Tile Tray

I have wanted to do a tiling project for quite some time now, I just didn't know how to tile--adhesive, grout, spacers, etc.  I'd LOVE to redo my bathroom and kitchen, but I knew I couldn't start with such big projects.  I even had some less than $5 tile picked out for a small project.  Then came along Chris over at Just A Girl with just the perfect beginning small tile project!  I've had a plain wooden tray on my bathroom counter for at least a year or so now to help corral a few items that always sit on the counter.  I wanted to paint it or do something to it, I just never quite knew what and, big picture, it was a project that was low on my to do list.  However, once I saw Chris's tiled tray, I knew that that was the perfect way to begin tiling, finish that boring wooden tray, and add a pretty touch to our master bathroom.  Chris posted a pretty thorough tutorial on how to do this project and I followed it fairly closely.  
First I played with the tile on the tray, including another tray because of the different sizes.  My chosen tile didn't fit perfectly in the tray and I wasn't about to figure out how to cut tile for this little project.  After playing with it, I still couldn't decide, so I went ahead and painted both trays.  Whichever tray I ended up not using I knew would go in the girls' room with their newly painted bookcase. (Their room is slowly coming together.)

After the paint was dry and I finally decided on a tile layout with a tray, I applied the adhesive/grout mix.  This stuff is great and easy to use--a lot like spreading frosting on a cake!  It does take time to set and dry. 

Also, because I was just beginning, I didn't spend money on proper tiling tools (just like Chris).  So, to spread the adhesive stuff I cut a square of the cardboard that the tile came on.  Isn't that tile pretty?

Then the adhesive needs to be scored.  I cut notches in my piece of cardboard.

Next came the fun part of laying the tile.  While deciding on my tile arrangement, I had cut my 12x12 sheet of tile in to strips because it was arranged in an offset pattern that just wouldn't work for me since I wasn't going to be cutting tile.  Working with strips was easy.  Since I was not having to lay individual pieces of tile, I didn't have to worry about spacers and just eyeballed space between each strip.

Then, because the directions on the adhesive/grout stuff says to let it dry for 24-36 hours before using the mixture as a grout, I did.  But I couldn't resist cleaning up the edges some with a damp cloth.

After waiting the designated amount of time, I used a new square of cardboard to spread the layer of grout all over the tile and in between each one.  Again, it isn't too different from icing a cake--with sandy frosting!  (My container of adhesive/grout looks like I barely used any from it.  For just under $8 it goes a LONG way!) I couldn't resist cleaning it up some since I had some chunky pieces of grout.  However, I realized the more I tried cleaning, pieces of it would come out from between the tiles.  So, take it from me, let it dry for the 4 hours it says then wipe it down.  See below how it all came off.

See in that picture above how there's still some chalky film on the tile?  That comes off super easy later after it's dried again for 24 hours.
Here she is all wiped down and shiny on the bathroom counter.

I can hardly believe that picture is just a month shy of being 5 years old! It was taken on our 5 year anniversary.

And because I couldn't resist a little staging...

Don't be afraid to learn something new by doing just a small project.  I still don't think I'm ready to tackle redoing the shower or the kitchen backsplash, but I'm ready and excited to try a bigger project...and I've got a couple in mind!

January+Snow Days=Organizing

January and organization and snow days...these 3 things seem to be going together more and more.  And so, as another possible snow day comes, I'm planning on tackling some organization projects and enlisting the kids' help.  There are oodles and oodles of organizing blogs and websites out there, but I happened upon this one and have decided to jump on the 21 day challenge (although I'm more than fashionably late!)  As I read through some of her posts, I saw her Day 12 posting: organized spice cabinet.  Hello, genius!  I have almost all my spices in containers on the shelf, but I always have to lift a spice bottle up to see which one it is.  Here's the simple ingeniousness of an organizing guru...LABEL THE TOPS!!! I do owe a label maker and put it to great use so much that I ran out of label tape and never bought more.  BUT, I have plenty of permanent markers in several colors that I can simply write spice names on the tops of all my spice bottles.  LOVE IT!!!  So, here's to another snow day :)

Coffee Table

I was given an old coffee table by a friend who got some new furniture to fill her space.  We haven't had a real coffee table at all and haven't really had a need for one. When we did need one, we made due with our over-sized ottoman.  This poor ottoman has most often been used as a trampoline though.  With the kiddos and their endless energy, not having a coffee table has been a blessing.  Not having the coffee table meant having more space to play and spread out.  However, lately we've been playing more board games (usually chess or Monopoly) and I decided a coffee table would be helpful both for storage and table space. To say our sofa is large is an understatement.  I still remember the salesman's line, "This couch is great! If you take the back cushions off it's the size of a twin bed!"  He wasn't kidding. It's huge.  It's ugly.  But it's comfy, we don't care too much if things spill on it or if kids jump on it, and it has come in handy as a bed on a few occasions.  So for now and until we have cash to buy a nice new one, it's what we've got.  Back to my new coffee table.  It was dated, but large and fit the scale of the sofa.  The table has some perfect storage for all our games and even space for baskets of books.

  

All I have left to do is put a couple coats of sealer on the top.  This project has taken MUCH longer than I had planned.  Lots of sanding and stripping.  Pictures to come!

What We Are Up To

Some of what we've been up to...

baseball (both with real bats and balls and gloves as well as imaginary),

 playing chess and other fun games,

eating lots of fresh fruit (Penelope seems to be living on blueberries alone!)

and gardening.

Yesterday we made our Summer 2010 poster. We're ready with lots of fun things to do and places to go.  Today we were able to check off several things...Slip and Slide, reading, laughing, game of tag, playing games, and Legos.  Of course many of these will be done repeatedly this summer.  :) 

A Sneek Peek and a Tour

So I wanted to show you my completed project, but my model is asleep.  You'll have to wait until morning, but until then, you can see a sneek peek

And, since I happened to take a few pictures of my workspace, you can see those too.

As I look at this picture, I can think of so many ways to organize that bookshelf behind the ironing board.  

 

Yep, that's my nice cutting table...conveniently next to the My Little Ponies that Penelope and I like to play with.

And where oh where would I be without this?  My mom's old sewing machine perches on the end of a makeshift table that I set up back in my scrapbooking days.  I still love scrapbooking and I know one day I'll get back to it, but for now it's all blogged.

Reorganizing the Pantry

 Today was the day.  About 2-3 times a year I take everything out of the pantry, sweep it, clean the shelves, assess where everything is, and reorganize.  It's a big undertaking and chore for me even though I enjoy doing it and really love the result.  The way our pantry was just wasn't working anymore.  Things kept falling off of the shelves, Penelope kept getting into the cereal (that had been moved lower so that the boys could help themselves), every time we have to feed the dog we have to move 100 things just to get to her food, it looked awful, and every time I opened the door I got frustrated.  Do you see the billowing stash of plastic bags? I always use reusable bags or get paper (reuse the paper ones for my trash bags) but somehow we end up with plastic bags.  I can't just throw them away, I have to use them at least once.  Anyway, you get the idea, MAJORLY unorganized.  So, like I said, today was the day...what else should I do on a snow day? :)
First, I made a plan of where things roughly needed to go: I knew my baking stuff could be moved higher up, I still wanted the boys to be able to get snacks and cereal by themselves, but didn't want Penellie getting them, dog food needed to be easily accessed, plastic bags be gone (I've got a pattern to make one of those nifty cloth sacks to stuff the plastic bags in to), like items with like items, and so on.Second, I moved everything out and on to the kitchen table, then cleaned the shelves and swept the floor.  Almost done here because moving things back in went pretty quickly since I had an idea of where I wanted them.  Lastly, I put a couple quick labels on the baskets so that Jaime and Alexander at least would know where to look for things.I'm not completely done, but for now it's cleaner, functional, and works. I can make it fancy and pretty later. :)
What are you checking off of your to do list?
BEFORE:

AFTER: