Post ALL OF THE THINGS!

Man oh man, it's been about a minute since I've blogged. Sorry for that.
I'm sure you can appreciate that with a house-show deadline growing ever closer and a good inch of Sheetrock dust on everything in our home things are a little...tense around here. 

So I'm going to just rip through most of the things that have happened around these parts in the last month or so really quick just to catch you up to speed on what we've been up to.

First off, and perhaps the oldest news, for Christmas Conan got me this Speedball screen-printing kit!

It's actually been pretty fun to learn how to use it and since we've been screening stuff, we've learned quite a bit about the process which is always a nice thing to do for your brain. Use it or lose it, folks! Anywho, we screened these little toto-ly (Toto puns FTW!) adorable totes last week and if you're from Kansas or you just love the shape of our beautiful state you can pick one up here:
memachine.bigcartel.com 

Yay Kansas!

Next up, we got a plant. Not a big thing but boy does it make a difference in the way the room looks and feels. After our Christmas tree came down the room felt so empty that we went to Lowe's and got this palm.  It's green, it's leafy and I loff it.

I also really love the planter. It's really simple and the glossy black looks nice with the green. 

It also looks nice with the old ceramic pot I put it in. I was flipping out when I potted it because I suddenly realized I had nothing big enough to sit the pot in and catch the water when it drains but then I remembered this bad boy that's been sitting on our back porch, collecting dust since I bought it at a thrift store and couldn't find a use for it. 

Voila! A use has been found!

Did I mention that our house is covered in Sheetrock dust? That includes the floors as evidenced in this picture above ^

Another thing you can see in that picture is our new/old dining room chairs. One of the problems I've always had with our dining room was that it wasn't especially comfortable to hang out in. Our old Craigslist chairs were cool looking but they weren't very comfy and they always felt like they were about to break. So, I started looking for some upholstered chairs like these and dang, did you guys know that CHAIRS ARE EXPENSIVE!? Of course you did, you guys are super smart.
But the thrift gods heard my prayers and sent me these four green chairs for $20 TOTAL. Wowza!

Then, the thrift gods heard my mom's prayers and sent her these two captain's chairs for each end for $20! A little more expensive but they're nicer chairs and it's still a steal compared to $269 or even $200 for this World Market one. Noice! Here's one of the blue chairs being given the eye by one of Conan's paintings. 

I still need two more to make a full table but these are working out great and as soon as I have a free moment I'm thinking about making some slipcovers that go all the way to the floor a la these: 

Alright, what's next? 

We've added a little more to our upstairs bathroom gallery wall. When you last saw it, it looked like this. 

Now we've added two more photographs! The top one is from a company picnic in Kansas City in 1919 and even more impressive, it was only $5 at the thrift store!!

The bottom one was $11 at the same store and it's a lovely picture of the Chikaskia River near Drury, Kansas taken in '39. Neat!

Next up? Let's talk bathroom. Downstairs bathroom.

The old door was COATED in enamel paint that was chipping off like crazy and it just looked like a mess so I went shopping in our basement and found this perfectly unpainted door.

Basically every doorway in our house had a door at one point and a lot of them have been scattered throughout the house since they were taken off presumably a long time ago. This one was in the basement, there are some in the attic. We're a door emporium over here!

But look at how pretty it is under that layer of dust and grime!

You may remember that I re-finished the upstairs bathroom door and if I'm being honest with you that is not something I'm particularly excited to do again so I was pleased as punch to find this beautiful door that relatively the same size as the old door.*

*My dad had to shave off an inch or so on the side and bottom and do some really ~creative~ shim work to get it to fit but it works like a charm!*

The only bummer is the door knob and escutcheon plate is in rough shape. We sanded on it yesterday and it just doesn't look like there's anything worth saving underneath there. Another house-wide shopping spree is in order! I'm sure there's a nicer door knob on one of those attic doors I mentioned.

Up next, the bathroom window got a facelift. We scraped all of the old paint off, gave them a little sanding and then primed them. As you can see, I'm using a tinted primer. What color do you suppose will be going over these? Hmmmm...

We put the window back in and my mom replaced the old cords which pretty much disintegrated in our hands when we took the window apart. This window, along with most of them in the house, is non-operational but slowly but surely they're getting repaired. This will be the 6th window we've re-corded and spruced up since we've lived here.

You can allllmost see the window through the plastic there but I think I'll wait for a big unveiling once there's paint on the walls. My mom has been sanding Sheetrock like a madwoman and I think it's just about ready to prime! 

Speaking of madwomen, I scraped all of the old paint off of the old door frame since we're trying to recycle most of the original wood and trim. It only took me about an hour because of this awesome scraping tool. We bought two right after we bought the house and that thing has paid for itself! The replacement carbide blades are kind of expensive (around $8 each) but it will take paint off of a ship's hull, I kid you not. 

That is one of the few things I will fully endorse. The HYDE Maxxgrip Pro is the greatest tool ever made if you have an old house full of chippy, enamel paint. Oh, and wear a mask because said paint's probably choc-full-o-lead ; ) Safety first kiddos!

 So that pretty much covers it.
Screen-printing
Plant
Chairs
Pictures
Door
Window
Greatest Scraper Ever

Hope you enjoyed this intensive course in what it's been like around our house! I'll try to post a little more regularly once the bathroom starts to take shape.

Keep Smiling!