Duck Slippers

I just made the cutest pair of little slippers ever!

This is a pattern I got off Whoopdwhoop, that crafty swapping site I've mentioned before.  Peek a Boo patterns created this pattern, and the minute I saw it, I knew it would make the PERFECT baby gift for friends we went to law school with at the University of Oregon, home of the Ducks!  (Get it?  Duck slippers?  Ha!)  They were quick and easy to make, and the instructions were clear and easy to understand.

Peek a Boo patterns has lots of adorable patterns, and if you don't have anything to swap on Whoopdwhoop, you can always check out their Etsy shop.

And I didn't get compensation of any kind for this post, just sharing a good find again!

My new custom font!

Okay, so how COOL is this...I just got a font made out of my handwriting.

For a digital scrapbooker, this is the bee's knees.  One of my favorite digital designers, Stolen Moments, offers this service, and she did a terrific job.  I absolutely LOVE it.
And I didn't receive compensation of any kind for this post, just sharing a good find!

Envelope Pillows Tutorial

I am in love with the idea of envelope pillows.  It's brilliant.  Pillows you can remove the cover from to easily wash, or fold up and stick in the linen closet to make way for next season's pillows.  Plus they are super de duper easy to make.

When JoAnn had their outdoor canvas on sale 50% off a few weeks ago, I went and picked out a couple patterns I liked for this project.  I opted for outdoor canvas for my indoor pillows for two reasons.  1) I want things to look nice, but I believe in function over form.  2) I have kids.  'Nuff said.

For my first couple pillows, I chose 20" square pillow forms (by the way, JoAnn's pillow forms are 40% off this week).  These instructions will go with that, but the concept is easily adapted to another pillow size.

You need:

20" pillow form

2/3 yard fabric (mine was 54" since it is a decorator fabric...if yours is not, you may need more)

thread

1) You may choose to pre-wash your fabric (make sure you check the care instructions for your fabric).  I usually do, but forgot this time around.  Then iron (be careful not to shrink or scorch, especially if you use outdoor canvas or any delicate fabric).

2) Cut out a 21"x21" square (20 inches plus an additional inch to allow a half inch seam all the way around), and two 21"x13" rectangles (again, half inch seam, plus enough fabric for the layers to overlap, forming an envelope).

3) On the 21"x13" rectangles, fold over the longest end 1/2" and iron.

4) Fold the 1/2" you just ironed over and iron it in place again, then pin.  This hides the raw edge.

5) Sew 1/2" fold-over into place, close to the edge.

6) Pin 21"x13" pieces to the 21"x21" square, right sides together.  The finished edges you just sewed should be overlapping to form the envelope.

7) Sew all around, using a half inch seam and reinforcing at corners and over edges of envelope.

8) Clip the corners.

9) Turn inside out, press if desired.  Put on your pillow form!

Voila!  All done! Now you can embellish them however you want!

Mixed feelings around these parts

I wasn't nearly as productive as I had hoped last week.  I didn't get started painting the bookshelves, or fix my kids clothes, or get my new raised bed garden built.  It's okay.  While I wish I would have gotten those things done, I'm not going to beat myself up because I didn't.
I did take some time to create a scrapbook page.  My grandma died on Saturday, and as always, creating is a way for me to process and express what I'm feeling.  That's why I create to begin with.

Journaling reads:

Phyllis Salina Jones Burton

Born April 7th 1918

Died May 14th 2011

My Grandma just died, and I have such mixed feelings. She had been frail and often sick for many years, so it is not all that surprising that she passed away. And yet, because she has been through so much and still held on...it has come as a shock to me.

I can’t believe she’s really gone.

Since we moved back to Utah, I haven’t gone to see her nearly as much as I should have. The last time we went, all she wanted to do was hold Susie. I’m glad I took my camera to capture it.

It’s not so much that I am mourning the death of my Grandma as it is I am mourning lost opportunities to know her. I love you, Grandma. I hope I can know you better in the next life.

Template: Connie Prince

Kit: Captured Romance, Scrap Matters Collab

Fonts: LD Shelli Print and French 111 BT

Lilies in Moonlight book review

Lilies in Moonlight, but Allison Pittman

Book cover synopsis:

"He’d lost his zest for life. She was just lost. Will they find the healing and love they long for?

After a roaring night on the town, fun-loving flapper Lilly Margolis, dazed and disoriented, twists her ankle and falls into the backyard of a wealthy family where the effects of the Great War—over for more than half a decade—are still endured. Inside the walls of the Burnside mansion, Cullen Burnside, a disillusioned and disfigured veteran, and his widowed mother, Betty Ruth, who daily slips a little further into dementia, lead a lonely existence … until Lilly. Whimsical, lighthearted, and beautiful, she rejuvenates their sad, disconnected lives and blossoms in the light of their attention.
 
But Lilly, like Cullen, is hiding from a painful past. And when Cullen insists on returning her to her faraway home, their budding attraction seems destined to die on the vine. The resulting road trip becomes a journey of self-discovery—but what will Cullen and Lilly find at journey’s end?"

I didn't love this book.  It kind of surprised me, actually, because I've liked all the other books I've gotten to review from WaterBrook Multnomah.  But that may just be me, since other reviews I've seen have sung praises.  

I had a hard time liking the heroine.  I finally warmed up to her by the end of the book, but that's mostly because I liked Cullen, our hero, and wanted him to be happy.  Perhaps that should be a lesson to me about seeing the best in people...Cullen obviously saw the best in Lilly, whereas I did not.  I will say Pittman's characters felt real, believable, vivid even.  I think she is a very good writer....I just didn't care for this book.  

I think the book is supposed to be about forgiveness and redemption, which I supposed it was; however it seemed a little lukewarm. 

I did find the author's descriptions of the 1920's very interesting though.  Her research seemed thorough.    

And that's all I have to say about that.  Better luck next time!

I give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.   

Cole's Cafe

Last night we had belated Mother's Day dinner for my mom.  She loves sweet potatoes, so when I came across this recipe, I HAD to try it.

It was delicious.
Let me tell you a little about this blogger.  Nicole is a friend in my new neighborhood.  She just got this cooking blog started after numerous requests from all kinds of people.  Nicole doesn't cook from box.  No preservatives there, folks.  And she is always making up new, delicious recipes.  She's a creative cook (unlike me!), which is why I LOVE her blog.
This is another reason.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Homemade Larabars

Chicken Bruschetta Sandwich

3 Part Pull-Apart Bread

So head on over and find some inspiration.  I promise you will!

And moving on....

Happy Monday to everyone.  And I hope you had a Happy Mother's Day as well!  I had a lovely day myself.

So now that the kitchen is done, and my posts on the process are done, it's time to move on!!!!  HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!  Up next: painting all eight of my very large bookshelves.

These are laminate, so painting them is a bit trickier, but IT CAN BE DONE.  I'll tell you all about it, don't worry.  I'm also ripping off the backs and replacing them with bead board, then painting and glazing the whole she-bang.  Oh, and for the two bookshelves that have cabinets on the lower half, I bought new hardware to replace the hideous knobs they have at present.
And then once those are done, I can start decorating my house!  We have nothing on the walls.  How depressing and dull is that?!

Anyway, also on tap this week: making a job chart for my 3 year old, upcycling a couple of their clothes, and designing a new swim skirt for me (if I get around to sewing it as well, great, but let's not set ourselves up for failure, eh?).
I'll let you know how the progress goes!  Have a fantabulous Monday!

Kitchen Redo, Step Six: Decorative Molding

Following Step Five: Hardware...

Tricksy.  Learned a lot about using a miter saw, I can tell you that!
I did most of this flying by the seat of my pants (of course), but I have to tell you, after I labored and made mistakes, I discovered someone else in the crafty/DIY blogosphere who has some awesomely awesome tutorials on molding.  Emily at Nest, Nesting, Nested.  I refer you to there.  Partially because I have a head cold and can't begin to fathom explaining all of that myself.  And I'm sure she won't mind me sending traffic her way.
Anyway, just to give you a few tips of my own.
- You can make almost any kind of molding work.  I chose molding that is technically a chair rail molding, but worked wonderfully for my purposes.
- I attached 4 inch pieces of furring strips to my cabinets using brackets.

I then mounted my molding to those.
- The cabinet sides were thinner than the cabinet fronts, so I needed to stick something between the bracket and the cabinet to make sure the furring strip was flush with the front of the cabinet.  I used Popsicle sticks.   Worked like a charm.  Don't worry if they crack and splinter, it doesn't matter.  They just need to fill that gap.

- Measure and remeasure for the molding.
- When you are cutting, try using the sneaking up method "Using Your Saw Blade" in this article.  It worked great for me.
- Buy screws long enough to go through your furring strips and into the molding, but NOT THROUGH IT!  (Plan on putting the screws in at the thickest part of the molding.)
- Put a bit of wood glue on the furring strips before you start screwing.  If any drips down, WIPE IT UP IMMEDIATELY.  It's globby, ugly and won't stain.
- Use clamps, but still don't try to do this yourself, it's a two man job.
- Predrill the screw holes using a drill bit smaller in diameter than your screws.
- If needed, tack the molding in from the front using finish nails.  When it gets almost all the way in, use another nail to tap the hammer on and drive it all the way in.  Then fill it with wood filler.
- Wood filler is your friend.  It will cover a multitude of sins.  Seriously.  You wouldn't believe some of the mistakes I made in my cutting that no one would even notice, thanks to my wood filler.  We're pals.
- Follow the same basic recommendations for staining these as are in Step Three.  Be aware, this wood is different wood than your cabinets, so your stain may not look exactly the same, but it will be close enough.
- I did all but one coat of stain before I put the molding up.  Once they were up, I did another coat of stain (and two or three coats on the wood filler using a Q-tip), then the polyurethane to finish it off.

And that is that.
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Molding

Furring strips

Brackets

Clamps

Screws

Screwdriver

Drill

Drill bit

Screwdriver drill bit

Finish nails

Hammer

Wood glue

Miter saw (rent, borrow or buy)

Stainable wood filler

Q-tips

And just remember, you might (probably will) make mistakes.  (though hopefully fewer since you've been learning from mine!)  But in all likelihood, it will still turn out great, and no one will ever notice those mistakes.  Take courage!  :) If you want to do this, you totally can.  I did, after all!

If you've missed any posts in this series, here are the links for the whole she-bang:

Step One: Design Decisions and Shopping List

Step Two: Stripping and Sanding

Step Three: Staining

Step Four: Polyurethane

Step Five: Hardware

and of course, this post, Step Six: Decorative Molding
Not to mention, the Before and After photos of my kitchen.

Kitchen Redo, Step Five: Hardware

Following Step Four: Polyurethane...

It could have been easier than it was (that sounds familiar).  But anyway, first things first, choosing that hardware.  I recommend browsing some websites (Pulls Direct is where I ended up buying) to find the hardware you want, then Googling it to find the best price. I went with the Hickory Hardware Craftsman line, their round knobs and cup pulls, in highlighted oil-rubbed bronze.

Maybe you know some other great place around town to go, but don't limit yourself to the selection at Home Depot or Lowe's.  Embrace the wonderful world of online shopping!  Anyway, I first had the brilliant idea that I would just spray paint the old hinges with Krylon in oil-rubbed bronze so I wouldn't have to buy new ones.  Yeah, as soon as I took them off and cleaned them, I realized that wasn't going to work!  So I bought these hinges, also from Pulls Direct.  Can't beat the price on those babies.  Oh, and make sure you count and double count and triple count how many you need of each!  Trust me!  (On the bright side, Pulls Direct has very reasonable shipping...)
Now, installing that hardware.  Here are my hard-won tips:
- Make templates out of cardstock or posterboard, and tape them onto your doors and drawer fronts with painter's tape, so you know where to drill each time.  (Make sure you measure and remeasure when making these.)

- Choose a drill bit just a little bigger than the diameter of your screw.  Not so big that the hole would be bigger than the round part of the pull that attaches to the drawer (not a concern with a lot of cup pulls), but enough so if your measurements are slightly off, it will still work.
-  You know the saying "Measure twice, cut once"....?  Well, I would recommend measuring three times, then drilling!  :)
- I held my cabinet doors down with one arm on my counter top, and making sure it was hanging off the edge, then drilled the hole all the way through with the other hand.
- Put the hinges on the doors next.  The holes on my hinges lined up perfectly to screw them back onto the cabinet bases, but not to screw them into the doors.  So I had to drill new holes.  I put the hinge in place, then used a pen to trace each circle and drilled the holes.  If you have to do this too, use a drill bit that is smaller than your screw, and position it in the drill so it does not stick out further than the length of the screw.

This will help prevent you from drilling all the way through your cabinet door and putting a hole in your laminate counter tops (saving our pennies to replace those with granite, especially now there is a wee little hole in them!).

- Then put the screws through the holes and start twisting on knobs.  I did it most of the way by hand, then used the drill with a screwdriver bit to tighten the rest of the way.
- You'll need two people to get the cabinet doors back on.  One to hold them in place, and one to put in the screws.  We usually got the screws started with the screwdriver and finished off with the drill.  BUT BE CAREFUL.  Go slowly, or it is very possible the force of the drill could break the head of the screw off, leaving the body of the screw embedded in your cabinet base.  Which you will then try to get out by drilling more holes all around it and repeatedly yanking and twisting (and trying not to think in profanities).  If this does happen, take a deep breath, then fill up that gaping hole with wood filler and move on until it is dry the next day.  In all likelihood, the hinge will cover it up anyway, and as long as the other screws are secure, it won't matter that one of them is only anchored in wood filler.  Trust me.  (If you're really worried, do it by hand with a screwdriver.)
- On the drawer fronts, the screws must sink down into the drawer front so that nothing protrudes.  The back of the drawer front must be flush against the drawer to reattach.  This means after you drill the hole for the screw, go back with a larger drill bit, about the same size as the screw head, and drill right over the screw hole (MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS ON THE BACK!!!!!), down about an eighth or a quarter of an inch. (Or you could use a countersink drill bit, but since it was on the back of the drawer front where it wouldn't show, and I didn't want to buy one, I didn't.)

- Getting these on is much trickier than the knobs.  Put the screws through, and try to get both holes in the pull lined up with the screws, then start turning the screws to get them going.  Then use a screwdriver, and tighten with the drill.  If this doesn't work, you may need to drill a little to the left, right, or just an all around bigger hole (this is why I told you to use a drill bit that is larger than the screw..that will hopefully take care of this problem before it even happens).
- Then attach the drawer fronts to the drawers, using the same screws they had before.

And you're done with the hardware!
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Pulls (make sure you count and recount!)

Knobs (ditto)

Hinges (if your old hinges don't match your new hardware)

Drill (consider renting if you don't own, can't borrow or don't want to buy)

Drill bits

Screwdriver bit

Screwdriver

Cardstock (to make template for drilling holes)

Next up, Step Six: Decorative Molding...

Kitchen Redo, Step Four: Polyurethane

Following Step Three: Staining...

Sticky, sticky, sticky.  Other than that, it's pretty straightforward.  I recommend the following:
- Buy a couple good quality brushes.  The cheapo brushes you used for wood conditioner and stain will leave bristles behind.  If you catch them and pull them off while you're brushing it on, you'll be okay.  But trust me when I say you will not catch all of them.  You typically can peel them off once it's all dry, but they leave a line you'll have to either ignore or lightly sand and hope for the best.

So buy two quality brushes, and after each coat, clean the brush out in mineral spirits.  Then use your back-up for the next coat while the other brush dries.  And then clean out the back-up and use the first, etc.
- MAKE SURE THE SURFACE IS CLEAN!!!  I again used the brush attachment on my vacuum first.  Then wipe them down with a lint free cloth (not wet this time) to catch anything you missed before you stained.  If you don't, you will have a lovely grainy texture like the side of one of my cabinets that I missed wiping down.

I started brushing on the poly only to discover sanding dust still on the cabinet.  I quickly wiped down the rest of the cabinet, but since there was already some grit in the poly I'd already brushed on...it just got swept all over the cabinet.  And I was too lazy to wait for it to dry, sand it off and do it again.
- As mentioned before, I used Minwax in Satin.  I did two coats of poly on the cabinet bases, and the backs of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts.  Three coats on the fronts of the doors and drawer fronts.
- When they say "thin coats," BELIEVE THEM.  Nice and thin and easy does it.
- So here's a big issue: while the surface is drying, every little thing will stick to it.  Seriously.  Which makes the garage a less than ideal place to do this.  Oh well, where else is there to do it?!  Fortunately, wood grain camouflages dust pretty well, and 95% of anything that sticks to it...not even you (the toughest critic) will see.  But this means DO NOT OPEN THE GARAGE DOORS while the poly is drying.
- Don't forget that mask! Especially since those doors need to stay closed.  Open a screened window (and hope no super obvious dust blows through).
- Close the lid tightly between coats, otherwise the poly could get gummy and form a disgusting layer on the surface.

- The folks at Minwax recommend lightly sanding between coats of poly.  Good for them.  I didn't.  Again, it goes back to what you want (and if you've made so many mistakes that you are going crazy and just want the madness to end).  If you want them PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT (or if you've chosen a higher sheen), you'll want to do that.  And lightly means by HAND, not by machine, capiche?
- If you do sand between coats, MAKE SURE YOU WIPE IT ALL DOWN AGAIN!!!!
- If you don't sand between coats (you rebel you), I suggest the same basic system as I used with staining...put the first coat on the fronts.  Wait two hours, then flip them over and do a coat on the backs.  Two more hours, and flip them again to do the second coat on the fronts.  Two more hours, then flip them again to do the second coat on the backs.  Two more hours, then flip them to do the third coat on the fronts. Let them dry overnight (and perhaps even longer...you don't want the sawdust from drilling hardware holes to stick to your lovely glossy surface).

And that is that!  You've survived the polyurethane!
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

QUALITY brushes

Polyurethane

Next up, Step Five: Hardware...