Adding Shelves to My Built-In

With the top of my built-in gussied up with wallpaper it was time to get to work on making the bottom cabinet more functional by adding shelving. Just like hanging my medicine cabinet, this project also addresses both facets of my 2012 resolutions of getting organized and finishing up projects around the house.

Adding the shelves was pretty easy to do with the only trick making sure to get everything level. I started by picking up a six foot long pine 1x8 board to use for the shelves and some shelf supports from the hardware store. I measured and cut the boards to length and then held them up inside the built-in to get a rough idea of where I wanted them.

I aligned the level where I wanted my shelf to be on the left side of the cabinet and then applied a piece of painters tape directly underneath it which gave me a level guideline. I then measured up the distance from where the board rests to where the peg is located on the supports and drilled holes at that spot 1-1/2" and 6" from the back of the built-in. I put the supports in the holes and then used my level again to check that it was level.

To get the placement for the right side I put one of my shelf boards on the supports that I had installed, put the level on top of it and then adjusted the board until I got it level. I then put another piece of painters tape underneath the board to mark the level line and measured and drilled the holes in the same way that I did for the left side. I put the supports in the holes on the right side and then repeated the whole process for the second shelf.

After priming and adding two coats of paint to the shelves I was all set to start organizing my built-in cabinet. On the top shelf in the left corner I have two cardboard bins that cost a dollar from Target. One has some basic medicines and band-aids while the other has extras of things like razors and soap. Moving across the top shelf I have a little teal dish that I already owned holding my cleaning sponges and then all my bathroom cleaning supplies.

My middle shelf is organized with metal baskets that I also found at Target. The leftmost basket has things that I don't use very often like suntan lotion, bug spray and nail polish remover. The other two baskets hold my sample sized items. Whenever I stay at hotels I always take the mini shampoos, lotions or whatever else may be offered to guests in the bathroom. They are great for packing on my travels or if I have a house guest that forgot something. Over time I had amassed a ridiculous amount of hotel toiletries so I decided to pare things down to just these two baskets with liquid items like shampoo and conditioner in the middle one and dry items like bars of soap and hair brushes in the right one. 

Finally on the bottom shelf I have my extra bath towels and toilet paper. It feels good to have everything organized and by limiting myself to the space available it forced me to go through what I had and throw out a lot of things that I just didn't need. Nail polish that changes color in the sun? Gone. Twenty hotel shower caps? Maybe keeping three is enough. Now I just need to keep everything this way!

Is anyone else out there trying to get organized? How is it going? Do you have any tips to share?

If you are interested, check out the rest of my bathroom posts here: Bathroom Blog Posts

Hanging My Medicine Cabinet

On Sunday afternoon I finally got around to hanging up my medicine cabinet as part of my effort to put the finishing touches on my bathroom. I had considered building my own but then I found this one for half off ($115) at the Birch Run Pottery Barn Outlet and couldn't pass it up.

I wanted to liven it up a bit so I used the same technique that I used for my built-in to add wallpaper to the back of the cabinet before hanging it. To figure out the placement, I put up some blue painters tape on the wall in the dimensions of the cabinet, adjusting it until I got it located where I liked. I then hung it according to the directions, screwing the metal cleat into the wall using wall anchors and making sure it was level. After putting the glass shelves back in I was ready to fill it up.

I don't have much in the way of toiletries so I have plenty of room to keep things neat and tidy. I found cute little black and white cardboard bins for a dollar each at Target (I love the One Spot!) to use as shelf organizers. I have my disposable contacts in one, bobby pins and hair bands in another, earrings in another and so on.

I really like how the medicine cabinet looks compared to the small mirror I had before and now I can keep the deck of my sink clear of everything but my hand soap. It also helps me toward both of my 2012 New Years resolutions of finishing projects around the house and getting organized. Not bad for a project that took me less than an hour to complete!

If you are interested, check out the rest of my bathroom posts here: Bathroom Blog Posts

High Rise Apple Pancakes

When I was growing up high rise apple pancakes were made in my family for breakfast for weekend special occasions. It was my favorite breakfast food and I loved watching the batter puff up in the oven. It seemed like magic.

As an adult this high rise apple pancake recipe is my go to dish for when I host brunches or have weekend guests at my home. Preparing it is simple and easy plus it is delicious and makes for a pretty presentation on the dining table. Serving it with eggs, bacon and a fruit salad creates a great spread for any morning meal.

Ingredients List
- 2 large apples: peeled, cored and cut into 1/4" slices
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1-1/4 cup flour
- 1-1/4 cup milk
- 5 Tbsp. butter
- Powdered sugar (optional)
- Maple syrup (optional) 

Directions
- Preheat oven to 425° F (220° C)
- Toss apples with lemon juice and sugar in a bowl and set aside
- Melt butter in a 9" x 13" pan in the oven
- Combine eggs, flour milk and beat lightly
- Pour batter into pan once butter is sizzling and bake for 15 minutes
- Add apple mixture on top of the risen batter and bake for an additional 10 minutes
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup 

Tips and Tricks
- Baking apples, like Jonathan, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith or Golden Delicious, all work well with this recipes
- I like to use two different varieties of apples when making the recipe instead of two of the same kind
- For my workflow management I mix up my batter and start peeling my apples while the butter is melting and then slice the apples and toss them with the sugar and lemon juice while the batter starts baking
- When you mix the batter it will be a little lumpy
- The longer you bake the batter before adding the apples, the higher it will rise

Snowflake Birthday Cake

Yesterday evening we celebrated seven birthdays with friends that occurred over the span of six weeks with a night out in Ann Arbor. We started with some drinks at Mike and Sylwia's place and I brought a cake that I made because in my opinion no one is ever too old to enjoy birthday cake. Also, I like any excuse that I can come up with to make a cake.

I had a request for yellow cake from one of the birthday boys, Don, so I made a yellow cake with buttercream icing. Despite our unseasonably warm winter with lack of snow this year I decided on a snowflake themed cake for the winter birthdays. It was simple and quick to decorate which was important since I didn't have a lot of time after work on Friday to make the cake before we were all meeting up.

I iced the cake with pale teal and then decorated the sides with snowflakes and large, white nonpareils. I wrote out the names of all seven birthday honorees around the outside edge in a deeper shade of teal with "Happy Birthday" in the middle. With some small snowflake filler on the top and a border of dark teal stars around the bottom the cake was complete. Yum! 

Soo Line Fleece Blanket for Grandpa

My grandpa grew up near a railway line in North Dakota and ever since he has loved trains and especially anything to do with the Soo Line. As a boy he would love watching the trains barrel by and the highlight of every summer was his annual trip to his grandmother's house when he would get to actually ride the train himself.

He is always tough to find presents for so for his birthday a few years back I decided to make him a fleece blanket with the Soo Line logo on it. I cut out the logo out of white fleece and then sewed it onto a large rectangle of red fleece. I then layered the red fleece on top of a rectangle of white fleece of the same size. Using my rotary cutter I cut 4" slits through both layers of fabric at 1" intervals all around the perimeter of the blanket. After knotting the red and white strips together the blanket was complete.

The blanket was super easy to make and my grandpa loved it. To this day he enjoys using it for his afternoon naps which makes me happy. It's my favorite gift that I've given him.

Resolution Recap: January 2012

With one month now into the New Year I thought that I would take a look back to see where I stand with my 2012 New Year's resolutions.

January was a hectic month for me since I was out of town for almost half of it. On top of that I have been sick for the past two weeks and am just now starting to feel like myself again. Despite those difficulties I am proud of what I did manage to get done and it has me energized and excited to keep going. Hopefully I will be able to  accomplish even more in February just by being in town and being healthy.

Resolution 1: Purge & Organize
For three out of the five Mondays I met my goal of having a volume of at least one trash cart (between my recycling and regular trash) out on the curb on garbage pick-up morning. The other two Mondays I was out of town that day so I'm giving myself a pass. Here's my breakdown:

- January 2: Nothing (In New Orleans)
- January 9: 3/4 full trash + 1/2 full recycle = 1-1/4 total
- January 16: Nothing (In Pasadena) 
- January 23: 3/4 full trash + overflowing recycle = almost 2 total
- January 30: Full trash + 1/4 full recycle = 1-1/4 total

I even managed to put things out on the ninth when I was only home for the weekend before leaving that Monday afternoon for Las Vegas. I actually barely made it on my flight because I ran home to pull the carts off the curb en route to the airport since I figured my neighbors wouldn't be too thrilled about them sitting out for over a week.

Overall on the weeks I was in town I exceeded my goal and I am happy with my progress. Among the items that I got rid of was a leaky air mattress (I have a guest room so I don't really need it anymore even if I did get around to fixing it), some broken luggage (did I really think I was going to try to patch the torn canvas?) and some scraps from my craft room that were really too small to be useful.

In addition to things that went out on the curb I also managed to go through a lot of my kitchen stuff and sort out items that were still usable but I don't need anymore and filled up a box for a garage sale I plan to have in the spring. On the organizing front I made some progress in getting a few kitchen cabinets in order.

Resolution 2: Finish Up Projects
I decided to start working on finishing up my master bathroom since it was almost done making it an easy first step. I am about a third of the way through what I wanted to accomplish. Here's my status:

- Paint the outside of the tub teal (it is currently a light creamy yellow): Prepared area, started stripping old paint
- Replace the cheap, temporary mirror with a medicine cabinet: Removed mirror, measured and marked out wall location
- Add shelving to the inside of the built-in cabinet: Wood purchased
- Jazz up the built-in with some color: Done! (Added wallpaper and painted)
- Make a wood vent cover to go over the ceiling fan (the plastic cover that came with the fan just doesn't fit in with the vintage look of the bathroom): Wood purchased
- Make a rug to go in front of the bathtub: Done!
- Add some wall art and do some paint touch-ups: Teal touch-ups done

As I got going I decided that I also want to add making a shower stool to my bathroom to-do list. So far I sketched up the design for that and bought the wood and paint for it. My plan is to have the bathroom finished and move on to some other projects in February.

So there's where I stand with my resolutions at the end of January. So far, so good and I hope to hit my stride this upcoming month. Does anyone else out there have any resolutions they are trying to keep? What are your goals for the year and how is it going? I'd love to hear what other people are doing to stay motivated!

Spray Paint Tips & Tricks

On Saturday morning I found this cute little terra cotta vase for only a dollar at the Ann Arbor ReUse Center. It was a little too eighties for my taste (it was even marked 1982 on the bottom) in its original condition, but I love how it turned out after I gave it a quick make over with matte black spray paint. I think it will look great in my bathroom once I get everything finished and put back together.

I love using spray paint to transform things that are a little bit worn or outdated. It is so easy and has such a big impact. I thought for fun I'd share a few of my pointers for getting a great spray paint finish. Most of them are common sense, but I've learned the hard way from trying to hurry the process that they are vital. Happy painting!

Spray Paint Tips & Tricks
- Before you start make sure to lay down newspaper or plastic that extends far beyond the object you are spray painting. Just a little breeze can send the paint flying and leave a little halo on the ground around your newspaper or plastic
- Make sure your surface is clean and properly prepared (you can use a deglosser on glossy surfaces) so that you can get the best adhesion
- Use a primer before spray painting bare wood
- Don't try to cover everything in one coat or you risk drips
- Several light coats holding the can about 10" away from the object gives a nice, drip free finish
- After thoroughly dried, flip the object over and spray again to make sure to get any parts that couldn't be reached right side up
- Don't touch the object until it is completely dried so you don't smudge the finish 

The Story of My Kitchen Sink

My kitchen sink is one of my favorite parts about my kitchen. When I was remodeling my kitchen I wanted a big, old fashioned cast iron sink with side drainboards to sit under my new large back window. The closest new sink that I could find to what I wanted was the Clarion Farmhouse Drainboard Sink but at more than $1500 it was over ten times my budget.

With the Clarion sink completely out of the question I set about hunting for my dream sink. I made weekly stops at the Ann Arbor ReUse Center and the ReStore searching through all the old sinks. I constantly checked eBay and Craigslist in the Southeast Michigan area. After looking for months I finally found a promising listing on Craigslist for $100 and made arrangements to see it.

One look at the sink and I knew it was perfect. It was 60" wide with a double bowl and drainboards on both sides. The porcelain had some minor discolorations but was free of any chips or scratches. I was in love. Despite the fact that I was deliriously happy at having finally found a sink, I hid my excitement and calmly offered $75 for the sink. The guy who was selling it just wanted to get rid of it (he had just ripped it out of his kitchen as part of a remodel) and gladly took it.

The sink was a beast and weighed a ton. When the countertop guys tried installing it the first time they cracked the thin piece of granite in front of the sink opening and had to fabricate it again. Once installed the sink was exactly perfect for the space. It's the focal point of my kitchen and it is wonderful to have so much bowl space. I absolutely love my kitchen sink and it was definitely worth the long search.

Sprucing Up the Bathroom Built-in

I love this built-in, but as part of finishing up my master bathroom I wanted to spruce it up a little bit. It was all white and just seemed too white to me. Inspired by the black and white damask towel that I turned into a rug for the bathroom, I thought that some black and white damask wallpaper might do the trick.

I didn't want to do anything permanent since I wasn't sure if I would like it or not so instead of applying the wallpaper using the paste on the back I decided to use double sided tape. I ran a strip of tape right along the perimeter of the back, across the place where the seam would be and then in various spots around the middle of the built-in. After that I hung the first piece of wallpaper, with extra along the top and bottom, smoothing it down against the double sided tape. I then hung the second piece the same way, lining up the pattern along the seam. After both pieces were secured, I ran a razor blade around the edges to trim off the excess paper. On the second piece there was so much overhang that I ended up cutting it to an inch to get rid of the bulk before doing the exact trim with the razor blade.

I'm not sure how well it will hold long term, but the double sided tape seems to be doing the trick and will at least give me some time to decide if I want to make it permanent.

After paper the back of the built-in shelves I wanted to paint the part that boxes in the old chimney to match the rest of the walls in the bathroom. Luckily I had some of the paint saved and it was in good shape still. Typically I like to cut in my edges by hand since I have a pretty steady hand and it saves time instead of taping. After two coats of paint with a small foam roller I was all done. Since I had the paint out I also did some minor paint touch ups around the rest of the bathroom that I had been putting off. 

So far I think it is a big improvement and I like the way that it looks. Now I get to have some fun figuring out what to put on my shelves!

 
If you are interested, check out the rest of my bathroom posts here: Bathroom Blog Posts

Making a Bathroom Rug from Towels

This weekend I decided that I needed to get cracking on my long list of items to finish up my bathroom. Since I still had black thread on my sewing machine from making my laptop sleeve, I thought making my bathroom rug would be the perfect place to start.

I have some black in my bathroom with the liner bar tile in my shower and the black ceramic light fixtures so when I stumbled upon a solitary black and white damask towel at HomeGoods I thought it would be perfect for turning into a rug for my bathroom. It was a bit smaller than I wanted, though so I decided to add a black border with two black towels that I picked up from Target. I had priced out buying black terry cloth from a fabric store but buying the bath towels instead turned out to be cheaper.

To start, I trimmed off the binding on the damask towel with my rotary cutter.  The towel was a little puckered on the end so I made sure to trim that part off as well so I was left with a flat rectangle with straight edges. I then cut each of the black towels into two 14" long strips.

I took one of the black strips and pinned it, with the right sides together, to one of the long sides of the damask towel. After stitching the pieces together I pressed the seam flat and repeated the same steps on the other side of the damask towel with another strip of black. I decided on using a 5/8" seam since the material was so bulky.

With the two sides sewn on, I trimmed off the excess black towel so it was even with the damask towel on both ends. On each of the ends I attached another piece of black towel like mentioned above and then trimmed the ends so I was left with a large black rectangle framing the damask pattern. To finish the edges I simply turned the salvage under and sewed it in place with a seam 1/4" from the edge.

I like how the rug turned out and since it is made from towels it is soft under my feet and I can simply throw it in the wash to clean it. It was also great for my budget costly only about $12 to make. Now I need to tackle a few more projects... 

If you are interested, check out how my master bathroom renovation finally turned out: Master Bathroom Renovation Recap