Light Fixtures

Oh, how I am tempted to buy like 20 new light fixtures to replace the not so nice ones in every room of our home.  I have been so good!  I haven’t even bought one yet…..OK you caught me.  I bought two but they were cheap, used ones.  So that doesn't count. I bought one for the chandelier I did for Adelaide’s room. "From the Chandelierrr" And then, this beauty that I picked up from Habitat for Humanity for $15.

Have you all been to Habitat for Humanity?  Home owners dream store.  Not to mention shopping there is for a good cause.

To my husband-“Christian I am so excited about my new light fixture!  I am going to make it look nice!  When I do where should we put it?”

Husband- “Hmmm, I say we put it in the garage.”  Along with his “Why in the world did you buy this ugly thing?”  look. 

I love him.  

The garage?!  I am on a mission to tackle all the ugly fixtures! 

Which to choose?  In the kitchen and living room we had….well…for lack of a better term “boob” lights.  I am sure there is a better name for them but I don’t know what it is.  And, well, it’s kind of funny to call them “boob” lights.  My mother would be appalled!  Sorry mom!  I did not make up calling them “boob” lights, nor was I the person who designed them to look that way! 

My mother actually proofs these blog posts for me so I am looking forward to getting in trouble for my profanity.  :) 

You know…

These actually don’t look awful.  Just not my style and they are strange on our angled ceiling.

Here we have a saggy….you know what….in our entry….I don’t hate it.  It is just not my style.  It might be my style in 40 years.  Note to self, hang on to this because I might like it when I am older.

I sanded and wiped up the fixture.  At this point, I hadn't decided if I wanted to keep the glass in it or not.  I decided to keep it in and decide later. I taped up the glass before I sprayed.  I sprayed it down with Rust-oleum.  I know I am full of surprises.  I love my Rust-oleum.  They should totally cut me a check for how much I recommend them to people.  

This fixture actually gave me a little bit of trouble.  I realized that after spraying it twice that the glass blocked some of the brassy color.  I ended up taking out the glass and spraying it down again.  I would have done this instead of taping had I realized the glass came out so easy!

I decided to leave the glass out since the glass had a green hue on the edges that aged it a bit.  I did have to convince the husband that lanterns without glass are stylish these days. Oh yes, they are.

We are both happy with it now.

For those who have been reading my other posts, here's a quick side note.  I, officially, have painted TWO rooms’ ceilings white! I did a bathroom and baby’s room. Hallelujah.  Killing the beige ceilings one room at a  time.  So this beige ceiling will be much nicer by the end of the week.

A few days after this lantern was hung, my husband found another one in our attic!  The previous owners left some random stuff up there.  We also found some bows and arrows.  I am going to have to take up archery now.  Darn.  Katniss who? Here comes Erica. :) Oh yes.

Being that this fixture was very similar to the one in the kitchen, I knew that I wanted it a little different.  I searched Pinterest for ideas and surprisingly, did not find anything that I loved. 

Randomly, when I wasn't even thinking about my light fixture, I started thinking about how I really like the look of twine.  I have a little vase wrapped in twine and I was trying to figure out why something so simple could make things so pretty.  Light bulb went off.  Ba dum chi.

I went to a craft store first and bought some rope and a roll of twine.  The twine was almost $7 and the rope $3. After that, I had to make a stop at Walmart where I happened upon twine for a dollar something.  It was the same size.  Needless to say, I bought that and returned the expensive one.

When I got home I got out my hot glue gun and started attaching the rope and twine. 

Here is how it looked at first.

As my husband was hanging this for me and I was, I don’t know probably painting something, I hear an “Oh no!”

He sure does not like to disappoint me, but proceeds to tell me that this is a huge fire hazard.  (Heart sinks)  I did not even think about the fact that this could catch on fire!  The lights were right up against the twine.

I say, “Maybe it’s not flammable!” Wishfully thinking, as I grab a piece of twine and light it on fire.  It was flammable.  So, I had to rearrange things a bit.  I actually like the new look better.  And, I am glad my house won’t burn down.  :)

Once again, this will look cooler once my ceilings are white, but I love this one!!

Moral of the Story

  Light fixtures are awesome.  Once again, I believe that you can make over any fixture.  I might even make over the “boob” lights into little chandeliers or something.  Who knows?  Since, I did buy the one fixture for $15, these two fixtures cost $22 total. This is a high estimate because I actually didn't actually need to buy the Rust-oleum since I had some left from other projects.  Also, beware of fire hazards when making a fixture over. 

Thanks for reading!

Erica

“..From the Chandelierrrr”

The title of this blog is a newer song reference, in case you are confused.  If you do not know this song then, do not worry, in my opinion you are not missing out.  It is one of those songs that will get stuck in your head all day!  Especially, when you are working on a chandelier!! Then you will absolutely feel the need to sing and it will drive you crazy.  And then, your son will start singing it at the time when it finally leaves your head and it will get stuck back up there yet again.

I knew right away, when my baby girl was finally going to have a room of her own, that I wanted to put a chandelier in it.  One wonderful thing about having a daughter for me is that all my hidden girly girlness can have an outlet.  I have never been much of a girly girl and still don’t like a lot of frill or bright colors but goodness, the enjoyment I get out of dressing up my little lady and making a girly room tells me that I am way more girly than I thought.

Here is the light that was there. 

Since I have, in case you couldn't tell, been trying to redo everything in our home that we have been in for only a month, I have had to make sure that I make every project as cheap as possible.  I had been looking online at chandeliers for Adelaide (sweet 10 month old daughter) since we started house hunting.  

I settled on a small basic one from IKEA http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20089464/ since I couldn't even find a reasonable one to make over.   This one was super simple but added the bit of bling that I wanted. When I finally decided to buy it, I went to the store and it was out of stock.  I continued to check online for two weeks to see if it was back in stock with no luck.

After that I started looking again.  I really couldn't justify dropping too much money on a chandelier, so I was mostly looking on local Facebook sale pages.  Finally, I gave up and posted on our local site asking if anyone had a simple chandelier that they would sell me.  Right away, one of my neighbors from when I was a kid messaged me that she had one.  Done. 

Here it is! 

I ordered two packs of acrylic chandelier crystals.  I was really surprised at how cheap these were on Amazon and how nice they looked! Tear Drop Crystals

I began by doing a light sanding all over the chandelier with just a piece of sandpaper. I used 140 grit but anything that will rough up the surface a bit will be fine.  Then, I wiped the whole thing down. I also, stuck a piece of painters tape over each “candlestick”.

I hung the chandelier on a hook on a shelf in my garage with a drop cloth hung behind it and draped below.   

I used this really cheap white spray paint.  It was around $3. (Just in case you do not read any further, I do not recommend this kind)

I sprayed and sprayed.  This was one  that you have to shake a lot and can’t tilt at all or it won’t spray.  I actually ended up using the whole can!  With Rust-oleum I am not even on my second can after doing a bunch of hardware, doorknobs and a light fixture.  

It did come out nice.  I let it sit for about a half hour before I began hanging the crystals. The crystals I used came apart by hand very easy.  They have metal rings between each crystal that you can just pull apart to attach however you wish. 

Now for the fun part!  I didn't realize switching out fixtures would be so easy.  It is really not as scary as I thought.  Thanks to my Dad who Facetimed with me through the process, I have changing light fixtures down!  Thanks Dad! With light fixtures, you don’t have to turn the breaker off.  As long as the light switch stays off you will not be in danger of getting shocked. An electrician might suggest otherwise.  I do not know, since I am not an electrician but I am still alive and so is my Dad who has changed a ton of fixtures in his life.  I suggest that you put tape over the switches if you are not the only one home. You definitely do not want someone flicking the light on while you are changing a fixture. 

                Once the switch is off, you can start taking the old fixture down.  Ceiling fans can be tricky because of how they are put together (not sure if this is with all fans). With this fan I had to take it all apart to get it down.  

As you can see above, I had to take all the blades off, the shade off and the motor off before I could get to where this connected to the ceiling. I might post a tutorial about how to switch out fixtures at a later time.

I found proof that the ceilings were once white.  Uhh.  This is still not a project for today.  Maybe next week I will paint them all white again…maybe. Seriously, if anyone is passionate about painting ceilings, I will let you paint mine!

This did make it so I had an awkward white spot on my ceiling.  Darn, I needed a ceiling medallion to cover it. J I grabbed one of these at Home Depot. Medallian.

I am very happy with how this came out.  Adelaide seems to like it too J

What I Would Do Different:

-I would use Rust-oleum.  The spray paint I used was definitely worth the cheap price I paid but not only is Rust-oleum easier to use, it also goes a lot further, works a lot better and is a very similar price! Rust-oleum ends up a lot cheaper if you have more than one project.

-If given the choice, I would have chosen a bit smaller of a chandelier. This one looks great but is a bit larger than I would have wanted for this space.  I actually think that if I colored it different it would look awesome in the master bedroom.  I might end up spraying it dark and putting a white shade around it and then putting it in the master.  Or putting a shade around it and keeping it in Adelaide's room.  Hmmm. We will see.  

In Conclusion:

Light fixtures are so much fun to make over.  I really think that you could make over or update almost any fixture out there!  It is cheap too!  I bought this chandelier for $20 and spent about $10 on supplies.  Not bad for $30! 

Thanks for reading!  Please feel free to comment or ask questions!

Erica

Yogurt, Granola and Almost Burning My House Down

A few months back I decided that I wanted to start making my own yogurt.  A friend of mine had gotten me interested in the idea.  She explained that it was super easy and a lot cheaper and healthier than buying yogurt.  In my mind I thought, “Nasty!”  The idea of making yogurt sounded super gross.  After thinking about it, I knew I had to try it.  We love yogurt in my house and, honestly, up until recently it was something that I could only buy occasionally.  It was such a treat for my son whenever he would get it.  He would take yogurt over candy and ice cream, weird, right?  I love that now he can have as much yogurt that his little heart desires.

I have tried a lot of recipes to find my favorite way to make it.  It is super easy, but there are a ton of ways to do it.  With having my two little ones, working part time, and doing all the other random things I do I needed a fast and easy way! 

The first time I tried to make it I misread a part of the recipe and my yogurt came out like warm milk.  Awesome.  The next time I tried a “Fool Proof Way” that required Milk powder.  This batch tasted good but had a super bizarre texture.  Like sticky.  Are you grossed out yet?  I wanted one that I could do in my crock pot, but I also did not want to keep needing to check the yogurt as it slowly got up to the correct temperature in the crock pot.

After many attempts, I found the easiest and best (for me) way to make yogurt.  I have made this about 7 times now and it has come out perfect every time.  This is saying something because it is so easy that I have actually found time to make it for 7 weeks in a row and have yet to screw it up. 

A lot of recipes for crock pot yogurt will have you wrap your yogurt up in a towel and place it in your oven for the 8-10 hours to trap the warmth.  I did it this way the first few times until I almost burnt my house down.  That will make you rethink the way you do things! 

One morning, I decided to make the yogurt and let it sit in my oven, wrapped in a beach towel, to culture throughout the day. I usually would do it before bed and let it culture through the night.

Come afternoon, I decided to cook something in the oven for lunch.  I got the oven preheating and was starting the family on their lunch, when I started to notice some smoke.  More like A LOT of smoke!  My husband was also in the kitchen when his happened.  I started yelling “Something is smoking! What’s smoking!?”  We checked everything that was cooking on the stove top frantically. Finally, I decided to look in the oven.  I had totally forgotten that I had the yogurt in there!!!!!!

Spoke poured from the oven!  I quickly reached in and grabbed out the flaming towel, ran outside and threw it on our deck.  I thought the fire went out so I went to tend to the oven (and my yogurt).  “Erica, the towel is still on fire!” my husband yelled as he ran outside and started stomping out the remainder of the flames.  Kids crying and everything.

My mom asked me later, “Why didn’t you just throw the towel in the sink that’s right next to the oven?” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think very clearly when there is an open flame in my house that is not supposed to be there.

At least I didn’t burn the deck down just left a burn mark, and guess what! My yogurt still came out perfect!  It didn’t even taste like burnt towel. This is a good recipe. 

Here it is!

Homemade Yogurt

What you need:

-A large pot or sauce pan

-Crockpot

-Towel or hoodie

-Thermometer (optional)

-1/2 cup plain yogurt. This is called your starter.  (Make sure that it has Live Active Cultures. Once you make your first batch just always be sure to save about a half cup for your next batch.)

-1/2 Gallon of Milk. I like to use whole milk and usually organic. The kind of milk you use is up to you.  I just suggest you do not use skim since it is void of a lot of the nutrition milk should have.

1.  Take out your starter and put it on the counter

2.  Turn your empty crock pot on high.

3. Fill up your sink with water and ice cubes.

4.  Pour your milk into your pot and heat it until it just starts to bubble.  185 degrees if you want to use a thermometer. Be sure to give it a stir every so often to keep it from burning on the bottom. I actually like to heat it on high because I lack patience but then obviously this requires more stirring. Up to you.  Just get it to about 185 and don’t burn it ;)

 5.  Turn your crockpot off.

6.  Put the whole pot of milk in the water to cool for about 10-15 minutes.  Make sure that no water gets in your milk!

7. After about 10-15 minutes mix a cup of the milk and your starter (yogurt) in the crock pot.

8. Pour the rest of the milk in.  Stir gently.

9.  Wrap your crock pot in a hoodie (or towel) and put it in your microwave for 8-10 hours.  The longer you leave your milk to culture the tangier your yogurt will be.  You can put it in your oven, (some will do this with the oven light on for a bit extra warmth) but if you burn your house down it is not my fault. J Side note- I have forgotten about my yogurt and left it for around 15 hours and it still came out fine.

All warm and snug in my microwave for the night. J

After the 8-10 hours give it a stir and separate it into whatever container you want your yogurt in and put it in the fridge.  I just discovered that if you do not disturb the yogurt after the 8 hours or so and just stick it in your fridge, it will still get a bit tangier.  Not bad, just tangier J I like to put it in mason jars because everything is prettier in a mason jar.  I also find it convenient but I mostly use mason jars because it’s prettyJ . (update!  Invest in a cheesecloth!! They are like 3 bucks.  After making my yogurt now I strain it all through a cheesecloth placed over a colander over a bowl.  It will take about 4 hours to strain. Just stick it in your fridge and leave it alone. You get wonderful greek yogurt!)

Healthy Granola

All you need is:

 *Oats-at least a couple cups

*Coconut oil- enough to get the amount of oats you want damp

*Honey- about a Tablespoon for every 2 cups of oats

*Dried fruit and nuts (Optional)

*A sprinkle or sea salt (Optional)

Don’t you love how I give recipes?  You probably do if you are not a recipe person. If you are a recipe person and this drives you nuts, then I apologize!

Mix this all together. 

Tip- I like to melt the coconut oil and honey in a mug in the microwave to make it easier to mix in.

Put your granola in a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Give it a stir every 15 minutes.  Note, the oats will still be a bit soggy when they are done!  They will crunch up as they cool.  I burnt my first two batches not realizing this.  Sprinkle your granola with salt if you want, let it cool, and you’re done!

 I love having a constant supply of yogurt and granola!  Every morning (mostly) we have this for breakfast topped with fruit or honey.  I also put a bunch of cinnamon on mine.

Thanks for reading about my breakfast adventures!  Hope these recipes will serve you well!

Erica

So I Painted Our Fireplace

When we first saw our house one of the first things that I wanted to do was to white wash our fireplace. The fireplace clashed with the rest of the space that had the peachy-beige painted walls and all the orangey wood!  Once I stained the mantel and painted the walls and trim I was surprised to find that the fireplace did not bother me so much anymore.  It got moved way down on my priorities.

I didn't really want to paint the brick because I felt like it was somewhat wrong to paint brick….kind of like painting wood.  So wrong!  You can tell I have gotten past this “you can’t paint wood” feeling, but brick? I decided to white wash it instead.  This sat way better with me.  When I was researching the best ways to whitewash brick, I decided that I really like the fully white fireplaces better then the white washed.  So crisp and clean looking and with two little ones making messes all over I can use all the help I can get in making my house feel more crisp and clean!

 Take note that this brick was ugly and very  low quality (at least that’s what it looks like) and putting up a cool stone fireplace is simply not in the budget these days ;).  It was a type of brick that almost looked fake because of how it was marbled.  Definitely not horrible but not great either. It actually looks a lot nicer in the pictures. :)

After experimenting with making chalk paint for my “The Chalk Paint Dresser Experiment” http://bytrialanderica.blogspot.com/2015/04/i-am-super-excited-to-share-this.html, I found that I could easily make my paint whatever consistency that I wanted, even a nice brick-like texture. 

So one night last week, I was staring at my fireplace and thinking “hmm I don’t really have anything to do tonight. Might as well paint the fireplace.”  Sometimes being impulsive doesn't work out so well for me, but it did this time! So I grabbed a can of the white paint that I had been using for my doors and baseboards.  This paint actually was a high gloss paint, which is considered a no no for chalk paint but I did not want to buy anymore paint. It actually didn't mater at all that I used a glossier paint. I took some of the plaster that I had left over from before and dumped some into the paint that I had. 

What you need:

-        

-          -  ½ Gallon of Paint (Approximately)

-          -  1 cup of plaster (Approximately) 

-         - Water with a little dish soap in it

-          -Rag

-          -Painters tape

-        -  Paint brush

-        -  Drop Cloth

I started off using approximately 1/3 cup of plaster for every 2 cups of paint (2T water optional. You can add the water if you want a less chunky consistency. 

You really have some flexibility here with the mixing.  I wanted it good and thick, so I did not add water and sprinkled a little more plaster until I got the consistency that I wanted.  I did end up adding a tiny bit of water a while later, because my paint started getting too thick the longer it sat.

  I taped the walls around the fireplace and the mantel.

Next, I gave the fireplace a quick cleaning.  This was a bit tricky due to the texture of the bricks.  I used a rag and a bit of soapy water.  I did not put too much effort into this. 

Then, I got to painting! I used just a standard paint brush that I already had in the garage.  One of the great things about chalk paint is that you do not get brush marks.  This was great for the fireplace because I wanted it to look like white brick instead of just painted brick. 

Finished product-

The texture came out just right.  It still feels and looks like brick!

This project cost a whopping $0!  I had all the supplies from my previous projects.   This might be my favorite part of the project.  Got to love free! 

What I would do different:

-         - I would have done this sooner.  So quick and easy and such a difference.

I would absolutely do this again.  I love how this came out and my husband loves it too, which makes me happy!  I did not realize the difference that this would make in the space.  The whole room feels bigger and brighter.  I actually prefer a more stone rustic look so I was not totally sold on the white, however, it would have cost a lot more to put up stone!  If you have an ugly fireplace or are just looking to brighten up a space this is something that I would definitely recommend. 

Comments and questions are always welcome!  Good luck with all your projects and thanks for reading about mine!

Erica

The Chalk Paint Dresser Experiment

I am super excited to share this project with you.  I love this project because through it not turning out right and me trying to fix it I discovered a brand new technique. In my mind, through having to fix something that didn't come out right, this dresser became, at least to me, a work of art.  Also, for all you chalk paint lovers, I have some chalk paint hacks that you will love!

I love chalk paint, however, it can be very pricey.  It is actually really cheap and easy to make your own! You just have to make your paint chalky! Of course.

 I did a lot of reading on different ways to make Chalk Paint and went with the most popular.  For all you beautiful recipe followers I measured everything …just for you.  You know, if I wasn't posting this blog, I absolutely would have just thrown some water and plaster in my paint ;)

What you need:

- 2 Cups of Paint any kind or color but as non-glossy as possible.  No glossier then an eggshell finish.  Matte is preferred and cheaper. 

- 1/3 Cup of Plaster of Paris.  This can be found at any hardware store or in the craft section at Walmart.  I got a big box for around $5.

-2 TBS of Water

Give it all a good mix and you are ready to paint.

 (FYI the picture on the right is by my island not the dresser)

This dresser was given to us by a couple that wanted to get rid of some junk.  It came with the very old house that they were in the process of renovating.  It is solid wood but it was extremely, extremely beat up. This is the dresser that is in my 3 year old boys room.  

I got to work right away sanding.  This picture is right as I started sanding and will have to do as the before picture.  Yes, we are not going to talk about how I once again forgot to take a before picture.  We have had this dresser for a few years now so if I find one I will be sure to add it ;)

I would recommend removing the hardware before you sand, but I wanted to get the sanding done while the kids were sleeping so they would not be around the dust.  I did not have time to get the hardware off and then sand.  I then gave it a good wipe down and removed the hardware. 

I have often been asked how I get so much done with little ones.  The picture above to your left is a good answer.  This is me removing hardware and, yes, nursing at the same time.  Multitasking!  I know as moms we all have those moments where we feel like we should get a super mom badge J. This is my super mom moment. I felt pretty awesome. Got to embrace these feelings when you get them because they do not last long!

One of my concerns with this project was that the dresser would come out pink.  With the slate color I had painted his room I felt like the dresser screamed that it needed to be red but with mixing plaster into the red paint I was worried it would lighten to a pink.  Well it did…a bit.  It came out a great tone but a bit more mauve then I wanted.  This was for a boy’s room.  So after painting it I knew that I needed to do something to make sure it was in no way girly.  Below is a picture from right after painting while it was still drying. 

I had some Annie Sloan wax left from a previous project so I went ahead and began waxing to see if that would darken it.  It barely did anything.  I know Annie Sloan sells a dark wax, but I have never used it.  I also was not about to go to the store and drop $30 plus dollars on it.  I decided to start experimentingJ.  I put a little dark stain (Miniwax Polyshades Espresso)and some clear wax into a small tupperware and mixed it together.

Using an old rag, I rubbed down the whole dresser with the mixture.  Sorry recipe people. I just poured without measuring, however, I ended up doing three little batches where I just scooped and poured and it all came out just right.  Just drip a little stain in your wax. Don't over think it :)

 Next, I sanded down the hardware, wiped and then sprayed the hardware with my favorite 

Rust-oleum spray....of course as it is featured in most of my other blogs :)

To highlight each drawer I sanded all around the edges.

I love how the finished product came out!!!!

What I would do different:

*Mix your Chalk paint really well and do not wait a long time before you use.  Mine ended up having some plaster balls in it.  This didn't really end up being a problem.  It was just slightly annoying.

In Conclusion:

I am thrilled with how this project came out and what I learned that I can do with my wax!  I will be putting stain in my wax in the future and definitely recommend both making your own chalk paint and dark stain.

I encourage you to try something new and do not be scared to mess it up!  Do not give up if something that you are doing does not come out quite right.  You might just be about to discover a cool new technique!  Embrace your hurdles!

Thanks for reading!

Erica