DIY Backsplash

I'm a project jumper.

No matter how hard I try I just find it near impossible to start and completely finish a project. 

I think it's safe to say I have DIYer's ADD.

It's also safe to blame it all on my Dad. (Thanks Dad!) 

My room of choice this week was the kitchen. 

The kitchen has been in the "in progress" stage for a year now. 

Okay, probably longer than a year, but who's counting?

By no means has it made it out of the "in progress" stage but this little project made it one step closer. 

DIY $10 Backsplash

I've hated the backsplash for quite sometime. The previous owners used the brown paper bag technique and I just wasn't diggin' it. Not only was it ugly and dark but it also wasn't holding up very well. Here's what the kitchen looked like with the brown paper bag backsplash. 

Dark and Ugly. 

So I did what any good DIYer would do and I consulted Pinterest.

I came across the painted backsplash and decided to go for it. 

If all else failed..well I didn't really have a backup plan so thankfully it worked out! 

With the help of tutorials from Sawdust and Embryos and Sweet Parrish Place this project was a breeze. 

Materials Needed:

• Paint 
• Polyacrylic 
• Automotive Pinstripe tape (1/4th inch) 
• Ruler
• Newspaper 
• Foam brushes 

First I painted the entire backsplash a grout color. 

I happened to have a bit of leftover tan from the walls and a quart of some off-white mess up paint so I just mixed the two until I got it the color I wanted. 

(I forgot to take pictures of some of the steps..oops! I blame it on my  DIYer's ADD.)

The lighter color on the right is my grout color. I ended up letting mine dry for like a week. Of course you don't have to wait a week but definitely give it time to completely dry. 

Next I taped off my tiles. 

I'll just tell you upfront this is an EXTREMELY time consuming and tedious process but so worth it! I used 2 rolls of pinstripe tape. I technically could have used 3 rolls but I just reused instead. I decided to do the standard subway tiles which measure 3in X 6in. Before I started taping I taped my ruler off by 3's. This made the process a whole lot easier (especially for a perfectionist). 

I did my horizontal lines first. I started with the bottom of my ruler on the counter top measuring 3in up. For the remainder of the horizontal lines I put my ruler on the top of the tape and measured 3in up. I kept my lines straight places the ruler a few inches ahead then bringing the tape to the 3in mark. (I forgot to take a picture..again!)

After finishing the horizontal lines I started with the vertical lines. I put my ruler at the end of my previous tape then measured 6in and taped again. I found it useful to stick the tape directly on the ruler to get the measurement exact. (Don't forget to offset every other row of tile! Measure the first piece 3in instead of 6in)

*I was nervous leaving the tape on over night fearing that it would pull the grout paint up but luckily it didn't! I don't advise leaving it on overnight but you can if you have too. 

Now for the fun part: PAINTING! 

I used a mixture of 3 different acrylic paints (2 shades of brown and a tan) along with some of the grout color. I was really nervous about this part. I can paint flat colors like nobody's business but textured colors always make me sweat. But this was easy. I just went with it. I mixed and matched all the colors on some newspaper (because we have an excess of newspapers) until I liked the way the tile looked. 

Immediately after I was finished painting I ripped the tape off. It turned out better than I had hoped! 

Finally I coated it with Polyacrylic. I did as the directions suggested and did 3 coats waiting 2 hours in between coats. Normally I would have rushed this process but for this project I took my time. I wanted to make sure this would hold up (unlike that nasty brown paper bag stuff). It gave it a nice shine too!

And that's it. 

Easy. Cheap. Huge difference. My kinda project! 

Now to figure out what to do with those hideous cabinets. 

Happy tiling! 

Holidays and Mantles.

It's either a bit early or a bit late to be posting holiday pictures but whatevs. 

My blog, my rules. 

So here's to: 

170 days 'til Christmas

 221 days 'til Valentines Day

 252 days 'til St. Patty's Day

CHRISTMAS

2012 Christmas Tree
Theme: Burlap

DIY Lighted Burlap Bow Tree Topper

Christmas Mantle
Everything thrifted minus the cross stocking holders, Noelle the elf, and the light up house (heirloom) 

"That Noelle is something else! She was sad that the snow melted and knew the girls would be too so she decided to hang lights from their ceiling and put lots of "unmeltable" snowflakes in there. Silly girl!"

Always sneaky! 

I almost forgot our Elf on a Shelf, Noelle, came for a visit!

VALENTINE'S DAY

Of course I didn't want to take down the Christmas decor but couldn't wait get the VDay mantle up so by mid-January I just combined the two. 

And of course we couldn't forget our "love mail" boxes.

Then along came March and that sneaky, messy Doogal the Leprechaun.

But hey, he did leave this nice green bucket of green goodies!

And now we're to the present. 

The "When it's not a holiday rustic mantle."

All pieces gifted or found at Goodwill.

Lighted weeds: Christmas lights + dead weeds from the neighbors yard. (Thanks neighbs!)

Clock: Goodwill $2

Jesus wooden sign: Family heirloom 

Painted Canvas behind weeds/clock: Goodwill $1

Empty Picture Frame: Goodwill $1

Cross: Gifted

Water damaged book: Goodwill ($.50) + rain 

Rusty Lantern: Back yard

Tall Blue Vase: Goodwill $2

Candle: Already had

Light: Gifted

Total for the "When it's not a holiday rustic mantle": $6.50

*Pats self on back.

Cheers to celebrating the holidays year 'round! 

What Valentine's Day is Really About.

I love Valentine's Day.

Almost as much as I love birthdays. 

So that's a lot. 

And I don't even have a Valentine. 

Not that I couldn't have one.. 

I mean they are practically causing a riot outside my door right now. 

Kidding. 

But really.

I love everything about Valentine's Day.

From the nasty chocolates to gourmet dinners.

February 14th is by far the most precious day of the year. 

But somewhere in the midst of all this lovin' you've got the Anti-Valentiners. 

The ones who have apparently missed the memo and dedicated February 14th to their sob stories.
Well I've got news for all you Anti-Valentiner sob story tellers: 

For real.
Nobody wants to hear it.
Nobody feels sorry for you.
Just shush.

Valentine's Day isn't about having a Prince Charming to celebrate with.
It's about love.
Celebrating love.
Showing love.
Being thankful that you are blessed enough to have someone to love.
If you'd stop complaining for 2 seconds and look around you'd see why I love Valentine's Day.

Being the procrastinator I am, it's obvious that I didn't do my Valentine shopping until last night.
A bunch of people all crowed around empty shelfs hoping to find that perfect gift.
But amongst all the craziness I witnessed what Valentine's Day is truly all about.
Love.

As I sat in my car trying to catching my breath from all the madness I saw a woman walking toward her car with a buggy full of groceries. As she neared the car I couldn't help but notice the 4 smiling faces staring at her, beaming with excitement. And I'm not talking the "Woohoo Mom bought food!" kinda smile. I'm talking an ear to ear, full of love, whole heart kinda smile. The boys faces lit up as she opened the door and they handed her a completely unexpected big bouquet of roses. My heart melted. The look on their faces said it all.

Valentine's Day isn't about the presents or a fancy dinner.
Or even an unexpected bouquet of roses.
It's about genuinely loving.
Loving with every piece of your heart.

So to all you Anti-Valentiners, I challenge you to look around today.
Notice all the love?
How can you hate Valentine's Day?!

TGIF: Babysitter Style

Friday's are suppose to be the best day of the week, right? TGIF!

So first off, I get up to this:

A nice messy kitchen where dinner dishes from last night and breakfast dishes from this morning are lingering around the sink, on the table, and thanks to my clumsiness eventually in the floor.

So, I start cleaning up...

The sink begins to fill with a mysterious pink water. 

Tried running the garbage disposal but surprise surprise it didn't work. 

The water just went from one side of the sink to the other. 

So being the "Handy Jill" that I am, I decided I would just take matters into my own hands. 

Got a big pan set it under the sink and began to unscrew the pipes.

And just when you think it couldn't get much better than this.

It did. 

The mysterious pink water starts spewing everywhere. 

Everywhere as in, all over me. In my face. On my clothes. In the floor. Etc.

And to top it all off, the mysterious pink water had some nice chunks in it..

Now that I was covered in chunky pink water, which happened to smell and look a lot like vomit, I was ready to see what was clogging up the sink.

Grease. WHO PUTS GREASE DOWN THE SINK? I'm not talking just a little dab either. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if McDonalds used our sink to empty their fryers.

And then I cleaned it up...  

NOT.
Actually, I've yet to clean it up, I'm sitting at the dirty kitchen table, smelling of vomit, writing this post.. 

So when you think Monday's are bad just remember that Friday's have the same potential! 

TGIF y'all!

P.S. I think I might change my profession to plumbing.