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Easter Weekend

March 29, 2013

Karen The City House Leave a comment

We will be leaving for Star Hill in the morning.  YIPPEE!  It has been three weeks since this weekend country girl got a chance to go to the country.  My goals for the weekend:

  • Enjoy family coming up to visit us.
  • Cook steaks and sit outside to enjoy the spring weather on the deck!
  • Unplug the electronics
  • Get organized for work at my new job  Monday.
  • Visit my friend’s new house.  It is almost finished 4 miles from the lake house.
  • Spray paint the leggy-ornate table for Tara and get it  glazed.
  • Completely finish the floating shelves for my nephew. He has been very patient!
  • Paint the side tables for our bedroom then poly it.
  • Go to church in our sweet little Coldspring church.
  • REST

I will report in on Monday afternoon.  Have a great holiday.

Outside at Star Hill

Wish you were here.

Karen

 

 

The Last Day at Work

March 28, 2013

Karen The City House Leave a comment

Impact ECHS AToday was the hardest day of my career. Today is my last day at a school that I have poured my heart into. They will be with me always because they made me a better person, teacher, and principal.

How to Clean Granite

March 27, 2013

Karen The City House 2 Comments

I will admit it. We are messy up in this house from time to time. I love my granite counter tops but let me be honest, if I knew how much work they would be I would have thought twice about them, especially a light color. Granite is porous. It absorbs things. Especially greasy things, if you don’t keep the granite sealed. I sometimes forget to seal my granite regularly.IMG_1389

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Here are the most recent stains.

I used to freak out a little about stains on my granite but I have learned to deal with the stains painlessly and without spending a fortune. Our granite does not have any added color so do not do what I suggest if your stone was ever tinted.

The solution is acetone, talcum powder, and plastic wrap.

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Get a bottle of pure acetone. Don’t try to use nail polish remover. You will also need talcum powder. Pour some acetone into a bowl then add powder until it is a paste. Spoon the paste over the stain then cover with plastic wrap and tape the plastic wrap down. The granite will darken around the stain as the acetone soaks in. Leave it alone for about 12 hours. Uncover the paste then allow it to dry and sweep away the powder. It really works! Here are the same spots after removing the stains.

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All the counters are freshly sealed. Lesson learned.

Turning a Headboard Into a Faux Mantle

March 26, 2013

Karen Apartment living, Decorating, glazing, home decorating, mantle, recycled furniture, Repurposed Furniture , , 10 Comments

A young friend Elizabeth, and former student, of mine posted on Facebook a while back that she was looking for a mantle. She and a friend have moved into an apartment in Kemah, Texas. One of my favorite Texas cities. Elizabeth has a vintage, shabby, once grand now aged style.

I started looking for a mantle for her on my expeditions but wow! Even at the ReStore the small not so great mantles were north of $250.00.

I got a text from a friend asking if I wanted some furniture. The text picture looked like the furniture was wood so I jumped on it. A dresser with a mirror, night stand, and headboard. Hubby went to pick up the furniture and when it came home I realized it was not solid wood. It was particle board with a laminate over the tope that looked like wood. Even worse, the top of both the dresser and night stand had gotten wet and was swelling. I knew it would not be a project for me, but I loved the detail on the headboard. I thought immediately that it looked like a mantle.

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This is one of those projects that as soon as I drew for Hubby what I wanted he ran with it. He bought some trim, used some from the hoard, and got it done in a matter of an afternoon.

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I did not get my part done, until today.

Basically Hubby cut out a section from the headboard then divided what he cut out to use on either side to make the sides longer. He purchased some cheap pine to make a wider mantle top and fill in where the trim ended.

After a coat of Zinzer bonding primer and filling the holes with wood filler it was on to paint. I love, love, love Behr Revival Mahogany. It is the perfect vintage color of brown. I panted it several times and in different directions so that it looked old and gave the impression that layers of paint were applied over the years. I glazed it all with a charcoal colored glaze so that hopefully it looks like something that is old and may have some soot on it. Today was one of those perfect painting days. The weather here was in the high 60’s low humidity and not much wind. I was able to whip it out in almost no time. The funny thing is a neighbor stopped by while I was painting. I hadn’t told her it had been a headboard when she said “I have been looking for something like that to go behind my bed.” I laughed and told her it was a headboard that I have turned into a mantle. She said it should be a mantle turned into a headboard, turned into a REALLY COOL headboard. … How nice.

What do you think about the results? I love it with my $2.00 plaster mirror. It is going to look great in Elizabeth’s home.

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I Wish Life Was Like T-Ball

March 24, 2013

Karen family 2 Comments

My friend, The Social Planner, generously allows Hubby and me to participate in family activities from time to time.  She and her husband are fortunate enough to have her three boys living close by.  An added bonus is she has two grea daughter-in-laws.  The cherry on top is that she has three amazing grandkids who I get to love too.

Saturday afternoon we got to attend the oldest gran’s first ever T-Ball game.  He is four years old and the rest of his team is about the same age.  They are so cute.  While sitting at the game I thought that possibly T-Ball is the perfect sport.  I wish life were more like T-Ball

  • They don’t keep score.  Sadly I work in a field where we are all about the score- sometimes more than the kid.
  • Everyone gets three trys to hit a thown ball, but if that doesn’t work you get three tries off the T too. I loved that the kids get a chance to hit the ball first- but there is support if needed.
  • Your coach gets to be on the field with you.  When you are new to the game (or job, or …) it sure is nice to have someone standing out with you helping you to know what you need to do in case you get lost or confused.
  • Everyone celebrates when you score.
  • When the game is over, you get a snack.

See what I mean?  I want my life to be more like T-Ball.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.  My little buddy had a great day.  His family was there to celebrate- uncles, aunts, great uncles, great aunts, cousins and me maw and b-paw. Just wish his mom’s parents could have made it, but I know they will enjoy the photos.

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The Cheerleaders!

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There was a lot to do waiting for the ball to come.

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First “At-Bat”

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Sliding into home plate.

The Junk Fairy End Table

March 24, 2013

Karen Curbside rescue, glazing, painting, Repurposed Furniture , , , 13 Comments

When we returned from seeing The Southern Belle, we were greeted at the front door by this beauty.  The junk fairy apparently made a visit while we were gone!

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I knew that this dude was worth saving, but we just don’t have a place for it.  I know it sounds crazy but I do not sell anything I do.  When you sell things someone else is your boss.  Right now at this point in my life I have WAY ENOUGH BOSSES in my life.  Sooo, I posted it on Facebook and asked my friends if they would like it.  My friend Robin was first to reply and she wanted it green.  We settled on Behr Happy Camper.  I decided to stain the top even though it was in rough shape because I think it has a lot of character.

sanded top

Yuck. What you are seeing is after sanding it all once.

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Eventually it did sand out… well mostly it sanded out.  This is what it looked like at 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning.

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This is what it looked like at 8:00 a.m.  One coat of paint on.

Painted Green End Table

This is what our little green friend looked like Sunday morning after two more coats of paint, the top stained walnut, and a brown glaze applied.  I will poly it this week then it gets to live at Robin’s house.  I wanted to put the end table in front of the azaleas because I am bragging that we already have 70 degree weather here.  Spring has sprung.

The finished green end table

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refinished top

Technology… My Nemesis

March 22, 2013

Karen The City House 1 Comment

It has never been a secret that I am lacking int the technology department.  I cannot figure out what I have done wrong this time.  For some reason a post that I posted in January is coming up every time someone logs in and not my new posts.  I have looked at the settings but cannot figure out what I have done wrong.  Any suggestions?

A Fifteen Minute $6.00 Side Yard Spruce Up

March 21, 2013

Karen Decorating, moving, Painted Furniture, recycled furniture, The City House, using bright colors , 2 Comments

Two four year old dollar store chairs that were faded by the sun, a newly power washed concrete slab, a small table that folds up and has floated around the house for years, and a tray I found in the boy’s closet when I cleaned it out. (No idea why I put it there…)

Valspar spray paint- Tropical Oasis…what could be more perfect?

A quick spray of the chairs later, this is the result.

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Real beauties huh?

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Not too bad now. I think we will be out in them in the morning. Want to join us?

Hubby’s View on Plants

March 20, 2013

Karen The City House 1 Comment

I have just finished three days working on the yard at the city house with the love of my life, aka Mr. Grumpy because he was stuck at the city house on the weekend. I discovered something about this farm boy.

I have come to the conclusion that he categorizes plants into the following categories:
Food– any plant that produces food. This is a a good plant.
Trees- Trees grow pretty much without any care and produce shade. This is a good plant.
Bulb– Pioneers carried bulbs in their covered wagons, you can still see them sprouting where torn down homes once stood. They do not require any love and still look good. It is possible to mow over them and not kill them. This is a good plant.
Weed– Any plant that is not one of the above. These are bad plants and must be removed.

In full disclosure I told the love of my life I was going to write this. He smirked. Our back yard is now mostly bark mulch with crepe myrtles (tree), bulbs (bulb) and rocks scattered about. He even asked if he could take out the rose bush that I rooted from his family farm site. Roses, even those with a family connection, are not food, trees, or bulbs, so they must be a weed. Apparently I love weeds.

What the Junk Fairy Left Me

March 19, 2013

Karen The City House 3 Comments

IMG_1253I wanted to show you all what the Junk Fairy left on my front porch. It is a solid wood 1970’s beauty. I think I am going to stain the top, but what color should I paint the bottom? It is definitely going to be gifted once done, so if you want it, you have to tell me and what color it should be… red, yellow, green, blue, white, black or even metalic. I need a project for stress therapy.

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