finally decided to go with the old sheet vinyl stand-by. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was told by both my dad and another DIY-er I trust that, if we chose sheet vinyl, we should not lay it ourselves. It's just big and heavy and awkward, and you have to lay it just right in a tight area. So, we listened. We went back to <a href="http://bodefloors.com/">Bode Floors</a> and ordered some floor to be installed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was one part we DIY-ed though -- the carpet removal. We wanted to take it up to have time to clean any potential stains that may have made it to the subfloor. As we were going through the contract, it turned out we would have had to do it even if we hadn't wanted to -- their contract states that, for health reasons, they won't remove urine-soaked carpet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We scheduled the floor install for a Monday, so we'd have the weekend to clean out the room without having too long of a disruption to the cats. The initial part went pretty quickly -- take out the bookshelves, cat tree, litter boxes, assorted other miscellaneous bins and cat things that live in there. The toughest part was figuring out where to put the cats' food and litter boxes for the few days they'd be evicted from their room. Our house doesn't give us a lot of options. We settled on the dining room. Yay, litter boxes in the dining room. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNh_wPGSo5L_Tcy-vG3SHU9C1xCJvn98cI9pvplGEpYWIaM-9BdWMLsRkBkihJGojfp0Z5_a_BD84MR3F6K6I986vIhwwWuU7dNhSwrhNtAqSicKajCCY5F7ipSj-j0c6a3m_H4JRFxld/s1600/01_cat_stuff_gone.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNh_wPGSo5L_Tcy-vG3SHU9C1xCJvn98cI9pvplGEpYWIaM-9BdWMLsRkBkihJGojfp0Z5_a_BD84MR3F6K6I986vIhwwWuU7dNhSwrhNtAqSicKajCCY5F7ipSj-j0c6a3m_H4JRFxld/s320/01_cat_stuff_gone.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next came pulling up the carpet. The guy from Bode Floors had told me exactly where to cut the carpet at the door threshold, which was very helpful because I would have cut it in the wrong place. You want the vinyl to only come to the inside of the door, so it kind of depends which side of the jamb your door sits on. If you close the door, it helps you visualize it. Indeed, the area of carpet and carpet padding near the door was super gross. We'd had it covered up with carpet runners for the past few weeks, which held the smell in, but pulling the carpet up let everything out. If only you could take pictures of smell. Actually, it's good we can't do that yet because it would be really nasty. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Underneath that gross carpet were brown stains on the subfloor. I sprayed them liberally with Nature's Miracle. This has been our go-to cleaner. It's an enzymatic cleaner, so it breaks down all the urine into particles that don't smell anymore. I'm not saying this is better than any other enzymatic cleaner out there. It's just what we use. After letting it soak in for awhile and then letting it dry, I'd paint over it with Kilz primer to seal in any remaining odor, just like when <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/07/trading-carpet-part-1.html">I did the stairs</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGugdXEy16SUzTeo07M0AsEHIp_0b2DY2jr76eDL2OSoRDKtEJDOJAuMMPkz6uKDcVRel2bh5YB8dO9AcVnpvSMO67WdzQXMyPIpxiTLEKrgW3O01oe4_hFowT3tvKP3lvkgG1H-ijoM2/s1600/03_subfloor_stain.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGugdXEy16SUzTeo07M0AsEHIp_0b2DY2jr76eDL2OSoRDKtEJDOJAuMMPkz6uKDcVRel2bh5YB8dO9AcVnpvSMO67WdzQXMyPIpxiTLEKrgW3O01oe4_hFowT3tvKP3lvkgG1H-ijoM2/s320/03_subfloor_stain.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zach pulled up all the tack-strips while I corralled all the carpet pad and disgusting carpet into trash bags. Since the cats really like to sit and roll around on carpet, we decided to keep some of the good condition carpet pieces for their room. The plan is to keep a few pieces, but just put out one at a time, so if they ruin it, there's more. Zach also did most of the staple-pulling. This is pretty much the worst part of removing carpeting, pulling out all the staples left behind from the carpet pad. He did great. Then it was vacuuming everywhere with the shop-vac to get all the little left-behind bits to leave a nice, relatively clean subfloor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t turned out that some of the baseboard was also in pretty bad shape, so replacing that quickly got added to the to-do list and that "no, we shouldn't need any help" that we told our awesomest friends ever turned into a "yeah, actually, i could really use your help and your miter saw" phone call.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlYanykSgj1_lxjREFGmhzn6NSBDsYrTHbv9I5MSZcoCByfexTYWv1-azuNBTOBHnaPM5AcMECa6_bQ7IV0eM5ftS5kmpEfuKHMMhOv4Wa-pBM_0x40cyr2kQ6EcMSExgUvLE8AE9seEz/s1600/04_baseboard_pulled_off.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlYanykSgj1_lxjREFGmhzn6NSBDsYrTHbv9I5MSZcoCByfexTYWv1-azuNBTOBHnaPM5AcMECa6_bQ7IV0eM5ftS5kmpEfuKHMMhOv4Wa-pBM_0x40cyr2kQ6EcMSExgUvLE8AE9seEz/s320/04_baseboard_pulled_off.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had a big piece of baseboard that had somehow I guess been a free gift with purchase of the stair nose. Super weird, but it was in the box when that arrived, and I didn't seem to be charged for it, so I just stuck it in the garage. It looked super long, so we didn't actually measure it (bad idea), and just started cutting. Then it turned out to not be quite long enough. However, if we hadn't cut it, it would have been long enough for the main wall, and the old piece had a big enough good section to cut for the small wall. Of course, now we'd cut it up, so that wasn't going to work so well, so now it was off to Home Depot. Lesson: MEASURE FIRST. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually, first it was off to homedepot.com to see if they even had anything in stock that would match. A lot of times, things are only available online. Luckily, we found something in stock that looked like it would be a close match. From the online description, it sounded exactly like our moulding, though when we found it in the store, it wasn't a perfect match. However, for the cat room, with a strict time deadline, I said close enough. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had now measured the exact amount we needed. We got the new baseboard cut and installed. Then we all ordered Chinese takeout to make all the work worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunday, I finished up painting the floor (I did 2 coats). I also finished the baseboard, filling nail holes, caulking, painting. I also had to spackle patch up the wall a bit where the drywall had ripped up some when I was pulling the old baseboard out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Monday, the vinyl floor guys came. They put down additional plywood subfloor to get the new floor closer to carpet height. Then they laid the vinyl. It took several hours, a lot longer than I was expecting, but they did a great job, and we're very happy with the result. Plus, a few months in, and maybe only one peeing incident. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We did also rearrange the cat room, the bookshelves and litter boxes to make it a bit more open where the litter boxes are. That may have helped as well. But we couldn't have done that with the old flooring arrangement. The cats also did so well for the few nights they were out of their room during the floor reno that we've also been letting them stay out of their room at night, so I'm sure that has helped as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaLMuAFczPn3cS6IXF970dgD5TNFxCrCrImt4cCsi6p-m7FrapLiIjOctS-OmMMmeGciGRDJt2V3Mq5JUebpqd451TN-VH3AfBja8MELl4pcLFCwE05h2u4cWntUPgXYY8Dzr-QW3psq-/s1600/05_finished_room.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaLMuAFczPn3cS6IXF970dgD5TNFxCrCrImt4cCsi6p-m7FrapLiIjOctS-OmMMmeGciGRDJt2V3Mq5JUebpqd451TN-VH3AfBja8MELl4pcLFCwE05h2u4cWntUPgXYY8Dzr-QW3psq-/s320/05_finished_room.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-22276405911631133232015-11-07T06:21:00.001-08:002015-11-07T06:21:18.316-08:00the five-year anniversary gift is wood<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the same time Zach was asking for his <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2015/09/another-birthday-another-carpentry.html">triangle table</a>, he made another movie room carpentry request as well. Since we had our anniversary coming up, and the five-year gift is wood, I thought, 'hey, perfect!'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This second request was for a sort of shelf box to sit in front of the window to get the collectable figures off the floor. All these action hero collectable people come with multiple heads (often mask on/mask off situation, but sometimes more lame like calm hair/wind-blown crazy hair), so the underneath shelf area will provide some bonus head-storage area. As Zach and I talked about it, I said, "And, hey, wouldn't it be awesome if there were doors, so you couldn't just see all the heads lying about in there?" Of course, yeah, he thought that was a pretty good idea. Good job, making more work for myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We measure the theoretical shelf box to be 7" tall, 8" deep, and 42" long. I decided to use the same sort of pine board I had used for the <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2015/09/another-birthday-another-carpentry.html">triangle table</a>, mainly because I still had a good amount leftover that I could use for the smaller sides. I also planned to put two supports on the inside to divide the box into three sections. Then I would have two sliding doors that would cover two sections at a time, leaving one section open.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I went to Home Depot and got another 48" long pine board that I cut into two 8" wide pieces. I decided I wouldn't have time to make the doors in time for our anniversary, but I did need to make the top and bottom pieces in preparation for adding the doors later, which meant making grooves to enable the sliding action. I found <a href="http://www.remodelaholic.com/build-pegboard-tool-cabinet-organizer-workbench/">this Remodelaholic post</a> where they made a pegboard cupboard with sliding doors, which helped me figure out how to do it. I made my grooves slightly wider than the width of the pine board, which less than 3/4". I made the groove for the bottom of the shelf about 1/8" deep and the groove for the top about 1/4" deep. Both grooves start 1/2" in from the edge of the board. I created the grooves using my friend's table saw. I set up two fences that would allow me to move the board back and forth to make that wide groove without making it too wide and set the blade at exactly the right height. I did a little test with a scrap piece of wood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After I had my grooves cut, I cut my side pieces. Then I decided it would be easier to paint the insides before assembly since the inside would be pretty small and tight after assembly. So I primed with Kilz Latex, then did two coats of the same black paint as the triangle table. I was starting to run low, so I got another sample size at Home Depot. Then I did a few coats of spray polyurethane. After all that was dry, it was assembly time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I again used my cool new corner clamps, wood glue, and 1.5" brad nails. First, I attached each of the sides to the bottom, then I put on the top. As you can see from the photo, I actually attached the sides to the bottom before painting. But then I painted before putting th top on. I'm still a pretty big fan of my new corner clamps. :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next, I measured and cut the inside support walls. They have to come not quite all the way up to the groove so the doors can slide past them. Again, I wanted to paint them before putting them in since in would be tight to get a paintbrush in the box. To make the process go a bit faster, after priming with the same Kilz Latex, I spray-painted them with Rustoleum in black. Instead of taking two coats with four hours to dry between coats, I could do two coats in less than an hour. The paint covered really well too, such that I debated whether I really even needed two coats. I still did, just to be safe. The paint was really shiny though, so I wouldn't want to use it on the outside. But for inside walls that you won't really see, it was just fine. I did a couple of coats of the polyurethane too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did some math to figure out the placement of the inside walls, which turned out a very nice, even 13" for each of the three sections. I cut some scrap wood into 13" strips to help me get my walls placed properly. Due to the small size of the wall, I could only fit one of the corner clamps on a side, and because the wall doesn't come all the way up to the front due to the groove, the clamp couldn't reach on the front. Therefore, I could only use one clamp for each wall. Still, it was better than nothing. I got things lined up with that one clamp, then put on some glue and slid the wall in place. I used my scrap wood to make sure all part of the wall were lined up and square and even, then cranked down my clamp. Then I shot some nails in and did the whole thing again for the other wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then it was time to fill in all those nail holes and cracks where my boards didn't quite line up properly. Wait for the wood filler to dry and sand. I really hate sanding. Sanding is a lot of work. But I'm learning how worth it sanding is. Of course, then there's all the clean-up from sanding. I wiped everything down with a damp paper towel. Then I wiped everything down again with a tack cloth. Tack cloths are great. Paper towels tend to leave little bits of themselves behind, so even if they clean up all the sawdust, things still aren't 100% clean. But the tack cloths are sticky and don't leave bits of themselves behind, leaving everything ready for painting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which is exactly what came next. Priming, to be exact. Then lots of black paint. With lots of waiting between coats. And then a few coats of spray polyurethane. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I had to attach the back. I had found some sort of 1/4" thick board at Home Depot that looked like the backings of Ikea shelves. I cut it to size on my friend's table saw and spray painted that black. Then nailed it on with 5/8" nails, the smallest size my brad nailer will take. I wanted to use shorter nails because there were some spots where I was afraid I might run into other nails if I used longer nails, and the back was thin enough I didn't need to use long ones there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And that was it. Zach liked it, though he seemed less impressed than with the triangle table. Maybe he's starting to have higher expectations. I didn't get any good pictures of the shelf by itself finished, but here it is starting to perform its duties. Zach didn't want to load it up too much since I'll probably have to move things around a bit when I make the doors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-58013331623932050492015-10-31T06:53:00.000-07:002015-10-31T06:53:04.903-07:00nesting<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We recently got a Nest Learning Thermostat as our free gift with purchase of our solar panels (which we haven't actually gotten installed yet, so more on those another time). We didn't actually know we were getting one until I got a shipping confirmation email of a Nest we hadn't ordered. However, we kind of guessed maybe it was from the solar guys, and when asked, they confirmed, oh yeah, we forgot to tell you we'd be sending you one of those, enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd read about the Nest thermostat before. In fact, back when the Young House Love blog existed and I was an avid reader, <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2013/07/cooling-gets-cooler/">John installed one in their house</a>. So I was not uninterested in this new arrival. I opened it up and was immediately taken in by the beautiful packaging. I have to say, I'm a sucker for good packaging. I hate it when things come in giant packages with tons of wasted space. This was compact and layered quite wonderfully. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First layer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lift out the first layer, and you reveal the second layer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lift out the second layer, and you get to the third layer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lift out the third layer, and you have the fourth and final layer of goodies!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read the instructions to have an overview of what I'd need to be doing, then got started. The first thing to do was turn off everything. We have dual zones, and although I was only replacing the thermostat for one zone, I turned off the breakers for both zones, just to be safe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next step is taking off the thermostat cover. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The wiring inside ours was very simple. Like John, I was a big fan of the included stickers for labeling the wires to help remember which is which. Some of them were a little tough to free from their restraints, but I eventually got all out and labeled. Then it was just a matter of unscrewing the rest of the plate from the wall and swapping to the new one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, HUGE fan of the built-in level. After screwing on the back-plate, snapping on the thermostat was, well, a snap! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The software started right up and walked through the language and location setup. I wasn't able to test the air conditioning because Nest was on the Internet and said that outdoor temperatures in my area were too cold; Nest won't turn on air conditioning if outside temperatures are below a certain point (I think it was 50 deg F, but I don't remember for sure. It might have been 60. The picture above was taken at a different time). But I was able to successfully test the heat and fan, so I felt some warm-fuzzies that I had done the wiring correctly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see from the above photo, the Nest is much smaller than our previous thermostat, revealing an area of unpainted wall and some drywall anchors. I debated what to do about this. That fourth layer of packaging contained a wall plate for just such a circumstance; however, it was a sort of creme color. This would have perfectly matched the wall before I painted it tan, but I didn't think it would look good not matching the wall and not matching the sleek black and chrome Nest. I thought about removing the drywall anchors and patching and painting the wall. I found a paint can in the garage of the paint used for these walls, but it turned out to be empty (I subsequently threw it out). I could have gotten some more, but I didn't want to get a whole gallon for a tiny patch job and didn't know if I could get a small amount that would still match well enough. So in the end, I grabbed some black spray paint I had lying around and spray painted the creme wall plate. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but it's good enough for now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think we're still kind of in the learning phase, both for the Nest and for me. We're in a time of year when we often just have both heat and air conditioning off, so that's happening a lot, so I'm not sure how much learning is happening then. As we get more into colder times, I guess we'll see how it goes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-86460406837893651262015-09-27T09:16:00.001-07:002015-09-27T09:16:41.722-07:00another birthday, another carpentry project for the movie room<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Zach's birthday coming up, he made a request this year -- he asked that I build him a triangular end table for the basement. There's a little nook between a couch and two other tables where he wants it. He currently has some weird, hacked cardboard contraption that I have no idea how it doesn't collapse under the weight of all the Captain America men he has standing on it. He wanted it to look just like the Ikea tables he has, which are very simple. Although the triangle part had me a little nervous, it didn't sound too super difficult, and I was pleased with his confidence in me, so I said I'd do it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first thing was measuring the area. I measured the depth as 23" and the width as 17 3/8". I pulled out some long un-used geometry and trigonometry to figure out the angles and other side (which turned out to be not quite 53 deg, just over 37 deg, and about 28.825"). I didn't really need to know these ahead of time, as I measured them later, but I like having big-picture knowledge like that when I'm starting out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went to Home Depot and bought what I thought was an 18"x48" piece of pine. I swear that's what the sign said. I should have measured it. I should have read the little sticker on the board. It was actually 17.5"x48". For this project, it was actually better because it was close enough that I didn't even have to cut that side because that side kind of tucks under the arm of the couch anyway. However, for a different project, I might have had to go buy a new piece of wood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the other side, I used a new tool I'd recently purchased. It's the Kreg Rip Cut, and it's supposed to help make a circular saw more like a table saw, as in make straighter cuts. One end attaches to the saw, and the other end has a straight edge to track along the edge of the board you're cutting. There's a slider in between, so the two ends can be different lengths apart, allowing you to make cuts about 1" up to about 24" wide. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After getting my new tool all out of the packaging and assembled, I got some scrap wood and did some practice cutting to see how everything was lined up and if my measuring was right. I have to say, it's a bit unwieldy. The saw end it so heavy, the end that's supposed to stay lined up with the end of the board doesn't just stay down next to the board on its own, so I had to keep my one hand over there holding it down. However, with a wide, 23" cut, that meant my arms were pretty far apart. Plus, I usually use that other hand to help hold the board more firmly, which helps keep the cut nicer at the end. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used my Rip Cut to cut the 23" cut all the way across my board. Then I took the tool off and used my circular saw the normal way to cut diagonally across the board to get my triangle piece. At that point, I took it downstairs and had Zach come give his approval for how it would fit in the space. Even though it was going to be a present, it wasn't a surprise, and I figured that was safest before going to any more effort to make this table.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, I needed to make edge pieces to make the table top appear thicker. The Ikea tables are 2" thick, but my pine board was only 0.75" thick. I had some scrap 0.75" thick boards that I used to make the edges. Since I felt only mildly successful with the Rip Cut, I decided to use my friend's table saw to create 1.25" strips (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">plus I was going to need to use his miter saw, so I had to go over there anyway). I then used the miter saw to make all the necessary angle cuts to fit the strips around the triangle. This was not as simple as the <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2015/06/classing-up-dining-room.html">chair rail</a> cuts had been. Even though I measured the angles, the cuts didn't seem to come out right, so I eventually devolved to trial and error with scrap pieces. I also seemed to be right up against the angle limits of the miter saw for one of the angles. But I finally got pieces that mostly fit together, and the parts that still weren't quite all the way, I covered with wood filler, so it looked OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is my little soapbox about wood filler. When I first started building wood things, I was impatient to get to the end. I thought, 'those little cracks? those little nail holes? surely paint will fill those in and no one will notice them.' But that's just not true. Those cracks and holes aren't really that small. It really is worth it to take the extra time to fill all those cracks and nail holes, wait for the filler to dry, and sand it down, and maybe even do it again for larger areas. Your project will look SO much better. The end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I attached the top to the edge pieces with wood glue and 1.5" brad nails. After assembling the top, I had to attach the legs. I was initially kind of concerned about how I was going to make these 2" square legs. Then I recalled that we have this crappy Ikea table in our dining room that I've been planning to get rid of. It's exactly the same kind of table as the ones that Zach wants the triangle table to be like. The top is all water-damaged and bubbly, but the legs are just fine :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I took off three of the legs and attached them to the top using glue and 2.5" finish nails. Next came more wood filler for all these nail holes. Lots of nail holes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, with all the holes and cracks filled and sanded, it was time to start painting. I started with Kilz latex primer. I just did one coat of that. Then I moved on to the black paint. I used the same paint I had leftover from <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/09/celebrating-zachs-birthday-and-50-years.html">Zach's birthday present two years ago</a>. That took three coats to get nice coverage. I probably could have gotten away with two coats, especially since the table will mostly be covered with collectables, but I went for the third coat anyway. Then I finished it off with three light coats of spray polyurethane in a satin gloss.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Zach's birthday came, it was a little bit not super exciting, since he knew what he was getting. I gave it to him in the morning, so he's have time to 'play' with it, i.e. get all his people set up on it. He was properly impressed. He said it looked better than he was expecting (I'm still not quite sure what that means), and that it looked exactly like the Ikea tables he has. So I guess I'll take that. Though Dodger was less than impressed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This picture does not even do justice to the dead, uninterested look in his eyes as I brought the table into the room, covered in a blanket, and as Zach opened and read his card and then unwrapped the table and exclaimed over it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We took the table down to the basement, took out the cardboard table Zach had made for the spot before, and put in the new table. It fit perfectly and looked great! We were both pretty pleased :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-72832818183916708972015-09-12T05:25:00.000-07:002015-09-12T05:25:16.077-07:00supergirl baby turns one<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember when I made <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-supergirl-blanket-for-supergirl-baby.html">this blanket</a> for my friends' baby in the NICU? Well, that little lady has been out of the NICU for quite some time now and just turned one year old. In honor of this momentous occasion, I decided to make her a little present. I had actually gotten this idea a long time ago, probably not long after she'd been born, when I was in Joann Fabric for some other reason, waiting around the cutting counter. There was a stack of free project ideas, and I saw this and thought, 'that is so adorable, I want to make it, my friends just had a baby, now I just need to wait for her to have a birthday so I can make it for her.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I figure since the instructions were free for anyone to take at Joann, it's probably OK if I post them on the Interwebs. The instructions call for felt, but I used grey fleece that I had leftover from <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/06/its-that-time-of-life-i-guess.html">this other baby blanket</a> I'd made for another friend's baby (so many babies!). Most of the colored fabric I used were leftover from <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-stole-for-remarkable-minister.html">my pastor friend's stole</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't really go into details because I really just followed the instructions, and they're pretty simple. However, it did take me much longer than their estimated 3-5 hours. Of course, not being a teacher or having children, I didn't have number stencils, so first I had to find some numbers I liked from the Google, make them the appropriate size on my computer, print and cut them into my own stencils. I spent way more time choosing numbers than was really necessary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, as with <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-stole-for-remarkable-minister.html">my friend's stole</a>, I chose not to just iron on the numbers, but also sew around them. Not only did just doing that add time, but I also practiced on some scrap fabric first, plus I tried out a couple of different types of stitches before choosing what I believe is called a blanket stitch. Initially I was going to go with a really tight zig-zag stitch, like I used on the stole, but after some practicing, it wasn't going well. The numbers had a lot of curves, and I have a new sewing machine from when I did the stole, so I'm not too sure about all the settings, and it didn't seem to be working as well or looking as good as I remembered from the stole. After reading through my manual, trying to get tips for making this work, I discovered this other type of stitch. I tried it, and it worked better, and I thought it looked good, so I went with it. But that all ate up a lot of time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So finally I got the numbers ironed and sewed on the grey fleece fronts. Then I attached the fusible fleece to the colored fabric, then sewed all of that to the grey fronts, then turned everything right-side out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tricky thing was figuring out how much stuffing and rice to put inside. The instructions don't specify, just saying "equal parts." I think I ended up with about half a cup of each. Obviously, it's kind of hard to measure the stuffing, as it's very fluffy. I put it in the measuring cup and then smushed it down, so it was a smushed-down half cup. That made the bags still pretty floppy, which was what I wanted. Also, you can't really buy a small bag of stuffing, but this project doesn't take a lot, so if you have ideas of other things I can make with all my leftover stuffing, let me know :-) I do have more friends with babies, so maybe I'll just have to make a lot more of these. I do already have my number stencils now!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-21856550005414572452015-07-18T05:37:00.000-07:002015-07-18T05:37:35.731-07:00dualing toilets<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've been thinking about converting our toilets to dual-flush ever since I read <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/05/easy-upgrade-super-toilet/">this post</a> on Young House Love. Also, my office building has dual-flush toilets, and I think it's a great idea. The Petersiks made the conversion sound so easy, I finally got around to giving it a try. I bought the conversion kit they recommended from Amazon, and soon it arrived on my front step. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It turned out to be perfect timing, too, because we had just gotten our water bill, so now we'll have almost a complete cycle to compare when we get our next bill. We have four toilets in our house, but I decided to just do the one in our master bathroom, which is the one we use the most, and see how it goes. If it really does seem to save a significant amount of water, I'll move forward with more toilets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will go ahead and say now, I had a bit of an issue, but it was entirely my fault and lack of toilet knowledge. One of the reviews I read on Amazon was a guy saying that he had not realized that the conversion kit worked only if you didn't have a ballcock fill valve, and that if, like him, you did, then you'd have to replace that too. I didn't know what that meant, but it kind of sounded like older technology, and since our house is only about five years old, I assumed we didn't have that. Turns out, we do! I will get more into that later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back to when I was blissfully ignorant of the fact that I had the wrong kind of fill valve for the conversion kit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I opened up the conversion kit and read all the directions to get an idea of what I might be getting myself into. They say that turning the water off is optional, but I find sticking my hand in cold toilet tank water to be pretty gross, so for me, it was not optional. At one point, Zach came in to check out what was going on, and we had this little conversation:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zach: How come there's no water in the tank?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Me: Because I turned the water off.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zach: You can do that?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Me: Yeah, there's this little knob down here on the floor behind the toilet. Sometimes I know things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once I got the water turned off and flushed the toilet a couple of times to empty out as much water from the tank as possible, I got to work following the conversion kit instructions. Just like John Petersik, I needed a wrench to get the handle off. I also needed pliers to take out this huge ball float thing, which John did NOT mention. This was my first inkling that perhaps I had a ballcock fill valve and this wasn't going to work. However, I decided to ignore that little nagging feeling and keep going with the installation. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LF7V-qyRwvi7yz6J4N9YgVYwuwPRJ_jon913S96FBhVArkXjYL5DT9-eZWjge9A0IwUzPasluhAQNTFmXDXTpQWfQVFXhUJTXKSn1jvDt7q_EO8hCYzcJ956A6AoH0ej8XGqxm531VN8/s1600/03_converter_installed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LF7V-qyRwvi7yz6J4N9YgVYwuwPRJ_jon913S96FBhVArkXjYL5DT9-eZWjge9A0IwUzPasluhAQNTFmXDXTpQWfQVFXhUJTXKSn1jvDt7q_EO8hCYzcJ956A6AoH0ej8XGqxm531VN8/s320/03_converter_installed.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Side note about the handle... The conversion kit came in two different handle types, button and lever. The Petersiks had gotten the button kind. I chose the lever kind, so it would look more like our other toilets. The handle has an inside lever for the small flush and an outside lever for the regular flush. When you flush the inside lever, it kind of feels like both levers are going down, and you think, 'this seems like it's still going to do the big flush,' but it doesn't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I finished up the installation, turned the water back on, and the toilet tank started filling. And it kept filling. And it started going down the overflow tube. And it kept going. Until I turned the water back off. It was at this point that I did a Google image search for ballcock fill valve and found a picture that looked suspiciously like the pieces that were part of my toilet. I turned back to the front page of the conversion kit instructions where I had previously seen this note:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"If you have a ballcock style fill valve, you may need to purchase a HydroClean or HydroWorks fill valve."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was a little after 2pm, and we had somewhere we needed to be at 4pm. I didn't want to leave our primary toilet in a non-usable state, and I also didn't really want to undo all the work I had just done. So I went to homedepot.com and looked up the HydroClean Fill Valve to verify that they carried it and that it was in stock at my local store. Then I drove over, grabbed my new fill valve, and rushed home with about 45 minutes before we had to leave.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1tAWCtuTiyOqG0U-_mibwHJ0CKoxOG1yAW028naNaauBXwvPxY6s2aReLI_4cMY35EpHn-fme4V3KS7td592RgiNhWJ8JKdtc-8qEOYmrFS9MsOjJdTsJbLJV4Ev6ACwZP4PzXpx8_BB/s1600/05_fill_valve_box.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1tAWCtuTiyOqG0U-_mibwHJ0CKoxOG1yAW028naNaauBXwvPxY6s2aReLI_4cMY35EpHn-fme4V3KS7td592RgiNhWJ8JKdtc-8qEOYmrFS9MsOjJdTsJbLJV4Ev6ACwZP4PzXpx8_BB/s320/05_fill_valve_box.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I opened up the instructions for the fill valve, and the first step was less than informative: "Shut water off, flush toilet to empty tank, and remove old toilet fill valve." Not very helpful if you don't know how to remove the old fill valve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, I went to Google, which brought me to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UygnbjIg8CY">this YouTube demonstration</a>. I smushed a bucket into the area under the toilet tank and unscrewed the flexible pipe. Then I could just pull the fill valve out and watch the remaining water drain out of the toilet tank into my bucket.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTwQhcQqdNVyZDVv3WxjgsH3lEEhYi5Q_rSo_hOylI9v6XrbiKETM9oiSBu2n6uc6J98JdMtbGp5YJnWR_wlr33v1hNl4WKmNoMkIXOf_Tzz13ZZTFRcNXtYNONroXM0tpzGLifGMZE-v/s1600/06_removed_drain_pipe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTwQhcQqdNVyZDVv3WxjgsH3lEEhYi5Q_rSo_hOylI9v6XrbiKETM9oiSBu2n6uc6J98JdMtbGp5YJnWR_wlr33v1hNl4WKmNoMkIXOf_Tzz13ZZTFRcNXtYNONroXM0tpzGLifGMZE-v/s320/06_removed_drain_pipe.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmewofKoCCbuO3sQimBU_F093mLH57lHAHMkDVkyNOkrOOYDGXg4R8aM9_77qCycPOo4Pcm9M4Mw8nrL4YONG2bZOJ3ccC84m5CQsjeeyXaZm8qkTZcMJqJUQSJKbA7kmz4xa8PxeENzl/s1600/07_draining_water.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmewofKoCCbuO3sQimBU_F093mLH57lHAHMkDVkyNOkrOOYDGXg4R8aM9_77qCycPOo4Pcm9M4Mw8nrL4YONG2bZOJ3ccC84m5CQsjeeyXaZm8qkTZcMJqJUQSJKbA7kmz4xa8PxeENzl/s320/07_draining_water.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The rest of the fill valve installation just followed the instructions and was pretty straightforward. After installing the fill valve and reconnecting the pipe to the toilet tank, the inside of my toilet now looked like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I turned the water back on, and the tank didn't just keep filling forever! Yay! I had to do a bit of adjusting on the fill valve to get it to stop filling at the appropriate place. Then I tried pressing the small flush handle. And the toilet bowl didn't empty. I knew from Young House Love that there was some adjusting to be done to get the dual flushes to work properly. I didn't have time for that right then, but at least we could use the regular flush and still use our toilet!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I came back to the project the next weekend. The fill valve has a lever to adjust the amount of water in the bowl, so you could use it on its own to save water by lowering the water level there. However, I ended up keeping the water level in the bowl about the same, maybe even slightly higher, to get the small flush to work. The dual flush converter has its own adjustments for the amount of water used during the small flush. There was quite a bit of trial and error with that. I felt like all the benefit we might get from saving water with the dual flush was getting overridden by all the flushing I was doing to test each slight adjustment! Finally, though, I got things to a state where the dual flush capabilities work. You do have to hold the small flush handle down a bit longer than with normal handle or even the regular flush part of the dual handle, but you get used to it. With the tank lid off, I could definitely see a significant difference in the amount of water that went out of the tank with the small flush compared to the regular flush. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now I just wait three months for our next water bill to see how much this saves us. However, even if it's a good amount of savings, I may not convert all of our other toilets. Since they'll all need a new fill valve, I may just change that out and use the adjustment feature to lower the water level in the bowl and see if that's a comparable savings on its own.</span></div>
teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-81075255436174573052015-07-18T04:35:00.002-07:002015-07-18T04:35:19.236-07:00blacking out the bedroom<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my continuing efforts to sleep better (someday I'll write about post or two or three about this great saga), I decided our bedroom needed to be darker. I generally had thought of it as pretty dark, but one morning, as I again woke up long before the alarm, I realized that there really was a significant amount of light seeping in through the Roman shades. As a test, I took some leftover blackout lining from the <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/04/blackout.html">basement curtains</a> I had made and pinned it over the existing shades. I was amazed at how much darker the room got, which sold me on the idea that adding blackout lining to our shades was definitely something I should do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I did not have enough leftover fabric from the basement curtains to cover all, or even most, of the bedroom shades. Luckily, I have this blog, where I document my projects, so I just looked at my previous post to find what blackout lining I had used. JoannFabric.com claimed they had it in stock, but when I went there, it didn't look exactly the same (I took a piece of my existing fabric with me), but it was close enough. The width of the fabric, 54", was going to be just about right for the height of the shades. I estimated the shade width at 3' for the narrow windows (measured at about 31", but I like to over-estimate a bit for buying fabric) and about twice that for the wide window. I figured I had enough leftover fabric for one of the narrow windows, so I got 3 yds (9') of new blackout lining.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I had to figure out how to attach it to my existing Roman shades. At first, I thought I would sew the lining on, but the shades were too thick to fit in my sewing machine, and I certainly wasn't going to hand sew all of that. Also, Roman shades are kind of tricky because there are all these different sections with cords running through them. I decided to try two different methods to see which would hold better. In the end, I used a combination of the two methods. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first was glue, specifically FabricFuse Quick Bond Fabric Adhesive. The second was Heat n Bond Ultrahold, which is an iron-on, and sort of looks like double-sided tape. I got it in the 5/8" width. I tried each of these adhesives on some scraps of the blackout lining. Initially, it seemed like neither was going to hold. I waited and waited for the glue to dry, and the fabric pieces kept peeling apart. The same thing happened with the iron-on adhesive. I was growing extremely frustrated and decided to give up for the day. The next day, when I took another look at my test pieces, both the glue and iron-on were holding fast. Apparently, they just needed a really long time to cure. With that decided, I got started on the first shade. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was afraid that if I disassembled the cords along the back, I wouldn't be able to get them just right again. So instead of covering the back of the shade with one big piece of blackout lining, I decided to do a small piece for each of the 8 sections between where the cords attach in. Each of these pieces was about 31" wide and 8" tall. I cut out all my pieces for the first shade and started gluing. It took a really long time and a lot of glue. I let it dry on the floor for a few hours before hanging the shade back up. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjScY3woPDi6e-2aH5d2myTs2A2UiQhpuzITBh2mN1qpMX_sMMHYGhYBWyFF6QTwokwWGVdoHozYONrREL3t8gsVeRPDsiulvi1DCPKxtHn6AvvLo_XUhCD5U39byeKFlvxoNXlboNkbB_c/s1600/05_finished_back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjScY3woPDi6e-2aH5d2myTs2A2UiQhpuzITBh2mN1qpMX_sMMHYGhYBWyFF6QTwokwWGVdoHozYONrREL3t8gsVeRPDsiulvi1DCPKxtHn6AvvLo_XUhCD5U39byeKFlvxoNXlboNkbB_c/s320/05_finished_back.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the second narrow shade, I mostly used the iron-on Heat n Bond. I thought maybe this would be less time-consuming than the glue, but no. I think it actually took more time, though they were probably close. Ironing on the sides was pretty easy, but trying to do the tops and bottoms, where the fabric gets wrapped around some sort of stiff stabilizer that keeps the shade looking nice when you pull it up, was tricky. I ended up doing some gluing in some areas to be sure of a good hold. Plus, it used a lot of the Heat n Bond. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So for the final window, I used a combination of the two methods. Spoiler alert, this way also took a really long time. It turned out, there was no way around that. I used the Heat n Bond to attach the sides of each panel, then glued along the top and bottom. Since this shade was twice as wide as the others, I also put a couple of strips of Heat n Bond in the middle of the shade too, for a little extra support. Below are pictures of the fabric after ironing on the sides, but before, and then after, gluing the tops and bottoms. You can see how floppy it is before the gluing, but then the fabric gets all nice and tucked in after.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YDYXCbYonTuDatjqH1dDiPLa1dpfUIFM6Kt2yQzdv9mVGAR6BX5_3d7pWkkRjO3PTRko8LDXQEzQfiyEYgdOM7JkiVWpkaYWhX2SQaDns_UM7yMkSpqCSUe3tkm6pD8nQM1TeLIB_WtM/s1600/03_before_gluing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YDYXCbYonTuDatjqH1dDiPLa1dpfUIFM6Kt2yQzdv9mVGAR6BX5_3d7pWkkRjO3PTRko8LDXQEzQfiyEYgdOM7JkiVWpkaYWhX2SQaDns_UM7yMkSpqCSUe3tkm6pD8nQM1TeLIB_WtM/s320/03_before_gluing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlU-YNKjAbB45DEVtyNw-n6sE1p9cQX23ceNS0yLLZGu5Lfhhh2J7_jLN2tRO-KaYUPffTO0WAac3Dz1pDGgNm_3NKnySN0YnjV8foLBjeJ3Wtzdy8Ctl6ZJU60eAyzMQtO7f4q-E1iAM/s1600/04_after_gluing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlU-YNKjAbB45DEVtyNw-n6sE1p9cQX23ceNS0yLLZGu5Lfhhh2J7_jLN2tRO-KaYUPffTO0WAac3Dz1pDGgNm_3NKnySN0YnjV8foLBjeJ3Wtzdy8Ctl6ZJU60eAyzMQtO7f4q-E1iAM/s320/04_after_gluing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each shade took a few hours, and I found the whole process annoying and not fun. However, it was very easy, so if you have existing Roman shades, this is a totally doable DIY. But if we hadn't already had these nice shades that I really like and were pretty expensive, I would totally have sprung for shades that already came with blackout lining. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are the before and after. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7ZH4aekJHgrAmz4JSbPTh5vNR8PM6ji-aFjlJ2GeQpY1wjJvdAcx7fWhdZGr4Q3DRFNsV6xJt7Hw1RRY_UD46IzsrdJJ_Dp_Liqalyrs3lUoUg5PFVy_Lu3vLin4RS1tPvn6CPxgEogJ/s1600/01_before_blackout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7ZH4aekJHgrAmz4JSbPTh5vNR8PM6ji-aFjlJ2GeQpY1wjJvdAcx7fWhdZGr4Q3DRFNsV6xJt7Hw1RRY_UD46IzsrdJJ_Dp_Liqalyrs3lUoUg5PFVy_Lu3vLin4RS1tPvn6CPxgEogJ/s320/01_before_blackout.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9jPNIwAVvmuo4dowyEdSEQWQEGELcC-RycVZgpARVS3duT6kPtSfAlfuKzYNPGu4CdPwSkWRjnC7R9W1ECaEwocBFjv5VT6cegmn9bT-_rk1JcuJ38AloWa07uYCVUJ-X_TAZLxdSl1A/s1600/06_after_blackout.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9jPNIwAVvmuo4dowyEdSEQWQEGELcC-RycVZgpARVS3duT6kPtSfAlfuKzYNPGu4CdPwSkWRjnC7R9W1ECaEwocBFjv5VT6cegmn9bT-_rk1JcuJ38AloWa07uYCVUJ-X_TAZLxdSl1A/s320/06_after_blackout.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, a lot less light is getting through the shades now. Unfortunately, there's still some light sneaking around the sides of the shades. I'm debating doing a valence with side curtains to cover that up. Or maybe I'll just try a sleep mask.</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-36924359329629167652015-06-13T04:40:00.002-07:002015-06-13T04:40:59.028-07:00classing up the dining room<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The same weekend I <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2015/05/here-is-pot-for-your-herbs.html">painted the planter</a> I started another, longer project -- installing chair rail in the dining room. This is something that's been on the to do list in my mind for quite awhile, and I finally got around to doing it. I picked this one from Home Depot, ordered it online, and a week or so later, it arrived on my doorstep. After choosing a chair rail, the next most difficult decision was what height to hang it. There are, apparently, a number of philosophies on the correct height for a chair rail. Some say a third of the way up the wall, which with our 9' ceilings would be 3', or 36". Others say that's too high, that it should be put only a quarter of the way up the wall, which for us would be 27". Others say 30". When the chair rail arrived, Zach and I pulled it out of the box and held a piece up to the wall. 30" seemed too low, while 36" seemed too high. To us, 32" seemed the Goldilocks height and, since it's our house, we're the only ones whose opinions matter. The yellow mark in the photo below is at 32".</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCJTmhuEQphs2OzVSW3MwV62_ZSxiTSWUhrMMKPrQ71DDCYo0lB2_lxlDtdNoMZtHS1FHDewk_owNAkxyGkwbL-5S-ip-Ajz5cBp39JX5HzR_CUxou0PbwYeUmjrZ6ty6QD3pcKXYodYj/s1600/01_height_marked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCJTmhuEQphs2OzVSW3MwV62_ZSxiTSWUhrMMKPrQ71DDCYo0lB2_lxlDtdNoMZtHS1FHDewk_owNAkxyGkwbL-5S-ip-Ajz5cBp39JX5HzR_CUxou0PbwYeUmjrZ6ty6QD3pcKXYodYj/s320/01_height_marked.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some "before" pictures:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu8iF9rLFEPcxHI4xO40kUyLHjaNAX_PYw0ON0lilAWrbDpUPd6j1JlRS4uItcmyNSjJFNOuEAtwnZjpwQc3cmyDKop-oc7iUZjNEvaX99Sfi6WS1-itm6P9lOyi6kddI-jGE_jlI_z09/s1600/00_before1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu8iF9rLFEPcxHI4xO40kUyLHjaNAX_PYw0ON0lilAWrbDpUPd6j1JlRS4uItcmyNSjJFNOuEAtwnZjpwQc3cmyDKop-oc7iUZjNEvaX99Sfi6WS1-itm6P9lOyi6kddI-jGE_jlI_z09/s200/00_before1.jpg" width="150" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tV1IUI1eE5i85_66vYSxdsKOZy8e32K67MRLuUMhDrhf5rOHHVuiG429JzlYAcmx5u1HTE4O9xIDud8NfK3kZga_pBBRtJx261076EqQGKmZv6pdDiHGrj3lCmbx-z7DoS9p2xIWwlqK/s1600/00_before2_bay_window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tV1IUI1eE5i85_66vYSxdsKOZy8e32K67MRLuUMhDrhf5rOHHVuiG429JzlYAcmx5u1HTE4O9xIDud8NfK3kZga_pBBRtJx261076EqQGKmZv6pdDiHGrj3lCmbx-z7DoS9p2xIWwlqK/s200/00_before2_bay_window.jpg" width="150" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0UKxJI-DpzielHCjNZEp_QXgySBpedFt9yYbuhx8UoIRcURhmR1FLmjvSJd1Tx4g7fHb8f6MLL-oT6jRtzSLiFc17HAMXV2KNaoYOxF0GxFGaUpbKhj2K9UAsJ2Y45FTWgONNaR-Ok7z/s1600/00_before4_window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0UKxJI-DpzielHCjNZEp_QXgySBpedFt9yYbuhx8UoIRcURhmR1FLmjvSJd1Tx4g7fHb8f6MLL-oT6jRtzSLiFc17HAMXV2KNaoYOxF0GxFGaUpbKhj2K9UAsJ2Y45FTWgONNaR-Ok7z/s200/00_before4_window.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfTL7nHky1PWQ_IMmCMptwf7SPM323N6Z30scCOL6r9GQcLJEIgXpWAFb2LrXubIzuceniCReL0p6OS3gOaXc7xw7J2b7gC0Wbh3c98mI23BY0MHfgvF2FisD5V4I0ZM-DFEfkNEsycj6/s1600/00_before3_long_wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfTL7nHky1PWQ_IMmCMptwf7SPM323N6Z30scCOL6r9GQcLJEIgXpWAFb2LrXubIzuceniCReL0p6OS3gOaXc7xw7J2b7gC0Wbh3c98mI23BY0MHfgvF2FisD5V4I0ZM-DFEfkNEsycj6/s200/00_before3_long_wall.jpg" width="200" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday, I got all the pieces, except for the ones around the bay window, measured, cut, and nailed in. First, I measured up in one spot on the wall to 32". At that point, I held a laser level up to the wall, nudging it around until it was level and at the right point, then pushed the little button that pushed out a sort of thumbtack that stuck the level into the wall. Then I marked the laser line. I used a combination of stud finder and just looking for popped out nails to locate and mark the wall studs. Then I measured and cut the pieces, often going back to nip off just a hair more because it's always better to start out a little too long than a little too short. Finally, I positioned the pieces, got them all level with a small regular level balancing on top, and nailed them in with a 16 gauge finish nailer. Since our dining room is really made up of several small walls with a lot of doors and windows breaking it up, I did this all in cycles, marking one wall, measuring and cutting, then moving on to the next wall. I laid all the pieces out on the floor, then went back around and nailed them all in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the cutting, I borrowed my friend's miter saw, which I set up on the deck. From putting hardwoods on the stairs (which you can read about here and here), I knew what a pain (both figuratively and literally, in my knees) it was to have the saw in the garage on the ground floor and have to keep going up and down and up and down and up to cut pieces and put them in. Having the saw on the deck on the same level was MUCH better. The cutting wasn't too hard, just had to keep track of which direction the 45 deg cuts had to go for inside and outside corners.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQEW097hbswtXGFQ5RNSzcK_ppDQxM5IVqDgdnzgWfTYWOWj8IVIUYY7U6FH1e8AuMphtXsKpqIy_BvneCRrsNZLb3KLhrtm8x1yJ3n_JVzTO5tTNRSbzXxBFkAVfrcTKpHF9ePi9MKZs/s1600/02_miter_saw_cutting1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQEW097hbswtXGFQ5RNSzcK_ppDQxM5IVqDgdnzgWfTYWOWj8IVIUYY7U6FH1e8AuMphtXsKpqIy_BvneCRrsNZLb3KLhrtm8x1yJ3n_JVzTO5tTNRSbzXxBFkAVfrcTKpHF9ePi9MKZs/s320/02_miter_saw_cutting1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxyGLlZHVtMm-Pj5vzIUNw6cQpIWRxgX8W9_wXt1rtbasYoyahyO5a0AH8DlSoc-CdIJblVRqEoGn4xgZgi6rIH22SEkphBmXwpH7U4b7lNDgSYQMOMBaChYUUJtsx0CcqvMQ_kBjJxQN/s1600/02_miter_saw_cutting2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxyGLlZHVtMm-Pj5vzIUNw6cQpIWRxgX8W9_wXt1rtbasYoyahyO5a0AH8DlSoc-CdIJblVRqEoGn4xgZgi6rIH22SEkphBmXwpH7U4b7lNDgSYQMOMBaChYUUJtsx0CcqvMQ_kBjJxQN/s320/02_miter_saw_cutting2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except for the bay window. It doesn't have 90 deg angles, so I had to do a lot more thinking, plus some math. First, I measured the angles with a protractor. Three of the four measured at 135 deg, while the fourth measured at 130 deg. To figure out the miter saw cut, here is the math I did:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Divide the measured angle by 2. (135 / 2 = 67.5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Subtract that number from 90. (90 - 67.5 = 22.5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The result is the miter cut.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had some scrap wood of similar thickness to the chair rail, so I used that to do test cuts of all the bay window angles to make sure I'd done the math right. I had :-) All the test cuts fit perfectly the first try! I was pretty impressed with myself. I love math.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My air compressor had a slight leak in the connector between the hose and nail gun, so a number of the nails didn't get quite all the way in. My dad had previously introduced me to the nail set (and bought me one, thanks, Dad!). This is a tool for hammering in those not-quite-in finish nails. Zach and our wonderful friend did all of the nail setting for me and then went around and filled all the nail holes with spackle. Here is where my friend and I have a difference of philosophy. He believes in smearing on a bunch of spackle and not worrying about it being neat because it's just going to get sanded off. I believe in being more careful and trying to just fill the hole, so not as much time and effort needs to go into the sanding. Either way works, it just depends where you'd rather spend your time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So next I had to sand all that excess spackle off. I used fine sand paper, 200 grit. Even so, I still ended up sanding off the primer in a number of spots. Next was caulking. I used DAP Fast Dry Acrylic Latex Plus Silicone caulk in white. Caulk fills in any gapping between the molding and the wall and helps give everything a more finished look. I caulked along the top edge of all the chair rail. I also caulked the edges where the chair rail meets the doorway molding and inside corners. I tried to caulk outside corners, but I couldn't seem to get the caulk to really smush in the gap. I ended up going back to the spackle, which worked a lot better. I chose not to caulk along the bottom of the rail because I figured no one really sees that anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some pictures to show the miracle that is caulk. On the left is the chair rail meeting up with the doorway molding after first being installed. See the little gap between the two moldings? On the right is that same spot after getting a bead of caulk in there. See how much more cohesive and beautiful it looks? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoWOFrV-a0DsfSGnuKZqOuBfFWFFSSKn_-4aVFFr7Stn92d-r3ZYUbeYgsllhECgx5HwR80aP4NaBG7WTha_ss70pevvqF_ertXPVV6ys1WFWmiq50fNfCR-GMUUyBL3LSb6KZGitfQuS/s1600/04_chair_rail_to_door_edge_before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoWOFrV-a0DsfSGnuKZqOuBfFWFFSSKn_-4aVFFr7Stn92d-r3ZYUbeYgsllhECgx5HwR80aP4NaBG7WTha_ss70pevvqF_ertXPVV6ys1WFWmiq50fNfCR-GMUUyBL3LSb6KZGitfQuS/s200/04_chair_rail_to_door_edge_before.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_1rMVi-dr2HrsiFX1AEjAv4aOvGLxadQm5N1nrWsMnoqv63YBxPvROT6UaJcnNtxvfWwAO7KZSBBvIpWzGVld9drDe5PSj7VRfl528n_V38J6Y8gJRnG1vdLjM4EDjf3jOE4qDBKNA5n/s1600/05_chair_rail_to_door_edge_after_caulk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_1rMVi-dr2HrsiFX1AEjAv4aOvGLxadQm5N1nrWsMnoqv63YBxPvROT6UaJcnNtxvfWwAO7KZSBBvIpWzGVld9drDe5PSj7VRfl528n_V38J6Y8gJRnG1vdLjM4EDjf3jOE4qDBKNA5n/s200/05_chair_rail_to_door_edge_after_caulk.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here is one of those outside corners before spackle, after spackle, and after sanding and painting. You can barely even tell there used to be a gap in there!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0K_dlEFQUUiGWbVl0Dokm8KEe_DOvzwGUINJMgEjd1dYoVn9hNrVTrWWVclyZbIL-hsnfDOVqC0BNURvvU0YpWGkjlSZbfz9yBOa33q8DRyyWHAJTkdo_E-Ipyw1gUOxmEYl5-QbnH-_I/s1600/06_wall_corner_before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0K_dlEFQUUiGWbVl0Dokm8KEe_DOvzwGUINJMgEjd1dYoVn9hNrVTrWWVclyZbIL-hsnfDOVqC0BNURvvU0YpWGkjlSZbfz9yBOa33q8DRyyWHAJTkdo_E-Ipyw1gUOxmEYl5-QbnH-_I/s200/06_wall_corner_before.jpg" width="150" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cZUXOsh1sOuf2YpPXjbX_5g8pTXAx1_C7Fxlx3eb59DSoaQ6G6fCf1jsn-9vRq4boKxX74DMIdK1f_u8WOnxl7nEsK8n7hu8-mQbc5qGCXpHJFjqBdz_v3-A6fIXBbdi9ZI0v4MWT3as/s1600/08_wall_corner_after_painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cZUXOsh1sOuf2YpPXjbX_5g8pTXAx1_C7Fxlx3eb59DSoaQ6G6fCf1jsn-9vRq4boKxX74DMIdK1f_u8WOnxl7nEsK8n7hu8-mQbc5qGCXpHJFjqBdz_v3-A6fIXBbdi9ZI0v4MWT3as/s200/08_wall_corner_after_painting.jpg" width="150" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYLrtAoI16tPh4fNZF3oBOkfLMvilQhfhF9nPZVEjpVppn557oM6zXqIPuUb9e3wUmdkhvsAW9dxRzDTMkZVLFSzSPldeboWnUKvhutdqJra5fNcwr7V_-XT69_r4cOzbTt9XR_IPEy3U/s1600/07_wall_corner_after_spackle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYLrtAoI16tPh4fNZF3oBOkfLMvilQhfhF9nPZVEjpVppn557oM6zXqIPuUb9e3wUmdkhvsAW9dxRzDTMkZVLFSzSPldeboWnUKvhutdqJra5fNcwr7V_-XT69_r4cOzbTt9XR_IPEy3U/s200/07_wall_corner_after_spackle.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After caulking, it was finally time to paint. I used green Frog Tape along the underside to protect the wall. I didn't bother on the top side because I was planning to touch that up to cover the caulk anyway. The paint I used was the molding touch-up paint left behind by our builders, so I don't know its official name, but it's labeled as a white semi-gloss. I managed to get by with just one coat. I made up for that good fortune on the next step, touching up the red paint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put the Frog Tape on the top of the chair rail to protect it's shiny new whiteness. I didn't get a before picture, but some of the pictures above show the line of caulk above the chair rail. It looked kind of messy, and it's paintable, so I wanted to paint it red to clean it up. I still have some leftover paint from the dining room, which is Behr premium plus satin enamel. I don't know the color name. The can has been sitting in our garage for about 4 years, so I stirred it up really well, then it was ready to go. I don't remember how many coats it took for the dining room, other than "a lot", but it took 3 coats to do the touch-up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are the "after" pictures. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlnO598MPh0vBp8_e-SHJPWXz9yFpPvA2Fi0sPMYpLBvn5XpYZE27T-2Nvj86e-10ypPchl6OOmy2sMwWbKDJ7Sd9ocWVo9p9_IvtBCvjZBH9_RR_LO6aeezcJq32oWWCYowcjlL5hloO/s1600/09_after1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlnO598MPh0vBp8_e-SHJPWXz9yFpPvA2Fi0sPMYpLBvn5XpYZE27T-2Nvj86e-10ypPchl6OOmy2sMwWbKDJ7Sd9ocWVo9p9_IvtBCvjZBH9_RR_LO6aeezcJq32oWWCYowcjlL5hloO/s200/09_after1.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyp9OAUaEIJ_x2HdOdrfY18gc_rSTDy3pK6vBFpsvDweBURxDQv2-rYMtlpSLq1FKBDIESPX-ZrstaUwOXOnOiNnfjHmcjr70r7QXr48KqU8Hrt34ySOkAH6hJ2Bj4UU38u02JHiASQp8s/s1600/09_finished_bay_window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyp9OAUaEIJ_x2HdOdrfY18gc_rSTDy3pK6vBFpsvDweBURxDQv2-rYMtlpSLq1FKBDIESPX-ZrstaUwOXOnOiNnfjHmcjr70r7QXr48KqU8Hrt34ySOkAH6hJ2Bj4UU38u02JHiASQp8s/s200/09_finished_bay_window.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I LOVE how it looks! It does kind of make me think maybe it also needs crown molding now, but I'll let that thought percolate around in my brain for awhile. I'm afraid that if I put crown in one room, I'll need to put in in everywhere, which I don't want to do. So we'll see. For now, I'll just smile at the chair rail every time I go into the dining room :-)</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-76468259597066193492015-05-28T17:25:00.000-07:002015-05-28T17:25:25.998-07:00here is a pot for your herbs<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I kind of took the winter off from projects. Not intentionally, it just sort of happened. But now I'm back with a vengeance. I've recently been working on three projects, with a couple more in the planning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm going to start with the simplest project. I'd been thinking about growing some herbs for awhile. Some recipes I use call for fresh parsley or basil or something, but the amount I would use is less than how much you have to buy in the store, and I don't always have a use for the rest of it. Yes, I could do better recipe planning for the week to do all recipes that need fresh basil, but realistically, I'm just not going to go to that much effort. So I thought it would be great to grow a few of my own herbs, and then I could just grab a couple of leaves as needed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had an old window box planter that I thought would be perfect to put a couple of herb plants in, but it was a faded sort of grey-green that would not look good in the dining room, so I decided to give spray painting it a try. I got Rustoleum spray paints in white and a sort of yellow-orange that ended up being a bit more yellow than intended. I wanted to do the bottom tray part in white and the rest yellow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started out by turning the planter upside down and spray painting the bottom white. Initially, I thought it would be easiest to take off the bottom tray and paint the pieces separately. However, being an older planter, the bottom was firmly connected, and the plastic started cracking when I tried to pull the pieces apart. So I just sprayed the bottom and didn't worry about over-spray since I'd be painting the top anyway. After a few coats of white and letting that dry fully, I taped Frog tape around the white bottom, turned the planter right-side up, and spray painted the rest yellow. I tried to get a good amount of the inside painted too, since the dirt wouldn't be coming all the way to the top.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkoIIg7_ktg8bnGHwfmR2E2alUfrrmM_9E4pGTO2zINWIWYg2HqDWMOUNrujuCXTFmQto0UDW572Ezml7U8I2weey5jYjt_mHR2hKlzcAOmIHtGF2aWAS0pUr_JzFxjvRx8GGWY05mRUe/s1600/painted_planter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkoIIg7_ktg8bnGHwfmR2E2alUfrrmM_9E4pGTO2zINWIWYg2HqDWMOUNrujuCXTFmQto0UDW572Ezml7U8I2weey5jYjt_mHR2hKlzcAOmIHtGF2aWAS0pUr_JzFxjvRx8GGWY05mRUe/s320/painted_planter2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that was that. Like I said before, the color wasn't quite what I was going for. I was trying to match the more mustard yellow I had used for <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/05/mirror-image-side-tables.html">these side tables</a> in the dining room and <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-perfect-plant-stand.html">the plant table</a> in the living room. This turned out a brighter yellow, but I think it will be fine.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYFc4xoVxlEBK95027QQLHrFPl8LKpDNMd9xarFUqAw9vJSf9te6LIXDNQT0iMhJsLozYye48jpT4FS6sZSyRi3XtsnDQpje-JE9KIqrI8HfGoO2Pk6Wh3Jmvd9_Gfu9d8QdGFEiOekWj/s1600/planter_with_plants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYFc4xoVxlEBK95027QQLHrFPl8LKpDNMd9xarFUqAw9vJSf9te6LIXDNQT0iMhJsLozYye48jpT4FS6sZSyRi3XtsnDQpje-JE9KIqrI8HfGoO2Pk6Wh3Jmvd9_Gfu9d8QdGFEiOekWj/s320/planter_with_plants.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, painting a yard sale side table for this planter to live on! But that's a post, and a project, for another day...</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-57221872494248875862015-05-26T15:44:00.000-07:002015-05-26T15:44:57.546-07:00decluttering a cabinet<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This post has been mostly done for a few months. I guess I started it and then forgot about it. I also kind of failed at taking pictures before or during, so all you get is the after shot. Sorry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The cupboard above the ovens is a hazard. Whenever I want something out of there, I have to either take a bunch of other things out as well or risk having cookie sheets and roasting pans come crashing down on me. It's a large, deep, wonderful cupboard, but it only has one shelf. Since most of the things we put in there are relatively flat, it means we get large piles of pots and pans, making it difficult to get to the thing you want.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For probably at least a couple of years, every now and then I'd say to Zach, "we should get some sort of extra shelf to put in the middle of this cupboard." Zach would agree, and then we'd both forget about it for awhile. Then, when we got our bathroom cabinet installed, it came with extra pegs for holding the shelves. Since this is the same type of cabinet as in our kitchen, the pegs were the right fit there. It still took several months, but I finally got around to building an extra shelf for the over-the-oven cabinet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First, I took everything out of the cabinet and measured. It was a little tricky because there's some sort of box (probably electrical stuff) in the back of the cabinet that I'd have to make a cut-out for. Then I went to the garage to see if I had any extra boards that were big enough to use. I did have a piece of MDF that was big enough, but MDF is super heavy. Not only did I not want to lift that heavy piece up awkwardly high over my head to install as a shelf, I wasn't confident in the little pegs' ability to support that much weight. So I went to Home Depot in search of a light-weight board. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was planning to get plywood, but first I checked out the hobby wood section, just in case, and found exactly what I needed -- 3/4" pine, 2' x 4'. I took it home and cut it to size. Before finishing it, I did a test fit to make sure I had measured right, and it fit perfectly! I had also gotten a light stain with the idea of attempting to match the inside of the cabinet. Well, I put the stain on the wood with a rag, and it totally did not match at all. However, it won't be very visible, so I'm not too concerned. Since the stain was already quite a bit darker than the interior of the cabinet, I only did one coat of stain. Then I did lots of coats of spray polyurethane. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span id="goog_345673160"></span><span id="goog_345673161"></span>And now, every time I open that previously horrible cabinet, I smile :-)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbces5F-4fQmmQsigta7TfoTnw6cXgEXb-TJAVoOMjM0h9wW9YcVry7QGXSDxHsYXg57rzfkOXmiEhJPI-piNiUXDoHsOcZTfKpyqjJFjblxlnuFrZjjP2RFyJ2_6JvlhH37ANOOYnQCF6/s1600/decluttered_cabinet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbces5F-4fQmmQsigta7TfoTnw6cXgEXb-TJAVoOMjM0h9wW9YcVry7QGXSDxHsYXg57rzfkOXmiEhJPI-piNiUXDoHsOcZTfKpyqjJFjblxlnuFrZjjP2RFyJ2_6JvlhH37ANOOYnQCF6/s320/decluttered_cabinet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-71476346847462303082015-01-01T07:58:00.000-08:002015-01-01T07:58:00.884-08:00cord clean-up<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confession: I'm messy. Many of my friends will scoff at this admission because in some parts of my life, I'm exceptionally organized. However, I tend to not put things away. I'm especially bad in the living area, where I use my laptop, tablet, phone, books, etc and then leave them strewn about the coffee table. One of the things that bothers me about this situation is that, having all these electronics, I need power cables for all of them, and these cables feel more messy to me than all the books and magazines and papers piled up. All these cables are also annoying when it comes to traveling. They get all tangled up, even trying to put them all in separate bag pockets. So I finally made a little holder for some of my cables, to keep them tidy. I found the idea and design pattern at <a href="http://www.brit.co/cord-roll/">www.brit.co/cord-roll/</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started off at Joann Fabric and picked out some faux leather (aka vinyl, but "faux leather" sounds way fancier). I liked this blue one.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NWRnMlQebK1d8QSGCFirwd6BrvZBZ19dD0s-3zB753Gt2PMH9hd0RndYpxaUAFLt5YjbfcvDk_HP7ow5zaxpYsdKgmU4XhVd68ZlTLmxMK9NNQltGms7B4oDJDp-bQOWCzIF6le1x6OF/s1600/01_blue_vinyl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NWRnMlQebK1d8QSGCFirwd6BrvZBZ19dD0s-3zB753Gt2PMH9hd0RndYpxaUAFLt5YjbfcvDk_HP7ow5zaxpYsdKgmU4XhVd68ZlTLmxMK9NNQltGms7B4oDJDp-bQOWCzIF6le1x6OF/s1600/01_blue_vinyl.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cut the fabric according to the design instructions, using my carpenter's square to help draw the angles for the end.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQCaadGepVAzEzNbmcW2Fcfaju59jIMkal2cEuVCPDpK_cwuNUw-2FyNW0SRaFqIaXwdOa6Wu3cfOawE8_BJRcjOOjApPWPoAeFFpgUF4GEppCDEg2CWX__CjgXC4eu0BBExl7pHTi0mh/s1600/02_measuring_angle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQCaadGepVAzEzNbmcW2Fcfaju59jIMkal2cEuVCPDpK_cwuNUw-2FyNW0SRaFqIaXwdOa6Wu3cfOawE8_BJRcjOOjApPWPoAeFFpgUF4GEppCDEg2CWX__CjgXC4eu0BBExl7pHTi0mh/s1600/02_measuring_angle.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VRSRDkc_4iL0mxVRzb0noOdDb4IixnZjX7B1INKYcn4hoNR_1SWgynn-86EJ2SwYtItH_JKcQus-4HhYWm1R9mleOZEPmG0CmvMleuGTxE7bU3OW-ej9bMiTFPr4xi8vDgFKHtHdtHKm/s1600/03_cut_vinyl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VRSRDkc_4iL0mxVRzb0noOdDb4IixnZjX7B1INKYcn4hoNR_1SWgynn-86EJ2SwYtItH_JKcQus-4HhYWm1R9mleOZEPmG0CmvMleuGTxE7bU3OW-ej9bMiTFPr4xi8vDgFKHtHdtHKm/s1600/03_cut_vinyl.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejohgWRZFBsp681_APo0M7Z3Pjg73IvrUF8iRz_fzQTE14RoMcte4KAQyfyAnCAy0b8rO_9H_9H0mRrbKlh6vlYRzLfAH_uSrfTQYMm7ZjJWEkMBnY29MNHn9dutT_s5vtygVeVW3-VUo/s1600/04_cut_vinyl_inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejohgWRZFBsp681_APo0M7Z3Pjg73IvrUF8iRz_fzQTE14RoMcte4KAQyfyAnCAy0b8rO_9H_9H0mRrbKlh6vlYRzLfAH_uSrfTQYMm7ZjJWEkMBnY29MNHn9dutT_s5vtygVeVW3-VUo/s1600/04_cut_vinyl_inside.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I cut the slits to tuck the cords in. The directions didn't really specify the size of these slits. I made mine 0.5" tall and various widths. The first one, shown directly below, I made 1.5" wide for my camera cord. I actually started it narrower, tested it with the cord, and decided it needed to be a bit wider. That's really how I did all the slits -- estimated a starting point, checked it with the cord I planned to put there, then widened as needed. The other slits all ended up being 2", and there's 0.5" between them all.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGuVYC9HDga5Xf9_r1io_f56skqhGFf2aHya6OY7k_8xoQf0p1q8fZom-JSuMhdE_bpi6TKcN9W_SOtS-dFVUQxic3sTl8GgHEYPidDFEY3RzaooVzgL6PN0HuIPNCRo6pgYDV6fg29Zw/s1600/05_outside_snap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGuVYC9HDga5Xf9_r1io_f56skqhGFf2aHya6OY7k_8xoQf0p1q8fZom-JSuMhdE_bpi6TKcN9W_SOtS-dFVUQxic3sTl8GgHEYPidDFEY3RzaooVzgL6PN0HuIPNCRo6pgYDV6fg29Zw/s1600/05_outside_snap.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next I put the snaps on. They were super easy. I did the end one first, then put all the cords in and rolled the holder up to see where the other half of the snap needed to go. Conveniently, it went right in between the two middle slots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UUntz5Xv3RnpEXshZVDIupxPOQQ5scUtDWFC4VYnHFNgeEoSpoLDOJL4MiRzMuSUiM_mR8ossFsXAse_oqOnOtcjWeQD8BKf41lc5vSrCjiNdenQJtS3h0wb-U61BWQHnZXa7aYZeNX8/s1600/06_inside_snap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UUntz5Xv3RnpEXshZVDIupxPOQQ5scUtDWFC4VYnHFNgeEoSpoLDOJL4MiRzMuSUiM_mR8ossFsXAse_oqOnOtcjWeQD8BKf41lc5vSrCjiNdenQJtS3h0wb-U61BWQHnZXa7aYZeNX8/s1600/06_inside_snap.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the holder with all the cords in it. From left to right, they're for my Kindle, phone, iPad, and camera. The phone and iPad also have big adapters to go from the USB connector to an outlet plug. Those were too big to fit in this holder, so I might end up making another one that's bigger and can hold those too. However, the adapters are also simple to detach and don't have pieces to get tangled up with things, so just having them loose in a bag isn't that big of a deal either.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTU9_hIXOs7e9qquRDnKB348d9AQRME_Zf51-lumfsF3Erse87yML65dbdQ77ezlVzfeq9aVfp3CHPGKEqW4TzqdW12mxLxE5dlN98YFuo58oIIsPAS7fwzuHdS6k74Le2zoxEBbv64lJj/s1600/08_finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTU9_hIXOs7e9qquRDnKB348d9AQRME_Zf51-lumfsF3Erse87yML65dbdQ77ezlVzfeq9aVfp3CHPGKEqW4TzqdW12mxLxE5dlN98YFuo58oIIsPAS7fwzuHdS6k74Le2zoxEBbv64lJj/s1600/08_finished.jpg" height="125" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here it is all rolled up. I used it when we went out of town for Christmas, and it was awesome. Not having the frustration of tangled cords made me very happy :-)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOi9ssoTfqHgwWy-TkaqrLnrd84RDuu4YVXKPFLEer4dCxT7q9JlJt5TjYRrrhzWd0HyAHt67RYgIcTGDbx2DomeRKY11FtcZHRuiEXV-Cw7Omt1FQobl-hiU7u_e66l3gFRxwv6qwp4yd/s1600/07_rolled_up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOi9ssoTfqHgwWy-TkaqrLnrd84RDuu4YVXKPFLEer4dCxT7q9JlJt5TjYRrrhzWd0HyAHt67RYgIcTGDbx2DomeRKY11FtcZHRuiEXV-Cw7Omt1FQobl-hiU7u_e66l3gFRxwv6qwp4yd/s1600/07_rolled_up.jpg" height="139" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-StXQ4supWSc%2FVJSOQBwDznI%2FAAAAAAAABWg%2FTIN_JpyjF0Y%2Fs1600%2F08_finished.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTU9_hIXOs7e9qquRDnKB348d9AQRME_Zf51-lumfsF3Erse87yML65dbdQ77ezlVzfeq9aVfp3CHPGKEqW4TzqdW12mxLxE5dlN98YFuo58oIIsPAS7fwzuHdS6k74Le2zoxEBbv64lJj/s1600/08_finished.jpg" -->teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-6807217450737595532014-09-27T07:58:00.000-07:002014-09-28T04:43:58.274-07:00a supergirl blanket for a supergirl baby<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wow, I hadn't posted anything in quite awhile, and now three posts in a row! I have been busy lately </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">:-) But this post will be short, since I've already posted about similar projects <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-gift-for-baby.html">here</a> and <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/06/its-that-time-of-life-i-guess.html">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our very dear friends welcomed a new baby girl a few weeks ago. This would normally be a very happy thing, which it was, but she came about 3.5 months early, so along with the joy came much anxiety for both her short- and long-term health. She's had a few surgeries already, but seems mostly in reasonable health for a baby born so small. We've been helping them out as much as possible, and they're having family come and visit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Usually, I've made blankets for my friends' babies to go with their shower theme, but since this baby came before we'd had a chance to plan a shower for her, that didn't work out. However, I really wanted to make her something now that she's arrived. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At first, I thought of making a tiny blanket, since she's so tiny, out of leftover bits from other blankets I'd made. However, I didn't have tons of leftovers, even for a tiny blanket, plus nothing was really grabbing my love. Then the idea of Supergirl popped into my head. This seemed especially perfect for this tiny little fighter. I immediately went on an Internet quest for Supergirl flannel or fleece. This turned out to be surprisingly difficult to find; in fact, I only was able to really find one place that had it -- <a href="http://www.hancockfabrics.com/">Hancock Fabrics</a>. I ordered 1 yard, and then waited anxiously for it to arrive.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpf2tX9YzDRwZR-XOjkU6yCCb4IBXQWPO57gSgb1e0ayyKR1Po4_62GJRSaWRzJXQZ0NoxfISwGDf-_GytoK1A6ZRbEBgGR1UEqmuvRQ7zrSHoozRIIZWJJd32UNNRuATLfl31_gAk59Tl/s1600/01_fleece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpf2tX9YzDRwZR-XOjkU6yCCb4IBXQWPO57gSgb1e0ayyKR1Po4_62GJRSaWRzJXQZ0NoxfISwGDf-_GytoK1A6ZRbEBgGR1UEqmuvRQ7zrSHoozRIIZWJJd32UNNRuATLfl31_gAk59Tl/s1600/01_fleece.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The other blankets I made had a micro-fleece back and edges with flannel in the middle of the front. Since the Supergirl fabric was fleece, my initial plan was to use that as the back and edges and get </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a plain </span>either dark pink or purple flannel for the middle front. In fact, I even purchased purple flannel and JoAnn when I was there getting fabric for <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/09/standing-in-hall-of-fame.html">Zach's birthday present</a>. However, once the Supergirl fleece arrived and I laid the two fabrics out together, it just wasn't doing it for me. I thought about putting a smaller square of the fleece in the center of the front, surrounded by the purple flannel, but that didn't seem right either. So I changed my plan to instead put the Supergirl fleece in the front and get a micro-fleece for the back, like I had done with the other blankets. I excitedly took a small piece of the fleece and went to Hobby Lobby to check out their selection. I was kind of planning to get purple to tone down the pink-ness, but I didn't really like the look of that. Instead, I chose a light pink rose-patterned micro-fleece. The rose pattern is subtle and mostly just gives it a fluffier look. The fabric was super sheddy, but once I washed it, it was fine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I cut the micro-fleece to 4'x4' and the fleece to 3'x3'. The freshly cut raw edges of the micro-fleece started shedding again, so I washed it again. Then I followed the same instructions as <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-gift-for-baby.html">my first blanket post</a>, and voila!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSbyvV_DzMOEP7RyGpHEStKsM1IOlpQtg15EDw_Ys3SVV5ZikYdytU-SnW8bnoAOyysmrb_OxyEQKRpysaQIfucdFhvYC-K353pcNFC2cbP1YycrN2BV6H90RCSaCCPB_Gfz_gSdsrTJd/s1600/02_finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSbyvV_DzMOEP7RyGpHEStKsM1IOlpQtg15EDw_Ys3SVV5ZikYdytU-SnW8bnoAOyysmrb_OxyEQKRpysaQIfucdFhvYC-K353pcNFC2cbP1YycrN2BV6H90RCSaCCPB_Gfz_gSdsrTJd/s1600/02_finished.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I hope my friends like it and don't think it's to pink! It will be awhile before the little baby can have the blanket in bed with her, but until then, it can sit in her NICU room and inspire her to grow big and strong and bring optimism to her parents.</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-85547938046149798442014-09-27T07:15:00.000-07:002014-09-27T07:15:22.824-07:00standing in the hall of fame<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another year has gone by, and it's time for Zach's birthday again. He heard a few weeks ago that, coincidentally on his actual birthday, he would be inducted into his high school's hall of fame! In light of this, it seemed especially appropriate that I frame some of his track medals for his birthday. This is something that I've had in mind for awhile. He's had one shadow box of medals hanging in our room, but it's been looking pretty sad. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a picture of it, so you'll just have to trust me. The medals were attached to the cardboard back with velcro, which peeled off on some of the larger medals. My initial plan was to just figure out a better way to attach the medals, but when I took the frame down and looked at it, many of the little bendy parts that hold the back into the frame had broken off, so I wasn't convinced of its long-term last-ability. Since I wanted to frame more medals, I just got an extra to replace that one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zach showed me the boxes of his medals. He identified the most prestigious ones and helped me sort them by years.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CWeUeKYk9E3OZWJSbDfiGDQIt-LR0fbYkcZ-l-YW4RPokZIdMra5JEyCMR_8h0Tb0szBbdn-t9BNIjMQrMDbU4yf9eH72WroBDBGg4jcPvcusyaS6sTTzuc3zu4t1Jy3c7R9NjrnEfPc/s1600/01_box_of_medals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CWeUeKYk9E3OZWJSbDfiGDQIt-LR0fbYkcZ-l-YW4RPokZIdMra5JEyCMR_8h0Tb0szBbdn-t9BNIjMQrMDbU4yf9eH72WroBDBGg4jcPvcusyaS6sTTzuc3zu4t1Jy3c7R9NjrnEfPc/s1600/01_box_of_medals.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had some foam left over from <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/04/upholstery-with-pretty-handy-girl.html">my cushion project</a>, so I decided to use that to pin the medals to. I borrowed an electric knife to cut up the foam. I didn't do a very good job of cutting even strips, but once they got covered with fabric, you couldn't really tell. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswxQBt9npzlp1YWyLSGrp-dMWGf0Lm9QvlT8_bxILv_4cjz50KWx8dNOJQW3i9Y2w1xPNZBcz3Pe-01RW1mCxQxk15ZCtGur6AG7J7EEgqhOydLpXi4Z8QDuKcKUqBvi73zN3M76wnvCa/s1600/02_foam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswxQBt9npzlp1YWyLSGrp-dMWGf0Lm9QvlT8_bxILv_4cjz50KWx8dNOJQW3i9Y2w1xPNZBcz3Pe-01RW1mCxQxk15ZCtGur6AG7J7EEgqhOydLpXi4Z8QDuKcKUqBvi73zN3M76wnvCa/s1600/02_foam.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4GnVKTA9vGVO8dvaMG9JHAt_r2z3Up9pBbnK9wUz01kEF9wVyJGzb_OHExvfdHYTzv1M-lE_YpGuBvANyJgkxa-8gpctVdeIWQJ4Mg6DinuIOtP-y_DG52ToApPhIVsSOqD_VEToAIF-/s1600/05_layout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4GnVKTA9vGVO8dvaMG9JHAt_r2z3Up9pBbnK9wUz01kEF9wVyJGzb_OHExvfdHYTzv1M-lE_YpGuBvANyJgkxa-8gpctVdeIWQJ4Mg6DinuIOtP-y_DG52ToApPhIVsSOqD_VEToAIF-/s1600/05_layout.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of fabric, I covered one with leftover fabric from my <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2013/04/blackout.html">curtains</a>. For the other three, I picked up some red, white, and blue fabric to match the medal ribbons, most of which I removed. I thought that not having all those ribbons would give the displays a cleaner look, but I still wanted to pay homage to them. I also ended up incorporating one ribbon in each of the shadow boxes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wrapped the foam pieces in the fabric and hot-glued it in place. I also glued on some of the medal ribbons. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCORbsJRa9udPPw7KHgldwBtQnB6ya4HLGPj-vqTRRQJiynqa5_bNn-B-3born9eH69vHgYcoJO8nlNnvv0OId-DlzkNbGZ-_J8wEPwtwp0wFDUkQWYToslH12Lxolixcq1bLIKAP0K74g/s1600/03_covering_foam1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCORbsJRa9udPPw7KHgldwBtQnB6ya4HLGPj-vqTRRQJiynqa5_bNn-B-3born9eH69vHgYcoJO8nlNnvv0OId-DlzkNbGZ-_J8wEPwtwp0wFDUkQWYToslH12Lxolixcq1bLIKAP0K74g/s1600/03_covering_foam1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I pinned on the medals. Pretty simple :-) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HJA-4RlAy1S3qLY0Z8oQmzC-zZjLWx0xDYZ_xa6hyphenhyphenTsP7HDSgTsEUDpfci4tr5xeXkkmKuHMbgXh1BK1YmPY6oiB4XDuC-QVTcaftTbW3O59HdAoXyRIlWlfnTF2kWKaLCR5Yn3demQN/s1600/04_box1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HJA-4RlAy1S3qLY0Z8oQmzC-zZjLWx0xDYZ_xa6hyphenhyphenTsP7HDSgTsEUDpfci4tr5xeXkkmKuHMbgXh1BK1YmPY6oiB4XDuC-QVTcaftTbW3O59HdAoXyRIlWlfnTF2kWKaLCR5Yn3demQN/s1600/04_box1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82LNQ4hX7o906o5tUeXNKY7w703p4eaq_TN-x6X5Hy_0g09eM3iQ_VJRK52NXTHG5PdNArRAih4r3C-FADJ1KDspWKveog4ZOlCTbM7eU9Zmpu-SHzKXylRdGh9Z4qomxA6nUgtqsf5Wv/s1600/06_blue_box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82LNQ4hX7o906o5tUeXNKY7w703p4eaq_TN-x6X5Hy_0g09eM3iQ_VJRK52NXTHG5PdNArRAih4r3C-FADJ1KDspWKveog4ZOlCTbM7eU9Zmpu-SHzKXylRdGh9Z4qomxA6nUgtqsf5Wv/s1600/06_blue_box.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WICxDO94nFJdx_VD0HxcQyh5TNgJkqfu0gg1sv3XIFyN5gU-cdEajPVTbQR2ebP2kQ0hpDYmHcjrHNg3MDUC0m2yVJoPafVOSMYljFu_mw2d2hp7v1N9avvxgGKNqVVisevdmj9TgQWC/s1600/06_red_box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WICxDO94nFJdx_VD0HxcQyh5TNgJkqfu0gg1sv3XIFyN5gU-cdEajPVTbQR2ebP2kQ0hpDYmHcjrHNg3MDUC0m2yVJoPafVOSMYljFu_mw2d2hp7v1N9avvxgGKNqVVisevdmj9TgQWC/s1600/06_red_box.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyRCPADTEV31CmWG7tDTx6_ZlQq2MPU8ww2Q6EuGUh4fz6ewsBhnymZeqB3scooLBNrAZXBynYy6lEoXkDtBnALl3HDQJHo434UQ9yI3b7QPCEJoEGnC-Tb00PFEVE21WxiTjOJtBpLLq/s1600/06_white_box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyRCPADTEV31CmWG7tDTx6_ZlQq2MPU8ww2Q6EuGUh4fz6ewsBhnymZeqB3scooLBNrAZXBynYy6lEoXkDtBnALl3HDQJHo434UQ9yI3b7QPCEJoEGnC-Tb00PFEVE21WxiTjOJtBpLLq/s1600/06_white_box.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one will get hung back up in our bedroom, and the other three will be hung in Zach's very large walk-in closet. Maybe one day I'll do all the rest of his medals too, but he does have a lot! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here's Zach getting his plaque for the hall of fame. There was a little ceremony at the school Friday evening with dinner, and then he got to be introduced before the homecoming game on Saturday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-44064465519609056092014-09-25T17:13:00.000-07:002014-09-25T17:13:38.415-07:00why i believe in animal behaviorists<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wrote <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-cats-are-not-hellish-enough-for.html">here</a> about our cat problems and how I had a pet behaviorist come out to the house for a consultation. The primary things we concluded were that Dodger likes to go out in the open where he has infinite escape routes should his little brother decide to come stare at him and that there was a possibility that the cats didn't like their litter anymore. She made a few recommendations: move all the boxes back upstairs to the cat room, add another box, put at least one box right in the middle of the room, and replace the litter in a couple of the boxes with potting soil. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After some time, I determined that Dodger was not at all interested in the soil and that, although Oliver would use it, he didn't seem to have a significant preference over the clay litter. I would eventually switch those boxes back to the litter we used to use for the first 3-4 years of the cats' lives, which is a corn-based litter. We had switch from the World's Best Cat Litter to Cat Attract at some point after Dodger starting having problems. At the current time, Dodger again has little interest in the corn-based litter, but Oliver will use either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After replacing the carpet on the stairs and moving all the boxes to the cat room, we no longer had a problem with Dodger misbehaving. Oliver was another matter. In fact, he suddenly got worse, peeing in the living room and dining room. Every night, I would walk around the dark house with a blacklight to figure out if and where he had been bad that day. Due to the sudden change in behavior from Oliver, I took him to the vet. She didn't find anything obviously wrong with him, but had me bring him back a couple of weeks later for stomach x-rays, which turned up nothing. Having ruled out health problems, I emailed <a href="http://www.helpingpetsbehave.com/">Mary</a> again to schedule another visit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We walked around the house again, with me pointing out all the areas of Oliver's transgressions. I described in detail his changes in behavior, including both the peeing and the fact that he no longer sat on my lap and snuggled in the evenings like he used to. After all this discussion, Mary said, do you think he just needs a little box down here? One of the key pieces of information seemed to be that, much of the time, I caught Oliver in the act of misbehaving; he was in the living room, hanging out, and instead of climbing upstairs to use the litter box, he would just pee on the floor. I was hesitant at first at the idea of putting a litter box on the living room/dining room floor, as I was afraid that Dodger would then start going on the floor nearby, as had been the original problem with having a litter box in the powder room. I also knew Zach would hate the idea of having a litter box anywhere out in the open or near where we might eat. However, after some more talking it out with Mary, we came up with the plan to put a tiny litter box that Dodger could not possibly fit in, filled with the corn-based litter that Dodger doesn't like, in the corner under Oliver's cat tree where Dodger doesn't like to go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next day, I went to Target to buy a tiny litter box. I had the dimensions of the cat tree base where the box would go. I was planning to get a small storage box, but ended up finding a silverware box that was the perfect size.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAz_pNvbKN3omh1LsNxiwKryWROeyCjmAZW6pLC7EfZvkEfKPYP9p0m8GBSc6M7gskO6fN_UTNRnhE02AECaj39NOmm6ecZiLXJ-_C4S7I92W1bXn_3wcr_EjlHWKltuTnj3GbolAZ8vNU/s1600/olivers_special_litter_box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAz_pNvbKN3omh1LsNxiwKryWROeyCjmAZW6pLC7EfZvkEfKPYP9p0m8GBSc6M7gskO6fN_UTNRnhE02AECaj39NOmm6ecZiLXJ-_C4S7I92W1bXn_3wcr_EjlHWKltuTnj3GbolAZ8vNU/s1600/olivers_special_litter_box.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's been over a month since getting the new tiny litter box. Since then, Oliver has only had one accident, and that was because I failed to clean his tiny litter box, so he went on the floor right next to it. So as long as I keep on top of cleaning Oliver's special box, I think we're going to be happy cat parents. I am so relieved to finally have this under control. It had gone on for so long, and I had tried so many things before calling in Mary. When I first got Oliver his special box, I was still checking around with the blacklight every night. Not finding pee seemed so improbable, it was hard to believe the box was actually working. I didn't want to get my hopes up at first, but it's been long enough now that I'm willing to call this solved. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm so grateful to Mary. While, in the end, her solutions seem pretty simple, I couldn't have arrived at them on my own. For all the Internet research I had done, all cats are different, and things get more complicated when you have two cats, each with different preferences. It seemed like whenever I'd make a change that was better for one cat, things got worse with the other. Now we have two happy cats and two happy cat parents! Thanks, Mary!</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804141351201060151.post-30821977703956096202014-08-15T06:58:00.002-07:002014-08-15T06:58:35.983-07:00a new place for coats<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is another project that has been stewing around in my head for a long time. I really like wall-hung coat racks, and I like the idea of a place to display some little things in the entryway, so when I stumbled upon <a href="http://remodelingguy.net/2010/02/make-this-beautiful-coat-hanger-shelf-illustrated-how-to/">this post</a>, it was just the sort of coat-hanging decorative shelf I wanted. And then it took me several months to get around to actually making it. Partly it took me so long because I don't own the necessary tools, and I don't like to impose on my friend too much, mostly because he usually helps me with my projects, which is really nice, but I know he has more than enough of his own house projects to work on. Also, other things kept coming up that seemed more time-critical. However, as mentioned <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-new-home-for-thread.html">here</a>, I had my friend's tools living in my garage for awhile, so I finally got around to this project. The project instructions I found online consist of a large piece of crown moulding, two boards, and a smaller piece of moulding for a decorative bottom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first thing to do, of course, was to pick out the moulding that I would use. There was a lot of looking at existing moulding in our house, on door frames, baseboards, and the fireplace mantle. Then there was a lot of looking at options on <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/">homedepot.com</a>. I picked out a 9/16" x 3 5/8" crown moulding for the top of the shelf. It looked good in the picture and was available in the store. A lot of the moulding options online are not available in stores, which I find very annoying because moulding is, I feel, one of those things that is better to see in person. I went to the store and found that, then walked around the moulding aisles looking at all the options for a smaller moulding for the bottom. There actually weren't that many choices, in the end, so I just picked one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tutorial indicates that the top shelf board should have a rounded front edge. It briefly mentions cutting or sanding the edge to make this. I didn't have appropriate tools for cutting it, and sanding sounded like a lot of work, so instead I bought a piece of half-round moulding and glued and nailed it to the edge of my board.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBW4k2EEtnnZs62pfW7ZZuo6fP2l0ce_5ImWLHAco5a2cqZuyeJCT9jCwkxpTobRELhubQOE63WZgE2jX9__oehIkFOsjF-lx_QlThsOq2wKoXByYwEaSAAnSaryR9auOuhLeaAzppnH4/s1600/01_rounded_edge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBW4k2EEtnnZs62pfW7ZZuo6fP2l0ce_5ImWLHAco5a2cqZuyeJCT9jCwkxpTobRELhubQOE63WZgE2jX9__oehIkFOsjF-lx_QlThsOq2wKoXByYwEaSAAnSaryR9auOuhLeaAzppnH4/s1600/01_rounded_edge2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, I glued and nailed the back piece to the shelf. It seems I was really focused on this project and forgot to take many pictures. I apologize. Next, I primed all the wood. The crown and bottom moulding pieces were pre-primed, so I primed all the bare wood before attaching those pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHUH7knryFc#t=473">this video</a> that shows how to cut crown moulding to get the correct mitered angles. Basically, you set the miter saw at 45 degrees and hold the moulding as if you were holding it against the wall, only upside-down. This turned out to be really hard. I couldn't seem to get uniform cuts so the corners would line up nicely. When my dad was out helping with the stairs (which you can read about <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/07/trading-carpet-part-1.html">here</a> and <a href="http://visiblehousesoul.blogspot.com/2014/08/trading-carpet-part-2.html">here</a>), he helped me make a little jig to hold the moulding in place to get more even cuts. Then I was extra glad my dad was there because gluing and nailing the crown pieces together turned out to be a two-person job. My dad put glue on two pieces and held them together while I used my 23-gauge pin nailer to put a couple nails in to help hold things together while the glue dried. Then Dad helped me hold things in place again while I used my 18-gauge brad nailer to attach the crown to the top and back of the shelf. Things weren't quite square, so there were some minor gaps. At first, I thought I could cover it up during the painting process, but in the end, I ran a line of caulk around all the seams where the crown met the shelf.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After painting everything with the same white gloss I used on our trim, it was time to attach the shelf to the wall. I used a stud-finder to locate and mark the studs. I had hoped I could get things to line up such that the coat hooks could cover up the screws holding the shelf to the wall, but no such luck. I used 2.5" #14 wood screws. Zach held the shelf in place while I drilled pilot holes and put in the screws. We couldn't get the screws to go in flush with the wood, so I borrowed a special countersink drill bit from my friend and went back and redid all the holes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuu7IDPZZb0UCHPRrIrF_piEB3zIhC4wWLHsiZWQ3K1GrJ1ajzGyRl4yXVf4xkdYLDC4_ZGGrmvWpoh6Bot9AIIImhIbAC3s-yhDk-5t2035cb6oYE-niBsm0rFJsCsth98Ue-LhNLtpH/s1600/shelf_on_wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuu7IDPZZb0UCHPRrIrF_piEB3zIhC4wWLHsiZWQ3K1GrJ1ajzGyRl4yXVf4xkdYLDC4_ZGGrmvWpoh6Bot9AIIImhIbAC3s-yhDk-5t2035cb6oYE-niBsm0rFJsCsth98Ue-LhNLtpH/s1600/shelf_on_wall.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The picture above only shows four screws, but I added two more in the middle stud. After the screws were all in slightly below flush with the wood, I filled over them with wood putty. I had to do a couple of coats to get the holes filled in well. After that was all dry, I painted over the holes for a seamless look. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I ended up getting the coat hooks on amazon.com. I looked at Home Depot and Target, but they had pretty limited selections, and I didn't see anything that I like very much. It was annoying to have to put my project on hold until the hooks arrived, but it was worth it. I marked the screw holes for the hooks before putting the shelf on the wall, which made it easy to lay them all out, measure, and get them all aligned properly. Then after the shelf was screwed to the wall, it was just a matter of drilling pilot holes and screwing the hooks on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This project definitely goes in the category of more work than originally anticipated, mainly due to the crown moulding. I'm really pleased with how it all turned out, though it has made me less interested in any other crown-related projects for awhile!</span>teresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884233484253217479noreply@blogger.com0