Kids' room

Remember, forever ago when I decided to decorate and paint the kids room and promised update pictures?

I know, right?

Well I actually worked on and completed the project and HERE just for YOU are pictures of the finished room. Because I love you.

The challenge of this room was to pick a color-scheme that both a boy and a girl would like. And then I had to incorporate the bright colors that both kids love, with an overall look that is not blindingly bright. The husband would have let them paint each wall pink, blue, purple and red in a crazy-go-nuts festival of color, but that sort of thing makes me itch.

What I decided on was a neutral base with really bright accents. I really wanted to try a grey wall, since I had never done that before. Grey feels very fresh and modern - you can add crazy, high-intensity colors or make it very sophisticated with other neutrals. Violet has a really pretty plum bedspread that I love and it became our first accent color. I added a cool blue for Dash and then yellow because... I love yellow and grey! The paint colors are:

Valspar Spa Pool
Valspar Soft Duckling
Valspar Plumberry
Olympic Goose Grey

You can buy a 7 oz. paint sample for just a few dollars and this was more than enough for the accent pieces. I have more than half of the Valspar colors left.

This is also a design on a dime type of project because almost everything is re-purposed or re-finished. This dresser lived in my sister's room and was very 80's-fabulous. Instead of getting something new (it is a nice solid-wood dresser after all) we decided to give it a new life with a fresh coat of lacquer and some fancy, mis-matched drawer pulls. There are lots of Anthropologie-style pulls at Hobby Lobby - for about 1/4 the price!

The pennant banner is one of the few brand-new things. It took about $10 of fun fabrics, fusible fleece and bias tape to make. The valance was very simple to sew - two panels with two ruffles. The raw-edged ruffles are as easy as they are adorable.


This art wall is an idea I particularly love. I gathered up random, unused picture frames from around the house and found others in clearance aisles. I mixed in a mirror and clock for variety. Then everything got a coat of paint. The empty frames are great bursts of color, but they serve an even better purpose. Each frame is easy to take down and fill with anything the kids like - artwork, dried flowers, Lego sculptures, photographs, patterned papers...

So, fun yes?

I have skills

With the wallpaper down the kitchen looks much better. After a trip to Home Depot with my sister-in-law, I decided that a tiled backsplash would be inexpensive, easy and just what my kitchen needed.

If you didn't know this before, I have a Bachelor's degree in Geology. Does it come in handy, 8 years later? Not so much. Unless you count all the amazing dinosaur facts I can relate to my children when we visit the museum. One part of my education did actually have a practical application though - I can use a wet saw! And not kill myself! So I felt totally confident tackling this project almost-on-my-own.

I decided on this travertine-like ceramic with bronze accent tiles (the real travertine was beautiful but 3x the money and more porous - I thought it might be harder to clean). These 2-inch tiles come in 12x12" pre-spaced sheets that are oh-so-easy to put on the wall.

So go ahead and excuse the picture of my rear end. Joe thought it was funny that I was hanging off the counter trying to press all the tiles into the thin-set. Plus it's proof that I did the majority of this work my very very own self.

Remember the before? Fabulous cornflower blue and petal-pink vinyl wallpaper?


And...



Tada!!

My attempt to take control

When the electrician you've hired turns out be incompetent and walks off the job and your house is degraded to 80% power, what do you do?

You call your mom and cry of course. This is generally the #1 recommended solution. She will say consoling things and verbally abuse the electrician and offer to make you soup and you will feel better.

What you should probably NOT do in this case, however, is to wander around the kitchen while talking on the phone, start picking the edges of the wallpaper and, in your frustration, rip it down in large sheets. Because it will just get you into an even bigger project.

Also note that I shaved Bart's head. Because I had turned insane.

Have no fear though - Joe solved the electrical problems and the house is restored to full power. Also thanks to the help of my two wallpaper-removing monkeys, this project has a happier conclusion than the first one. I'm considering putting them up for hire (at an exorbitant fee of course). Seriously, give Bart a squirt bottle and Lisa a spatula and you have the Tag Team Duo of Wallpaper Destruction. They did an excellent job.

Home remedies

So I've been sick since before Christmas. It's either the same cold that has different personalities, or I keep getting new things before I get better.

In any event, cold medicine affects me in bad ways. With some I spend 48 hours in a complete haze and can't do things like drive, operate heavy machinery or walk without crashing into things. The day-time variety make me stay awake for several days. Usually I take the same cold medicine as the kids do - it seems to treat the symptoms without the side of crazy.

After a few weeks and several bottles of Triaminic Night-Time, I decided to experiment with some home remedies. Here are the results, for those who are interested (especially if you are pregnant or nursing and can't take any of the coma-inducing cold medicines!)

Experiment #1 - Apple cider vinegar and honey

Method - Mix one tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey and one tablespoon lemon juice in a small cup of very hot water. Sip it, like tea, as hot as you can stand. The acidity of the vinegar and antibacterial properties of the honey are supposed to kill any infection in your throat.

Taste - Not too terrible

Results - Favorable. The mixture was soothing on a sore throat and seemed to lessen my cough. I took it right before bedtime and either the honey or the hot drink made me feel sleepy.

Experiment #2 - Straight honey

Method - Take one tablespoon of honey, like you would cough syrup. The honey is supposed to coat your throat and relieve that annoying tickle.

Taste - Delicious!

Results - Good. While doing nothing for a sore throat, it did help me quit c0ughing for a while. In fact, Little Man can carry on with a cough for a long time. I started giving him honey instead of cough syrup and it really did seem to help. Plus it's no problem getting him to drink it down.

Experiment #3 - Honey and lemon/lime juice

Method - Mix one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of lemon or lime juice. Heat it up and sip slowly. Let it sit in the back of your throat before swallowing

Taste - Quite tasty

Results - Excellent. This was soothing on a sore throat but mostly helpful for a cough.


Experiment #4 - Cayenne pepper

Method - Mix 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon clover honey and 1 cup of very hot water. Gargle 1 mouthful and swallow. The pepper is supposed to increase the blood flow to the infected area as well as ease the pain.

Taste - Strangely not so bad. It tasted like buffalo wings.

Results - Surprisingly good. My throat really did feel better. I tried to do it a second time but the water had cooled off and it was much, much grosser. Plus you should have some Blue Cheese dressing on hand to cool off your lips. The improvement held through the night and for the first time I did NOT wake up with a sore throat.

Experiment #5 - Cayenne pepper, honey

Method - Mix 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp honey and 1 Tbsp lemon juice, heat as hot as you can stand. Spoon some into a soup spoon and very lightly sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Pour into the back of your throat. The spoon protects your tongue a little from the cayenne and the spice only hits your sore throat, not your taste buds. Hold in your throat if you can before swallowing. If you spit it out you'll get the pepper on your tongue.

Taste - If you do it right, you just get the lemon-honey taste. Don't let it cool off.

Results - This seemed to work the best for sore throat. I highly recommend

Other people recommended gargling with salt water. For some reason I can handle the cayenne pepper and the thought of salty water makes me think of being in first grade and losing teeth - it made me kind of ill. I didn't try it. Also I didn't try gargling straight cayenne pepper without the honey and vinegar. It sounded like certain death. Have any remedies of your own?

Sources: health911.com, earthclinic.com

Weatherization

As I'm writing this, I have a house full of noisy guys, dragging hoses through my hallways, climbing ladders in the hallway, shooting new insulation into our attic and possibly passing judgment on the state of our home.

How did I get into this situation, you ask? Well... it was quite easy. Did you know that Questar Gas and Rocky Mountain Power are offering rebates on insulation upgrades? And if you have both utility companies, the rebates will cover up to 100% of the cost? Sounds fishy, but it's true. The ulterior motive for both power companies is this: if they can save power here (by helping homes to be more energy-efficient) they can sell the power elsewhere (like California). They must be making a good profit from it because the rebates are excellent.

Whatever their reasoning, this sounded like a good deal. Especially since our home is a little older and could definitely use some upgrades in this department. A friend of ours - the handsome and talented Devin - measured the square footage, estimated the cost and helped us fill out all the rebate forms. Quite painless. You do have to pay for it up front, responsibly and correctly mail in your rebate forms and wait the 6-8 week processing time. I'm hoping that it all works out OK but from everyone I've talked to, it seems legitimate and awesome. Crossing my fingers!

If you are a homeowner in the Utah/Salt Lake/Davis county area and are interested in this great rebate program, please give Devin a call! E-mail me at joesgirljeri {at} gmail {dot} com and I'll give you his contact info.

Lavender Wreath

For our not-so-fancy, not-so-romantic anniversary, we went on a short and simple date. We shared a salad at Art City Trolley which has The Best Salads in the whole world. They're also the biggest salads ever so if you don't have someone to share, ask for a box right away, pack up half of it and then eat the other half (thanks for the tip Cicada).

Anyway, I've been telling Joe that I wanted to make a lavender wreath and there are lots of lavender bushes growing on the side of the road. Finding one is pretty easy... finding one that isn't part of someone's landscaping proved to be more difficult. We finally did locate a big bush that was far enough away from a driveway to pick from and got a big bunch of lavender.

You will need a bare grapevine wreath (about $3 from WalMart), florist's wire, wire cutters (or old junky scissors), pretty ribbon and a four-year-old to supervise ("What are you doing Mom? What are you doing Mom? What are you....").

First, fashion a hanger out of the wire. Good ways of doing this are here, here and here (you might have to scroll down a bit).

I used the instructions on this blog as a start for my wreath, but mine is a bit different. Separate your lavender into 10-12 bundles (depending on the size of your wreath). Leave a few lone pieces out, just to fill in the gaps. Wrap each bundle with a bit of wire. I tucked the ends of my lavender stems into the wreath so I didn't wrap any of the florist's tape around them.

Start tucking your lavender bundles into the wreath at about a 30-degree angle. Let the "fan" of the next bundle cover up the stems of the first. Move around the wreath until you get back to your starting position. Use the spare stems to fill in any empty spaces.

Tie a pretty bow with your ribbon and secure it with some glue or a few stitches. Thread wire through the back of the ribbon and use it to attach the bow to the wreath. Hang and enjoy.

DIY Shelf Project

Joe is in over his head with home-improvement projects lately. Between yard work, the garden, sprinklers that need fixed, painting and an automotive repair that resulted a truck that honked each time it made a right turn... he's got a lot on his plate. However he's been complaining that we have no headboard. Our old one was ugly and our new room is kind of short so it wouldn't fit anyway.

Still, when I got these great shelves for our bedroom (to use in place of a headboard) I felt kind of bad asking him to put them up for me. I felt pretty confident after putting up all the blinds in the kids room. Plus I found the cordless power drill. So here we go. Shelf installation for the do-it-yourself mom.

First I located all the studs in the wall and marked them with painter's tape. Surprisingly, without Joe around there were no comments like "this thing goes off wherever I'm standing..."

IKEA instructions are pretty easy to follow because they have lots of pictures, like these:


See how easy? First, you should never rock out with a large shelf as if you're playing Guitar Hero. Second if you lay the bookcase down it will inexplicably spring a leak and sink to the bottom of the ocean... so put a magic carpet under it. Finally if you can't figure out how to stack two blocks together, plug a 1,000 foot phone cord into your local IKEA center for round-the-clock help... kind of like the BatPhone!

Seriously though, the instructions are easy to follow. The shelf mount was kind of a big one and I wanted to get it level (nothing like a lamp sliding onto your head at 2am). So I taped the level to the shelf mount so that I could mark the holes without fumbling around with the level at the same time.

Try to line up the holes with as many of the studs as possible. Use drywall anchors in any place that doesn't have a stud behind it. A sales person at a hardware store (not WalMart) will be able to help you find the right drywall anchor for your project. If you go to WalMart the person wandering the hardware section will actually be trained in Produce and Intimate Apparel and stare at you blankly before walking away. Alternately you may try to buy paint and the guy at the counter will say "I'm supposed to be in the Tire Center. You might want to come back tomorrow." Because you totally had nothing better to do. Moving on...

Take a moment to admire your level shelf.

Tell yourself that you didn't want it centered anyway...

Repeat with second, smaller shelf. Decorate and admire. Although... what do I do with those lamp cords?


It is pretty painful for me to admit this... but here goes. A few hours after I finished this project (and I was oh-so-proud), Minnie decided to hang from the shelf and pulled it right out of the wall. She felt terrible and I was so sad. Fortunately nothing was broken and Joe said that not enough of the screws were attached to studs to support the weight of lamps, books AND a four-year-old. So he is going to drill holes in the metal to line up with all the studs and says that you will be able to swing a hammock from it when he's done.

So I'm not sure what our take-home lesson here is. Install the shelf yourself? Or leave it to the experts? I maintain that the theory was good. Just don't let your monkey kids swing from it.