Progress Report Week 29: Floors, Stairs, Blides and Curtians

Not a whole lot of progress last week. There has been a lot of snow to shovel and a visit from family! This morning the sun came out for a bit so I scurried around and took a couple of photos.

 We have curtains in the living room and dining room! Such a small change, but it really makes it feel like a livable house instead of a construction zone. The curtains are from Ikea. At seventeen dollars a pair I figured I couldn't go wrong. The curtains are ordered from Amazon. I had to search a bit to find an hundred inch long rods that weren't jumbo. These came with curtain rings and are a nice sized five-eighths around. 

 As you can see, lots of snow! The front windows give you a good view to keep an eye on the neighborhood!

 In the back bedroom, I put privacy paper on the door window instead of a blind. 

The poor stairs have seen a lot of use. And a lot of different carpets! I have been prepping them for paint. Can't wait to see how they turn out!

 I was really nervous the entryway floors weren't going to turn out very good. But they made it! This is between the first and second coats. And I just put the second coat on this morning!

 They need to dry a little, but aren't they oh so shiny! I have been working on a post with my method of shellacking/refinishing floors. Hopefully that will be up on the blog next week.

Brick House Update: Floors (still!)

My how time flies! These first few weeks of the new year have been packed full. These pictures were taken almost two weeks ago now! We had a couple of moments of sun and the first coat of shellac was dry on the living/dining room floors! A very exciting moment!

It doesn't sound like a lot at first, but when 1200 sq. ft. of wood floors need to be scrubbed, scrapped, shellacked, sanded lightly and shellacked again it ends up being a lot of work! It felt like a really long process and I am so excited that the second coat went on a few days ago!

They are certainly not perfect. There are still scratches, dents, discolored spots and stains, but they are a far cry from where they started! I am really happy with how they turned out.

The front entry is the last floor left. It is quite worn (and dirty!) Since this picture I have finished scrubbing it with denatured alcohol and have also given it a scrub with soap and water. It is looking better. We will see how well it turns out. I am hoping to get at lest one coat on before the end of the week.

 The sun was coming in so pretty I couldn't resist a few more pictures! This is the upstairs hallway. You can see there is a bit of water staining and discoloration here too. But for being 100 years old they are looking good!

The middle bedroom floors.

And we have blinds! It has made such a difference to have window coverings! Last Saturday I also got curtains up in the living room and dining room. Makes it so much more homey!

In other news, the laundry room sink is almost plumbed in, we have replaced all the outlets to white ones, planed the top of sticky closet doors and prepped the stairs for paint!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Merry Christmas Friends!

I hope your day is filled with family, friends and peace!

I have a few more Christmasy pictures to squeeze in before the new year!  Here is my tinsel Shiny Brite wreath from last year re-invented. I couldn't figure out a good way to store it with all the ornaments attached so I took them all off at the end of the year. But I figured I would want to do something different this year anyway. The little red metal bell was this year's inspiration. At some point I had picked the bell up at an estate sale and it floated around the house most of the year. Now it is it's time to shine!

Another estate sale find (the same sale I got the aprons from in my last post!), was this set of mini Shiny Brites. I was so excited to find them as I knew they would be perfect for my metal tree!

I love looking all the different designs.....

I think this one might be my favorite! 

I am not sure if I will be back until after the first week of January. I have the week between Christmas and New Year off and am hoping to get the Brick House done! 

Christmas Bells and Gingham

When I got out the Christmas decorations it remined me that I had picked up a couple aprons at an estate sale in the fall. And one was a Christmas apron! I love the bells on it!

Large bells and tiny bells...… It is a little hard to see the seam, but it has a curved pocket. I love discovering all the small details!

The other two aprons are gingham and well loved with quite a bit of staining. I couldn't decide between the two, so decided I needed both!

I don't think I have ever seen ties sewn this way before. So easy to sew and a nice touch!

Such simple embroidery on the pocket, waistband and hem, but so cute!

Someone really took a lot of time and care making these aprons. There is even handsewn decorative rick-rack on the ties!

I love the use of the two sizes of rick-rack! 

Are you getting ready to tie those aprons on? I have a few things that need to be baked last minute and I think it will be fun to the Christmas bells apron!

Pink Christmas

It is probably no surprise to anyone that my room is decorated in Pink for Christmas! I was very excited to get out my pink Shiny Brights. In the old house I also hung them in my windows, but when I was upstairs they just felt like too much in the windows. 

One of the projects I was working on before Christmas present making is a patchwork cover for my down comforter. I am so excited with how it turned out! It is not quite all the way finished, but hasn't stopped me from using it! I love down comforters, there is nothing quite as cozy.

Sometimes just a few decorations go a long way. So after hanging the ornaments in the window, my little Shiny Bright corsage on the mirror and crocheted snowflakes on my door I called it good. (Plus my dressing table has turned into a sewing table and is heaped with projects and fabric!)

Christmas Upstairs

Mandy has had her room decorated since the beginning of November. She said she was in the Christmas mood early! We have had so much fun decorating our "new" spaces this year.

This little wooden cut out nativity was from JoAnn Fabrics. A new addition to Mandy's collection and so cute!

A couple of years ago Mandy knit an advent calendar. The ornaments are so cute and little!

A sneak peak at Mandy's room! Such a cozy room. One of my favorites are the little straw ornaments in the frame.

Even the closet got a little Christmas! As you can see, these are now plant shelves.

Mandy has a lovely snow globe collection and now she has more room to spread them around!

Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will be back with my room decked out!

Elf on the Shelf

Aren't they the cutest? We have a small collection of elves that pop up in a different place each year. This year they seemed to find the kitchen the comfiest!

I think it was in November that I decided to finally move my milk bottles (they were still upstairs in Mandy's room!). So most of the kitchen shelves also got rearranged! For what better place for milk bottles then in the kitchen! 

 My milk bottle collection started with finding a couple at our local antique shops and then finding a few in Ohio when we would go to visit our grandpa. This one Mandy brought home from Vermont when she visited our aunt. I was trying to collect a bottle from each state/town I had been. It is really hard to find milk bottles in Texas though...…

 This little elfin always hung on our tree growing up, she is my Mom's.

 This bottle was the one that really started my collection. I found it in my Grandpa's garage in Ohio. Love the name of the dairy! The strawberry sugar pot is also a memento from my Grandma. She collected strawberries.

 I made sure I put this bottle on the lowest shelf at eye level. It always makes me laugh! 

 The larger milk bottles I put up on the shelves over the stove. With a few Shiny Brights and an elf tucked in among the glassware it is quite festive!

This week is looking like it will be a lot calmer than last week. Most of the presents are finished and packages shipped. Now I am contemplating baking another batch of ginger snaps! They are so fun to make and eat!