Month: October 2011

Etsy Favs: October

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We’ve been pretty busy the past month, so I haven’t added a ton of new items to my Etsy favs, but there sure are some goodies.  Let’s get started.  First up, a beautiful water color painting turned pillow cover from artist Michelle Smith.

I’m loving the soft autumnal yellow of this Forsythia art print by Shannon Blue Photography.

How pretty is this Purple-Pink Agate Necklace from Sumiko Shop?

I Make Pretty Things All Day.  Well, I try, and so does Yellow Heart Art.

Cute cards make perfect art.  This quirky What I Wore Today card from Near Modern Disaster would look cute behind glass.

I love thunderstorms and interesting clouds.  This Seascape Ocean Thunderstorm painting by Stormscape Studio captures the perfect storm.

And you know my love of birds, so I was attracted to the Early Bird Pendant by Amy Perch like a moth to a flame.

Just a small serving, but there’s plenty of oogling to be done.  Now, I’m off to paint some cabinets.  Hopefully we’ll have some progress to share soon.

Our Humble Sponsors: October

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Today, we’re going to shower our two sponsors with some virtual love.  Big hugs and kisses to IHeart Organizing and Samantha Kay Jewelry for sponsoring this little web home of ours.

Jen, my best blog buddy, has been hard at work finishing her flooded basement.  I loved her house before, but I think this second chance is even better than the original.  She’s switching up the layout, finishes and adding more of her bubbly personality to the space.

I’m already head over heels for her studio, which was her boys’ play room.

She’s using the space more efficiently, too.  An old, seldom used sitting room will become the new play room.  And I think her kiddos are going to love it when Jen’s done working her magic.

As if that weren’t enough, I’m in love with Jen’s Etsy shop of organization  tools and goodies.

Samantha Kay Jewelry is a new Etsy shop, but chock full of beautiful accessories. The Mary Kay Cadillac Necklace is beautiful and simple.

The Lil Jon Necklace is interesting and unique.

How about this Cinderella Necklace? So pretty.

I really love Samantha’s interesting jewelry designs and creative names.

Two amazing sponsors, two great Etsy shops, and one blogger keep this humble blog running. Thank you so much for your support and sharing your creative gifts with the world.

P.S.  We’ve decided to double up posts on sponsor shout out days.  Check back in later this afternoon.

Gimme a Giveaway: Ara133 Photography Winner

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Here in Montana, we’re having a lazy, rainy Friday.  Right now, I’m watching Everett run laps around the kitchen.  I might work on a fall/Halloween craft later today.  Maybe make a batch of carrot soup.  We’ll probably work on the kitchen cabinets again this weekend.  Who knows.

I do know one thing for certain, and that is the winner of the Ara133 Photography Beautiful Journey print set.

 Thanks to Random.org, our winner is number 111, Lindsay!  Lindsay’s most beautiful journey has been motherhood. It’s not always easy, but it’s SO rewarding!  I couldn’t agree more.  There are days when I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing, not even the dishes.  But, when Vincent tells me a funny story or Everett says a new word, I realize I did do something.  My boys are growing and thriving, and I’m growing with them.  Yes, that was extremely cheesy, but true.

So, what are you up to this weekend?  Enjoying a crisp fall day at an apple orchard?  Baking delicious fall goodies?  Working on your house?

It’s a Hot Deal

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Pun intended.  We’re chugging along on the kitchen renovation.  When I say chugging along, I really mean we’ve been spending money.  So far, we’ve purchased clearance hardwood flooring, ordered a custom apron front stainless steel sink, a range hood (details to come, it should be here this afternoon), and now a beautiful stove.

Because we’re knocking down the wall between the kitchen and living room, we’ll need a low profile range.  To maximize the space, we chose an all-in-one slide-in range.  At first, we thought we’d buy a GE Cafe dual fuel range, to the tune of 2700 bucks.

It has six burners, a large oven, and the lower drawer is another oven.

Ben researched ovens more and stumbled upon the KitchenAid Pro Line dual fuel beauty for $2250.

At first, I thought it was a down grade.  Only four burners and the lower drawer is only a warming drawer.  Boo.

Ever the researcher, Ben started looking around town.  A local shop gave him a price quote of $2044.40.  That’s better.  Trying to save even more money, Ben asked about Sears’ price match policy, thinking they would match and beat by 10%.  Sears can only beat competitors by 10% on in stock items.  Our range is a custom order.  However, they were happy to match the price.  So, we ordered the range on Wednesday, September 28.  We should get it October 11th.  If this were a fairy tale, we could have lived happily ever after; perfectly content by saving nearly 700 dollars.

Luck be a lady, on Sunday, I happened to check the Sears website to get a link for this post.  That’s when it happened.  Sears had a one day Family and Friends online sale, including 15% off appliances.  The list price of the range was $2204.99.  Subtract 15% and our range was on sale for $1874.24.  What?!?  I showed Ben.  We decided it was worth a shot to call Sears to see if they would honor the sale price.  After very little trouble, the sales rep agreed to credit us $170.16.  I’d say saving $824.86 over the GE, or $625.75 over the list price of the KitchenAid is no down grade.  It was fate.  We were meant to buy this range.  Let’s hope we love this baby.  No, we haven’t seen it in person…

As if that weren’t lucky enough, that same day, I went to Wal-Mart.  (That’s not the lucky part.  I loathe going to Wal-Mart)  I went to buy a gallon of cheap paint to test cabinet colors before we spent $50 per gallon for the good stuff.  I ordered Wal-Mart’s brand, Color Place and finished my shopping.  When I went back to grab my paint, I saw it was a gallon of Better Homes and Gardens paint, by Glidden.  Apparently, Wal-Mart didn’t have any satin Color Place paint, so they gave me the Glidden gallon, normally $21.97 per gallon, at the Color Place price, $14.27.

Sunday night, Ben painted some of the color on the cabinets, which I showed yesterday.  Monday morning, I checked to see if I like the color.  I did, so I went back to get three more gallons.  (We’re planning to paint the interiors of the drawers and cabinets with this paint to save a little more money.)  No new shipments of Color Place, so three more $22 gallons for $14.27 each.  That my friends, is how we saved more than $200 ($200.96 to be exact) in 24 hours.  I’d say that is better than Black Friday.

What’s your best deal?  Have you lucked out on an appliance sale?  Maybe you’ve used the same gray we’re using?  Sherwin Williams Pewter Tankard, anyone?

Ben the Builder

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Our boys are fans of Handy Manny, not Bob the Builder, but building better describes what Ben was up to.  Maybe we could call his cousin/apprentice, Sam, Handy Sammy.  Last Friday, Ben bought twelve sheets of 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood.  You see where I’m going with this, right?  Yes, cabinets are built.  Kind of.  The boxes are assembled.  Before Ben could start cutting, we had to do a lot of measuring and some bickering.  Both indoors and out in the garage.  The measuring, not bickering.

After tons of cutting, Ben had a stack of plywood to piece together like a three-dimensional puzzle.  A line of glue around the edges first.

Followed up by several nails to hold the sides together tightly.

After each cabinet piece was assembled, Ben checked to see if everything was square by measuring diagonally each direction.

Surprisingly, building nine frames only took a few hours.  Of course, they’re far from finished, but here’s the super rough version of the peninsula, on the left, with the lower sink cabinet to the far right.  The cabinet on top will be divided into two with doors.

Just so you can get an idea of how huge these are, here’s Vincent modeling the coffin cabinet.  (Just to clarify, we joked that Ben was building coffins because these cabinet are so huge.  I have no intentions of tossing Vincent in one, other than for this picture.)  Sam (on the left) is a little over six feet tall.  Yeah, I won’t be able to reach the top shelf without a chair or stool to stand on.

And, here’s what the stove side will look like.

Yesterday afternoon, I primed the insides of the cabinets.  Afterward, I got a raging headache.  We (meaning Ben and Sam while I ‘supervised’) also cut pieces for the drawers.  I know these boxes are far from finished, but it’s a start.  Still to do:

  • Build drawers and prime and paint the insides
  • Build two by four bases for the toe kick
  • Install the drawers, then build drawer fronts
  • Prime and paint the drawer fronts and visible outsides of the cabinets
  • Install in the house, the add the face framing for a seamless look
  • More priming and painting

Speaking of painting, here’s a glimpse of where we’re headed.

Color me excited.  Literally.  We saved some money on the paint, too.  More pricing details coming tomorrow.

Do you and your spouse bicker about little details?  Have you remodeled a kitchen?  I think planning a DIY kitchen remodel should be part of marriage classes.  If you can successfully plan a kitchen together, I think you can make it through anything.  Haha.