creative little daisy

Gratitude Friday, it's been too long.

It really has been too long since my last GF post. I've been busy with this or distracted by that or just plain not feeling all that grateful, something I'm not proud to admit considering how blessed I really am. The simple act of counting those blessings has a way of shifting  perspective and making me look at things in a different light. 

This week some of the things bringing a smile to my face

The tease of fall in the air. I felt it tonight, just a hint, but an oh so welcome hint.

Enjoying a meal of Mexican take-out on the deck by candle light with a canopy of stars overhead. Just me and my sweetie. Just me and my sweetie and four pups. Me, my sweetie, four pups and two cats. It was lovely.

The new tv season.

A really good sermon last Sunday about wishes. If you could have one wish what would it be?  Only one wish. Solomon wished for wisdom. I've been thinking all week, what is my one wish for this life?

Reading all of your wonderful Granny suggestions. Alyssa and I have read them together and enjoyed each and every one. I have a feeling, like many of you said, it will be chosen for me.  Whatever she or he calls me will be the sweetest name I've ever heard. Thank you for sharing your stories with me- with us.

What's in a name?

I feel much too young to be called granny, but in seven months I'm going to be one. I'd love to hear what your grandchildren call you or what you call your mama's mama. Some suggestions I've made that have been shot down include Sweetie and Veronica. Veronica you ask? Why not? I get to choose a new name for myself, it may as well be a cute one. 

A little disclaimer, for those who may not get my strange sense of humor, I'm joking about Veronica- but it is a great name isn't it?

Ladies, you know me so well.

The mail man has been good to me lately, thanks to a couple of very thoughtful ladies. I can't tell you how special it is to unwrap a box full of love and I've had the pleasure of doing this twice in the past week. First from Penny, a thank-you gift, just because I answered a couple of questions.

I sent a little email to thank her and  let her know how much I love everything- the crocheted kitchen scrubbie and dishcloth, the bias binding, daisy brads (so sweet!) and the precious little crocheted tree.

I'm sure Penny thought I had lost my mind since she didn't send me a tree...

What she sent was the most beautiful crocheted daisy trim wrapped around a hand-painted clothespin. Silly me. All wrapped around the clothespin, it makes a lovely little tree, doesn't it? Does anyone else think so? Notice the tiny daisy clothes pin on the binding, so many sweet details! Thank you Penny, you are much too kind and so very talented!

On Monday, another box full of goodies arrived, this one from Margot.  We arranged a little swap, the contents to be a surprise. Margot did such an amazing job or putting together a package full of things I would have picked for myself.

Shells ~ I love the beach

Shell Necklaces (plural) ~ One for me and one for Alyssa. So thoughtful of you Margot!

Pretty Pink Tiara Fabric ~ Speaking of Alyssa, she has claimed this. Was that the idea Margot?

A Sketch Book ~ with my name written all over it- literally. Love it!!

Vintage Pillow Case ~ Oh the possibilities

Super Cool Table Cloth ~ I can't wait to get my table back in the kitchen!

A- flippin' Mazingly wonderful Curtains ~ LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, many times thank you, Margot and Penny.

Cabinet Painting 101:

 

Since several of you are interested, here is a quick run-down of how cabinets are painted at Casa de Daisy. This is by no means advice from a professional, just what works for me.

Materials:

A good cleaner/ degreaser

Scotch Brite Pad and/or fine grit sandpaper

Painters tape

Edge painting tool or a paint brush to get in corners and edges

A foam roller made for painting smooth surfaces. Buy several covers, you'll need a new one for each coat.

Primer- I used Kilz

Paint- look at the can to determine how much you will need. I started with a quart and had to go back several times. If you are doing a small area like a bathroom, a quart should be plenty, for a kitchen, you may want to go ahead and get a gallon. I used semi-gloss oil based paint because I like the finish it gives. It is a big pain to work with. It takes forever to dry and is a mess to clean up, but it dries to a very hard durable finish and shows less brush strokes than latex.  I think it's well worth the extra work involved. It's stinky though, so be sure your area is well ventilated.

Oil based paint doesn't clean up with soap and water. You'll need something like mineral spirits or acetone to clean your brushes. To clean the paint off your hands, pour a little cooking oil in your palm and rub hands together like you're washing them. Once the paint is loosened up, you can wash with soap and water.

If you use oil based paint allow at least three or four days for this project. You have to let the paint dry 24 hours between coats and it will take more than one coat.

Now for the fun stuff.

• Remove doors and drawers and the hardware. Depending on the type of hinges you have, you may want to remove those too. My hinges don't show, so I left them on the doors.
• Clean, clean, then clean some more. Especially important in a kitchen. I used TSP. It's available at Lowes and WalMart. Just mix it in some water, put on some rubber gloves and wipe everything down. After cleaning with the TSP you will need to go back with a clean sponge to remove any residue.
• If your cabinets have a heavy coat of varnish you may want to sand with a fine grit sandpaper to remove the shine and make a rougher surface for the paint to stick to. I didn't have much shine to worry about so I just scuffed everything up with a scotch brite pad. Wipe everything off again to remove any dust.
• If you have a very steady hand and can paint the cabinets without getting paint on the walls and counter tops you can skip taping. If you're like me, get out the painters tape and carefully tape the areas around the cabinets you would like to protect from paint. Extra time spent taping will be well worth it in the end.

• Once everything is taped you can start priming. I use Kilz. It comes in a low odor formula, but somehow I ended up with the stinky stuff. It is really strong, so open some windows and turn on a fan.
• Primer dries pretty fast so by the time you are finished with the last cabinet, the first one will likely be dry and ready for the first coat of paint.
• If you've never painted with oil paint, be warned that even though it dries slowly, it gets tacky fast. You don't want to go back over it with your brush or roller more than necessary. Try to get a nice smooth coat on and keep moving.
• My cabinets needed one coat of primer and two coats of paint. Don't be tempted to lay on a super heavy coat to save time, it will never dry.
• For the doors and drawers, I was fortunate enough to have access to a paint gun- (the kind cars are painted with) and a paint gun operator (Mitch).  He sprayed the doors and drawer fronts for me. It still took two coats of paint and had to dry 24 hours between coats and in the end, the cabinets painted with a roller looked as smooth as the sprayed doors. I don't think it saved that much time in the long run, so don't feel like you can't get the same results because you don't have access to a paint sprayer.
• I removed my tape between paint coats, just out of fear I would pull paint off with the tape if I waited too long.
• Once you are satisfied with the coverage, you'll want to let it dry at least 24 hours before replacing the doors and drawers so you don't mess up all your hard work. Also in the first week or so after painting try to be very careful, the paint will be soft to begin with, but trust me, once it has time to fully cure, the finish will be quite durable. 

Happy painting!!

Here are some more cabinet painting tips I found online.

The paint fumes didn't kill me...

and the cabinets are finished. Hallelujah!!!

The couches are still in the kitchen and the tile isn't down yet, but the cabinets are painted and I couldn't be happier with the results. It wasn't a quick job, and I won't say it was an easy job, but it was worth every minute of work. It was such a relief to get everything put back where it belonged and get those doors back on. I'm a habitual cabinet closer and having the doors off nearly drove me crazy, feeling like I had a kitchen full of open cabinet doors. Once everything was back home in the kitchen, I was able to find the top of my cutting table and get to the sewing machine. A good thing since I had a baby shower to attend on Sunday and in true Autum fashion had waited until the last minute to make a gift.

A chenille backed blanket. I used this tutorial for the disappearing nine patch and this tut for tying a quilt. Gosh, I love bloggers.

It gets worse before it gets better...

Remember last week, I said my kitchen was in shambles? I spoke too soon, because this is how it looks today.

You haven't lived until you've had dinner on the couch. In the kitchen. It's great, because after you're finished you can lay back and watch TV and never have to get up.

No tile yet, but the simple job of replacing the laminate in the kitchen has grown, as these project often do. The previously mentioned stinky carpet did get kicked to the curb (or piled on the front lawn) as warned.

And after three very noisy days, we have this.

I'm told it has to acclimate to our house for a couple of weeks before finishing. I'm sure I'll change my mind 325 times by then about how light or dark to go with the finish.

The installer did a great job of joining the dining room hardwood with the  new.

As if moving all the furniture out of the living room didn't make for enough disturbance in the house, I decided no better time than now to finally paint those kitchen cabinets. In addition to the distribution of living room furniture throughout the house, garage and back porch, I also have everything that was in drawers in the kitchen stacked, boxed, and piled on nearly every flat surface.

Needless to say, not a stitch has been sewn this week.

No sewing, but lots of painting, sawing and nailing.

I'm not sure who is the most affected by all the upset in our normally quiet little routine, me or the pups. At least I know it's all going to be so worth it. Soon. I fear the pups, on the other hand, are secretly checking out the classifieds for new owners.

This temporary little visitor is still here. Hey, what's one more when you weigh less than a quart of paint?

My kitchen was in shambles this afternoon

and I couldn't be happier!

Ugly laminate, I thought I loved you, way back when. It turns out it was a only a fling, a short lived romance that fizzled out too soon. Unfortunately, not before a commitment was made. I tried to make it work, really I did, but life is much too short to stay tied down to a floor that doesn't fulfill me. I've moved on. You need clear out, because my new love will be moving in next week.

Off to the library for books on tile floor installation. Mitch has some studying to do between now and next week when he has a few days off. I'll let you know how it goes.

Stinky living room carpet, your days are numbered.