Category Archives: Simple Saturday

Jul 21

Simple Saturday: Painting An Accent Door

This week I’ve been painting all over the house, and I’ll be repainting the downstairs accent walls soon. It got me thinking, why not an accent door… It would be a fun place to try out a pop of color, and it is a quick project to paint too.

Our bedroom door (ahem and bedroom) is in need of some work, and I had aqua paint leftover from the foyer. I decided to give it a try.

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I sanded, and taped off the door around the woodwork, and the hardware too. I decided that the art-deco hardware would look cuter painted aqua, so I then just taped around the glass doorknob.

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I promise this door is going to look better in just a bit.

This little paint project only took about thirty minutes to complete, and almost a half of a quart of paint. Make sure and wait at least four hours before you paint on the second coat. I was too excited to share some photos, so I took my pics before the second coat was on.

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Please excuse the wonky lighting in my upstairs hallway, and focus on that pop of color.

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I love the contrast, and I’m so painting that woodwork as soon as I get a chance to.

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Much better lighting… The art-deco hardware looks adorable now.

I also repainted Agnes’ doors.

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Agnes’ room is painted a light pink, and just recently she told us that she likes purple now. We decided to compromise and repaint the doors a deep berry-purple.

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Two coats did the trick. I love the color too.

Now the boys want me to paint their room, and doors too. The projects are never-ending over here.

Jul 14

Simple Saturday: Setting Up A Sewing Space

In our home, I have always hoped for one thing, a sewing room… We have a three bedroom house, and currently we are one room short, so I figured it was not going to happen. We do have a large foyer though. It is the first room that you see when you walk through the front door. It is a large, open space, with a staircase, and it is a room, but it isn’t really a room. I think we’ve tried about every furniture configuration in the foyer, but it never works out. It’s been an office, an art space for the boys, a catch-all where you drop everything as soon as you enter the house, but I’m claiming it now. It is becoming my new sewing space.

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I’m using what I have on hand to set up the room. I’ve borrowed a dresser from Agnes’ room to hold all of my sewing supplies. In Agnes’ room the dresser was being used only as an entertainment center, so it wasn’t needed for storage. I think she has the largest closet in the house. James and I moved the heavy dresser downstairs, and it fit perfectly by the front door.

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The large card-table was already in the foyer, and it looked like a great surface to sew on. I love the large window that lets in a ton of natural light. It is perfect for sewing.

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I cleaned out my sewing supplies that were stashed in the buffet, and moved them to the dresser. I really need to invest in some new fabric though.

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I decorated the dresser with an antique jar of buttons, and my sewing machine too. The kitty has already claimed the spot as his favorite nap-place.

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I haven’t done too much more decorating, but I have been sewing lots of little projects.

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I  really want to repaint the new sewing room, but I don’t know if I’m going to talk James in to that one.

Jul 7

Simple Saturday: Freebie Flower Bed

Today’s Simple Saturday d.i.y. project is all about splitting out overgrown plants for a freebie garden.

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I wish I could remember just what these plants are called. I think I planted them three or four years ago. They are a pretty cool green grass, that sprouts little purple flowers, and it does well in the shade. This year they sprouted through the Winter, and by Spring they were taking over the flower bed.

I decided it was time to thin them out a bit, and transplant the extra growth to another location in the yard. The only thing was I hadn’t ever attempted this before… I was a bit nervous about this task, and I was pretty sure that my plants wouldn’t survive. I told myself though that if it didn’t work, that I would just replant them again next year.

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I gathered up my supplies…

  • I looked over the fence row, and found enough large rocks under the side-porch to create a border.
  • I had an extra bag and a half of Cedar Mulch that was also living on the side-porch from last year’s garden.
  • I grabbed a small pot to hold the transplants, a small shovel, small rake, and gloves too.
  • Also the dog joined me, she was excited about all of the digging…

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I started off at the main plants, I separated what I thought was off-shoots and new growth, and separated the plant. I took one last look at it and dug in with the little shovel. I cringed when I heard the crunching-snaps of the roots, but all was well. I dug up several large off-shoots, and enough new growth with excellent roots to plant along the entire fence row.

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I dug a few deep holes, and gave the new roots plenty of room to grow. I also watered all of the baby plants, and the main plants well. I added in new mulch to the old flower bed, and the remainder to the new bed. Luckily all of the new little plants took, and they are growing well.

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The main plants are doing great too. They have sprouted even more off-shoots, and the pretty purple flowers are popping up everywhere.

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I’m really happy that they survived my little experiment. Give this project a try if you have over-grown plants. I love my freebie garden, it has added pretty green touches to my shady back-yard.

Jun 30

Simple Saturday: Outdoor Tablecloth

I haven’t done one of these d.i.y Simple Saturday posts in a very long time.

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Miss Agnes and I were out browsing the fabric aisle the other evening, and the sewing bug bit me.

I decided to go through my remnants at home, and see if I had fabric big enough to sew a small tablecloth.

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I spotted a decent sized floral square of fabric, and it looked like it might do the trick.

It was too warm for the kids to play outside,

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so I set them up with a movie in the living-room.

I started to get to work.

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I haven’t sewed in quite awhile, so I was a bit rusty.

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The littlest ones came in about every two minutes to ask a question, and see why I wasn’t finished yet…

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I finished up the last of the decorative stitches, and I took the tablecloth outside.

We have a small table and chairs set on the side-porch, and I would love to spray-paint them. I haven’t gotten around to that project though…

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I’m really pleased with the new tablecloth, so the spray-paint project just might get scrapped for the Summer.

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Lastly, I added a few Mason jars filled with river rocks to hold the tablecloth in place. It is a little windy (all the time) here in KS, and I also didn’t want the little pup destroying the new tablecloth. I’m going to add in a few tea-lights to the jars, and illuminate them at night when we’re sitting out on the porch. It was a Simple Saturday project, and cost effective too. I had all of the supplies on hand, I just had to do a little searching.

Feb 26

Simple Saturday: School @ Home

Thade is busy at school all day, but he brings home a lot of homework. This month there is a lot of extra schoolwork going on, so the dining room has become an at home schoolroom.

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All of the first graders are participating in the Ready Set Read program, and the goal is 30 books read by April. Thade finished up his first 30 last week, and is focusing on a goal of 50. I keep a big stack of books on the buffet to keep him reading during the week. He is hoping to finish another 10 this weekend, once he sets his sight on a goal, he is one determined kiddo.

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Thade is also participating in a Spelling Bee, and he had over 250 words to study. I wrote them out on little cards so he could read through them at his leisure. We also go through them at random during the evenings, and a little during homework time after school. The box below the cards has become a permanent fixture on the dining room table. It is an old scrapbooking supply case, but it makes a great holder of all of the day-to-day schoolwork. I keep the weekly spelling lists, and calendars in it, so I can remember what’s going on for the week.

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Thade would draw 24 hours a day if I would let him, so we set him up a big desk full of art supplies. Dylan sometimes hangs out too, and colors in his coloring books. Some nights Thade will have at least an hour of homework, I have him take drawing breaks to help keep him from getting burned out on all that homework.

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It’s a few simple items, but it has really helped this big kid get all of his homework done.