the move!

The move is finally OVER!  The boxes are unpacked and I even spent a chunk of time on the couch yesterday.  On the couch!  Who does that??  Well, normal people do that, but life was not normal this summer. 

Our neighborhood sign - Norway Hill in Bothell is our new 'hood!

 First order of business was painting.  Purple and Blue! Oh my!  So much sister (and brother-in-law) help made this project WAY faster and more fun than it could have been. More (finished) pics of these rooms soon...

 

 

The neighborhood welcoming committee stopped by several times.  These guys are so much fun to watch, although I'm sure it won't be so much fun come spring when all the flowers are blooming.  Henry is now obsessed with looking out the window to see "Dee!"

 Grandma Mary was here to help wrangle Henry.  There was lots of book-reading, food-sharing, and following him around the yard, right Grandma?

 

 So happy to finally make this place ours!  Big thanks to all the aunties, uncles, Grandma, Grammy, Grandpa, cousins and friends that helped with the process!

sewing table makeover!

Remember how I said I learned how you should use a REALLY BIG drop cloth with spray painting? Well, I learned that in the process of giving my sewing table a face lift.

 Before : cute, but scuffed up / dirty

 During...

After!

 It's a shade brighter, but I like it.  Also, my right arm is a shade stronger - after scrubbing our brick patio for an hour and a half with a wire brush to remove the yellow spray paint over-spray.  I can laugh about it now. 

end of PSA.  Thank you Krud Kutter!

wrench bench makeover

Raise your hand if you have a collection of furniture made entirely out of old tools welded together.  Oh, hmmm, just me and my siblings?  Bet you are jealous now!  Yes, the Druffel kids are proud owners of several pieces of tool art, created by Mike Druffel.  Now a wrench bench might not be the most comfortable thing to sit on for a long period of time, but this thing's not giving out anytime soon.  Though neither rain, sleet, nor hail can destroy a wrench bench, they will cause it to rust like nobody's business.  It was high time for a wrench bench makeover! 

 Super Blahh!

 My dad always included hearts in his tool art.  This heart needs love.

I started with some good ol' scouring with a wire brush, to get the rust, dirt, and flakes of old paint off.  Then I wiped the whole thing down as best I could.

I learned all about the beauty of a spray paint handle!  These things are like $4 and so amazing!  Would also suggest using a GIANT drop cloth (or three) instead of just one small sheet.  Learned that one the hard way, but that's a different story.

A couple coats of "Royal Red" and this thing is as good as new!  Tip: don't sit on a wrench bench in shorts on a really hot day!  Unless you want a tool shape branded on your....ahem.

I made sure to hit my name-tag as well.  Love this so much! 

 So then I started looking around at all the other items in my yard....

 When I get over my new fear of spray paint I'll tackle one of these. 

living room

I painted the living room! This was part II of my summer home renovation series (part I was the dining room, seen here). I love how it turned out - the shade is "Salty Brine."

Sadly, I didn't get all of the painting projects finished this summer. In fact I got a little stressed about it. But I will need something to do next summer, right?

dining room makeover

Hey! Look at this boring, dreary dining room. Blah.

Who would allow such a room to exist in their home?
Blllah. I had Cousin Ann help me pick out some new colors to spruce up my white, white house. We picked "Live Wire" (C2 paints) for the dining room. I jumped in and got started today, finally!

First coat is done... Yowza, it's definitely brighter! I think I love it.



Doesn't the blue painter's tape make a lovely trim?

Next I'll paint one accent wall in the dining room: "Salty Brine." Wondering what color that might be? You'll have to wait to see the after pictures!

Project, Phase 3

So, you know the clearance rack at Lowe's? Yeah, the one with all the random crap? Turns out you can go there to get mistinted paint at sweet discounted prices! For example, I got this lovely gallon of latex for A DOLLAR. I give you phase 3 of my project:I have to say the shade looks better in real life. Promise. Phase 4 to come. This one might take awhile.

Project!

The weather in Seattle has been GORGEOUS. It was a beautiful day for some backyard painting projects!

I found this cute little wooden stool at Value Village.

Phase 1: Cleaning.

Phase 2: Priming.


Phase 3: Painting. To take place tomorrow...stay tuned!

And yes, I did say painting projectS - plural. Alli came over and we did Phases 1 and 2 with MANY little gems (you can see a corner of one such gem in the bottom left of the second picture). More to come about these, too!

painting party

I went to a painting party today! I was inspired by my new book "Lotta Prints". . . remember how I was going to print on everything? I wasn't kidding. Here's my utensil holder!I was accompanied by three of my fantastic students...pretty talented artists, the three of them. They looked really cute in their tea towel aprons (just finished this morning)...