Eryday I'm stencilin

Eryday I'm Stenclin.. 

Well, not really..this was actually my first time :)

 I get all my ideas from Pinterest. I'm about as creative as a plain white wall. I wish I said I came up with any of these ideas my self, but sadly, I do not. 

So when I start these projects I never think to do a picture step by step. So unfortunately I only have one measly picture to show. Sigh, sorry people. 

So since we already have covered that my creativity level would probably be outdone by a three year old with a paint set here is where I stole the idea :) 

Isn't that pretty! 

Side note: Have you ever looked at how much stencils run these days? I think I'm in the wrong business because every where I looked stencils were running from $20-50 

But of course I won't even spend $20 to get my oil changed on time (irrelevant but true) I was determined to do this for much cheaper. 

Here is what I ended up with:
(I do still love the inspiration picture a whole lot better, but I think this will due) 

The silver paint is from Home Depot and ran me about $5.48 for a small thing of it. 

MSL Metallic Polished Silver (I'm trying to make your life easier) 

The stencil I got from Home Depot. I had a much larger stencil in my hand which I thought might give it a similar effect as the inspiration photo but this design was similar to the fabric I wanted to use to make a valance in the kitchen. (Spoiler alert- that is my next project!) Anyways, the stencil was around 6.99 but of course I had a coupon. And now that you know of coupon (if you didn't already) never buy anything again without using this coupon. It is always the same *40% off* 

Hobby Lobby Coupon

The back of the stencil said to use spray on adhesive. But don't waste your money. It worked for like one paint job. I just used painters tape on the corners. It worked much better. 

I screwed up like 7 times. What's great about this Martha Stewart paint is that it easily wipes off with water. I scrubbed off a whole stencil after I didn't space it right and you couldn't even tell. You know what else is great about this- The paint dries pretty fast so that I could easily go down the wall without messing up the one before. 

I was pretty impressed with myself. The boys in my household thought it was cool, so that's always a win.  

Alright, onto to the next project!

Kitchen Makeover

Design on A Dime: Kitchen Makeover

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations in Pure White

Well, people I took the plunge and painted my cabinets. Up close you can tell I'm an average painter (lol) But for the most part I think they look a whole lot better.

If you are thinking about doing this let me give you a few TIPS:

1. Buy wood or something to prop up your cabinets when you paint them. Don't be an idiot and lay a blanket with fuzzies over a ping pong table and think that that's a good idea. Because..it is not! (I made this mistake and ended up having to do a little sanding and touch ups) 
2. Do not cuddle with your cat and then decide it's a good idea to go outside and paint. (If you look closely you may find a cat hair permanently imprinted on a cabinet or two)
3. Lastly, do NOT paint when it is 104 degrees outside. Yup, I'm the idiot who thought it would be a good idea to paint the hottest weekend of the year. But in my defense it was the last two days of my vacation and with Casey's son out of town it just made sense to start this project. I can really say that this project took a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Except I didn't cry, although the thought of going outside every time to do a layer did make me want to cry. Needless to say, I was miserable.  

Now for the fun part. The Reveal  :) 

Here is the before:

And the After:

Since this picture we have put hardware on and it looks even better. But of course, I forgot to take that picture this morning before deciding to do this blog. But you get the point! Next step painting the counter tops! We are eventually going to get granite but I am trying to hold off on my impulsive spending habits and wait another year or so. 

So would I recommend this? Yes! The kit only costs about $75 and comes with everything you need minus paint brushes and painters tape. I would say if I could do this over again I wouldn't have picked Pure White. I would have picked Linen or something a little off white because this is BRIGHT! It doesn't look awful but I think an off white may have looked a little better in person. 

So if you are thinking about tackling this project plan on devoting a whole weekend to this! There is a lot of drying time between everything so I could definitely seeing this project taking a whole week if you weren't impatient like I was. But I would definitely say do it! I couldn't afford to get new cabinets and I definitely think it was an upgrade from the builder grade brown! But if you asked my Dad he'd tell you differently but then again he also thinks it's stupid when I wear a headband. So what does he know? ;)

This is embarrassing

Let me start off with I love my boyfriend. But I do not love his job! I don't know what it is (maybe the peanut oil or something) but my shower has been disgusting since the day he first stepped foot in it. (If he reads this he is going to swear up and down that this wasn't him) But it is. Anywho... this is so embarrassing I should not post this but I have had a miserable time cleaning the bathtub. Mind you I wish I was as clean as my mother but I am not..but I have tried everything. I have bleached bathtubs and used 409. Nothing has worked. 

But I'm here to tell you- if you have this same dirty boyfriend/significant other you are in luck.

 I found this on Pinterest (of course I find everything on Pinterest) 

http://thecraftpatch.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/pinterest-tested-tub-cleaner.html

Mix a half cup vinegar- I warmed it up in the microwave in my spray bottle for 30 seconds- and then added a half cup dish soap. The post said to use blue dish soap but all I had was the green kind and I thought I would give it a try. Maybe the blue kind gives it a extra kick but the green seemed to do the job. Let it stay on for an hour and then go back and wipe it off. The pin said you wouldn't have to scrub- but I had to. Not a hard scrub but I did have to put a small little muscle into it.

Probably for the better- I had pizza for lunch and maybe I burned roughly 7 calories doing this, hehe. 

 Now this tub is disgusting.. I shutter even putting it on here for the world to see. But this was too good not to share.

 (disclaimer- the green is the dish soap. I forgot to take a before picture before I sprayed the tub.)

Now here for the after. It could probably use another spray down but I may or may not have done a happy dance. I don't think my tub has been this clean for three years. 

So that's all. Happy Sunday. May your tub be ever brighter.