The Project that never ends...Window Sills

So what are you working on this weekend?  I've been working on window sills all summer including this weekend!  I've been scraping, scraping, sanding, sanding, priming and painting...the never ending project.  It's truly the worst project I can think of.  I'd rather rip out the tile in the bathroom than do this.  It's not like it's a project that you can show off after your done.  It's extremely boring and unrewarding, but it is something that needs to be done at times.  What I find funny about this project is I asked neighbor boys to help out and I would pay them.  The boys lasted all of one hour and they never came back.  Well, I have to say, it's not a glamorous job, very time consuming and no one is lining up at the door to help me out.  The good news is, once I get them done it should prolong the life of the windows and save me money in the long run...I guess I'll see.  As you can tell I have lost all sense of humor while doing this, but I'm enjoying talking a break and blogging about the boring project.  Oh yea... REAL life can be boring at times:)  Have a great weekend!

 So here I started scraping and scraping.  Depending on how bad the windows sills are (lack of maintenance) will determine how much scraping is needed. You might need to dig out all the dry rot to reach the new wood and then fill it in with epoxies and fill in the void.  Thank goodness I'm getting to this before it became a crazy difficult job.  At this stage I'm scraping and sanding.  Then I use a paint-able caulk if I have a gap between the window sill and the stucco (In this case).  Then I let that dry and prime then paint.  This process can take days because I need the weather to cooperate with me and not rain.  This explains why these projects drag out.  Oh well, I'll feel good when they are done.  

Scraping and Scraping

Even more scraping

What I want to accomplish is a smooth surface before I fill in and prime.

Primed

All finished

Another set all finished...woohoo!

Easter Egg Topiaries

I got an email today from a follower who was interested in making the Egg Topiary's I had posted on the blog sometime ago.  I think with moving I have lost all of the "How to" direction pictures, but found pictures of the actual Topiary's in some of my picture files.  I hope seeing the picture's help with anyone wanting to make them.  They are great to have around at Easter and I have used them for years now.   I have to say going thru the pictures makes me miss Minnesota even more.  Have a great day!

 Directions:

Find bases you like

Add a foam cylinder (purchased at Craft Store)

Use hot glue gun to glue into place

Find packages of different sized plastic eggs and feathers from (Craft Store)

Hot glue the Eggs on then Hot glue the feathers on in between the spaces !

There you have it!

As Easy As (Salt and Pepper)...Ha, Ha, Ha

 

   

DIY Bedroom Office Desk...Rustic Ralph Lauren Style!

I've been wanting to redo the little nook in my bedroom for sometime.  It seems I'm always last in this house.  Well...now when I blog or do any work up in my room I'm not sitting on the bed, but rather I'm sitting at my NEW DESK....WOOHOO!  I designed this desk from scratch wanting to try a Rustic Ralph Lauren Style.   I'm REALLY happy with the outcome.  I think you will like it too!  I started this project yesterday around 2:30 and had it complete by today around 12:00 (and YES...I slept)!  So about, 1 1/2 days.

New Desk Hand Built for only $53.00 with Tax

Before...I had just put these old chairs just to get me by until I had time to fix the area!

The Process

First, I measured the area to get a ruff idea of how big I wanted the desk to be!  Then off to Home Depot to find the wood I had in mind.  After I found what I was looking for I started to compare cost and wood type to be sure I kept this desk under $50.00!  I unfortunately went over my limit by $3.00.  Oh well... I could have done worse.

The Wood I bought!

 I purchased:

 2 ~ 4X4's

1 piece ~  Birch 2X4X1

I had nails, table saw and sander at home, last minute I added birch around the sides (but, I had this in my scrape pile)!

I did find the decorative bolts 4 for $1.97 at Lowe's

 

Started building the legs!

   Next, I started building the legs!  At first I was going to try this fancy crisscross design, but then decided I didn't want the desk not to have leg room so I went with the standard leg design.  This does look different thou because the wood I used was 4X4's and they really have an impact.  I wanted a modern Ralph Lauren Design that was timeless.  I really think this was achieved.

 I bolted the legs together from the top down so no screws are visible anywhere on the piece, except for the bolts I added for "THE LOOK"!  Otherwise, this piece has clean lines!

Lilly is always the helper...NOT!

 Next, I added the top Birch piece and screwed this in from underneath as well.  Lilly thought she was helping me make this level.  I assure you she was NOT HELPFUL:)

At, this point I stood back and decided to add a 4" skirt around the tabletop to balance the ultra thick legs. After I finished the skirt, I distressed the top of the!  I took chains and a saw and "Beat" the desk up until I got the desired look I wanted.  Then I sanded the top, lightly so it blended well.

The stains I used!

I decided to get the "LOOK" I wanted I needed to mix a few stains together.  I LOVE the General Finishes Stain because the product is the easiest stain I have ever worked with.  I started with a Walnut water based stain, while the table was still wet I added the Rust-oleum Weathered Grey stain, then added the Burnt Umber Glaze effect over that and touched up with the Walnut stain again.   This seems like a lot but, I assure you it went quick.  After I let the piece dry for 4 hours I added a General Finishes Polyurethane!  Then, let it dry a bit again.  After it was dry to the touch I added the decorative bolts.   And YIPPEE... I have myself a Ralph Lauren Desk.

Here is  close-up

Here is another!

In these pictures below you can see the desk in the bedroom space.  I might add a rug at some point! But, for now I'm ONE HAPPY GIRL!  

I tried shutting the blinds for the picture but this is a hard one to get.

Ahhh. I can work at a desk in my bedroom now!  LOVE IT!

Blog away!

No desk of mine wouldn't be complete without a Tiffany & Co. BOX...lol!

Hope this gives you an idea!

 

"ROCK IT"...Literally!!

Yea, today I completed a couple day Hard-scape in the front yard.  It's rewarding, but exhausting at the same time.  I went and purchased the rock (hand picked everyone), and lugged them home, truck load at a time.  In all I have over 10,000lbs in 2 days, and moved that 10,000lbs twice so that's 20,000lbs...I call it "Tiffany's ROCK FIT CLASS" Just Joking!  But in all seriousness it's very exciting to have this project finished and the feeling of NOT having to maintain that area is SO exciting I can't even express my excitement. Here is the before and after pictures:)

This really is not a true before picture because I got done weed whacking this before I took the picture.

Love looking at all the stone at the Rock store!

Oh, this is when I REALLY get excited...The hard-scape ideas I have for this slate!  Oh, and they have a really pretty stone called COCO!  LOVED IT!  At this point I'm thinking, "Tiffany walk away from the stone"

So excited looking over to my right and seeing that area all cleaned up!  This Project makes me SMILE:)

In this picture you can just get a glimpse of all the rocks that is needed in this space!

A Pinterest Before/After shot

Curb Appeal Needed

What do you do when you buy a house that has zero curb appeal?  First thing is a major landscaping overhaul. I needed to drive up and feel like it was home and not pulling up to a bunch of scrub oak.  I feel like this house now has some curb appeal.

Is there a house in there?

You can see I started cutting the scrub oak down on day one.

The house is starting to appear!  I'm thinking to myself, "Yea, I can see it...keep going girl".

At this point I'm thinking, "How far back should I go?'  I kept going until I felt like it was visually appealing.

Then I thought, "I should make a sitting area out front, so began the patio project"!

I was liking it more and more as I went on!  I'm kinda a little determined when I want something!

Oh yea, I needed a watering system here!  So trenches needed to be dug! 

Woohoo!  Look at this patio, I even put the polymeric sand in-between the Chilton, so it looks like sand but acts like concrete and keeps the ants out as well.

Another picture...different angle.

Street view now!  Yep...more curb appeal than before!

This looks SO much better!  I feel like you can call it a home now!

Quick look photos:)

So glad I decided to add the patio!  It's a nice morning place to sit!

Restoration Hardware Love/Hate Relationship

Yes, I confess I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with Restoration Hardware.  I REALLY wanted this outdoor table, and of course I can't afford it (I'm pretty sure it would be too big anyhow), so I built my own!  This one fits perfectly on my deck and is not built for that mansion I don't own!

Here is a the process in which I built the outdoor table!

Here is Restoration Hardware's outdoor table I wanted! Notice how long it is!

Here is the process I followed by looking at the picture and knowing how high I needed the table to be by measuring my old outdoor table!

Here it is!  I hadn't started staining it yet...and I thought it was pretty here!

Here I started staining the table while I had it outside! No rain in the forecast...YEA!

It's completed and the chairs fit just like I had planned!

I added a light fixture over top and yea... my knock off is perfect!

Another picture...Let the outdoor eating begin!