kitchen revamp part 1

WARNING: This post is not for the faint of heart.  I know the thought of totally tearing up a brand new kitchen probably gives some of you heart palpitations.  Proceed with caution. Also, please note that while we certainly do use our kitchen to cook and entertain, we are not big foodies and don’t spend hours preparing fabulous meals like some. This kitchen will totally work for us because generally we can knock dinner out from prep to eating to cleanup in about 30 minutes. So, maybe not be a groovy kitchen for some, it fits our lifestyle perfectly :)   

(Our lovely builder stock kitchen)

So…you mean not everyone remodels a brand new kitchen in a brand new house? Just us? Oh. Well that’s kind of weird. Or maybe we are? The latter is probably true, but let me plead my case. It all began back in 2007, yes, nearly 5 years ago that this magazine came to our little house on Spruce Tree Lane. We oooohhhhed and awwwwwed over every last detail in this kitchen. From the white cabinets to the super dark countertops we knew this kitchen (or parts of it) would someday be ours. There may have even been a small Wayne’s World quote said (You will be mine..oh yes..you will be mine.) We’ve hung on to that magazine and still look at it frequently.

(http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/bonus/0,,1592336,00.html)

Fast forward to several years later and we finally have a kitchen worthy of this kind of greatness. You may recall that back when we were picking out some details for our newly built house, we kept our choices very basic knowing that a remodel would be in store. I figured we would live with the builder’s stock kitchen for a few years and then start working on making it our own Marshall vintage/modern, colorful, playful, whatever type thing we have going on in the rest of our house. Apparently my hubs had a different idea. I wake up one lovely Sunday morning to find this. Joey with an iron in one hand, a putty knife in the other. He has half of laminate peeled up in one section of the countertop. So...okay...guess we are getting started? That’s the good thing about my hubby. If you’ve never met him, he’s a quiet lad, unless prompted to talk about the UK Wildcats, his Derby glass collection, beer making or bourbon. Since countertops don’t top this list, it’s no wonder he didn’t tell me he was starting. But, it’s okay. I like change. So, let’s do this!

Because I wasn’t participating in this mess, I don’t have super technical steps on how to do this. If you have questions, email me and I’ll get an answer from the household carpenter.

Step 1 in the process was to completely remove the laminate from the countertops. A hot iron, the putty knife and some elbow grease seemed to do the trick. Then your countertop is this ugly redish scary mess. The rounded parts of our countertops were trimmed off with a router.

That led us to step 2 where hubs ripped down strips of plywood. Yes, you read that right. Just straight up ol’ plywood. Comes in a sheet for like $10.

He then used cement contact glue to glue the strips of plywood to the countertop.

Then came lots and lots of wood filler to seal up some gaps between the strips of plywood.

He also trimmed pieces of wood to wrap around the edges of the countertop to make it look finished.

After its all dry, sanded and smooth came several rigorous rounds of staining. Dark walnut, mahogany, dark walnut, mahogany, then ebony around the edges to give it that "smokey" look.

He then used a satin polyurethane to seal the countertops. 6 coats. Steel wool in between each coat to smooth it out. The finish is a smooth as glass.

The backsplash is a compilation of mostly vintage yardsticks we’ve been collected for a few years. We needed a few more, so Ace, Home Depot and Lowes got in there too, but we sanded them down and stained them as well so they fit in with the oldies.

The countertops should hold up beautifully and the only maintenance we should have to perform is a yearly coat of poly. We will have to be cautious about hot items on the countertop, but we’ve got trivets galore.

Are you exhausted? I am. This is only the beginning. Next post...over 30 cabinet doors and drawers to be painted. Oh and working full time, being a mom to a toddler, keeping up with other general household tasks..exhausting I tell you. So tired. Did I already say that?

let's back track...home sweet home

***Disclaimer*** I've had this post in draft mode since November.  I can't believe I haven't been better about blogging!  Sorry.  Again. 

It only took one and a half years for our dream to come true. It’s done. We are blessed beyond belief with this beautiful structure we FINALLY get to call home!

We closed on November 17th, and by November 24th we had a house full of family and friends! 22 of them to be exact! We were seriously still unpacking boxes the morning of and Joey was installing the mailbox while the turkey was in the oven. But, we got it all done and had a wonderful time. The food was amazing that everybody brought, Joey made a delicious turkey, I made lil’ mini apple pies with my handy dandy new pie maker and we had lots to toast to. What a wonderful way to break in the new house!

Now that things are settling down a bit I’ve had time to put some personal touches on things. We already finished one big project that you may remember the beginning of here. We have always wanted a fireplace, well maybe not a fireplace per say, but definitely a mantle.  I scoured the internet for a chevron tile and while I did find some that was huge and WAY out of our price range, my husband once again came up with a brilliant solution. He quite simply said, “I’ll just cut tile to make the pattern.” Whaaaat? Well, okay then, knock yourself out. And he totally knocked it out of the park. It looks AMAZING!  I owe you a more updated shot of this as well.  Maybe a little more non-Christmasy.  On the to-do list now. 

I will admit that it did scare me a bit that we had the carpet ripped up in the living room after 9 days of living there. But, the outcome is better than I imagined.

Since then we've tackled the mother of all DIY projects.  Our kitchen.  I know, I know.  We just moved in.  But, from the date on our This Old House magazine that was our inspiration, it's been 5 years of drooling over this kitchen that we've always wanted.  I've got lots to post on that soon.  It may even have to be over several posts too.  Crazy town and the most disruptive project to my life to date. 

I also owe you a quick update on my 29th year bucket list. I can’t even believe I have like 3 months to get going on some of this!!!  Better get moving a little quicker!

Cross 6 more items off of my Pinterest boards. I made this wrapped letter (wish I would have read the tutorial first), made a grouping of embroidery hoops, made bags for the Favorte Things edition at my house (more on that soon), repurposed this shower curtain into wall art, got around to making some yarn wrapped wreaths, and fashioned this cute little stand for Kate’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.

I hit up the local farmer’s market this fall for some ridiculously awesome apples for myself and gifted some baskets as well. This spring I’ll venture to Findlay to do some serious shopping.

For the last ½ of my 29th year I need to:

Take a yoga class

Run or walk (or both) a 5K

Make at least one trip to Findlay Market

Get those pictures taken! AK! Scared!

D-E-R-B-Y (the plans are in the works, must find awesome hat and outfit or fascinator?)

Get to Chicago on the megabus - plans have actually changed  for this.  My BF, is expecting her first little bundle of joy in August and she just celebrated her 30th in February.  We've made a pact that after she has the baby we are going to go to Chicago together, sans children, and celebrate our birthdays all over again. 

Start planning this glamping trip - hold the phone.  Those plans have also been altered.  After much soul searching I decided that a farm dinner would be much more up my alley.  Let's be real honest.  I don't even like camping.  Why would I want to spend a big birthday celebration doing so?  So, we are just going to have a good old fashion farm fresh dinner party, and any dad's bluegrass band is going to provide the entertainment.  Lots of long tables end to end, all the way out into the field.  Candles.  Flowers.  Bluegrass music.  Sounds perfect. 

Find some peace, somewhere, somehow…although, I do already feel a sense of peace walking into this house every night.  Ahhhhh....home sweet home.

finally, my favorite things

I remember when my group of friends hosted the first Favorite Things party.  It was back in July and we were neck deep in a trench working to get a utility pole moved.  What a nightmare that and really the whole summer was.  Anyway, fast forward to January and I finally got the opportunity to host the Favorite Things party at our new house.  Yay! 

If you are new, see this post on how to host your own Favorite Things party.  Our party this time was held at brunch and I was excited to try out lots of fun ideas from Pinterest.  One thing that was really fun was not only to spend the morning/afternoon with my favorite gals, but that we all got to actually sit down and eat.  Together.  At one table.  It was so fun to chat and drink coffee and mimosas.  We also themed this party and everybody brought their favorite beauty item for under $6.  I loved this because I think there are amazing products at the drugstore that you might not even know about! 

So, anyway, on to the pictures.  Hope some of you all have been able to host your own favorite things parties!

 ***Take a good look at that kitchen. Cause, it don't look like that anymore! Haha!

check me out on stockpilingmoms.com!!!

Hi.  Remember me?  I'm the gal with the new house and apparently the inability to find time to blog these days!!!  Gosh guys, I'm so sorry.  And I miss you!  We still are sans internet, but that's about to change! I have a new gig and I'll be doing lots of blogging soon! 





Every Friday you will find me over at Stockpilingmoms.com with a fun and frugal DIY project!  The lovely ladies that are the masterminds behind navigating the couponing world and being fabulous at the same time have asked lil ol' ME to be their DIY expert!!! 

Run over there right now and check out my first project.  Some of them you might remember from previous projects here on the Jar, so get refreshed on those and get ready for some new and exciting projects soon.  Hope you all are well and can't wait to get back to blogging really soon. 

P.S. You won't even believe what project we've gotten ourselves into...3 months almost to the day of moving in.  We are on our way to a new kitchen.  Crazy?  Perhaps :)  More to come soon! 

holiday presents for YOU!

I'm back!  It's been WAY too long since my last blog post and I do apologize!  I have so much to catch up on and I promise to do that soon, but I have more exciting stuff to tell you about now :)  On to the fun stuff!

Sara of In Small Spectacles is hosting an AMAZING giveaway on her blog!  Don't miss your opportunity to enter to win a beautiful pair of earrings!  All you have to do is follow the link below to be directed to her blog to sign up to win.  You have multiple ways to enter by following her blog, Facebook page and Twitter.  She will draw a winner on Saturday so be sure to enter! 

CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

I also have some super adorable FREE printables from Mirabelle Creations!  Stop on over to Deanna's blog and see all of her insanely awesome party ideas! 

We should have internet connection at our new house soon and I'll be back in business then!  Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season!

a little glitch

I read last week that a set back is only a set up for a comeback.  Since the quote was from the back of my Weight Watchers magazine I assumed it was in reference to personal weight goals, food or something related to that.  The quote stuck with me and I keep reminding myself of this.  So, why the set backs and comebacks?

Well....a few weeks ago on another dreadful Monday morning I got to work, powered on the computer, checked my email and jumped on Facebook.  I had a message from one of our old neighbors on Spruce Tree.  The message simply said, "Call me regarding your tenants."  Uh oh.  My heart sank. 

I called him right away and he told me that a moving truck was in our driveway over the weekend late at night.  Our tenants had left.  Vanished in the night.  Seriously?  My first thought was, how do you even do that with 2 kids? I can barely go to the grocery store with only 1 kid, let along move out of a house in the middle of the night.  Unbelievable.  Anyway, there I was 8:45 am on a Monday with an empty house and a new house that will be done.  Like soon. 

We spent the entire weekend that weekend cleaning, painting, cutting the grass and replacing the locks.  I suppose we should be thanking our lucky stars that they didn't do a lot of damage.  Although they were only there 4 months anyway.  But, a Bengals' orange and pepto bismol pink room needed to be painting along with just a general good deep cleaning of the house.  So, the house looks amazing now and its back on the market to hopefully *fingers crossed* find a buyer.  We are also entertaining the thought of another lease purchase IF things get too rough with the double mortgage situation we are about to be in. 

So, to all of my lovely readers, know anybody looking for an awesome house in Erlanger, KY?  Totally move in ready!  And, boy, are we ready to make a DEAL.

With all of that "excitement" going on we haven't been as focused and agonizing over our new house as much.  I felt like we went from 5 weeks left when the renters moved out to now we only have 2 weeks left.  Nothing like a good distraction right?  The new house has been locked up recently now that the cabinets are installed and appliances going in soon.  I did get to sneak in one afternoon and snap a few pics. 

We've been slowly getting our things organized at my parents' house so our move-out will hopefully go smoother than our move-in!  Monday we should have a better time frame for closing, but it still looks like we are on track and will have a little bit of time before Thanksgiving to get settled. 

In other news....I've been blogging away over at http://www.birdsofafeatherfair.blogspot.com/ 6 DAYS a week!  We had so many vendors send us bios that in order to have them all featured before the Fair, I've had to post 6 per week.  Crazy!  Things are coming together and the checklist is really dwindling down.  I've been having crazy dreams about the Fair almost every night!  I'm so excited and absolutely cannot wait to see everybody together in one place.  I'm telling you the shopping is going to be amazing! 

Actually, unless something super exciting comes up, this may be my last post until the Fair is over.  I may be able to pop in with a super short update between now and then.  Take care and I'll see ya'll REAL soon!

living the lulu life!

Happy Friday everyone!  If you aren't in Kentucky today, then I actually feel sorry for you.  It is October 7, 2011 and it is 80 DEGREES!!!  We don't get many days like this in the fall so we've been soaking it up at the park this morning. 

I wanted to share a link with you all today.  It's still so funny that through blogging I have a network of people who I feel like I've known forever, and really for the most part, have NEVER even met them in person!!!  However, I'm sure that will certainly change in less than a month when I will officially be meeting some of these women that I feel like I've already shared so much with!  The Birds of a Feather Fair is bringing some of these ladies together and I absolutely cannot wait to meet them in person! 

One of them is Natalie.  I first "met" Natalie from reading an old college sorority newsletter that had updates of all of our sisters.  I always love to read them to see what everybody is up to and how they are doing.  While I had never met Natalie in college because she was a few years older than me, we automatically shared a bond.  I read that Natalie was designing jewelry for her own company, Lulubelles.  I checked out her website and bestill my beating heart.  Vintage pieces mixed with modern, classic flair.  Uh...YES PLEASE!  Anyway, I emailed her right away to see if her an her business partner, Gretchen, would have any interest in being a vendor at the Fair.  They said YES!  I'm so excited that they will be a part of our show and that they are the essence of what we started the Birds of a Feather Fair for! 

Stop over at Lulubelle's blog today, The Lulu Life and check out a feature of yours truly, Jar of Vintage Buttons.  Natalie and Gretchen, you both are amazingly talented and I can't wait to meet you at the Fair!  And I want to buy everything you make.  Thanks.