Worse for Wear: Painted Rug

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Wow, it’s been a while since our last Worse for Wear post.  Let’s visit the chevron rug I painted for the boys’ bedroom.  Just after I painted it in the summer of 2010, it looked like this.

Way back then, I admitted I liked the look of the rug, but not the feel of the crunchy paint.  Because of the crunchiness, I thought we’d have peeling paint and more flakes than a dandruff shampoo commercial.  Surprisingly, the painted rug has held up wonderfully.  Sure there are a few small spots, but still nothing terrible.  Like this little dot.

And this slightly larger patch where a little boy had an accident.  Ben scrubbed the rug (hence the slightly worn paint), then poured baking soda to help with the smell (thus the white circle).

If you recall, I got the rug for $13 because there was an extremely run down section.  I’m happy to report the paint is actually helping this part.

So, it’s staying in the bedroom until it’s trashed or we find a better rug.

If you’re thinking about a similar project, I can say this holds up better than anticipated.  I think the key is using a darker rug and oil-based paint.

What’s your worst rug experience?  A spill?  Wear from use?

P.S.  Ben moved into this house eight years ago today.  Two and a half years after that, we got married and I started taking over the house.  Haha.

Safety Dance; Safety Book

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One month ago, after meeting up with my blog pal Jen and local readers, we offered up a Goodwill Challenge.  I bought a thick hardcover book.

I know, it’s not much of a make over, but I’ve always wanted to make a book safe.  A 15 cent book is a good tester, too.  Jen’s challenge was an even better excuse to get started.

First, I separated the first few pages and the front cover, keeping everything bound with binder clips.  Then I mixed plain ol’ Elmer’s glue with a little bit of water and brushed it all over the edges of the book.  Mod Podge would work for this, too, but I only had glossy and I wanted this to look as realistic as possible.

With the edges glued together, I put a few pencils between the front pages and the glued pages.  To help the pages dry tightly, I popped Ben’s jug of wine on top.  Twenty or so minutes later, the glue had completely dried.

To get started cutting, gather a pencil, ruler and a sharp utility knife.  Draw a border on the front page (I used the text as my guide).  Use the ruler to cut a straight edge, going through as many pages as possible.

Pull the pages out and keep on cutting.

Don’t stop now.  Cut along the edges.

As I cut, my edges got messier and messier.  This doesn’t matter.  It will all be covered up.

After about 15 minutes of cutting, I had removed enough of the inside to fit my iPhone inside and close the cover.

Once you’ve hollowed the book to the depth you’d like, cover the inside edges with the glue mixture.  Spread more glue along the top of the hollowed border and let one page out of the clips.  Set the page down and cut out the inside for a clean top page.  Put something heavy on top to dry.  Now you’ve got a handy book safe to keep all your worldly possessions inside.

I have to admit, after cutting to the iPhone depth, my new camera arrived and I quit working to fiddle around.  And I haven’t gotten back to cutting yet.  But you get the idea.

Now, let’s do the Safety Dance.

Have you ever made a book safe?  Wanted a book safe?  What’s your favorite book?

Paint it Up, Paint it In

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Let me begin.  I came to win.  Battle me that’s a sin.  I won’t tear the sack up.  Punk you’d better back up.

That’s right, I got some painting done in a few painting sessions last week and over the weekend.  I thought of House of Pain the entire time, especially when I told E he’d better back up.  He has a tendency to lean against the cabinets (or climb in them), getting wet paint on his hands.  That’s what we get for having an open floor plan.

Anyway, back to the painting.  The bar cabinets in the living got a coat of Behr’s Vermont Cream Two in One paint, the same paint we used for the upper cabinets in the kitchen.

True to my nature, I was in a hurry to get the cabinets painted and did a few things backwards.  Like painting before I had filled and sanded the screws in the sheet rock.  It wasn’t a big deal though, I just got a head start on the cabinet painting.

I decided on white because it matches the entertainment center cabinets and the white below the chair rail in the rest of the living room.  (And your votes pointed to white)  For better flow, we agreed to paint the wall part white to mimic the chair rail.  The real truth?  I’m the one painting and I was lazy and didn’t wait to dig out the gray paint and tape off the cabinets.  So everything got a nice coat of white.

If you’re wondering what the boys do during my painting sessions, see exhibit a:

While I’m talking to them, they play in the living room, make a giant mess.  The kitchen doesn’t get as much action, but you can see I’ve neglected put off cleaning until cabinet painting has come to a close.

After one coat of paint on the cabinets, I broke down and filled the screw holes.  I let everything dry, sanded smooth, filled any holes again.  Let it dry, sanded smooth, vacuumed up the dust and painted another coat of white paint on the cabinets and wall.  Then again.  And yet again.

I was so excited to pull up the tape.  And that’s where I got a little annoyed.  I used Frog Tape along the edges, which did limit paint seepage.  But the Behr paint is so thick and dried quickly (which can be good) which made it impossible to pull the tape up while the paint was wet.  So little chunks of paint peeled off the cabinet right along with the tape.  I guess I’ll have to remember that and peel the tape off one small section at a time.

Enough of my whining though.  Did you notice Ben installed the shelves in the cabinets?  And do you see how nicely the bar stools pop against the white wall?

But that’s not all the painting I finished.  No siree.  I painted the half wall and the white chair rail walls around the back door.

No more Frankenwall.

It’s nice to see that wall a solid color again.  No more nicks, nail holes, or mismatched trim.  Plenty more trim painting to do, but I’m waiting until Ben sands and paints the ceiling.  Then I’ll have the pleasure of painting what feels like miles of crown moulding and casement.  Sometimes painting in phases is annoying; cleaning up each time can get old, but it also has benefits.  By limiting myself to small areas, I can get painting done quickly (often during nap time) and I don’t have to keep the boys away from the entire house.

Do you like to get all your painting done in one go?  Or do you work in small sections like I do?  Did you do any painting this weekend?  Install any shelves?  Maybe you sat on the couch and watched the football games?  Cough Ben cough.  Okay, he didn’t watch the entire game, he did install the shelves and started sanding the ceiling and walls.

Gimme a Giveaway: Scissors, Paper, Mouse

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This giveaway is no longer accepting entries.  See who won here.

One of our newest sponsors, Scissors, Paper, Mouse, has an array of bright, funny, and cheap artwork.  And there’s something for just about every room in your house.

Rock at Picking Clip Art would be perfect in an office.

Sew Freakin’ Awesome fits a sewing or craft room.

Hang Home Sayings Melody in your entry to greet everyone walking through your front door.

Teach your kids it’s okay to be different with Don’t Give a Hoot.

When Life Gives You Lemons is a good kitchen reminder.

The colors in Don’t Give Up are perfect for Valentine’s Day, but would look great hanging year round.

The Goods: Any print from the Scissors, Paper, Mouse Etsy shop.

To Enter: We ask that you please subscribe to Our Humble A{Bowe}d.  If you don’t want to receive e-mail notifications, that’s fine.  Let us know if you follow us through Google Reader or another form and it will also count.  To subscribe, click the “Sign Me Up!” button under “Be the first to know.”  Once you’ve subscribed, leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: Tell us your favorite office supply.  Do you collect pretty paper clips?  Maybe you’re more of a magnet person?  Perhaps a pretty tape dispenser floats your boat?

For additional entries:

1. Add Scissors, Paper, Mouse to your Etsy favs, come back and leave a comment telling us what your favorite item is.

2.  Like Scissors, Paper, Mouse on Facebook.  {Bonus: Like through the Etsy shop (below the shop banner) and receive a 25% off voucher code!}  Be sure to leave another comment to up your chances of winning.

3.  Like Our Humble A{Bowe}d on Facebook, come back and leave another comment.

Contest Closes: Thursday, January 26th at 11:59 pm, central time.

Number of Winners: Three!

Ships: Anywhere on planet Earth.

Other Info: We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, January 27th.  Good luck!!

P.S.  Enter the code OURHUMBLEABOWED at check out to receive a 20% discount!

Reader Write-In: Birds of a Feather

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You know that saying, “Birds of a feather flock together”?  Well, it seems that’s true for reader Jessica and myself.  Jessica saw our bird, tree, and feather gallery wall and liked it, so she created her own gallery wall.

Here’s what Jessica said:

I commented on your “Birds of a Feather” gallery wall a few weeks back.  After that, my husband and I decided to create our own gallery wall. I posted about it on my tiny little blog (homebegins.blogspot.com). I started the blog this past summer when my husband and I transferred to a new city for his job. I have been so inspired by your blog and others that I have recently decided to devote more time to it. Slowly but surely right?! 🙂 

Anyway, I posted about our gallery wall, you can check it out here. I didn’t intentionally plan on this, but our gallery wall looks SO similar to yours.

While we were arranging the frames, we saw a bare spot in the bottom corner. I love what you did with the flowers on your wall so decided to do something similar. I found small plates at Goodwill (5 for like $2!) and I am STILL amazed with how much they mimic the look of your flowers.

For our first attempt at a gallery wall- we really like it!

One benefit of the gallery wall is it helped us disguise the thermostat. Previous to the pictures, it was just a white thermostat on a tan wall and it stuck out like a sore thumb. Now, you hardly even notice it!
Another cool thing about this wall is it becomes a conversation starter when people come over. Such as, “why in the heck do you have a picture of a random Google Map on your wall?!” 🙂 

I never would have thought to do a gallery wall or use Goodwill frames if it hadn’t been for you and all the other blogs I love to read! Thanks for your help and inspiration!

Didn’t Jessica and Brandon do a great job?  I love the asymmetrical layout, the personal art, incorporating the thermostat, and how cheap the project was; only 35 bucks!  For a quick change, they could swap the art, or keep adding to the arrangement.

What do you think of Jessica’s gallery wall?  Do you have a gallery wall in your home?  Want to be featured as part of our new Reader Write-In series?  Send us an e-mail at ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com.